AngelicVisions

Soo... Who's Stuck?

2010-02-23T23:26:00.008-07:00

Have you been like me every once in a while finding yourself wondering what to do next? Or just plain running out of new places or ideas? When I find myself in these places I tend to go back to one of my school projects... and give myself an assignment.

There is a few ways to do this and by no means is this an exhaustive list, but it will get us started not to mention those creative juices flowing again.

Idea Number 1 - Containers

On slips of paper write out ideas in three or more areas. To start with let's try:

Colors - blue, purple, green, brown and the list goes on.

Fundamentals - contrast (light vs dark or big vs small etc), lines (horizontal, straight, squiggly,etc), textures (bumpy, velvet, ripped etc) or symmetry.

Locations - around home, local park, urban streets. This would be a good excuse for a day trip too if you are itching to get out of town for a bit.

This is just a start - you could use anything as your criteria. Other possibilities could be subject matters (i.e. trees, pets, children), different views (worms eye, birds eye, dogs eye), the Alphabet ( subjects starting with a specific letter) etc.

Once you have all your ideas written out and in their coordinated containers, pull one slip out from each container and your new assignment is images containing those three ideas in what ever context you can imagine. Keep the containers with your ideas though, then the next time you can just pull three more new slips and give yourself a new assignment. It's amazing how even going back to places that I frequently visit I end up producing something new again.

(Hint: keep a journal of your assignments, this way you can trade an assignment if a repeat presents its self. Also this can help you decide on whether to repeat an assignment at a different time of year.)

Idea Number 2 - Looking to Others

With this idea there are a few possibilities; here are a couple to try:

Friends - Go out with a fellow artist/friend; observe as well as bounce ideas off of each other. This falls into my last post quite well. If you are a mentor or are being mentored ideas often flow both ways when you get together regularly.

After all iron sharpens iron right?

Magazines - go through some magazines or even books of a favorite artist. When you finds some images that you like or that even speak to you, try and emulate the effect with something or someone around you and make it your own new creation.

Lastly, share your thoughts. Who knows there may be an idea struck when you least expect it. Or perhaps it might help someone else get their creative juices flowing.

Time Flies

2009-12-29T00:27:00.013-07:00

It's been quite some time since I last wrote here; but as you may have guessed this year has been quite busy. Unfortunately not in the world of creativity for me even though I did find some very important and memorable times during the year.

The year has been full of many activities, but there is one set of activities that I wish to write about today as it has been on my heart for a few months and I have finally gotten around to making the time for it now. This subject is on Mentoring. You see over the Summer months this year I had a couple of opportunities to spend some important time with my niece and nephew. They are 9 and 13 years of age respectively.

With my niece, Kalysta, we went to the Devonian Gardens just West of the city; where Kalysta started to learn little things like how to hold a camera, framing her photos and what kinds of things or images she wanted to create. It was here that her love of butterflies came out and the Butterfly house at the Devonian is a great place to see so many different species - so beautiful.

Konour and I went to a couple of places. The first was the Legislature grounds and the second was the Muttart. For Konour it was not only a time of expanding his creativity, but also experiencing familiar places in a more interactive way. Because Konour was a little older; he learned about things like playing with time, depth of field and patience. He learned so keenly and quickly that he was able to make a leap in creativity and was hard to stop. Konour just wanted to keep on going and going. I believe Konour's fascination was with time. He loved exploring how you could show movement in different ways just by adjusting the shutter speed.

So what is Mentoring anyways?

The Oxford Canadian Dictionary describes it as a person who is an experienced and trusted adviser or guide. This doesn't say very much about such an important job. If you looked at it as a means to guiding and inspiring the next generation mentoring can start the creative juices flowing.

Why Mentor?

Some out there tend to stray away from mentoring - and there are many reasons why. The top three I've come across are:

to limit the competition - why train my competition?
feel inadequate to train - I'm not as good as someone else...
no time - I would but I'm too busy...

Unfortunately I have fallen into some of these excuses myself and at the time they seemed valid. One of my goals for this coming year is to not only take out my niece and nephew again, but to add at least one other young person. Perhaps this might be my new daughter...who knows. The other side of this coin is that without people stepping up to mentor and inspire the next generation we all loose out and some talents become a sort of dying breed (how many people out there still now how to embroider something other than in cross stitch?). Even though this site focuses on photography; you needent limit this concept to the area of photography; as long as it's something you are passionate about and you are willing to share it with someone else in a somewhat productive manor. (In other words show your passion and your care)
The other issue I've seen has been the attitude of "I want to do it myself and not have someone tell me what to do..." type of thinking. The issue here would be finding those souls willing and wanting to apprentice with you. Thankfully there are those out there like my niece and nephew as well as some that are older who are thirsty for someone to spend time with them and possibly inspire them to press on further. All we need to do is open the door to the possibility.
It was great for me to see such great creativity come out of these excursions not to mention the absolute joy both Kalysta and Konour showed when they were entrusted with something special - Aunty's expensive camera. I was able to see things that they saw in a new light as well. It wasn't just about the camera for them though. I believe that it also had to do with the value they felt - that they were worth spending time with, there thoughts were important and that they were given the opportunity to exercise their creative side while being able to make their own decisions about what they envisioned to create and to learn how to correct it when the image didn't turn out the way they wanted it to.

With these experiences I've come to value Mentoring more now than I ever did before. The time spent is well worth the effort. After all for all intense and purpose mentoring is the honor of helping someone to realize a dream, a potential or possibly both. Who could ask for a more fullfilling position than that?

So here's to inspiring the next creative generation in 2010... Happy New Year everyone!

Update: It is now 2011 and unfortunately time got away from me yet again and I did not complete my goal. I am going to strive to do it this year though. If there is anyone out there who would like to spend a Saturday with me this year; please e-mail me and we will work out a schedule now that the weather is starting to warm up. Happy shooting everyone.

New Post Coming soon... I promise

2009-12-22T00:42:00.002-07:00

Wow! Were has the time gone? I guess I've been too busy these days; however this is in process of changing. Now that I am on Parental leave my goal is to start writing again in the very near future.

So for now have a great Advent Season and a safe and Happy New Year. See you all in 2010!

Called to a Passion

2008-11-02T21:11:00.005-07:00

Someone once said, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive" I've come to expand this a little with the word 'Passion'. This is because I find that with most people what they have a passion for does indeed make them come alive.

Now some may say, "No Shoot Sherlock, you're just coming to realize this now Angel?" And I would have to admit that for the full affect of the meaning here - yes, I'm just realizing this now in more of a personal way. For most of you that have been reading this site know that I have a passion for photography. What most of you don't know is how I struggle in the area of not only making time for my God given passion, but in accepting that others do appreciate the images I do create. Whether it be doing a friend's family portraits or find some landscapes and creating a mood or feeling to pass along to the viewer. For example the picture to the left is one of my latest creations. It speaks so loud and plainly to me the message that there are some paths that only a few are invited to travel. Kind of like someone else I know. He was given a path that no one else travelled; it was not an easy path, yet He did it for me and everyone else who calls him friend, teacher and Lord.

So today I would like to encourage you to follow your passion and come alive. You will feel so much joy I can't even describe it.

