Apples and Garlic

Probably wouldn't taste good together. Here are some photos I took of each one. I kind of love the color picture of the garlic. Who would've guessed how those pinks would come out? Amazing. One more reason to love garlic.

I love the delicate pinks. This photo is less about garlic, shape, form, or texture, it's all about color.

This may be my favorite of the garlic black and whites. I just like the scruffy feel of the garlic in this one.

I like this one in color. The yellow is nice, and golden delicious apples happen to be my favorite.

However, I kind of love this in black and white. Texture, form, whatever . . . this photo makes me wanna go eat an apple.

Note on the pictures: Because people have wondered how much Photoshop is used in these pictures (which is always a bit disheartening when people ask), I'll tell you this: the photoshopping on these fruit and veggie pics is minimal. This whole project is about keeping things simple and real, from subject matter to set-up to lighting to post-work. 

Here's the scoop: I shoot in RAW, meaning that no matter what, some post-work is necessary. Minor adjustments were made to white balance, contrast; I turned some black and white then readjusted contrast, and occasionally cloned the background into a corner that I missed. Other than that, everything is in camera. I'm not photoshopping out "blemishes" or layering image upon image to get the highlights, midtones, and shadows I want. I'm not blurring the background, using the liquify tool, or running any filters. I hope that satisfies my curious kittens. ;)

Red

The running joke/philosophy in art is that if you can't make it good, make it big and make it red. Thanks for the feedback on the peppers. Here are a couple color shots from the same shoot, just so you can enjoy the luscious color. These aren't big, but they are red. ;) Red peppers.

Red pepper no. 1

Red pepper no. 2

Peppers: Part II (o kabanata dalawa)

After your feedback, here are three new and improved pepper pics. To see the last group scroll down or click on this sentence. Each image here was taken in slightly different light, each emphasizing different aspects of the pepper. If you hate pepper pictures, you may not want to proceed . . .

Note: Every screen is a different, so if you can't see much detail in the shadows you may need to brighten your screen. If you are on a Mac you're probably ok. (If you want to see what I see, my typical setting is three down from the brightest, which helps me envision better what the image will look like printed.)

Which would you choose?

Pepper no. 1 - Highest contrast, brightest highlights, deepest blacks.

Pepper no. 2 - Highlights are slightly diffused but still have some punch, detail in the shadows, easier to see the more subtle mid-tone curves, halo of light behind the pepper.  

Pepper no. 3 - Diffused highlights, each curve and bump of light smooths into the next. Halo of light surrounds pepper.

UPDATE 10/26/12: Color shots from the same shoot can be found by clicking this sentence.

Peppers

So I'm on a kick where I like taking pictures of vegetables (and some fruits). I like these photos of peppers just fine, but let's be honest, Edward Weston already did them and did them better. Of course, Weston was also using an 8x10 view camera and printing on silver gelatin paper. I'm trying to find a way to make the pepper pic my own, and I just don't think I've quite hit it yet.

I love the vibrancy of the color pictures, but I love how the texture and form come to the forefront in the black and whites. I think much could be improved by simplifying the background and finding a way to light the contours of the pepper a bit more subtly.

 Thoughts? I haven't given up on this one yet.

Why vegetables? I love the constant surprise of form, color, and texture found in all nature. But right now I'm loving me some veggies (and to a lesser extent, fruits). About peppers, Weston said:

I have done perhaps fifty negatives of peppers: because of the endless variety in form manifestations, because of their extraordinary surface texture, because of the power, the force suggested in their amazing convolutions. A box of peppers at the corner grocery hold implications to stir me emotionally more than almost any other edible form, for they run the gamut of natural forms, in experimental surprises.

