Midland, Michigan Senior Portrait Photographer | Eve Tuft Photography

Tag: Flowers

  • Dow Gardens After the Rain

    Dow Gardens After the Rain

    Rain is the best. Being from a city from the desert (St. George, Utah), I never take rain for granted. Even now, 15 years after moving away from St. George, I still get giddy when I see a rainstorm. However, now that I am a senior photographer in a place that gets more than five inches of rain a year, ( 😉 ) it’s not always welcomed. Eep! When Breanna’s session arrived, we had rain in the forecast on that day. But my weather app said it would be a quick storm. Sometimes I don’t trust those apps. 🙂 However, the rain came, it poured, and then it left. And when the sun came out again, it made for a gorgeous senior session.

    Breanna knew exactly what she wanted for her session. Actually, I think she knew more of what she DIDN’T want, and I love that about her. She picked Dow Gardens as a must location, and she knew she wanted some shots with flowers. She brought along her dad and her boyfriend. Breanna, Sam is a keeper!

    We started out on these steps just inside the entrance to Dow Gardens. Her hair and makeup were done by Cathy, my go-to MUA. Doesn’t Breanna look beautiful??

    A senior girl sits on stairs outside Dow Gardens after the rain | Michigan Senior Photograpger

    Here she is by those flowers she wanted. Dow Gardens, you never disappoint, even after some rain.

    A senior stands in front of flowers after the rain in Dow Gardens | Midland, MI senior photographers

    Her smile here is so her.

    A senior girl with glasses poses in front of purple flowers in Midland, Michigan | Dow Gardens Senior Photographer

    After a quick outfit change, we found beautiful locations in Dow Gardens for Breanna.

    A senior stands on a pathway at Dow Gardens for her senior session | Midland Senior Photographer

    A beautiful senior stands in front of flowers while crossing her arms after the rain | Dow Gardens Photo shoot

    My favorite thing about this session is that Breanna showed up and brought herself. Her style, clothes, mannerisms, etc. are all so her, and it was amazing to capture that for her.

    A senior girl stands in front of flowers at Dow Gardens | Senior Photographers near me

    Next week, I’ll share the second half of her session where we went to the Chippewa Nature Center. Stay tuned!

     

  • Roses Are Red

    Roses Are Red

    Roses are red is how the poem goes. These roses are very red. Or are they? Perhaps they are purple or magenta or fuchsia or some other unnamed color. Whatever they are, they are gorgeous.

    My husband always gets me flowers, typically roses, for Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day. Occasionally I’ll buy myself flowers just to take pictures of them, especially in the winter when I need a good subject. Other times he surprises me by bringing home flowers ‘just because’. I love those times the best. This was one of those times.

    As with practically all flowers, there are two things I always love to do when photographing them: Freelens and use my macro lens. This time was no exception. There’s something about freelensing that makes me feel unbound by the rules. As a left-brained creative, I love my rules. I love lines and shape. I love things that makes sense to my brain, and it’s hard for me to let go and just be purely creative. But freelensing helps me let go of the technical and the details and simply embrace the imperfect and flawed. Using my macro lens is always challenging in a good way. I love the tiny details, the water drops, the curves, everything that you see as you move closer in. I also love taking the time to just think and be still.

    So, what do you think? What color are these roses? Red? Magenta? It seemed as though they changed from day to day, and by the end their edges were definitely straight up purple. Thanks for stopping by!

    Freelensed bouquet or red roses | Michigan senior photographerMacro shot of a petal on a red rose | Midland, MI photographerMacro shot of a petal on a red rose | Midland, MI photographerMacro shot of a petal on a red rose | Tri-cities photography in MichiganMacro shot of red roses with beads of water and dew | Midland Photographer

  • Freelensed Rose Garden

    Freelensed Rose Garden

    The rose garden at Dow Gardens is one of my favorite places to take pictures in the whole city of Midland. It’s therapeutic for me to do so. The light there is the best just as the sun is setting, and there is always such an array of roses just waiting for me to capture them. On this particular day I was feeling a bit on edge and moody, so it was especially soothing for me to go there and just breathe.