In the mean time study the picture for yourself and see what it speaks to you about. If you feel so led leave me a note and I would be happy to encourage you in your passion as well.

Don't forget to Clean Your Lens

2008-08-02T01:24:00.007-06:00

While I was going through some vacation shots I recently did I was shocked to find some of my photos with a smudge mark on them. It took me a while to realize that some how I had gotten sun screen on my lens. Quite the nasty surprise I must say. It did bring me to think that camera care was something I have not talked much about. So here are a few brief things to look into to help make your memories as sharp as possible.

Clean All Your lens'

Before you start any project for the day; take some time to clean all of your lens' that may or may not be in use. This includes any you don't plan on using as something may come up that you were not expecting and it is helpful to have your equipment ready to go at a moments notice. Also through the course of a day with opening your camera bag/gear your equipment will get dust on them eventually. It's just a matter of time.

So what you may want to look into is a small spray bottle of lens cleaner NOT Windex or anything with ammonia in it; as this type of chemical will strip off important layers on your lens. It is no different than if you wear eye glasses with any coatings on them - the chemical will strip off the coating and then you have expensive corrective glass without the hardening coating or maybe even a tinting. Not good. You will also want a micro fiber cloth to help with the cleaning process. Again the ones that can be used with eye glasses are great for this as they are not big and do not take up much room in your kit.

Dust out Your Camera Body

Another cleaning item to have on hand is a retractable brush as well as a small air bellows. These can be found in any of your local photo finishing stores. The air bellows is to blow out the dust in your camera body. You want to use this instead of blowing from your mouth because of the moisture factor. Our breath has moisture and like most electronic devises moisture is not the cameras friend. When using the bellows be sure to hold the opening of the body downward so that any dust particles that are dislodged can fall out instead of finding a new place to hide.

Like wise the retractable brush will help remove dust particles that you can see. You will want to use the brush instead of your fingers for the obvious reason of body oils and yet I still see photographers use there fingers. When using your finger you can leave oils in the housing of the camera and in time prevent your camera from working at it's optimum.

Consider Mid -shooting Maintenance

If you are shooting for more than a couple of hours you may want to consider taking a ten minute break or so to go through and clean the lens that is currently being used; as well as if it happens to be a windy day, like it tends to be in the southern end of Alberta, dust out your camera body away from the wind. This little consideration can save some frustration later on and help you keep your photography at the best level possible. This was the lesson I forgot while on holidays, thus why I didn't notice that I had a smudge mark on my lens until I got home.

You see the preview screen on your digital camera (even the bigger ones) is not going to show the smudge mark or other possible problems well if at all. They are meant to give a basic preview. Even then unless you take the time to enlarge parts of the photo and scrutinize every part you will still miss some distractions in your photo. So as you learn from my forgetfulness take a peek at a couple of the photos that I am proud of this time around.

So until next time have fun with your summer memories.

It's In the Eye...

2008-06-09T21:44:00.006-06:00

When you look at a picture that someone has created; what is it about that picture that either catches your eye or lets you just pass it by without another thought. Is it something like, "Oh, it's just a picture anyone can do that" or the other end of the spectrum "Wow that is just so breath taking - where is that?"

There are some people out there in both sides and some in the middle on this subject. Unfortunately for the ones that think anyone can do that are also the ones who don't go out there and try it either. Now don't get me wrong there are some pictures out there that I wonder why on earth did they shoot that? But that also brings me to my main point that an acquaintance reminded me of the other day. And that is all art including painting, photographs or even digital design "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". One day something like the above photo will be the most popular style going the next day it could be something totaly abstract or even something like this next photo. It seems at least lately that a lot of people are attracted to the more rustic looking pieces. And if they happen to be framed in some of those old wood looking frames all the better.

I could stop here and just talk about inanimate type subject matter, however this topic spills over into other types of photography as well. A prime example would be portraiture; more specifically I think would be Wedding portraits. There is so many different styles out there it boggles the mind. Suffice to say though that it all boils down to particular taste just as with the nature/rustic types. A good friend of mine is also a photographer but we have too somewhat different styles. She's what's called a Photo Journalist and I lean towards what is called a Portrait Journalist. The basic difference would be the photo journalist style keeps to "the as things happen" mode where as the portrait journalist will have a bit more hands on involvement in the posing especially after the ceremony when the formals are taken.

With Wedding season fast approaching I also thought I would mention some things for some of the Brides to be to keep in mind.

1) Book the photographer as early as possible. Most of the more popular photographers book at least a year in advance. More importantly scrutinize the particular photographer's, that will be working your day (if it is a bigger company), portfolio. Don't just go by what is on the wall's.

2)If the choice is to use a friend or family member be sure to take a good look at there people type photos and not just there holiday photos. Taking wedding portraits are quite different and even though it is definitely cheaper to go this way; there are no guarantees to have the photo's to turn out. Not to mention having to re-do them and not be able to catch the same moments or feelings again.

3) Consider having a prospective photographer take some engagement pictures for you. This can help to make sure a) you feel comfortable working with them and b) both of you like the style of the photos taken.

4)Once the photographer has been booked keep in regular contact with them. Talk with them about your ideas of what you would like in your package as well as in the photos themselves. This will also give you early warning signs if things aren't going to work for you with that photographer's service. Consider making a list of what is important to you to have included (i.e. special members of the family). Once you have gone over it a few times give a copy of the list to the photographer to keep on file for your day.

5) Above all - this is a day that you want fond memories of, so be honest about what you see and if at all possible don't settle for less than you want for the price you can afford.

If you haven't guessed already, I do love to take wedding portraits just as much as the landscape /nature type pieces. In some ways a lot more. So if there is anyone out there still looking for a photographer and you like what you see here, I do encourage you to leave me a note. I would love to help you make your day special.

Another option for those of you on Facebook is to check out my portfolio there as well. The address is:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=870200116#/album.php?aid=23381&id=870200116

Loved Ones

2008-04-04T21:45:00.008-06:00

Over the last couple of weeks I've been thinking a lot about what kind of keepsake photos I wish to have or wish I could have had. I want to encourage each and everyone who reads this blog page to take some time to ponder that thought. You see I almost lost two special loved one's this week - thankfully in some ways I only lost one. Let me explain...

You see this lovely lady to the left is my Grandmother. My last grandparent. She was about to turn 83 in June of this year, unfortunately she has just passed away. I am thankful for some special things that my Grandmother taught me. One of those things was that she encouraged me not to take things just as they were. Experiment she said - don't take things at face value. So I did. You know what - I learned that this was good advise no matter what I did; be it baking, cooking, or even photography. You could say that my Grandmother taught me how to let my creativity out. I am thankful that I was able to get a couple of photos of her last year. The other one with her is even more special to me as an adult. You see it is a multi generational photograph. It has myself, my Grandmother and my Mom. This is special as we can't re-create this possibility anymore and more importantly I remember doing it. It's not perfect but at least I have it. I'm not one to boast, but it also just happens that my cousins are not able to have a similar memory now. So that is one.

The next love one some of you may think I'm a little nuts on. You see the love one is my older cat Spiffy. But before you say something along the lines of 'oh bother'. Let me explain. When it comes to avid pet owners the pets are as much a part of the family as a human and there loss is felt just as deeply.

