Fireworks (Papaver), photo by Harold Davis. View this image larger.

This image of the core of a papaver nudicaule gone to seed reminds me of pinwheel fireworks.

Very carefully, I poked a toothpick up the stem of the flower core. With the toothpick adding some rigidity, I used modeling paste to hold the flower core upright. I had to be very careful handling the thing. Poppies are delicate flowers, and in nature a poppy core like the one I was photographing would disintegrate on its own in a matter of hours or minutes (depending on the wind). The slightest touch on a pistil or seed would detach it.

Next, I darkened the room. I set the camera on manual and held the shutter open. I made multiple exposures with an unsynched small flash (one of my Nikon SB200 units), each time covering the flash head with a different-colored plastic filter.

The rest was in Photoshop, assembling the individual images together with layers and masking.