Who can resist taking a picture of a bird of paradise in bloom? I know I can’t.

Their colors and shapes beckon me during my Backyard Geographic outings. In this case, I had to go no farther than to the end of my street to catch several “birds” in their native habitat.

While the bright colors distinguish the bird of paradise from its background, its shape is also truly unique. To prove it to myself, I took a silhouetted shot that removed all hues, and it struck me as sculpturally stunning. (This image was backlit by a setting sun, but I was pleased by its lunar-like quality.)

As beautiful as these specimens are, I found myself wanting to do more than just document their physical appearance. I wanted to capture their artistic essence, so I focused on their light, color, form, and movement.

To get these plants (scientific name: Strelitzia) to appear to move, I used a slow shutter speed—between 1/8 and 1/30 of a second—and panned my handheld camera to create a motion blur.   

While the form of the plant is abstracted, it is still recognizable. An even slower shutter speed would have blurred the plant completely, but I like that you can still make out the original subject. Some of the images actually look like a bird in flight.  

I tried a similar approach with the croton plant, which has a stunning array of variegated leaf colors.

How to capture their beauty? A straight-on sharply focused image is one right answer.

 Adding motion blur creates a rich, interesting pattern that tells a more elusive story.

And, finally, an example of a daylily in my neighbor’s front yard…

A perfectly presentable photo in sharp focus, but even more interesting with a motion blur.

The final composition is another photograph of the same flower, cropped tightly to create an ethereal abstraction.