End of Times

The myths of perfect paradigm.
Incorporeal prison bound through time.
Unraveling events or fate.
Unleashing Armageddon's gate.

Chants and prayers suspended might.
Instant darkness, vanished light.
Ephemeral hope fades away.
Plunged, blinded evanescent day...

Immersed in fear this tale begins.
The anger rises from within.
Inscribed on flesh the mark of Cain.
Is passed by touch this fetid stain...

The throat is marked of fallen beast.
This started with a devout priest.
As snuffing tendrils threading blight.
Darkness calling, seducing sight...

As Fluent visions flood the mind.
Corruption spreads, infections bind.
Tenacious deeds invoking pain.
Resist temptation all in vain...

Despair rains down throughout the land.
The screams of death's commencing stand.
Silently twisting will of man.
A godless place with no more plan...

The Ritual

Ascent (partial) - by Laura Lee Bird - 1933

They stripped my body of its dress
And, twisting tight my silken hair,
They thrust a candle in my hand
And sent my on a broken stair
        A blackness laps before, behind
        The wick that licks the gusty wind

The stones uneven were and steep;
Their darkness chilled my fumbling feet.
I shuddered with each breath that shrived
My swaying body of its heat.
        Above the rapid wind's repeat
        I hear my frightened pulses beat.

More pale than ghost was I who climbed...
More pales than I the tallow flame
That was bestowed on me to find
The way the other dreamers came.
        Frail ghosts, frail ghosts, but wraiths in name
        Who upward creep the stars to claim. 

Read the entire poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?volume=42&issue=5&page=13

The dual nature of this piece complicated things a little for me as I consider this both a fine art piece and a book cover.  I hope it sells as a book cover some day, but I will also include it in my fine art section.

What beck'ning ghost, along the moon-light shade
Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade?
'Tis she!--but why that bleeding bosom gor'd,
Why dimly gleams the visionary sword?
Oh ever beauteous, ever friendly! tell,
Is it, in heav'n, a crime to love too well?
To bear too tender, or too firm a heart,
To act a lover's or a Roman's part?
Is there no bright reversion in the sky,
For those who greatly think, or bravely die?

Elegy To The Memory Of An Unfortunate Lady

Alexander Pope

I combine several images with various layers in Photoshop to create art that ranges from simple to complex (my largest piece used 85 different layers!).  Most of the time I don't have a photograph that I can use to complete my vision and my drawing skills aren't the best, so I turn to stock and other resources to create my work. 

But there are some dangers in using stock, and that's what I'm here to talk about today. 

1. Using Google to Find Stock

If you're new to this kind of art creation, you might be tempted to just grab an image from a Google image search (or other search engine). DO NOT DO THIS!  Most of the images you find will be copyrighted and using them will be a violation of the original artist's rights.

2. Using DeviantArt or other art sharing websites (Flickr, 500px, etc). 

This also goes for finding pieces on DeviantArt or other art websites. Most of the work in places like these will retain their  copyrights unless the artist specifically says otherwise. Better safe than sorry.  Don't use something if you aren't sure if you have rights to it. 

3. Safe Stock Websites 

There are a number of safe website to use and some that are sketchy.  Websites like Pixabay are usually CC0 - which means you can use the stock there for anything.  Also note that if you decide to share your stock there for others to use, if you change your mind and delete your account, the stock will probably stay with Pixabay (etc) because once you open your stock for use, whoever downloads it will probably not go back to check if the stock is still open for use - but here's where the danger lies:

4. Unsplash and other sharing sites danger

I found out the hard way that some websites do take down stock images. I was creating a new book cover and used a piece of stock I had saved from a while ago.  It was perfect!  I store my stock by subject and then source so that I can go back to the website where I've added the stock as a favorite.  Many places I share my work (like DeviantArt) ask for the stock use to be linked back. This particular piece of art was no longer on Unsplash.  I couldn't find it anywhere on the internet from the original artist, though many websites were still using the stock on their websites. Because I could not verify that the stock was still CC0 and free to use for commercial use, I had to find another piece of stock to use.  I hated having to find a new piece of stock, but my limited resources (i.e. company financial reserves), I used what I could. I won't be using Unsplash in my work again. This was the resulting piece (temporary title/author for display):

5. Paid stock sites (Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, etc.)

These are where I would actually go for a commercial commissioned piece. You buy the stock from Shutterstock (etc.), but you have to pay a license fee to use it for your intended purposes.  Some artists on DeviantArt also have a policy for being paid for their stock for commercial work, but allow it to be free for personal art creation.  It is important to make sure you have the proper rights for the image you are using. Otherwise, you could face litigation from the artist.  Stealing is never ok!                                                            

6. Copying other artists

I've had this happen to me. I post a piece of art listing the stock I used and another artist collects the images and then recreates the piece I made and shares it as their own.  This is not ok. You can be inspired by other artists, but copying their work is basically stealing their vision as an artist. It cheapens your work and makes you look like a fraud. By all means, use someone's work as inspiration or use a stock image they used to create something unique and totally your vision. 

7. Fine Art Galleries and Stock Use

Being exhibited in an art gallery has been a lifelong dream of mine. I recently submitted some of my work for a juried competition and international exhibition. Not only being extremely anxious about the quality of my work being good enough, I also worry that using free stock could be looked down upon.  I want to be able to take original images for my work, but have certain limitations to do so.  I'm waiting to hear back from the curator to know if I was good enough, but I'm hoping that using stock won't keep me from becoming an accomplished artist. 

I hope I was able to answer a few questions or concerns you might have had concerning using stock in your images.  I know I wasn't able to find much info on the web when I had them!  All in all, if you doubt you have rights to use an image, then don't use it. Better safe than sorry! 

If you find a piece of art I have contains an image that is no longer CC0 - please let me know!  I don't want to infringe on anyone's work! 

Feel free to post a comment or question and I will answer as best I can. I'm not perfect, but I want to help other artists the best I can. 

BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

    Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

    Weep, and you weep alone;

    For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

    But has trouble enough of its own.

    Sing, and the hills will answer;

    Sigh, it is lost on the air;

    The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

    But shrink from voicing care.

    Rejoice, and men will seek you;

    Grieve, and they turn and go;

    They want full measure of all your pleasure,

    But they do not need your woe.

    Be glad, and your friends are many;

    Be sad, and you lose them all,—

    There are none to decline your nectared wine,

    But alone you must drink life’s gall.

    Feast, and your halls are crowded;

    Fast, and the world goes by.

    Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

    But no man can help you die.

    There is room in the halls of pleasure

    For a large and lordly train,

    But one by one we must all file on

    Through the narrow aisles of pain.

She wrote these words after she encountered a grieving widow.  She gave comfort to the woman as she cried, but Ella was on her way to a ball and while there was overcome with sadness from the widow. 

This poem at first seems to encourage those who are sad to overcome their grief, but then concludes that we all will have pain in our lives and others will not be able to comfort us.  I have experienced this and while isolating ourselves can be detrimental to our mental health over the long term, solitude is not the same as loneliness. Solitude is a chosen condition to work through our emotions while loneliness is a feeling of wanting to be with others, but unable to do so.  Solitude can be a symptom of depression and those who find themselves often withdrawing from the company of others may need more than some time alone. 

