Karen Botvin  

Life Cycle by Karen Botvin

July 2025 - Life Cycle

July 2025 - Karen Botvin

Original

About the Image(s)

I love to photography tulips when they start to lay over the vase. These accommodated me within a day. I decided to photograph them as they matured and had fun watching them unfold. Since I had so many different images of them, I thought it would be nice to see them in an array, so off to YouTube I went to watch a video on creating a Triptych in PS. I’m not sure I can explain all the steps accurately, but there are a number of videos you could watch if interested in creating your own. All of the images were shot with my Nikon Z7-2 mounted on a tripod. The image on the left was shot with a Lensbaby Velvet 56. I shot this at f/11 as I wanted all the buds in focus, a 1.3 sec exposure with an ISO 250. If you’re not familiar with Lensbaby’s, they are completely manual lens and the Velvets give the subject a kind of glow. The middle image was shot the following day with a Helios lens which is a Russian Vintage lens. I believe it’s a 46mm lens and it’s also completely manual. Unfortunately, I’m not sure of the f/stop, but I would assume somewhere around an f/11 as well. The exposure was .8 sec with ISO 250. The image on the right was shot 2 days after the first image also with the Helios lens. The exposure was 1.6 sec ISO 250. I call this Triptych: Life Cycle. Just for fun, I also included another image of some of those same tulips that I shot on a lightpad and converted it to B&W. I’d say I got my monies worth out of that bouquet! Comments always appreciated.

10 comments posted

Shirley Pohlman   Shirley Pohlman
Karen, what an inspiration you are to me. I'm on the edge of dropping out of the photography world because of my lack of getting out there to shoot. But you show me it can be done right here in my home. I can only say these are beautiful and have no suggestions for improvement. So inspiring!   Posted: 07/02/2025 21:08:30
Karen Botvin   Karen Botvin
Oh Shirley, thanks so much for your kind appreciation of my work. I, too, can relate to not getting out there to shoot because I can't stand the heat and humidity here in Florida. I love to cook and bake and I love to shoot flowers, so the natural thing for me to do is turn to still life. But you can create anything indoors. One's creation is only limited by one's imagination. Don't quit just yet, Shirley. You make some great images.   Posted: 07/02/2025 21:16:54
Piers Blackett   Piers Blackett
Congratulations on your instructional and creative lesson. On looking at the original my first thought was high key and then perhaps to question whether it would be a good idea to have retained the thematic concept by putting the vase on a white table and perhaps a whiter wall to contrast and bring out the purple to orange shades? The third image with the petals is great in itself.   Posted: 07/03/2025 22:21:59
Karen Botvin   Karen Botvin
Thanks for your comments, Piers. The image marked original isn't the original from these tulips, rather just a photo I made on a lightpad after they had all wilted and dried. I wouldn't have been able to put them into a vase as they would have fallen apart. I was merely trying to demonstrate just how long one can shoot the same flowers over and over again.   Posted: 07/06/2025 17:19:15
Martin Newland   Martin Newland
I love Triptychs. They are great for telling a larger story than a single image does.
Karen, your story is simple; the slow deterioration of the tulips in the vase until finally two petals fall from a bloom, marking the end of the story.
Well done. Nicely photographed images and well put together.
I am always amazed at some photographers ingenuity!
  Posted: 07/06/2025 03:58:50
Karen Botvin   Karen Botvin
Thanks so much, Martin, for your kind words!   Posted: 07/06/2025 17:21:44
Stanley Cheong   Stanley Cheong
Karen, It's a very interesting triptych, like a person's journey from youth, middle age, to old age, which is a portrayal of a lifetime. Appreciate your creativity.

If you're creative, also can take great photos at home, and you did it.   Posted: 07/06/2025 13:48:51
Karen Botvin   Karen Botvin
Thank you, Stanley, for commenting on my triptych. I love your analogy between the images.   Posted: 07/06/2025 17:26:37
Jim Wulpi   Jim Wulpi
Very Nice, Karen!! I Love the triptych approach.
Was each days shoot the exact same arrangement, or did you modify the arrangement each time? My individual preference (of the 3) is the third image with four dominant buds standing proud in the center of the image. The 3 fallen petals help tell the story of the life cycle.
My only (constructive) criticism relates to the background. The dappled highlights of the yellowish background appear to be a bit too overexposed. The individual flowers in front of those areas seem to be overpowered by the brightness - especially in the middle image.
I REALLY like the "original" with the Lightpad. The stems, leaves and petals look translucent. I'll have to try that sometime.
Well done!!   Posted: 07/11/2025 20:24:58
Karen Botvin   Karen Botvin
Thanks so much, Jim. I arranged the flowers in the vase and set it on the table and only moved a few of the flowers on the final image on the right, as they became fairly bunched together as they drooped. The image from the light pad was obviously not the original but taken about a week or so later after I'd let them dry. Tulips are very conducive to photographing on a light pad, even if they aren't dried.   Posted: 07/13/2025 00:38:56

 

Please log in to post a comment