In January, I had the opportunity to visit Arizona and photograph the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, and the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, which is an hour's drive outside of Phoenix. Sadly, I haven't spent much time photographing desert botanic subjects before, and I was looking forward to wandering around these gardens with my camera. I have a small succulent collection that I curate and care for at my house, so I've always admired desert plants. I enjoy looking at them on my desert hikes and appreciate their forms, colors and beauty. Last year, during my 365 project, I spent many a day in my backyard photographing some of my succulents and other perennial flowers growing in my garden beds. I challenged myself to take a closer look at plants with my camera and immensely enjoyed it.
When I arrived at the gardens, I was fascinated by what I saw. I spent a lot of time wandering around, observing and admiring. However, I was having trouble connecting to the plants from behind my lens, and one afternoon, instead of walking away frustrated, I decided to experiment. I enjoy working with intentional camera movement, and when I purchased my Nikon Z72 last year, I started experimenting with multiple exposures. Abstracts are what I always gravitate towards; in this case, it was my comfort among the frustration.
The first photo that I captured was "Eye of the Agave." That was one single exposure using ICM, and when it popped up on my LCD, I couldn't help but immediately see the eye in the center of the plant. I thought to myself, "There it is! That is my eye (I do happen to have green eyes), and these abstract photos will represent how I connected with the garden through my eyes." From that moment, I used my camera to interpret how I related to all these beautiful plants abstractly, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of my visit. This collection is my first attempt, and that's perfectly okay! This is all part of the process of how we learn, and the most important thing is that you have fun creating.