Spiffy is 13 years old, in cat years this makes him a Senior Citizen. He had stopped eating this last week and we weren't sure if we were going to have to say good-bye to him as well. However, after some dental work he is now starting to be his old self and I don't think I've seen him look more attentive in quite some time.

So I also encourage you to include in your family photos your pets. They are such a special part of the family. Who else gives that unconditional love to you when you need it most. For me it seems like both my cats seem to have an inside scoop on me so to speak. They seem to know when I'm feeling low or just plain crabby. Because its then that they come up to me and just stay with me. After a short time I'm petting them and they are of course loving the attention so much that they begin to purr. All of a sudden the world doesn't seem so grey (pardon the pun - both my cats happen to be grey).

So to sum up this time remember all the members of the family in all aspects from human to feline or canine. They are all special and should be remembered in a special way - after all they were all created by the same creator... Who would have thunk?

To finish off I leave you with a cute photo of Spiffy and Spunky (Spiffy's adoptive brother). Is love any better than that

So as you take the time to think about the love ones in your life - let's also take the time to make sure we have the memories to go along with it; as they won't be with us forever and then it will be too late.

What do You See?

2008-02-24T14:35:00.009-07:00

When you go walking about around town or in your local park what do you see? Do you see things like the people around you, children playing, or the flowers in bloom? Or maybe like some out there it maybe we just want to get from Point A to Point B. Sometimes it is necessary to stay focused on the activity at hand, but I think that there are also some out there that use this as an excuse, to not see what is going on around them. So they don't have to get involved or maybe even care.

For me I like to try and make a habit of finding things that most others would just walk by or even walk on and not even notice. This is an exercise that surprises me every time I do it. I just never know what I'm going to find. Take for example the shot to the left here. A fallen poppy (this photo is called "Left Behind") on the ground somewhere around town. It's not only fallen off of someones jacket, but it has also be trampled on in the hustle and bustle of the day. I then find myself asking questions like: What does this tell me about the society in which I live? What does this tell me about how, in this case, we think about all of those soldiers that have fought and still currently do fight for our freedoms that we so easily take for granted? So just from this one instance I found myself in a bunch of questions and even sometimes a story of life.

Similarly, when I was taking photos at some of the weddings I attended last year, I found myself taking a few photos of some of the decorations around the whole event. You know those things that help capture the magic of the day, but don't really give them a second thought as to who took the time to see to those little details or even maybe lovingly crafted them so that the couples day could be even more memorable. Here are a couple of examples:

These are all examples of different artists work. And all should be remembered and not just taken for granted.

So I challenge you the next time you go to an event or just go out for a walk to take the time to look around you and truly see what is there and to be thankful that we have artists in the world. As well as so many others that work behind the scenes of our everyday lives so that we can enjoy all that life has to offer.

One final person that works behind the scenes of us all that I would like to give tribute to, as He is the one who gave me, my gift of expression in these photographs. He is the ultimate in creativity of everything around us. Here is an example of His mighty work.... Let's not take Him for granted too.

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Psalm 121:1-2

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year indeed! I do hope one and all managed to have a safe and fun celebration of the birth of a new year...
Well it is now 2008 and I am finding some great subject matter for some of 'my' more creative type of photography. This tends to be slightly a little more out of the box, I guess you could say.

Recently my husband and I took part (like most I imagine) in a local fireworks display for New Years. What I mean by taking part is we watched the fireworks as well as I took pictures of said fire works as you can see to the left.
I've been noticing in things that I have been photographing lately that I've been attracted to subjects with a large amount of texture. It's almost like the subject of texture just jumped up and said pay attention to me.
So I will ask the question - what exactly is texture when it comes to photography? Texture is defined by the 'Oxford Canadian Dictionary' this way: "the representation of the tactile quality and nature of a surface in a photograph, painting, etc". So now we ask the question - How does one 'show' texture that you cant feel? This is were the art comes in. You see for photographic work, or sketching or even painting texture is represented in few a ways at least. We will start with the following: composition, lines, and depth as there are so many attributes to go through all at once. Not to mention that they are all equally important to great pieces of art. Let's go through these together to start with.

COMPOSITION

Composition is the overall placement and look of your subjects final product. This is easier to see so let's take a look at a couple examples. As you are able to see this is an example of poor composition. It is poor because of the placement of the subject on the 'canvas'. As one of my instructors would say this picture does not capture your attention because the flower placement is on the far left. What else is there to see? Our next example of the same flower show a bit better placement. You will notice that placement helps direct your eyes where to go. Basically just follow the lines. This brings us to our next point on how to 'show' texture.

LINES
Lines come in many different ways. There are the traditional physical lines that you can see and then there are the lines that are implied. Let's take a look. Here we can see more of the physical line I was speaking of. The palm leaves show this very well. Our eyes start at the bottom and travel all the way up to the top of the picture. The other reason our eyes will do that with this type of example is that the bottom starts off on the wide/broad side of things and then tapers as you follow. Kind of like when you look off in the distance on the high way. Our next example shows an implied line. Basically what that is, is an imaginary line that helps to direct the eye through the whole picture. Like our orchid to the right. The second flower behind the main flower helps keep the eyes moving in the picture, as it is slightly off to the side. It isn't a real line but it is definitely implied and give the picture some depth.

DEPTH:

Depth is what give the photo life. I guess you could say makes it look 3D instead of being as flat as the paper it was printed on. You see depth is all of the above plus having layers to give the complete look. I tend to find the 'flat' picture in some portraits like my friend to the left here. Even though by looking at him you know that he is not one dimension, he looks like it in the picture because it was taken strait on. (like your pass port picture if you will). So how do we make him look like he truly is? We give the picture depth and dimension through that depth. Take a peek at the next photo. In portraits of people or animals you need angles to give you depth. It doesn't need to be huge just enough to give you the idea that there is more to the subject than meets the eye at first glimpse.

So now when you pull all of these elements plus more (you guessed it this is just the tip of the ice berg on this topic) you will be able to create some wonderful examples of art.

Here is one last example of what can happen when you try to put everything together...
Can you guess what else gives texture to a picture?

The answer next time.... until then happy shooting and here's to the New Year of possibilities!

Do I Have to?

2007-11-07T13:56:00.001-07:00

Well it's that time of year again, isn't it? You know - when we just start thinking about getting the family pictures done for those Christmas card send outs. Being in the photography business for the last two years I've seen a lot of 'stressed' families come through my doors. Almost not a day went by without hearing those unforgettable words - "Do I have to?". And let me tell you it was always in a tone of please don't make me. So I thought I would offer some possible solutions as well as a small amount of advise.

Here we go:

As nice as it is, it is not always necessary to get professional studio style portraits for Christmas. I know that a lot of times we are looking to replace last year's photo on the grandparents' walls and we would like something similar so everyone can see how much the kids have grown. Don't get me wrong; this is great, especially when they are constantly changing. But I would suggest to change things up a bit every once in a while, say alternating each year with studio, style and casual. For example the picture to the left is my family. The last set of photos we had done was in fact in a studio. But to be honest we had more fun doing things this way, and all we needed was a camera on a tripod with a timer. (or you could ask a friend who has a good eye when taking photos) Contrary to popular belief the photos really do not need to be perfect; maybe it's just me,but I would rather have the fun smiles vs. the 'painted' perfect ones that you see on the studio walls. Not to mention there is only so much a studio photographer can do in a limited amount of space. They are also limited to choice in backgrounds which are not always updated yearly. (Another frequent complaint I heard in the studio).

