Pink Carnations

Here’s another view of the teacup filled with mini carnations.  I was trying to do a take on the dinner plate art assignment for The Studio- where you artfully arrange food (or flowers, leaves etc.) on and around a dinner plate in an artful manner.  Symmetry and precision have never been my strong suits, and I feel totally out of my element doing food photography- so I gave up after maybe 10 minutes. I put the dibs and dabs of leaves and flowers to the side and stuck with just the flowers in the cup- and one stray one on the saucer.  I am in awe of those who create these beautiful tableaux- but it’s just not me.

Photo Feb 24- 10 00 14 AM

 

Melinda5 Comments

In Mimi’s Teacup

I saw these mini-carnations at the store the other day and immediately thought of pairing them with my grandmother’s chintz teacup for a still life. Both photos were taken with my iPhone camera and were edited with my old stand-by, Snapseed.  This app was especially useful in editing the second photo, because I needed to selectively adjust the reflection to bring it out; you couldn’t even see the reflection in the unedited version, but I knew it was there.

Photo Feb 24- 10 10 48 AM

Photo Feb 24- 10 09 31 AMLinking up today with Barb’s app happy Wednesday!

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Falling Apart

Photo Feb 21- 12 26 47 PMJanuary 2015 was a tough month.  Our daughter’s family was in a car accident (no one hurt), my father turned out to be buried in a veterans’ cemetery, and my husband got shingles- and then had a heart attack.  Everything had a happy ending. Everyone is fine.  Life was getting back to normal.

And then my camera broke.

After all that had happened last month, it is pretty easy to see this as a small bump in the road.  Funny how health scares put everything else into perspective.  My camera is at a camera store (well, THE camera store) in Phoenix for an estimate on repair. It may have to be sent to Nikon, which could mean weeks without a camera (this is why serious photographers always have at least two camera bodies). I hope to hear from the repair guys today.

How did I break it? My friend, Stephanie and I were just starting  our presentation on posing for our little photo group.  The idea was to pose people and then take photos of each pose. My camera was on a tripod, tethered to my laptop, so that we could compare the poses.  I tested this out before the meeting. All worked fine. When I went to take the first photo, the shutter kind of went kerplink instead of kerplunk- and no picture was recorded.  The camera showed ERR- camera malfunction. I tried several times- untethered, tethered, SD cards switched out, battery replaced, lens removed and replaced- nothing.  Stephanie had brought her camera, so we continued as if nothing had happened, and the presentation was successful.  I met my husband for lunch after the meeting and told him I probably had just hit some strange unknown button and that I would figure it out when I got home. I googled the problem, tried everything I could think of- and then we drove it to Phoenix the next day. Long story short- yes, the shutter is not working.

After taking photos with my Nikon almost every day for the last 4 1/2 years, it feels strange to be without it.  But I’m planning to use the opportunity to become a better iPhoneographer. My goal is to learn more about the apps I have- especially VSCO, Hipstamatic, and Stackables. And then I want to practice with my husband’s Canon Powershot sx50, so I’m more comfortable with that as well.

I’m not sure what this means for my blog.  I will definitely be posting the best of the photos I take with the iPhone or the little Canon. I’ll try to do some of my BeStill and Studio assignments with my iPhone.  And I think I will look for some older photos to post as well.

Today’s photo was taken with my phone and edited in Snapseed and Stackables.

 

 

Melinda5 Comments

Spoons and Presets

I belong to a little photo group in AAUW (Association of American University Women), which is composed of photographers of all levels.  Each month, one or two members research a topic and prepare a presentation on a photography topic of interest to the group.  There is also a photo sharing time, which usually relates to the presentation from the time before.  This month, we are all to bring in a photo or photos of a toy or beloved object.  Because I’m also doing the presentation this month (on posing groups of people), I almost forgot about photographing a beloved object.  However, I’ve been intending to again photograph spoons from my grandmother’s collection of souvenir coffee spoons (which are indeed among my most beloved possessions), so I took some time to take a couple still life shots to print for our meeting.

The spoons are mostly from the 1890’s and early 1900’s, when my grandmother, Mimi, was just a girl (she was born in 1888).  I believe some of the older spoons may have belonged to her mother.  Mimi was born and raised in Chicago, so several of the spoons are from Chicago World Fairs.

I was in the mood to use some of Kim’s presets when editing, so here are three images, each edited with a different preset.

20150217-DSC_2800_melinda_andersonedited with kk_chocolate preset (71%)

 

20150217-DSC_2797_melinda_andersonedited with kk_daysofold preset

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edited with kk_darkdays preset 

 

 

 

Melinda4 Comments

The Chair

It was almost a week ago when I got a text from my friend, Debbie with a picture of a cute, cute chair and the question “Do you want it?”  She had found it in a shop that re-paints and finishes furniture and other items, giving them a new shabby chic look. Debbie knew I was looking for a cheap, vintage looking chair for my still life photography- and I fell in love with it immediately.  Although my husband was just out of the hospital, he drove me down to the little shop, and I made my purchase.  I was originally planning to put it on the front porch, but I’m enjoying having it in my living room. I’m thinking now it will winter indoors and summer on the porch.

