Sunny and Cold

The sun came out for awhile last weekend, but it was still cold as I ventured out to my studio (AKA garage) for a photo session. I opened the garage door for natural light, set what was left of my latest Trader Joe’s bouquet on some bead board, and had fun with my Edge 80 for as long as I could stand the cold. I tilted the lens down and to the left, focusing on the scissors for this shot. I liked the result and added texture to the image for Texture Tuesday.

20150111-DSC_0897_melinda_anderson-EditAnd here is the same photo with a black and white conversion.20150111-DSC_0897_melinda_andersonHappy Tuesday!

 

Melinda10 Comments

Adventures in Lensbaby

20150105-DSC_0221_melinda_anderson-EditThis may look like a very simple, ordinary still life to you- but to me it represents a breakthrough!

Mastering the combination of appropriate aperture, manual focus, and correct tilt of the Lensbaby has been a challenge to say the least.  To create this still life, I had some seemingly simple goals.  I wanted window light, soft focus on the window and edges of the photo, and, most importantly, the face of the little girl figurine/vase to be in focus.  It was the last goal that was, of course, the most difficult.  Out of the 31 photos I snapped, two had good focus on the face.  This actually represents improvement to me!

I wasn’t thinking I would use the Lensbaby on still life, but now I see that I like the effect- and that, with lots of patience, I can create the correct focus and the amount of blur I want.  Yay!  In fact, still life is probably what I SHOULD be practicing on, because it is, well, STILL!

This was taken with the Sweet 35 optic at f/4.  Textured with painterly and chill by Kim Klassen.

For Be Still- 52. Week 30 (a fresh start for 2015) and Texture Tuesday

 

Melinda8 Comments

Snapshots of Snow

Maybe when we have lived here a while and have experienced a winter with many days of heavy snow, I will lose my excitement about snow.  But for now, I just can’t get over looking out the window and seeing WHITE!

We still have snow on the ground- and it’s very COLD, but over the next few days it will disappear. All the photos below were taken December 31- with the Lensbaby, except for the hawk one and the view of houses from our driveway, which were taken with my husband’s Canon Powershot.

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We enjoyed seeing this classic taxi (above)picking up someone who didn’t want to drive in the snow.

Below is a view out the window while I waited in the car for my husband, who had run into the grocery store.20141231-DSC_9646_melinda_anderson-2

 

It was snowing hard as I watched this young man scraping the ice off his windows as I watched through the window of my warm car. 20141231-DSC_9667_melinda_anderson

 

Melinda2 Comments

Happy, Snowy New Year!!!

Yes- S N O W Y ! ! !  It started snowing early Wednesday morning.  We awoke to a beautiful blanket of snow, totally transforming the landscape,  and it snowed HARD until early afternoon. We decided to drive downtown- and oh my!- the roads were covered, the snowplows were out, and many motorists were stuck in drifts.  We were out for a little over an hour, and during that time, the snowflakes fell thick and fast, covering our roads, including the road up our hill.  We had no problems, however, and I managed to take lots of photos (mostly through the windshield) with my Lensbaby Edge 80.  Here are a few of my favorites.

20141231-DSC_9606_melinda_anderson 20141231-DSC_9539_melinda_anderson 20141231-DSC_9534_melinda_andersonAs 2014 was drawing to a close, I started thinking about 2015 and what my intentions are for the year.  I used to make resolutions, which often seemed to set me up for failure. I like the idea of choosing just one word to aim for and use as a sort of mantra, so I’m doing that again this year.

This year my word is . . .

20141229-DSC_9121_melinda_andersonJoy within myself.

Joy with my family.

Joy in all my relationships.

Joy in my creative life.

Joy in as many moments each day as I can fit in!

By the way, I am starting year FIVE of my blog.  I had no idea I would be posting to it for this long, but it has become part of my life.  And I will continue it, as long as it brings me JOY!

Thank you for being a big part of my 2014!  I appreciate your kind comments on my photography (on my blog and in REAL life too)!

Best wishes to you for a Happy and JOYFUL 2015!

Melinda7 Comments

Lensbaby Lights

Happy New Year!!!

I took my camera with my Lensbaby Sweet 35 down to the square last night to see what the Christmas lights looked like when shot Lensbaby-style.  Be prepared to get a little dizzy! The exploding Christmas tree look is not my favorite Lensbaby style, but it was fascinating to see what the different tilts did to the lights.

20141230-DSC_9405_melinda_anderson 20141230-DSC_9403_melinda_anderson 20141230-DSC_9399_melinda_andersonAnd check out the shape of some of the bokeh below- whoa!

