This series was born from a quiet morning at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. While wandering through the rows of spring blooms, I found myself captivated by a single Parrot Tulip. Most people love tulips for their bold, cup-shaped symmetry, but I have always been drawn to the "rebels" of the tulip world—the ones with the fringed, ruffled, and unpredictable edges.
The Vision
As I got closer, the world around me blurred away. Through the viewfinder, the serrated edges of the tulip petals didn't look like flora anymore; they looked like the delicate, silken feathers of an angel’s wing.
I wanted to capture that feeling of weightlessness and grace. By intentionally choosing a high-key, soft-focus style, I aimed to strip away the "dirt and stems" of the garden to focus purely on the ethereal texture.
The Technique
To achieve this signature "glow," I relied on my Fujifilm 90mm lens paired with a Fuji extension tube (likely the 11mm). This combination is my go-to for intimate flower studies because it allows me to move beyond the standard minimum focus distance and dive deep into the petal’s architecture.
Finding a garden bench allowed me to sit and truly observe the bloom. This stillness was essential for managing the razor-thin depth of field at f/3.6, which turned those tiny ridges into sweeping, "painterly" landscapes of blush and cream.
Bringing the Garden Home
I created this series—Angel Wing I and II—to bring a sense of celestial peace into the home. Whether it’s the vertical "portrait" of grace or the horizontal "motion" of flight, my hope is that these pieces offer a quiet moment of reflection for anyone who sees them.
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