2 May 2025

Seeing Differently

Comments0

Nature offers a symphony of visual delights—textures that invite touch, colours that stir emotions, and shapes that dance across the frame. When photographing flowers and plants, tuning into these elements can transform your work from simple snapshots into expressive compositions brimming with depth and feeling.

Let’s take a closer look at how textures, colours, and shapes can elevate your nature photography—and finish with a creative exercise to help you put these ideas into practice.

✧ The Story in Texture

Take a moment to truly observe a plant or flower. Look closely: is the petal silky or waxy? Is the stem covered in fine hairs or thorny ridges? Nature’s textures are endless—from the velvet touch of a rose petal to the crinkled surface of a drying leaf.

Capturing these tactile qualities invites the viewer to feel the subject. Try using your camera’s macro mode or a close-up lens to isolate these textures and explore their subtle nuances. Texture isn’t just visual—it’s emotional. It can evoke delicacy, age, resilience, or fragility.

✧ The Mood of Colour

Colour sets the emotional tone of an image. A vibrant red tulip might speak of passion or energy, while the dusty blue of a eucalyptus leaf may whisper calm and stillness. Nature rarely sticks to one shade—observe how the hues shift in changing light or how complementary colours interact in a single frame.

Experiment with how colour combinations influence the overall feel of your composition. You might even try creating a series of images based on emotional colour palettes: serene (blues and greens), joyful (yellows and oranges), romantic (pinks and purples).

✧ The Power of Shape

Shape gives structure and rhythm to your photos. Flowers and plants offer bold silhouettes, spirals, symmetry, and lines that lead the eye. Pay attention to the natural forms—whether it’s the radial burst of a daisy, the drooping arc of a fern frond, or the geometric repeat of leaves along a stem.

Think about how you place these shapes within your frame. Centered compositions emphasize symmetry and balance, while diagonal lines or curves can introduce flow and movement.

✿ Creative Exercise: A Walk with Your Senses

Objective: Deepen your ability to see and respond to textures, colors, and shapes in nature.

Find a Garden or Park: Choose a location rich in plant life. This could even be your own backyard.
Choose One Element to Focus On: For your first walk, focus only on texture. Take 10–15 photos highlighting different textures you encounter. Next time, focus on colour, and after that, on shape.
Slow Down and Observe: Spend time with each subject. Move around it. Try different angles. Ask yourself what feeling it evokes and how you can express that through your composition.
Review Your Images: What patterns do you notice? Did you naturally gravitate toward smooth or rough textures? Cool or warm colours? Bold or subtle shapes?
Create a Mini-Series: Pick your favourite image from each element and create a triptych or collage to showcase how they work together.

By honing your awareness of texture, colour, and shape, you begin to see the world—not just as it appears, but as it feels. That’s where expressive, impressionist photography begins.

Let your next photo walk be one of discovery and wonder. The details are waiting to be seen.