I created this piece from a couple of stock images (I hope to have resources soon to take original photos for my art) and wanted to convey the darkness that is felt when grieving. It can be so all consuming that we feel we will never recover.  Some people don't. They give into the grief and are never the same.  It is my hope that all those who are grieving or suffering from depression will find comfort and relief so that they may once again enjoy all the beautiful things this world has to offer. 

Christmas came and went and 2018 started off with me being ill and unable to run my business, but just as I was feeling better, his wife, Erin called.  She was taking over her mother's dental practice in Grayson and they were updating the name to Heritage Family Dentistry as well as the website.  Including new headshots, team photos and an outside image of the location was her priority.  Having a mobile studio makes this a great fit for me because I'm not tied to a physical location and can set up anywhere. 

We looked ahead and the weather was cold with a bit of rain expected, but we set the date for a few weeks out and though it was a mostly cloudy and windy day, it turned out perfect.  They close early on Thursdays and I came in just as they were wrapping up the day.  I set up in their office with my lights and used a gorgeous rock wall in the lobby for the backdrop on the headshots - it would flow with the website colors she had picked out and give a visual reference for new patients when they entered the office.  

For the group photo we went to a nearby park.  I wasn't sure about where to set-up, but then the suggestion came out to use one of the huge oak trees - the symbol for the new practice is an oak tree and it made perfect sense!  The ladies all looked so lovely and organizing them around the tree was a challenge as it was not the most pose friendly location, but I think the final shot came out wonderful!  Each of these ladies has such a beautiful personality and are just the warmest, kindest people you could hope to work with. The wind did pose a bit of an issue, but thankfully we did the group photo after headshots so that the close-ups were as perfect as possible. 

I also took a shot of Erin with her mom.  It was so heartwarming to see a strong love between them.  The practice was built by Kathy and passed on to Erin, so it made sense to include a photo of them together.  The name of the practice, Heritage Family Dentistry, truly fits! 

After the ladies headed out for the day, I walked around the main outside area of the office.  As a newer building, it featured offices above and retail below with a few restaurants that had tables set up.  Because of the wind, the umbrellas on the table could not be opened and there was quite a bit of the famous Georgia green spring pollen on the black awnings, but I was able to clean those up in Photoshop. The main goal for the outside photo was to help new clients find the location on the upper level in a corner.  The only signage being on the upper side of the building.  I decided to climb up on a brick wall to get a better view with my wide angle lens so that I could prominently position the sign.  There was a perfect break in the clouds, giving a swath of blue sky just over the building, but the remaining light cast only light shadows on the buildings, making the resulting image just gorgeous. 

I could not have asked for a better group of women to work with.  Erin and her team at Heritage Family Dentistry are the kindest people I have ever met and if I lived in the area, I would use her as my dentist!  If you live nearby, I suggest trying them out for your dental needs!

Family is the key to happiness...

A few weeks ago I got a call from a lovely lady named Carolyn.  She wanted to gift a family session to her daughter, Sarah, for her birthday.  Sarah, her husband, and little boy hadn't had many photos taken together and I'm sure as grandma she really wanted some, too!  So, I gave Sarah a call and we talked for a little while about what she was looking for.  She was so easy to talk to and her little boy isn't much older than my daughter so we connected really well about that. 

We set a date for last Saturday and just before our session was scheduled to start, it rained!  Not just a sprinkle, but a downpour.  Overcast days and a little rain aren't a big deal, but we decided not to risk it being muddy or getting them too wet and rescheduled for the next day.  It ended up being perfect! 

They had chosen one of my favorite parks, McDaniel Farm, for the session.  It was very popular that evening and there were a lot of other people there for photos!  Sarah and her family were just adorable and so much fun! We made our way around the park, stopping in several spots to get some shots and really just relaxing and having fun. 

Their little boy was just the cutest little guy with this huge grin and big, brown eyes.  He did great at first, but like most toddlers, he lost interest in posed shots pretty quickly - except those by himself.  He was more than keen to sit and let me take his photo, but didn't want to share the spotlight with mom and dad! We had so much fun exploring and running around and I took quite a few of mom and dad together.  

In the end, I had so many great shots, that I had a hard time deciding what to edit! I'm so glad I was able to meet this fantastic family and I hope to be able to work with them a lot more in the future! 

Here are some of my favorites!

We moved pretty quickly through each of the three areas I had selected.  Really, they were only feet away from each other, but it's incredible how moving just a little can give photos a different look and feel. I only had one little client who wasn't feeling her best and couldn't muster a smile, but she looked so pretty in her photos anyway! 

I hope more people can come out next time and feel free to let me know what you'd like to see! These mini sessions are a great way to get updated photos of the kids and I don't mind having them more often if you're interested in more than just spring and fall.  

Here are some of my favorites!

These are special order from a different vendor than my website, though. They are a high quality canvas with the same image on front and back.  I can add text or send you samples of designs available. My website vendor has a metal ornament available at a good price, but it only has one design.  Just let me know what photo(s) you want and I can order these for you!

You can also order Christmas cards from your gallery on my website, which is really convenient!  There are a bunch of different designs for those, but it is a little wonky if you click the wrong options, so let me know if you have a hard time with it. I designed and ordered these birth announcements for my most recent newborn shoot.  They turned out fabulous!    

I'm very excited that my next mini session event is coming up on October 21st from 4pm to 6:30pm! I picked Collins Hill Park for the location this time as it has a nice wooded area and small bridge that are perfect for kids.  Last week, I went out and took some test shots to be sure the lighting and area would work.  I am very happy with the images I got!  Kids can be very unpredictable, but we had some fun and I love the look of the set I made.  Of course, the set doesn't have to be used and there's a nice grassy area nearby if you want that instead.

Mini portrait sessions are always so much fun!  I like to keep things relaxed, but active, so the kids don't get bored.  I also like to get authentic smiles from them and mix things up with a group portrait and then some individual shots or some candids of them hugging or just having fun.  I'm including 5-7 images, depending on if I need to do any Photoshop magic to get them to look perfect!  

These will make great holiday gifts and are perfect for holiday cards, too!  If you haven't checked them out, there are holiday ornaments you can make that I'm starting a tradition of getting each year so I can watch my kiddos grow up and have that memory on the tree each year! 

I did have some spots go pretty fast, but there are still some to choose from. You can sign up for a slot HERE and then you'll need to fill out an agreement HERE with payment of $75 to secure your slot.  You can find the event on Facebook HERE.  

My backup date in case of rain is November 4th and I will be doing a location check this Saturday evening to be sure the area still looks good during our shooting time.  I have a back-up location not too far away and I'll send out a message if any change needs to be made. 

I'm always available if you have any questions or concerns! I hope you can make it!

His nursery is nautical themed, so I wanted to do something special for him.  His mom and I selected a beautiful digital background available through Sasha Chomachov to bring something unique to his nursery.  Using a digital backdrop allows me to to offer a wide variety of settings for fine art newborn portraits without having to spend hours creating them in Photoshop or spending a lot of money on props that I probably won't use again because I want each session to be special. Sasha has an enormous collection for both newborns and sitting babies. I just love how the one we picked turned out!

Of course, we did shoot many images of him on a neutral blanket and then wrapped on a fur rug with his special knit hat from the NICU. His mom had also purchased a knit fox themed hat and diaper cover set, so I did buy a few props to have another cute themed set of images for them.  I thought it would be cute for him to be an a market crate with a few apples around him, a fall kind of feeling without being too over the top.  I find if a theme is too seasonal, then it won't be as complimentary in a home to be displayed through the year.  

