Category: still life

I’ve been on a roll with my still life lessons- this is for Lesson 21.  We were challenged to create a still life using four things: bread, twine, linen, and scissors.  I added some leaves and a pumpkin, because it is almost Halloween.  I used my new tea towels from my daughter- and the other items were purchased for the assignment- some cool bonsai shears, some twine (no longer an essential household item- at least for us), and a loaf of sourdough bread (my husband was so happy). I also used my new white beadboard for the backdrop- thank you, Barb Brookbank for the idea!

I almost didn’t post today- we JUST got back from Yellowstone and are beyond tired! I did manage to put together several fall still lifes for BeStill 52  in the few relatively quiet moments during our visit ((you saw one of them on Friday). I gathered some leaves with the boys, and added some pinecones and bits from my daughter’s flower arrangement. Here are two versions of the same photo, the first with Kim Klassen’s daysofold preset (modified) and the second with darkday.

And here’s a peek at what happens when you try to set up a still life with a three-year-old in the room.

After bemoaning the fact that I can find no signs of Fall at home, I am so happy to report that Fall has begun here at Yellowstone! I haven’t had a chance to get out to capture the landscape, so I created a little fall still life during Henry’s “quiet time” yesterday.

Linking up with Friday Finds.

Yesterday I photographed No. 2 pencils.  I’ve photographed pencils before, but I had this image in my head that wouldn’t go away: bright yellow pencils with my orangey wall as backdrop. I even made an early morning (well, 8:00- early for this retired person. . .) trip to the grocery store to buy brand new pencils.

I think I’ve already written of my lifelong love affair with office supplies, something I inherited from my grandma, Mimi, who would drive my mother crazy in her later years by asking to be driven to the stationery store (this was way before Office Max was born) because she needed a new pen. We would stand around and watch as she carefully tried out each pen before deciding on the right one.  She wrote with fountain pens, sometimes the cartridge kind, but usually a beautiful Parker fountain pen with turquoise ink.

When I was a little girl, I loved the beginning of the school year and the passing out of brand new school supplies.  We even got modeling clay to keep in out desks; I distinctly remember the smell! When I started teaching, I loved the boxes of new supplies I would unpack each year and pass out to my students.

So today, I am thinking about school supplies.  And brand new sharp pencils.

Pencils: dark side

Pencils: bright side

After I took these photos, I saw that a new assignment had been posted in BeStill 52- a still life portrait.  This could be a self-portrait, I suppose.