Things That Inspire Me

Black & White and Lots of Contrast and Textures

I learned photogrpahy with black and white film, so maybe that's why I love it so much. As for contrast and textures... I just like a photograph to pack a bit of a punch. Blah, gray photos drive me crazy! Here is a photo I took last weekend that fits with this topic. My family and I finally climbed Mt. Rubidoux, and this rock was about half way up. I'm not much into Bible verses, but I thought this one had a kind of universal message. It reads, "Let not your heart be troubled. John 14-1" and then is signed (as best as I can read it) "Ernest E. Roby 11-11-1941 St. Mary's WVA"

First Brag Post - Joey Aceves

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."

~Edith Wharton

I really like this quote, because while I do enjoy being the candle from time to time, as a teacher I get to be the mirror reflecting nearly 200 candles each year. And that is a lot of light. This post is about one particularly bright candle...

This is very long overdue (and I almost missed my deadline!) My student of the month for January is Joey Aceves, so it fits that he's the subject of my first Brag Post. At the beginning of the year Joey's awesomeness honestly caught me by surprise, because he didn't seem that interested in beginning photography. Since then he's continued to impress me with both his drive and the quality of his work. He's really taking his photography business seriously--he's invested in a whole bunch of nice equipment, his blog is professional looking and updated often, he's employed by a wedding planner, and is selling his work in a store in the mountains. It's hard to select a favorite photograph among his work, so I'll just say that I'm currently loving the Casa Romantica pics and the San Clemente Sunsets. If you haven't seen his stuff go check it out!

Sorry if I'm embarrassing you, Joey : )

Homemade Paper Ring Flash

I thought this DIY Photography.net Tutorial sounded really interesting, especially since I've always wanted a ring flash. Honestly, it took about two hours to cut out and assemble the thing, and I'll admit it looks pretty ridiculous on the camera, but I do like the results. It softens all the shadows, eliminates glare, and gives that cool catch light in the eyes. This is my student, Jason.

Cool Light Painting Tutorial

DIY Photography is one of my favorite sites for finding out how to do cool stuff for cheap! I've been interested in light painting for a few years, but I've never even thought of doing "light stencils." I think I'm going to give it a shot, and I'll post any pictures that turn out.

Light Painting Tutorial on DIY Photography.net

Goals

Maybe if I actually write them out I'll be more likely to accomplish them. I've always enjoyed a good list--crossing things off is so satisfying! I learned in my teaching classes that it's best to make measurable goals, so I'm trying to make these as specific as possible. Here are my photography-related goals (for now):

1. Get 20 critique-style comments.
2. Post at least 4 photos a month.
3. Create a once-a-month "brag post" with accompanying link (no, not bragging about myself---about my amazing students of course!)
4. Create a once-a-month "what inspires me" post
5. At the three month mark have at least 51% of my photo posts be something other than photographs of my twins. (at that point I'll re-assess and see if I can set a higher percentage.)
6. Get at least 10 of my students blogging (and following and commenting-on my stuff, on each others, etc.)
7. To learn how to create an HDR (Ruben? Joey? The tables have turned--teach me.)
8. Take and post a picture of myself that I'm really proud of.
9. Update the family photos in my living room. (They're still the boys' newborn portraits!)
10. Shoot portraits of someone other than my immediate family.
11. Capture a portrait of someone with freckles (I love how freckles look in black and white!)

There! 11 Goals for 2011! Wish me luck, and be sure to let me know if there's something on here you can help me cross off : )

I've Never Eaten a Pomegranate Before...

...but I've always thought it was such an interesting fruit. All full of seeds, and a cool, kind of rough, exterior. Grocery shopping the other day I decided "I need to photograph a pomegranate" so I bought one. I was feeling really inspired, but when I started shooting I was completely disapointed. The idea in my head was not at all what I was capturing. Maybe I should have used a macro lens instead, maybe different lighting, who knows. The pictures were terrible, and I almost deleted them in frustration, but I didn't. Then just yesterday I plugged the SD card into my computer to see if I had any new pictures to post. All I found were the stupid pomegranite failure pictures! I decided to give one a try in Photoshop just for fun. I'm listing my steps, because as it turns out I was able to whittle away at a picture I hated and turn it into something I really actually like! I'm a little conflicted about the amount of photoshopping that was needed to turn around this image, but I think I'm ok with it. Without further ado, I give you The Pomegranate:

-Black and white gradient map set to soft light (not meant to look like selective color... it just brought out the textures)

-Curves adjustment layer set to hard light with plate and fruit masked (to darken up the background)

-Duplicate background layer set to hard light at 33% with pavement masked (to deepen shadows around the seeds and bump the color a bit.)

Excuses, excuses...

I have been insanely busy, so I haven't had time to take any new pictures. So, I decided to dig up some old stuff. I shot this in a salvage yard a few years ago. It was a really interesting place to shoot, because I love old stuff. It was fun to wander around in search old cars, rust, and junk. This is one of my favorites from the day. At the time I only had limited knowledge of Photoshop Elements, so it's a little desaturated and I did a levels adjustment. Now I look at it and think of all the things I could do with CS3! But alas, I don't have the time right now! So, feel free to download and edit as you see fit--I'd love to see what somebody else would do with it :) Then post a comment and share your version.