Old Mama Dog, New Tricks

By the Book...Father of the Bride

2012-01-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

We are trying to catch up from two daughters getting married last year. Part of that is editing and scrapbooking the photographs taken. This is a photograph Samantha took of her father preparing to give the wedding ceremony the next day. He is going over his notes and the scriptural references in his well used bible. The wedding dress is hanging on the left. If you would like to see how this beautiful 1930's Southern Tea Party wedding under autumn trees turned out, watch the amazing video by madeulook photography... Samantha & Joshua get married

Photograph by Samantha Smith

It is a perfect entry for this weeks challenge "By the book" at Iheartfaces. You can see many other wonderful entries here!

So what's my best of 2011?

2012-01-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

I took lots of portraits last year...it was my focus to improve my skills in capturing my subjects in a variety of settings. I also shot my youngest daughters engagement in Joshua National Park, my newest grandson and my middle daughter's engagement in an old fashioned small town main street. Since I could never choose between children and grandchildren, I am choosing this maternity session of a friends daughter.

Cameron and Cherelle are young parents to be, but not like the reality television version. Becoming parents made them reflect on life, they looked forward to welcoming their baby with love for him and each other. They are eager to learn how to be better parents despite any difficulty in their own childhoods. I wanted to capture the innocence in them that isn't easily apparent. I wanted to capture the joy they were feeling as this baby grew unseen in his mama's belly.

Rolling up their pants to splash in a pool in the summer heat was initially uncomfortable for them but once they got into the fun of just enjoying each other...being "cool" didn't matter. This is the last photograph from that day, they were amazed at their image, that they could be "country" and love it so much.

There are so many photographers out there who want to be noticed, some just moms who take pictures for fun. No matter why they take pictures, they also have favorites entered into Iheartfaces.com best of 2011 challenge. See them here!

51/52 Lighting Essentials Project 52

2012-01-04T15:36:00.000-08:00

I came in late on a 52 week project with the Lighting Essentials group on flickr and wish I had been there for the whole 52. GOOD NEWS! It is starting over again in 2012. This project was started by a photographer who writes books and teaches highly rated lighting workshops, Don Giannatti. If you want to improve your photography and learn more about the photography business, I suggest you join us!

You can learn more about this online workshop project at http://project52.org/ and see some of the assignments that were done in 2011 as well as what's upcoming. The online workshop includes live weekly critiquing. You will improve your photography, interact with many talented photographers and have lots of fun. If you need to be talked into it, check this out!

This final assignment for 2011 is a book cover. It really is a journal idea for the next year's assignments going forward. My blog is kind of a journal of my photography efforts. It's going to be a busy year!

1/365 Paella

2012-01-01T20:51:00.000-08:00

Yeah, finally getting around to doing a 365 project. I want to see how much I improve over the year.

Now I know what you're thinking...365 days of posting? 365 days of what?

Isn't this supposed to be about photography. YES! EXACTLY! But guess what? My recently married daughter, the last one to leave thereby giving me a new lease on life TOOK MY CARD READER! So I will be taking photogaphs for a 365 but when they will be posted is a different matter altogether. I would buy a new one, they are certainly inexpensive enough...but I spent my last money on the meal I photographed for the first image of my 365 project.

$200.00 of beautiful mussels, clams and shrimp on a saffron scented bed of fluffy rice made flavorful with handmade andouille sausage (filling in for spanish chorizo) and garlicky chicken served with a beautiful salad and a fruity, lush sangria for 16. I spent every last penny of my last paycheck on this gorgeous meal that you can only imagine until I get my memory card reader back or buy a new one with the next paycheck on friday. Do you think I can get away with a description only on the recipe blog?

Edited! Here is the Paella photograph. I can see some things I could have done to improve the photograph. There are too many empty glasses in the picture. I should have moved them out and maybe moved a couple of full glasses of Sangria in as well as a basket of bread. Food photography is a little harder when you have hungry people waiting to eat it!

So Life Is Just Too Much Fun!

2011-11-27T22:57:00.001-08:00

I have been absent from my blog planning my youngest daughter"s wedding and recovering from my middle daughter's wedding three months ago. I immediately posted the few photographs of Samantha's wedding (which was yesterday) on flickr to share with friends and to post anything other people may have taken.

My three girls love to tease each other and laugh. All day long they were quoting lines from wedding movies. I think this photograph shows them laughing over a mean quote from "Bride Wars", you know how sisters can blurt out the same thing at the same time? It was an unbelievably wonderful day and I don't want to go back to regular workaday life just yet.

If you need a good laugh, join images from other photographers in this weeks Iheartfaces.com challenge called "Bust a Gut" on Monday November 28! Have Fun!

So it's all about the sun flare...and how we love it!

