Influencing Me – Kathleen Clemons

A couple of weeks ago I talked about how this month is about the Flower and Garden Show here, lots of macro photography. It seems like a good time to show the work of Kathleen Clemons in my Influencing Me post today.

Influencing Me – Kathleen Clemons

Macro photography is something I have enjoyed for a long time and about 3 years ago, I think it was, I finally got my own macro lens. It is a type of photography that I have always enjoyed.

When I am experimenting with a new genre I do a lot of research and look at the work of others. Someone mentioned Kathleen Clemons to me and I went looking at her work to see what it was like. I loved it.

Introduction

In the post I did on Edward Hopper I talked about getting to know your idols and it isn’t always a good thing. I like to fall in love with their work and understand that. Not necessarily to learn about who they are as a person. Not that I don’t think Kathleen isn’t a lovely person. I’ve seen her in videos and even spoken to her once and she was great. However, it isn’t that important to know that much about her. I do know we share a birthday which is really nice.

What I know is that she lives in Maine and takes photos of flowers. She does take images of other things, but the flowers are what she is known for. I’ve seen her on Creative Live where she teaches as well. She loves dahlias and that fact is a big part of why I started looking for them. I have several in my garden now. So thank you, Kathleen, for introducing me to those beautiful flowers.

Let’s take a look at why I like her images.

Depth of Field

She uses depth of field really well and it is something that I like to study in her images. Sometimes it is very shallow, while for others it is deeper. She will show you just part of the flower, while other times you see it all. I wonder if she does focus stacking. It is something I need to study and learn I think. (Just spoke to Kathleen and she doesn’t do focus stacking, which is good to know.)

Softness

There is a wonderful softness to the images. I’m not sure exactly how it is done. I might have to look up the courses I’ve purchased where she explains some of her processing.

Texture

One thing I know that I do try and copy is the way she brings out the textures of the flowers. They almost seem 3D.  It is really amazing and one of the amazing aspects of flowers that we don’t often see when just looking at them.

Differences

My desire with any artist that influences me is that they inspire, but I don’t copy what they do. I think it is fair to say that my macro work is not the same as Kathleen’s. Her’s is light, full of it really. Mine is dark. I think we like very similar flowers, but from there not sure you could say our work is the same. I really hope it isn’t anyway.

Gallery

I have picked a few images of her images for you to see, but I encourage you to look her up. Her website is here, Kathleen Clemons.