Category: Still Life

Day 37 – Ranunculus

Ranunculous

One of my favorite photography and texture gurus is a big fan of Ranunculus which is a flower I had never encountered before. So, I ordered some for my once a month flower gift to myself. They arrived today so I took them right up to the studio and started shooting with the Lensbaby Velvet 56. This was my favorite result. I love the variety of colors and the texture of the petals. 

Today’s quote is from Edward Weston, a photographer of bygone days who was famous for his seductive black and white photos of green peppers:

Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual.

Day 20 – Still Life with wine

Wine

I have to say I really wasn’t feeling it today. I finally decided to do something impressionistic with a wine bottle and a glass of wine. I shot it with the Lensbaby Velvet 56 wide open so it had a soft look to start with. Then took it into Topaz Impression for a Van Gough effect and finally added a texture with an artsy look to finish it off. The bokah from the afternoon light was just a little added bonus.

Today’s quote is from Ansel Adams:

Art is both love and friendship and understanding; the desire to give. It is not charity, which is the giving of things, it is more than kindness which is the giving of self. It is both the taking and giving of beauty, the turning out to the light of the inner folds of awareness of the spirit. It is the recreation on another plane of the realities of the world; the tragic and wonderful realities of earth and men, and of all the inner relations of these.

Day 19 – Mandarin Orange

MandarinOrange

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.

Day 14 – Garden Gnome

Gnome

I came across this little guy when I was out looking for flowers the other day. I took his picture thinking, “Well, now I have something in my back pocket if I need it.” Didn’t take long. I got my income taxes done today, I finished up an oral history transcription for the North American Nature Photography Association, I got two chapters read for that book group tomorrow, and just as I was settling in for a well deserved glass of wine I realized I hadn’t posted an image. So here he is in all his soulful glory.

On the Creativity front, I turned again to Matthew Fox:

Creativity is not a noun or even a verb – it is a place, as space, a gathering, a union a where – wherein the Divine powers of creativity and the human power of imagination join forces.

Day 8 – Mandarin Oranges

Oranges

Well, this one was a longer time coming than I had planned. I had a bowl of mandarin oranges out on the patio and they caught my eye so I grabbed the M100 which still had the macro lens on it from yesterday and clicked off four shots. Many textures and a few trips through Topaz later, I finally came up with something I at least didn’t hate. I did crowd the top edge of the frame a little too much but I wanted to capture the citrus in the table cloth too so there you go.

Today’s quote is from Roderick McIver’s book: Art as a Way of Life. The quote is from Andrew Wyeth:

What I was after is what you get sugaring off maple from the maple tree. You keep boiling it down until you have the essence of purity.

 

Day 5 – Sunflower

Sunflowerw

I decided recently that given all the money I am saving by not traveling it would be OK to buy myself flowers once in awhile. One of my photography gurus put me on to a website called Farm Girl Flowers which is out of California and overnights the flowers right to your doorstep. So this month’s bouquet was sunflowers which, unfortunately I did not get around to photographing until it was almost too late. On this one I went for a dark and moody look using a preset that took it in the right direction and then added a texture to darken the edges even more. Shot with the R mirrorless and one of the lensbabies, maybe Velvet 56. I keep forgetting to photograph the lens before I swap it in so I know what I was using as the lensbabies do not show up in the meta data.

Today’s quote is from Julia Cameron from her day book called The Artist’s Way Every Day: A Year of Creative Living. I have taken the liberty to substitute the word art for her original word writing but you can swap it back if you prefer writing.

What if [art] were approached like white-water rafting? Something to try just for the fact of having tried it, for the spills and chills of having gone through the rapids of the creative process. What if we allowed ourselves to be amateurs (from the Latin verb amare, “to love”).

Elegant

Elegant

Continuing in the still life theme, this image came from the prompt of “elegant surroundings.” I think the black book is a little obtrusive but otherwise not bad. Perhaps the most important lesson I’ve learned in this workshop is that I can send flowers to myself when I need something to photograph.

Day 65 – Eggs

Eggs

Here’s something a little different. I’m thinking in terms of the beauty of simplicity. Actually, I’m all out of flowers and my hydrangea is just on the verge of blooming. Meanwhile, I have been working on my still life chops. I see this one printed large and hanging on the wall of a breakfast restaurant.

And from John O’Donohue:

The heart is the place where beauty arrives; here is where it can be felt, recognized and shared.