Week 9 ~ A Childhood Memory

I struggled in the lead up to this theme. What childhood memory to portray and how to portray it? As always, I like to try something new to really push my own creative boundaries. I started by looking through some old family photos, the discoloured 70's variety. Can I suggest, if you have old family photos in those 'magnetic' albums - the slightly sticky backed pages with plastic over-sheet type - to remove your photos before they discolour and become completely stuck to the pages. This is particularly important if there are details written on the backs of the photos; you won't be able to cleanly remove the photos, and not only will you risk not being able to read the notes on the back of the photos, you also risk damaging the photos themselves. The worst thing for your old photos is to leave them in the magnetic albums that were so fashionable during that time, instead here are some suggestions for storing your older photographs.

Back to the photo. I have seen the photo held within another photo around the web and I've always liked the concept but never really had an opportunity to try it. So while I was looking through old family photos and looking for inspiration, I came across this photo of my dad swimming in Cattai Creek at Mitchell Park. It had been an age since I'd visited Mitchell Park, so last weekend I headed out there to try and find the spot where this would have been taken. I was a little shocked at the condition of the park. It's terribly overgrown and certainly not the place to go and have a family picnic the way we once did all those years ago. I'm hoping that it's because we've had a ridiculous amount of rain and not because the National Park and Wildlife Services have decided to stop maintaining it altogether.

Back in the 70's, Mitchell Park was a great place to spend the day with family and friends. There were BBQs, trail rides, the creek to swim in, an in-ground pool (my preferred choice), a kiosk, open parkland to kick a ball, and bushwalks. Today, well, there's lots of very tall grass, no pool, no kiosk, and I only saw one picnic shelter. There was only one other couple and they were packing up their kayaks and heading off. I remember Mitchell Park as being a vibrant noisy place, with lots of families enjoying the great outdoors. Last week, was a very different experience. Of course with all the rain experienced in the Hawkesbury region this week, I would imagine that a lot of Mitchell Park would be totally waterlogged.

Re-visiting old memories don't always yield the results you expect. And that of course can be both good and bad.
 

Other images from the day. The effect was achieved in-camera.

Week 6 ~ From a Low Angle

There is so much scope possible with a theme such as this week's 'low angle'. For me it all comes down to the safe option or the out of comfort zone option. The safe option was to stick around the house and look at life as it is from a low angle; both indoors and outdoors. 

The Safe Shot - 100mm IS f2.8 @f4.5 ISO160, 1/60

It's been raining  - still - and there are plenty of spider webs that could have been shot from a low angle, and dew drops on clover is certainly within my comfort zone. When you're starting a project, if your aim is to improve your skills and have fun along the way, it always pays to avoid the safe option and to go, instead, with the one that you always put off for another time. Not this week. 

That's how I found myself at the Blue Mountains National Park, in the rain and with very limited access due to flooding in the area. I had in my mind a particular image and the weather conditions - low mist and heavy cloud cover - was what I was after. The problem was the road closure to the area I needed to get to, and so I changed plans and made the best of it. It would have been easier to get back to the car and drive home - after all, I already had my safe shot done and edited. Instead, I headed over to Blue Pool hoping there would be some access and from the rushing of water, I could tell there was certainly a decent amount flowing. The problem was the lack of safe access to the rushing water. There is a difference between stupidity and pushing your boundaries...and I didn't feel like a helicopter ride out of the National Park. Reluctantly walking on, I did come to a safer location that afforded me with a more open view to the water. I had my  tripod with me and two lenses - 100mm and 70-210mm and the images I've included were shot using the latter of the lenses. Of course, they're not the sort of lenses you would normally use for landscapes, but I wasn't after a wide expanse sort of shot. I was after a narrow and low slice of nature. 

I had the tripod and camera set to perhaps 40cm from ground level and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful reflections in the water. The thick cloud cover meant the reflections were richly coloured and created an impressionist feel to the slowly moving water. The first one is actually a 3 shot panorama which I purposely framed with more water than greenery - firstly it suited my purposes and due to the litter still caught in the trees, I didn't want to have to spend time editing out the litter.

3 shot panorama stitched in PS; 70-210mm @ 210mm f4 @ f13 ISO100 0.8sec

The second two images I really couldn't decide which I preferred - the vertical or horizontal - the reeds and their reflection were something that really caught my eye.  Something that I've learned that is a huge advantage with digital imaging, is you can shoot both then decide which has the stronger composition when you get home. After you've showered. And changed into clean and dry clothes. And had a much needed cup of coffee. And perhaps a biscuit. Ahem...

The vertical shot - 70-210mm @210mm f4 @ f13 ISO100 0.8sec

The horizontal shot - 70-210mm @210mm f4 @f13 ISO100 0.8sec

So, how did you go this week?

Lines in Art & Nature

Many a conversation, a piece of art, begins with a humble spoken or drawn line.  Whether man made or found in nature, lines surround our everyday.  So when the challenge went out in "A Photographer's Craft" to submit images showing strong lines, it was always going to be interesting to view the results.  There are also many a quote pertaining to lines - we are said to read between the lines, we can draw the line, we don't want to be found behind enemy lines, we can live with silken lines and silver hooks, our faces are lined - it's endless - they are everywhere.  Strong lines in nature and those that are man-made are beautiful, they have symmetry, they appeal to our senses and make us feel comfortable, below are images from the latest challenge.

 

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="215" caption="Diagonal by Rose Atkinson"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="177" caption="Golden Reeds by PeterG"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="175" caption="New York City 8 by Adrian Rachele"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="166" caption="Wall by Karri Klawiter"][/caption]

A Symbol of Hope - Fine Art Photography examples

What does the term "Symbol of Hope" mean to you?  Wikipedia defines hope as being the belief of a positive outcome, especially in relation to an amount of depair or wanting or wishing or suffering.  We can hope for such basic, trivial and mundane things such as "I hope my washing dries before it gets dark", "I hope there's chocolate in the cupboard for me to snack on" to a deeper, more urgent need to hope - "I hope she'll be alright", "I hope I can make it to the hospital in time", " I hope a cure for cancer can soon be found".

It's always interesting when asking artists to depict an abstract emotion such as hope.  It can be more challenging than it first seems - how do you show hope in an image?  And what does hope sybolise to you?  As august is Cancer awareness month here in Australia, it was timely to ask artists from "A Photographer's Craft" to submit images to this challenge.   These artists have also donated works through "The Gift of Art" where all the artists' proceeds are being donating to the National Cancer Insitute. The disease that is cancer affects each and everyone of us.  I don't think I've come across a person for a long while, who hasn't in some way been affected by this disease.  I am hopeful of a cure, I am hopeful that as a society we are doing all we can to assist those researchers in finding a cure, and to help those who are living with the disease.

The following images were submitted by those artists who wanted to show their "Symbol of Hope".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether it's the early morning rays of light, a dove in full flight, the fresh face of youth, a guardian angel watching over you, the strength that is nature or your faith in your God, it's important that we hold that sense of hope.  Thanks goes to Adrian Rachele, Mark German, Dana DiPasquale, Sue Wickham, lallymac, Redtempa, Tom Vaughan and Karri Klawiter for taking part in the challenge and allowing this images to be shown on this blog.