I have fallen in love with creating abstracts! I have always been attracted to shapes and strong lines when I am out shooting with my camera, and this is a composite of several images with circles and rectangles. The layering started on my iPhone and then was continued in Photoshop. Fun to create- and a bit addictive!
Here is a peek into one of the windows at Bodie, the ghost town off Highway 395 in California. This is a layered multiple exposure, edited for a dark and moody feel, despite the beautiful and sunny fall weather on the day we visited.
This was one of our first views of the Sierras as we headed to California a few weeks ago. There was a enough room to pull over, and I climbed up the hill a bit to be able to get a view of the curvy road as well as the Sierras in the distance. I was born and raised in California, so this view pulls on my heartstrings. California will always be HOME to this Arizonan!
I had an idea for a series- which I still have not developed. Here is a start- but way different from where I would like this series to go. These were taken in Bodie- looking into the wagonmaker’s workshop. My 3rd great grandfather, Augustus Peaslee, was a wagonmaker, and I am always drawn to photograph wagon wheels wherever I happen to see them. I am imagining a series of wagon wheel abstracts with a whole different color palette than this one- but it’s a beginning….
Here’s our view of last night’s harvest moon as it rose above the hills! I missed the shot of it just peeking above the horizon- in the minute or two it took to get my camera and run out to the driveway it had already popped up over the hill.
Second in the series of abstracts from our visit to Tumacacori Mission.
Above is part of my venture into abstract photography- multiple exposures and often layering the resulting images in Photoshop to create an impression of place, feeling or memory. The Tumacacori Mission in southern Arizona is one of my favorite places we have visited since living here. The old buildings, the history of the O’odham people who still live in the area, the cemetery with its rocks and simple crosses all make a strong impact on visitors. It is my fourth grade history lessons brought to life! Beyond that is the deeper understanding of colonialism and its impact everywhere.
I took many photos while there- despite the incredible HEAT- and have created a small series of abstracts which I will continue posting here.
Last night, as the wind danced vigorously, it lent a captivating flair to my photographs of a cosmos. Although engulfed in a sea of thoughts, my intention was to craft an edit that exuded a certain mood – the kind that strikes a chord with the viewer. How many times can the word “mood” be gracefully integrated within a single sentence? Apparently, quite a few.
The above paragraph was created with AI- the photo is all mine!
I had no idea this was part of Word Press now- I just had to try.
Just doodling in photoshop with water reflections…
My goal today was to get some genealogy research done, but I can’t seem to get my thoughts together.
So I’m WOOL GATHERING- an expression from my childhood. There are barely any signs of the approach of autumn here, but I’m already daydreaming of bare branches and winter moons. So here’s a little winter fantasy for today.
The thing about intentional camera movement is that you can’t exactly predict what your image will look like- and for me, that is what makes it exciting! I play with shutter speeds, aperture and filter strength and try different movements with my camera, but I am often surprised by the end result.
In case you’re wondering… although I have been taking and editing many photos, for some reason, I haven’t been posting. I definitely am not giving up photography and am actually in five photo groups (four are meeting this week!). I will continue to post to this website- once a week? twice a week? once a month? All I can say is it will likely not be to a set schedule.
Summer came late to Alaska this year. The usual fireweed was just getting ready to bloom while we were there last month, but we were consoled by the beautiful wild iris. This multiple exposure was taken along the shoreline of Crooked Lake, where my daughter’s family has a cabin.
We have just returned from Alaska, where we had a delightful visit with our daughter’s family. Our grandsons are growing up- almost 13 and almost 16! Photography was not a focus of this trip, but I did manage to get some photos of the boys and some multiple exposure abstracts while we stayed at their lakeside cabin.
and don’t forget HISTORY! Tucson’s Barrio Viejo is a magnet for Southwest photographers and never disappoints, even with construction happening. Many of the historic buildings have been updated and restored but keep the character of the original barrio. This is a multiple exposure of two houses, still with their cracks and imperfections.
melinda anderson photography 