Next up is if you are going to go in and have the studio pictures done try and do it as early as possible; even if you don't feel like Christmas yet, do them in October instead of the first week of December. This is for a couple of reasons at least. First reason is that most portrait studios will already have their Christmas stuff available in October including those greeting cards. You will have more time if there was an unfortunate problem with the photos to fix them or redo them and still get them back in time to send them out. Also, you yourself will hopefully be able to relax enough to enjoy them too. The last thing the family needs when doing pictures is to have the parents stressed as it does affect the children as well. To go along with that, if for some reason a member of your family happens to be out of sorts on the day chosen it is still possible to try again.

If you really like the greeting cards, here is something to consider. You can either use an old photo or take a new one, either yourself or use that friend of yours, and send it to the photo lab. It is cheaper to go through some of the photo labs and have them make greeting cards for you. Not to mention they actually have more graphic options for you to choose from as well, and you'll get them back faster too.

Lastly, if you choose the studio for your family portraits here are a few really important things for you to keep in mind:

1) Choose a time that works best for the youngest member of your family.

2) Come early so you don't feel rushed.

3) Be prepared with a list of what your photo needs are (it does truly save time)

4) If you do need to wait for your photographer:

- bring something to help keep your children occupied for 10 - 15 minutes

- be patient with the staff - remember they too have had a LONG day

- be as patient as possible with your children, but also keep them from doing a lot of running around as it will be distracting to the people in with the photographer and could make things take even longer.

5)Like before have something and or someone available to help keep your children occupied and not running around while you are making your selections.

(My mom and her grandkids)

And Lastly

6) In the words from the movie "Beauty and the Beast" - YOU MUST LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR TEMPER! We are always going to hear things we don't want to hear and everyone has a job to do. If we want to be given every courtesy then we need to do the same with the staff that is trying very hard to get that picture you will love.

Well I do hope that someone out there finds this helpful and will be able to enjoy the Christmas season all the more.

Fall Frolic?

2007-10-13T09:38:00.000-06:00

What's your favorite time of year?

For myself I believe that the fall or autumn as some would prefer is one with the most color. Of course the main shortfall with this beautiful time of year is that the colors end up blowing away all too quickly. So I find myself trying to get out and about to enjoy the colors all the more and this year is the first in about two years that I've actually had both the time and the energy to really enjoy it.

What do I like about Fall?

For me the fall is the most colorful time of year; however, this is not the only thing that I enjoy. You see with the shorter days that come with it, I am now able to play more with the lighting at sunset and not need to stay up all night just to get a golden sunset. Don't get me wrong; I loved having more daylight during the summer too. It's just that if you want to do anything in the lower light levels (like painting with light) It takes a lot more planning. So this time of year helps both the hobby enthusiast and work worlds get along a bit better.

Does anyone know when the 'magic' times of day are?

The magic times of day are more easily remembered when it's not, which is usually between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m when the sun is highest in the sky. If you want pretty gold light tones then the morning sunrise is when you are most likely going to be making your time. Now if you would like more of the warm reds and oranges then about an hour before sunset is your prime time for the nature photos. Don't forget that you will want to take more than just a couple of photos at this time as the lighting changes quickly.

To show just how quickly the light can change at this time of day we can look at these two examples here. The one above was taken first and the one to the right was taken about half an hour later. This is quite the change for our cameras. So do you think we would also use the same settings on our equipment, or would they need to be changed? To answer this one would likely say that this is easy to answer. Obviously it would be changed. This is true, however deciding by how much also depends on what kind of an effect you want to create in your photo. Remember this is no different than deciding what colors you are putting on a painting palet. The camera's 'film', traditional or digital, is your canvas. Get creative and try something that maybe is not quite the ordinary for you.

So I do hope that everyone is able to enjoy our warm weather this fall as well as able to get out there and enjoy all those great colors. Until next time happy painting. :)

A Giant Leap for Me...

2007-09-26T23:15:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been quite some time since I last wrote anything here and now seems to be as good a time as any. The months of August and September seem to have flown by quite quickly with all the goings on these days.

The summer has been quite busy for weddings (don't believe me - just ask any photographer). And for me it's been no different. I've attended five weddings personally; but, I believe the last one was one of the most personal importance. You see a good friend of mine was recently married and believe it or not my hubby was the one who officiated the ceremony. Because of this I found myself in a very good place photography wise as I was asked to help with the pictures. Now I am always looking for more experience in this area; and you know what? Doing weddings pictures are the most fun I think next to watching the expressions of children (like in my job - but we'll talk more about that later). Everyone is full of emotions and you never quite know what's going to come next; laughter, tears, hugs etc. Quite fulfilling I must say....

Unfortunately for me I've been experiencing some issues with my legs and I have come to find myself in having to make a most difficult decision. Now thankfully I live in Alberta and I shouldn't have too long before finding something new. This being said though I found it necessary to leave my current job before attaining a new one. This is were my giant leap comes in. You see I am really one who likes to know where I'm going before moving toward this direction and being in a place of not knowing is quite uncomfortable I must say. So my last day of work is coming sooner than I thought and I still do not have a new job to go too. Ouch!

On the other hand though I do believe that my heavenly Father will help me in this area and will find the right job and hold it for me. Some may think I may be a little nuts, but if we don't exercise what we believe in once in a while minimum we can become lazy amongst other negative possibilities. So far I've only spoken of the nervous side of things that my new situation has given me. There is a great positive side though and here it is. I can now go out and do more of my own photography as my body lets me and discover life in a new way again. Like my friends wedding. Even though I'm not feeling able to work in a retail studio environment I have little intention to giving up on a dream. My dream is to help others see the world through my photography and hopefully help people slow down and enjoy life by stopping and smelling the roses they pass by (or in my case look at the photographs of them at least).

So until next time live life well, but try not to allow yourself to get so busy that you aren't enjoying it.

P.S. This is one of those emotional moments I refered to. I love being able to capture the unexpected, don't you?

Seeing: Heart vs. Sight

2007-08-11T13:06:00.000-06:00

I have been told a few times that I tend to see things that others miss or take for granted. For a while I wasn't quite sure what was meant by that. After taking some time in searching within myself I have come to see what makes me walk to a different beat to some others around me.

Take for example this current picture I've recently taken. To some they just see shadowed trees at a lake with some cloud. In other words, "so what there are lots of pictures like that". This is what I would call seeing by sight but not really seeing at all. Seeing by sight is used primarily for information gathering (at least to me it is).When one is seeing by sight you here comments like, "that's nice" or "so what". What I would like to encourage in others around me is seeing by the heart. What is "seeing by the heart" you ask? Well let me explain it with a new description from the picture we just used. A shadowy world with an Angel "watching" over nearby. You see seeing by your heart requires one to be not only in touch with things around them but to also be willing to allow the imagination to take some control in creating something that would invoke the emotions of the heart or spirit.

