Beginning a New Series and Other Random Thoughts and Musings

Been taking tons of photos in the past week but you know how that goes, only so many are actually decent. But it was fun taking them as it always is. I get in such a "Zen Mode" when I'm taking photos. Ignoring the whole world except whatever it is I'm shooting. It's really wonderful.

This past Tuesday morning I was up at 5am, could no longer sleep. Decided I needed something at Walgreens and of course took my camera with me. Four hours later I returned home lol! I took 500 photos! It was so fun! And with the sun coming up, all this cool lighting was going on with buildings and flowers, etc.

I have also begun shooting everything in 3 different modes: vivid color, antique and black & white. Thus I accumulate photos quite quickly! I have been challenging myself with black and white as of late cause I want to capture light and shadow much better than I have before. It is very challenging and not all photos turn out great. I am still learning about ISO settings as well. Very important to keep in mind I'm finding out.

As of this evening, I have begun a new series of photos that will take me awhile if I include all the photos I want to include. The series is called Flowers in Repose. These flowers are on the verge of death but I shot them in both antique and black and white modes and suddenly they just spoke to me in such an amazing way. It was sad death, it was just a transition. The lack of color gave the flowers more depth and thus the depth of meaning was clear to me. That we as living things are transitioning always and that what may seem like death, isn't at all. So I suppose I believe in reincarnation perhaps.

But anyway, not to get into semantics on that subject!

I have posted the first photo here and hope to keep adding it to it and finally present them as all one series!

If anyone is interested in purchasing any photos, just let me know!! Trying to get my name out there!!

Here is my Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/

Take care out there and keep discovering and creating!!

Layering

For the past month or so, I have begun toying around with layering photos together to make a completely new photograph. I average about 3 to 4 photos into one photo. Am I good at it yet? I don't think so. Each one is a new learning experience and a lot of time spent on manipulation.

Some might argue that too much manipulation ruins photography. But I look at it as painting with photographs, minus the paints and the mess! Although I want to explore painting as well. Of course with each new interest, I take up more space in our home which can drive my partner a little nuts at times!

When I use layering effects I find a new world for my eyes and for my soul. I get a new emotion out of a photograph that wasn't there when I first took the photo.

Currently I am still using www.picnik.com very heavily but hope to purchase Photoshop later this year. But for now, picnik does the job rather well. I cannot say enough about that website! By all means, check it out and see what you can come up with! And even if you just want to "touch" yourself up in a photo, it's great for that too!

Above is the most recent layered photograph and below are some other examples I have done in the past month! Let me know what you think!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/

Slightly Bummed But I will Prevail!

I have been submitting photographs to various magazines and one of them was Fotoblur. It takes submissions from non professionals and makes an entire magazine out of the photographs.

Part of the process is being voted on by other members of the Fotoblur website and then the panel of people who work for the magazine itself. I submitted alot of photos. One of them is the photograph above this post and some more are below.

It teaches me to keep trying and keep improving. Not to get too down on myself about not making it this time. It will happen. I know I am talented enough to reach my goals.

At this time, I would like to thank everyone who supports me and keeps me going! From my friends all over the country, to my Flickr contacts and the random strangers who comment on my photos, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/

Discovering Our Scanner!

Recently we bought in all-in-1 printer: print, fax, copy and scanner! It is a HP Officejet 6500 wireless. (Ooooooooo! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!)

Yesterday I decided to use the scanning option for a practice photography project and it didn't turn out too shabby I must say.

Of course there was the setting up part, in which my partner, Travis helped on that end while I waited impatiently. Even though it's wireless for printing, the scanning option requires a USB cable from the printer to your computer and luckily my computer loving husband had one!

I took a leaf I had found while walking Adeline, the dog I walk on a regular basis for the past couple of years, and I bought some silk paper and other decorative type paper, and I placed the leaf on the decorative paper which is a very dark blue (the leaf is yellow), and I placed that on the scanner and WHA LA! It was sent from the scanner to my computer! Love technology when it works!

I also layered a couple of photos from my collection on top of this image to give it a cloudy look of sorts and used picnik.com for some color and contrast adjustments.

If you have not or do not know of picnik.com, you MUST SEE IT! It is one of the most amazing, and mostly free, online photo manipulation sites! All of my work is done through that website currently. Hoping to get photoshop soon though.

Below is the finished project as well as a recent photo of Adeline, the dog I mentioned previously!

Have a great day and/or night and keep shooting!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/stats/

The Beginning

This blog is meant to discuss my passion for photography and the journey I am taking to make it a career.

Over the past year, I have been taking photos pretty much everyday. I carry my camera around with me most of the time, unless I'm on my way to work. When I take photographs, I get lost in a new world. I lose track of time and space. I don't care if I look like a tourist or if I'm taking photos of something where people look and go "what is he taking a picture of..?" The best part is that I'm stopping to examine life around me. To examine the everyday things we see, but don't see anymore. To get the detail out of something ordinary and make it extraordinary.

Recently I received some words of advice from an amazing photographer out of New York City, Tony Pettinato. Check out his website for his exquisite work! You won't look at makeup and other items in the same way!

http://www.pettinatophoto.com

Back to his advice:

"You have a good eye. Try to always maintain a point of view in each image, and kick back a little from image manipulation. Try to understand light. Light is photography! Do a study in black and white. This will force you to work more with lighting."

He is right of course. I set my camera to black and white setting and I must say, it is way more challenging to take a photo in b&w! In color, things don't have to have full light and later you can brighten up the colors if they are dull or in shadow. But black and white you need the light as a guide to tell you and the viewer what you trying to say in the photo.

This is where I am currently in my journey: I am taking the next steps to make photography go from a hobby/passion to a career. I am getting together a portfolio and a DVD so that I can go around to coffee shops and try to get my work hung up and seen and hopefully purchased. I am trying to challenge myself and move from just still life to something more creative. I have the eye, now I need vision and individuality in my work.

The photograph you see abofve is one I took on July 30, 2009. Now I want to post one below which is more recent to show where I'm at now in my work:

Both are excellent photos of an object but the black and white is showing a more dramatic moment. Of course the fog helps but what I'm trying to say is that b&w brings it down to the basics. You are only relying on emotion rather than pure color to guide you through what you see.

All my work can currently be seen on Flickr at the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42157849@N06/