How long have you been photographing plants?
I obtained my first 35 mm SLR camera in 1977 as a graduation gift and started doing casual nature photography. In 1986, I switched to Nikon equipment and added several lenses to my gear. That’s when I started pursuing nature photography more seriously and began developing plant photography skills.
Why have plants kept your photographic attention for so long? What other subjects do you focus on?
About the same time, in 1986, I began the graduate work that eventually lead to my becoming a botanist. So plants have occupied my interest ever since I began serious photography. There are over 2000 species of plants in Iowa, so there is a huge list of potential plant subjects to photograph. I’d like to have a photographic record of every one of them. I shoot all nature subjects – landscapes, wildlife, macro subjects as well as plants. Because plants are always available, I tend to gravitate towards them when I am out doing photography and time is limited.
What has changed in the outdoor world since your first days of photographing these areas? What’s better, what’s worse?
One thing is that there are more public areas to go to and look for nature subjects. And at least some of them are still pretty good examples of Iowa’s native landscape. In part this is due to the increased emphasis on restoration work. So access to areas is surely better. On the down side – I see increasing problems with non-native, troublesome plant species that threaten the integrity of natural areas. Unfortunately, in some cases this problem is exacerbated by poorly designed and/or executed restoration work.
Thomas Rosburg, photographer,
Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie
