Recently, I attended Out of Chicago Live 2025 and it was an amazing conference. During the conference I was inspired by many photographers. One in particular, was Mary Jo Hoffman, author of Still, a beautiful book of her images and six essays. You can find her work on Instagram and on her blog Still. During one of her presentations, Ask Me Anything About Flat Lay Photography, she encouraged another participant to come up with a plan for a 30-day project. She then suggested to make it a 100-day project. My trying to come up with a project for 100 days when spring is just around the corner, failure was sure to ensue. Why? One of my passions is gardening and spring is a very busy time getting all the beds cleaned and ready for planting. A 30 day project seemed feasible. What could be my project? From My Garden, is my 30 day project. All images will be made with plant material from my garden.
Last week was my first week of this project. Only one image was made outside as the temperatures were bitter cold. The windchill at times was -25 degrees Fahrenheit. Even with all of my winter gear, it was too cold. My camera battery would not last long and the wind was too much of a challenge as well.
It was time to practice flat lay photography that Mary Jo had presented. She uses a white background and I didn’t want to copy her style. All of the plant material in my yard is definitely spent. A piece of barn wood quickly came to mind. It was from one of the barns where my grandpa farmed in the 1960’s. In 2004 several pieces were taken back with me to Phoenix. Then in 2015 when we moved to Iowa, the barn wood came home with me. For years, I have been undecided on what to do with these pieces. Now, was the perfect opportunity to make use of one of the boards.
Shooting inside had challenges too. One being I do not own any studio lights. Therefore, I had to work quick when coming home from work using natural light, a diffuser and a reflector. Fortunately, there is a large south facing window in my living room. The very late afternoon sun was quite bright and warm. A large diffuser was used to even and soften the light. Even so, there were still shadows and using a reflector solved that issue.
The first image is of dried black-eyed susan flowers that were still showing color in their petals. I was taken by surprise when I spied them outside of my kitchen window. I knew they should be cut and brought indoors to be photographed.
The next day was the only image made outside. My flower and perennial beds do not get cleaned out in the fall. I leave everything for the pollinators to hibernate, not to mention all of the natural bird seed for the birds that do not fly south. This next image is of Giant Benary Zinnias that were planted in a raised bed near all of my vegetable raised beds. I plant flowers right along side my vegetables to both attract pollinators and also to help with pest control.
Back inside, this next image was made in my living room using natural light and a diffuser. I gathered several pieces of plant material from different flowers. The black-eyed susan’s were used again. The orange marigolds were found in a terracotta pot that had been moved into our garage for the winter. Again, finding this much color was a surprise. In the same pot were a few stems of petunias with a couple still showing some green color. The two seed heads on long stems are also black-eyed susan’s. Along the bottom are cedar berries that had been gathered from a neighbor’s property next to my aunt and uncle’s farm. The cedar branches with the beautiful blue berries were used for outdoor Christmas decor. Do you still have this much color in your yard?
The blue cedar berries looked like tiny blueberries. They deserved to have a portrait made. Each day I had to come up with a composition and then work quickly before the light was gone. This 30 day challenge, from my garden, is just that.
In the spring of 2016, my first garden was planted here in Southeast Iowa. During late winter and early spring I started several vegetables and herbs. One of the herbs was oregano. At the time, I thought oregano was an annual. Yet, it has come back year after year! Each year it is bigger than the last. Last year, I dug some up and gave it to a friend for her garden. If not trimmed regularly it will flower. The flowers are loved by the bees! The dried oregano flowers would be my next plant material to photograph. The sun was quite low and casting a warm light on a small part of the flowers even with a diffuser. Using a silver reflector, a more even warm light was cast over the flowers. That’s right, a silver diffuser was used not a gold or a silver/gold reflector.
I found two hydrangea flowers while foraging for plant material. They had broken off in the wind and were lying in my perennial flower bed. One had been smashed on one side, so that one was tossed aside. It will be composted in the spring. The other dried flower had a pretty triangle shape and was not tattered. This is not the same flower that was photographed covered in snow.
The last image for the week is of Giant Benary Zinnia seed heads. I braved the cold to snip a few stems that were left in my garden. One was so large it had bent over from the weight of the seeds. The middle stem had lost most of its seeds, but left an interesting shape. The seed head on the far right was quite a bit smaller. It was possibly from a flower late in the season. I loved that a few leaves remained. Each stem unique and interesting in it’s own way.
I hope you follow along to see all the images that will be made with plant material from my garden!
Different Isn't Wrong, It's Just Different 