Artist Inspiration

As a Christian, I believe that God is constantly at work in our lives.  Years ago, I was studying the work of the Holy Spirit and came across this Old Testament Scripture in Exodus 35:30-Exodus 36:1.

³⁰ Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, ³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— ³² to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, ³³ to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. ³⁴ And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.  ¹ So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the LORD has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary are to do the work just as the LORD has commanded.”


While I am not building a temple or a church, I believe that everything I do is to be done for the glory of God.  I see in scripture that Christians receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and that it manifests itself in different ways to each person.  And I have found that God often provides inspiration for my work in many ways.  


Today I had one of those moments.  I was on my front porch doing my "morning time" and continued to other tasks that I could do outside on my laptop on this beautiful day.  I was noticing how beautiful and wispy the white clouds were against the blue sky. The nearest camera was my cell phone so I grabbed it and took a photo.  The minute I looked at my image, I knew that it wasn't coincidence that led me to grab my photo at that exact moment.  There is a repeating pattern in one series of my images - faces that appear out of natural objects.  Today, I see a gigantic bird in the sky - two eyes, a long beak and even wings.  


Yes, I know it is only wispy, fanciful clouds.  But I marvel that I happened to take a photograph at just that moment when the clouds formed that imaginative shape.  

NANPA Texas Hill Country Regional Event - LBJ State Historical Park

Friday afternoon was dry and overcast. I did not make it to the Wildseed Farm but I did make it to the LBJ State Historical Park and the Sauer-Beckmann Farmstead. I decided to do digital art treatments to these images.

The road in front of the farmstead has these beautiful old oak trees.




These old fences fascinate me.



This wagon made me want to try a sepia look in addition to the DA treatments.



Photomatics' HDR and Topaz filters really brought out the faded colors in this old wagon.


Sometimes you just don't get a sunset. Kathy Adams Clark had given us a great location for sunset. We tried lightpainting this tree, but the conditions weren't working for that. I went ahead and tried my zoom techniques. With a little more work in Photoshop, I ended up with this image.



My group ended the day eating Mexican food - good fellowship is a great way to end the day!

Hidden

When I take my Photographer's Canvas images, using in camera motion blur, I never know what I'm going to get. Occasionally, I get some almost mysterious effects - totally unplanned, and definitely not photoshopped. The only adjustments to these images was the conversion from RAW which adjusts contrast, color balance, and saturation and the removal of sensor dust spots and blobs. I can promise you that these were taken of the aspen forests in Colorado. But just like sometimes our imagination sees images and shapes in the clouds, sometimes these abstracts give our imagination new input. These two images have given my imagination a glimpse of more than just trees.




So, I'm curious . . .





What do you see? I would love your comments!

Colorado's Winter Aspens

One thing a photographer is taught to do is to visualize the photos they want to take before they go on location. For my winter trip, I had several ideas visualized. One of them was a forest of aspen trunks nestled into deep snow. I never really found the scene I was looking for for that winter aspen image. But I did find and photograph aspens in snow. My versions of winter aspens are a little different:









I did find this grove of young aspens and I was intrigued by the patterns of the tree trunks with their shadow lines criss-crossing the photo.



But I think I like this version of the same scene better:

Our first full day in Colorado brought a winter snowstorm. We drove up from Durango toward Silverton and Ouray. I continued trying to play with different types of landscapes with the in camera motion.

I continue to be amazed at the different effects that show up.

Would you say watercolor????



My husband wanted me to experiement with the road signs, both the hairpin turn warnings and avalanche warning signs.
This sign is next to one of the newer mines just north of Silverton. I loved the abstract, charcoal look that showed up here.



I like this one because of the way the zoom action draws your eye to the center trunks. But if I use my imaginations, something is lurking here:





The other effect that sometimes shows up in the images are a natural texture. I am eager to print this one on canvas.



These images are available for viewing in larger versions and for purchase at Mary Ann's View Nature Photography website.

A New Look at New Mexico

I presented my in camera motion blur photos at the Albuquerque NANPA Summit as part of the Member Photo Show, the Member Print Show, and as part of my portfolio. The images were well received, so as we headed north to find winter, I looked for more opportunities.

We went up a stream bed where the interesting shaped trunks of the old cottonwood trees drew my attention.



