Night Life of Plants

Foliage + Flashlight

By Mark Smith

May 16^th, 2020

They're waiting.

Go into your yard at night with an SLR camera (or recent smartphone) and a smallish flashlight. While holding the camera still, move the flashlight REALLY slowly amongst plants, flowers - even a fallen palm husk - and snap away. You'll be surprised at how dramatically the shot changes.

These photos were all taken on the same night within two hours and 20 feet of one another. Alive or dead, with their amazing shapes, textures, and colors, the flora do most of the work. And since they can't run away, they are willing subjects.

In the next photo I just noticed a creepy face in the background - see middle/top of the photo. I swear that isn't me.

Palm Husk

While on a walk locally I found an interesting-looking palm husk and brought it home. It turned out to be even more photogenic than I'd thought; with varying light and angles, each shot seemed to reveal a different subject.