A Mother’s Perfect Love – A Tulip and a Poem

A mother’s perfect love,

Forever giving,

Infinitely strong,

Her purpose for living,

Being willing to forgive any wrong.

Her beautiful eyes,

Bright,

Filled with joy,

Delight at the sight

Of her girl or her boy.

A mother’s beautiful love

Always there with open arms,

Encouraging to soar above,

Protecting from harm.

Is there any love more perfect?

Is there any love more beautiful?

Than the love of a mother who never neglects,

But is always there to tell us we’re wonderful.

 Copyright Robyn Graham

A couple of the meanings of the tulip are beautiful eyes and perfect lover.  I chose these two representations of the tulip for Mother’s Day and wrote the above poem to accompany the image of the tulip.  Being a mother is the most challenging yet the most rewarding role a woman can ever have.   I hope my words and image honor all mothers, near and far.

Tulip I

Tulip I, a Day Dream

SS 1/60 F 4.5 ISO 640

Tulip I is the first image in my 2015 tulip series. I used natural light to photograph several tulips that were decaying. Tulip I is a day-dream. I used back lighting, ambient light, and a shallow depth of field to achieve the swirly, dreamy effect.

In post processing I did a simple curves adjustment, just to give a little color pop.

Elegance

Elegance

To create this photograph I placed a white tray on a white paper backdrop and used natural light from the side and front of the subject.  I used all white to create negative space and to highlight the overripe pomegranate.  In post processing I enhanced the color slightly using a curves layer in Photoshop CC.  I then added a touch of vintage haze using a levels layer in Photoshop CC.

The title of the photograph is based on the meaning of the flower of the pomegranate plant in the Victorian Language of Flowers – elegance.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Coco and the Angle of Incidence

Coco in Thought

Regal Coco

When photographing Coco, my sister’s dog, over Thanksgiving I played with the angle of incidence – the angle of the light coming into my lens.  If you compare the two images above you’ll notice that when I was above Coco the light was not entering my lens in a direct way, therefore the light was not hazy, and she was not as blown out.  When shooting from below Coco, the angle allowed for more flare or haze as the light came directly into the lens.  This is a perfect example of how photographers should move around, above, or below, their subjects in order to capture the subject in the most pleasing light.   The most pleasing light may be softer, more blown-out light with haze and/or flare, or it may be more direct light allowing for details of the subject to be more definitive.

An easy way to experiment with the angle of incidence is to place a subject such as a vase of flowers in front of a window or door and shoot at different angles.  Once you upload the files, compare the way the light hit your subject based on the angle of the light coming into your lens.

The light being used for the photographs of Coco was hard, direct, and warm light.  The character of the light being used will also influence the final lighting of your subject, but the angle of the light entering your lens is what will result in the differences you see above.

Have fun experimenting and if you would like to share your images with me you can tag me in your post, or send me the link to your post!

Double Exposure – “It’s Heavenly…to be with You”

It’s Heavenly…to be with You

A Double Exposure – White Lily Leaf and White Lily Bud

The title of the above image is based on the meaning of the white Lily in the Victorian Language of Flowers.  The fact that the image is a double exposure of two flowers and was created with an ethereal feel helped make the meaning a perfect title.

I have a fabulous announcement to make.  Yesterday I received an email with the subject line saying: “Congrats!”  At first I thought it must be spam.  Once I read the message and clicked on the link included in the text of the message I was pleasantly surprised.  The link to BWGallerist led me to the home page which had a list of the  “Best of the Best” of Emerging Fine Art Photographers of 2014.  Guess what!  My name was on that list!  I am so honored and excited!   Please visit the link above to read the article and see works of other inspiring photographers on the list.

For those of you who truly love black and white photography I highly recommend subscribing to BWGallerist.  It is a wonderful, informative and inspiring magazine.

Happy New Year!