Negative Image Effect

In photography, you need to edit your photos. Some photos lend themselves to more editing than others. Sometimes you just have one certain photo that you just can't help playing around with.

I like to push the limits of what you normally see in photography, but that is what makes a true photographer, right? Someone who isn't afraid to go beyond the "traditional" shots. If you don't push the limits you end up walking in the footsteps of all that came before. So I make some detours here and there and what I come up with is very worth while.

Take this photo for example:


A beautiful photo of the Cape Henry Lighthouses, here in Norfolk Va. While this is a very nice photo on its own, I had to play around with it some.

I changed the look to reflect a negative image. This effect darkened the light areas and lightened the dark areas. The clouds that had blended into the sky in the original image stood out and now produces an eerie feel. Here is the altered photo:

The photo now looks kinda post-apocalyptic but in a very interesting way. It is not something that you see everyday in photography. Admittedly, some photos are better left to the motto, less is more. However, sometimes you just have to go with your gut and push the envelope. Sometimes it does work out and what you will have is a photo that not only speaks to you but emits a feeling.

Photography in today's culture allows for trying new things. Since we have entered the digital age, it is easier to produce effects like this. If you try it and you don't like it, easy peasy change it back. It's so easy to try out cool effects and see what fits the mood of your photo. For me, the mood for this photo is very dark and eerie, almost depressing but it keeps drawing you in.

Leia Mais...

Great News!

I have some great news, while I have yet to get some of my older images back, I am working on getting some of my newer images ready to be adding.

So I will be giving you all some hints as to what will be coming soon.

I have some air show pictures coming. These are amazing so if you love planes, this will be perfect for you. I am still working on editing these and boy do I have some amazing shots.

Also coming soon are more of my darker and haunting photos.

Leia Mais...

Lost photos

Well I have had a bit of misfortune. My computer hard drive with ALL of my photography and my portfolio crashed a little while back. Of course, it does this the day before I scheduled to back everything up on disk... Don't ya just love it.

So, while I had all my photos here on my ArtFire shop for sale, they have now been taken down for the time being. The only photos I still have up are the ones I still had either on my memory card or on my old computer.

Good news, is that as we speak, my photos are being retrieved from the old drive and will be back in my possession soon. So until that time, the only photos that I can update with would be new ones. And that might happen if it ever stops raining and being just generally miserable.

I will also be updating this blog with some of my columns for HandmadeNews as I begin to discuss composition and this will play perfectly with my plans here. So as I show photos here that relate, you can also read the tips for achieving the same composition in your own photos.

If you have not already done so, check out HandmadeNews.org and read up on articles in all forms of crafting as well as my own photography tips and techniques.

Leia Mais...

Leading Lines

I had a project in my Photography class that dealt with leading lines. This is a composition in which the photographer draws the eye to a subject by using lines such as a railroad track. The lines will begin very wide and draw you down as they get closer together. This got me to thinking... What would happen if you only used a single line to draw the same type of composition but getting a different perspective.

You can see my leading line photo:




This photo draws your eye down the road as you see the colors of the leaves as they are turning for the fall season. A very traditional leading line shot, to be quite honest. I could have added more depth even if I had a bicyclist on the road but this was the best I could do while standing in the middle of the road hoping that a car didn't run me over.

I wanted to shoot something that still used lines to draw attention but didn't have the traditional look of leading lines. So I went to Yorktown Beach and walked over to this pier. I shot some regular leading line shots and then I looked off to the side. That is where I got this idea and this photo is what came of that...




This is looking down the side of the pier with the beach in the foreground, the pier off to the side. I also chose to leave in the jut of the rocks on the right so that it added to the depth. The clouds add a bit of a surreal look as they rolled out. It was right after a storm so they added a bit of texture to the photo as they were not just solid white.

This is what happens when you push the limits of the traditional and make your own path. Sometimes it works and sometimes you crash and burn, but if you don't try, you'll never know. You have to fall a few times to learn. I have taken so many pictures that I just look at and then delete because they honestly look like crap. I have tried things that didn't work out but at least I know that now and I will try something different later on.

Leia Mais...

French Cross

This photo is very historical and definitely for those that love the past and are big history or war buffs.




I took this photo along Surrender Field which is a scenic loop drive in Yorktown, Va. It is very close to the Colonial Parkway as well as the Battlefields. This particular cross is a marker for about 50 unidentified French soldiers during the Siege of Yorktown. This Siege marked the allegiance of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau against the British Army led by General Lord Cornwallis. This also was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War.

I shot this photo in the late fall of 2008. I loved the blanket of leaves and the rust colored mums that surrounded the marker in front of the cross. I then edited it in the Cross Process technique to highlight the fall colors and give it a little more of a surreal feel. I love how the neutral colors just come to life. In this photograph I have raised the intensity of the process slightly to accentuate the colors that would normally blend into the background.


You can see the markers for this area at this website: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11144

Leia Mais...

Introduction and a bit about me

I am a work at home wife who pretty much enjoys anything I can do to create things. I live on the coast of Virginia and am near a lot of history and really amazing places. I love to see something that I made with my own two hands form into a piece of art. I started out designing jewelry and then expanded that into chainmaille. I went back to school and enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography and began to really concentrate on my photos. I began to expand my online shops further with the addition of my photographs. I also sew and make items for Home Decor. I am always working on creating something, whether it be art in the form of something you wear or something to place in your home.

This blog is going to about photography that pushes the limits. This is my style of Photography, photography that is beyond the boundaries of tradition. Unique views of the world around us and the perception that anything is possible. I break the limits of photography and my photos are not what you would see in the local gallery window. These photos are breaking the limits of traditional photography.

I have grown up seeing amazing photos from some of the best photographers. I have often wondered what sets them apart from the next person who goes to that spot to take a photo. When I began photography school, I started to understand that it's all in the eye of the photographer. I want to stand out, I want to have photos that are not seen all the time. I have a different perspective than most. I like things a little darker and maybe a little more morbid than the next photographer.

I like shooting digital but I still have a soft spot for the effects of film. I enjoy taking my digital shots and adding different effects to give them a certain ambiance. I will be showing some of my work and the effects used to produce the shots. My prints are available for sale and can be purchased from this blog. I will be showing some of my regular photography as well as my more unique prints so you never know what I might be shooting next.

Leia Mais...