Aug 17, 2016 |
As I play and experiment I enjoy sharing my discoveries with you, so I always take behind the scenes photos of my sets, but it’s also really helpful for me to have reference photos to refresh my memory when looking back. The best way to grow is to continuously try new things, but what good is going somewhere new if you can’t remember how you got there?
When I started this series of reflections, I had initially intended to stick with literal reflections… but when I started building the set I found too many awesome images that didn’t fit into that category. That’s when I decided that I had to open up the definition of “reflection” to include my musings about the art I was making. Since my writing has become just as much a part of the art, it wasn’t a hard decision to make.
The first four images came from the basic setup below. I moved the props and camera slightly for each variation. That’s my favorite part about macro photography, when you zero in on just one tiny piece of the world any slight movement can totally alter your perspective.
The following images all came from some angle variation of this set. All were created by looking through the water-filled glass at the ceramic cloud dish behind it. The lighting stayed the same for all of them. I bounced two flashes off the white ceiling (which you can’t see here =/) for soft, even lighting.
Read my reflections of each image with the link in the caption or click the image to find it in my shop.
The next image came from a similar set, I just changed the prop from the cloud dish to a glass seahorse, and I added in a purple background.
This is how I found a Grumpy moon.
With the intention of actually photographing literal reflections, I was sidetracked yet again. Yes at this angle, shown below, I did see a reflection of the seahorse, but because the reflection didn’t run parallel to the plane of my lens, I couldn’t focus on the entire reflection.
That swirly blue thing is a handmade, glass, spoon rest I found on Etsy. I have two of them, one I actually use for spoons, but this one I use as a candle holder on my kitchen table. The simple fact is that it’s so beautiful, I ended up getting rid of the seahorse and just capturing my favorite part… no reflections included.
Finally, I figured out how to position everything so that I could capture my ideal reflection. Instead of shooting down on the surface of the spoon rest, I propped it up vertically, and that made things infinitely easier.
Shooting straight down came with several problems, one being that my tripod doesn’t have much flexibility in a totally downward configuration, but the bigger problem was getting the seahorse into the reflection hot spot… and with my 1st attempt the figurine would have to either be hung up somehow or rest on a transparent surface to get in that spot… too much work!!
I’d been examining reflections for months before I decided I was obsessed enough to pursue them long-term, so I knew exactly how I wanted to light the seahorse. Backlit subjects always make the prettiest, and most popping, reflections. I didn’t want any harsh reflections from the lights, so I used a big diffuser to soften the two flashes and simulate one big light source.
Here are the reflection photos I made with the above set up:
To make this last image I just took one of the above reflections totally out of focus… pretty bokeh.
Of course, no behind the scenes post should be without my Moo, so here she is snoozing in the studio while I do all the work. Doggie snores are meditative, though, so it’s ok.
If you want to get more behind the scenes of the reflection series, check out part 2!
Aug 10, 2016 |
Losing Focus in the Sea
“I’m bored.” It was my childhood mantra, typically reserved for weekends with my father.
Even as he watched the race cars go around and around, he could also recite a long list of recommendations for what I could do. I would pout, face smushed in my hands, elbows on the arm of his recliner, and deny every idea he had. “I’m boooooorrrrrrred,” I whined, probably more times than a Nascar race has laps.
One day he gave up on giving me ideas and he said, “well then, you must be a boring person.” In retrospect, I can say I agree.
I have to admit, some days I miss being bored… the vast emptyness of having nothing to do. Unless I live forever I’ll probably never experience it again, but at least I’m not a boring person anymore.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Aug 3, 2016
Drippy Whirlpool
I erupted through the surface of the water, gasping for air, “I can’t, I can’t do it.” I only made it halfway to the submerged mask before fear took control of my body.
My father enrolled me in a scuba certification program when I turned 15. I wasn’t a strong swimmer, but dad assured me, “you don’t have to know how to swim to scuba dive.”
He was mostly right, the gear makes you float, but to certify as a diver, I still had to pass a few tests. I kept afloat in the pool for the alotted amount of time, but when the instructor threw our masks in the deep end, I panicked.
I panicked all the way to my open water test in the Florida Keys. If couldn’t find my mask in a pool, how would I do it in the ocean? I was terrified that the instructor would let it go in a school of fish, the salty water would blind me, I’d never find it, and I’d fail.
I took my mask off, he motioned to put it back on, I cleared the water, and I passed. That was my first and last scuba trip.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jul 27, 2016
Spiny Reflection
“Somebody went to Cozumel and all they got me was this stinkin’ t-shirt.” That was one of the most memorable gifts I got from my father, and it was great for a laugh, but I don’t think I ever wore it.
My dad went away scuba diving every year and he always came home with a gift for me, it could be anything from seashells to foreign money, and he always had a freshly developed pile of slides to show me his underwater adventures.
The scuba trip souveneir I love most is this whimsical glass seahorse. Aside from a few shells, the seahorse is the one gift that survived my childhood and made it into my adult décor. It sits in a little cube in my studio that I’ve turned into a mini ocean view.
It’s also what I used to make the reflection in this photograph.
The ocean cube and my seahorse.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jul 20, 2016
Spoon River
What is an artist? What is art?
To me it’s simple, everyone is an artist and everything they create is art.