I tried it on the colorful mesas as we drove by:



I found tree trunks at the base of a mesa with some remaing snow nearby:





and more, interesting trees:

Sunday

We've spent the last week in Colorado, God has blessed us with the fresh snow I needed for my winter photos. We've been up early and out late, so I'm going to wait until I get home to start posting blogs with photos.

Today is our last day in Colorado and I'm heading out to the sister National Wildlife Refuges - Alamosa and Monte Vista. I was told that the sandhills cranes are leaving Bosque del Apache for their northward migration. I know that these two refuges are one of their stops. At this time of year they should be dancing as part of their courtship ritual. If I'm lucky this will be the first time I've pulled out my 300-800mm lens this trip.

I've been doing more 'twittering" this trip, so if you're interested in more frequent updates, then follow me on Twitter

One scene-many images

This is one of my experiments in creativity. The first image is a standard photo of a pretty scene. The rest use various techniques for the sheer fun of seeing what appears on the camera sensor. These were all made at the same place with the same trees!

The Photographer's Canvas

I've had a lot of fun the last couple of years playing with in camera motion images. Each one is unique, it is impossible to repeat the same image twice.

I came to Colorado to photograph "winter." So far most of my photos are "photographer's canvas" images. This one mimics a water color painting.

I've been encouraged to try photographing water using these techniques. It will be interesting to see what shows up on my camera sensor these next few days.

Jerry's Artarama

I've been framing my own work for several years now. I don't do a lot of framing each year, but I figured out very quickly that if you're going to be an artist or photographer, you've got to frame your own work - otherwise framing costs will eat up any profit you might make. Add to that one bad experience getting some work dry mounted that had to be redone at the last minute - think stress attack because I was working on a deadline.

I still fight procrastination, I still work better and faster when that deadline is approaching, so I like to find places to buy what I'm going to need locally. I've got two projects that need to go out next week - one will only be mounted and matted, the other will need to be framed. Both will need to be conservation processed - acid free everything.

Simple black frames seem to be preferred for some gallery shows, so I wanted to see what I could find locally. I had driven by Jerry's Artarama many times, wondering what all they carried. So, I had some time yesterday and I went over. I suspect it is a sign when all the parking spaces except for the handicapped space were full and I had to wait for a parking place. It's a pretty big store with JUST art supplies. Acid free and conservation mats and mounting boards, a different selections of frames than Hobby Lobby and Aaron Brothers, portfolio supplies, drawing, painting, canvases, easels, etc. You could spend a lot of time there exploring.

I found the simple metal frame that I was looking for. I won't know until I've opened the package and actually tried to use it, but I think it is going to make my work look elegant without me having to spend a fortune.

Yes, eventually I need to try out the online places where I can order frames. But, for now, I'm glad I've found one more local place to buy supplies.

The Cold Front

Texas weather is always interesting - if you don't like it, wait a little and it will change . . . Saturday morning was mild, shirt sleeve weather. I took advantage of the warmer weather to go back out to my front porch for some "morning time." It was cloudy, but the temperature was in the 70's - great for sitting outside. I heard a few raindrops falling. My morning scripture for December 27 in my One Year Bible was from Zechariah 10:1 "Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who makes the storm clouds. He gives showers of rain to men and plants of the field to everyone." I thought it an appropriate scripture for many reasons. I was watching the clouds moving across the sky, when the weather began to change. The sky got darker, there was a sense of anticipation, and then, I could hear the mighty winds come through with an amazing powerful roar. Henry said later that when the front hit, the entire house shuddered.

As I saw the amazing clouds, I ran into the house and grabbed my camera.



I had to work fast, because the clouds were moving rapidly across the sky, changing patterns as I watched.



No rain yet, but it was not long before we had a nice solid shower - much needed - we are way behind in our rainfall totals over the last twelve months.



Within an hour or so, the blue sky followed behind the front. Amazing to watch God's handiwork in the weather.

