Featured Artist F. M. Kearney

New York artist F. M. Kearney’s intimate floral portraits are developed using an innovative technique that produces soft, ethereal visions of beauty. Visit his website to see more.

 

 

I began my career as a photojournalist in New York City. It was an exciting profession that allowed me to cover a variety of interesting assignments. I shot (with a camera) many famous celebrities and sports figures. Some of my more memorable adventures include ride-alongs with the FDNY and NYPD. I’ll never forget the night I spent in the back of a surveillance van with undercover cops as they conducted a decoy operation in Brooklyn.

 

 

As exciting as these assignments were, they didn’t allow much room for personal expression. After all, you can only get so creative when shooting the news.

 

 

Since I’ve always been a big fan of color, it was almost inevitable that my attention would eventually turn to nature. Although I enjoy shooting landscapes, New York City isn’t exactly known for wide-open vistas and majestic mountain ranges. I, therefore, tend to concentrate more on “intimate” landscapes.

 

 

Flowers have become a favorite subject of mine. Their varied shapes and colors offer an unlimited number of amazing photo ops—a cornucopia of creative possibilities. Over the years, I’ve developed many innovative techniques to capture the beauty of these wonderful jewels of nature.

 

 

Since I shoot most of my subjects outdoors, I have no control over the weather, but I can, to some degree, affect my surroundings. A black cloth is a simple, but effective way, to eliminate distracting backgrounds. I place it on the ground behind the subject to create elegant floral portraits.

 

 

Sometimes, I’ll use special effect filters in conjunction with multiple exposures to place colored “halos” around the flowers, producing a unique, ethereal effect.

 

 

Other times, I’ll replace the black cloth with custom-made, multi-colored backgrounds to create fantasy-like backdrops.

 

 

The photos you see here are the products of my latest technique. I use a software program to transform ordinary-looking photos into impressionistic black and white sketches. I then remove the effect, in varying degrees, from carefully selected portions of the image.

 

 

This is an extremely tedious and time-consuming process (especially when working with tiny dew drops), but the end result creates a 3-D-like image that straddles the line between photography and painting.

 

Artist F. M. Kearney invites you to follow him on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

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