Bruton Parish Church

I am usually one of those people who shy away from architectural photos. Mainly because if you get it off center too much, it looks like the building is falling over. Now unless you are squished under the building, it really shouldn't look like that.

Now, that being said, I couldn't help but take a photo of this church in Colonial Williamsburg. It is historical and beautiful, in a haunted and creepifying way. Now I took this photo along the back side of the main steeple. The effects I added in post edit, just to add to the creepy feel. Which one is better? I really can't tell, I like both of them in their own way.

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American Beauty

I love seeing how 1 theme can be captured in so many different ways. It all reflects the same image but each photo can produce completely different emotions when you look at them.

During a recent trip to Pennsylvania, my husband took this photo. Such an interesting image and so emotional as well.

It really pulls an emotional string when you look at it. You can almost feel the chill and it really is hard to pull yourself away from it.

Now this next photo, I took while on base at Fort Story. I was walking along the beach taking photos of the waves and this image caught my eye. Adding the black and white tone makes it feel more somber.


The framing with the trees adds to the emotional state and the overall feel of the photo.

The emotion that you feel from both photos are so different and yet the subject is the same. This just shows that any subject can produce different effects, you just have to see what you want it to say, how you want it to feel.

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Barnacles

Working with macro is something that I love. Getting up close and personal with your subject (as long as that subject doesn't bite). You can find some amazing things when you look closely at something.

I was down at the River taking some photos, actually retaking photos. Ever since I lost my last computer worth of photos when my computer crashed, I have been working on trying to get some of them back. At least reshooting as close as I can get to the original. Well I decided to get a pretty awesome shot underneath the fishing pier, seeing as how I am a sucker for leading line shots. Well anyway, as I was under the pier I noticed something that had the potential for a great shot. This is what I saw:


The texture of the barnacles is what caught me the most. I tilted the camera to gain depth of field so the closest barnacles are blurred and then they get clearer the further out they get. The reason I did that was so the composition would let you see the texture and not just the barnacles. The point I wanted to make with this photo was that anything has potential to be a photograph. It just depends on how you want to see it and what feeling you want to convey.

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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.

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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.

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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...

Brackens Pond - Colonial Parkway

As you drive down the road you never really know what events have happened there unless you have really done your homework on the area. Well, if you live in a historic area where there are numerous haunts, you tend to find them all out in a relative short amount of time.

The Colonial Parkway is a scenic drive that goes from Yorktown, Va through Williamsburg and all the way up to Jamestown Island. Its a beautiful drive and full of history itself. There are several pull offs that you can stop and take a walk to the waterfront of the James River and there are even areas that are no longer open to the public unless you park 5 miles down and walk into. (I will be doing that this summer when it's warm so we'll see what I get then). There are also several little swamps and ponds along the way. I took this picture at a pond that boasts a little bit of haunted history.




This is Brackens Pond and the photo was shot looking through some branches on the bank. (I think it kinda adds to the spookyness of the shot) It was then edited with a Daguerreotype finish to give it that deep black and white tone.

The Story:
A long time ago in the Colonial days when people used horse and carriage to get from place to place, this area used to be a well traveled path. Some say it was a dirt road while others say it was cobblestone that got replaced when they made the Parkway. Well, a group of people were traveling down this road one night and as they neared the pond, something spooked the horse. The horse bolted to the side of the road, lost its footing and fell into Brackens Pond taking the whole carriage along with the people into the pond. It was said that the people passing by couldn't get to them fast enough and when they finally was able to get to them, no one, not even the horse survived.

Now, if you drive by this pond, there is a pull off on the other side of the road where you can park your car and get out. If you come out at night and sit and listen, you can still hear the sound of the horses hooves on the road today. When they get to the side of the pond, they vanish...


*********************************DISCLAIMER****************************************
I am stating the obvious here... I am only retelling ONE of the NUMEROUS stories about this particular ghost story. This is in no way to be taken in any other way except for entertainment.

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