I love Weston's response to those who suggested he was trying to depict anything remotely "human" in his work:

The peppers which are libeled more than anything I have done, ‒ in them has been found vulvas, penises or combinations, sexual intercourse, Madonna with child, wrestlers, modern sculpture, African carving, ad nauseam, according to the state of mind of the spectator: and I have a lot of fun sizing up people from their findings! Now call the above explanation my defense mechanism become active [sic], I say that it is disgust and weariness over having my work labeled and pigeonholed by those who bring to it their own obviously abnormal, frustrated condition: the sexually unemployed belching gaseous irrelevancies from an undigested Freudian ferment.

Both these quotes were taken from the Wikipedia "Pepper No. 30" article, if you care to look up the original sources.

How to Escape the "Fauxtographer" Stigma

Many a mommy blogger has branched out into the world of professional photography. Those of you who know I have a degree in photography may think this would bother me, but actually, you'd be wrong. I enjoy seeing other people find success in my field. Many a mommy blogger are genuinely talented with a knack for business.

However, not all fit this category, resulting in the stigma of the mommy-bloggy-fauxtoggy - women who mistakenly think good camera equipment and stylish subjects are all that's needed to be a professional photographer. Those things definitely help, but here are a few tips that may come in handy even if you have cheapie equipment.

After visiting the blogs of many, many aspiring photographers, there are a few problems I see that regularly crop up. To illustrate these issues, I shot a few quick photos. (I made these poorly-done  photos to exaggerate my points - I'm hoping they will be of educational value. Dan, Adria, and Alice, you all look amazing. Thanks for helping out.)

1) Background. Right now it's "in" to find rustic backgrounds, or backgrounds that show clear urban decay. Done right, it's awesome.  When it's not . . . note the following.

Always ask yourself what the background is saying about the person or family you are photographing. Pay attention to the background while you are on-location. In this picture, how could you have moved around to get a less-cluttered background? How could you have angled the shot so that the white thing in the background doesn't look like it's growing out of mom's hip?

**The worst example I've seen lately (at a bridal fair) is a portrait of three kids outside a boarded up, decrepit shack with broken glass and rusty nails all over the ground. The youngest, a baby, stands barefoot in the middle of it. Her magenta-blue feet say to me that it was more than a little cold outside. Choose your locations carefully. Once you've selected your location, choose what will be included in each picture. Boarded up windows are probably a bad start (as are cold baby feet). This is actually the photograph that prompted me to write this post.

2) The 45 degree tilt. This is a personal pet peeve of mine. Severe tilt-age (especially in standing pics like the one below), can be a red flag. It may appear as though you are compensating for poor composition with tilts. It's a hallmark of the amateur photographer.

**I probably should have tilted this more - the above pic is more like a 25-degree tilt. Whatever the degree, watch your tilts. Slight tilts are less bothersome in candid shots; on the other hand, posed shots with tilts give the strange illusion of your subject falling out of the frame. (Also note the window a/c unit in the background. Just because a house is "old" doesn't mean that every angle of it will make a great background.)

3) Over-processing. Sometimes it can be cool, but I've seen it used to disguise a multitude of technical errors. (Especially true of super contrasty black and whites.) Note the following:

Here is an out-of-focus, over-exposed image. The increased contrast can make it look trendy and cool, but be careful. Post-processing can become a crutch. Get the shot in-camera so that high-contrast pictures become your choice, not your lifeboat. 

An example of what a properly exposed photo may look like before any processing.

Those are the first three tips that come to mind. I'll post more in the coming weeks. End part one.

Picture Canyon

When people find out I'm a photographer, one of the first questions they ask is, "What do you like taking pictures of?" The first time I was asked this, I answered very honestly, "Rocks." The person grimaced, as though that was the worst answer they could have anticipated. Every time since then I've given what I think are more acceptable responses, "Weddings!" "People!" "Documentaries!" "Injustice!" All that being said, I really do like taking pictures of rocks and rock formations.

Now having said that, I should take more photos with people in them when I go on hikes.

For example, I remember everyone who was with us on our jaunt to Picture Canyon, but you won't see them in these pictures. And are not pictures worth one-thousand words? Alas.

Here are some pictures that I did take. Enjoy the ancient and modern :( pictographs and writings.