I have also found that no matter how much I try not to be; that I tend to be a wall flower (an observer). Now this in itself can be a lonely place to be. Especially in a world, that tends to be so busy, where there is no time to stop and smell the flowers so to speak. Putting that aside though, I have found that from here I am able to observe and take all types of things in. I am also able to feel very intently (maybe slightly even magnified) the emotions of others around me. Be it excitement, hurt, sadness or contentment. It really is an interesting place to be, as I have learned quite a bit about the world around me. Now I mentioned that I've tried to come down off the wall. You may ask if it's so interesting there why would you want to do that? Well, as interesting as it is up there I'm not really living life either I'm just watching it go by. So I've been trying to learn how to interact with it. Which is were I find myself now - interacting with the world I've observed for so long, but also longing for the familiarity of the wall.

So what does this have to do with my photography? I'll tell you. My photography pieces,especially anything to do with nature is how I communicate with those around me. It's an interesting place to be really. You see, by the pictures that I take others can see a snipit of what I see and hopefully enjoy it too.

P.S. The first picture I've ironically called "Angels among us" and the second picture is called " New Life"

My Muse

2007-07-18T23:03:00.000-06:00

Well it has been almost a month since my last post and I haven't really had much of an inkling as to why the block. The one thing I do know more admittedly is that my passion is really stirred with two main subjects.

The first would be of course nature. More specifically in our national park system. Who wouldn't be inspired with all those water falls and Mountains? This area gives me real time to take in even the smallest component of my surroundings. Take this latest picture I did while at a family reunion north of Revelstoke while picking berries with my niece. In the city one tends to over look small things like wild strawberries because we are too busy with the every day things of life; like getting to work, putting that all important smile on for others to see, getting home and getting some of those things done that weren't done yesterday and still need to be done like laundry or maybe even getting dinner on the table.

Another element of nature I find inspirational and don't get to enjoy too much in the city is those magnificent water falls. Mind you I seem to have an attraction to water in general, but with water falls I find myself mesmerized at how it moves around and through things. Not to mention I get to play with timed exposures to give it a different look too. So I guess you could say it encourages me to be creative and not just take things a face value. Something else I find I need consistent reminders on in the big city of hustle and bustle. For example here is one of my latest favorites of water falls in the Revelstoke area. In this I see what could look like almost a bridal veil. Well I like it and I'm finding that this is what is important right now. It would be great if others liked it as well, but it isn't the end of my creative outlet/career prospects if they don't. It just delays those plans for a short time until I make something that truly WOW's someone in the right time and place.

So I've talked quite a bit about this particular muse. I guess it's because it's the one I can see in myself as what really brings me to life. The second one is what others have noticed that lights me up with energy and fun.

This second muse is in my job actually. I primarily photograph children. I'm told that when I interact with them I become quite radiant. Now I'm not able to share my work from the studio here online as I not only do not have the parents permission to do so, but these photos are also copyrighted by the company I work for. This being said I do have a few children's pictures that I've done while interacting with my nieces and nephews that I can share.
In this photo I have one of my 6 nieces. We had some fun taking this photo. In fact she had quite a bit to say about what was acceptable in her portrait. I look forward to when I get to do some more with her in the studio where I work.

This next one is with her brother. I find it quite natural to take portraits outside of the studio as well now. In some ways I find it quite hard not to keep up that quality that I strive for in the studio for my customers when I am out and about.

You see I would have to have anyone that knows me sworn to secrecy if they watch me work in a photo session. This is for at least a couple of reasons. The first being that if they told others that know me what they saw - no one would believe them anyways. The second is that it is totally amazing at what an adult would do to see a smile on a child and I really wouldn't want that to get out -- I after all do have a rep to protect.

So for now I find myself again content with where I am and if I some time down the road forget. I know that my muses will eventually remind me even if they end up having to smack me right between the eyes.

Struggles???

2007-06-18T23:15:00.000-06:00

Yes, you could say that I have been struggling a bit with my writing as well as my photography these days. I'm not even sure if it couldn't be said that it was a kind of writer's block but with taking photos instead. Now I know that I just came back from holidays and all - so I shouldn't really have any problems right? Well let me tell you when the rest of the world creeps into what you have a passion for it eventually gets to you.

For example: I've only been back for almost two weeks and already my occupation is coming home with me...literally. Don't get me wrong; it's not everyday that you can get paid to do something you have a passion for and really get to enjoy it. This being said though I'm finding it hard to draw that important line in the sand so that I can still enjoy photography as well as the rest of what life has to offer.

So what do you do? I'm sure I don't know right at this moment, however I think I will explore this question a bit more. I would love some suggestions from anyone out there reading this too. I guess for now I'll look at some past successes and try to draw inspriration from those and I let you know how it goes down the road.

For now though here is a couple more shots from England as I have a hard time leaving a post without any photos on it. Hope you all enjoy.

England: a Wonderful Place to Visit

2007-06-07T14:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I have returned from England with many memories to share with friends and family. I've come away with many possibilities for an album that I'm sure will be amazing. I can sound confident on this because I did take the time to follow some basic rules of engagement in photography. Some of them I've already shared with you; for example taking more than one picture of any given area or theme, changing my height or perspective and allowing for rules on a given area (like cathedrals or museums). During my travels I did manage to use all of these guidelines. Like most guidelines however; you also need to be willing to bend/crack/break them once in a while - but to also know when is appropriate to do so.

So how do you know when to "break the rules"? Well, for me it usually depends on a couple of things. One would be the mood I am in on a particular day and if I'm feeling like I just want to document an event or if I'm feeling quite creative (This sometimes happens within moments of each other). Going through my latest trips pictures I would have to say that over the course of seven days of touring that I have a mixture of both types of pictures. For example take a look at the following couple of examples.

This is part of Cambridge University, more particularly Kings College. I found myself taking more of a creative documentary type photograph here due to how the area was situated as well as the reflective respect it commands just by my standing in front of these buildings. Okay let's look at the next one... Here we have something a little more creative taken in one of the smaller pedestrian walkways around the corner almost. So you can see how one must go with the flow of the day, area and mood. Two totally different styles of photos taken the same day within an hour of each other.

Secondly I need to ask myself the question (and this is not limited to travel pictures but can be asked with any type of photograph you create): What message do I want to send to the viewer in my photographs?

To answer this question one does need to do a little thinking prior to taking their photographs. Could it be you aren't wanting to send a message at all and just want some memories for yourself? This is okay and please don't get me wrong here; but when you show your pictures to your friends and family in what ever media you choose, there is going to be a message sent intentional or not. For example if I just showed pictures like the above to people some might think that England is pretty stuffy or maybe even hard. Or some may think wow look how she captured how old the area is. Who knows, but wouldn't you like to encourage some emotion to the viewer and see if that was what you were going for? I once heard a saying that said this: "I don't care what the emotion is as long as people feel something in my work. When people stop feeling emotion in my photography then I will stop taking pictures". I agree with only part of this saying as I feel if people do not feel any emotion with my pictures than I've missed the boat and need to revisit why I took those photos in the first place. Take a look at a couple more examples here and see if you can see or feel anything towards this area of the world.

