Craig Roderick

It is often said that we look but do not see. This is particularly true with flowers. Through a process developed over the past few years, I seek to expose colors, shapes, and textures often overlooked during a casual glance at a flower in its natural environment. I seek to produce pleasing images that encourage discovery, reflection, and observation of what surrounds us. The first step is to move the flower to my studio and place it in front of a black backdrop. By doing so, all attention is focused on the bloom without extraneous distractions. The flower is positioned in a manner to emphasize its inherent characteristics. I often try to convey movement with the way I arrange the flowers before shooting. The camera is on a sturdy tri pod. I make every effort to minimize the chance of the flower or camera moving. Next, I extinguish all of the lights and drop blackout curtains to make my studio as dark as possible. I take a series of exposures with a led flashlight as the sole light source. With each exposure I shine light onto the flower from only one direction, lighting only parts of the bloom each time. Flashlight technique is critical. Intensity, duration, and direction all impact the final image. As many as 50 exposures are taken which are then loaded onto a computer for review. I look for exposures that will complement each other to produce a dramatic lighting effect. In Photoshop the selected exposures are stacked on top of one another like a deck of cards. The order of the stack and opacities are manipulated to achieve the desired lighting effect. The exposures are then blended to produce the final image. In nature, light comes from one direction depending on the position of the sun. By lighting the flower from the back, obliquely across the surface, through the layers of petals, and from all angles, component colors, textures and, shapes are revealed. A familiar flower takes on a whole new appearance. However, in many cases I see things during the shooting process that the camera does not accurately capture. I manipulate the image to bring emphasize those hidden aspects of the flower the camera did not capture. Lastly, this process produces tack sharp images that are at times too stark, overpowering the process of reflection that I want to encourage. I “soften” the image digitally to produce a more soothing experience. I endeavor to encourage discovery through my work. Unexplored aspects of familiar flowers are revealed through careful observation and lighting in a unique way. Perhaps other aspects of life would benefit from similar observation, enriching experiences and relationships. Craig Roderick Bella Fiore Images