I love how this session turned out and I look forward to watching this little guy grow up!  Congratulations Kristie and Levi!

Here are a few of my favorites!

Atlanta Public Schools Teacher Headshots

I am very thankful to have so many supportive people in my life now.

AloneWhen loneliness consumes me, I feel lost and abandoned. Even as an introvert, I need companionship and loved ones for comfort and peace. Model is Faestock Jessica Truscott.

The last theme is Growth with the challenge to "use yourself".  This challenge was not strict and I did not have to do a self portrait, but I did want to do one as it was one of my goals the last 15 days to use myself more in my art.  The days when I use more stock pieces than with my own photography I felt more like a digital artist than a photographer.  I don't consider that a bad thing, but it feels more fulfilling to take a new image than use something someone else created. Because of this, my last pieces for this challenge are simple portraits taken in my yard. I used a few overlays, but did not composite anything new or change the composition at all.

Though I feel like this was a little too easy for the last challenge, I am happy to have something simple to show today that photography by itself is art. I actually made two  pieces, one as a metaphor for struggling to grow, with vines holding me back and another that is just a portrait of myself in the ivy. I'm not sure that I will take on a challenge like this again anytime soon, but I think creating a few new pieces each week should be a good goal for me. 

Because I created an image where I was flying yesterday, I spent time this morning thinking about today's challenge.  I read a few poems and pondered the kind of image I wanted to create.  I was inspired to go back into my archive and use images of birds I shot around 10 years ago, as well as an image of a tree I took while I was in Hawaii.  

A self portrait wasn't something I was interested in doing today, since I knew I would have a lot of work compositing and I had already found a stock image by Jessica Truscott that I really loved and fit my idea perfectly.  It took quite a while to get everything looking mostly cohesive, though I do think I could learn a bit more on blending with the skin.  

My inspiration comes from the mythological creature - the harpy.  Though it typically is considered an evil creature, it is shown as being more attractive in modern art than in the historical version of a bird with a woman's head.  They would lure men to their nests or snatch them from the roads if they wandered too close.

 The challenge will be completed tomorrow and I can truly say that this has been a wonderful learning experience for me!

In this theme, Brooke asked us about when we've felt forgotten, but I was inspired to do a piece based on how I try hard not to forget things.  My memory has never been very good and even my son has to remind me about things.  I hate it when I forget something important, so I try to keep reminders for myself - mostly in my phone now.  I used to keep a journal regularly and have several that I filled when I was younger so that I could remember the events that have happened in my life.  This effort to remember is what my piece is illustrating today.  

Photography has been the main course of remembering for the last ten years or so.  Especially in the lives of my children.  I feel like photos do a much better job at capturing them and how they are growing.  I do wish I had more time to journal as the act is very therapeutic for me, but as a journal is a very personal item, I know that it isn't something I would share with my children later.  I do want to be remembered by them and for the work I do to be valued, but at the same time, I know how small I am in the grand scheme of things and so being forgotten by others isn't all that much of a worry.  I appreciate my friends and family who go out of their way to make me feel important and as an introvert I also appreciate that they don't pressure me to be involved more than I have energy to do so.  Is being forgotten something that bothers you?  What do you do to remember things?

ForgottenI don't want to forget anything. I lean on photography to capture the moments I know I won't remember. I journal the things I want my children to read. I don't want to be forgotten.

Model is myself, other stock is from Pixabay.

I wanted to use the kind of cliche idea of "sink or swim" under pressure. I wanted my hands to be reaching up out of the water as in desperation, but the angle in the pool put too much water behind me. It is lacking the environmental aspect I love to do and so I'm not all that happy with it. I might revisit this and take some shots at the neighborhood lake sometime instead. 

Day 11 - Diversity - Use a Stranger
Yesterday I was busy most of the day with my sister's baby shower and when I got home I was too exhausted to think, so I did day 11 today. I found a new model on DeviantArt (a stranger, for sure) and did a more dark fantasy/gothic piece with an evil Snow White. It's different for me, but I like it.

When I think of being alive, I think of the struggles that come with it.  Big or small, positive or negative, it's the struggle that makes life interesting.  I thought about the rope and how it can be used in so many different ways, but I like that it can be used to harness something far away and bring it closer.  Whether it's dreams, happiness or maybe just trying to hold on to the positive things, I wanted to show that struggle today.  

I wanted a more positive image - especially of myself.  I set up my little home studio and went to work with my Yongnuo flash set up on one side to mimic the sun.  I tied the rope to the flash and weighed down the stand so that when I pulled on the rope it wouldn't just pull it over.  It took some practice with my camera remote, but I was able to get a few images I liked, but then I struggled on what I would use for the backdrop. I thought about just increasing my canvas size, but I like environmental images.  I went through my archive and found an image of clouds I took when flying to Hawaii ten years ago.  Clouds have such a different look when shot from above.  I knew the image would look better if the sun was there in the clouds as I couldn't find a ground image with sky that I felt really fit.  I looked for images of the sun and didn't find one that really worked, so I took a stock image from Nasa of the sun with all the gorgeous fire detail it has and combined it with an overexposed shot from earth and then blended them together with some brushes.  I've added the PNG file to my stock folder for download since I made it from other free images.  

I hope this image gives a positive feeling about being alive.  All the struggle and effort really is worth it! 

Bryant H. McGill

The theme today was "Curiosity" and the challenge was to explore a new place.  Before leaving the house to drop my son off at school, I put on a simple dress and put one on my daughter, too, with the plan to take self portraits of myself and some of her in a new place.  So after he was at school, I just started driving in the opposite direction of the morning traffic, looking for a new place that would make for nice photos.

But it was misty and wet from several days of rain outside, so I knew that wherever we went that we would end up getting pretty dirty.  I finally found myself over by Lake Lanier.  Several of the park entrances had entrance fees and if I knew those were where I wanted to go, I probably would have been ok with paying, but I needed somewhere free and less crowded so that I wouldn't have to edit extra people out of images.  I finally found a road called Lanier Beach South that went through a residential area and ended with access to several lake beaches and a boat ramp. 

After getting out my camera and tripod, I went to get my daughter out of the car and dropped my camera on the hard asphalt! The SD slot door and battery door popped open, but closed fine.  I had the lens hood on the camera and couldn't see any cracks.  I turned it on to take some photos and the shutter didn't consistently work! After adjusting a few things, I figured out that there's some kind of error with the lens auto focus. It will focus fine, but the shutter sometimes won't fire unless I turn off the autofocus on the lens and turn it back on. Very strange.  I'll have to take it into a shop to have it looked at.  It's my favorite lens and I did notice that the focus is soft at 75mm now, but fine at 50mm. I will probably switch to my 50mm prime for a while until I can get it fixed (if possible). 

In any case, I took a few photos of my girl exploring at the trail head before heading down to the beach.  I set up the tripod and took a couple of images with her and then tried to take some self portraits to use in composites in the future, but I'm not really happy with them.  I think I just don't like being a model! So I ended up taking a ton of photos of her as she explored the beach, waded into the lake and dug in the pebbles and sand.  She got the bottom of her dress soaked and was covered in sand when we were done, but she was such a happy girl!  