The Chair

20150212-DSC_2432_melinda_anderson-EditYou might have noticed my new chair earlier in the week  as a backdrop for daisies and roses. Today I’ve gotten on the Valentine bandwagon and have added hearts to my chair still life.

heartchairLinking up with Friday Finds.

Melinda8 Comments

Editorializing

Our latest challenge in The Studio was to create a photo that is editorial-ish.  I was pretty stumped until I went to bed last night and somehow came up with using the daffodils I had purchased yesterday at Trader Joe’s in this still life.  I had been thinking of using one of my little Adirondack chairs in a composition, so it all came together in about 10 minutes.  Adding the text took longer- way longer- as I always have to try out every font before I’m satisfied (or tired of it . . .).

20150211-DSC_2405_melinda_anderson-Edit

 

I took the photo below a day or two ago, and it kind of fits into the “editorial-ish” theme as well.  In fact, the newspaper is opened to the editorial section!  Here I was painting hearts to add to a still life you will be seeing tomorrow!20150210-DSC_2380_melinda_anderson

Melinda4 Comments

Tuesday Flowers

I must admit that flowers are still my favorite photography subject.  I wish I had a green thumb and could grow them as well!

The roses below were textured with Kim Klassen’s kk_anna texture.

20150208-DSC_2220_melinda_anderson-EditAnd here almost the same shot converted to black and white (no texture applied).

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This is a closer view of the flowers edited using Kim’s kk_likeadream preset in Lightroom.

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All photos were taken using the Lensbaby.

Linking up with Texture Tuesday today.

Melinda8 Comments

Still Love These Scissors!

I remember when I started in with BeStill-52 last year, everyone seemed to be using these cool scissors in all their photos.

20150131-DSC_1781_melinda_andersonI was resolved to avoid buying props for my still life photos, figuring photography was a hobby I could barely afford anyway- why spend more on props?  But I LOVED them- and, after searching our nurseries, craft stores and hardware stores, I googled “scissors”  and finally discovered they are used for bonsai.  They come in all price ranges- and, of course I got the cheapest I could find.  I bought a set of two, this one being the photoworthy ones. I actually keep the other pair in the kitchen and use them all the time when I cut flowers (which I usually do on a weekly basis).

20150131-DSC_1784_melinda_andersonThe Studio has a Facebook group, and I noticed the other day that one of the new members asked about the cool scissors someone had in their photo. I guess I wasn’t the last photographer to be clued in!

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Melinda3 Comments

Textiles

Because I’m enrolled in both BeStill-52 and The Studio (as I think all of the still life students are!), it’s been a challenge to keep up with both.  But I’ve spent the last few days working in my garage studio, and have had fun catching up on some of the assignments.  Today’s photos are for The Studio- the prompt was textiles. I used the presets darklight and darkmood for these photos- and that was about all I needed to do. Happy Monday!

20150131-DSC_1773_melinda_anderson 20150131-DSC_1771_melinda_anderson

Melinda3 Comments

Rainy Day Play

Today is one of those days I remember from my teaching days: drizzly rain, gray skies, fog, and periods when the rain stops, but it is still misty out.  Do you send the kids out to recess? Will it start pouring as soon as you do? How many more games of seven-up can we play? How many more inside recesses before we all go crazy?

I don’t remember days like this last winter; I thought all our Arizona rain came during monsoon season.

My husband is still recuperating at home, and, since it is a rainy day, it seemed like a good day to play in my garage studio and try to catch up on some still life assignments.

Here are some photos I shot- edited with a variety of presets from Kim Klassen.  The topic was spoons, and I added loose tea from these cute little cans (bought at our local spice shop).  There was some side lighting, since the garage door was open- but very little, since it is such a gray and dismal day.

tea_spoon_diptych tea_spoon_layout2 20150130-DSC_1757_melinda_andersonBoth spoons belonged to my grandmother, Mimi.  The bottom one is engraved with a B, which I assume is for Badenoch, the family name (her maiden name also begins with B).

I’m belatedly linking up with Friday Finds, since these little cans of tea were such a find.

Melinda7 Comments

Citrus

I’m attempting to do a bit of catch-up on my lessons from BeStill and The Studio.  The first image is for Lesson 33 in BeStill52 (and for Texture Tuesday).  The assignment was to create a still life using lemons or other citrus fruit, create a bit of a story, and include varying heights.  Well, my story is that lemons were being sliced (you can invent the rest. . .).

20150125-DSC_1550_melinda_anderson-EditThe image below is for Texture Tuesday (no real props, no varying heights, and no story).

20150125-DSC_1566_melinda_anderson-EditBoth photos were edited with textures from Kim Klassen’s Cloth and Paper collection.

Melinda11 Comments