Time to Catch Up
Posted: March 3, 2019 Filed under: digital, Fine Art, photography, Still Life | Tags: Fine Art, photography, still life 1 Comment
I’m a bit fed up with myself today and it occurred to me I should catch up on my photo posts. I spend quite a lot of my time on Flick’r now and ‘age’ doesn’t allow me the same concentration that I used to enjoy , so I’m afraid my Blog has suffered a bit of un-intended neglect !
I hope these pics will compensate for that …
Thankfully my love for taking photographs hasn’t waned and I’m still keen to try to make little works of art, although it seems a little presumptive to assume that other people will enjoy looking at them! Still – I can indulge myself here and from past experience I’ve found everyone really friendly and encouraging, and that’s been a real blessing.
I have a collection of small cups and saucers and this set seem to suit the lovely Muscari that suddenly showed their faces in my equally petite patio garden.
Also making an appearance are these lovely catkins . The shrub is commonly known as Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick because of it’s twisted branches, which are seen at their best in winter and spring. Unfortunately, in the summer time, the leaves are also contorted, so it looks as though it has some terrible disease!!
These tulips are not growing in my garden – they are just a bunch I bought. I placed them in a vase in front of the brightly sun-lit patio window ….
Same tulip, different setting. I really enjoy Still Life photography and trying to harmonise the subject within it’s setting. The tulip doesn’t strike me as a particularly ‘delicate’ flower, so I think it can take bold treatment …. not to everyone’s taste of course, but then not everyone is a ‘Still Life’ fan either. But for me it’s a life-saver when getting out and about is difficult.
Part of the joy of Still Life are the beautiful ‘props’ that you accumulate. I’ve had three ‘Macintosh’ style mugs for years but never photographed them before. I added a soft glow effect in my PSP which I though suited it very well…..
See you again soon I hope, Eileen
Tulips and Other Flowers
Posted: May 14, 2018 Filed under: Fine Art, Flowers, photography, Plant Portraits, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: art, colourful, Flowers, photography, still life, tulips 4 Comments
I like the drama of a black background, it seems to make the colours more vibrant …. the light is just from a small window.
variation on the theme ….
That’s all for now folks, thank you for your visits and ‘likes’ – they are much appreciated. See you again soon I hope, Eileen
Shades of White
Posted: May 7, 2017 Filed under: effects, Fine Art, photography, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: creativity, Fine Art, objects, photography, still life, white 1 Comment
This is my second attempt at posting this – very frustrating as I’d done the whole thing and even posted it, but there was a long, long blank insert on it that I couldn’t get rid of. So I had to delete it all …. apologies to anyone who’d already viewed it!! Let’s hope this one will be successful cos I might just go out and shoot myself !
I really like doing white on white, high key pics – especially as I seem to have accumulated a collection of white ‘objects d’Art’ – posh word for bric-a-brac ! Actually, some pieces are really nice …. this little lady was a recent birthday pressy and the cup and saucer are Coalport ‘Country Ware’.
It’s gawn ‘n put ’em in the wrong order now!! The Deer pics are supposed to follow each other and the Swan with border should’ve been 3rd – grrrr Ne’ mind eh? Lol !
Pearlised Shells
Posted: November 25, 2016 Filed under: effects, Fine Art, Nature, photography, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: art, creativity, pearlised, photography, photos, shells, still life Leave a commentI love shells – especially the ‘pearlised’ ones. Not living by the sea-side or in an otherwise exotic place , I have to buy mine from shops. As these are invariably located at the sea-side too, there’s not much chance of me adding to my collection. Of course I can shop on line for them, but it’s never quite the same as seeing them in the flesh is it?
I’m hankering after a large nautilus shell -pearlised or skeletonised. For years I had a really beautiful one but one day when I was setting it up for a still life, I dropped it! [I’m sure I’ve mentioned this on my blog before] anyway – it broke my heart, but I decided to ask my son to have a go at ‘skeletonising’ what was left of it – and guess what? It got dropped again and that was the end of another bright idea!!!
I’ve seen them for sale on line but so far haven’t ordered one , partly because they are soooo expensive now and partly, again, it’s best to see what you’re buying methinks …. hmm – Christmas is coming ….
Anyway – here are some post-processed offerings :
Back again tomorrow – I seem to have a back -log of quite a few pics to upload. You know the old saying about waiting for a bus don’t you? God bless, Eileen
White on White
Posted: November 24, 2016 Filed under: digital, Fine Art, photography, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: art, creativity, light, photography, photos, still life, white 7 CommentsI haven’t posted here for a couple of weeks or so, as my time seems to be taken up more with my Flickr and Viewbug pages. But the future plan is to pare back a bit. As I get older I can easily get overwhelmed with all the available outlets and info that our on-line world affords us. So, employing a bit more discipline to myself is the answer I think.
I’m thinking of leaving Facebook too as there is so much stuff they bombard you with – including selecting and re-posting your very old posts that they title ‘memories’. Plus, I’m inundated lately with ‘friend requests’ from people I don’t know. I don’t like to be impolite and reject them, but I haven’t the patience to keep looking up profiles etc to sus them out !
I find that the updates and changes that all of these sites do, that are meant to improve our ‘experience’ and make computer life easier, are really a big con. I believe they do it for their own benefit to allow for more and more adverts and the like [ I appreciate they have to make money]. Anyway – I’m too old to be bothered with it all any more …..
