flower image : love of flowers blossoms forth

She estimates she's shot about 3,000 flowers since 2003, when it all began with a poppy in Brentwood at rush hour. Bloomfield noticed sunlight hitting the roadside flower just so and grabbed her camera.

When she developed the film, her case of poppy love began. “They just spoke to me. They're so feminine and soft and photograph so beautifully.”

She began with poppies, but has since become intrigued with other flora, most recently ranunculus. Her plans include more series of art as well as expanding into a product line of fabrics and home accessories.

Over time, the self-taught photographer has gotten very close to her subject matter literally.

“Now I'm getting more abstract and moving in closer to the flowers very tight,” she said. “Once you start really looking at them, they take on a whole other dimension. There's that unknown beauty in the details.”

Unfortunately, her subjects have a fairly short life span, but Bloomfield said she tries to nurture them along until they start to wilt. But, she said, “The flower's never really dead because its beauty lives on. Its spirit stays alive on the canvas.”

Diana McKeon Charkalis