Category: Lensbaby

Day 77- Shore Acres Pond

Pond

My office was being taken over by watercolor stuff so I decided I needed to carve out a dedicated space for painting. Since I never dine at the dining room table and it has become a catch all for Cody’s junk I decided it was time to rearrange a bit to create a painting nook instead of an eating nook. Consequently, I am going to skate on the coast photos (at least) one more time. My first trip around shore acres I was carrying only the camera and Velvet 85. I quickly realized I was going to need a wider angle to capture the beauty of the variety of rhododendrons and the reflections in the pond. So, I went back to the car and got the Velvet 56 and 28. The 28 turned out to be too wide for this scene but the 56 was just right. I do wish I had taken a step to the right to get a little more separation between the cranes. Always something.

Once more from Matthew Fox:

There is art everywhere in the universe; there is wisdom everywhere in the universe. One more reason for psyche and cosmos to come together again — to bring art and wisdom alive once more.

Day 76 – Fishing Floats

Floats

One more from the coast trip. I’ve been to the Charleston Marina many times but I’m usually looking at the boats. I was just about to put Cody back in the car when I spotted this wall of old fishing floats crying out to be photographed. So, Cody got a reprieve and we met a Corgi lover in the bargain.

And from Matthew Fox:

The artist is to the community or body politic what the liver is to the human body: a cleanser and recycler of waste and toxins.

Day 75 – Dutch Iris

DutchIris

The Dutch Iris were also in bloom at Shore Acres. I thought I may have made a mistake in ordering the 28mm Lensbaby Velvet lens, but then I was watching a video by one of my favorite flower photographers and she pointed out that it focuses as close as 2 inches away. Which means you can get right up on the flower and have the who flower in focus while the background drops off in a dreamy blur. It should also be very helpful in my tiny studio where I never seem to have enough working space to get the composition I’m after. I guess it was a good investment after all.

Today from Matthew Fox:

Creativity requires the darkness as well as the light, suffering as well as joy. Could flowers grow if they were in the sun twenty-four hours per day?

Day 70 – Typewriter

Typewriter

Here’s another one from yesterday’s studio session. I snagged my Mom’s old typewriter a couple of years ago for no other reason than to use as a photography prop. The Lensbaby Spark added some cool effects to the keys and I added a couple of textures for some much needed punch of color.

Today’s quote is from Erich Fromm:

Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.

Day 69 – Typeface

Type2

Well, I had my three hour zoom watercolor class this morning and by the time I could get outside it was too windy to do any serious photography. So I headed into the studio and just started playing with things I’ve been accumulating to photograph, including these type blocks, and the Lensbaby Spark which is not really at it’s best for closeup photography but I kind of liked this image. I then added a texture to give the background some color and a vignette to darken the edges. It still needed something so I took it into Topaz Studio for a grungy look.

Our quote today is from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To the attentive eye, each moment of the year has its own beauty and in the same field it beholds, every hour, a picture which was never seen before and which shall never be seen again.

Day 68 – Iris

1_Iris

Today I took the third tool from the OMNI system out to play. It is called the Crystal Seahorse because it is a crystal in the shape of a seahorse. It has the affect of creating a kind of ghost image reflection. Sometime in composing it is hard to tell what is real and what is reflection. I added a texture to this one for a little more richness and I’m pretty happy with the result.

Another quote from Nancy Rotenberg today:

Magic happens when you give yourself permission to de-emphasize intellectual thinking and to wander without plan or map.

 

Day 67 – Lavender

Lavender

It’s another busy day so I want to share another image I got with the stretch glass yesterday. I really love this one. I have some lavender growing in a pot on the patio so the concrete made a grey background and the stems of the lavender created some green streaks and made the flowers appear to be dancing in mist.

Today’s quote is from Albert Einstein:

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Day 66 – Japanese Maple

JapaneseMapleFor today’s moment of creativity I turned back to the Lensbaby OMNI system. This time choosing the stretch glass wand which creates streaks of color in a part of the image. I had never really understood how to use this tool until I found a video on youtube that explained it. Now I can’t be stopped. 

Today’s quote is from Lao-Tzu:

Be really whole and all things will come to you.

Day 64 – Calla Lily with Rainbow effect

CallaRainbow

So this week I’ve decided to really enter into the spirit of creativity by playing with some of my Lensbaby toys. They make what they call the Omni System which is a device that allows you to place objects in front of the lens to get special effects. Today I was working with the rainbow effect tool. All I can say is it’s great when it works but it can be very hard to get the rainbow and then it doesn’t always land in the right place. While processing this image I thought it might be fun to do a black and white of the flowers and then bring the colors of the rainbow effect back in. It probably won’t win any prizes but did get my creative juices flowing.

This week I’m back to Nancy Rotenberg as my quote guru and today I’ve chosen one from the great lady herself:

If the Sacred Art Cows own your power, take it back. Grant yourself the passport to travel your own road with the map of your own devising. Create whatever it is you wish to create.

Day 63 – Geranium

Geranium

I spent most of the day working on a class I’m teaching on Wednesday and I must have stop ten times and thought “I need to get an image for today”. Nearly made it to bed when a little voice told me to go check email and sitting at the computer I realized I had never done it. Fortunately I had this geranium in my back pocket for just such an occasion.

Today’s quote is from Janis Joplin:

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.