Crystal Ball Photography with Kathy Adams Clark

Crystal Ball Photography

with Kathy Adams Clark

 Turn an ordinary scene into something completely unexpected.

A crystal ball—or glass orb—can transform the way you see and photograph the world. Landscapes, architecture, city scenes, and even everyday moments take on a surreal quality as the scene is refracted, inverted, compressed, and creatively distorted inside the glass.

Join renowned nature photographer Kathy Adams Clark for an evening of creative photography and experimentation. You’ll learn how to use a crystal ball as a unique photographic tool, discover how different orbs affect your images, and explore techniques for creating compelling compositions that go far beyond the typical snapshot.

This fun, hands-on class is all about seeing differently, experimenting with perspective, and discovering new possibilities with your camera.

What You'll Learn

• Choosing the Right Crystal Ball — Explore different sizes and styles of glass orbs and how they affect your photographs.
• Understanding Refraction — Learn why the scene appears upside down and how to use that optical effect creatively.
• Composition & Perspective — Discover how to position your crystal ball, subject, and camera to create stronger, more interesting images.
• Camera Settings — Learn practical settings for achieving sharp, well-exposed crystal ball photographs.
• Lens Selection — Understand which focal lengths work best and how different lenses change the look of your images.
• Working With Light — Explore how available light, direction, and background choices can make your orb images stand out.
• Creative Techniques — Experiment with perspective, scale, reflections, and unusual compositions.
• Common Mistakes — Learn what can go wrong and how to avoid soft images, distracting backgrounds, poor exposure, and awkward compositions.

A Creative, Hands-On Experience

Bring your camera and get ready to experiment.

This workshop is designed to get you thinking differently about composition and perspective. Rather than simply photographing what's in front of you, you'll learn how to use the crystal ball to reinterpret the scene and create an image that makes people stop and look twice.

About Kathy Adams Clark

Kathy Adams Clark has been a professional nature photographer since 1995 and is an accomplished educator, author, speaker, and photography tour leader.

Her photography has been published in hundreds of publications, including The New York Times, Nature's Best, Birder's World, Ranger Rick, Family Fun, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and Texas Highways. Her work has also appeared on the covers of AAA Journey, Texas Parks & Wildlife, and Texas Highways.

Kathy's images have been featured in numerous books and calendars, including the Barnes & Noble Ireland Countryside Calendar, the Arbor Foundation Rainforest Calendar, and the Sierra Engagement Calendar. Her photographs of Houston were also featured in a calendar distributed through Costco in 2016.

Her work appears regularly in the Houston Chronicle's "Nature" column, written by her husband, Gary Clark. Together, Kathy and Gary have collaborated with national publishing houses on ten books, combining photography and writing to showcase nature, wildlife, and the Texas landscape.

Their recent publications include Book of Texas Birds from Texas A&M University Press and Backroads of Texas from Voyageur Press. Kathy's photography is also featured in Portrait of Houston, and she authored Photographing Big Bend National Park, published by Texas A&M Press.

Kathy is a past president of the North American Nature Photography Association and is a popular photography instructor and speaker at events around the country. She also leads international photography tours through Strabo Tours, with destinations including Costa Rica, Brazil, Spain, Africa, Italy, Peru, Morocco, and Norway.