Mostly Flowers

A recent class at the Picture Perfect School of Photography has inspired me to photograph more flowers. The class, Fine Art Nature Photography by Kathleen Clemons, was a giant leap outside of my photography comfort zone.

Kathleen defines Fine Art Nature Photography as …

“A fine art photograph is a photograph created solely for the purpose of expressing the photographer’s individual vision, impression and feelings about a subject, for beauty rather than utility.” — Kathleen Clemons

I typically photograph nature more as a record of what I saw, not what I felt. Trying to make a photo that expresses what I am feeling about my subject is way out in left field (or right brain) for my analytical psyche. I am learning.

In shooting for the class, I was able to get into that right side of my brain easier if the subject was something I felt some passion around. Anyone that knows me knows that I love critters and adore birds. But, those little devils don’t stay still long enough for me to think about how I feel and how I want to portray them. I also love flowers. Who doesn’t? Flowers give me enough time to look at all the angles and try many different techniques to make a photograph that expresses what I’m feeling. Good for a beginner.

I’ve done some effects in camera (panning blurs, zoom blurs, shallow depth of field and more) and I’ve also done considerable manipulation of most of the photos in photoprocessing software including the addition of texture to give a more painterly feel to the image.

I went out to photograph the flowers in my backyard. The wind was blowing and it was impossible. I was annoyed at the wind and my feelings were more about the motion it created, so I added a little motion of my own. I panned with the camera while at a somewhat slow shutter speed while photographing the Canna Lily leaves and the whole Canna Lily plant.

When I went to the park, I had the same problem – this is the windy season after all. So, I cranked up the ISO, employed a handy little clamp to gently hold the stem of the Mexican Hat wildflower and shot away.

I liked the way it came out, but I was still thinking about that wind, so I did some stacking and blending in Photoshop to get what I was feeling about the flower while I was photographing it.The roses in my front yard are suffering from lack of attention. They are up against a harsh background and they are few and far between. When I was out photographing them, the feelings I had were for how stark and neglected they looked. I added some strong, bold texture in post processing to try to express those feelings.

Last one is not a flower, but is actually a copy of an idea of one of my classmates, Anne Marie. She is a very talented artist and posted a photo of Virginia Creeper on an old wooden door with some nice, rusty hardware. When I saw it, I thought of the door on the shed out at Lake DoLittle and I tried to simulate what she had done. My Virginia Creeper was pretty tattered looking, so I cut a bit of nice looking Grapevine for some “throw down color” and gave it a shot…pun intended.

You will likely be seeing more attempts at artsy stuff from me in the near future. I enjoyed the class so much, I signed up for Fine Art Nature Photography Part II which starts in a couple of days … Stay tuned.

My photos will pale in comparison, but I highly recommend that you check Kathleen Clemons’ website by clicking here …

She is an amazing photographer. Seeing Kathleen’s work inspires me to keep learning and trying, but some days it makes me want to put down my camera and take up knitting. 🙂