Anniversary Roses by Candlelight

TRY DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE SAME SUBJECT!

The above subject is another attempt at photographing a subject, printing it out as a 12 x 18 inches image, framing it and then using the framed image in another photographic still life. And if you would refer to May 15 you would see a slightly different still life image of the above subject.

But for today's image I used a different vase and a different frame. I also changed the layout of the candle and the dried roses. I also let more of the mantle show in this picture.

There was NOTHING done with this image after it was downloaded into my computer.

Now, which image do you prefer - the image for May 15 or the one for today?


Challenge for today:

Frame one of your own creations and then photograph away.

Roses and Others

MAKING IT DRAMATIC!

Somehow having a dark background/foreground really helps in making an image dramatic looking.

And you don't HAVE to do anything to an image after it is downloaded into your computer - this image is a perfect example of having nothing special added or deducted.

This image is just about darkness and lightness of subjects and using what you have at the moment.


Challenge for today:

Photograph some images using a very dark background.

Middle of the Summer Blooms

YOU CAN HAVE FUN WITH PHOTOGRAPHY!

The above image was just plain old fun to do!

I took one of my images and printed it out to be 12" by 18" in size and used it as the background.

I then took a small blue vase which pretty well matched the color of the plate in the background image.

I took some day lilies and zinnias and placed them in the vase. I placed in the foreground a bunch of black eyed susans (which also happens to be the flower in the background image).

Then the photography shooting began and there you pretty well have the completed image.


Challenge for today:

Try and get an image together that you can print out and use as your own background for another image.

Yellow and White

I HAD A GRAY AND WHITE DRESS!

Yes, that's right - the background material is a gray and white dress.

Basically the above image is simple. I placed a few spring flowers in a clear vase and placed a few flower petals and leaves around the vase - then I started the photography session.

After I got the shot I wanted, I downloaded the image into my computer.

I then got out a textured background I had created and pasted it as a layer onto the original flower image. I didn't want to actually cover up the pattern in the dress; I only wanted to add some additional color and drama. In fact you can see some of the white flowers in the dress material.


Challenge for Today:

Use a dress or shirt for the background of some picture.

Fresh and Old

DON'T BE IN A HURRY TO THROW AWAY THOSE OLD ROSES!

The day before yesterday I posted an image with different arrangements of these same pottery vases.

This picture is about fresh flowers and old roses which seem to go with the brownish colored pottery containers.

However, I don't remember exactly how I did this image.

I know I must have used the see through curtains which have white flowered patterns in them, because I can see a faint outline at the top of this image of those white flowers.

In my computer I must have placed a textured layer on top of the original image to get the "painting look."

But, like I said, I don't really recall HOW i COMPLETED THIS IMAGE.

I'm sorry, but I do hope you'll enjoy the image for itself.


Challenge for today:

Just stop and smell the flowers.

Roses and Zinnias

PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR OWN WORK!

Actually there was little done to the actual final image, but there is a lot to tell about the composing of the picture and there IS a story behind the framed picture.

So, first I'll start with the picture in the frame.

I went to a local antique store and bought this tiny hob nail vase for less than $15. I used as the background a sweater which has colored specks on it. Having a sweater as a background limited me on the amount of space I had for photography purposes. After I got the shot I liked, I smudged the sweater a WHOLE LOT. I then added a textured background I had done. I then gave a copy of the image to the antique store owner. She was thrilled!

Now on to the story behind this new image.

First, for me it is HARD to photograph a frame so it ends out looking like it should be - straight.

Secondly, for this picture I wanted to use the same sweater as the background. So to the right of the picture I used clothes pins to hold the sweater into place.

Thirdly, I wanted to use the same hob nail vase. But the light was coming from a different angle so in this picture the vase doesn't look white. You CAN clearly see the lips of the vases are the same and of course you can see the hob nails.

And for the final touch, I wanted to use pink as the color in the foreground flowers. Unfortunately, I was limited on the number of pink zinnias I had on hand - one. And one pink flower doesn't make a majority. But that turned out fine because I had plenty of darker colors. Placing the one pink blossom next to the framed picture keeps the eye coming back to the inside of the image because that is where the lightest colors are.

