Indoor cherry blossom portrait photo session
It’s spring and what better way to celebrate than taking beautiful self portrait photos with cherry blossoms! And since I am into artsy and creative portrait photography, I just had to go the extra mile and bring actual cherry blossom branches indoors AND go all out on the photo editing.
If you want your own favourite selfies or portrait photos edited creatively, you can book my service here. (I call it “queen-ifying” your photos to bring out the Queen that you are!)
How to bring a cherry tree inside
On my weekend stroll around the nearby fields where I work as a freelance photographer in Bamberg (among many other creative things), I spotted a cherry tree that had fallen over during the heavy rains. It made for a beautiful frame to sit in and be entirely framed by the white blossoms.
But sadly, the rain kept being relentless, which didn’t allow for an actual photo session and would wash away most pedals by the week. And the other cherry trees in Bamberg hadn’t blossomed yet.
So I decided to take some of the branches with me and hang them indoors from the ceiling, to create a makeshift cherry blossom setup.
It obviously looked fake but paired with my abstract sunset mural I had painted on the wall to serve as a photography backdrop, it made much better sense.
Unfortunately, with the blossoms came a reluctant army of black bugs that had hidden in the flowers and started crawling up and down the branches towards the ceiling and all windows. Or were trying to crash into the lighting.
I spent the weekend rescuing one after the other and releasing them into the wet wild. (They didn’t seem to like that either.)
Disclaimer: Only one bug was accidentally harmed in the making of the photos.
The entire session took one hour and included one outfit and wig change to better match the sakura theme. I personally like the second look with the pink hair and cherry blossom fit much more.
Fun fact: I do own quite a few wigs and this one in particular was a bit of an experimental project. I had bought it in white and then dyed it using sharpies, which was quite the mess. But it resulted in more if a faded look with grown out roots that can look quite nice in photos. (Not so much in real life. The shine is still too artificial even after trying several things to get rid of it.)
Spring is a time to celebrate nature
And since I didn’t make it this year in time to have hanami in Tokyo, I still wanted to honour the tradition of really honouring the cherry blossoms.
Taking from the classic dango colours, I chose a more subdued, faded colour edit that looked more vintage and reflective.
And building on that, I went on to add vintage images to complete the look and vibe.
If you didn’t know: Tricolor dango is a traditional Japanese sweet that consists of three small, round rice cakes in the colours of pink, white, and green. Each color of the tricolor dango has a specific meaning and significance:
- Pink: The pink dango represents the cherry blossoms, which are a symbol of spring and new beginnings in Japan.
- White: The white dango represents the snow that falls in winter and covers the mountains and forests, creating a serene and peaceful landscape.
- Green: The green dango represents the leaves of the Japanese maple tree, which turn a beautiful shade of red in the autumn, marking the changing of the seasons.
Together, the three colors of the tricolor dango represent the cycle of seasons in Japan and the beauty and harmony of nature. You can typically get them during festivals and special occasions in Japan.
Maybe I should share more of my photos from previous visits to Japan during cherry blossom season?
Either way, here are some more photos from this creative selfie session. And I am absolutely proud of how these turned out. I keep forgetting just how much work proper selfie photoshoots are when you handle all of the staging, outfit, makeup, lighting, shooting and post production yourself and rather spontaneously.
(Though I am very much for spontaneous sessions rather than intricately planned and staged affairs. It gives me more of a creative challenge.)
If you like my photography and edit style and are toying with the idea of commissioning me for editorial photos or just overal creative photo sessions to add fresh content to your feeds that feels entirely fresh and show your essence (as opposed to being generic), get in touch.
