Macro Images of Life Underfoot with Diane Kirkland

Please join us for our monthly meeting on Friday, September 5, featuring accomplished nature photographer Diane Kirkland, and enter our digital image competition, "URBAN" (more information below).

Diane says: "For many years, my photography focused on local natural landscapes—but I began to feel the need for a new direction. I purchased a close-up lens and discovered a fascinating world that’s often overlooked. When I added extension tubes to the macro lens, it revealed a miniature forest within the forest, adding a whole new dimension to my walks in the woods.

My focus shifted to what I call “Underfoot Images”—tiny lifeforms on the forest floor and decaying logs: lichen, mosses, fungi, and slime molds. Using extension tubes flattens the background into a soft, painterly wash, but the resulting shallow depth of field requires 20 to 50 images per subject to achieve sharp detail. I combine these using focus stacking software to create a single, crisp photograph. I also enjoy blending these sharply focused images with their abstract, out-of-focus counterparts, layering them in Photoshop to explore the tension between clarity and ambiguity.

Additionally, I’m working on a new, ongoing series inspired by the beautifully illustrated manuscripts of the 1500s. These works combine my Underfoot Images with spectacular, public-domain photographs of the cosmos taken by groundbreaking new telescopes. Handwritten-style texts explore the universal patterns and laws of nature that connect all things—us, slime molds, and everything else in the cosmos."

Kirkland served as photographer for the Georgia Department of Economic Development for twenty five years. Promoting Georgia in the US and abroad, her photographs appeared in promotional brochures, websites, advertising campaigns,and publications including Southern Living, Time Magazine, USA Today, American Heritage and The London Times. Two books feature her photographs: Oglethorpe’s Dream, A Picture of Georgia (2001) and Democracy Restored, A History of the Georgia Capitol (2007). Kirkland’s photography and art have been featured in fine art magazines, and in galleries throughout the Southeast.

Kirkland's Underfoot Images recently received an Atlanta Park Pride Artist Grant and 6 outdoor photo panels are now on display at Herbert Taylor Park in the Morningside neighborhood; her slime mold photos have been featured in Lenswork Magazine.

To learn more about Diane and her work, visit:
dianekirklandphoto.com

Please note:

• This month's meeting will be IN-PERSON at our regular meeting location, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, at 2650 N. Druid Hills Road NE.
• This month's Competition theme is "URBAN." Please see competition rules for more information.
• Competition entries are limited to TWO per paid member - one color and one B&W.
• The deadline for submissions is 9:00PM on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
• Competition entries are to be sized appropriately, and files are to be re-named using the SPS naming convention: Firstname Lastname - Title of Image
• Images are to be uploaded to the links found on our SPS website.
• All are welcome for the presentation, but competition entries will be limited to paid SPS members only.

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SPS has three standing meetings each month for its members and guests. The First Friday meeting features a guest speaker and a members’ image competition. While competition entries at these monthly meetings are restricted to currently paid-up members, we ALWAYS welcome visitors interested in photography to attend. The Learnshops (fourth Tuesdays) and Coffee & Critique (second Saturdays) are intended for members, but again, we welcome visitors. If you attend regularly, we ask that you help support the club (which pays for the rental of the facilities, supplies, and equipment) by becoming a member!

Signing up on the SPS Meetup page does not make you an SPS member. SPS members pay dues to engage in many activities that are unavailable to guests who only sign up on the SPS MeetUp.

To find out more about SPS visit:
www.spsatlanta.org
To become a member, visit:
www.join.spsatlanta.org