2011-09-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

How we love to photography in the late afternoon/early evening because of the sun and how we love the sun flare! It adds to the mood of a photograph, giving it a warmth and joy we want in our images.

Once I took some images to be printed by a local processing lab and the owner chastised me in the rudest terms for our amateur images, that sun flare is a poor cover up for good technical skills. As I looked around at the prints on display, I saw 80's style photography and composition I would consider unappealing. I know how well my daughter knows her camera and how hard we have both studied to hone our technical skills so that our images need very little editing straight out of the camera. We have become familiar with all types and styles of photography (because I just happen to have a rather large collection of vintage photography/books/magazines from conducting estate sales) in order to train our photographic eye. She didn't change my mind about our love of the sun, sure it can be overused and there are lot's of ways to use light in a photograph. That's the fun of photography and thank goodness for sites like Iheartfaces that embrace the sunflare!

This image is from an engagement shoot that I styled for my photographer daughter's engagement session with a couple of other up and coming photographers in Joshua Tree National Park. The session was just so much fun and so beautiful. We had the best weather and a wonderful picnic as well. I was able to take a few pictures myself despite being the "mexican pack mule", chef and stylist for the shoot. This is my own unique image with my favorite antique silk parasol. Our website will have more images from all the photographers the first of October.

You can see more wonderful entries featuring THE SUN here!

White Feather a la Marie Antoinette

2011-08-28T16:12:00.000-07:00

My middle daughter just got married and the obvious choice for an entry to the white challenge on Iheartfaces would of course, be... a bride in her wedding gown. But my favorite photograph that I took from that day was this one of my youngest daughter. The hairdresser was inspired by a photograph my daughter had given her and she ended up with a very Marie Antoinette look. The hairdresser told her she could give her hair a more platinum blond look by powdering chalk on a nail file and dusting her hair. I can't believe my little tomboy has grown into this beautiful young woman who loves to primp and dress so girly, who loves shoes and pretty things.

We all agreed she looked very french, very Marie Antoinette. (Can you believe she is half Mexican? If I didn't have her at home, I would have taken her back to the hospital thinking she wasn't mine because she was born with strawberry blonde hair) A creamy white peacock feather was added for the final touch and I had to photograph her satisfied face, happy with how she looked.

This photograph was taken in natural light and processed using Flora Bella Luxe II collection using "Milk"...what else for a white challenge? You can see more wonderful entries featuring WHITE here!

Oh that beautiful baby! Those beautiful baby eyes!

2011-08-14T21:42:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing is to take closeups of baby faces, feet and hands for a triptych. This little girl has the most amazing big brown eyes framed by pretty eyelashes that twinkle along with her shy smile. I like it best in black and white so her eyes are featured. It is a fitting entry for the beautiful eyes challenge at Iheartfaces. You can see more beautiful eyes here

New BFF for LIFE!

2011-08-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

The new grandson is here and he has a built-in BFF in his big brother! I was practicing my newborn photography and JoJo's big brother Dominic wanted to get close. It's funny that when he talks the baby opens his eyes real big and turns his head right towards his big brother. We will all enjoy them growing up together and we know they will be the best of friends. I think this is the perfect entry for the new Iheartfaces challenge on friends.

You can see other other entries here.

...so I love props of all kinds with kids photography, but sometimes it's the simple things that make a memorable shot.

2011-07-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

I have buckets and blankets, wagons, pinwheels, baskets and platters, knitted cocoons, tutus and headbands, fedoras and beanies, vintage suitcases, typewriters and telephones. I have backdrops of all sorts from fabrics, boards, tin and printed professional nonglare vinyl/canvas. Because of years spent in the antiques business, I entered into children's photography ready for any type of image a parent could desire.

But it's not always about the props, it's about the kids. Not stiff posed kids but sweet innocent children who believe that the prop is a real part of the moment. That's the hard part. That's what I am good at.

I am the oldest kid in the studio. I am the kid that didn't have any toys (or friends) in childhood, or that took the pain of my childhood out on the few toys I had...I didn't deserve them. I wasn't good enough.* So I become the child along with the one I am photographing. I am excited to play with these toys and share them with my new friends, we have a good old time.

I noticed with my own children that the toys rarely got played with regularly. They preferred the box or the adventure of imagination. We played together making costumes, blanket forts and tea parties. I now chase my grandson, crawling on all fours as a dog or a cat. We play peekaboo and marching band with the pots and wooden spoons.

His baby brother is due any day now. I wanted a picture of him interacting with the baby in his mama's belly. We've been reading books about babies, I wonder how real all of this is to him. So I made him a new toy to "talk" to the baby with. This is a shot of that interaction. You can see more shots of this 10 minute mini session on my Facebook fan page.

See more images with props at Iheartfaces latest challenge here.

