I had the itch to photograph something the other day. But, I was having trouble identifying an interesting subject.

While shopping for groceries at our local Jewel-Osco, I noticed some flowers for sale near the entrance to the store. The purple irises caught my attention. I like the combination of the colors (blue/purple and yellow). I also like the complexity of the structure of the petals. I am able to create more compositions of an iris than of some of the other flowers such as the daisies or carnations.

So, I purchased some irises. One of the advantages of buying flowers is that I can then take them inside to photograph. Taking pictures of flowers indoors is much easier as there is no wind to deal with. Also, I can arrange the lighting in any way that I see fit.

I created a mini studio in my living room:

• Clamped the stem of the iris and positioned the flower on my dining room table.
• Positioned a piece of white foamboard on the back of the table to serve as my background.
• Set up three Nikon SB flash units:
  • 1- main light through small softbox (camera left)
  • 2- fill light handheld (camera right)
  • 3- flash placed behind flower and positioned to light the background (foamboard)
• Place camera on a tripod.

CLICK HERE to view 9 pictures of the iris.

Purple IrisPurple iris flower in Orland Park, Illinois on April 3, 2015 Purple IrisPurple iris flower in Orland Park, Illinois on April 3, 2015 Purple IrisPurple iris flower in Orland Park, Illinois on April 3, 2015