Last Season’s Left Overs

“Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.” ~ Thomas Fuller

To view this photograph in black and white, please visit Monochromia.

Lensless

I had no intentions of posting today, but I was nominated for the 7-day nature challenge on Facebook by another photographer.   I posted photographs from my archives the past two days and the photographer then reminded me that I was supposed to post photographs of the snow like everyone else.  Well, I honestly tire of looking at pictures of the snow after about a week or so of repetitively seeing them.   But, to make the photographer happy I decided to go out and shoot this afternoon.  I climbed through at least two feet of snow and played.  It was warm, 40 degrees F and it felt great to be outside and playing with my camera.  I felt somewhat like an animal on the prowl as I searched for my subjects.

While I was photographing a pine cone using back lighting and creating beautiful bokeh I remembered an article I recently read about lensless photography.   Because I had the time and was on a mission to create some unique winter images I decided to try it.  The above photographs are the results.

Do you love the hazy effect as much as I do?  I feel like I captured my prey.  One might argue that the first image is too “blue” meaning the white balance is off, but I was in the shade and it is a winter/snow shot and it is cold so to me, the color is perfect for what I was representing with my work.

Which do you prefer?  The color photograph or the black and white?

The Studio

Introducing my studio space…There is so much natural light I didn’t turn the lights on to photograph the space.  The images are straight out of camera,I didn’t edit them as I just wanted to share the space with you.

 

 

My dog, Daisy, goes to the studio with me every day.

 

 

The stairway to my second floor space.

The entrance is to the right.

 

 

Sincere Generosity

Sincere Generosity

ss 1/320  f18  ISO 400  60mm macro

“To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.” Confucius

Galioli in the Victorian language of flowers means generosity and  I am sincere , thus the title of this image.

To capture this image, I used natural sunlight.  I put a black backdrop down on the grass and placed the flower upon it.  I used only the sun, no fill, and used manual exposure.  It was somewhat challenging because of the shadows and the significant contrast in light and shadow.  I did minimal post processing, just increased the blacks to darken the backdrop.  Light is such a magical thing.  When used correctly under the proper exposure we can create so much!

In addition, if you have a minute and are interested in black and white photography, stop by Monochromia to see my post for this week.  I posted two images of the same subject but using light in different perspectives.  More about light!

Have a great weekend!

A few of my favorites…

Below are a few of my favorite shots from a 1st communion shoot I did a couple of weeks ago.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoy working with children.  It is fun to observe them just being.  When working with children I try to extract their natural personality vs. posing them extensively.  Many times children will naturally land in a pose that with just a little coaching from you makes for a near perfect composition.  The  little girl featured in the images below was so sweet and such a joy to work with.  She loved exploring the environment and I enjoyed chatting with her about what she saw, how she felt, etc.  Letting children be themselves and letting them lead the way relaxes them and gains their trust and comfort with you enabling you to more successfully capture their true essence.

Little girls are especially fun to work with for first communion shoots because they are in their fancy dress, sometimes a veil, a headpiece, special jewelry, and they just feel like little princesses.  It almost takes me back in time to when I got to twirl around in my dresses and feel like a princess.

The one thing I think it is important to stress is that one should never lose their style and artistic flair when photographing children or any subject.  It is important to stay true to ones style and vision.  After all, isn’t that why you were hired?  It is important to satisfy your clients and ensure that you have the expected, traditional shots, for example the praying hands for a first communion, but once that is achieved, move to your work flow and capture your subject in the way you are most comfortable.

I used Topaz Labs for my black and white conversions and used vignettes or borders to create a more ethereal/vintage appeal.