*Note: I am fortunate that my family has overcome the challenges we all suffered when I was a child and I have a wonderful relationship with my parents. They love being great grandparents and I look forward their continued wisdom in my life.

...so crazy can be whimsical (in a photographer), right?

2011-06-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

I look like a normal baby boomer grandmother but inside I cherish the wonder of a little girl, I have a running quirky commentary asking "WHY?" and can be quite the smarty pants. That's why I love photography. I can express that in my photography. I think that's where my daughter Samantha get's her slightly off center point of view in her photography as well. Is that what whimsy is?

When my oldest daughter had a bug party we helped plan and made a photo booth as well as photographed the festivities. Samantha did the face painting and this is her favorite shot from that day in the Iheartfaces.com whimsy challenge. You can see more whimsical images here!

So trying to photograph a large family with boys is like trying to catch a greased pig...

2011-06-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

it can be done but it'll wear everybody out! Well maybe it wasn't all that bad but it was hard! My baby brother and his family were out for the weekend, celebrating their son's gaduation in my backyard as a family graduation pool party. The next day I wanted to take a family portrait for them and they brought clothes to wear (mom brought an assortment of outfits...so fun).

I had hoped to get them up early while the morning overcast was still around but not only would they not get up, they had a hard time getting going as well. I didn't want their mom to stress out at them because I probably wouldn't get a happy family picture that way so we just worked with what they gave us. That's the real Chavez family anyway, we don't sit still well and we don't go until we are good and ready.

This is one of three places I photographed them. Before I took this one, I had them jump around, kick like ninjas and wrestle a little. The boys love this one and I am happy with the attitude mom has, just going with it even though she wanted to strangle them all morning. The session took about an hour and I am tempted to make a stop motion of all their shenanigans it took to get the shots. I wish we didn't have the harsh summer morning sun but it is what it is. What do you think?

To see more images of boys, this weeks theme on Iheartfaces.com just go here!

So the theme is yellow...

2011-05-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

for Iheartfaces.com weekly challenge. This image is from an engagement session I did with my daughter that was so much fun with the cutest couple! You can have a sneak peak of our new website and a stopmotion video of their complete session at an abandoned mansion that was so cool...

at Vintage Modern Photography...Look for the cinema tab to see it. Heidi and Brett love the movie "Benny & Joon" and that was the inspiration for their engagement pictures. Here they are in a field of yellow wild flowers. You can see more images inspired by yellow HERE!

So every spring I buy flowers, I grow flowers...

2011-05-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

...and I photograph flowers. I just can't get enough of the flowers blooming everywhere from my white star magnolia that blooms in January along with the roses (only in California folks) to the full bloom riot of color in April and whatever chooses to pop up each month afterwards, I am picking, arranging, buying and planting flowers. Here is an arrangement of storebought parrot tulips with homegrown lilacs (that took me 4 dead plants til I finally planted one that liked it here)

I carried around my favorite log vase filled with the pretty blossoms and photographed them all over the house for just the right setting. I photographed them in my bathroom, in the entry where they sat and then on the window seat where I liked the colors in the afternoon filtered light best. I added some artistic filters in Photoshop and a texture because I wanted it to look like an old master painting. I am making a set to print on canvas for my guest bedroom. What do you think?

You can see more pretty flower photographs at in this weeks challenge at Iheartfaces.

So I went to a wedding and took a few pictures...AS A GUEST!

2011-05-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

As you know I am portfolio building and I am a second shooter for my daughter's wedding photography which means I take pictures of the dress, rings, the cake and whatever my daughter might miss. It also means I schlepp around the equipment, round up the bridal party and family for portraits and make sure the main photographer eats something. Another part of my job is heading the wedding papparazzi off at the pass in the nicest way possible.

What does that mean? It means that I watch for those serial amateurs who will flash their point and shoot 30 or 40 times during the cake cutting sometimes ruining our shots. It means that I watch for those who will get up and stand in front of the photographer to get the shots she has set up. It helps that I am not a small girl like Samantha. I just step in front of them and let them know they can have at it when she is done. :) There is nothing that can be done for those who stand in the aisle to get the bride walking down about 15 feet away from both of us but right in the way of the shot. At my daughter's wedding, a zealous budding photographer stood with the photographer at the altar to get her shots.

I have seen the results of these self professed amazing pictures and I am surprised that they don't see the difference between an amateur with a point and shoot trying to get the shot the trained photographer has set up with professional equipment. Now don't get me wrong, many times the amateurs will catch moments the professional might not get. As friends and family, they know the relationships of most of the people there. The wedding is also part of their memories as well and many will never see the very expensive wedding album so it's an important opportunity for guests to get those pictures of their friends and family all dudied up real purty, smiling and happy where big bucks were spent on them to show up at a pretty place.