When going through the photos, I decided one of her would be so fitting for this theme today.  What better to show curiosity that her own innate need to explore everything around her?  While editing, I thought the image was nice, but needed something extra.  She was really fascinated with an orca pool toy someone was using at the neighborhood pool not too long ago, so I added one to give the piece more interest.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

CuriosityThe imagination of a child is unlimited and I love to allow myself to feel a bit of that.

Orca and water splashes are from DeviantArt. 

And here's a storyboard of some of the other images I got of her being curious! 

is the key to unlocking our potential.

~Winston Churchill

I've always had a hard time seeing my own potential. I hid in my own world and pretended to be things I was not.  Tried to ignore my anxiety and the voice inside telling me to do what makes me happy - even when I was telling others to do just that.  I feel like I'm turned upside down with the world trying to swallow me whole.  I'm trying to keep going.  To believe my potential as an artist can lead to success so that I can feel like I can be myself without judgement. How can I reach my potential if I can't even see it?  

15 Day Content Creation Challenge - Day 8 - Potential - Use an Open Space.  

PotentialMy mental illness can make me feel out of touch with reality and consumed by fear. This causes me so much pain in knowing I have potential, but may never see it come to pass.

Model is Jessica Truscott.
 

Today's theme is time with the challenge to use inspiration from a painting.  I Googled and looked at a ton of different images, mostly Dali's famous works, but I didn't want to be constricted to that, so I started looking at other media - including The Last Unicorn's scene where they escape through the clock (that has so many elements that it would take far too long to create in one day) and then I thought of Cinderella and the live action movie that Disney did a few years ago.  For that movie, Annie Leibovitz (one of my favorite photographers) did this composite image featuring Scarlett Johannson.  That is the image that inspired me, so I collected the stock I wanted to use and created this piece.  

Escaping TimeNo matter how much we try to escape, time always catches us. Created as a full book cover, this is my version of Cinderella.  Model is from Cathleen Tarawhiti, Castle and clock overlay from Pixabay, Night sky is from private share in Tara Lesher's Education Facebook Group. 

Today in the 15 Day Content Creation Challenge had the theme of Beauty with the challenge of showing my idea of beauty.  Brooke said that she thinks death and pain are beautiful and asked us what we think has beauty that others might not.  I thought about it and realized that I have a very traditional view of beauty.  I love the human form, nature and classical art.  I first thought I would do a traditional self portrait, but I've done self portraits the last few days and haven't been very happy with them.  I don't consider myself a very good model, I guess. I thought about doing a portrait of my children and i do think they are beautiful, but I wanted something that fits my traditional view. Portraits of children are very personal and I see this challenge as doing work that I want out in the public and that would fit in a gallery. That is one of my goals - to have a show in a gallery. I don't care about being rich or famous, but I would love for people to appreciate my work.  What do you consider beautiful?

Happily Never AfterThe perfect life is near, yet too far to reach. Overcoming the demon may never happen one day, but I still hope for it.

Model is Faestock Jessica Truscott, castle from Pixabay, Dark and Eerie overlay from the CoffeeShop Blog. 

Today was a true challenge for me as I was fighting a migraine all day and wanted to learn how to add a cracked texture to skin and also do a dispersion effect in Photoshop.  I don't know that I really succeeded in that I'm not happy with my results, but my head hurts too much to care at this point.  I might come back and work on this more later, though. For now, this is the result for Day 5 - Breaking - Use Something Shattered: I feel like I really cracked under the pressure of producing results everyday...

Her intention was for us to communicate what we love in our work today. What "spellbinds" us.  Being a fan of fantasy, I took the theme a little too literally and did an image of me actually being spellbound.  Trapped in a frozen bubble and unable to escape with only my own warm light from within to warm me.

Maybe I really do feel that way when "spellbound". I get trapped by an idea or emotion and unable to break free from it.  When slighted by a person, the feeling of betrayal consumes me and I'm trapped in self talk and "what ifs" in my head.  Should I confront the person?  Would it make it better?  I HATE confrontation, but letting something go that hurts me to my very core just can't be ignored, right?

Even the positive emotions can consume me.  So consumed by the love I have for a person, I overlook their faults, even major ones, just to be with them.  But then being consumed in that love when I'm with that person makes it so much more special.  The warm feeling in my heart that feels like it could set me aflame. I think that's what people love to be in love.  It just feels so wonderful! 

So, in a way, this piece signifies how I feel when truly spellbound.  Like I'm trapped within the emotion and unable to escape.  Sometimes it's a bad thing and sometimes not.  It just depends on the situation.  I'd have to say this challenge so far has had me spellbound!  I've never felt so motivated to get up and work each day.  I just love knowing that I'm going to create something new and it really feels like I have more purpose in my life than the everyday grind I've been living! I hope you like this image.  Let me know what spellbinds you!

Stock is from Pixabay. 

but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door

that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.

This morning, our 8 week old kitten decided to jump on me and try to play with me at 4:30am.  After I put him in the hall and closed the door, I tried to go back to sleep, but started thinking about the 15 Day Creative Content Challenge and that Brooke had asked us to think about things we already have and how we can use them creatively.  I started thinking of new images that I could take on my property.  We had almost half an acre, which isn't that much, but it's an older home with lots of forest and mature landscaping that works well for photography.  I also thought about how I want to create more organic content by not using stock.  I can spend hours looking through stock on websites, looking for the perfect backdrop or model pose for what I want to create, but it feels less satisfying than using all original content taken by me. 

So I couldn't go back to sleep and started to plan out a shoot at dawn.  Being a mom, I can't just get in the car and drive somewhere and leave my kids at home.  Waking them up at 5am to go shoot at dawn doesn't seem right either, so I thought about this spot next to my driveway where the hedges are overgrown and the long branches hang down from the top.  We don't have a ladder tall enough to reach the top of the hedges, so I've just let it grow and hang down into the driveway.  Thankfully, our neighbors don't mind their side being long, too!  

I thought about the closet door we took off when we moved in to trim the bottom, but never put back on it's hinges because it opens to the bedroom door and gets annoying having them bump into each other.  That door is in the garage and since today's theme is "Ending" and to "Use a Doorway", I figured I could take the door and prop it up next to our little step ladder next to those overgrown hedges and that might look neat. 

Then I thought about how I wanted myself to look.  I don't own a lot of fancy dresses, but there was one I bought for my honeymoon almost 10 years ago (!!!) that I've never even worn anywhere.  It's low cut in the front and I'm rather modest, so I've never been comfortable in it.  I also wasn't sure it would even fit after two kids!  I loved this dress because of the fancy gold embroidery on it.  I didn't pay much for it.  I think it was $15 at Ross. Anyway, I put it on and it was a little tight on top, but it fit!  It must be fate for me to use it. I've always wanted to do a levitation photo, so I decided to use my little black posing stool ($10 at Wal-Mart!) to try it out.

So I gathered all my stuff just as the sun was starting to come up and went out into the driveway to set up.  I put my camera on the tripod and set it next to the garage door.  I shot at 60mm on my Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 and set my camera to have a 2 second delay on the remote.  It was so dark when I started shooting that I had manually focus the first few shots.  

