Fresh, Withered and Dried, to Fine Art with Cherry Larcombe

There is a moment, usually about a week in, when a vase of flowers stops being worth photographing. The petals have gone translucent, the stems have bent, the whole thing is on its way to the compost.

Cherry thinks that is where it gets interesting.

This is an evening about doing more with flowers and plants, and particularly with the ones that are past their best. Not all of it is dying flowers, though. Some of what Cherry shows is fresh, and some of it is still growing. It starts outside, with the sort of picture you would take in your own garden, and it ends with something you would be happy to frame or print as a card. Everything in between is the bit people usually leave out.

Some of it is done in Photoshop. Some of it is done in a dish on the kitchen table, with water and paint. Some of it is done with a sheet of aluminium, which gives you reflections and shapes that are difficult to get any other way, and which no two people ever end up with the same.

The point of all of it is fine art you have made yourself, from your own photographs: something worth framing, or worth printing as a card for a birthday or for Christmas.

Cherry has presented for us many times and this is all new work.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Anyone who likes photographing flowers and plants and would like to do more with them than a straight portrait of a bloom.

It suits you if you have flowers going over in the house and feel slightly guilty binning them, if you have a garden you keep photographing and want to do more with the results, if you like the idea of making something by hand as well as on screen, or if you want to make your own prints and cards for birthdays and Christmas rather than buying them.

You do not need a studio, a macro lens or advanced editing skills. Most of what Cherry uses is already in your kitchen.

WHAT WE WILL COVER

• Flowers past their best, and some that are not. More creative ways to show flowers and plants, with particular attention to the ones that are, in Cherry's own words, past their sell by date. Fresh flowers and plants still growing in the garden are in there too.

• From the garden to something else. Taking an ordinary outdoor shot of a flower and working it up into a piece of art, with the Photoshop steps shown as she goes.

• Water and paint. Cherry's own way of playing with the two together, which is as much fun as it sounds and needs almost nothing to try.

• Aluminium, for reflections and shapes. Original results every time, and one of the ideas in this talk you are least likely to have seen elsewhere.

• Finishing and presenting. The Photoshop techniques she uses to bring a piece to a finish, so it works as a framed print or a greetings card rather than stopping at a nice experiment.

• Turning it into fine art. All of it is meant to work with the photography you already do, and with the pictures you already have. Cherry's aim is that you leave with ideas you can use on your own images, not just admiration for hers.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

Nothing on the night. Come and watch, and try it afterwards.

If you would like to work along with it later, an editor that handles layers is the main thing. Cherry works in Photoshop, but Photoshop Elements, Affinity Photo or anything similar will do the same job. Then flowers or plants, fresh or on their way out, a shallow dish, and whatever paints are in the house.

ABOUT CHERRY

Cherry Larcombe EFIAP ARPS DPAGB BPE*5 is a still life and floral photographer and she has been one of the most requested presenters on Camversation since we started.

Her work is quiet, simple and very recognisable: charity shop vases, natural light, flowers and plants both fresh and dead, and a lot of care taken over what gets left out. She has taught two four part series for us, on still life and on minimalism, alongside talks on abstracts, textures, triptychs and fine art florals.

See more of her work at cherryannette.com

FROM MARK

Cherry is a stalwart of this community.

She has presented for us more times than almost anyone, and every single one has been a pleasure to be part of. Her Textures and Triptychs talk came about because so many of you asked for it, which tells you what you need to know about how she goes down here. She has run a number of one-off workshops, series and also a meet up for us, too!

What I like most is how little she keeps back. Cherry will show you the whole thing, including the messy middle where it does not look like much yet, and she is happy for you to go away and do it your own way.

The live session - £6

Join us live, and watch the recording again for one month.

The live session, kept for twelve months - £12

Join us live, and watch the recording again for twelve months.

Both tickets include the live session and the recording. The difference is how long you keep it: one month, or twelve. Recordings are streamed on our website and are not downloadable.