20141230-DSC_9415_melinda_anderson

My biggest Lensbaby challenge is removing the optics. I kept thinking I was doing it incorrectly- but no. The problem is with hand strength. My husband can remove them easily; I cannot. So I guess his photo assistant role has just grown- good thing he’s retiring! Despite this issue, I am REALLY enjoying the Lensbaby! I have played with all the optics and haven’t picked a favorite yet.  Each has its strengths and challenges. I think my favorite might be the Edge 80, except that the focal length makes it so “tight” on my crop sensor camera. I have taken a zillion photos with each optic and know I have a lot to learn. An instant hit with me though is the macro converters- I love them! Easy to use with creamy bokeh- LOVE!

Best wishes for a Happy 2015!!!

Melinda3 Comments

Winter Dreams

20141225-DSC_7992_melinda_anderson-EditThis is one of my first images using my brand new (drum roll, please!) Lensbaby for my Nikon!!!  Santa was very good to me this year- he brought me the Lensbaby Composer Pro System kit, which includes the Sweet 35, the Sweet 50, and the Edge 80 optics- and a couple macro converters. The Sweet 35 was attached to the Composer Pro, so that’s what I used for all my photos (I actually haven’t learned how to swap optics as yet).  There is quite a learning curve with Lensbaby- more than a few of the photos I shot were completely out of focus- but I knew to expect that.

The above image DOES have a sweet spot of focus in the tree, blurring off into the clouds. I decided to convert it to black and white and texture it in Photoshop.

I am beyond excited to have these new toys to play with on my camera!

BTW, I’m taking a bit of a blog break- more of a long weekend, actually- to play with my Lensbaby and, more importantly, spend time with my family. I’ll be back Tuesday or Wednesday. See you then!

 

 

Melinda5 Comments

Ready or not . . .

My friend, Joan, is staying with us, and we are having so much fun introducing her to Arizona. Saturday was spent touring Prescott- and shopping- and Sunday was the anticipated trip to Sedona and Jerome.  I packed my camera bag with three lenses and an extra battery and planned to try some detail shots of the area, as I had photographed the places we were visiting several times. I had picked up a free Sedona guide at the airport, so was planning to bring that as well as the Arizona Highways photography guide I had recently purchased.  I was READY!

As we drove into Sedona, I looked down at my feet and saw that yes indeed I had brought the guidebooks- but where was my camera? The answer became clear that I had left my camera bag on the kitchen counter. Oh. My. God.

So it became obvious that any pictures I might take would have to be shot with my iPhone.  I relaxed, because I already have photos of Sedona.  But when we pulled into our first stop, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, I noticed something that had been missing on our previous trips to Sedona- CLOUDS! Big billowy CLOUDS! And there was a moon- kind of taunting me up there. Darn.

So today’s post is all iPhone photos- including some Lensbaby shots, because at least I had that in my purse.

Here’s the view of Cathedral Rock from outside the chapel (notice the clouds. . .).

Photo Aug 17- 11 36 53 AM

The chapel is awe-inspiring. After sitting quietly for awhile, I put the Lensbaby on the iPhone and tried some creative photography inside.

Photo Aug 17- 11 04 47 AM Photo Aug 17- 11 05 34 AM

Photo Aug 17- 11 17 20 AM

Afterward, I snapped another view of Cathedral Rock, before we went into town for lunch and some shopping.

Photo Aug 17- 11 13 23 AMDespite the camera fiasco, we had a wonderful time!

Melinda4 Comments

I Heart Lensbaby

My iPhone Lensbaby came at last! I participated in the Kickstarter program and was able to get it before it goes on the market (and at a reduced price).

I absolutely love it! My iPhone is fun again- thanks to this tiny little lens. This is the first and only lens I’ve had for my phone, and it has taken some time for me to get used to it.  Although I loved it from the start, focusing it has been a challenge for me.  The first step in using this little guy is to attach it to the magnet ring (supplied) on the phone (with the Lensbaby app open )- then adjust the position of the lens to get the best focus with a centered “sweet spot.” Since I almost always prefer an off-center area of focus, I then switch to the “movable sweet spot” mode and compose my picture. I’m not sure why focusing was so difficult for me, but since I’ve relaxed about it a bit, I’ve been happier with my results.

Here are some of my favorite shots.

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The soft blur created by the lensbaby just seems to go with flowers!

Since this is app-happy Wednesday, I will mention the apps I used to edit these images.  I generally open in Snapseed first to crop and make any exposure adjustments. I often go into Pixlr Express afterward if I want to make an adjustment to just one area of the image.  I used to do this in Snapseed, but I find the history brush in Pixlr Express easier to use.  To do this, I make the adjustment I want to the ENTIRE image, and then use the history brush to erase it from the areas where I don’t want that particular adjustment.  It’s kind of counterintuitive, but I’m getting used to it.

Now I NEED to get a Lensbaby for my Nikon- I could start with a Composer Pro with a double glass optic. Are you reading this, Santa???

 

Melinda7 Comments