Archive for ‘January, 2012’

So yes, right now I’m supposed to be watching football playoffs! But, until I get some company in the family room (my son), I’m working on these pictures. I’ll catch the second half of the first game and watch all of the next game rooting for the GIANTS!!

Anyway, today was just too cold and gloomy to go outside and take snowy shots. It was too tempting to stay inside and be warm. So I did, and I played with some macro shots of a beautiful Calla Lily plant I bought the other day. These blossoms are just so beautiful to photograph. Their curved lines just lend themselves to up-close shots. It was honestly  hard to choose whether to post them in color or black and white, they look so pretty either way. I hope you enjoy them in black and white, which I chose since that’s what I’m working on in the class I”m taking right now. What do you think??

Off to make a fire and watch the games!! Go big blue!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Well I haven’t been motivated to take many pictures in the past week, so I made myself get out this morning and take some. I headed to a beach in the town next to ours to try some scenery slightly different than my usual. It was cold and blustery and the sun was way too high in the sky to be optimal. Plus there were no clouds (which add interest in the sky) but I did what I could with the morning I had! Lots of post-processing definitely helps as well. I needed some black and whites for a class I’m taking, but two of these I liked much better in color. If I’m really motivated, I’ll get out early tomorrow morning when we’re supposed to have some snow! 🙂

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The website Flickr is so inspirational for me. I’ve been looking through so much amazing work posted by photographers from all over the world. The past few days I have seen some really interesting work with camera movement and with textures and filters. This spurred me on to take some of my photos of tulips from last week, which to me seem kind of boring, and rework the color and add some textures. I think tulips lend themselves to this ‘older’ look. These are all the same bunch of flowers. I like this textured look with these flowers!

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I have two bunches of beautiful tulips which were brought to my daughter and me by a friend last weekend. I wanted to photograph them, but in the past I have had trouble getting shots of tulips that interest me. They have all seemed, I would say, regular. (I have seen other people’s that I like, but none of my own.) So that got me thinking about what else I could do with these tulips, so I did some movement of the camera during the shooting. To me, these are not at all ‘regular.’ I think that’s what appeals to me about abstract photos in general. They make you think a little, figure it out, process what exactly is in the image. I have tried to figure out  what it is that draws me to this type of photography and that’s the closest I can come. Abstract photos are interesting, unusual, and not what you see as you look around your world.

I’ve never done a shot of flowers indoors with camera movement before, this was my first attempt. I think the lines of the tulip leaves especially, and the blossoms as well, lend themselves to this technique. Because of the curved lines in the leaf, the last shot is my favorite. What do you think??

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This morning, I really didn’t have anything particular to post until I read a comment from friend of mine on my ‘Lights’ post. She mentioned that she loves reflections in water, and they definitely appeal to me as well. Couldn’t you just sit and stare at beautiful reflections in water? It is so relaxing. This got me thinking that the fall was a fabulous time, because of the beautiful colors, to shoot pictures of reflections in water and I had quite a few from this past season.  These shots are all from around Westport, some recognizable locations, and some abstract shots.

I suppose I need to get out and shoot more pictures now, but it’s much harder to get inspired with the landscape in the northeast right now. Maybe if we could get some snow I would get inspired to get outside!! Meanwhile, take a look back at the beautiful colors from this past fall.

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What do yoy think of black and white photography? Many of my photographs I have processed into black and white. I haven’t posted many of them here yet, but I suppose I will! I do love black and white photos and I am enrolling in a black and white class starting today, so I plan to have many more over the next month. The winter, to me, definitely lends itself to black and white shooting. Many times when I am out shooting, I’ll take pictures knowing they will be better in black and white. I always take the actual photos in color because Photoshop gives so many more options for post-processing in black and white if the original image is in color. I have fun playing with the shots and changing their look by altering the different colors.

The beach isn’t something I usually think of for black and white photos, but two of these were originally in my mind for black and white, including the lifeguard station. Sometimes the photo just seems ‘messy’ to me and I know I won’t like it until its changed to b & w. Hope you like them too!

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Sleep in or wake up early? What a question to have to ask on vacation! Of course sleeping in is preferable, right? We tend to think, oh, just let me get rested while I’m away, no need to get up early. But, then the tradeoff… missing beautiful shots of the sunrise. Maybe next year on vacation we’ll stay on a west-facing beach. 🙂 So while we were in Florida last week, I set my alarm for 6:30 one morning. When my alarm whent off, I jumped up to see what it looked like out our hotel window. The sky was dark red over the ocean, just beautiful. I had to get up! I got dressed in the pitch black (couldn’t even tell what I was putting on!) and headed out to get some shots of the sunrise. I loved being out there almost alone (yes some other crazy people were already out at 6:30). It was so peaceful and beautiful. Here are some of my shots. The lifeguard chair was the first thing I saw as I headed out. Who could resist that shot?

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For me this was very exciting… someone actually wanted to purchase a print of one of my photos! Apart from the photos I have taken of people’s children, this was the first time someone wanted to have one of my prints as their own. One evening, friends of ours were over before going out to dinner and we and we were looking at different things on the computer. I happened to show them a few of my photos and one was requested! The photo is the one below. I had it printed nice and large and they plan to frame it. Thanks Ellmans!!!

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