And that is how I did this photo.


Challenge for today:

Compose one of your own images into the making of another image.

Pottery, Flowers and Letters

MIXING THINGS UP A BIT!

I arranged this image because my husband bought me some roses and I couldn't let them go unphotographed.

To help make the rose bouquet larger I decided to pick some daffodils which were blooming.

Since the roses were kinda an orange color, I decided to place the flowers in a pottery vase I had purchased at a garage sale.

I then added some more pottery vases of various sizes which were a flea market find.

The dog actually is about 61 years old. Before my parents were married they went on a date to a carnival and my dad "won" this dog as a prize. My mother named the dog "Pedro."

My dad loved to save birthday cards, sympathy cards, etc., so I placed a couple in the photo.

I used a very dark background material when I photographed the picture and then later added a textured background when I got the picture into the computer.


Challenge for Today:

Photograph some vases or pots of various heights and shapes.

Iris, Lily-of-the Valley and Peonies

THE SOFTNESS OF COLORS!

Colors can really create a mood and I believe the above is an example of "COLOR SOFTNESS" in an image.

The initial background of the above image is a see through curtain which is slightly pink in color and has a white flowered pattern.

After I got the photo into my computer, I took a background of various colors I had created and through various steps and layers, I got the above final image.


Challenge for the day:

Photograph the softness of color.

Assorted Summer Blooms

GATHERING BLOOMS OF THE SAME COLOR

It is always neat to see hollyhock blossoms in paintings, but they really are hard to photograph!

The trouble with hollyhocks is that the stem is never fully in bloom. There may be 1 blossom and then 3 inches down or up the stem there might be another bloom. So you don't get a continuous stem in bloom. And another thing about hollyhocks is that they they tend to droop the day after you have picked them.

Anyway, now on to the above photo.

Since I had plenty of different pink flowers, I decided to have a color bouquet of pink blossoms.

I had so much trouble arranging the above flowers that once I was through photographing the flowers in one vase I just put the vase and all into an old crock and added a few more flowers. You can't really see the actual vase and I didn't have to rearrange the bouquet again.

After I got the image I wanted, I did something new. I used Paint Shop Pro's arithmetic option and then did an "average" arithmetic of 2 backgrounds I had previously worked up and then when I had 1 new background I chose another different background and did an "average" arithmetic of the new background I had just created.

I then used the final resulting arithmetic and did an arithmetic of the pink blossom image. I then adjusted the levels of brightness and pasted the image onto the original pink blossom image.

Then I adjusted the opacity to give the image enough of a "wild painting" look.

Briefly speaking the above image is the final result of using 3 different backgrounds to get 1 new background to use as a layer on the original photo.


Challenge for today:

Photograph some flowers of the same color.

My Cat

WHAT????????

Everything about this high key image is unplanned and nothing has been added to this image to get it to look like this.

Now the first thing to this story is I had been photographing some hollyhocks and I had taken the flowers away into my kitchen to get them into cooler conditions for awhile. (My photographing room is not air conditioned.)

The second part to this story is that though I had removed the flowers/vase I had left everything else on my photography table because I planned on resuming my hollyhock photographing session later. (I was using the penny to straighten up the vase a bit.)

Unfortunately, the last key element to this image's story is that I THINK my 28-200 zoom lens has gone bad.

Anyway when I went back with my flowers to try and see what my lens would do, my cat, Abby, was sound asleep amidst my faded blossoms and penny.

I went ahead and tried out my lens with Abby instead of the hollyhocks.

In my attempts to get my lens/camera to work this is one of the images I got.

This definitely isn't a still life image or is it?

Like I said earlier there was nothing done to this image except to take out the noise in the image and remove the purple fringe which happens in digital photography.

Anyway, I've placed my 28-200 zooms lens into a different camera bag and have gotten out the cheap zoom lens which came with my camera and I'm back to taking pictures.

Now I'm trying to decide which new lens to buy or whether I should purchase a new digital camera.....decisions are generally NEVER EASY!!!!!


Challenge for today:

None....I don't want this misfortune to come your way.