I quickly found out that it was REALLY difficult to hold a pose while balancing on a stool for 3 seconds or more! I increased my ISO and lowered my aperture, but the shutter speed was still too slow and I was getting a lot of motion blur in my poses. Just when I started to be bright enough to increase my shutter speed, I heard my baby wake up on the monitor I brought out.  I took a few more shots and hoped for the best. 

After I got my little girl settled on the couch with a bottle and Moana on the TV, I ran upstairs to get a quick shower (she's 17 months old, so she's ok by herself for a few minutes. Plus, my husband was still home in case something happened).  All that balancing and planking and running from the stool to the camera to check my images had really worked up a sweat! I downloaded the images to my desktop and once downstairs I was able to remote in from the laptop next to the couch so I could work and take care of my little girl and boy (when he woke up). 

I am so thankful for the extra motivation this morning and that my kitten decided to wake me up!  I feel so satisfied being able to really create something new.  I know the concept of my image has been done before, but I love knowing that I was able to do it.  I also learned that I don't have to use my kids as an excuse to push myself in my art.  

For me, today's theme and challenge reminded me that ending things can be really difficult, but that it is almost always worth it.  I've ended friendships and relationships that were toxic to me and felt so much better after eliminating those people from my life.  I left a job I loved after my baby girl was born so that I could be with her and to start my photography business. That was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do! So, I hope that you can look back and remember how hard it was to grab that knob on that metaphorical door and take a step in a better direction for you.  And if you have a door you're afraid to reach for, I hope you can gather the courage to take that scary first step!  

I didn't start it with a clear direction except that it evoked emotion in me.  But why?  Did it resonate with my introversion and need to be alone?  Did it symbolize wanting to be in the light but being afraid to go there?  Was it the sadness that comes with being truly alone?  

After taking some time leaning back in the recliner with an eye mask on and just mulling over the workbook Brooke sent out and all the things that she encourages in it that I felt it - the intense knot just behind my forehead - the prefrontal cortex.  I get this feeling - a slight headache - after stressing and spending too much time collecting information online (thanks, Facebook!).  I have this innate need to feel connected with others, but in my introverted way and Facebook fits that all too well.  

My little break had me curious about my headache and I did a Google search on "prefrontal cortex overload", which did indeed bring up articles on what I was feeling.  I knew that was what this image really symbolizes.  The pain that comes with trying to keep up with everything and stressing about things that don't really matter.  I need to restrict my time on my phone more and let my brain have a break.   So here is my image for Day 2: Faceless Emotion:

Faceless EmotionIn the darkness I hide, avoiding the pain that attention brings. I need to be stronger, to thrive in the light, but feels impossible.

Model is Faestock Jessica Truscott.

~Brooke Shaden

August is a busy month for me personally with my son starting back to school next week, but when Brooke Shaden posted about starting a 15 day creative challenge on her blog and Facebook page, I knew I needed to participate.  I have had my own little challenge of creating a new piece each week, but this brings it to a new level with a new piece each day.  Brooke is one of the most inspirational artists and writers that I have found on my artistic journey.   She is always accepting of others and open with her own feelings.  She is a very genuine person and I like to think I have that in common with her.  

Her art is very self portrait based and organic in its composition where she comes up with her ideas, shoots on location, in costume and then edits her ideas in Photoshop later.  I don't have as much freedom to get up at 4am and go shoot at the break of dawn each day or at sunset when I'm usually putting my kids to bed, so I rely more on stock photography available by other artists to create my work. I'm also more self conscious about myself, so self portraits aren't usually what I do.  

I'm going to try to break that a bit.  I don't have a lot of costumes to use or even simple dresses, but I hope to do more self portraits.  My work doesn't extend too much into the surreal as hers does, but I hope to break with that a bit, too.  So, for the next 15 days I will push myself to create a new fine art piece each day to broaden myself creatively and technically. It won't be easy, but nothing worth doing is, usually. 

The first theme (I don't have to stick to them, but I think it does help to give me a creative diving board) is "Rebirth".  I used a model from Faestock and other stock images from Pixabay and other free sources to create this piece.  For me, it is like dusting off the creative cobwebs and emerging as a new artist.  I hope I do this challenge justice with my work!

RebirthSomeday I'll be free from the prison of my mind, immune to the criticism of others. I long for this day.

Last Saturday I had the most wonderful session with the amazing Kim family at McDaniel Farm Park.  Lyndsay, Luis and their adorable 6 month baby girl were such a joy to work with! When we arrived at the park at 8:30am, it was already steamy outside.  I had a list of poses and ideas in my head, but we would be working against the Georgia heat and the very bright sunshine.  

We headed down to the fields for the first images.  I knew I wanted some light, airy and hazy shots of them in the field and those would work best before the sun got too high.  Since it has been raining so much lately, the sun was extra bright and made being in the sunshine very hot, though.  I took a few shots of them standing and then we set up a basket to get some of baby K by herself.  She was so adorable!  I also grabbed a few shots of her with daddy and the family sitting on a blanket in the grass. 

Then we moved to the shade at the farmhouse, which helped cool us down a bit.  I set up my faux fur rug on the porch and the wood floor and siding in the background gave us a great studio feel of baby K's portraits. She even gave us a smile!  The family moved to the porch steps for a few shots of them together and a few of Lyndsay with baby K.  Throughout the session, the Kim's were all smiles and had such positive attitudes, even as we wiped sweat from our brows!  I look forward to working with them again! 

~Khalil Gibran
 

Long ago, I dreamed vividly about being in Italy.  There were no details about what the town was called, but I knew the stay was in a very old cliffside inn with gorgeous views of the sea and the town across the inlet.  I suppose in it was somewhere on the Amalfi coast, with the mountains rising behind the town. The room was ancient and showed it's age and I loved how rustic it felt.  There was a four poster bed with romantic curtains and tile floors.  A wooden doorway opened to a terrace overlooking the sea and town beyond.  In my dream, I wore a long, flowing, white nightgown and I recall it billowing around me as the sea air came through the open door.  I had stepped back in time and I love how relaxed and at ease I felt in my dream.  Maybe I'm strange for holding on to something that wasn't real, or maybe I hope to one day find this hotel and stay there, making my dreams finally come true, but until then, I created this new piece to keep my memory of the dream alive. 

Dreams of ItalyI dreamed of being in Italy once. Staying in a cliffside, ancient hotel. Gazing out the window, across the balcony at the sea beyond. Yes, in the dream I had long white hair and wore a long white nightgown. I can always count on my art to make my dreams literally come true.

Model is Jessica Truscott of Faestock on Deviantart.  Other stock from Pixabay with my thanks. 

When I took my kids out to get photos of my baby in this little red outfit with a fox on it, I knew I wanted to do a piece featuring her with a fox. She's impossible to pose at 15 months, though, so I tried to catch her while walking so that maybe she would look like she was interacting with it.  I managed to find the image of the fox in a field on Pixabay that wasn't too far away, because I wanted it to be a more close up image than an environmental shot.  I like how it turned out.  I may have to do more with the other images I was able to get of her that day. 

Leap into the AbyssIf I was a different person, one without fear, I could leap off the proverbial cliff of risk taking and into the success beyond.

"There are many talented people who haven't fulfilled their dreams because they over thought it, or they were too cautious, and were unwilling to make the leap of faith." ~ James Cameron

Stock from Unsplash, Pixabay and my own. 

