THE FLOWERS AND THE BACKGROUND JUST SEEMED TO GO TOGETHER!

So, after I allowed the flowers to completely dry, I placed them on a 13 x 19 image abstract image I had worked up earlier.

The colors went SO WELL TOGETHER!

I then scanned the image into my computer.

And after getting out my favorite smudge tool, I set to work smudging the image.

I loved the resulting image.

Challenge for today:

Photograph something you can use later as the background in a new image.

CREATING A FEELING

MAKE OTHERS FEEL LIKE THEY ARE ALMOST IN THE PHOTO!

It was just an old chair.

The blossoms were taken from some wild shrubs.

The green clippers seemed to create the feeling that the owner was still close at hand.

The red plastic pail added extra color to the image.

After I took the image and scanned it into the computer, I cloned out the unsightly door lock.

I, also, darkened the area behind the chair to hide the background.

I smudged both the door and the concrete floor.

The image isn't great, but I like the feeling.


Challenge for today:

Create a scene with some feeling.

GETTING FRAMED

LOOK FOR THE OBVIOUS IN LINES TO GETTING GREAT FRAMING

This flower looks like it is sitting in front of a window.

Actually it is sitting outdoors on a table on a type of small curio shelf piece that can hang on the wall. The "curtain" is just some cloth I placed behind as background to hide the grass.

After I photographed the image, I went back in and used the "smudged" tool to give it some extra "texture."


Challenge for today:

See how you can "frame" something today.

KEEPSAKE MEMORIES

FRAME THOSE MEMORY KEEPSAKES!

We all have keepsakes passed down through the family.

The shame is that keepsakes ARE keepsakes AND only 1 individual can be in possession of a keepsake.

BUT IF YOU COULD PHOTOGRAPH A KEEPSAKE THEN YOU COULD AT LEAST PASS THAT MEMORY ON TO OTHERS.

The above image is very important to me.

The above dog's name is Pedro. He was a fun thing my father "won" at a carnival when he was on a date with my mother. My mother never got rid of it - it was something precious to her even after my parents were married.

The piece of paper in the image was a letter my aunt found after my mother died. In the letter mother mentions that as a toddler I had been walking, but I had briefly quit after I had come down sick.

I decided to photograph these items together and I used the smudged tool to wipe out any mentioning of my name to a copy of the image later on.

Through the result of this photograph, Pedro is not now confined to my house. He can now "dwell" in the house of other family members. And if he should break beyond repair or if the letter gets lost, the image will still be there.


Challenge for Today:

Create an image of a keepsake and pass that image to others in your family.

CREATING UNREAL REALITY

AH, NOTHING LIKE SETTING UP YOUR STILL LIFE
IMAGE BESIDE A WINDOW! RIGHT????

But there is NO window in this image, because the "woodwork" belonging to the "window" is an illusion.

Oh, the woodwork is real, but the woodwork is basically broken off edging from off the ceiling of my grandmother's house.

And oh, I had a terrible time getting the scrap of edging to stand up straight!

(By the way...the peaches were fake, I got the vase at a garage sale and the flowers were picked from my garden.)


Challenge for today:

Try and create a "window" yourself.

Don't Have More Than 1 Competitor

THIS ISN'T EVEN A GOOD PHOTO! SO WHY AM I BOTHERING EVEN USING IT?

Cause I'm trying to drive home a point:

Don't let an item in an image compete with other items in the same image.

As in this photo the plain looking little vase does NOT detract from the overall image.

The eye is drawn to the material (which happened to be an old fashion dress of my mother).

As the vase is clear and very plain, it blends IN with the material and that is the objective of the vase - just blending in.

Again, I want to stress - the vase isn't in any type of competition with the rest of this image which happens to be mostly just of a dress.

And yes....during this same photo session, I tried placing some apple blossoms - white with a touch of pink - into the vase.

And you know......the image just wasn't right.

The flowers competed with the dress!

THINK OF A SERIES

THINKING OF GETTING ONE GOOD SHOT? WHY NOT TRY FOR 2 OR 3 GOOD IMAGES?

When you get into a "series" you are thinking of more possibilities.

Go into an interior decorating store and browse around. Many images on the wall are in groups of 2 or 3. Walk into an office building - many paintings on the wall are of one subject but in different settings.

Look on your on walls of your home.

Why settle for something ANYONE can purchase at the local store.

Why not showcase your own originality?

This is the 1st of April. Spring has just started. Flowers are starting to bloom.

If you have some flowers - photograph them.

If you don't have space for flowers - photograph something of the family that means a lot.

And speaking of photographing something of the family - Mother's Day is coming up.

Why not surprise mom or your grandmother with an image(s) of some treasured thing that is extra special to them.

Now, on the 2 images above.

I took a little over 200 photos Sunday. I have worked these 2 up.

The background was some type of smooth art board and I added a different background later on the computer to give the images a more "artistic" look.