Floral Photography

if ...
(and this i can safely recommend)
... you want to photograph a flower
in the studio,
you should cut it
at the base of the stalk,
just before it opens itself to the world.

when you arrive
back at the studio
cut it one more time
very close to where you cut it before,
and place it in the light,
which may now be modified
in infinite variety
to meet your expectations.

if ...
(and this i cannot safely recommend)
... you want to photograph a flower
where it blooms,
you will have to wait
as the sun rises
and illuminates one side,
as the sun sets
and illuminates the other,
as the full moon
softens the shadows,
even as the early snow
spreads its ever-thickening veil
across the landscape.

in this way,
you will be ready
when the petals come to terms
with the day,
with the night,
with the palpable air,
which grows colder by the second.