Mabry Mill

Mabry Mill is probably one of the most photographed locations. Although I've been there at sunset, it is really a sunrise or cloudy day place because the best vantage point to catch both the mill and the pond is from the east looking west. The last time I was there, I was the only photographer out. This time, I was a late comer to a group of photographers that were part of a workshop. They had obviously been there awhile and were everywhere trying to get the best angle. I had overslept and realized quickly that I had probably already missed the "best" light. The sun was already catching the trees behind the mill - so the exposure difference between the trees and the mill was too great for the sensor. So I shot for HDR - basically three or more exposures one stop apart until I could get the background trees exposed and the darkest areas around the water wheel. Right now I'm working shots both with Photomatix and the HDR function of Photoshop. This time the Photoshop version just didn't work even after two tries. But the Photomatix version had its issues as well - there was a blown out area in the water where the blue sky was too bright. The yellow reflection in the water from the trees was also too bright. When shooting foliage, photomatix also can make the leaves look not quite sharp enough. So, I used a dodge and burn technique to tone down the bright yellow reflection. I cropped out the reflected sky. I created a duplicate background layer so I could sharpen the trees and leaves more. And then on the dodge and burn layer, I add just a little bit of warm color to brighten every thing.



The light was changing fast and the lighting on the mill was going to be speckled - too much difference between the bright early morning sun and the shadows from the trees. While I was a little frustrated that I had not gotten there earlier, I took time to do some panoramic shots. Because we were trying to follow foliage, I knew we couldn't stay in the area another day for a reshoot. I needed to get to the Great Smokies before the foliage there was all gone.

I'll be playing with the shots I did take for awhile. Here is one taken when the sun was a little higher. It is actually a stitch of two photos that I've turned into digital art using Topaz Vivacity.

Blue Ridge Parkway

The Blue Ridge Parkway is 469 miles of lovely driving. No stop signs, no stop lights, just smooth cruising through beautiful scenery. Designed and built in the 1930's, construction started in 1935. Most of the construction was completed by 1967. The last 7.5 miles were completed in 1987. The Linn Cove Viaduct was specially built to prevent cutting through a beautiful stretch of ancient mountains. To read more about the amazing engineering of this elevated road, go to the Blue Ridge Parkway Association's webpage.

We usually spend about three days going down the Parkway. Our very first visit to the Parkway was in the 1970's. We had a very limited amount of time. We were coming up from the south and got as far as Mount Mitchell. From the top of Mount Mitchell, there was a sea of clouds that was just beautiful. However, the Parkway became engulfed in fog, we finally had to descend to the valleys because there was no visibility even for driving much less sight seeing. We've been back several times since and it is truly beautiful.

One of the nicest things about this road is that it follows the ridges, so there are many opportunities to look down to the valleys below from the overlooks. However, I find that while the view is gorgeous, it is difficult to photograph. Each of the overlooks is "maintained" by regularly trimming the trees that keep trying to grow into the view. That makes it difficult sometimes to get a "clean" image. Because you are on top of a ridge, you can see long distances. But I find it also makes it hard to get good sharp images of the details in the distance.

Here is one of my attempts to capture the beauty from one of the overlooks:



When I view this image at the pixel level, it does not match my standards for sharpness anywhere. However, I liked the image with the patchwork of farms and pastures in the valley, so I played with the Topaz sharpening filter. It worked better for this purpose when I had resized the image. I think I prefer this artistic version. You may need to click on the images to get a larger version to see better the effect:



I tried to take advantage of the trees that were on the ridge by the road. I focused on the leaves of the tree on the right. I think this image works except for one branch in the middle foreground that I could not quite find an angle without it.



One last image for today, the fall colors were gorgeous:

Creativity and Photography

There are so many ways to be creative with photography in the digital age. I am a firm believer that it is important to capture an image as well as you can to begin with - I don't shoot with the thought "I can fix it in Photoshop." But I also enjoy exploring the creative things you can do both "in camera" and in Photoshop that take an ordinary scene and make it something beautiful.
As I work through the images I took on our fall trip, I ran across this one. Taken at the beginning of our drive down the Blue Ridge Parkway, this beautiful fall tree drew my attention, called to me.



The sun was cooperating by hiding behind a clouding, so that if I waited patiently I could get soft lighting. The rocks seemed an interesting foreground. The catch: the wind was blowing just enough to cause some motion blur of the leaves in places at my preferred ISO 100 for landscapes. I played a little in photoshop to get the rocks nicely exposed and then did a little bit of dodging and burning to make the tree look "good."

I found that it seemed pretty, but perhaps ordinary.