Anxiety DemonThe demon lurks in the darkness, it's gaze constantly reminding me that my anxiety is ready to strike and preventing me from achieving the success I have always longed for.

“Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.”

Anxiety lurks as a demon in the dark, waiting to attack. Overcoming this demon is difficult at best, and seems impossible at worst. This composite is for those who fight this demon daily, just to attempt to have a normal life.  May you conquer it someday. 

Model is Faestock on DeviantArt. Other stock from Pixabay. 

Sometimes a favorite image comes from a not so perfect shot.  I was out with the kids at the Yellow River Game Ranch last week and towards the end of our visit Lydia wandered away toward a not so safe bridge.  I sent Luke after her, to make sure she didn't fall off and injure herself. Once he caught up to her, he took her hand and they kept walking together.  It was such a sweet moment that I took a few shots, but the scenery wasn't the most beautiful and the dappled light from the mid day sun isn't my favorite, but I loved the pose:

His shirt had Pokemon all over it, so this shot from behind wasn't too formal, but not too casual for me. I sat down today and looked through the digital backdrops I have collected to find one that I thought would work for them.  I didn't have one that was in a completed form, but I did find this garden image from Image-ination by Rowena that she shared in the Tara Lesher Facebook group (I'm allowed to use it for clients or personal use, but I can't share the image without the watermark with others or sell it by itself):

Because their feet were cut off as they were leaving the bridge, I knew I needed something that could work to "cover" them. This seemed to have enough greenery to do the job and the angle wasn't too bad since I knelt on the ground for the shot of them.  The only issue was the blown out sky.  I knew I wouldn't want that in the final image and there wasn't enough usable data in the file to simply select and fill it with a blue or other color.  I had to duplicate the layer, select the white color, invert the selection and delete the rest of the image.  Thankfully, that did a good enough job of going around the leaves to make it clean looking with some painting on the original leaves to darken them.  I used this file from Unsplash for the sky:

I also did a duplicate background layer with a heavy gaussian blur that I masked off at different brush opacity until I had the kind of look I wanted so that the background wasn't too sharp against the kids who were rather soft.  I added a texture that also came from Tara's group as well as several layers including a dodge/burn layer, levels, rendered spotlight and an orange radial gradient.  I did quite a bit of color manipulation to move the yellows to green and reduced their saturation.  I also made the kids' shirts darker red to match the flowers of the background.  In all it took about 5 hours total to create this piece and I saved the background without the kids to use if I have any clients who really like this and want one like this.  If you have an image you love and want something like this, then let me know and I can create something for you! Here is the finished image:

~Edgar Degas
 

Artists sometimes get caught up in what defines them and sticks to their "style".  I like to have fun with my art, so when my son asked for an image of him riding a dragon with a volcano, I knew it was going to be a blast to make.  Here is the final piece:

I spent a good 8 hours creating this piece, so I thought I might share with you my process on how I make something like this.  First, I have to have the concept of what I'm looking to do - my son gave me his ideas so from there I knew I would need some volcano images.  I went to Pixabay where I knew I could find stock images that I wouldn't need to provide credit back for (it can be hard to keep up with all the people who want links back to their artwork and I've provided free stock out to people and not required anything like that so I like to work with artists who are like me and don't mind collaborating for the greater good of art itself). I first did a search on volcanos and collected images that I thought would be useful for the fiery aspect of the piece - I used this one and this one.  I orignally wanted to use this image for the backdrop, but the quality was too low, so I used this one instead.  I decided to use this image for the foreground to keep it looking like a fresh lava flow area.  The angle and focal length seemed like a good match with the background and I blended them together with a lower opacity black brush on the foreground layer. This is what the two layers together looked like:

Next I let my son look at the selection of dragons on Pixabay to choose the one he liked.  This one was already a PNG, which made dropping it into a new layer on the foreground easy - I also flipped it horizontally because I wanted it facing the volcano where I knew I wanted my light in the image to come from.  My volcano lava flows I had to create a second background layer, select the black color, delete and then reverse the selection to get the lava areas without taking too much time to select the tiny parts of the lava.  This is what it looked like after these steps:

From here it was a little tricky to find a picture of my son that would work.  With the spikes on the dragon's back I couldn't just drop him onto it.  So I thought a knight would be a good idea - they have thick armor to protect them so it would make sense.  But there just weren't any knight images on Pixabay or any other CC0 sites that would work.  Then I thought back to the times I've gone to the Georgia Renaissance Festival  and taken photos of the knight jousting there.  It's been a few years, so I had to go into one of my archive hard drives to find one, but this image worked perfectly:

So I cut out the body and put it on the dragon and then on a mask layer I went in and erased out the arm that was raised because it didn't look right to me with the dragon's head in front of it and I carefully cut out the spikes on the knight's body so he would blend better with the dragon.  I left the stirrups because, really, who would ride a dragon without a saddle? I then went back to find a photo of my son where the lighting would match the dragon and the knight and also make him look kind of cool.  I had this shot of him giving me attitude when we were out together in January and I thought it was perfect. 

 After I had them together I did a lot of blending with a blur brush and dodging and burning the various elements to get the lighting closer together.  I added a light layer to send more light coming from the left side of the image. I added the starry background with it clipping to a copy of the mountain background.  I liked the idea of it being the middle of the night with an off frame moon giving light in addition to the lava flow.  I added a few texture layers - a glitter one set to divide blend mode to give texture just at the bottom and one that gave texture across the frame.  This is what it looked like when I went to bed Sunday night:

The next day I took a fresh look at it and decided to adjust the lava layer so that the pool of lava would be more level and I reduced the saturation a bit because I don't like over saturated images in general and they also don't print very well.  So that's basically it. There are a lot of little steps and there were a lot of textures and other elements I tried that I just didn't like in the image so I didn't end up using them, but the end result my son loved, so I call it a success! 

I set up my mobile studio in a large multi-purpose area they had available.  It had large banks of windows on two sides, but the light would be inconsistent through the day, so I closed most of the blinds to keep the lighting more predictable.  There were overhead lights that could not be turned off, but they didn't cause a problem with white balance.  I did get some reflected light from the windows that turned out to be a decent fill/background separator. 

The majority of people were set to come in at the beginning and end of each day, but I only needed about five minutes with each person. I had a stool set up about five feet in front of my white backdrop and two flashes on stands with umbrellas.  One flash was set lower to the ground to act more as fill while the other was raised up to be the key light. I moved the umbrellas for some people, particularly the men to give them a more contrasted image or those with glasses to reduce glare. 

I was very thankful to have my contact, Rita, there to help navigate people through the process, and her organizational skills were incredible.  She had signs set up to show people where to go and what to expect.  She set out a model release in chairs for the teachers to pick up after they signed in so they would know in advance that their image may be shared by myself or the school system.  She had the names of each school printed for a test shot so that she could match them up later.  It was a relief to me to be able to concentrate on shooting and know she was there to explain things to people as they came in to the area. 

Most of the teachers were rather nervous to have their picture taken, so I tried to take the time to talk to each a little to help them feel at ease.  If I wasn't sure which side they would look best on, we would take a few facing each direction and then I would let them see the images on the back of the camera to see if they liked them.  Some people were ok with what they saw and others would want to take another shot or two, but in the end each person was able to review the images and agree on one that they liked.  It only took an extra minute or two, but I find that people are less nervous and happier with the end result if they can get this kind of sneak peek. 

