baby spoon

a simple little still life

for our

Be Still 52

assignment

for Week 10:

playing with

lighting direction...

and spoons.

***

Notes:

Quickly assembled

Friday morning

before work:

The silver spoon and dish

were my mother's

as a baby.

(I know I should get out the silver polish

but the tarnished patina is so lovely!)

+

a wonderfully old, humble washcloth

from I don't know where

+

daisies from our garden

+

a very old children's book.

I played for over an hour

with various

ISOs, shutter speeds, apertures and angles.

I tried flash, but it diminished the shadows,

so I practiced holding the camera

v e r y steady.

I repeatedly repositioned the little table

with an eye for directional shadows.

Lillian helped with the setup...

...and then she just relaxed

and let the process

evolve on its own.

Feline 'insight' maybe?

CAMERA

Canon EOS 6D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens

Manual Mode

both photos:

ISO 1600

f/5.0

1/30 sec

LIGHTROOM

I 'painted' in some basic edits

to emphasize

dramatic light/shadow play;

applied two of Kim's presets:

sharpen still life

&

kk_summersun

then I kept playing around

in the Develop module:

I de-saturized the yellows and greens

and applied a faded split tone

(blue highlights + pink shadows)

to keep things cool.

Then I synced the edits

with the second photo

and fine-tuned things there too.

PHOTOSHOP

Just two layers of

kk_pinitonly4

Soft Light ~30%

Vivid Light 15%

masking off the spoon

***

Linking up with

Be Still 52

Friday Finds

Texture Tuesday

light of morn

daybreak

our back yard

Summer 2014

Prompted by a class assignment for

Adventures in Seeing

a scavenger hunt for subjects

that represent

openness.

This is how I feel

at the beginning of each day:

refreshed

renewed

inspired

energized

optimistic

open

I'm usually pulling

- and cursing -

these messy ivy tangles

that grow from the other side of the fence.

They are kinda interesting...

***

Notes:

My camera is a tool for

seeing

focusing

being attentive

...

simply

capturing and recording

what strikes me

at a given

time and place.

It's a different kind of photography

than still life;

a different creative process

altogether

(well...sort of)

I love to compose

still life scenes,

but I also love

to capture

the world as it is.

Once I noticed the sun rising

I positioned myself to take advantage of

the possibility of

back lighting and sun flare

 original photo SOOC

LIGHTROOM

Some creative play with the

Develop Module

to 'refine my vision.'

Then I tried out

several presets

before deciding on Kim's

kk_hazeydazy

and fine-tuned it even further.

PHOTOSHOP

I cloned out two little annoying bits

near the edges

which distracted me.

(seems I get a bit more control here than in LR)

One layer of kk_0405

(Overlay 24%)

***

Truly the light of morn is sweet

And sweet it is to see the sun...

excerpt from

a hymn by

Emily Taylor

Linking up with:

Be Still 52

Texture Tuesday

Friday Finds

friday finds: zen seeing

Not quite sure
just how
I got to this place
...
but here I am.

Somehow I wandered into
- or rather -
discovered
the art of
Contemplative Photography
which led me
back to my roots:


d  r  a  w  i  n  g

mouseover to see original


I was drawing
long before
I ever picked up
a paintbrush
or a needle & thread
or a camera.

I was never one to say
"I can't draw."
I can draw anything
as long as it
doesn't move.

So when Kim (Manley Ort, that is)
started talking about
photography versus drawing,
and Betty Edwards
(I still have my old 1979 edition)
and Frederick Franck
(got that one too)
I unearthed
my books
and my sketchbook
and
my favorite tool:
a
mechanical pencil.


I have often returned
to these roots
over the years.
Each time
more meaningfully
and fondly
than before.

And I ask:
why did I ever stop?

***

Notes:

I enjoyed playing around with this
humble, yet meaningful little still life.

Be Still 52 assignment: Week 7
Focus, Blur, & Creative Play
I love this process!

Lillian was there

to oversee every little thing

of course.

Canon EOS 6D

continuing to purposely over-expose

(it really does help in the editing process)

LIGHTROOM

using Snapshots my own way:

to remember

where and when

I got an idea

Kim's split tone really helped
get rid of the yellow undertone.
I had already tried
various ways to do this.


