Program: Composing Good Photos of Flowers with Cell Phones

We’ve all been there: "The photo I just took doesn’t do justice to what I’m seeing.” It’s so frustrating! But there is good news - great photography doesn’t require an expensive camera or lots of equipment. Deb’s presentation will cover four basic tips that you can use to immediately improve your photos. She will show examples of how these simple changes can affect a photograph. Deb will teach you how to “make” an image rather than “take” an image. You’ll also learn how to see things differently as you slow down and begin to see pictures within pictures.

This is not just photography; it is a kind of listening. Deb will help you discover the “pictures within pictures,” the hidden stories curled inside petals, the quiet worlds that reveal themselves only when we move slowly enough to notice. You will learn to make an image — to shape it with intention — rather than simply take one.

Speaker: Deb Simpson

Deb Simpson is an accomplished amateur photographer whose second life in retirement bloomed into a deep devotion to landscape and nature photography. After years of corporate training, she followed her curiosity into workshops across the country, honing her craft over fifteen years. Her images have appeared in the Daily Herald, on NBC’s Brant Miller weather segment, and in award‑winning displays at the Chicago Botanic Garden and Volo Bog.

As an instructor at CLC, Deb earned high praise for her warm, collaborative teaching style. She delights in helping photographers of all levels discover the quiet joy of capturing nature — not as a trophy, but as a moment of connection.