. . . and crushed flower petals . . . and a few weeks drying time on the kitchen windowsill.

Today I’m sharing the second installment of my first attempt at souping film. A brief recap for those who haven’t seen the earlier posts, but fellow Viewfinder, Laura , encouraged  me to try souping my film with a joint project. We’d each soup two rolls of film; one town/city themed and the other garden themed. We’ve both shared our city rolls in previous posts, so today you’re seeing some images from my garden-themed roll.

Laura and I decided to stew the garden film in its own juices  – warm water, flower petals and other plant matter. I have long made photos of my garden, and I’ve leaned even more heavily on my little plot as my primary  photography subject the past few years as the world grew small and close.

I’ve taken so many pictures – tens of thousands possibly – on this patch on phone, digital and film; through colored films and prisms and with trick lenses. I was pretty sure  I couldn’t possibly  be surprised by any photo I made  in my backyard.

But whether it was the water, the crushed leaves and petals, or their magical, alchemical combination with the film, where these images succeeded I can almost feel the dizziness and see the sunspots from  peering up into the high  branches of a buddleia at  iridescent fluttering wings or blink at the retina burning intensity of an impossibly, unphotographable red nasturtium blossom shot through with summer sun. I was absolutely surprised at how I felt these photos.

And this, friends, is why you must always keep trying new things.

Keep your eyes wide open,
Debbie