Jacky Parker Floral Art and Interview

I’m very pleased to present this interview and featured art by Jacky Parker. Jacky is best known for her radiant, oh-so-lovely, macro photographs of flowers. When browsing her images on 500px, I find myself wanting to “Like” and “Favorite” every one of her images! Here, I’m featuring only her textured images, so be sure to immediately go look at her other photography. In following tradition, I always give away a free texture with each interview. See the end of the interview for the link.

Jacky Parker Published/Awards/Representation

Published

Awards

  • RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Photographer of the year 2008.
  • First in the Macro Art section of the International Garden Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) competition 2012
  • 1st in the Wildlife category and 2nd in Plant portrait category of this years RHS Photographic competition 2012. (To be announced on 29th October.)
  • Finalist (IGPOTY) Year 1,2,3 & 4

Representation

Cosmos

French Kiss Collections

Jacky, can you tell us a little about where you live and your life today?

Jacky

I live in the small village of Iver in Buckinghamshire, England UK, happily married for 26 years to my wonderful husband Dave, a professional photographer for a national newspaper, two grown up children, Samantha and Andrew, not forgetting Daisy our Labrador retriever. I work part time for my sister who runs a Market Research Facility nearby.

Two little florals

Vintage yellow flower

French Kiss Collections

How long have you been photographing and what drew you to photography? Did you go to school for photography/art or are you self-taught?

Jacky

I guess I started taking an interest in photography around 8 years ago whilst studying for the RHS diploma in horticulture, I needed a few images for an assignment and used a little Canon “point and shoot” to capture some plant detail. I loved being amongst the flora and fauna of the garden with the little camera, trying to identify the different parts and structures of plants. I simply enjoyed the fact that with a digital camera the results were instant, no waiting for film to be developed, and with a lot of help and guidance from my dear husband Dave my passion for flower photography began.

Aquilegia

French Kiss Collections

Do you have other traditional art skills?

Jacky

I would not say I have any particular skills, I have always loved art and drawing and I have completed courses in flower arranging and egg decorating, both of which I found very inspirational.

blossom still life

French Kiss Collections

Your images are very joyous. They are radiant with light and seem to dance to the music of the universe. I imagine a rich interior life and appreciation for the beauty in the world in you. What inspires you or moves you?

Jacky

I have often been referred to as the Flower Lady/ Flower Whisperer which I take as a great compliment as I am truly passionate about the natural world which inspires me greatly from the tiniest creature to the intricate detail and structure of flowers. When editing I always have classical music which I find very inspirational, playing softly in the background, whilst using my Wacom tablet to gently remove or paint around areas of texture giving another dimension and painterly feel to an image.

Forget Me Nots

Heart Flower and egg wreath

French Kiss Collections

In an email earlier this summer, you mentioned going to the meadows to photograph wild flowers. Do you have a favorite method/place for photographing? I’m thinking of those times when we lose ourselves in the joy of working.

Jacky

I could spend literally hours in wildflower meadows and once a year we venture down to the South Coast in a little cottage by the sea in the village of West Pentire, Cornwall, the area is surrounded by fields which have been cultivated with native wildflowers, the majority of which are field poppies, as you can imagine, weather permitting I am in flower heaven for 7 days. I love to sit and watch the movement of the flowers in the sea breeze and try to capture this with a the camera set at a wide aperture or experiment with the painterly effect the Lensbaby can create.

2 Flower images

French Kiss Collections

You’ve mentioned in another interview that you often cut flowers to photograph or photograph potted plants that you can move around. How do you photograph the cut flowers? Do you use natural light indoors? What kind of backgrounds do you use?

Jacky

Having a large north facing garden I often struggle to get the soft hazy light where I want it and this lead me to start cutting flowers and taking them to available light source.

