Flowers, Two Ways: Studio Still Life and Spring Beds

Flowers will sit for you in a way that birds never will, and there are two ways I like to photograph them.

The first is indoors, low-key on black: a fan of yellow tulips, and a spray of magenta phalaenopsis, each lit so that the blooms seem to float in the dark. These are slow, controlled sessions where the only variable is how patient you are with the lighting.

The second way is to go to where the flowers actually live. On 23 February 2019 I got down to ground level in front of a row of purple crocuses and let the low late-winter sun backlight them. No control at all this time — just natural light, damp knees, and the first proper colour of the year.

Same subject, opposite approaches. I have never managed to choose between them, so here are both.