    The sun wasn’t out when we were there, but I think that it was better that way. Like, my mood matched up with the day’s mood, and even the way I edited the pictures were more moody than I usually do. Since the sun wasn’t out and it was overcast, I knew that I wanted to freelens. Freelensing is when you take the lens off of the camera body and shoot through it like that with the lens in your hand. You slightly tilt the lens to place the small slice of focus at different points, all while holding it as closely to the sensor as possible. Rose gardens are the perfect subject to freelens.

    It’s funny because while I was there taking pictures, I remembered that I had gone there last year at almost the exact same time and did the same thing. Maybe the end of August calls for some moodiness. Maybe it’s because summer is coming to an end, and the longer days are quickly waning. Perhaps I should make this an annual tradition. 🙂 At any rate, it was good for my soul, and I’m so glad I can count on that rose garden to brighten my day, even if it’s only figuratively.

    Moody pink roses outside on an overcast dayColorful roses at Dow Gardens in Michigan Colorful roses at Dow Gardens in Michigan A single red rose in a garden that's freelensed | Eve Tuft Photography

  • Midland in Bloom

    Midland in Bloom

    When everything around you is in bloom, you can’t but feel the anticipation of something beautiful about to happen. That’s what spring does every year for me. It’s like all winter long we’ve been waiting. And waiting. And WAITING. And then FINALLY it’s spring, and it’s like the whole earth feels the need to celebrate its long-time coming.  I also LOVE the longer days that come with the beginning of spring and that golden hour is now even later. It’s like the whole world is just starting to wake up from a deep sleep.

    Once the flowers around town start to bloom, I feel like my photography does as well. As though the fire to shoot has been silenced from the cold. I ache to get outside again, feel the warmth of the sun, and get my photography on. And so I do. 😀

    On this afternoon at Dow Gardens, the husband, kids and I had ourselves a great time. We had to leave to get the kids in bed earlier than I wanted to, so I just BARELY missed golden hour, but I had so much fun shooting outside in beautiful light that it really didn’t matter. I loved shooting the blossoms on trees, getting daffodils in beautiful, warm light, and capturing the first blooms of tulips. They really are my favorite flower.

    Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerPink bloom on a tree in spring | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerPink bloom on a tree in spring | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerWhite and yellow daffodils in pretty light | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerThree colorful tulips outside | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerWhite and yellow daffodils in back light at Dow Gardens | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographer

  • Springtime: A Long Time Comin’

    Springtime: A Long Time Comin’

    Ahh, springtime is here again. Is it just me, or does it seem like it took a REALLY, REALLY long time to get here??? I used to live in Iowa for five years, and I thought the winter there was long. Imagine my surprise when I moved to Michigan and found out that we have an extra month of winter here! Oh, boy. It can be rough.

    This week was one of the first times all year I was able to get to Dow Gardens. I did go once when there were butterflies, but there weren’t any flowers in bloom at that time. What I really wanted to capture this day was the flowers, particularly the  tulips. I LOVE tulips. Adore them! I think it’s because they remind me of when I was younger. At the home where I grew up were planted some tulips in the front yard. And every spring they would pop up, as though to signal the beginning of springtime. It really is a glorious season of the year.

    For those of you who are wondering, the first two images on this post were taken with a Lensbaby. Lensbaby is a company that makes some wicked-cool lenses that have different effects on your pictures. The lens I used for these is called an Edge 50. You can tilt the lens to have the slice of focus wherever you want it. I don’t use this lens super often, but whenever I do I love the effect I get.

    Well, Midland, I think it’s safe to say that we’re officially and FINALLY out of winter. Welcome, spring. We’re all so glad you’re here.

    Springtime with a field of tulips at Dow Gardens. | Midland, Michigan PhotographerSpringtime with a field of tulips at Dow Gardens. | Midland, Michigan PhotographerA tree with white blossoms in spring at Dow Gardens. | Midland, Michigan PhotographerRed and orange tulips during springtime | Midland, Michigan Photographer