The Calla Lilies Are in Bloom Again

How can you choose just one photo out of many? How to decide?

The line “The Calla Lilies Are in Bloom Again”, famously spoken by Katherine Hepburn, is from the film “Stage Door” (screenplay by Morrie Ryskind and Anthony Veiller, from the play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber). And, it is spelled ‘Calla Lilies’, not ‘Calla Lillies‘.

Photographers love to shoot calla lilies: Robert Mappelthorpe (at Masters of Photography) Mappelthorpe (at the Guggenheim Museum) Painters too: Georgia Okeefe

I like shooting flowers for several reasons.

Unlike many models, they come dressed and made up (usually), can be generally relied upon, don’t complain about their ‘best side’, about other flowers (not that I can hear, anyway), about other photographers, or about me!

They don’t need designer water. They are lovely, and don’t file harassment suits or get restraining orders. They are easy to obtain, maintain, and light. And, being the sexual organs of plants, which we humans associate with fragrance, romance and amour, they are almost always attractive.

A Single Calla Lily

When I shoot some flowers, it can be a challenge to decide which of the many pix to use. So, I try different ways of approaching the subject, such as the single calla lily shown above. I like it, but wanted a bit more. Since it is a well-used subject, I wanted to get something I hadn’t seen done with it before.

One Calla Lily Against a Digital White Light Background

I tried it against a white light backdrop for the ‘white on white’ affect. S’okay, but didn’t move me all that much.

A Foursome of Flowers

Then I tried a foursome of flowers, hoping for the multiplication factor of ‘more is more’.

A Calla Lily in Black and White

I went for the traditional black & white approach. This was a possible direction to go into.

Stately Calla Lily Black + White Photograph

I liked it enough to try another one in digital black and white (RAW file converted in Adobe Camera RAW). Good, but not really too exciting, almost again…

Three Calla Lilies in Bloom

Good too.      But…

The Calla Lilies Are in Bloom Again

Here we have the lovely flowers and the simple interaction between two of the three, raising questions of the ‘backstory’. Are the two really touching? Is this a triangle? A ménage à trois? Ok, a little heavy on the intrigue admittedly, but the compositional interaction between the two makes the whole piece read differently than any of the other approaches.

I look for something that makes the one image stand out from the others. Editing down a group of images is often daunting. There are many ways to be emotionally attached, but cutting through one’s feelings to get the essential image is one of the things that separates you/me from all the other image makers.

In this photograph, the visual overlap creates a subtle dialog that elevates it, for me, out from the pack.

Shoot now, edit later, enjoy.

Ken Storch