I was recently invited to a wedding of a young man who grew up around our kids. The family has recently moved away so I knew we wouldn't get to see the wedding pictures. They also could not invite everyone they would have liked to so many friends wanted to see pictures of the wedding. As a guest, I wanted to capture my own memories but I knew from experience photographing weddings that I wanted to stay out of the photographers way. I brought my midrange dslr with a nice prime lens and another in my handbag. I left my flashes at home, that would just make me look like the wannabe wedding photographer, right? We got there late (due to a Starbucks/Krispy Kreme detour) but that always means a seat in the back where I can see most of the action and stay out of the way of the professionals.

The wedding was at midday outside which is the worst light unless you are an gifted flash ninja cuz' even photoshop isn't going to get the harsh shadows off their faces. I don't mind them so much because my memories of a beaming young man marrying the gorgeous girl of his dreams colors my images with a rosy glow. I did take one photo of the photographers set up about 5 to 7 feet behind her with my 85mm lens. I am sure hers was beautiful because she was countering the harsh glare and shadows with her flash. But I will never see it, it was a beautiful pose - I wish I knew who the photographer was now.

I hope I was not a wedding papparazzi. I didn't take a huge amount of pictures, only enough for my memories to share with other friends of the groom...like this great one of the grooms only nephew dancing with himself.

Note: I've been meaning to write this for awhile now...a post by http://www.digital-photography-school.com/ got me to actually do it. What would be interesting is to hear from the photographer of this wedding. What do you think?

So what do you do with a fussy newborn?

2011-05-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

...the best you can! I am portfolio building for a website launch with my daughter Samantha. We have some jobs lined up and we need to round out our portfolio for a website. A friend who is also portfolio building (PatriciaEstellePhotography.com) asked me to join her in this photo shoot.

We met at my house, I have a ton of newborn props and setups ready to go. Little Jake has had a rough start. He had to go into the hospital for a few days right after he was born because he wasn't gaining any weight. So although he is better, he was having a hard time if he wasn't right on his mama.

In that instance, I think photographing the baby in mama's arms is the way to go but she wasn't prepared for that so we did what we could. The room was toasty warm for him, he was fed but he had a hard time relaxing. I didn't even get a baby toes shot because he struggled so much to be comfortable unless he was swaddled up tight, poor baby.

He had his big sister with him so we took a few shots with her while he settled down.

We tried the suspended hammock setup but he hard a hard time getting comfortable even though we had his mother right underneath him rocking him gently (and for safety...very important!) First we set up our focus and settings with a lettered beach ball then we had mama hold him in her arms in the fabric of the sling as she slid underneath. He was somewhat still for about 5 seconds and then he just had enough.

When a baby is done, he is DONE. Jake let his mama know he couldn't take anymore so we called it a day. His mama said she would be happy with one good shot and she wanted the pictures of his unhappy faces. It was good practice but I was worried about this little guy for a few days. The mama dog in me wants to make sure all little pups I meet are safe and happy, I hate to see a baby feel bad. I am sure he is feeling more secure over time knowing his sweet mama is taking good care of him as long as he doesn't have to go back to the hospital (and it looks like he won't have to.)

So this is love...

2011-04-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

My daughter and her boyfriend have loved each other since they were children...okay, it's been 5 years but they were only 17 and 18...babies, really. They are talking marriage now and Samantha is taking more pictures to document their love. (I'm gagging a little here, gotta work on being more sentimental...isn't that important in a photographer?) She's trying to figure out how she is going to photograph her own wedding, not really. She has already narrowed down her choices of photographer, this is more important than the ring...haha!

I hope this brings back memories for you or gives you something to look forward to or even softens your hardened heart (you know you want to be a softie!)

,,,so it's all about the shadows for me and Iheartfaces.com

2011-04-09T01:20:00.000-07:00

I have so much fun experimenting when it comes to taking pictures of my grandson. Little boys don't have as many fun props as little girls. Little girls have tutus and flowers and crowns and wings, tea parties and dolls...so many girly, fun things. Little boys have old toys and hats....same pose, different hat.

I bought a fedora from Blueberry Hill at WPPI and looked forward to the photo shoot I would have with my grandson. I recently went to the Flashbus Tour with David Hobby and Joe McNally demonstrating off camera flash techniques I absolutely had to put what I learned to use so I used the fedora as my inspiration for creating mood with off camera flash (post coming on the lessons learned). Here is one of the images from a set using ambient window light as the fill light and off camera flash as the key light. The deep shadows are created when the ambient light gets dialed down in the camera for drama. The flash is behind a Lumiquest Softbox on the floor sideways dialed down to 1/32 power manually so as not to blind the kid or blow out the details. The "neon light reflection" is done in postprocessing.

