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Molly Hollman: Learning to See Beyond the Flower
Description
Molly Hollman is a multi-award-winning flower, plant and garden photographer, known for her atmospheric images, creative macro techniques and thoughtful use of homemade overlays. She is also the author of Creative Flower and Plant Photography.
In this episode of the SheClicks Women in Photography podcast, host Angela Nicholson talks to Molly about how she found her way into flower photography after exploring portrait, landscape and street photography. Molly explains how a love of gardening gradually became a way of seeing the natural world through her camera.
Molly describes what she looks for when she visits a garden, from tiny details that are easy to miss to the colours and shapes that draw her eye. She shares why slowing down helps her notice more, how she thinks about backgrounds and composition, and why bright sunlight can make flower portraits difficult. She also offers practical advice for photographing a single flower, using a diffuser and dealing with wind or underexposed images.
The conversation explores how Molly created Creative Flower and Plant Photography, from planning its twelve chapters to finding a publisher and deciding which images belonged in the book. She reflects on how writing it helped her think more carefully about her own photography, particularly the importance of the background.
Molly also talks about the photograph she values most. It shows her young children playing on a roundabout, and the story behind making it is a reminder that a photograph’s meaning can matter more than technical perfection.
In the “Six from SheClicks” segment, Molly answers questions from SheClicks members about winter subjects, focus stacking, photographing insects, choosing lenses and trying intentional camera movement. She also shares her hopes to photograph wildflowers in South Africa and to raise awareness of declining insect populations.
Connect with Molly
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