Category: Art

Day 23 – Sunflower

Sunflower2

It is smokey out again today so I decided to just stay in and play with my store bought sunflowers. I got a lot of good images so it was hard to decide. But I liked this one. I was experimenting with the Sweet 50 again and had my fruit box in the background. I thought this flower had a lot of character and I like how it’s partner is faded into the background. Then I got artsy and added a texture and took it through some software to grunge it up a little more.

Day 10 – Marigold

Marigold_Chalk

So, I swung by North Mountain Park again after church. This time I used the big girl camera hand held with the Sweet 50 lens. I have a hard time holding that big camera steady but it is easier to get down to the level of the flowers. This one has a lot going on in post processing. I did a high pass filter, then added a texture. I really like the purples of the lavender behind the marigold but wanted to soften them a little more. Then I took the whole thing into Topaz Impression and added a chalk-smudge filter which I lowered to 50% giving me a look I like though maybe it still need a vignette but I’m done messing with it for now. The end game here is to get a few great shots that can be printed large on canvas for a show. I’m still on the fence on this one but it might work.

Where it all Began

Camera4w

In spite of it being Nature Photography Day I have been playing in the tiny studio again.  I was inspired by an online workshop in still life photography. The background is from a photograph I printed and put behind the scene. My Dad’s old Brownie Camera and a book my Mom gave me when I first started taking pictures at about age 12. Took it through a couple of Topaz programs to get the vintage look. I think I may have to print this one to hang on my wall.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea2

I spent some time last weekend rearranging the furniture in my guest room in order to make the tiny studio more functional. At the same time my Hydrangea was bursting forth in full glory and I got a new 24-70mm zoom lens with macro capability so I took advantage of this cosmic alignment to create this still life. I added a couple of textures to give it a more arty look.

Fans

Fans

I’ve been falling down on the job of getting my weekly blog done. But I have been doing a daily blog of my travels in Japan so I think that more than makes up for it. I came home with over 2000 images so it was hard to narrow it down to one. But, a lot of the images are more about telling the story than being artistic. And some of the best images have already appeared in the blog. But I managed to narrow it down to these fans I saw in a souvenir shop on the way to a temple or some fabrics I photographed in the market. I only chose the fans because I am jet lagged and they were in front of me. So it goes. They have just been sharpened and denoised with a little added saturation. I thought about hiding the price tags but since there are not too many of them and they are in Japanese I decided they could stay.

Crocuses

Crocusw

It was a busy week and weekend so I’m just getting around to the image of the week for last week. Didn’t do much in the way of new captures but I was inspired to start a new series from existing flower images using grunge textures and clipping masks. I started with cocuses as I have been starting to see them in bloom.

Shrimp Boats

ShrimpBoatsw

This probably would not have been my choice for image of the week except that it was such a crazy week it was the only thing I had a chance to work on. I was working on purging the files for 2017 and came across these shrimp boats from my North Carolina trip and was inspired to create an art piece using some net pictures and a nautical map for background. Then my Mom was in the hospital and I was standing by to take care of her when she got out and then had to go stay with her for a few days so not much photography got done. I’m not completely happy with this piece but I like the way it is going, I just think it may need more work before it is unleashed.

Day 100 – Santa

Santa

A Visit from Saint Nicholas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”


-Clement Clarke Moore


And so ends the 100 days project. As you might imagine I have been saving this one from my night photography session last week though I played with it a bit in Photoshop today. And the poem, of course, is longer than I usually like but it seemed appropriate to share the full version.


As with all my 100 days projects I’ve been reminded that I don’t do my best work under pressure but I also come up with images that I never would have just because I have to force myself out the door. Lighroom tells me that I now have 5184 images in the 100 days file and windows explorer tells me that my 1 terabyte hard drive is almost full. So there is still a lot of editing ahead of me. I plan to do a web gallery of the best images and the best of the best will be printed and hung at the Ashland Artisan’s Emporium. Thanks to all who have been following and supporting me through this venture. Happy Winter Solstice and whatever other holidays you may be celebrating this month!