Week 5 ~ Fruit

 

This week's topic was fruit and being summer, I chose summer fruits - luscious peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots and a tiny bunch of grapes. There's such a  wonderful variety available at the moment and they're all so delicious. I had intended the image to reflect the summer feel this fruit has, but summer seems to be missing where I live. It's been raining all week and I know that the heavy and constant rain is causing all sorts of problems in northern NSW and QLD. By the time I finished editing the images - I couldn't make up my mind which I preferred, so I did two versions - there is barely a hint of summer in the images!

with Lensbaby Composer f8

Before I started though, I came across Digital Photography School's blog post that talked about slowing down and really looking at the subject you're going to shoot. Let the light and shape etc, determine how you're going to shoot it. So I applied that thinking to the summer fruits image. The family were banned from going anywhere near the fruit until I had finished with it! I have to say that studying the fruit and slowing down really worked. I took a fraction of the usual number of images. Unfortunately, the article didn't address how you really should make up your mind when choosing the final image and not confuse things by using different lenses... I've included the lighting diagram below to give you an indication of the set up. Again, I used my own textures applied at various opacities.

A New Year - a New Project

 

 

Well, well - Happy New Year! Did you make a New Year's resolution? No, neither did I. I only get disappointed when after a few days I abandon the resolution, so it's easiest not to even make one! I have embarked on a new photographic project though - and I can't tell you how pleased the family is about this! I've told them that it won't be as tough as Project365; this one only requires 52 photos - that's easy, right?

So with one day to go before the first deadline, I set about completing the task for week 1. Of course week 1 would be "self-portrait" but I decided to combine an idea for another challenge and create one photo. Some might say that's being lazy, I prefer to think of it as creative! The other challenge's brief was two-fold - "A new beginning" plus "texture".  So with those criteria in mind, I set about capturing the image. Setting up the lights and umbrellas, positioning the camera, taking test shots, then hair and make-up and then at the last minute I decided to change the lens. I swapped the nifty-fifty to the Lensbaby Composer which meant I had to grab a prop to sit where I would be sitting and find the focus spot.  After quite a few attempts and some fine tuning of the lens, I managed to get my eyes tack sharp, which was my aim. I then scoured through my 50's magazines to find an appropriate kitchen shot, in colour - it's wasn't common for magazines to be in full colour then; scanned the image into PS and incorporated that into my photo. I played with the individual curve layers to create a discoloured and retro look, before then scanning in some old and textured paper. I find that scanning rather than photographing the paper yields better results, as you can really bump up the dpi quite a bit. I used 3 of my old papers and applied them in soft light, overlay and multiply at varying opacities. I then added a couple of text layers and added the text, using retro fonts in keeping with the retro theme. Lastly, I felt it still needed a little something so I drew the retro starbursts and created some vignetting. From start to finish it probably took about 4 hours and I probably would have kept fiddling with it, but when you're working to a deadline, there comes a point where you need to stop.

I'll keep you up to date with each week, posting the image and blurb here, as well as posting the image over on Flickr. If you've started a Project52, link to it here, I'd love to follow your progress - and maybe I can link you in the side bar. The best part about the Project52 I'm following is the fact the weekly theme is spelled out for us - yeh! So, here's to 2012 - may you enjoy many creative moments and may you be surrounded by those you love.

How different Photographic Treatments change the look of a Subject

Take a bunch of hydrangeas, a hand painted ceramic bowl, a string of pearls, a cedar table, some floaty organza and a couple of torches.  Add to this mix your favourite camera equipment and your editing skills.  Get busy and arrange the items in a pleasant fashion. And now experiment!

In the first photograph, a standard 50mm lens – the plastic fantastic, diffused torchlight, and a long exposure of a couple of seconds was used.  The diffused torchlight was used to “paint” the light onto the hydrangeas.  The brightness, contrast, levels were then adjusted in Photoshop to get this final results.

There’s a real trend toward adding textured layers to photographs these days.  Adding textures really changes the feel of the photo.  It somehow ages the photo, giving it a real retro/grungy/moody look.  I recommend you shoot your own textures or if you really prefer, you can obtain free textures by simply searching Google for “free textures”.  I’ve used 3 different texture layers (my own) to the original image, and have blended them using varying opacities and blending modes.   I find I use overlay, soft light, hard light and multiply the most.

This image is identical to the image above - it has been layered with textures to change it's appearance to a more moody and vintage look.