You can see more creative shadow images from other photographers on Iheartfaces current challenge here!

So it's time for the random...

2011-04-07T00:53:00.000-07:00

Often photography guides will tell you to get on a child's level, don't look down on the kids but I say "PishPosh" or whatever polite way I can think of to disagree. When a child is trying to get your attention and you look down and see this cute face, well you just want to capture it as is. So here is some bigheaded kid happiness of one of my favorite non grandkid kids.

To make this just about the Tay-ster, I eliminated the busy background (with the lasso tool/delete), selected the area around her and on another Photoshop layer, painted it white then gave it a good strong gaussian blur. It's like she's lookin' right at you, isn't it. I'm pretty sure she's askin' for something and I gotta tell her to ask her mom and dad...I just wanna give it to her but she'll get a big hug and a tickle right away instead. This smile should get you through the week, consider yourself hugged and tickled.

...so it's April Fools and March's Best Face!

2011-04-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

and as they say, there's no fool like an old fool. I have been furiously working on orders, projects and a website so I was caught unawares with the shenanigans that is April Fools Day. I got caught up in an email prank, I was totally thrown off by Iheartfaces.com's goofy post for a new "Photography Posing Guide book" and editing Photo Booth pictures just made me realize that today is no day for serious work. So here is an image from one of our Photo Booths that will make you laugh. Heeeeeere's Johnny!

For more April Fool's pranks to tickle your funnybone, go here! ...or here for another photography joke!

In all seriousness, this was a test for a basic photobooth with a plain white background where the faces of those being photographed are the focus. The images can be fun with props or people can use the photobooth as a DIY portrait session. I've been meaning to capture Johnny's faces before he outgrows his goofy stage and won't do them anymore so this is my favorite face for March. You can see more at Iheartfaces.com

...SOOC Seascape too beautiful for words, an adventure!

2011-03-15T22:15:00.001-07:00

I went to Portland Oregon for a few days to join my beloved on a business trip and decided to drive here, a place I didn't know anything about other than it would be worth the drive and it had big dramatic rocks. My husband and I drove down during a heavy downpour (tsunami warnings from Japan's quake kept us from going on a nicer day weather wise). Our GPS took us the most roundabout way possible so we got there very late in the day, almost sundown. But it was totally worth the drive to get this shot!

We walked down to the beach between some houses with my tripod in a freezing wind and the clouds parted for just a moment . Everything went from blue/grey to natural sepia sand tones and I was fumbling like crazy with my settings...since manual is still new for me. The light kept changing and so did my settings...this is my favorite shot, I can still hardly believe I got it! We drove a total of 6 hours to see this...oh, and our dinner was amazing as well...we drove back to Portland happy with our adventure although a little nervous on a dark unknown road in the rain! I feel like a real photographer now.

...so it's wednesday and that means a little something I call...

2011-03-09T15:59:00.000-08:00

It's just a little something today of favorite things. I wish I could still wear shoes like these! I snuck into Samantha's room and took a photograph of a couple of her favorite things. Then I had a little fun taking more photos of her closet but you'll have to jump over to flickr to see those!

...sometimes a photograph inspires the art

2011-03-02T00:02:00.000-08:00

I decided to reinstate hump day happiness to get you through the week even though somebody creeped me out with what it means to them, the sicko. For those of you that toil away at work or at home longing to get through the week or be somewhere else or following your dream, I offer a little inspiration.

Have I mentioned my daughter is a photographer? Okay, I'm a proud mama. It's exciting to see her blossom as an artistic person and to see that her work inspires others makes me very proud. Recently she was going through her tumblr and unexpectedly found a sketch inspired by one of her photographs. It was drawn by another talented young woman in Chile. Her flickr stream is all sketches based on the photographs she finds in tumblr. Some of her sketches would take you to the kittens if they were photographs probably as NSFW but I love the simple sketch she created from Samantha's very innocent photograph. (I'm an old lady and since many of my blogreaders are children's photographers, I thought I would just give a little warning but I want her mama to be proud she is getting exposure too!)

Here is her pretty little sketch...

Here is Samantha's photograph that inspired it...

I can't tell you how excited I was when my favorite blog from the writer of a favorite decorating book The Paris Apartment used one of her photographs in this post. We live in a small town on the way to nowhere and Samantha would like to do commercial/fashion work. As she finishes her schooling and continues to photograph, we hope the internet exposure is a good thing. We'll see won't we?
Note: The cat in the photograph (Neal) has been missing for a few days with the recent cold storms. We are hoping his sweet nature captivated another family and not the coyotes, owls or hawks. We miss him dearly as does his brother.

...so it's time for another Iheartfaces challenge, love it!

