Running Away is Hard Work

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Robyn Graham Photography

Pointe Shoe Series – I

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Robyn Graham Photography

Pointe Shoe Series I

To Mystery Land

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Robyn Graham Photography

To Mystery Land

SS 1/60 f5.6 ISO 500

To Mystery Land

by Kate Greenaway

“Oh, dear, how will it end?

Peggy and Susie how naughty

you are.

You little know where you are,

Going so far, and so high,

Nearly up to the sky.

Perhaps it’s a Giant who

lives there,

And perhaps it’s a lovely

Princess.

But you very well know

You’ve no business to go;

You’ll get yourselves into a mess.

Oh, dear, I’m sure it is true;

Whatever on earth can it matter

to you?

For you know it –oh, fie —

that it’s naughty to pry

Into other’s affairs —

Into other folks houses to go,

Where you know

You’re not asked.

So you’d better come back

While there’s time, it is plain.

Go home–and be never

So naughty again. “

I love antique books, I love poetry, I love flowers, and I especially love photography. Here you have four of my (many) favorite things rolled into one.

To create a vintage feel to the image of Calla Lilies resting on the antique book, “Marigold Garden” by Kate Greenaway, I added a layer of haze in Photoshop CS5.

Swirls of Color

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Robyn Graham Photography

Swirls of Color

Life

Is full

Of challenges,

And surprises.

As they come your way,

Swirl them

Through your thoughts.

Embrace them,

Let them color your world,

And enjoy them.

Don’t worry, I did not waste good wine to create this image. The image was taken the same day I was playing with oil and water to create abstract photographs. To learn about that technique and see colorful oil and water images click here.

Colorful Oil and Water

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Robyn Graham Photography

I have recently seen several blog posts that inspired me to play around with oil, water, light and color. So, a few days ago, that is just what I did. Below you will find the outcomes of my artistic experiment. But first, I want to acknowledge the women who inspired me to attempt this moment of creative play.

Rachel Cohen at RCNaturephotos

Beverly Everson at Beverly Everson Photography

Edith Levy at Edith Levy Photography

The links are posted in the order in which I saw the photographs of inspiration.

My creations using oil, water, color and light:

Pastel Oil in Water
(Antique Buttons, Oil, Water, and Light)

Unity
(Rose Petals, Oil, Water, and Light)

Unity II
(Rose Petals, Oil, Water, and Light)

Drama
(Antique Marbles, Oil, Water, and Light)

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not very patient. Impatience is certainly a fault I am trying to overcome and this was a great exercise for that. When I tell you I spent quite a bit of time trying to create a unique piece of art I am not exaggerating. It looked like a bomb went off in my work area. Oil, dishes of water, a vase of flowers, jars of marbles and buttons, towels, etc., etc. all over the place. But, it was fun!

The other brilliant photographers that I introduced above may have additional advice for this type of project, but here are a few things I learned:

Need a small glass dish without a logo on the bottom
Need a slightly larger dish to place the subject in just under the dish of oil and water
Need just a little bit of water
Need just a bit of oil
Oil will settle into a big circle so you need something to break the large bubble apart and/or shape it – I used a rose stem
When breaking up larger bubbles, little bubbles form and you must be patient for them to dissolve or merge into a larger bubble of oil
Textured items do not work as well
Use a shallow depth of field
Have great light
Equipment I used: Nikon D800, Nikon 60mm 2.8 macro

I can’t wait to hear which image is your favorite. They are all unique because of the subjects under the oil and water….of course I had to use a flower! 😉

A Reading of Old

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Robyn Graham Photography

“Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.” Psalm 85:10

Hebrew Scroll

The image of the scroll was taken during a recent shoot for a Bat Mitzvah. I paired a verse that I love from the Old Testament book of Psalms with the image of the scroll. As the words photographed are in Hebrew I have no idea what they actually say, but felt an Old Testament verse would be appropriate to accompany the image. I love the verse because it is beautiful and contains four words critical to overall happiness; words that I truly wish the world could live by.

Vintage Roadmaster Bicycle

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Robyn Graham Photography

“Toleration is the greatest gift of the mind; it requires the same effort of the brain that it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle.” – Helen Keller

Time…

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Robyn Graham Photography

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

Time Antiquated

This post is a reflection of how I have been feeling about time…or the lack there of. Between school starting, sports, and volunteer work I have not had as much time to devote to photography as I would like. On the day I shot this image, however, I did take some time for breakfast and a walk with a dear old friend. We found this awesome vintage clock along our route in Lambertville, NJ. At the time of our find I didn’t have my camera with me and had to return later in the day to capture all of the awesome finds of our brief morning together. I thought this to be particularly fun and carefree considering the subject is predominately time.

Hopefully soon things will settle a bit and I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things and blog more frequently. Time will tell!