Photographing Light

Light is one of my favorite subjects to photograph.  This is why:  

"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary." - Aaron Rose

 “The artist vocation is to send light into the human heart.” – Robert Schumann

Temple of ECK, Contemplation Trails, Chanhassen, MN
"...the Light of God is symbolically represented in most religions. Stained glass, precious stones, and skylights are common in religious structures. Native American celebrations, as well as those of certain other religions, use fire and drums, as well as chanting, all examples of light and sound. Each ceremony represents the effort of people to speak to God in their own way..."http://www.eckankar.org/light.html

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.” 
― Michael Strassfeld

Virginia

“A picture must possess a real power to generate light and for a long time now I’ve been conscious of expressing myself through light or rather in light.” – Henri Matisse

“There are two ways of spreading light… To be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it.” – Edith Wharton

Painting With Photos

"If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." - Vincent Van Gogh

Growing up I wanted to paint.  I drew (or more accurately traced).  I photographed life.  I even wrote poems and short stories.  I wasn't short on talent, except I couldn't paint the way I imagined I would if I could.  I think some of my photography was born of that desire because many say my photos look like paintings.  I like it that way!

Bluebird Gap Farm, Hampton, Virginia

                                                  This wasn't my starting point, though.  It didn't occur to me to think maybe I could make my photographs look like paintings; they evolved that way.

Most of my life I snapped photos as they caught my eye....literally, thousands of them after the digital age arrived. Before that was film and, although it didn't slow me down, digital definitely sped it up allowing me more freedom to take unlimited photos.

Next came photo editing programs like Photoshop integrating my love of picture taking with my love of color and then the Holy Grail of photography, for me, exploded! Not only did our camera phones transform quickly before our eyes with higher and higher pixels and amazing quality

but the photo apps like Snapseed and Enlight created an easy avenue to transform your photos at the tip of your fingers with filters to provide you a ridiculously effortless way to improve on them.

Virginia

Jackpot!   Imagination meet reality!  Now I can take an already beautiful photo and add whatever strikes my fancy.

In this case, "my fancy" was another of my loves as I am a Rescue Volunteer.  

Voila!  There you go or perhaps more accurately...there I go!

Another lesson in all of this for me was...if you love something, do it!  Spirit, life, the universe...whatever you wish to call it...will lead you to the next step then the next and then the next for as long as you wish to go.  It may even go in directions you never even imagined if you are willing to go with it; after all, life is not a straight path.  It might not happen in the amount of time you have alloted; it might not even happen at all, but if you love it, you really won't mind. You'll be too busy having fun so go for it!

An enhanced photo of a statue in a garden.

You may even be transformed!

Are We There Yet? The Art of Timing

A few fortunate beings on this planet have an innate ability to know when to act and when to wait. Many others are like the child in the back seat of the car with whisperings of "Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" as little Susie kicks the back of your seat to a beat only she can hear, only to ask more insistently five minutes later when a whisper becomes a shout and then a shout becomes a whining plea of "Are we there yet?"  

Most parents will start with a patient, "No, not yet" but as you up the ante may soon come back with a frazzled, "Does it look like we're there yet?!" Not to be outdone, the child now recruits her siblings in a chorus of "Are we there yet?" to which the only decent reply is, "Who wants to play the quiet game?" and suddenly the parent is not above bribing their dearest offsprings with a monetary reward for who can stay silent the longest.  

Not only is there unreasonable expectations about the destination itself, and God forbid it doesn't meet our ideas of where we are supposed to be, but there is a whole lot of disillusionment about how long or short it should take us to get there, wherever that may be, whether it be a physical destination or a goal.  

Now add timing into the mix.  If timing is everything then when do you act and when do you wait?  I, myself, have certainly had times when I have pushed, pulled, stood on my head, did back flips, and nothing has come of it, except the thumping of my own head from banging it against a wall (silly me), until one day it happened on its own accord with no assistance from me at all.  

On the other hand, there have been times when I felt as if I was procrastinating only to find that the timing couldn't have been better.  It was as if the stars had aligned perfectly for my very own benefit! What gives?  How do we know the difference?  How do we know when to take action and when to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride?

In photography, especially with action photos or images dealing with people or animals, if you hesitate, you miss the shot.  A person may have walked in or out of the frame, the perfect expression was suddenly replaced with a frown, or any number of things varying from subtle to very obvious can happen. I expect this is much like life.  

If we get a nudge to act on something and we sit on it, we may lose it or it may change in some way. This is not to say the opportunity may not come again or that it may not come in another disguise, but why take the chance?

