FOTD ~ Dahlia in the Dark

Another look back at some of my flower shoots from 2021 . . . amazing how a year can change how I want to edit some photos. I really like how these are turning out though, so I think I’m gonna keep at it. And maybe throw in a new bouquet . . . I saw some nice ones at the grocery store the other day, but didn’t have time to peruse them!

And this is my entry for Cee’s Flower of the Day (FOTD). Thanks for visiting!

Flowers from yesteryear . . .

Or rather, from last year. Haven’t had any new bouquets lately and I didn’t feel like taking pictures of the Christmas decorations, when they were still up . . . so flowers from March 2021 it is! I have a few ideas for some still life . . . unfortunately my best idea involves my daughters’ classical ballet costume, which is likely in serious need of steaming before being photographed . . . classical tutus wrinkle very easily in storage, and the last time I steamed this sucker, it took me half an hour.

I also have some flowers left over from summer . . . they are now very, very dry & dead, which could make for an interesting addition to a still life. Or on their own. Just have to get on and do it. Before spring arrives in 35 days and I distract myself with garden planning!! Who am I kidding, I’ve already started planning!

Thanks for stopping by!

Something New . . .

I wasn’t feeling very photographically inspired these last few months . . . maybe it was the garden being done, the trees being naked and everything looking totally dead and unpleasant. So, in an effort to jog my creativity I did an online workshop from Joel Grimes. The Still Life Masterclass. The clincher was that I got it on his Black Friday sale, so it was 70% off. That’s my frugal Scottish ancestry coming through.

I learned a lot. I learned different ways of applying textures and backgrounds in PS . . . well, not really a different way, but more additional information than I had before. After-all, every artist has a different way of looking at the same thing. Picked up some lighting and set up tricks too – although, the Rembrandt Cross Lighting method Grimes uses is not that different than what I was doing before.

Anyhow, today I applied what I’d learned and took some shots of a weird little hedgehog our youngest daughter gave me for Christmas a few years ago. He’s been sitting on the mantel, just waiting for his destiny to be fulfilled. I guess today was that day!

Henry the Hedgehog

Meet Henry the Hedgehog! I did another with a Central Park background, but that needs a little work . . . maybe I’ll post it later. I think I know how to fix it!

Anyhow, thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed meeting Henry.

Four Hours Later . . . fixed it! So here is Henry “in” Central Park. LOL

Alces alces ~ Wildlife Wednesday

The Mama

A bit larger than the squirrels of summer . . . our resident moose family, or Alces alces stopped by the backyard for lunch a couple of weeks ago. One of the squirrels was leaping from tree to tree at the same time, but I wasn’t going to go out and try to get their pictures.

This family has a mama moose and “teenage” twins. We think they’re a bull and a cow.

Mama and one baby

Hello!!

For safety’s sake, these were shot through a basement window – which put me at about knee level with the babies. The mother is notorious in the neighbourhood for attacking, and she’s taught her off-spring to charge dogs. I have no intention of confronting any of them. But the window was mostly clean, so voila!

Thanks for visiting – I hope to be back more frequently in the future. Hope, being the operative word. LOL

Summer’s Death Throes

Pentax K5ii 100mm f/2.8 1/100 ISO 400

The death throes of summer make for great art! Even though I don’t want summer to be over . . . I’m really not looking forward to our typical winter weather of -30-something Celcius . . . it is affording me more artistic opportunities.

I shot this in my studio, using hand-painted backgrounds (last winter’s project). In the background, there is a petal-less sunflower . . . those are it’s petals in the foreground. They fell off when I took it out of the vase. The clouds kept interfering with my diffuse natural light, so I used a $20 “trouble” light from Canadian Tire with a 60w daylight bulb. It does an awesome job of simulating sunshine, I think.

After a few adjustments in Lighroom, I ran it through Photoshop to add the texture – which is from 2 Lil Owls. And Presto! Fall Art.

Cropped version, cropping done in-camera

Thanks for visiting!