PHOTOSHOP

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Texture Tuesday

Be Still 52

birth...of a mother and father

My

favorite captures

from last week's

'newborn portrait shoot'

of our new grandson

Fen

 

1

A spontaneous gesture

(on Kelly's part)

+

being present and mindful

with camera in hand

(on my part)

2

Connection:

father and son

delight and devotion

(this is how Aaron is with Fen)

***

Notes:

CAMERA

Canon EOS 6D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Lens

Continuous Shooting Mode (silent)

experimented with

DOF, indoor/outdoor lighting

LIGHTROOM

Lots of experimenting with

Develop Module and Presets

to 'refine my vision'

Presets:

1

PRESETS GALORE Rich Lavender

(I desaturated Kelly's bright blue top)

2

LR B&W Look 1

Color was distracting in this shot;

I never even noticed the bokeh

'til I made it B&W!

(I fine-tuned the Split Tones and Contrast)

PHOTOSHOP

Both photos:

one layer of

kk_dollard_softand gentle

(Soft Light ~40-45%)

desaturated to get the effect without the color

***

But my favorite photo of Fen

was captured by my friend

Lidia West

(a new mother herself)

who graciously offered to

help me with our photoshoot.

Fen

10 days old

I didn't do a thing to this photo!

Seriously.

***

Linking up with:

Texture Tuesday

Start to Finish

Photo-Heart Connection

simple gifts: roadside bouquet

mouse over to see the original

***

Notes:

INSPIRATION
noticing the weeds/flowers along the road
(as usual)
during a bike ride last Sunday;
I drove back right after our ride
and gathered
'a roadside bouquet'

SETUP

Side Lighting

(Be Still 52 Assignment: Week 5)

early morning, before work

summer sun streaming in thru patio door

north-facing, with a covered patio...

more light than I expected

IMPROVISATION

I just needed a bit more height:

two tuna cans under each tripod leg

worked just fine.

I hung a black t-shirt from the chandelier

opposite the light source

to heighten the effect.

Subtle, but definitely noticeable

in the photos.

I tried various backdrops...

After reviewing the early morning shots

with the light quilt background

I realized that the white dandelions

needed more contrast.

Home for lunch on a mission:

arrange dark fabrics

and re-shoot

the whole thing.

I should have listened

to Lillian

in the first place.

I also noticed

the different quality of light

in the early afternoon -

again, more noticeable

in the photos.

original photo SOOC

I purposely over-expose my shots

(+2 on my camera's Exposure Level Indicator)

because most of the data is located

on the right end,

giving me more digital 'stuff'

to play with in Lightroom.

David duChemin explains this

much more clearly in his book

Vision & Voice:

"The more elasticity my digital negative has,

the greater chance that I can make

a gorgeous print

that expresses my vision."

LIGHTROOM

I cropped (4x5),

started with Auto Tone

then adjusted Exposure and White Balance;

I experimented a lot with the Tone Curve

then several presets

before settling on Kim's

kk_daysofold.

PHOTOSHOP

one layer of kk_simplemagic (Screen 64%)

with the blossoms masked off

Font:

Dearest Script

***

Linking up with

Texture Tuesday

Start to Finish 2

Be Still 52

Friday Finds

new life

Fenris Kenneth Robert McFadden

June 15, 2014

***

Linking up with

Texture Tuesday

Start to Finish 2

Notes:

In Lightroom

I cropped

did some basic edits

then

preset: kk_likeadream

and

my own B&W split tone

In Photoshop

***

(Grandma 'Mimi')

playtime

mouse over to see the original

***

Notes:

SETUP

teddy bear

belonging to

young Bobbie Swainson

c. 1960

+ 

wooden top and plaid scrapbook

belonging to

young Aldo Notarianni

c. 1930

+

wooden crate magazine rack

belonging to

my late sister Elissa

before I painted/distressed it 'shabby chic' style

setup

(+ tripod)

original photo

SOOC

Numerous shots in Manual mode,

playing with depth of field,

focal point

and shutter speed.

***

 In Lightroom

I cropped (4x5),

cloned away the dark corner,

played with

multiple adjustments

...

and then I scrapped it all

and started over

with Kim's

kk_oldendays preset.

Perfect!

Just the effect I was looking for.

***

In Photoshop

I added two layers of

kk_waterfront1

Hard Light 20%

and

Multiply 30%

(I lowered the saturation on this layer)

I masked the texture

off of the bear and the top.

Font:

2Peas Just Plain Little

***

Linking up with

Start to Finish 2

Be Still 52