Is it always going to be appropriate to act immediately?  Maybe not so perhaps it comes down to intuition and discrimination.  Experience will teach us better.  If we missed it one time, we may gain it another and so on and on it goes.  Besides, who says you won't gain something better by taking that detour?

What does this all have to do with photography and your Etsy business or with any business? Many of us give up before we begin.  We have a few false starts or nothing seems to be working so we sit back and wait when we need to take another step.  Or we take many more steps when a little patience may have gone a long way.  

Sometimes we have to do all we can do and then let go of our ideas of how it's supposed to go.  We have to leave room for God or the Universe or whatever or whomever you believe in to do Its part and if you think it's going to come easy, well, you may want to reconsider.  It may but chances are it's another way for the universe to see how serious you are about attaining whatever goal you are striving for.  

In the end, everything is in its rightful place.  It just may be different from where you thought so if there is something you can do and it feels right then act.  If not wait but whatever you decide, don't give up!  

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out."  - Robert Collier

Be flexible!  Allow for transformation.  There may be a worthier plan than the one you have in mind but if you are too attached to what your own vision may be, there won't be any room for anything else and you might miss out on something better.

Lastly when in doubt, take it moment to moment, love what you do and do what you love because as Elizabeth Kubler-Ross says, “It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up – that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” 

Remember, there is always another mountain to climb, another level to go so listen.

"Zoo: An excellent place to study the habits of human beings."  - Evan Esar

Some of my best adventures have been at the local zoo, and the Philadelphia Zoo has always been one of my favorites.  Not that I'm advocating for locking up wild animals in cages or small spaces but sometimes the animals are there because they need to be, because they can't be in the wild for one reason or another.  I'm not here to debate the validity of zoos.  If you are, wrong blog, sorry to disappoint you.  I am, however, going to give you a few tips on making beautiful photographs on your day trip.

Zoom!  Zoom!  Zoom!  No, I'm not suggesting you race through the zoo snapping everything in your wake.  Take your time.  Get close and personal by either standing as near as you can to your subject and/or by zooming in as far as your lens will allow you.  

The closer you are, the less you will see of the background.  If you can't close the distance between you and your target, blur your background either using portrait mode or by maximizing your aperture.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The best time I have found to be at the zoo is as soon as they open for that morning feeding or just after.  Many of the animals are playful and animated.  

Sometimes you get a nice surprise.  I came across a cobra with an agenda, advocating for himself and those of his kind.  I thought, "All right then.  I will share your photo and your message as often as I get the opportunity to."  I've kept my promise and have shared this photo numerous times.

"Zoo animals are ambassadors for their cousins in the wild."  - Jack Hanna

Capturing the Magic of Christmas

Picture this:  Christmas morning before the children have awakened.  The soft light of dawn is slowly creeping through the windows, the lights are synchronized dancing around the tree, the gifts are packaged perfectly with care, and you carefully snap those first few shots before mayhem ensues. 

Photographer Unknown

Okay.  Let's be more realistic.  This is probably you the night before because I don't know about you but I was never out of bed before my kids on Christmas morning.  Don't you wish they had that same enthusiasm jumping out of bed for school each day? 

You take a few precious photos to prove it looked just like an image right out of a Christmas catalogue, crawl into bed hoping for a few hours of sleep, and then the first screams of joy hit your eardrums and reverberate off of each and every brain cell with an equally loud echo.  Ah, let the games begin.  

 

One more hour, PLEASE!!

After bargaining for one more hour of sleep, you hide under your pillow while stockings are yanked from the fireplace and dumped onto your newly polished hardwood floors. What seems like only minutes later, cherub faces covered in chocolate treats and candy cane sticky hands come peering into your sanctuary with a choir of "Please, please, please, may we open our presents now?"  

Fully surrendered, you grab your camera and prepare yourself for the most adorable photos that everyone will admire and will no doubt share all over Facebook.  How could they resist?

By the time you manage to pick up your camera, aim and fire, amongst a blur of wrapping paper frenzy, a few "Ohs" and "Ahs," you pause to make sure you got that last pic because that was absolutely the cutest when you realize not only was Susie's sweetest smile completely hidden behind Johnny's arm but all of the gifts are opened and your perfect pictures nowhere to be found.  In a panic you flick through your digital previews and sudden all your hopes are dashed of winning any Christmas photo contests this year.    

What is a photographer to do?  

