About the Photography

One of the primary goals of this website has been to depict described species as clearly and as completely as possible.  There were numerous fairly significant challenges involved in this.

For clarity, images had to be displayed against the cleanest, most neutral background possible.  A photographer can accomplish this in several ways:  by blurring the background, by selecting backgrounds that are of very different colors or different degrees of brightness or darkness, or by photographing subjects against a neutral or uniform background.  Clear, blue skies, bodies of water and sandy terrain are all examples of neutral backgrounds.  It is also helpful to photograph a subject that is very far from other objects behind it.

As the case may be, the driveway leading to my home is composed mostly of sand and embedded stones.  This proved to be a perfect background for photographing specimens, for sand forms a neutral background of sufficient color contrast with most green, white, bright yellow or blue subjects.

Another requirement for this project was to photograph specimens that were more or less representative of their species.  They needed to be approximately of "average" height and size for their species.  They also needed to be in good condition and well-formed, without broken branches or other disfigurations.  In most cases, specimens had to be in full, fresh bloom.

A variety of perspectives had to be used for each species; that is, some closeups, some extreme closeups, some silhouettes and some habitat pictures.  This requirement posed some challenges.  Closeups had to be performed in totally or almost totally windless conditions.  This meant that much of the photography was performed early in the morning or late in the evening when winds were the most calm.

Also, in order to render floral color as accurately as possible, and in an aesthetically pleasing way, it was necessary to photograph specimens in "diffused" lighting, such as that which occurs early or late in the day, or on overcast days.  Natural light was employed almost exclusively.  In a few cases, flash was used when no other options were possible.

Given these requirements, challenges and restrictions, it became obvious that specimens had to be collected and brought home for photography.  There would have been no way of accomplishing the goals of this project solely in field locations.  It would have taken a lifetime to find representative subjects in good condition that were located against clean backgrounds.  Attempts to photograph growing specimens in the field produced very disappointing results.  Even for depictions of plants in their "usual" habitats, it was necessary to be selective to achieve clear, representative results.

Nearly all of the photographs were created using 35mm Fuji Sensia slide film.  Two Canon Elan 7 film cameras, equipped with a variety of lenses, did the work.

Return to Site Home Page