The Edge of Water

This week's Photography problem is to photograph water, and this weekend turned out to be a perfect time for the assignment as there is water, water everywhere! Yesterday was occupied with cleaning the house in the morning and taking most of the afternoon to do some artwork in my studio and catch up on some extraneous email and research for class assignments.

I did get outside in the rain for a bit around one o'clock as I figured the light might be brightest at that time. Well, needless to say, the light wasn't bright at any time today and we've had lights on in the house all day! SO, here are a couple of pictures I got while I was out. The reflections in the diffused light are pretty good, but sometimes, if you are given that the photographer knows how to compose a shot, it is the subject that is the most important aspect. Here I have found humor (irony?), beauty in the flow of water, and the feeling of a "rainy day". I've posted the photos in that order.

3D Again... Group Shot

Our school celebrates the concept of diversity so well that I think we sometimes forget that there are, in fact, groups of learners in our school that feel at times they are on the outside looking in. They really aren't unless they want to be.

I went into Dan's room this morning to investigate the newly formed "Geek Club" with the idea of creating a "group shot", which was this weeks assignment for Digital Photo (Q1). I was amazed (but not really surprised - they are, after all, self described "geeks") at the enthusiasm from the group around creating a piece of photographic art in the traditions of "old school" stereoscopic imagery, you know, right lens blue and left lens red. Once I explained what I was up to they were all enthusiastic performers/actors who "struck a pose" for a photo and then were able to "freeze" their action while I shifted the camera slightly to the right and captured a second shot. The irony of the moment was not at all lost on them. What a great group to work with! 3D glasses are needed to observe the desired effect!

A previous post from last year http://mdihsdigphoto.blogspot.com/2012/05/3d-imagery.html showed this "process" with a group of my digital photographers.

Pushing Up Daisies!

The last blog post of this school year is simply shots of daisies by the large loam pile in our field. I made the connection, as I was setting up these photos to post, to conversations with Dan Granholm this week and his pride in his daughter "Daisy" and her exploits as a soccer player. I totally get that he wants to spend more time with his family, and in hindsight I... well, it's always 20-20 isn't it?

So I guess this is a sort of dedication to the "Music Guy", and how much I will miss working with him. Sorry about the "pushing up daisies" title thing!

Another Floral Group

Here are blossoms from a bouquet at my house... I used some adjustments in iPhoto, any guesses as to what and how? Let's see what you can come up with just from looking at the finished piece. Please comment below and check out the other flowers shots at  http://chartliej.blogspot.com/  Thanks!

Floral Shots - Blossoms...

This spring got all the blossom "stuff" out early as we had a March heat wave, but lately the blooms have been in full flow everywhere. I'm going to post some shots I got the other day of general "groups" or wider scale blossoms, looking at POV, composition and soft light. These were all taken with a medium (40 - 50 mm) lens and tend to work with pattern of blossoms and/or leaves. As I get photos of plant life, I've discovered more and more an appreciation of the various leaf structures and how they work as backgrounds in certain compositions, but a "thickness" of blossoms can create their own backgrounds, echoing the focal points as well!

Landscape in Trenton

This was taken early morning, with a low sun at the Trenton Golf Course. I had a couple of "straight up" shots and then noticed the tree so I used it to frame the shot. The grass at the bottom was another afterthought, and this particular shot ended up being the fourth or fifth generation of what I was seeing. Looking and working for a good image almost always pays off, and I think it did for me in this one as well. I like the clouds, the bark on the tree as a rough contrast to other textures in the scene, and the way the grass creates another very close aspect.

3_D Imagery

You will need some glasses for this one... red on the left cyan on the right, but the effect of the 3D blending for this is really cool, and very easy to do in PhotoShop. See me and I'll show you or give you a link!