2011-02-27T21:16:00.000-08:00

I love creating this pose for newborn photography and I recently took this image working with a wonderful family at a WPPI event with Me Ra Koh (You can read about it on my two previous posts). Here it is in black and white with a little quick and easy refinement editing from flickrs piknik tool - it printed beautifully on a pearl paper sample I got at the WPPI trade show! Don't forget to see more on Iheartfaces anything but a face challenge!

...so I went to WPPI, OH MY!

2011-02-26T18:25:00.000-08:00

There isn't a whole lot that will get me to Las Vegas but a free pass because of paying attention to facebook updates from great vendors like Blueberry Hill to the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) conference and trade show was something a hopeful photographer just can't miss. So I pretty much bribed and begged a fellow hopeful photographer to go with me and off we went. We walked ALOT! We learned ALOT! We even won a few things without even gambling and we spent a little money to improve our craft.

Some highlights for me include going to the "Women in Contemporary Photography" event to hear several wonderful women speak (I was looking forward to Jasmine Star but they were all great) on how they got into the business of photography and make it a success. There was quite a line to see them speak but there were plenty of seats and it was well worth the lessons learned. I regretted my decision not to get an iphone to twitter because it surely would have meant a great giveaway during the presentation.

There is much to learn about papers to print on. I have a 13" Epson printer I use for last minute projects that prints beautifully but I really learned a lot about the difference papers make. I was carrying a usb flash drive with samples of my work and I had them printed by several different vendors selling papers as well as printers. Ilford (who photography students most often used for b/w film processing paper) printed one of my still life images on a beautiful glossy paper, it came out absolutely gorgeous. Another printed a portrait on an Epson matte art paper which looked beautiful but had these distracting marks from going through the printer. A printer vendor showed me the new Epson 24" printers than run only about $2500 and printed on Kodack paper a couple of prints. They came out nice, the printer is such a great price but the Ilford paper was far and above had the best results. The new 17" printers from Epson are very impressive as well. I am coveting a larger Epson printer for sure.

The Sony booth had some great demos of their video cameras and DSLRs going at all times. They had some great speakers as well and they had a rotating display of prints from the speakers shot during their presentations. They were so good! I missed America's Top Model photographer and manly man, Nigel Barker who gave a big fashion show/photo shoot the night before I got there. I shoot with a Sony and although many may snicker behind my back about it, I continue to see some pretty great work being shot with the Sony. My friend is a Nikon shooter and although the Nikon speakers were a must see, she really enjoyed the Sony speakers especially Me Ra Koh (see my previous blog post).

so cute!

The Blueberry Hill booth

There were some great specials on albums but it was overwhelming which company to choose from! We both want to have a portfolio of our work printed but choosing an album or book style within our budget was quite daunting. I will have to write a whole post on this subject! We both won free canvas prints and found some really good vendors for printing. We saw a lot of ideas for marketing and new ideas for props and backrounds. As I set up my studio, I have enough supplies from my previous career in the antiques business that I will be able to create my own props and backrounds. One of my favorites was the booth that got me there in the first place. Blueberry Hill has the cutest hats for baby photography, I got a fedora and adorable yarn kitty hat. I would like to get more fedoras in other colors and the sock monkey hats in every color! Can't wait to shoot babies with those hats! Her partner for the show (Lemondrop Stop) makes the nicest floors and backdrops. The floor looked great after thousands of people walked on it. They are just starting out and their presence could have been stronger (I was hoping for a show special) but their products look fantastic and they are environmentally green. I am definitely going to order from them.

They were always crowded!

Gotta get me this floor!

Kodak was giving away some new types of film, so glad film is still being strongly supported. I got some to practice on my daughter's Mamiya film camera, that should be a fun project. I wish I would have had more time to spend with the equipment vendors. I am looking to buy a continuous softbox setup for the studio we will build as soon as the weather gets better. I saw an underwater camera case I would love to use for underwater maternity shoots. I have the perfect pool for underwater photography so it would be a shame not to take advantage of it. There were some nifty gadgets, books, equipment deals from all the vendors and lens deals from Sigma.

I actually took these myself! Really!

Some of the equipment vendors had live models to show the usefulness of their products and it was fun capturing images, I felt like I was cheating but the results were great. There was some topless girls being body painted, I have no idea what they were selling but they drew a large crowd. We came home with lots of literature, offers, notes from the great speakers and so many ideas to implement. We walked miles and miles to see everything at least once, sometimes even three times to see the speakers and ask questions. What will we accomplish from this? We'll see won't we.

Update!
As I find great posts on WPPI from other blogs, I will list them here...
http://www.go4prophotos.com/photography/best-of-wppi-tradeshow-2011

So I learned a new way to spell "Miracle" at WPPI...

