It’s Texture Tuesday- and the challenge was to create an image with a POP of color. Not thinking outside the box, I headed to the store to buy some gerbera daisies, my go-to flower subjects and favorite cut flower. And I used my go-to texture, Kim Klassen’s bent edges, which I desaturated and mostly brushed off the flower itself.
I found a bunch of these seeds on a walk the other day and thought they would be a subjects for a macro shot. I couldn’t decide which photo to post. The second one has greater depth of field- but I love the reflection in the first one. Which image do you like best?
These photos were both shot at f/16, 1/200, ISO 400 with added bounced flash. My shooting challenge involved getting sufficient light without losing the reflection- and without adding a reflection of the flash on the white surface (my white chair again). I ended up underexposing- and then opening up the shadows in Lightroom. If I had used a wider aperture, I would have needed less flash, but would have sacrificed depth of field. I know I need to learn more about focus stacking for macro shots to avoid this issue- but not today!
In a moment of bravery, I signed up for a monthly challenge group with Clickin Moms. The talent, skill, and creativity of the CM photographers inspires, but also intimidates me. I am stepping waaaaaay outside my comfort zone to participate in this- but that’s how we grow, right?
We have been divided into blog circles of 15 that will be linked up each month for 2013, so if you click on the link in each photographer’s post, you should eventually end up back here!
The theme for this month is close-up portraiture, which I really enjoy- especially with babies. I was so tempted to post macro shots of Henry when he was a baby, but, since my daughter took most of them (using my camera)- I think that might be cheating! 🙂
So, I called on my friend Barbara’s daughter, the beautiful Victoria! I took photos of her a couple weeks ago and posted some of them here. Today’s photos are from the same shoot. I took these photos with my 50mm 1.4 at f/4.5 and f/5 and used bounced flash (speedlight, TTL) to enhance the ambient light. Both are edited in Lightroom 4 only.
After you look at my photos, head on over to Misty Colvard’s site to see what Misty has done with this month’s challenge!
She is so darn pretty!
The cows were out when I walked over to the edge of our development at sunrise. They stared me down while I photographed the barbed wire fence and eventually moved on. I was concentrating on a shallow depth of field- so you might have to take my word for it that these are indeed cows.
And here is a shot of the same fence- but looking toward the sun.
What a peaceful way to start the day!
My second assignment for Beyond Beyond (aka 2B), was to practice using various apertures and look at the resulting depth of field- and then to have fun using editing techniques in Lightroom and Photoshop. The suggestion was to use Kim’s image of a white bowl of pinecones on a white chair, giving it a different look in processing. Well- I have pinecones and a white bowl and a white chair- so I took my own photos.
I used one layer of Kim’s texture, simplistic, at 65% opacity and desaturated the image slightly to get rid of my yellow walls. I googled simply to find an appropriate quote and found this one attributed to Mother Teresa. After editing, I discovered Kim had used the same quote (except for one word) attributed to some one else. Oh well- you can’t trust the internet!
Using my macro lens with a purposely shallow depth of field, I took a few shots of my asparagus fern the other day. When I brought them into Lightroom, I noticed bumps on the surface of the tiny leaves. I thought the leaves were dirty, so went back outside and looked at the plant more carefully- no dirt that I could see. I reshot the images and took them into Lightroom. There was still a rough, bumpy texture. I actually reshot the photos the next day as well- same results. I’m fascinated with what you can see with a macro lens! I ended up liking this photo best in monochrome.
Speaking of noticing, the shadows of my shutters in the morning light caught my eye this morning.
This week’s Texture Tuesday’s link-up features Kim’s new texture, minus 43, which was the temperature (including wind chill) where she lives in Manitoba when she created it. I wanted to have some SNOW in today’s image, so I had to go back to a photo I took in November, when we were at Yellowstone.
It was a gray day with flat light- but still beautiful in the stillness of late autumn when the park is closed to traffic.
I used one layer of texture, which I desaturated slightly, and reduced the opacity.
Where have I been? I can’t believe I’ve never done this before!
I was looking through the tutorials and challenges from last year’s Beyond Layers class and discovered this activity. You go through your books (or go to the library) and find some book titles that you stack to make a poem. Teachers- wouldn’t this be fun? This was a quick five minute attempt- and is kind of a cheat, because the second title is kind of a poem all on its own- but I like it just the same. I want to try it again!
Textured with reentry by Kim Klassen at low opacity.
Photography reminds me to be grateful for small things. Despite fog and dreariness for most of the day, the late afternoon sun provided some cheerful bokeh as background for my favorite windchime.
Although I appreciate winter rains and days spent inside reading books and sipping hot drinks, the photographer in me longs for flowers and leaves and signs of life outside! I went outside in search of any sign that Spring might be on its way- and found some tiny buds on my plum tree.
Second post of the day- but I am pretty excited- my Beyond Beyond class/group started today! I couldn’t wait to get started, because I have been waiting and waiting for this since I stopped my Project 365. I have loved all my previous Kim Klassen classes and know I will be inspired by Kim’s tutorials and art (as well as by the other photographers participating).
The assignment was to set up a scene (could be a cooperative subject, not limited to a still life) and photograph it from all different angles. This was definitely WAY inside my comfort zone, because this is the way I tend to operate. Of course she didn’t say to check things over and over on the computer- and then come back and take more photos (which is what I always do). We were then to either create a collage or post our favorite photo. I seem to be in collage mode lately (as well as kitchen chair mode), so that was what I did.
I was down by the water the other day right after the sun rose, casting everything in a beautiful hazy, orange glow.
Some Canada geese were flying in- but I wonder if these geese have ever been to Canada- they always seem to be here.
The seagulls were waking up and jockeying for the best seats.
This guy stayed away from the action and calmly surveyed the early morning scene.
The colors make it look like a warm day, but I was freezing and fantasizing about fingerless gloves for my stiff cold hands.
I’m kind of on a roll at my kitchen table these days right- so many of my photos have been taken here lately (most not posted). I discovered the afternoon light from the window a while ago- and more recently I’ve been entranced with the curve of my very ordinary kitchen chairs. This photo was NOT taken in lovely light and really posed a challenge in terms of exposure. I finally went with blowing out the background- maybe in afternoon light I could get a better background.
I shot this photo is response to a theme from my daily challenge group on Flickr- FRAMED. And what better frame than a kitchen chair?
I used simplistic, one of Kim Klassen’s lovely textures (2 layers- one at soft light, one multiply, reduced opacity) and am using this image for my Texture Tuesday link-up. Check out more images created with Kim’s textures by following the link at the bottom of the page.
In the above photo, my husband is checking his email on his iPhone first thing in the morning. Here are a few (very) random facts about our connections with and through our electronic devices:
I’m thinking you will either relate to this post- or be appalled. I’m already feeling defensive.
It’s a humble pastry brush.
I joined the Clickin Moms’ Monthly Macro group and was challenged this month to take photos of ordinary kitchen utensils, such as spoons and forks. Having photographed spoons several times (and being totally intimidated by the gorgeous fork and knife photos posted by the group so far. . .), I moved on to wooden spoons and . . .the pastry brush.
My favorite of the three images is the top left- I like the abstract quality of the lines and shadows. I originally edited it in black and white, but I ended up adding tones to both the shadows and highlights for this layout (and copied the processing to the other photos).