When I cut flowers I place them in a Wimberley Plamp (clamp), {FKC note: I’m so going to get two!} which I then secure to a tripod to prevent movement. I place the tripod and Plamp usually in front of pots containing colorful flowers or a bright shrub in the garden using them as natural backgrounds, blurred by a wide aperture setting on the camera. The Plamp can also be used amongst groups of flowers or foliage to hold a certain stem in place, giving a more natural feel to the image, if you do not have a clamp I find clothes pegs quite useful.

2 Little flowers

Daisy

French Kiss Collections

Do you ever use flash/strobes in your photography? Is there a certain kind of light you like most?

Jacky

I simply love the early morning light and still bright overcast days unfortunately this year has been quite sunny & breezy. I sometimes combat the elements and shoot in my greenhouse where I have set up a little studio. The only flash I will use is a Sigma Ring flash which is great for achieving bold images full of detail, I can hand hold the camera with this flash and set the aperture to F/32 for maximum depth of field.

Tree Blossom

French Kiss Collections

Do you shoot any differently if you know you will use textures?

Jacky

I do not usually think about processing when taking photographs, it is not until I see the image on the screen that I decide whether it lends itself to texturing.
Some images just shout out to be textured but I can never predict which ones they will be.

Blossoms

French Kiss Collections

You have a very delicate touch with textures, which I love. Is there a blend mode that you find you use the most?

Jacky

I often start with a Screen Blend mode which creates a lighter image and then experiment with the overlay mode where the shadow of the image is maintained yet the overall colour changes I usually finish with a soft light mode, a softer version of the overlay mode, adjusting the opacity levels to see which works best, I have no set rules and often save a few rough copies of the images with several textured layers set with different blending modes before deciding which one I am happy with.

Two Still Lifes

French Kiss Collections

Are you duplicating the flower layer or the texture?

Jacky

I position the first texture over the image and usually try out the screen mode to make the image lighter, painting away the areas of the image I want to keep bold, I then apply another texture or the same one and experiment with the overlay mode, again removing any textured areas I don’t like, and finally add another texture or the same one again and soften it down with the soft light mode, at all stages adjusting the opacity.

Bleeding Hearts

French Kiss Collections

What equipment do you have in your Camera Bag?

Jacky

I currently have a Nikon D700, Nikon D300, Nikkor 105 micro VR (my Favorite lens), Nikkor 17-55 VR, Nikkor  80-200 2.8, Nikkor 300 2.8, Valdai Helios-77M-4 50/1.8 MC, and a Lensbaby composer with Sweet optic and macro attachments. Gitzo carbon fibre Tripod.

Pastel Flower

French Kiss Collections

What Photo Editing software do you use?

Jacky

I use Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Adobe Lightroom 4, Photomatix Pro, Helicon Focus 4.2.9 for focus stacking, MAC OSX.

French Kiss Collections

Do you use any 3rd Party filters & plug-ins?

Jacky

I do not have any at the moment that I use regularly but I would like to experiment in the near future.

Craquelure Flower

French Kiss Collections

What tips would you give someone beginning to photograph macros?

Jacky

Look for online tutorials on macro photography, join an online photo sharing community such as Flickr, find groups specializing in macro photography look through discussion forums for help and advice and draw inspiration from photo streams. Experiment with different genre and get the feel of how the world close-up through a macro lens can be enjoyable and creative.

French Kiss Collections

Any advice to new Artists for finding their own vision?

Jacky

Don’t set out with any preconceived ideas and visions, relax and enjoy photography as a hobby and let it take its natural course and you will find your own style in time.

The glory of the garden lies in more than meets the eye. ~ Rudyard Kipling

See More Of Jacky’s Art

I’ve featured Jacky’s textured photographs in this interview, but be sure to visit her other macro photography which is breathtaking.

All images featured use French Kiss Collections textures.

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Leslie Nicole
Leslie Nicole

American Photographer and Designer living in France with my French husband, 2 Weimaraners and Cat Rescues. Camera, Mac, studio, garden.