England is quite diverse. It goes from the extreme of pristine well groomed parks and yards to the overly busy streets of London to just having some fun. All of which could be missed if we went through life just looking down at our feet thinking only of what we needed to get done.

So until next time let's take time to look at the world around us and see if we can find something that some may have over looked
or that we ourselves have missed and allow ourselves the time to embrace and enjoy it.

Travel Bound

2007-05-29T13:17:00.001-06:00

Well, here I sit thinking about where I'm off to in a few short hours. The picture to the left is indeed your clue to where I'm off to.

As I was getting things packed I was trying to make sure I had everything that I needed and wanted. After all was said and done I almost forgot one thing that was very important. My travel journal. As I have written before the travel journal is a very important book to take with you when travelling. Here is where I put everything from who we visited to the weather and then if I've done something really special photography wise I'll also write down camera settings, so I'll have this information for later. I also keep this information in one place so that whether I'm doing a write up in my scrapbook of my journeys or need to look something up I'm not having to hunt around for this information.

The other things I was trying to make sure I had with me was an extra memory card and batteries. It's always a good idea to carry extras just in case. For example batteries are a big thing - without them the camera is about a 5lb dead weight in your backback (at least my digital SLR would be). This can be very frustrating if you run out of power and miss something spectacular. Not to mention when travelling abroad the cost of said batteries can very, but you can be rest assured that they'll most likely be more expensive than from home.

Now when it comes to the extra memory cards you may want to look into having at least one more than you plan on using while travelling. I read somewhere that it was recommended to have a few smaller size cards vs one really large one like a 2GB. The reasoning was that if one card fizzled for some reason you still had another one to fall back on and could still download and burn to a disk and then take more. If you had a large one like said 2GB and it fizzled thats 2GB of unusable memory. This would also depend I think on how far you were traveling as to whether or not it would make a huge difference. Like batteries if you were to buy another card while traveling it could very well be more expensive than home so I guess what I'm recommending is to take the time and have what you need before you leave so you can enjoy your travels to the fullest.

So I'm off on my travels and will of course be bringing back a pocket full of memories as well as some images that will be great of the sites and scenes of England. I'll catch everyone up when I get back. Who knows maybe I'll come back with a good lesson to share too - you never know.

So What's So Special About This Picture??

2007-05-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

So what is so special about this photo? Where do I start?

As I have mentioned in a previous post I carry my camera almost everywhere I go. Canada Day at Fort Edmonton Park (they call it Dominion Day down there) was no different. At the park there is always something going on and this day was no different. What made it super special was that it was marking a national holiday; so there were more people visiting than on a normal summer day. This gave me the perfect opportunity to get quite a few exposures of people dressed in period costume doing what people of the day would have been doing. What a great opportunity to practice some of the things learned and to experiment a little too.

I took quite a few photos in the park that day, but what makes this one stand out I think is the contrast of the modes of transportation. Both are from different eras, but found together in this one moment. Then to add to the mood I changed this to a black and white photo and added a slight tint to give it that nostalgic feel.

I really like my picture. The reason I took up photography in the first place was to see if I could produce pictures to display on my wall that looked like ones I saw in books, magazines or maybe even some of the calendars I've looked at and liked. What I didn't realize until I was creating my own images though was how passionate I was about photography. It was something that started off small and grew. Now I can say," I did that..." when someone asks about some of the photos on my wall.

But you know it even gets better for me now. Can you guess why? Let me tell you. About a couple of months ago I entered this very picture into a photography contest with Pictures.com. I didn't think anything would come of it, but thought what the heck lets try. I had almost forgotten about it and I hadn't told Hendrick about it either. Then what comes in the mail this week, but a letter from the International Library of Photography ( the underwriters of Pictures.com) stating that they felt that this photo was "artistically done" and would like to include it for publishing in their up coming coffee table book that they produce every year. I don't have to tell you how excited I was when Hendrick read the letter to me on the phone. It really made my day. Now I can say not only did I produce this photo, but also it is published in a international publication. It is grand to be recognized in this way, and it has helped me with a possible direction to focus more on. But, it has also taught me to continue to pursue and work on improving my art.So today I would like to also encourage you to also keep pursueing and improving on your art too.

Thanks for reading :)

And the Answer is...

2007-05-06T23:19:00.000-06:00

If you remember about two weeks ago I said that I would tell you which picture my young friend liked. He liked the frosted mountain ash berries. Something about thinking the frosted look was cool (no pun intended).

This leads me to my topic for this week. The topic is how everything in the artistic world photography included is prone to being liked or disliked depending on who the viewing audience is. It will also depend on the criteria they are looking for (in other words is it typically a subject matter or style that they gravitate to?) or there mood. So were does this leave us? Well for me I'm left with constantly having to make a choice.

Choice 1: Specialize in a specific market and not really take anything else. This option tends to be what a lot of wedding photographers will take. This is because these pictures are literally their bread and butter. So they will take the time to find out what the customer is buying and focus on those types of photos. This can be dangerous as you can eventually get board of taking the same classic shots at every event. But I guess that would be a possible sacrifice some are willing to take if it pays the bills.

Choice 2: Take a variety of different types and styles. Going where your mood takes you can be fun and maybe a bit freeing. However, it sometimes doesn't give a lot of time to get really good at any particular type or style of photography.

Choice 3: To give yourself the stability with choice 1 but give yourself some time to experiment like in choice 2. Who knows maybe you'll find yourself a new style. You see if one doesn't take the time once in a while to try new things they may never know if they can be better in another area or not. Besides choice 1 will only go so far if you don't keep up with the current trends.

So where does this leave someone like me? Well it may sound a little cynical but there will always be someone out there critiquing my work. So I choose regularly to not take the critique too much to heart as there will almost always be someone else down the road who will like something better than my own worst critic... me.

Ah, Jasper

2007-04-24T21:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know it's not Sunday yet and you all still have time to put your votes in on the last post. But, I really wanted to share with everyone some cool shots I took while in Jasper. You know you're an avid photobug type person when you manage to take more than the equivilent of 6 rolls of film in aproximately a 24 hour period. You guessed it - I managed to do just that. Now I am still in the editting stage of things, however here are some of my favorites. Hope you like...

Some Elk crossing the river just outside of Jasper.

Took a little time to expose this one at Maligne Canyon's 5th bridge...I just like this one, because the water lines looked cool

Hendrick really likes this one I did at Pyramid Lake... and finally my altimate favorite from Athabasca Falls

What's Your Point of View?

2007-04-22T15:36:00.000-06:00

Today I was reminded that like all art photography is subject to point of view or personal likes and dislikes if you will. This came about when my husband and I had some friends and family over for lunch after church and some of our guests were looking at one of my table books of photos that I had made last year. I had asked "which photo was it that you liked best?" I was surprised with his answer as I personally didn't think it was the best picture I had submitted for this book. So I decided to get a broader point of view from you the reader. So here are your choices:

Choice #1

Mountain Ash Tree berries with frost

Choice #2

A unique view of Athabasca Falls, Jasper National Park, Alberta in late winter.

And Finally Choice #3

A tamarack branch in sepia tones

So, today I am asking for you the reader to cast your vote via posting a comment. I also suggest that you would give a reason why you chose the photo that you did. Next week we will go into more details in this area. I will also tell you which choice my young friend chose as part of our discussion.