2011-02-25T00:16:00.000-08:00

and it has a whole new meaning for me. Along with the miracle of a baby, I now will think of Me Ra Koh which means to me confidence and the support of other women reaching for their dreams.

See this in black and white as well as a couple more photographs in my flickr set.

I went to the WPPI trade show in Las Vegas to improve my photography, learn some skills and see what is available to me as a photographer (thanks to Blueberry Hill!). I went with a friend who has some amazing opportunities and great gifts as a photographer (I will introduce you in another post) but feels she doesn't have the confidence to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional photographer. She met a speaker at the Sony booth she found inspiring and found out she was speaking the next day. She realized her pass wouldn't let her see her speak so I checked the internet to see if there was any other appearances in our area. I found this invitation to actually spend time with Me Rah Koh personally at a lunch that included shooting with models! We were so excited to have this opportunity together and as I was already very familiar with Me Ra Koh's story, I traded passes so she could go and hear Me Ra's confidence discussion.

I had signed us up for the Garden Party as well. What a miracle to have just what we needed to direct us in the direction of our dreams! The most exciting part for me was to hear women speak who had applied for the SOAR scholarship like I had (although the year before) and who didn't win. They took it hard as I did but pushed towards their goals in spite of not being chosen. That made me very excited. I feel like I'm too old sometimes and there are many who don't take me seriously (including myself sometimes). But the miracle of meeting women just like myself was soooo inspiring! There were gifts given by sponsors to those in attendance that I am grateful for, that I consider a blessing to help me reach for my goals. There were younger women who made me feel like one and the same along with them, that reaching for my goals could be attainable no matter what!

It was appropriate that some of the "models" we shot was a beautiful new family. The miracle of a new baby to draw together mama and daddy to each other as well as to their baby. It is a love I have felt four times in my own life, when hope and the future looks it's brightest! I am so comfortable photographing babies. I kind of held back and watched everyone else take their pictures and when the crowd thinned out a little, I jumped in with my red sweater and my favorite ideas not even realizing I had taken and cradled the baby in my arms as I gave direction. It is just so natural to me and someone pointed it out, thankfully the parents didn't mind (they were so sweet and fun!). I hope they enjoy these photographs of their beautiful little girl Hannah as much as I enjoyed taking them! Thanks to Julie Watts for taking the lead with all of us on this shoot!

I have a new baby now, my photography business. Every day I will care for it and nurture it, train it and grow it. Thank you Me Ra Koh for the miracle and inspiration along with the other women! Thank you Mike, Rachel and Hannah for letting me spend time with you to photograph your family, may you continue to be blessed in your family as I have been. Thank you Trish for coming with me on our trip that became a journey of sorts, won't you all come along and see what happens?

...SOOC Old Master Portrait Session

2011-02-15T20:42:00.000-08:00

Click on photograph to view on black in flickr

I've been meaning to take this photograph for a very long time. We bought these beautiful vintage ball gowns and I wanted my daughter to pose for me in one of them but she was a little hesitant. She used to be pretty bold about pictures but they were mostly candids during her adventures on road trips or in Mexico, Ecuador or Katrina Relief Work in New Orleans looking grungy in Tyvek suits or overalls and kerchiefs. I wanted to capture her beautiful face dressed up in an exquisite gown lost in thought. She has made the same face when she is lost in thought all her life, her eyes look almost a little sad...I think the word I am looking for is wistful. She has always dreamed big, we have told our children their dreams are possible if they work hard and stick with those dreams despite the obstacles. She has definitely had more than her share of obstacles and she has come through them with a strength and determination I admire.

So she tried on a couple of the ball gowns and they fit perfectly. She was thinking about how they could be made up as tea length gowns as bridesmaids dresses for her sister's possible wedding. (I have 3 girls and between them, their friends as well as the event planning/photography we are involved in...there is always alot of wedding talk!) Of course it must be said that Anthropologie just introduced their new wedding line (see it here and just die!)well, that would get any girl swooning over a beautiful gown. I pestered her to pose for me in the red gown for a portrait idea I have had for years, I begged, cajoled and just plain wore her down. She was having a bad day and after a heart to heart to boost her self confidence about her own beauty, she agreed to let me take her photograph. She got ready for work and put on the dress with only a short time for a portrait session.

I posed her next to a window on a cloudy afternoon against a metallic glazed wall behind her murphy bed. The light was just so perfect and moody to create the old masters oil painting type portrait I was after, I only needed a little fill light reflected off a white matboard. I aimed to use a wider aperture which creates such a beautiful effect with a slightly darker exposure and with just about 10 frames shot...nailed it. The only criticism I have for myself is that her hand on the left side of the portrait disappears into the darkness too much. I could play around with this in photoshop, add a texture...some brushstroking, print it on canvas but straight out of the camera is an effort I am proud of. What do you think?