There were some teachers who were not able to make it on either of the days and I may be going back in a few months to take those photos, but over two days I took photos of 60 people and truly feel blessed to have had the experience.  Not everyone believes in destiny, but I feel that I was meant to do this project for them.

Here are just a few of the headshots from the two days. 

Atlanta Public Schools Teacher Headshots

Atlanta Public Schools Teacher Headshots

And then when April the giraffe finally had her baby, I thought it might be fun for my baby to visit some giraffes in Africa:

I had a lot of fun creating these pieces.  I used stock from DeviantArt and Pixabay as well as some textures from CoffeeShop Blog.

Here's a list of the stock:

Tree background: https://pixabay.com/en/africa-kenia-tree-safari-wildlife-192932/
Giraffes: https://pixabay.com/en/giraffe-animal-neck-mammal-850992/
Sun in the sky from Tara Lesher's Freebie Friday by Cathy Durrence Photography
Texture: http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com/2017/01/coffeeshop-fine-art-texture-set-2.html

Barrel: idunahayaphotography.deviantar…
idunahayaphotography.deviantar…
Water Partition: carloscredi.deviantart.com/art…
Trident: fantasystock.deviantart.com/ar…
fantasystock.deviantart.com/
Water bubble brushes: www.deviantart.com/art/Water-B…
Seagulls: pixabay.com/en/seagulls-flock-…
Seaweed: moonglowlilly.deviantart.com/a…
Splash: moonglowlilly.deviantart.com/a…
Texture: shadowhousecreations.blogspot.…
Merman: pixabay.com/en/mermaid-fantasy…

Thank you to the Hoskins family for coming out to my Spring Mini Session event yesterday!  We had so much fun!

I finally had the chance to take my set-up to the park and drag my kids along to be my models on Tuesday evening.  The sun was setting and I really loved the light.  My little boy did a great job sitting and modeling for me, but my one year old was more interested in wandering around the giant field we were set-up in.  I did manage to get a couple of cute shots of her on the set-up, but only after she had walked around for a bit.  I ended up having to do a little Photoshop magic to get them in a shot looking good together.  I spent maybe 30 minutes out there with them until the sun was almost down, but I ended up with more images than I really needed. 

So here is the shot of my two together:

And here is a little storyboard I made of the shots I really loved:

 Now that I've shared images of my kids, come join me on April 15th to get images of yours!  The set-up will be pretty much like the one above where the kids can look at books for some cute lifestyle shots or they can ride the rocking horse, if they want.  My goal is to give you at least one beautiful posed portrait on the set-up and then some bonus images, too.  If you want close-ups, I can do that for you. If your little one likes to wander like my girl does and you're ok with a beautiful portrait out in the field, I can do that, too.  The goal is to have fun and get some lovely portraits. 

Here's the official ad and the details:

Spring Mini Sessions 2017

Saturday, April 15th - 9am-11am - 15 min increments - $75

Location - Rogers Bridge Park in Duluth near the dog park - there is a paved parking area and a little landscaped area that I'll be set-up in.  The weather that day is expecting thunderstorms in the afternoon with some rain the evening before.  The morning will be cooler so light sweaters might be needed. The children will not be sitting on the ground - I will have a cloth with a tarp under it for them to sit on. If we get rained out, the tentative make-up date is the next Saturday, April 22nd - if I have enough people interested in that day, then I can do a second session date anyhow.

• Up to 4 children - $10 each additional child

• Vintage inspired tee-pee set-up with flowers, books and rocking horse 

• Images will be available in an online gallery within one week for downloading and convenient printing from the gallery

• 5 lightly edited images - $10 extra for composite/head swaps

• Head over to Scott Hudgens Park for the Duluth Easter egg hunt afterwards! 

• There's also a helicopter egg drop at Hull Middle School just around the corner  

• Payment due in full at time of booking to reserve spot.  Send payment via link below or I can invoice you via PayPal.

• Online portrait agreement should be completed before the session date - this sets some rules and expectations as well as includes a model release that I need to share your images to Facebook.  If you don't want your images on Facebook, you can leave that area blank. 

 Feel free to contact me with any questions!  

I love lavender.  The smell of it and the beautiful color.  Someday I'll plant some in my backyard to enjoy the fragrance and blooms during summer.  When I found this image on Pixabay, I knew I wanted to do something with it.  France is incredible and this shot of Senanque Abbey in Provence just made me yearn to be there.  It reminded me of the time I spent in Marseille with a friend many years ago. I might not be able to go visit, but I sure could imagine it with my baby.  So I created a fine art portrait of her from her birthday session I did a few weeks ago.  This cute shot had her smiling so pretty and with her little crown and necklace, it just seemed fitting for a little princess.  I thought it was a little boring, though, so I decided to add butterflies, too.  

I worked on it on and off for about 5 days and ended up with more than 30 layers in Photoshop at one point.  Creating pieces like this tends to be a work in progress where I have to step away and come back and make changes to it again.  After staring at it for so long, it can be difficult to see the improvements that need to be made, but having time to reflect on it and come back to it helps.  Considering Leonardo da Vinci took more than a decade to finish the Mona Lisa this isn't too long!  I can't say I won't go back and work on it more later, but right now I think it's finished. 

For me, there's nothing more important than family. That's why I think I had such a wonderful time with Rachel and her fabulous three kids at Lenora Park for a fun family session.  It was late afternoon and very breezy as started our shoot over by the barn.  It was a little chilly in the shade so we soon wandered down by the pond where the sunshine kept us warm.  There was a lot of laughing and joking and we certainly had a blast. It's amazing to see families share in special moments and I get to be there to capture it.  I feel so lucky!

But the personality comments are much appreciated.

~Betty White
 

As my little lady's first birthday approached, I poured over Pinterest for ideas for her first birthday cake smash photo shoot.  It's been warm here, so I was positive I wanted an outdoor photo shoot and I just loved the idea of a vintage teepee type shoot with some fresh flowers.  I found a tutorial and what luck! All the supplies to make the teepee were in my garage!

Unfortunately, I might be artistic and creative and I thought I had worked out how to make the teepee with the old curtains and wood I had, but I lack the crafty skills to really make it work and the teepee was a bust.  I basically need some glue to hold it together, so I'm not giving up, but it is on the back burner for the moment.  I just didn't have time to get it finished before her birthday arrived.

Another issue was that a cold front rolled in the night before her birthday, shoving out all the nice warm air and dropping the high temp from 78 to 54 on her birthday, making it too cool for the pretty, lacy dress I picked out for her to wear. However, I already bought her cake for the smashing and the fresh flowers, so I would not be deterred!  An indoor studio shoot it would be!

I set up my white backdrop and lights in the den where I have the most room to work and decided to keep things minimal and just have a few things with her.  I had a little crown lace headband for her to wear, but she pulled it off and it wasn't worth fighting with her over it. She loved playing with some of my necklaces and I grabbed an decorative urn from a shelf that I thought she might like to look at and would hopefully keep her from crawling away.  I did have to put her back on the backdrop a few times before I gave her the cake. I wanted to get some portrait shots before the cake got everywhere.  The best part was when she stood and got so excited about it!  She's not walking yet, so this is huge for her. 

