Our front flower bed is doing its thing!
Lensbaby Edge 80
One Thing Again . . .
I think I might be finished with the One Thing challenge for BeStill52 and The Studio, but no promises. . .
A couple Lensbaby shots:
Top down with my 35mm 1.8:
Also with my 35mm 1.8, softened with a couple of Kim Klassen textures (linking up with Texture Tuesday today):
One Thing
We were challenged to photograph one thing, shot different ways, different days, with different props in both BeStill and the Studio. I decided to use my blue lantern, which my son gave me for Christmas. I’ve done a couple different photo shoots and plan on doing more this week. All of these were taken with my Lensbaby and Sweet 35. The top one has a couple textures added.
Flower Fields
When we were in California, we stopped at a beautiful flower farm, where there were acres of ranunculus blooms. Of course I took dozens of photos, but somehow they never made it into the blog. Here are a couple of my favorite images; expect to see more soon!
Saw this. . .
One of my favorite things about photography is how much I NOTICE now! And it’s contagious- even my husband notices more. As much as I enjoy creating a still life, the most exciting part of photography for me is when I happen to catch a glimpse of beauty in the every day. Then the challenge is to somehow capture what I saw. The other day, it was this reflection of a tiny bowl on the black surface of my dad’s dental cabinet. The Edge 80 was on the camera, so that’s what I used.
I edited the photo in Lightroom, and then I took it into onOne’s Perfect Effects 8 for a couple finishing touches. I realized recently that I have never really MASTERED this great program (and now there’s a newer version!), so I’ve been playing with it more lately. I’ve even used it to add textures (you can import them from your hard drive or use the ones within the program). For this image, I adjusted the color, added a bit of glow to emphasize the reflection, and then added a vignette.
Macro Magic
I bought a Clickin Moms Lensbaby tutorial series back when I only had my Lensbaby Mobile for the iPhone, (no Composer Pro, no optics), because I was so eager to learn how to use these cool lenses. One of the tips I learned was that the Edge 80 with macro converters does a great job capturing sun rays, especially when taking photos under leafy trees. I only have one tree at this point that has enough leaves to provide a canopy for the sun to just peek through, so I spent 10 or 15 minutes the other day crouched uncomfortably beneath the plum tree looking up at the sun. I thought I didn’t get anything much until I played with a few images in Lightroom and discovered that I did get some interesting effects from the sun- including sun rays. Fun!
The image below is the same as the last photo in the collage at the top of the post, except it has some Florabella textures added.
Raspberry Macros
I’ve been keeping to my word about practicing with my Lensbaby every day. I thought a major part of my practice would involve getting the Edge 80 off the Composer (so tight for these weak hands!), but so far, so good! Maybe it’s loosening up- or I’m getting stronger! I hadn’t done much with macro using the Edge 80 until recently, and I’m having fun with it. Raspberries were on my breakfast menu on Easter, so I took a few moments to take some macro shots. I’m finding the Edge 80 to be nice and sharp- similar to my 85mm macro.
Edits:
1- edited in onOne Perfect Effects (tonal contrast)- and then Photoshop, adding kk_chill to soften what I did in Perfect Effects!
2- kk_lettherebelight preset
3- kk_eve preset
Edits:
1- onOne’s Perfect Effects
2- my basic edit
3- kk_lightairypastel preset
Getting back in the groove and linking up with Texture Tuesday today!
Crated
One of our recent assignments in Bestill52, was to create a still life in or on a crate. I have had two pepsi crates since our early married days. One is for individual bottles; the other is for 6 packs, I think. Because this was before the days of shabby chic, we stained the crates to make them darker (and to go with our antiques). They hung on our walls in each of the places we lived, until we moved to our Arizona house. I haven’t quite decided what to do with them here, but they work well for still life props.
All 3 images were taken with the Lensbaby and Edge 80 optic.
More eggs, please!
See in a New Way
I wasn’t too excited about the eggs theme for The Studio Online this week and felt pretty uninspired- until I cracked eggs for my scrambled eggs breakfast yesterday. Aha! A cracked egg in the composition- I haven’t done that before. And this would be a challenge for the Edge 80 optic on my Lensbaby (the optic I can never get off once I put it on- but that’s another story. . .). The weather was warm, with no cold wind knocking over my props in my garage studio. For once, things went smoothly with the set-up AND, most importantly, with the focus. In fact, I will have more eggs photos to show you- probably tomorrow.
The first photo was edited with Kim Klassen’s darklight preset (tweaked and at reduced opacity in the Fader). The other two are edited with one of my own.
Note to non-Lensbaby folks: See in a new way is Lensbaby’s slogan and pretty much my mantra!
Backyard Blur
My photography goal for April is to practice with my Lensbaby every day. We’ve been out in the backyard the last couple days, so the Lensbaby came out with me yesterday.
The fountain is up and running again. Is it just me, or does this look like a lady juggling?
Here is a macro of photinia leaves- with some added texture.
And here is the same basic shot, edited with a black and white preset. Notice how the lensbaby blur shows up in the black and white- interesting!
These were all taken with the Sweet 50 optic, macro converters added in the last two.
Constellation Trail
We have miles and miles of trails yet to discover here in Prescott. Saturday, we took a short walk on the Constellation Trail, which winds by the Granite Dells just outside of town. Because my husband is still in recovery mode, we stopped after a half hour, but really enjoyed the trails and scenery.
Sunflowers: Light and Shadow
Back in the studio again! Spring is really here, and it was actually pleasant to work on still life assignments in the garage. Here are my “official” light and shadow images for The Studio.
Playing with Kim Klassen presets:
top row- moody-ish, organic
bottom row: chocolate, barely color
This one is a more standard, “clean” edit.
Light, Shadow, Light
The latest prompt for Kim Klassen’s Studio had to do with light and shadow, which she related to ups and downs in her own family. It was easy for me to use that metaphor for the twists and turns that have been part of our 2015. Life has been mostly wonderful, but we have stepped into the shadows a few times in the last couple months.
Although I considered this theme, I have not yet done the still-life assignment. Instead I took some sunrise lensbaby shots of the sunflowers I bought the other day (that I had INTENDED and STILL INTEND to use in a shadowy still life). Somehow, I always find myself drawn to impromptu still lifes, rather than styled ones, and in this case, the morning sun on the sunflowers was too beautiful to pass up. There is shadow in these images- but the light is predominant.
Simplified
Another beach image for you today! This one was edited with Topaz Simplify (and an added texture) to give it a bit of a painterly look.
melinda anderson photography 