This final image was shot using a very different technique – in fact it’s a blend of two techniques that I enjoy – the dreamy Lensbaby and the Through the Viewfinder techniques are absolute favourites of mine.  Different brands of Twin Reflex cameras will also yield varying results.  So, in these final two images, I used the Lensbaby Muse with the +4 macro filter; I inserted that into the “tube of darkness” which directly points to the viewfinder on the top of the Twin Reflex Camera.  Using the Muse lens, really softened the overall look of the image and the square format plus some cross-processing, gives it an aged appearance.  Follow this link if you’d like to know more about the Through the Viewfinder technique.

Through the Viewfinder using Lensbaby Muse +macro 4 filter and Argus Argoflex Camera

Through the Viewfinder using Lensbaby Muse + macro 4 filter and Kodak Duoflex Camera

Coming Soon - How to apply textures to your images.

Create Polaroids from your photos at www.rollip.com

Create Polaroids from your photos at www.rollip.com

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It's images like this that make me wish I had a polaroid camera and film. I used the rollip website to create this, and while I'm pleased with it, it's not quite the same as the real thing.

Feature Monday

Today - my feature images are taken from the RedBubble home page:

"_two sisters_" by Louise LeGresley"

"Stellar Sealions in the Mist" by underdoc

"Vague Horizon" by Silijo Selman

"A Walk through Paris #5" by Mike McGlothlen

and only because it seemed to fit the theme, "~ teacakes in the afternoon ~" by Adriana

2009 Calendar - Fifties Fair candid shots

Looking for a 2009 Calendar with that retro feel? Do you love fashion from the fifties? What about rockabilly? Then this may just be the calendar for you! ;p I've selected some of the images taken at the Fifties Fair from 2008 and with the new calendar functionality on RedBubble, this calendar is now available for sale. Click here to order your copy today!

2009 Calendar - Fifties Fair Candid Shots

Looking for a 2011 Calendar with that retro feel? Do you love fashion from the fifties? What about rockabilly? Then this may just be the calendar for you! ;p I've selected some of the images taken at the Fifties Fair from 2008 and with the new calendar functionality on RedBubble, this calendar is now available for sale. Click here to order your copy today!

Fifties Fair 2008

I've been so excited waiting for the Fifties Fair to roll around again, and the crowds this year were bigger and better than ever.  I haven't seen it so busy, it was amost impossible getting to the market stalls to browse and look at the goodies.  I just hope that it hasn't outgrown it's venue of Rose Seidler House, I'm sure it was an almost capacity crowd on sunday!  The fashion, make-up, shoes, hair - the hair! All gorgeous and so meticulous.  And of course the music - what a stand out!  The highlight?  Well that would have to be seeing the beauty parlour and knowing they hold hair and make-up sessions that transport you back in time - and they're not too far from where I live!  Yippee!  Guess who'll be treating herself to some little make-over magic soon?!  If you'd like to see more images from the day, go to my website and click on Fifties Fair 2008.  I can make the images available for sale through RedBubble for anyone interested.  Enjoy!

 

Fifties Fair 2008 - my late Feature Monday

Yes, I know, it's wednesday and I'm late with my Feature Monday! I have a valid excuse for being late in showing you some fine images - that's because I was busy going through the images I took at sunday's Fifties Fair held at Rose Seidler House! Yeh! I went along and remembered my camera and took along spare batteries (phew!) and best of all plucked up the courage to take some shots of the gorgeous people having fun at the fair! I've uploaded my absolute favourites onto my website and can make copies available for sale through my profile at RedBubble for anyone interested.

I was inspired by the images at the recent Rockabilly exhibition by Steven Siewert, the Sydney Morning Herald photographer and held at the Museum of Sydney. Does he have a rockabilly book out? I so wanted to see more of those images. At least I have a little collection of my own now to view and share.

Along with the the beauty parlour offering 1950's make-overs, the other highlight would have to have been June Dally Watkins telling us all that good manners and good posutre is all you need to get by in this world - bless her little bobby sox!

Feature Monday

A great retro feel to this image - I'm either waiting in a 1950's hairdressing salon, or I could be at a country RSL club waiting for the weekly dance to start.

"so uncool it's cool..." by elliewinds

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This image has the ability to transport me to another time and another place...

"Jam" by Jules Campbell

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This certainly has "wow" factor - look at the windows, the bricks and compare that to the lettering...just how big and bld is that building???

"B who U R" by Dana DiPasquale

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There's something quite beautiful in seeing an artist give their all and enjoy their craft.

"Let it wash over you" by Caroline Gorka

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An image exuding new life, new beginnings, new growth and let life take you where it will.

"Meandering" by Tamara Mason

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Sometimes in life, standing on the sidelines and watching the world go by gives you the space to think and reflect on what life can offer you and just how much you want to get out of it.

"Contemplation" by Debbie Black