Photographing structural plants like this Allium Purple Sensation, after it has seeded, is fun and quite rewarding visually. Oh, an Allium is a type of flowering onion would you believe?
So what am I looking for in a "structural" plant? Well. firstly something that produces an individual element that grows on a tall stem that can be photographed at near eye level and from a distance to keep it parallel to it's background.
Secondly, the arrangement of and relationship between the parts of the element itself should represent something complex: shapes, patterns, textures and tones, that can be juxtaposed against interesting backgrounds.
Thirdly, plants whose structures can by echoed by other individuals in the same picture often as defocused objects behind the primary subject to create an impression of depth.
Thirdly, plants with clusters of colourful flowers where the clusters form the structure of interest rather than any individual flower, aided and abetted by the foliage providing colour contrast as well as dimensional depth.
Finally, plants with individual flowers which are themselves by there own nature of highly structural form, again where possible using the echoing technique this time to emphasise the structure through repetition of the basic form.
There is a lot more to it than just the above of course. Like choosing the right focus length lens, using the right apertures, waiting for the light to be right, the point of focus, being at the right distance from your subject and finding a background to your subject at the right distance away plus a word on perspective in general I guess. That's all for a later time perhaps. But for now here is to snapping away at the exotic onions of this life.