Holding/Positioning Flowers

[Alex Hawley]

There just has to be a good way of doing this but so far, it eludes me. So, I would like to know, from anyone who does successful flower still lifes: what do you use to hold the flowers in position, especially vertically? And especially ones with long stems?

 

[Dave Parker]

I have used a product called a plamp, which is made by a company that also makes tripod heads,

Their website is www.tripodhead.com


Dave

 

[ChrisC]

I tried my hand at doing some flower photography last night, and used one of the following with quite alot of success (minus the magnifying glass, of course). The stems of the flowers were 16 or so inches long, and with both clamps at the bottom of the stem they stayed dead still (you wouldn't want and wind gusts though). I've yet to develop the negs, but I forgot to compensate bellows extension anyway so I fear they might not be what I was hoping I'm going to try again tonight after developing what I did last night though.

 

[micek]

If you are not going to include the vase in the image, two or three layers of cardboard inside the vase with the appropiate hole in them should keep long-stemmed plants straight.

 

[Carol]

Hi Alex. I'm only a hobby photographer so I scrounge around the house for whatever does the job. I've found that if you've got a flower with a thin stem you can wind some solder-wire round the stem to make it more stable and then poke it through a bit of coloured cardboard at the angle you want. Sometimes the cardboard takes care of the background at the same time.

 

[kchittenden]

I use a product called a flower frog. It has a metal base with lots of little pinpoint prongs that stick straight up. You can push the stem of the flower onto the frog and it will stand upright.

 

[Shmoo]

You can also use what the florists use: floral wire and/or floral tape. The wire is very thin and florists usually hook/bury one end into the flower head. It doesn't show if done properly. The floral tape stretches...remember the boutonnieres (sp?) at your high school prom? You can use that to stabilize the flower to the wire.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

For flower arrangements, isn't there also a porous green foam material that florists use to keep the flowers in place? I think I've seen it in craft stores. They usually have a section for flower arranging, so they probably have some products for this purpose.