Currently at the Gail F. Steinhilber Art Gallery located in Reeve Union is the “Floral Focus Stacks” exhibit from photographer Thomas L. Eddy.

This exhibit consists of a wide variety of photographs of many different flowers with the technique “focus stacking” being utilized.

“Focus stacking” is the process of taking multiple photos of the same subject and putting them together to create one cohesive image.

Photographer Eddy did this throughout his exhibit “Floral Focus Stacks” which he began working on during the pandemic.

“When the COVID pandemic was first announced I was determined to schedule a daily routine,” Eddy said, “Collecting, arranging and photographing plants was a scientific deliberation and artistic endeavor.”

Eddy began pursuing photography with flowers after his interest was piqued by a friend.

“A friend and fellow researcher introduced me to wild plants and patiently answered my ceaseless question: what flower is that?” Eddy said.

After wondering this question, Eddy went out to seek his photography on his own to capture the flowers for his own research.

“I bought a Pentax Spotmatic film camera to capture the images on Kodachrome 64 ASA film and archived the slides to aid plant identification. I was hooked,” Eddy said.

His passion for photographing flowers can be seen throughout the exhibit, as there are 24 portraits and 8 close-up and macro photographs of flower portraits.

With this many portraits in the exhibit, it was hard for Eddy to pick a favorite, but he was able to decide on two pieces.

“For this exhibit, there are two photos I am drawn to:  Queen-of-the-Prairie (Filipendula Rubra), a member of the rose family and the common lily, Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum), a member of the asparagus family (formerly the lily family),” Eddy said.

The  “Floral Focus” exhibit runs from Feb 7 to March 17.