Happy snapping.

What's Your Favorite Position?

2007-04-16T22:02:00.000-06:00

Now before you get all excited let me let you down easy. I'm still talking about the world of photography. My question though is this: Do I as a photographer always use the same stance in all of my photo taking? Do I always stand with my feet at shoulder width apart? Do I mix it up a bit? Well if you were to look over the photos that you've taken over the last year what would your answer be?

For myself and quite a few others we have learned to vary our positions to get better angles on our plain (the photographers canvas). For example the picture to the right I took while standing on a bridge at Rundle Park. The next picture you see will be a similar spot a bit further down the bridge with the added exception of taking the exposure while laying on my stomach. Can you see any difference in how the horizon is placed in these two photos? Some may not with most nature photography, but the trained eye can probably tell more easily.

Basically I would encourage all photo bugs out there to mix up how they take even the most everyday type of photograph. For example experiment with views like a birds eye (looking down), worms eye view (laying on the ground) or a child's eye (on your knees). I should mention with the worms eye view that you actually have a choice in your view stance. You could lay flat on your stomach and look out in front of you; or you could lay on your back and look up. The latter is great for getting a unique look at some trees with the sky. Again if you mix things up a bit you will add to your photography in ways that you possibly may not have imagined . Pictured to the right is an example of a worms eye view looking up.

So what images have you missed out on because you didn't allow yourself the possibilities of where your imagination could lead you as well as to get a little dirty to change your point of view of the world around you?

More food for thought :)

Where do You get Your Inspiration From?

2007-04-08T23:08:00.000-06:00

Have you ever wondered what it was about something you saw that made you want to take a piece of it home with you? It usually comes with many emotions all rolled into one. For example when my husband and I went to Waterton National Park we found ourselves quite awe struck to say the least.

This area is one of a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites as well as a Peace park as it shares the border with Glacier National Park in Montana. So you can see what a special place it is on its own. For us however these accreditation's meant nothing to us until we went there. We now long to go back and enjoy this wonderful area. The above picture is of Upper Waterton Lake meeting with Middle Waterton Lake. I could give you a lot of information on this area because we love it so much, unfortunately I would be straying from my intended point.

I recently read an article from a photographer talking about what had inspired him to pursue photography. It got me thinking about what was it that inspired me to take some of the photos I've taken in the past. I have to say that Waterton and area is one of many areas that has inspired me. I often think of it as Alberta's most precious but hidden jewel when it comes to our National Park system. Coming here was like getting a new breath of life like I never new before. (I must say that getting a new breath here is not that difficult as it is also one of the most windiest places around).

I get my inspiration from here because of it's majesty and diversity. It is often said that this area "is where the prairies meet the mountains". I didn't know what was meant by that until we travelled there. You literally could see where the changes begin. While traveling from the town site to an area called Red Rock Canyon (pictured right) we did see this in plain site. One minute you have prairie grass with black-eyed Susan's swaying in the wind and the next was mountain rock coming out of the hills. Don't get me wrong I love visiting all of our mountain parks as I seem to come more alive and attuned to things when there. But this area I will always keep close to me inside and remember how I felt when taking my first look around. Where else can you find a waterfall smack in the middle of town or get a good close look at a glacier going into a lake. Truly this is an inspirational area.

Do you have a special place that inspires you? If not I would encourage you to search your heart and memories to find what makes you come alive and pursue that area. I am desperately passionate about nature photography I think the most. And I think it is because it brings me closer to the one who created it all in the first place. You see when I look at all this splendor I know in my deepest part of me that their is no way these areas just happened by accident.

Let me leave you with one last photo of this extraordinary area and may you be able to come alive with your passions as well.

Are We Counting the Days Until Vacation Time?

2007-04-01T23:08:00.000-06:00

So, how many days until your next vacation? For myself and my husband it is approximately 19 days until we head off to Jasper for our 16th Anniversary. Now some of you may not think a weekend in Jasper counts as a vacation. I guess it all depends on what your definition is. According to the Oxford Canadian Dictionary vacation is defined as follows; "a period of several days or weeks spent away from work or school etc. used especially for recreation and travel; a holiday." I would go further in my definition to include any time away from the regular routine of life. So even though we are only gone for a couple of days it is very much out of our regular routine and away from work and home. I know some of you may be thinking - how does this go with my theme of photography? Well I'll tell you. No matter where I go I almost always have my camera with me. You never know when an opportune moment will arise. Also when going away I will always make time for photos and Jasper is no different.

The idea that I wanted to share with vacations and photography though is this: Never just take one picture of an idea unless the subject moves or you are just passing through and there is no time for more than one. If you look at some of the examples I've included this time you'll begin to understand my statement a bit more clearly. Take this scene on the right here. This was taken at Athabasca Falls just out side of Jasper with a 300 mm lense. It looks nice and I was able to get nice and close safely. (Safety will be another topic down the road). But what if I just left it at that? Would another angle have been better? Should I have zoomed out and alowed more of the scene? Without exploring these possibilities you really don't know what you are going to like when you get your photos into post production (after all there will have been so many by the end of your vacation). So I looked around after taking this exposure, which I do like and have put into a special book that I had made through Snapfish.com., and look what I found for another scene very close to this area... (picture to the left). If I had just snapped and ran so to speak I would have only had one picture of a area that is continously changing by natures erosion. I now have more than one to look at and to choose from when I put together a nature scene portfolio. Or in my holiday scrapbook I can now choose more or less of what I want to show of the area.

This brings me to another point with vacation photographs. Take a travel journal with you and take the time to journal things like locations, dates, history of the area, the weather, and for the avid photographer - camera settings so you can document your photos more acuately later. Why would I want to document my photos with camera settings? The reasoning is simple. What if you were in a creative mood and tried a few things out to see what they would look like? Then discover that you like the affect you created but now can not recall how you created that exposure to duplicate it again down the road. Learning to document your work early will save time in experimentation later. This also helps you encourage other budding photographers if you know what you did incase they would like to try something similar with you as their inspiration.

I could go on about more vacation photography tips and ideas, but I'll save that for another time. For now this food for thought has enough to mull over.

See you next time :)

Why Pictures are Important

2007-03-25T20:44:00.000-06:00

When you think about your family you can usually recall what they look like rather quickly. However, there was a time when pictures were not so readily available. Do you remember or know of someone who can tell you what your great grandparents or great, great grandparents looked like? Some may say yes and others may say no. Most of us (who were born in the late 70's) have no memory of our great grandparents.The people who say no usually have a reason like the family member didn't like getting their pictures taken or maybe they couldn't afford it and never got around to it. I can say that I am among some of the fortunate as I actually have a picture that has four generations in it (photographed when I was a baby).There was myself, my father, grandfather and great grandfather - something I will always keep.

My family has taken up the hobby of genealogy over the past couple of years. As fasinating as it is to find out the history of one's family, we've often thought that it would be helpful to see what our ancestors looked like as well as to see which family traits have followed through to the most recent of generations.

