Flower Workshops 2026 with Kathleen Clemons, Part 2.

8 Levels of Blur for Flower Photography (In-Camera Techniques with Kathleen) The full session contains: Kathleen presents a flower photography session focused on blur as a creative choice, from all-blur abstracts to selective focus, background-only blur, foreground “shooting through” veils, edge-only softness, and no blur for maximum texture (including frozen flowers). She shares how blur can simplify compositions, hide distractions, direct the viewer’s eye, suggest motion, create painterly results, and provide space for adding textures in post, while emphasizing that results aren’t only about aperture but also distance, lens choice, and intent. She demonstrates in-camera approaches such as intentional camera movement, double exposures with a defocused second frame, and shooting through foliage, glass, fabric, tissue, nylon hose, and a sealed Vaseline-on-UV-filter “Kathleen filter,” plus mentions an iPhone app for slow-shutter effects. In Q&A, she notes she rarely crops, doesn’t add blur in Photoshop, shoots mostly outdoors with natural light and a diffuser, and works handheld. 00:00 Intro and Heatwave 00:33 Why I Love Blur 01:59 Eight Levels of Blur 02:51 All Blur Examples 04:38 Selective Focus Magic 10:25 More Edges in Focus 13:50 Blur Hides Imperfections 14:48 Background Blur Balance 17:10 Find the Loner Flower 17:56 Foreground Veil Technique 19:18 Edge Blur and No Blur 20:38 Frozen Flowers Texture 21:30 Audience Q and A 23:47 What Blur Can Do 27:20 Painterly Look and Textures 33:30 How Much Focus Needed 34:29 Storytelling with Blur 36:09 Experiment with Your Lenses 36:28 Aperture Test Results 38:11 Minimum Focus Distance 40:06 Intentional Camera Movement 41:37 In Camera Double Exposures 44:53 Shooting Through Foliage 48:46 Avoiding Blob Blur 50:04 Glass Fabric And Filters 56:58 Phone Blur And Wrap Up 59:52 Live Q And A Highlights 01:08:15 Final Thanks And Offers