Simple & Moody Flower Crown Photo Tutorial
Creativity Fresh from the Garden
If you know anything about my photography style, you know I love nature, appreciate a good moody image, and adore my Lensbaby Edge 35.
When I combined all three into one, I had to share.
I've had wildflowers growing in my garden for several weeks now because a) they're beautiful, and I like to look at them, and b) we keep bees so I always feed the pollinators. Whenever I stopped to admire the flowers, I daydreamed about incorporating the blooms into a photo.
Eventually, I settled on a no-fuss flower crown.
The Simplest Flower Crown Possible:
Pick your fresh flowers with as much of their stem attached as possible. Here, I used what I assume are daisy fleabanes.
Let them dry out for a couple of weeks. The dry time will vary depending on the size of the flower and the weather in your area. (We're currently in a heat wave in Kansas City, and these are small flowers, so they were ready within two weeks.)
Gather floral wire and scissors.
Bend the stems to create a crown, and wrap the floral wire (or floral tape, if you prefer) to secure it. You'll want to do this in a few spots. Be careful to keep the ends of the wire tucked in and not poking out.
Now start sculpting the front of the crown using the blooms and whatever else you want to incorporate. I wanted a wild, unkempt look, with tons of texture, so it came together naturally.
Makeup for People Who Don't Know Makeup
I'm probably stating the obvious, but I am not a makeup artist. Just to give you an idea of my mastery level, I have some basic colors and a few brushes, but other than knowing that big brushes are for blush and small brushes are for eye shadow, I am still trying to figure out what to do with them.
However, I was scanning Pinterest for inspiration for an upcoming shoot, and I found an image by Saatchi Art and knew I wanted to recreate the makeup. I loved her use of dark eyes, high blush lines, and pouty lips.
The SOOC image. You can see that I needed to enhance the dark circles around the eyes in Photoshop.
Since my makeup skills pretty much suck, I did have to increase the darkness around the eyes in Photoshop. It was as simple as:
Add a new blank layer.
Select a soft black brush and make it large enough to cover the entire eye.
Turn the layer's blending mode to Multiply and use a layer mask to remove the darkness from the whites and pupils.
Adjust the layer's opacity to your liking. I ended up around 70% opacity here.
The Absolute Basics Behind the Photo
I used good old-fashioned cave light and positioned my model in my garage with the door open. I shot it at ISO 500 and 1/500.
Using a Lensbaby Edge 35 at 3.5 (the widest aperture for this lens) and my Canon R5, I focused on her eyes and let the lens's magic create the dreamy, blurred effect I adore.
Share What You Make
I'd love to see what you all create. Use the #sandsmoodyflowercrown so I can take a peek.
