STEP BY STEP PREPARE YOUR FLORAL SUBJECTS

To create the subjects to shoot, pick a variety of flowers or slice some fruit, then arrange them in containers, add water and put them in the freezer

1 Pick your flowers

First, you need to find the flowers you are going to use. I went out in my garden and picked a range of subjects. When you cut them, always leave a long stem at the end of the flower, because you may want to use that when freezing. The flowers that I picked had a variety of colours; some had lots of petals, some not many at all. You will also need leaves: when you make bigger frozen pieces, you can fill space within the flowers. I also collected some fruit to add variety.

2 Load up your containers

Once you have decided on the flowers you want to freeze, you can place them in your containers. Having a variety of containers to use will allow you to experiment more.

This is the time to be creative. Think about how you want the flowers to be shown – always remember this will be a three-dimensional object, so don’t place the flowers in the same direction. For example, place some facing down and some facing forwards.

3 Add the water

Using normal tap water can create frosting over the flowers if the water is not pure, so you can lose some clarity while photographing the flowers. I used distilled water instead, which you can find in a DIY shop or online. When you add the water, add it to a depth of 1-2cm in each container containing flowers. If a flower moves when the water is being added, firmly press down on it. To stop a flower moving while being frozen, just use some sticky tape to secure it in place.

4 Freeze the flowers

Find a level space in your freezer and place the containers into it, leaving them there for 2-3 hours. Make sure that you don’t open the freezer for a couple of hours while the flowers are freezing. Some of the small containers may not require another layer of water as they are already fully covered by the water; some of the bigger containers, though, may need another 2-3cm of water just to ensure they are fully covered. If you do add more water, then freeze it for another 2-3 hours.