Tag:ice

How To Do Frozen Flower Photography

Frozen flower photography is fun. It’s a tad frustrating and very much a unique ‘one of a kind’ image, as no two blocks will ever look alike.

Go ahead and Google ‘frozen flower photography’, and you will get lots of tutorials on how to do it. While the basics, such as building your ice up slowly, are in all of them, they also differ on many finer points. I tried several methods. Most were pretty much unsuccessful. (that’s a kind way of saying total failures).

Roses in tap water
Roses in distilled water

Through trial and error, this is what worked for me.

Note: Freezing your block completely can take up to 24 hrs or more, depending on the size of your container. Freeze it the day before you want to photograph it.

Supplies

For your frozen flower photography, you will need, apart from a freezer, camera and tripod, the following:

Supplies for frozen flower photography
  • Flowers – something not too big. Rosebuds work well, as do daisies, cosmos and gerberas. Not Lillies; they are too big. The bigger the flower, the bigger the container, the more water, the longer the freezing takes… etc., etc.
  • A container – it needs to be at least twice as deep as your chosen flower. A smoother base is better than a highly patterned one, too. However, small ridges or brand stamps don’t matter. The container must also be freezer-safe.
  • Distilled water – yes, you can use tap water or boiled water. (see the bit about failures). Tap water will be cloudy. I got the best results with distilled water. The distilled water was nice and ‘almost’ clear. Apart from bubbles. More on that later. Demineralised water also works, though distilled is cheaper.
Method

You need to fully encase your flowers in a block of ice. Just putting them in the container and filling them with water won’t work. Flowers contain oxygen, and they will float to the surface and bob around like apples in a barrel. We need to anchor the flowers to the ice and build it up slowly with the ice setting between layers.

  • Add a couple of centimetres of water to your container and freeze solid.
  • When your water is frozen, remove it from the freezer and arrange your flowers on the ice to your liking. If you are using rosebuds, they will look the same on top and bottom so that you can shoot from both sides. If using daisies, for example, place them face down and arrange them to your liking.
  • Slowly add a little bit more water.. about a cm or so. Too much, and you will melt the layer below, and they will float. Back to square one. Trust me. I am not guessing here. The second they start floating, STOP. Maybe soak a little bit of water back out. Pop it back in the freezer for another couple of hours. Ignore the strange looks the family is giving you
  • Remove your container from the freezer and check if it’s frozen. If you still have water sloshing around below the surface, return to the freezer and leave for another hour or so. If it’s frozen solid, add just enough water to completely cover the flowers—about 1 to 1.5cm above them. Too much, and you could melt the layer below again or find it hard to shoot through the ice to photograph the flowers. Pop it back in the freezer again
  • Recheck it a couple of hours later.. or the next morning. When it’s frozen solid, remove it and place it on a draining board upside down for around ten minutes. It should then slide out of the container easily.
  • Check the uppermost side when it comes out. This is the side you are shooting. If you have marks from the bottom of the container, wipe them over gently with a warm cloth or your hand to even them out.
Photographing your flowers

You have a couple of options here. You can place it upright, against a window with natural light coming through, to light the flowers. Another option is on a white backdrop or board and light it from the sides and back with a torch.

Leaning against a window, looking out

I added a paper towel folded into four under the block to stop it from sliding around on the perspex. It will get wet, but that doesn’t matter. The point is to stop the block from sliding off the perspex; it can’t be seen if your background is white. If you put it against a window inside, place a towel below it to avoid a puddle.

On a white background, using tap water and a 24-80 lens
On a white background, using distilled water and macro

I used a standard lens such as a 24-70 for some shots and the macro for others. I also shot brighter than the camera was suggesting by lowering my shutter speed (it was on a tripod, so no problem). As the block started melting, the failed tap water ones looked good with a macro. Little air bubbles will form in your creation from the oxygen trapped in the flowers – these look great captured with a macro.

Distilled water and macro lens
Distilled water, macro lens and against a window

You have a couple of hours to play with your block and will get different shots as the block continues to melt. It is fun but time-consuming getting it to the frozen stage. But then again, what else do we all have now but time on our hands.

Update: I have now done a tutorial with frozen autumn leaves.

© Bevlea Ross