Brenda Landrum

2026 is off to a very good start! Apparently I haven’t photographed a bouquet of flowers in the studio since 2023 (I’ve done many single stems) and I’ve already done 2 different bouquets with one waiting. The nearby Trader Joe’s floral department is definitely helping this cause. My husband has quickly figured out that we can not go there and not come home with flowers. Flowers are just part of the grocery run now.

This bouquet lasted a very long time and made its rounds around the house for almost 2 weeks. It started in the kitchen and then was brought into the studio where I began to figure out how the light moved in this new to me space. I simply set it on the bookcase, styled things a little bit and started bending the light with white foam boards (see last set of photos).

A few days later the roses were done so I adjusted the bouquet a bit and got a little more serious. I dug out a very old backdrop that my mom and I made years ago using a drop cloth and paint. I also brought out a vinyl marble backdrop that I haven’t used in a while. It felt right to have some texture, as if the bouquet was sitting on a table next to a wall. 

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of light that day. I shot this in February when the light is really low in the sky and days are very short. This room is north facing so I was concerned with how dark it might be but because it’s a small room (it’s a little bonus room off the main room and is about 6×8’) and painted a warm white, the light that came in & bounced around the room very nicely. I even found myself creating shadow using a flag by blocking light with some foam board. I’m quite happy with the images below.

Next up a single carnation stem. I went to my favorite setup of an all white backdrop and white vase. I like how it puts all the focus on the bloom and is a nice crisp look. Again, the light was good and didn’t cast a blue tone on the white which was something I was concerned about. So things are looking good so far for this little shoot room!

At the top of this article are the black backdrop with the insects added in. Since I can push the black backdrop back further from the window into shadow, the black beautifully goes dark with no color casting. I was very pleased with this. The light hitting the bloom and bumblebee (you can really see it on the wings) was really nice with it wrapping around the bloom to light the opposite side. I’m slowing playing around with adding insects into my floral work. These were both found in my garden. 

A couple of behind the scenes shots. It’s a little tough to show this room, I’ll try to get some better shots the next time, but the window is to the left and I bring the table to the edge of the window. The white foam boards were used to bounce light or to block light.

For the first true test of this shooting space I would say it was a success! So much so that only a few weeks later I got my hands on another bouquet of flowers for my daughter’s birthday and am just as happy with those. I’ll share those soon!

Thank you as always for spending your time here and getting a little more insight as to how I work. I appreciate your interest greatly!