Apparently star-shaped carvings in stone were pretty significant to the ancients.

The picture above is my favorite of the actual pictographs. Followed by the brown horse one, up further.

Some rock formations. Looks to me like two people dancing with someone clapping just to the left of them:

I really like this greenish-yellow color when it's naturally-occurring.

OK, the one people pic I did take. And the two main people in it aren't in focus. This is why I take pictures of rocks.

Boondocks, literally.

 

One of the few words derived from Tagalog in the English dictionary is the word boondocks. It comes from the Tagalog word bundok, meaning mountain literally, but culturally also meaning "no-man's-land."

Now that you have a deeper appreciation for the word, let me give you a glimpse into last year's trip sa mga bundok. My husband's grandparents own a small cabin in the Colorado mountains. Some of you may hear the word "cabin" and think of an expansive Alpine lodge with wi-fi, big-screen TVs, and a hearth the size of a small castle. Those cabins are pretty sweet. But this cabin . . . is different.

For starters, it's small. One main room with a tiny kitchen and tinier bath. Kerosene lamps and candles provide your light at night.

You can't go to No Trees (aptly named, see above pic) and not come back feeling rested. The few bits of twentieth century technology up there are as follows: a gas-powered fridge, range, and grill, and a landline telephone. No cell service. Water is pumped via windmill.

The view from the cabin's window. Beautiful view, but those "in-the-know" say that the neighbor's barn is a recent, view-marring addition. I still like the view, barn and all.

What you do when you go to No Trees (since people have asked) is hike everyday in a new direction, feed red-throated hummingbirds, make s'mores, grill delicious food, play guitar, and be dazzled by the brightest and most unobstructed view of stars in the night sky that you could ever wish for. And play poker. Lots and lots of poker. For some reason there are several boxes worth of gambling chips up there. Oh, and you can also play Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, or National Geographic's On Assignment when the mood for board games strikes.

We tried taking bikes with us last time to explore some unexplored dirt trails . . . not our safest plan ever. There are some pretty steep and rocky paths that (though well-worn and partly paved) aren't intended for commuter bikes. We should invest in some actual mountain bikes if we ever want to fulfill that dream.


Why post now about a trip I took over a year ago (whilst pregnant, I might add)?

 I miss it. Everything about it.

Sam-a-gram

Me imitating Instagram with my camera and Lightroom. Took 30 seconds. No iPhone necessary. ;)

Prickly Pear Lemonade Float and modern art moment

A little concoction I made up all by myself: the Prickly Pear Lemonade Float. A spoonful or two of vanilla ice cream doused with sparkling prickly pear lemonade and voila!

A moment of beauty while watching ice cream fizz.

Kids can be so, so brave

I walked to and from school as a kid. During warm weather, one very long stretch of sidewalk was always covered with grasshoppers. People say that kids love insects. I was not one of those kids. Along those thirty yards of sidewalk, I learned to run and duck, weaving through concourses of high-flying grasshoppers.

Don't mistake me for those despicables who tear the legs and wings off living insects. No, no, no. My fear didn't lead me to violence. I merely avoided them as much as possible.

Now enter my niece Halle. She is fearless. On her latest visit she found (and picked up!) not one, but three snails. They slithered all over her fingers and wrist, to Halle's great delight. Her younger brother, Fox, reminded me of myself as a kid: he appreciated her bravery, but kept watch from a safe, slime-free distance.

After she showed them to her dad for his admiration (and slight repulsion), she liberated them once again to go their separate ways.

I don't think I'll ever be up for playing with snails, and I still dislike the idea of a grasshopper leaping in my path. But, I might just muster up the courage to play with a few potato bugs.

Sammy Discovers the World: Cheerios.

I never realized that watching someone else eat could be so . . . cute. Case here: Sammy feeding himself Cheerios.

And here are a couple more pictures that didn't really fit into the photo essay above, but they just crack me up.

He shoots, he scores . . . ???

Evasive maneuvers . . .