Tulips
- Paul Mitchnick
- Jul 31
- 2 min read
By Paul Mitchnick:
"If you want to make me happy, give me tulips."
Sounds pretty simple really. And who doesn’t want to make their partner happy?
It’s almost as good as cleaning and fixing up the found 1976 Raleigh Sprite 5-speed ladies' bicycle. These opportunities, however, don’t come up too often.
Making your partner happy goes a long, long way to easing your sins. And the worst possible sin is the sin of frequent absence. Working, playing, relaxing—doesn’t matter. Not there for the broken refrigerator. Not there for the bad haircut. Not there for the family drama. Just not there.
I have been guilty of that often. Work is my golden excuse, but still not there.
My wife, Michaelin, is an avid gardener. And very little gives her as much joy as time in a garden. As such, she is knowledgeable about things botanical, like that tulips continue to grow after they’re picked. And if you can find one, a Canadian copper penny will extend their life in a vase.
It is not hard to send flowers often . . . by iPhone.
When away working, Vancouver in springtime—with its proliferation of flowers—is pleasantly overwhelming. And every iPhone floral photo is taken with Michaelin in mind. Exotic work locations mean more exotic floral messages.
I just got into photographing flowers.
This spring, I had a minor "procedure" that kept me housebound for a few weeks. So I borrowed lights, bought a big black cloth, film, and turned our dining room into a photo studio. Work to keep me busy while recovering. Or maybe I just did it to buy lots of tulips. Beautiful tulips. And look at them. Maybe.
Spring also meant tulips in gardens. Plentiful this year.
I shot with film, digital, and iPhone. Searching for something interesting. Unique.
Some were magic, and others maybe not so much. I am sharing some of the magic ones.
Enjoy.
Paul Mitchnick is a cinematographer living and working out of Toronto, Canada. He has spent time with many gifted filmmakers in his career—Sean Penn, Lawrence Kasdan, and John Woo as directors, as well as many Oscar-winning cinematographers. For the last decade, Paul has been Director of Photography on award-winning Canadian Independent Features and television Movies of the Week. He shot KEIF AL-HAL, the first feature film produced by a Saudi Arabian company. Whenever on assignment, Paul travels with his still camera and has taken photographs all over the globe. "I make my living looking at things, and when I have my still camera, opportunities kind of present themselves. Whether those things are looking for me or I am looking for them, I am not sure."
Instagram: @pmmitchnick
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