I expected her to dive in and make a mess when I gave her the cake.  That didn't happen.  She just picked at it and didn't seem to want to get her hands dirty.  At one point she put one foot up on the cake stand.  I was surprised that it didn't tip over.  I tried to show her what to do by grabbing a bit for myself, but she just wasn't as excited as I thought she'd be.  Maybe it was too close to her naptime or maybe she's just like her brother, who also just picked at his cake and didn't really smash it.  In any case, it was a fun little shoot!  

~Robin Williams

Spring arrived early this year, so I took the opportunity to take my baby out for some portraits with the daffodils growing in the neighborhood this afternoon.  Normally, she would take the chance to crawl around and explore, but she doesn't have much experience with grass and pine straw, so that kept her on the little blanket I had folded up for her to sit on.  I gave her a flower to look at and she quite enjoyed shaking it and pulling on its petals.  It was still cool outside and overcast with a hint of impending rain, so I kept our little session short.  Overall, I am more than pleased with her images.  She is just such a pretty baby. 

I also spent some time over the weekend practicing newborn composites with her newborn photos. I think these will be a great addition to newborn sessions when I have them.  There are so many digital backdrops available and it is just so fun to do them!

- Amelia Earhart

Last week when I did the piece of my son riding a wolf, he said I should do one of his little sister riding an elephant.  Her bedroom is decorated with elephants, she has a little elephant riding toy and several elephant stuffed animals, so it just makes sense to do one of her riding one.  It took me some time to decide how I really wanted the piece to look and to find a stock image of an elephant that I really loved, too. My little girl is such an adventurer.  She's always climbing things and exploring the world around her.  I think she just may go to India someday to ride an elephant!  I took one of her photos from her ten month session and I think the result is pretty great!   What do you think of my piece?  I'd love to hear your opinion in the comments. 

Let him be wild.

Let him be a little wild.

I was showing my son some fun composite images online and I asked him if he would like me to do one of him.  

His reply was, "Yes!  I want one of me riding a wolf!  And it needs to be a red one!" 

How could I NOT do it for him? He loves how it turned out and so do I!

I love to discuss what the couple is looking for during the initial meeting so I can have an idea of what to shoot during the wedding.   If the venue has an epic view, we could do a shot with the scenery in the background.  Or maybe the church has a special meaning that the family wants to be echoed in the home.  Even if the weather isn't the best on the wedding day, I can make the sky as beautiful as it was imagined it would be or we can return to do the shot on a different day.  The signature edit can be whatever is needed or what is desired.

Below is an example of a signature edit.  Feel free to contact me for more details!

We live in an age when we have so many tools at our disposal to create art of all kinds.  I come from a family of painters on both sides.  I have a painting in my dining room that was painted by my great-grandmother and I've loved it since it came into my possession. It is a painting of a mountain behind a forest and a lake and I know she put so much effort into it. I have a deep reverence for the traditional painting arts and I have tried my hand at it, but my love has always been photography.  

A few years ago, I took an online class at CreativeLive from Brooke Shaden.  She's a conceptual artist who employs painterly techniques to create gorgeous works of art.  Her class opened my eyes to a new way to blend my love of photography with painting in Photoshop.  It's difficult to find elements that will give my work the look I want, though, so when I heard of the website, Unsplash, I was shocked there were so many photographers donating their works to be used by artists like myself in an effort to further modern art in digital painting. 

Last weekend, I spent too much time on Unsplash, liking and downloading images in a whirlwind of creativity. In my mind I was already assembling them.  I took three images from Unsplash, with some free brushes and overlays also found online to create the piece below.  I get such joy form expressing myself creatively, even if it isn't from scratch.  Maybe it's my ADD, but I find it very satisfying to have a piece like this finished in one day. 

This pretty little lady just loved modeling her Laura Ashley dress!

In the digital era “vision” replaces “light” in writing, or rather in re-writing the image so it reaches a stage where it matches the idea the photographer started with, his VISION. The final image can now get much closer to what the artist ENVISIONS. Therefore (en)Visionography is a more suited name for creating photographs than “photography”.

There are times when I take an image and know I love what I'm seeing, but the original photograph and edit just don't reflect what I was feeling at the time. Thus, I want to explore this new technique to truly express that vision. When I first heard of it, I thought immediately of this image of a tree on the island of Oahu, just outside of Honolulu.  I was with my father in 2007 and the way the light was hitting the tree and how the clouds behind it contrasted against the bare branches just really hit me as oddly beautiful in a chaotic way. Something so lifeless among the jungle on the island was such a contrast and reflected how I was feeling at the time.  I tend to feel out of place, like I don't belong. People around me seem to be so normal, so at ease in the world, and I feel like I struggle to fit in. 

There are other images I want to explore and I don't think I'm done with this one, but I like how this goes beyond traditional black and white to more deeply reflect the artist's vision.  Here is my first attempt with the original unedited photo, my color edit, my first B&W edit and then my current attempt at (en)Visionography:

The kids woke before dawn.  We peeked outside and could see some white, but it was too dark to tell.  As the sun rose, our excitement grew and then quickly diminished as we saw the backyard. There was a little more than a dusting of white on the ground. The baby soon fell asleep and we decided to venture outside to check it out.  Maybe we could scrape up a little bit for a snowball or two.  On went several layers of clothes, followed by coats, gloves and boots. As the garage door lifted, they waft of cold air at least let us know it FELT like winter outside. 

Luke sped outside to investigate, heading straight for his dad's car that had collected the most snow. We found nearly everything coated in ice with a very thin layer of snow on top.  He ran to the pond, which had a thin layer of ice on top.  He couldn't resist using his gloved fingers to break the ice and wondered how our fish were doing beneath it.  Traipsing through the woods between our house and our neighbor's he enjoyed the crunch of ice on the leaves under his feet.  Only once did he slip and fall in the driveway on the ice, but it did little to defeat his spirit when our neighbor and his son came out to play. 

When the baby woke, I couldn't help but take her outside for some portraits of her, with Luke and myself. She was surprised at the cold air and curious about her mittens, which she promptly pulled off. By this time the sun had risen enough to cause the ice covered trees to sparkle in the light. Her new coat and boots helped to keep her warm, but her tiny face turned pink from the cold air. Her first snow event may have been less than what was expected, but it made for some lovely portraits after all.  I still like to call it "Snow Fake 2017", though. 

Here are the black and whites: 

And here are the fine art edits:

SereneCloudy days in an ancient field with a tiny cabin just beyond. If I could live anywhere, it would be here. The peace and serenity I imagine would soothe my turbulent mind.

Below is a self portrait.  My son actually triggered the shutter for me.  I love to do fine art portraits like this.  Having a person in the image makes it feel so much more emotional. It will also look great hanging on my wall for my kids to see and to pass on to them when I'm gone.  It's so important to have heirloom portraits like this.  It doesn't matter that I'm not the thinnest  or prettiest model (I wasn't even wearing make-up in this picture!).  Let me know if you're interested in having something like this done! 

I then spent the next few days working on converting the kids's portraits into Warhol style images for the final piece:

The final images:

It took a while of tweaking the original photographs to get them to convert with enough contrast to paint them in Photoshop, but overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  I am having these printed on four 20x20 gallery canvases from CG Pro Prints to display in their home and the professional quality means they won't have to worry about the little ones bumping them or knocking on them.  I know these will be a fun display for them!