First of all, slow it down!  Certainly racing down the stairs and blasting through unwrapping presents has its own charm if you like it like that, but it will not make for great, or even good, pictures. There's nothing wrong with one child at a time, one present at a time, rule, at least until you've gotten a few acceptable shots or you are ready for your coffee.  Trust me if your little boy or girl knows that a few angelic smiles is all that is standing between them and the rest of their gifts, they will give you their full cooperation.

Photographer Unknown

Second of all, don't be a control freak.  Let them be themselves and capture that!  They will have more fun and so will you.    

Photographer unknown

Third, if your pets get in on the action, please let them!  They may be some of the cutest photos you get.

Tip:  A photo of a child with their gift from Grandma and Grandpa, Auntee Jen, or that special someone makes for a more personalized thank you card.  

Is It Real Or Is It Photoshopped?

All throughout history, even before Photoshop (believe it or not), photos have been manipulated. Here is one of the more well-known photos.  (Photo Credit Unknown)

There was a time when many people saw a picture as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth but, as you can see from this article, it just isn't true.

http://www.fourandsix.com/photo-tampering-history/?currentPage=3

Now that photos are digital and photo editing programs are in high demand, it's easier than ever to make a few adjustments here and a few adjustments there.  By the time a photo is "edited," you may have well over 100 layers as in some modeling pictures, anything from whitening the teeth to downsizing the waist and enhancing the breasts!

This one is for my nieces.  Don't believe the hype, ladies!  No one is born perfect but a few photo editing tricks and anyone can look it.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/time-lapse-video-shows-models-photoshop-transformation-20738180

What's my point in all of this?  Question everything!

Now that we have that out of the way, manipulating photos can be fun and your imagination, not the sky, is the limit.

Make a photo look like a painting.

 

                     Play with framing and layering.

The possibilities are limitless!  Have fun!

                                                                                                                             

Is a Photographer an Artist?

Life had me flying in a few directions simultaneously and something had to take a temporary backseat; unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you'd like to look at it, it was my photography and everything that went along with it, including this blog.  Maybe other areas needed my more immediate attention and that's okay.  The important part is, I'm back, and ready!

A photographer, in some circles, is not considered an artist.  What is so great about photography, especially in this period of time, when so many can pull out their cell phone and capture a photo any time they want and of anything that catches the eye? What could possibly be so special when we are inundated with images from all over the world?

At surface value, I might agree if you are only taking an image for what it appears to be at first glance; however, if you look into a photo, a really good one, you will see a story.  Maybe you will be able to view it from an objective point of view or maybe it will be purely subjective, based on your own life experiences and what you are ready or able to see at that moment.  Isn't that the most wonderful gift about photography?  It appears to be real, the mind accepts it as real, but, depending on what the creator of the image has chosen, it can be altered by layers of other photos or edited in Photoshop in some manner. The final product can be a complete illusion.

To me the definition of an artist is someone who has the creative ability to take the mundane or the ordinary, the often overlooked, and assist you in looking deeper and/or aide you in viewing it in a whole new way.  No matter what the medium is, if you can do this, then you truly are an artist, a creator.

Up next...Images and How They May Affect Your Life

The Beauty of Photo Blogging

Started a new job and don't have the kind of time that I had before.  I'm not giving up on this, though; it would be like giving up on a big part of myself.  Lucky for me this is a photo blog and so I will let the pictures tell the story this time.  Since animals have played an important role in life with me, I thought I would share a few of their portraits.   There have been many so here are a few...will share more later.

Jasmine's baby photo

Niyah

Our rescued blue and gold macaw

Harley has attitude and he's not afraid to use it!

Buttercup and Peaches - Great buds!

Photojournalism - Telling Stories With Pictures

The art of storytelling in photography, to me, is photojournalism.  It gives me the freedom to follow where my heart leads me, to capture and show something as it is but also leave room for the viewer's interpretation.  The reality of a photo may seem obvious to one but, in truth, many stories can be told from that one photo.  Take this one for an example...

What does it speak to your heart? This is only one single moment frozen in time.  What about all the other moments?  What happened here before and then after?  Who are the people in the background, especially the mysterious silhouetted child?  What are their stories?  How long has this market been here?

A long list of questions could be presented to each of you, and your own story could be written.  No two would be alike!  A good photojournalistic picture would likely spike the viewer's imagination, not suppress it.

Are the many images that we take in every day any different?  What was the photographer showing us and what are we actually seeing?  Was the photo manipulated in any way to change its meaning or to persuade us to see a truth as someone wishes us to view it?  Or does it leave room for us to wonder or as a launching point to ask more questions?

Some believe a photograph is real simply because it is there in front of them, because they can see it with their eyes, but is it really?  If you were to see a succession of pictures, you may be able to piece together a more accurate story but, even then, don't be so sure.