I purchased Topaz Adjust and Topaz Vivacity during the summer. After playing around with the Adjust filter, I went over to Vivacity and came up with this version:



I went back to the original and played around with the Photoshop artistic filters to try to find an artistic effect that would work with this shot. Then I went back to Topaz Vivacity to get the finished look I wanted.



After posting this, I added even more saturation to bring out more of the reds.



I think I like this last version the best, because it keeps the deep reds in the tree, but still gives this a more painted look.
Which one do you like best?

To get the full effect of these photos, you can click on each one and get a larger view.

New River Gorge National River

As a country we have set aside a number of river areas as National Rivers. The Ozark National Scenic Riverways was the first, set aside in 1964. More have been added under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968:

It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States that certain selected rivers of the Nation which, with their immediate environments, possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values, shall be preserved in free-flowing condition, and that they and their immediate environments shall be protected for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Congress declares that the established national policy of dams and other construction at appropriate sections of the rivers of the United States needs to be complemented by a policy that would preserve other selected rivers or sections thereof in their free-flowing condition to protect the water quality of such rivers and to fulfill other vital national conservation purposes. (Wild & Scenic Rivers Act, October 2, 1968)

Some of these rivers are managed by the National Park Service, some by Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and others National Forest Service. There are a number that are in partnership with other state and local agencies, Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers.

When looking for something to visit on our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway, we chose the New River Gorge National River in southern West Virginia. I gave myself a day to scout out the area and I definitely would like to go back and spend more time exploring the area. It is a unique river in North America, because it flows north!

We woke up to a cloudy, somewhat wet morning.


We started at the Grandview area. The overlook of the gorge was obscured by the fog, but the forest was lovely in its partially obscured state. The foliage was past its peak, but the fallen leaves left a beautiful carpet underneath the trees.



We ate a picnic lunch by Glade Creek - sitting on rocks by the boat launch. There were these amazing insects that moved by the thousands along the water creating ripples. Along the road to the Glade Creek campground, I saw my first Downy woodpecker. It is one of the smallest woodpeckers - I would not have realized it was a woodpecker if I had not had the binoculars to see it more clearly.

New River Gorge has four visitor centers - Canyon Rim, Sandstone, Thurmon Depot, and Grand View. Canyon RIm and Sandstone are open year round. Canyon Rim is right near the beautiful New River Gorge Bridge, the world's second longest single arch bridge. We were not there for dramatic enough lighting for me to venture a photo (yes, I've gotten bad, if I can't get a good or great photo, I don't take one at all - silly me) The next day was going to be "Bridge Day." The bridge is closed to vehicular traffic and fills with pedestrians. Activities include Base jumping, rappelling, and high line, and rafting below. Naturally vendors supply food and refreshment as well as souvenir shirts, crafts, and photos, etc. While this might be a fun thing to attend another year, our time was limited and I was glad we happened by the day before rather than the day of the event.

We went from the falls area over to the Thurmon historic district. I had seen a backroads route that I wanted to explore. We found the beautiful Dunlap Creek:



Some parts of my backcountry route definitely fit in the "road less travelled' category, but it was a great road to be pretty much by yourself in a beautiful outdoor area. It was also a great place to create more of these artistic images that I have not come up with a great name for. I liked this one because of how the small tree shows up with its brilliant yellow foliage.



While I did not find that "perfect" place to photograph the New River, I did stop at the end of the day to get at least a few shots at the river level.




The next morning we went over to the Sandstone Visitor Center. This is a new, very beautiful Visitor Center - well worth the stop. We saw the Sandstone Falls from the road. It was a long hike down and it was a bright sunny day, so we continued our journey south following the foliage.

I would love to come back to this area and spend a week both exploring and trying to wait for those perfect lighting moments.

Creative Images

When I'm shooting for these creative images, I take a lot of images that just don't work. I get just enough intriguing ones that it keeps me trying this technique.

This one came from the New River Gorge National Scenic River area. To me this one came out looking a lot like my sister-in law, Mary Solomon's pastel imagery.

Autumn Impressions

I don't have time to do much of a blog tonight - I've got to get up early to do sunrise at a cypress swamp in the morning. But . . . here is another of my "creative" images. I have not figured out a catchy name for them, yet. Hope you enjoy!