A couple weeks ago we had a short stay down in “the valley” (what Arizonans refer to as the Phoenix area) and stayed an extra day to avoid returning home during the massive snowstorm. After a morning spent birdwatching at Gilbert Water Ranch, we spent some time walking through the Roosevelt Row area of Phoenix, the downtown art district with murals, galleries and shops.
This abstract was created by combining two images- shadows on an alley wall and a mirrored wall installation.
I’ve neglected my blog lately and am so behind in editing photos! I’m overcommitted in my photography life, plus there have been other things going on as well. So today I have an image I had saved for one photo group- and then have used in ANOTHER photo group. I have edited it several ways- here’s one for today.
I took so many multiple exposure shots while at Newport Beach! Here’s another- the pier.
I had fun playing with pears!
I enjoy creating abstract images in Photoshop (and even on my mobile phone) as much as I do creating a still life. Actually, in some ways, I enjoy it more, because I can create varying images combining some of the same photos or photos created at the same time. These were all edited in Photoshop by layering multiple photos and then having fun with them.
I am working on some quick abstracts for my little photo group presentation. I set up the lemons and couldn’t help but see them as facing each other with their little lemon noses. Should I have put masks on them?
I first titled this image the Sinking Sun or Drowning Sun- but I see it now as rising. I guess it depends on your point of view.
I’ve made a small website change- and plan to do more over the coming weeks. If you got this blog post by email and didn’t go to my website, you would have noticed nothing new. But if you went to my website directly to look at my latest post, you may have gotten lost! The landing page for melinda365.com is now a slideshow instead of my blog posts. To get to my blog, you have to go to the MENU. This change has been in my head for a couple years, but it has taken this long to make myself sit down and actually DO it. I plan to update my galleries page as well to reflect work I’ve done in the last couple years.
I have been doing intentional camera movement (ICM) for many years off and on, but I have never enjoyed it as much as I have when photographing birds this summer. The image below is gulls over Alaska’s Kasitsna Bay near the cabin on the MacDonald Spit where we stayed for our fiftieth anniversary.
Reflections on a cloud filled day
with love to Joni
Another photo taken at Granite Basin Lake- this time JUST the reflection. I love how abstract and painterly the weeds look reflected in the water.
Here is the second in my Stations of the Cross series- Nativity. I started with a photo taken of the sun rising from our driveway. When I started working on my image, I noticed a single star in the sky, which I had not seen when I took the photo. I replaced it with the “Christmas Star” (the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction photographed last December). In this photo you can just barely see Jupiter and four of its moons and Saturn with its rings blurred. And then, I of course did some creative editing! 🙂
I am taking an eight week class through my church where we all create art! There are painters, mixed media artists, musicians, and at least one photographer (!) coming together to have discussions based on assigned readings and then create art in response. Each week we share art with each other in our zoom meetings.
I had imagined this would be similar to contemplative photography, which I am familiar with, but it turned out to be based on Stations of the Cross, which is totally outside my experience. The class explores the metaphysical meanings of the stations as related to our own lives. This is way outside my comfort zone, but the excellent teacher and interesting classmates are making this a wonderful experience!
Week One- Creation
This is the third in my series of roofline abstracts and was not taken on a photo trip like the other two. This is a multiple exposure, multi-layered image from photos shot from my own driveway. Since March, I have missed trips to Alaska, Minnesota, and southern Arizona- as well as several likely California trips, so it’s up to me to find (or make) photo opportunities where I can. Unlike many others, I have not suffered during the pandemic- but I am getting eager to experience some new places beyond home.
This is second in my rooflines series- rooflines of Bodie.
Yeah- probably not real words- but I had fun yesterday “abstractifying and impressionizing” this multiple exposure photo of a building and archway on the University of New Mexico campus. I added another photo layer, one of my own textures, and a few grunge brushstrokes before doing some color adjustments. I like the effects and thoroughly enjoyed myself!
Another trip to my photo archives- a fun edit of a barrel cactus.
melinda anderson photography 