Cody was following me around when I was out with the Lensbaby yesterday so I thought it might be fun to do a painterly portrait of the handsome devil. I think it turned out pretty well.
Here’s another nugget of wisdom from Julia Cameron:
The courage to create is the courage to make something out of what we are feeling.
Today and tomorrow are the North American Nature Photography Association’s virtual Summit. That means two days of inspiration and eye candy for me, but also a challenge to get my post done. Today I decided to just go out in the backyard with the Sweet 50 on the M3 and see what I could find. I was studying my Iris which is still coming along when I turned around and was surprised to see that my Azalea was almost in full bloom. I had to go back in and get some extension tubes in order to get close enough to get this shot. I love how the texture I chose together with the Lensbaby effect gives it almost a watercolor look. I need to get started making cards to take down to the Artisan’s Emporium and I think this one will be high on my list.
And again from Julia Cameron:
If you think of the universe as a vast electrical sea in which you are immersed and from which you are formed, opening to your creativity changes you from something bobbing in that sea to a more fully functioning, more conscious, more cooperative part of that ecosystem.
My photography generally trends toward the beautiful and serene but occasionally I come across something too poignant to pass by. Yesterday in my quest for poppies I crossed the street to the Autumn Ridge neighborhood which was devastated by the Almeda fire. In front of one lot which has been cleared but is probably waiting for a permit to begin rebuilding, the poppies and Irises are blooming away. As I worked my way around to try and capture the purple Irises and orange poppies in one shot (I failed) I came across these glasses that someone had gently laid on a rock as a reminder of the depth of personal loss engendered by the fire. I thought a monochrome treatment was appropriate.
Here is another profound thought from Taoist philosopher Chuang-tzu:
If the Way is made clear, it is not the Way.
Well, the poppies are going to town all around the neighborhood. I went out with the Lensbaby Sweet50 lens, which is designed to have a sweet spot of focus with everything around it in blur. I came back with over 50 images most of which were throwaways due to the difficultly of getting the right spot in focus and the added complication of wind. This one, however, came pretty close to my vision.
Today’s quote is from photographer Minor White:
The photographer projects himself into everything he sees, identifying himself with everything in order to know it and to feel it better.
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.
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.
It’s been a busy day. I had in mind to take the big lens out and see who was at the neighbors’ bird feeders when I got a call telling me that there was extra vaccine at the Asante clinic if I wanted to be vaccinated. So, I dropped everything and hurried over so I could be back in time for my 11:00 zoom call. Then I barely had time to walk the dog and eat lunch before my 1:30 zoom call. So, it was a good thing I had something from yesterday to work with. This plastic birdhouse hangs from a neighbor’s tree. My goal was to try and disguise its plasticness. It took two trips through Topaz and two textures to get there but I like the result. Shot with the M3 and Sweet 50 combo again.
Today’s quote is from a little book called Art as a Way of Life edited by Roderick MacIver. The quote is from Anne Lamott:
…if you’ve got that creative voice inside of you, that has something to communicate, that just longs to tell its version of things or to entertain or to inspire or to try to be part of the solution or just to be heard – you know, to stop being a person who is silenced – then I think you have to honor that or you are just doomed.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I have lived 3 blocks from Quality Used Books for 6 1/2 years and have never been inside. It’s that darned Highway you have to cross to get there adding another two blocks to the trip to get to a traffic light. I know, very lame. But now that it is an official survivor of the Alameda Fire I plan to become a regular, assuming it survives the pandemic as well.
So, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking that Quality Used Books would make a great subject. This is how I want to wake up in the middle of the night, not thinking about all the stuff I have to do or worrying about when I’m going to get vaccinated. So, I took the M3 out with the Lensbaby Sweet 50 (sans dog, I felt so free) and got a great photo with blurry edges to start with. Then I took it into Topaz Texture Effects for a slightly painterly look and finally added a texture. The fact that it snowed overnight in the mountains just added as certain je ne sais quoi.
Today’s quote I found in a book called Photography and the Creative Life by one of my all time favorite photographers, Nancy Rotenberg. We lost Nancy to breast cancer, all too soon, about 10 years ago. I cherish her book and try to read it again at least once a year.
The quote, however is from Anna Freud:
Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training.
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.
What can I say. This guy has completely taken over my life. I knew raising a puppy would take some effort but I didn’t know it was going to be a full time job. I think next week we will practice Mom leaving home for a few hours and riding in the car. I have to give him credit though. He is a really good little fetcher.