I will simply stick with my WordPress photo blog and Flickr. I especially like Flickr because they have special photography interest groups to join. As my favourite genres are still life, flowers and macro this suits me fine as I can hitch up and share with like- minded enthusiasts
Well, it’s time to post my pics for this post :
I went high key for these images …… enjoyed playing around with the lighting. bye for now, Eileen
Still Life with Contrasts
Posted: November 2, 2016 Filed under: Fine Art, photography, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: colours, Fine Art, lighting, objects, photography, still life 2 Comments
Doing my favourite thing – Still Life. This one is all about contrasts – of shapes, colours, and textures. I thought the portrait format suited the tall pot. This image is also about repeating curves.
I placed this group slightly to the left and brought the orange peel forward to add a bit more depth to the image and boosted the brightness.
A bit more traditional in landscape format and content. Used those conkers again !
I removed the Fan and played around with the lighting for this one. Let me know what you think …. constructive criticism always welcome ! many blessings, Eileen
Conkers
Posted: October 27, 2016 Filed under: macro, Nature, photography, Still Life, Uncategorized | Tags: autumn, conkers, macro, nature, photography, reflections, still life 1 CommentAnother reason I love autumn is for the conkers …. but I don’t seem to have any in my immediate surroundings, nor have I seen any at The Pond, so I got my son to have a scout around further afield for me and he brought me these.
I thought I would try some low-key shots of them ….
I arranged some on my black glass-topped desk. I think the reflections have added a sort of abstract look to the image. I like the contrast of textures ….
I think I may try out some more ideas with them today though ….. bye for now, Eileen
Dominoes
Posted: May 19, 2016 Filed under: macro, photography, Still Life | Tags: close up, dominoes, games, macro, photography, still life 4 Comments
Playing Games
These dominoes must be from the 1930s/40s I think. They were my father-in-laws originally. I thought they would make an interesting still life subject as well as lending themselves to some macro shots too.
I must say that I’m really enjoying using my macro lens….. after struggling for a while on my own to get to grips with my Olympus camera and macro lens , I managed to find someone who could spend a couple of hours with me and explain its mysteries. It was well worth the tuition cost to have practical demonstrations and have questions answered. It’s simply a matter of much practise now so that it’s embedded in my brain rather than keep having to look up my notes all the time. Mind you, the old memory ain’t wot it used to be!!
Bye for now Eileen
An Apple a Day
Posted: November 9, 2015 Filed under: effects, Nature, photography, Still Life | Tags: Acer, apples, colourful, fruit, still life 2 Comments
My favourite subject to photograph is Still Life [ which I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before] and we had several days of rainy/windy weather which kept me indoors. I’d bought some of these lovely red apples with an image idea in mind, as well as looking forward to eating them.
I’d seen a still life image somewhere that featured one of the objects with a ribbon tied around it, so I thought I would put a green ribbon around the red apple, the colour being the complementary of red i.e. opposites on the Colour Wheel.
For those who may be interested , in the Genesis Garden of Eden historical story, it says that Eve took and ate of the fruit of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. But in the popular telling of it, people usually refer to her eating an apple. I puzzled as to why this was and found out that the ‘olde’ English word for fruit in general was actually appel/ aeppel. That word gradually came to refer to specifally the fruit we now call an apple. Mystery solved!
For this more abstracty image I placed the apple against a setting of kitchen foil to see what the reflections would do. It looked so obviously tinfoil and not very exciting, so I tried out a few ‘effects’ with my software and came up with this one , it’s called ‘colour blast’ which I thought also made a good title for it.
The next pic – as you can see is not an apple! But I thought I would post it anyway cos it is a Still Life and comes from trees too. I think Autumn is a favourite time among photographers and the glorious landscapes they’ve posted on line are a real treat to view. As I am limited in the scenery I have access to, what better than to use colourful, fallen leaves to get the creative juices flowing ….
Thank you so much for stopping by – please leave any comments , they are always most welcome. I get so few visitors let alone comments that it makes me wonder if there’s anyone out there? [ Ha ha – that isn’t a sympathy seeking statement – just stating the facts] I’ve long given up puzzling about the mysteries of ‘getting more traffic’ in the world of blogging, but I do thank friends who support and encourage me. It means a lot and much appreciated. [typically family show no interest whatsoever in what their Ma is doing [- another ha ha or Lol !] again – not a complaint – things are as they are and that’s ok! The main thing is that I really enjoy what I’m doing and thank the Lord for my hobbies and for keeping me sane!!
many blessings, see you soon, Eileen
Lone Ranger
Posted: October 25, 2015 Filed under: Humour, photography, Still Life | Tags: bit of fun, close up, photography, sculptural quality, still life Leave a comment
My favourite subject when I used to paint was Still Life and that seems to be what I like to do best with my camera too. Sometimes I thrash around for ideas and sometimes a lone object just pops into my head and I begin to plan what the eventual picture will be. I was trying to think of something that would be more minimalistic and an Egg seemed ideal. The first image presents it in the context of food we eat for breakfast. To make it less boring, I thought I would try balancing a little white feather on top and this pic came after a couple of attempts. Because I’d taken it from the fridge the shell began to get a bit moist and so when I dropped the feather this time it got caught at an angle – oh goody!
This is a much more minimalistic picture and more true to the idea I started out with. Hope you like it …. it’s forcing me to experiment more with lighting my subjects and I’ve learnt the hard way how highlights can glare and look ‘burnt out’, and as my room is very, very bright I’m learning to adjust my camera’s exposure settings to compensate. I’m really hankering after getting a CSC – which I may have mentioned before – they come under various names – Compact System Cameras, four-thirds cameras, mirrorless cameras et al. The thing that appeals to me is that they are lighter to hold than DSLRs and have separate lenses. It’s a bit scary for me, but I get a bit frustrated with my present cameras’ limitations [good as they have been for me] and I would love to learn to use a proper Macro lens.
That’s all for this post folks, see you soon dv, Eileen
