Treasure Hunting, Black and White and Feathers

plume
encaustic and oil on birch 6x6

I've been collecting feathers.  Seems I find all kinds, shapes and sizes.  There is an eagle nest that I pass regularly and every now and again I'm lucky to find one that has fallen from there.  I have an osprey feather, crow feathers, little downy ones, stripy ones and even a little sweet gray and yellow one.  Its become my own personal treasure hunt when I'm out walking.  In the beginning I brought all the ones home that caught my eye - now I'm a bit more selective as my collection has grown.   The fine detail of all the little filaments and the lightness of their architecture is remarkable to think they are responsible for flight.

I've also been thinking in black and white.  The simplicity of removing color and creating form and detail in the space of two colors is a good lesson for me.  I'm not giving up color by any means, but I do think that removing it teaches a valuable lesson.  For those of you interested in processes - the feather is carved into the wax surface with an exacto knife creating the fine line detail.  The lines are then filled with oil paint which is then rubbed off the surface and left in the lines.  Wax is difficult to get any fine detail and this in one of the best ways to achieve that. 

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope your time in nature is also a wonderful inspirational adventure and treasure hunt that brings you much reward. 

Its the Letter E at FILM26

Its time for the letter E at FILM26. 
I realized the only film camera I had loaded was the Ricoh, which does not have a self timer. My Polaroid doesn't have a self timer either... so, being that I was nearing the "E" deadline for a film shot, I had to be a little more creative than usual.  What you can't see in the photo above is that I took it into a mirror.  If you look closely at the edges you can see the bevel in the glass of the mirror.  I had to make my letter painting backwards so that it would turn out correctly in the photo.   I have since made another e painting to replace the backwards e. 

E is for Erechtheum Temple Porch of Maidens at the Acropolis in Athens

I toted the little Ricoh with me in my Nikon D90 bag on my recent trip.  I was hoping to snap off several rolls of film on my trip.  However, I only got about 26 shots off out of 36.  No reason, except that the digital was the "go to".  I actually really regret not taking scads of film photos.

Next time.

Back

I've taken a bit of a break.  I've been sick, but on the mend and feeling better every day.  But really, that's just been this past week.  So other than that, I really don't have an excuse nor do I really have a reason. I just kinda put the camera down.

I just took a break I guess... Lost motivation, moved from this spot in my life... not sure what really happened, but I just didn't feel like it.  So, guess what?  I chose to take a break and let it sit for a while. 

Why do these things happen?  Why do we let go of something we love?  Is it a natural process?  Do we get bored with it?  Do we lose the creative mojo? Or perhaps we just get busy and have to let one thing go to fit in another. I'm really not sure.

Thankfully I signed up to do Creativity Boot Camp over at madelinebea.com  Its been a gentle CBC this year.  Not a frenzied photo fest like last year.  I think its what I needed.  A gentle coaxing back into the fold.  Among other things, Maegan asked us to take self portraits. Selfies are kinda fun, I enjoy them.  I've never figured out why the person I see in the mirror in the morning - to me... is much more beautiful than I can capture in a photo.  I hope that if I can actually take enough selfies, that maybe I can capture that which I see when I look in the mirror. 

Seattle Day

 Today was an afternoon in the city.  It was sunny and warm - the warmest day we've had in monthes.  Remembering of course this is Seattle... and warm means about 60.  I wanted to try and get some b+w iphone photos.  I'm on my scavenger hunt for Sunday + I was on the mission to find some Vanilla Sugar for a special receipe from my good friend Ingrid over at her blog Fable of the Table.  Her cookies are going to be the stars of my Kitchen photo for the Scavenger Hunt.  So come back for Sunday and there will be receipe and link too. 

 

I've been really facinated by b+w iPhotography lately - I've been liking to shoot with the Classic Toy app in the overexposed b+w film option.  I also like Vintage BW app for shooting some great b+w photos. 

 Today I had some fun and carried my camera in my hand by my side and clicked off random photos as I passed by people on the streets.  I'm still a little shy about actually pointing and shooting someone.  So, today was stealth mode. 

 For the most part - those photos taken on the go weren't good.  They were blurry and pretty random if I got my subject at all.  So, I need to work on my technique.  Next time, I'll go for the look like I'm texting someone approach. 

 I arrived at my destination after a pass through Nordstrom :)  This is DeLaurenti's at Pike Place Market where I actually found the Vanilla Sugar.  Its a great import food store with all kinds of cheeses and imported food items.  And, since I was at Pike Street Market, I had to wander through and take in the atmosphere. 

 Pike Street Market goodness.  Its nice to have the market back up and running in full swing.  Last time I was there it was under construction and many of the shops weren't open. 

And yes, of course... a coffee break for the way home.  A beautiful day in the Emerald City.  Be sure to come back on Sunday for the Scavenger Hunt photos, more about Vanilla Sugar and the Receipe for some pretty awesome Almond cookies.

Black and White and Square

Kat Sloma has us exploring square format in her exploring with a camera series. I love square. Its may favorite format and I find myself using it lots. After downloading photos into Picasa, I find the ones that catch my eye. I straighten and then experiment with cropping. I almost always try the square first - just to see what I see.

This past week, I gave myself a tall order. My living room needed some zip and quite frankly at little injection of me. I felt that I had only decorated to about 85% and then stopped. So a trip to IKEA for frames got me started. I sat down at the computer and looked through the photos - new and old. I decided my theme was Seattle specific, black and white and square. Little did I realize what a task that would be.

I figured square was easy - not necessarily so. It seemed like a lot of what I felt were my really good photos didn't fit with square. Seattle specific cut the archive by alot. Black and white is what proved to be the really tough part. I find that many, many photos just don't cut it once transfered to b&w in photoshop. They just lack the punch they need. I have much better luck with my iPhone apps when it comes to b&w.

I printed a bunch of little square photos of any that made the cut. I cut them out with scissors and sat on the couch and held them up at arm's length to see what I thought they may look like once on the wall. The project took forever... this one.. no that one... how does is look with this one... etc.. you get the idea. Anyway. I picked 4 - 4 frames, 4 photos.

I then uploaded them to Costco's photo website and picked them up 2 hours later. $13 for 4 12X12 prints - not bad. I framed them, hung them and have been really happy with the outcome. I have to make a change or two, but overall - pretty good.

So, as inspiration to you - a give away! YAY!! We all love giveaways. - make a comment, become a follower and I will send the winner a copy of the Seattle Space Needle photo. Think of it as a little love from Seattle. You will have until Sunday March 20 to enter. I'll pick a random winner and announce on Monday March 21.

it snowed today*

Black and white photography. I really do love it. But what makes it good? I think its the striking difference of having really black/black and really white/white in the photo. I'd like to learn more about it. So many times photos don't really translate to b&w. I think its because they are nothing but midtones when set to gray scale and they lack that deep contrast. I'm not sure that I nailed this one, but its not bad. Stuck pretty close to the rule of 1/3s here for the compo. It really does seem to work in keeping the composition in line.

My Dad always told me that a good painting has 1/6 black and 1/6 white - the rest is midtones. So does the same rule apply to b&w photography too?

I like the high key overexposed portion of this photo. The textures really show up. f/4.5, ISO 2500, exposure +.7 I let the camera chose the ISO.

It really did snow today. It didn't stick here at our house, but it did to the north of us. It is February, afterall. However, I do have to say - the weather is really confusing me. I'm still trying to warm up.