Floral #034

20x24 print on Hahnemühle FineArt Pearl 285g/m paper. Part of a series of floral image photographed in a studio environment

Floral #034 features the Parrot’s Beak (Heliconia psittacorum) — a striking perennial native to the tropical regions of South America and the Caribbean, now a signature sight in landscapes like Hawaii. Macro photography and a shallow depth of field isolate the sharp, beak-like bracts against a soft, out-of-focus green background. High-contrast, directional lighting emphasizes the waxy texture and fiery orange-to-red gradients of the bracts with vivid energy. This image is conceived as a ‘battle among the birds’ — the aggressive, pointed geometry of the blooms locked in dynamic tension against the calm of the green beyond. This image was selected for publication in Flora, a Graphis anthology celebrating botanical photography, in 2002.