Carnahan returns to Victoria Park Gallery with her vibrant photographs of nature, landscapes

When you first look at the photographs by C. Susan Carnahan, you would easily mistake them for paintings.

First featured in July, 2024, the local photographer has returned to the Victoria Park Gallery in downtown Kincardine, with more of her beautiful and vibrant work, as the guest artist for the month of May.

Carnahan finds great joy in taking pictures of nature and landscapes.

“The colour, beauty and design of the natural world speak to me of God,” she says. “Taking nature and landscape photographs can be challenging but gives me great joy and wonder, which I try to share.”

Born in Canada, Carnahan has lived most of her life in Michigan but now spends four months of the year at the Bluewater Trailer Park in Kincardine, and five months of the year in Arizona.

“My mother, Helen (Mahood) Heal, was from Kincardine,” she says, “and many of my favourite photographs have been taken here.”

Until recently, Carnahan specialized in individual portraits, high school seniors, home and business interiors and composite photography.

She is mostly self-taught, but her uncle and her father were both photographers, and at an early age, she had the idea of doing her own photography.

The name of her studio, “Glen Doone Photography,” comes from the name of her grandparents’ house in Cheddar, England. Her uncle had a photography studio right next door, and she and her family spent summers there when she was young. She also spent time watching her father develop photos in the dark room.

For the past four years, her photography has focused on landscapes and nature.

“I love nature,” she says. “My style is to simplify things, making everything soft around the main subject. I consider it somewhat painterly.”

Carnahan shoots with a Canon digital camera and then adds the artistic touches by using Photoshop on the computer.

“When you take a photo, the camera is limited, but the human eye sees it all,” she says. “I want to bring that to the photo; I want to make it beautiful.”

Many of the photos in the guest gallery were taken in Kincardine, while a few were taken in Arizona.

“I love living on the water,” says Carnahan. “Here, I’m surrounded by nature’s beauty and I love taking photos of it.”

Victoria Park Gallery is located inside the Kincardine Arts Centre in downtown Kincardine. For more information, check the Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/pg/victoriaparkgallerykincardine/posts/