I think a wonderful example of this is the movie, "The Green Mile."

Image Courtesy of http://www.altfg.com/

The man in this film, John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan), was accused of horrible crimes and supposedly caught red handed, yet that wasn't the truth at all. Given the information available most people would have come to the same conclusions as were made in by the witnesses in this story and why is that?  Are we accepting what we perceive visually or are we asking more questions?  Are we interested in the truth or just what we believe to be the truth?  

Anyway, I don't want to cheat this film in any way.  My small summary is not the entirety of the movie, and it's really quite an eye-opener in many ways.  While it is told as non-fictional, one could imagine and, maybe rightly so, that this happens more often than not (the scenario I presented to you).

I honestly don't know why I'm going here except to say that maybe we all need to ask more questions, to not rely strictly on what we either see with our own eyes or what is presented to us by the media or anyone else for that matter.  The truth is not always palpable.  We may all need to dig a little deeper to discover it, to follow our own hearts to discernment, and not another's.

In summary, "a picture is worth a thousand words" but whose words are they?

Photographing The Heart of the Wild

With animals, perhaps more so than people, patience is needed.  They won't necessarily pose for you, although I swear some have, so another technique is needed.  Some photographers will take photo after photo and hope for the best and, others may patiently wait for that unforgettable moment spending even hours awaiting it.  Is there another way?

How do you photograph beyond what you see with your eyes?  How do you take a photograph with your heart?

There is a space most creative people, unconsciously or consciously, relax into when they are painting, dancing, inventing, or even simply manifesting a solution. In this gap everything changes.  Words fail to portray what that space is but I can tell you it's silent and you become almost hyperaware.  I refer to it as the "zone."  In the zone, time melts away and the way you discern your environment morphs.  This is the closest description I can give.  

In this field there is "magic," it is, to me, where all life connects and where "miracles" are made. It is where we are all one and that includes the biggest and smallest of creatures.

Going Beyond Formal Portraiture

Stuffy, forced smiley photos are a thing of the past.  Portraits are and will be fun if done right. Since my background is mostly Photojournalism, I abhor traditional portraiture where everyone stands at attention and "Cheese!" stands for cheesy because that is the look you will get but, hey, if that's what you are going for than so be it.  Who am I to say different?

Not to mention, if you are dealing with children and animals in a strict setting, well, all I can say is....good luck with that!

Wouldn't it be better to try a different approach like my examples here?  What is wrong with traveling around the park, a zoo, or a farm with mom and dad and getting the photos that do more than capture a phony smile but capture a glimpse of Soul as well?  The children will be much more agreeable (well, usually...), and mom and dad will be relaxed.  It's a win/win situation in my eyes.

Environmental portraits show more of a person's lifestyle or what they love in an environment fitting to it.  Wikipedia defines it as:  "...a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings...."

If you do need to do the occasional formal photography, meaning posed, don't be afraid to let the person be themselves.  They will usually be uncomfortable at first so talk with them but don't stop taking photos.  Tell them to move into different poses that feel natural as they speak with you and, if they feel they can't, then direct them softly while continuing the conversation.

Keep their mind off of the camera and focused on something they love or a topic they enjoy.  Play with the subjects you talk about.  Mix in funny jokes or stories or if you any aren't good at telling jokes, ask them if they know any.   Or "What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you?" also works.

Question them on their views about more serious things like some recent event on the news. Watch their emotions change and as they do, their expressions and posture will transform also.  If they tell you about their dog who just died, allow them to open up about it.

Most important:  always end on a positive note or even a surprising one.

The shoot will be rewarding, not just for them, but for you as well because you are not only actively taking their photos but you are listening with an open heart and you are viewing them as the delightful, multi-faceted Soul they are!  You cannot do this without walking away a better person yourself, and the photos will be fabulous!

More on portraiture to come!

Back in Business!

Ride 'em, cowboy!  We just might rustle us up some dinner after all!  *wink*

Yes!  Woo hoo!  Yippee ki yay and all of that!  See More Divinely Photo (Etsy store) is back up and running. Forward march!  

That bridge successfully crossed!  Whew!  *wiping sweat off of brow*

You're cute and all but I can't keep you.

Now that we have that monkey off our shoulder, we can move onto more pressing items like "Where did that monkey come from?" and other fun stuff.  

Let's save that for another day.  

Not to procrastinate or anything but today is a beautiful day and I, for one, would like to finish up in time to enjoy it! We can pick up here tomorrow.  Have fun, y'all!