Some artists have a statement to make with their art, but I’m the kind of artist who lets the art make the statement. I discover the story along the way, sometimes long after the art is made. Each piece is kind of like a tarot card, open for my interpretation.
Then there are some artists who simply love beauty, and that’s enough. It’s like being able to love life without having to give it meaning. My friend, Mike Moats, makes gorgeous art and he writes about this all the time.
As I reflected on this image, Mike’s words about his own work, were what popped into my mind: “they are just pretty pictures with no deep thoughts or special meaning behind the image.”
I admit that, most of the time, I love to indulge in deep thoughts… and give things meaning… but this time it’s just a pretty picture.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jul 13, 2016 |
Grumpy Moon
In my last series, my restrictions pushed my creativity further than I ever would have if I’d had a completely blank slate. In this series, though, the rules seemed to be holding me back.
Abstract photography made from literal reflections was my initial idea, but there were so many beautiful details outside of that barrier that kept calling to me.
The wine glass as a reflective surface was just not as interesting as the distorted magnifying glass I discovered it could be. After finding so much success with my cloud dish and then seeing so much inspiration all around me, I couldn’t stop there!
I expected some evolution in the beginning, but it happened so fast, and soon enough I was rewriting the rules… it’s ok, I can do that, I’m the boss.
Now I’m wondering if ‘abstract’ is a stretch for this image. It’s so obviously a moon, but I found it through a wine glass in a seahorse’s tail.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jul 6, 2016
Picasso in New York
I fell in love with the very first shot. I know I always tell you how much time I spend experimenting with, and perfecting, each photo I make, but every once in awhile everything aligns right from the start.
Of course I tried to improve it anyway, I always do, but every exposure that followed was lacking. Probably because each change would hide some element of the silly face I found in the distortion.
I saw a Picasso-esque face right away; the forehead slopes down from the top and curls into a massive nose at the bottom, creating the typical cubist profile that impossibly displays two lopsided eyes, one half closed and one wide open.
I excitedly dragged Nick to my studio to show him, but before I could open my mouth he said, “looks like New York’s border.”
That’s the beauty of abstract art. It gives the viewer a chance to be creative, to open their mind’s eye, and then mine! Nick barely ever sees things they way I do, and that inevitably broadens both of our perspectives.
And this abstract party is just getting started!!
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jun 29, 2016
Waist-ed
We live inside a culture that shames the copy cat creators of the world and idolizes originality, yet it also shames every woman who can’t squeeze inside the hourglass mold.
Place the camera high, lift your chin, and pop those collarbones. Make sure you only use the most culturally flattering angles; I’m just as guilty as the average chick with a selfie stick.
Now there are Snapchat filters that slim your face even more and add fake makeup! Is this a solution to hating our bodies or a band-aid for temporary body image satisfaction? I believe we are just further narrowing the already shallow definition of beauty.
Maybe one day our entire world will be run from behind a screen, and every human interaction will be digital, but until then, I wish we could keep it real. With social media we all have the opportunity to be authentic (like this lady on Instagram), yet selfie after selfie yearns to imitate the commercially accepted woman. So few women stand out.
That’s why I’m ashamed of myself and my cultural programming for recognizing the beautiful waistline in this image. That perfect hourglass I wish I had.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jun 22, 2016
WARNING ALL MEN, this might be TMI for you #femaleproblems
Belly Full
My throat was swelling up, closing in, making it harder to breathe. The night before my OBGYN appointment I was frantically researching every birth control method I could find.
“There are so many choices,” one article claimed, and went on about several different methods of dosing yourself with the same hormones in “the pill” I was trying to ditch.
Don’t want hormones? No problem! Your doctor can stick a copper, t-shaped tampon up your hoo-ha and it’ll poison every sperm that swims by for the next 5 years… just give me a syringe and rat poison; I’ll save them the trouble.
No? What about these permanent, ‘non-surgical’ inserts that plug fallopian tubes with metal coils? They create scar tissue roadblocks for eggs… and other painful complications that have led to hysterectomies!
Surgery? No thanks. So I’m left with condoms and the rhythm method, both of which have laughable statistics.
The word ‘choice’ suggests some degree of control, but instead, I was spiraling out of it.
I didn’t see the pregnant belly until I was in Lightroom, and I didn’t see the whale until Nick pointed it out. Choice, I thought, and vividly relived that night.
What do you see?
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
Jun 15, 2016
Pastel Sky
I found myself in a zombie-like state at 3am. I was determined to examine every blue and purple object that popped up in my Etsy search. Decorating our new kitchen was my obsession of the moment, and even though I was going crosseyed, I kept clicking away.
“I should be making art,” my guilty concious reminded me when I first sat down with my laptop at 7pm. This is what happens to us artists: by making art a job, we often feel guilty when we want to scratch a new creative itch.
Among the many beautiful handmade pieces I found on Etsy, I came across a little ceramic jewelry dish shaped like a cloud. It didn’t totally match all the other things I bought, but it was just too adorably dreamy to pass up.
The photo above was made by looking at my little cloud through the lens of a water-filled wine glass. If I had never taken the time to shop, I wouldn’t have been able to share this photo.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was creating art all along.
What are these numbered posts all about? Read the introduction to my Photo & 100 Words project and find out!
