I took up fine art photography a few years ago to fulfil an urge for creativity that I could not seem to find an outlet for. After my children had turned into teenagers and I discovered that I had somehow lost the desire for a corporate career, I felt an incredible urge to be creative. I knew that I did not have the talent for painting or sculpting and that I really did not want to start learning the violin or the piano like some of my friends were doing. I thought about going back to university to study medicine but that seemed too drastic and would take far too much time away from my children. One morning, after some rain, I noticed a clump of tiny flowers in the garden that were sparkling in the sun like little jewels. I grabbed my camera, went in really close, and took a few images. Right then, even before I saw the images, I knew that getting back into art photography, which I had always loved, was the creative journey I needed.
Since then, I have tried to explore the interaction of light and colour in my fine art photography. Light with its many moods and manifestations is the photographer's medium - we write with light. Colour evokes emotion, stimulates the senses and fires the imagination. The use of colour creates atmosphere and can transform our surroundings. Nature offers an abundance of both delicate and vivid colour, and when coupled with natural ambient light, the possibilities for art photography are endless.
Flowers are the most incredible subjects in nature to photograph. There is a whole world of colour and intricacy of design within their fragile frames, and when captured in macro, they present as inspiring and eye-catching works of art.
Lydia M Child once said, 'Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character ... though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.'
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