We've also found how important it is to have a nice recent photo of our older members of the family. About eleven years ago my brother had gotten married. This was the last major family function my grandmother made it to. As it happened this was also the last time she had a nice picture taken where she still looked herself. I'm not sure if it was that particular picture that was used at her funeral or not, however I still have a copy of that picture so that I can show it to future generations the family who have come before them.

A couple of things we can do to preserve these memories could be as simple as taking grandma to the studio for a nice picture for her birthday. Or maybe start a tradition with your family now - once every couple of years (more often if the eldest family member is on the frail side) have as many of the grandchildren you can get together over and have a picture as a group with grandma or maybe even a great aunt. Some may think this is a hassle now, but I'm sure they will apreciate those photo's later.

Okay we've talked a lot about why we should have these pictures done. Now what? What do we do with them? There are a few things you will want to consider. The first would be to make sure everyone who wants a copy of that picture gets one; even if it's a small wallet size. The next thing you may want to consider is to have an extra copy put away properly archived - to make sure that photo lasts for generations to come. While archiving that extra print take the time to jot down a bit of information about that time. For example: everyone's names (don't leave it to chance that someone will remember down the road who is who - after all, we all change), the year and where it was taken. These are a minimum; you may also want to add something of a special note like that it was the grandparents 50th birthday at that time as well.

In the age of digital photography it isn't too hard to make any time that special picture day. Just make sure that those digital files get printed as you don't want to go to all that effort and then have a virus go through your files before you had a chance to print a copy. Once a copy has been made at least then it can be scanned and you can make additional copies if something devestating like a computer virus should take your memories away.

So you don't think that I don't follow my own advise, here is a quick shot taken of my husband and myself at his parents anniversary party. Yes, even the photographer has to get in front of the camera some time; otherwise how does anyone know that you were there?

Stay tuned for more food for thought next time.

Wedding Photography Etiquettte

2007-03-19T23:11:00.000-06:00

Weddings are a great time for everyone. You get together with friends and family that you haven't necessarily seen since the last big get together. Weddings are also alot of work. When it comes to having everything arranged and paid for. For the avid shutterbug it's also an opportunity to capture family memories.

With wedding season approaching quite quickly I thought I would bring up a couple things that I've seen over the past few years of attending these wonderful gatherings in the area of photography etiquette.

The first thing I would recommend to all the couples getting married this year is to consider having your officiant announce the request that during the ceremony that only the official (the one getting paid) photographer(s) take the pictures. Also that there will be time set aside to take pictures of the couple later at the end of the ceremony. It may sound mean to the friends and family attending, however let me explain why. The official photographer is the one getting paid to get those special moments for the couple captured. Consider for example when there are flashes bouncing from all directions in the room how difficult it is for the photographer to get the proper effect he was trying to catch. So enjoy the ceremony listen to those instructions the officiant is giving the couple before making those vows and let it bring you back in time when it was your turn up there. I'm sure if you ask; the couple will make the proofs available to you to order your own set of memories. I know what you're going to say - "But the photographer charges too much". To this I ask wouldn't you do the same thing if this was your creativity being displayed everywhere? This is their livelihood and you are paying for quality not to mention the time in editing.

If you are going to watch the bridal party get their formal pictures done make sure the photographer, who has set up the composition that you are about to take a snap shot of, gets his shot first. It's only right that the one who did the work get the first shot don't you think? While I'm here though I would like to suggest to the paid photographer, whoever you may be, to be nice about those snap shot photographers. I say this for a couple of reasons. The first being you are the "professional". You are above making funny faces (I've seen it happen) not to mention you know that your work can and does stand up on it's own. And the snap shots really are not taking anything away from you except the future business you lost when you made those scowls.

So those are the basics. All else is really fair game. Take time to take pictures of things other than the couple and their party. For example some of the decorations; a lot of them have been hand crafted these days and deserve some recognition. I should mention that unless directed to not all official photographers take the time to do this either. So you could help the couple out by capturing some extra memories that tend to get forgotten about after the bride walks down the isle.

I hope that this has given a little food for thought. See you next time

Can you see the difference...

2007-03-11T21:34:00.000-06:00

There are so many different types of photography out there today. Each type captures a different part of our life. To name a few we have: landscape or scenic, still life, portraiture (this would include things like your wedding photos or visiting your local portrait studio), or photo journalism (found primarily in your news paper or news like magazine). Someone once said to me that not all photography is art - this set me back for a moment as I needed to take some time to think about this and even ask the question - "Is their a difference?" I am happy to say that after looking over some of the different pieces I've seen I can still say that all photography is art. Here is why I think so.

I've included a few examples of different types of photography. They are all of different subject matter. But now I ask you the reader, "Is any one of these pieces not art? Can you see the difference? How are they the same?"

Let's answer these together. First I believe that they are all art. I didn't include any photojournalism as this is not my strong area, however I do include it as art. You see art is not whether it looks good on a wall. Art will tell a story, even encourage one to use their imagination. Take the picture to the left here. Do you look at it and say, "Oh, that's kinda cool" and just leave it at that? Or do you look again later and ponder things like "I wonder what she's thinking about?"

So is their a difference between these three photos? The obvious answer is yes; but why are they different? What makes them unique to themselves? The first picture of the sunset I'll admit has to do with timing. The colors change so fast at sunset you do need to be ready and have an idea of what you want your finished product to look like. However, it falls into the category of landscape/scenic. This is art because it takes time to compose the view you want to show. And how about the angle it was taken at? I could go on and on, but I won't right now. The second picture is under the category of portraiture. Not all portraits are taken in a studio. Studio portraits though take just as much time and creativity as those in natural habitat. Some would say it takes more. And finally this last photo to the right. I have to say this is an area I like to play with. You see I am a portrait photographer in a family studio and I don't get to do this kind of work as much as I would like to. Still life takes the most time of them all. You see not only do you have to decide on what your subject is, but you also have to decide on how you are going to set up the entire piece. You ask yourself, "What message do I want to send to the viewer?" You take about three to four times more time just dreaming, conceiving and setting up the "pose" than you do making the image with your camera.

But are the same too? Yes, in their differences they are still art.

Photography is an Art

2007-03-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

The first thing that I would like to start this page with is this - "Photography is an Art". I have heard so many people view different photographers work and dismiss it because it was something they felt was an everyday image. All photographers take a fair amount of time composing their images. Take this one comment I heard a while ago. The picture was of a tree in the morning and the viewer said something to the effect of "It's a tree - I can take a picture of a tree, what's so special about that?" So the picture was of a tree let's look at behind the scenes of this one piece of art.

So we'll start with the time - the photographer was at that particular site probably over a half dozen times and at different times of day to see what this one tree looked like in the different lights available during these times. How light highlights the subject will make or break a picture.

The next thing the photographer in question will have pursued would be exploring the different angles that could be captured. What would the viewer see if they climbed another tree or if they layed down on the ground looking up at the tree, or something in between. These are all things that the photographer/artist will look into before taking even one picture.

I am not going to go into all the different things that most avid photographers do as each artist has their own personal way of creating that image for people to enjoy or critique. I will say though that it entails more than just taking a snap shot and hoping for the best.

I hope my first entry has given some food for thought when looking at other artists work. To finish off here is one of my latest pieces of art - happy viewing.

2007-03-05T22:28:00.000-07:00