Fortunately, I made a couple of extra images yesterday so I didn’t have to go out looking for something today. This was shot with the Lensbaby Velvet 85 so is intentionally a little soft in the focus. I just adjusted the exposure a little and added a very subtle texture to this one.
This week I am turning to Nancy Rotenberg’s book: Photography and the Creative Life for my quotes. For today, she quotes Carl Jung:
Without this playing with fantasy no creative work h ever yet come to birth.
Still feeling a little xenophobic about going to a public place to photograph but I’m getting a little bored with the neighbor’s flowers so thought I would try some closeups of citrus this morning. I started with a lemon but decided I liked the Mandarin Orange a little better.
Today’s quote is from Robert Henri:
Art is simply a result of expression during right feeling… Any material will do. After all, the object is not to make are, but to be in the wonderful state which makes are inevitable.
The first Tulips are starting to bloom around the neighborhood. Mine promises to have multiple blossoms but is not this far along yet. I added a texture to give interest around the edges but masked it out over the flower.
From Mary Heebner:
Perfection is overrated. Sometimes it is the flawed, the damaged, the hapless that gives a piece its soul.
The challenge with daffodils is trying to get a unique look and to get around how overwhelmingly yellow they are. I think I succeeded with this image though I might wish for just a little more depth of field. I processed it as a black and white with high structure and contrast then added an ambrotype tone to bring back a hint of the yellow.
Today’s quote is from Gabrielle Roth:
We have to be able to be gods, lovers and artists, we have to be soulful if we’re goin to be happy, if we wnat peace – and the soul is the part of us that is the creative process.
My neighbor’s grape hyacinths have been calling to me so I finally took the macro lens over this morning. Unfortunately, I did not quite nail the focus on this one so I decided to give it a painterly look. I also photoshopped out some flowers in the foreground.
I’ve decided that instead of jumping around from book to book looking for creativity quotes I should just stick to one book for a week and then switch so that I can get more of a feel for the book and not just be looking for quotes.
So, I decided to start with Roderick McIver’s book, Art as a Way of Life.
Today, from Page10, a great one from Albert Camus:
A person’s life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art, or love, or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened.
I took the big girl camera with the 180 mm macro lens out for a stroll around the neighborhood this morning. Lots of daffodils but I’m a little bored with photographing daffodils so the Hyacinths got my attention instead. Processed with just one texture which helped give it some pop. I also did some photoshopping in the upper right hand corner to get rid of some distracting blemishes on the flower.
Today I turned again to Nancy Rotenberg’s book and found another great quote from photographer Freeman Patterson:
The camera points both ways. Images reflect the light that the photographer brings to the relationship.
The first tree on my street is starting to blossom. I once again pressed the M100 into service with the 28mm macro lens. Judging from my results I need to take the big girl camera and tripod next time. So hard to nail the focus when working this close. I cropped this one quite a bit and added a texture and vignette.
I turned again to Julia Cameron for today’s quote:
Our creations are like children. They can be pushy about what they want and what they need. If we neglect them, they neglect us. If we ignore them they ignore us. Sometimes, they sulk and pout and cry and squabble until they have our attention. In the end, we have to do what they want. It’s the only way to make peace with them. Making peace with our creations is an artist’s primary task.
I have been walking the dog by this succulent that has leaped from a neighbor’s yard into the public landscaping and thinking I should photograph it for weeks. I needed something quick for today so I put a macro lens on the M100 and headed down the block (with protests from Cody who wanted to come along). Now that I see some of the amazing detail in the flowers (?) I think I need to go back and get even closer. In processing I added a preset that mainly just sharpened thing up and then a vignette layer to darken the corners and edges.
Today’s quote is from Nancy Rotenberg:
…there are dragons that roam the wilderness of creative quests. If left to run amok, they can inhibit the most determined artist. The creative process transforms you, the artist, into a creative warrior – arming you to slay the dragons or at least keep them at bay. Empowered with truth, the creative warrior discovers the place where beauty, magic, and fire live.
It’s not really summer until the sunflowers come out to play. I had a friend in San Francisco who always used to tell me “If there’s one thing the world doesn’t need, it’s another picture of the Golden Gate Bridge.” I suppose he would say the same thing about sunflowers. But part of the challenge is coming up with a new way to look at these same old things. This one was captured with the Lensbaby Sweet 50 and had texture or two added in post processing.
My new puppy, Cody, has been keeping me pretty busy. I did think to bring the camera out to the backyard one day while waiting for him to do his business. He still hasn’t caught on that that is WHY we spend so much time outside.