...so February is Go Red for Women month

2011-02-15T15:04:00.000-08:00

and Iheartfaces.com hearts hearts! See more photos that "Go Red" here:

Click on the photo to see the details on my big red bible...

I almost posted another photo but I decided to save it for another day, another post
(but it's sooo good)... Sydney in a red dress/

This is something all women should think about. Five years ago the day my husband turned 50 and we were contemplating our age...I went to the hospital with chest pains. After 3 days of tests and an angiogram, I was diagnosed with angina. Because my heart rate and blood pressure was regularly so low, I could not be put on heart medications as they lower blood pressure. My cardiologist said that the risk for me was for my heart to just stop. Well, I had been sick and bedridden with fibromyalgia for about 10 years and this was the last straw. I wanted to see my children find love and discover their gifts, I wanted to see my grandchildren born and the way things were going, it wasn't going to happen. I got to work researching and reading everything I could get my hands on.

A five minute interview with a Dr. Hotze on a morning show got me researching thyroid issues and how it relates to the heart. His book gave me my life back ("Hormones, Health and Happiness") and now I no longer suffer from fybromyalgia or depression or angina or anemia and all the other stupid things that were keeping me from living life to the fullest. Here I am now with a grandson and another grandchild on the way watching my children grown and finding their way in the world, married to the man I've loved for 35 years still having adventures together.

Life goes by too fast, this is why I blog now. I want to share what I am learning with other people and my family especially the biggest lesson - that it's never to late to LIVE!

for more information go to http://www.goredforwomen.org/ and http://www.drhotze.com/

My Review of Manfrotto 732YB M-Y Compact Tripod Kit with Ball Head and Backpack/Gear Bag

2011-01-12T20:11:00.001-08:00

Originally submitted at Adorama

Manfrotto 732YB M-Y Compact Tripod Kit with Ball Head and Backpack/Gear Bag

Waaaay better than I expected!

By oldmamadognewtricks.blogspot.com from Southern California on 1/12/2011

Pros: Camera bag holds alot, Folds Small, Easy to carry around, Unfolds Quickly, Good Stability, Lightweight

Best Uses: Travel, Portraits, Newborn Photography, Landscape/Scenery, Weddings/Events, Home

Describe Yourself: Semi-pro Photographer

Was this a gift?: No

The backpack was a surprise, it can be used cross body while your working and everything is handy (if you don't overload it) for weddings and street photography or travel AND it holds a laptop. The tripod is perfect for travel.

(legalese)

...so smile!

2011-01-09T21:51:00.000-08:00

One last look at Gina"s maternity shoot and the incredible joy shining through her beautiful smile for .iheartfaces.com/ smile challenge this week. See more smiles...

So I'm portfolio building with Samantha, our maternity shoot.

2011-01-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

too cutesie, really...but it's about babies, CUTE BABIES!

A new life, to carry a baby is such a gift. It was always a favorite part of my life...pregnancy and babies. I felt loved and beautiful. I think that is why I look forward to photographing mama's and their babies, I know how fast that time goes by...how precious those memories are. I am portfolio building with my daughter Samantha and we are asking friends to let us photograph their special moments as images showcasing our work. Our friend Gina is expecting her first baby and she is so beautiful with her cute dimples, beautiful pregnancy glow and her sweet, in love hubby. We did a practice shoot at 7 months along to prepare for her full pregnancy shoot at 8 1/2 months. We don't want to mess up the important full belly photos and she will enjoy seeing the changes that happen in the last trimester...the silhouette shot will really show those changes since the baby does the most growing in the last 6 weeks.

we started out with her barefoot but she loves her heels!

Because my camera is being repaired, I set up the shots and held props (the clothesline and some fabric draping) so Samantha could captured the images. I jumped in when I thought my old camera could handle it...it's an entry level DSLR, 4 years old...a digital dinosaur. The last three images are from Samantha. I have to say, a full frame camera really captures the light and detail so much better. I have camera envy. It's interesting that Gina noticed that maybe Samantha was not as into it as I was. I get way too excited with the poses, the cuteness of the belly, the beauty of a new mama...Samantha gets in a zone, hyperfocused... looking for the light, looking for her inspiration and the right angles...looking for the real emotions to show in the image. That's why she is such an amazing photographer, Gina and her husband absolutely loved the pictures and the results show how much Samantha gets into it.

Here are Gina's favorites from Samantha...and since it's also wednesday, these are todays

In our portfolio building, we give the clients a few 4x6 prints of our best shots in a mini album along with a price list for prints and enlargements. They view the best shots on our 17" macbook pro laptop although we are looking to project them larger with the completion of our studio. We can't wait til the 8 1/2 months along shoot AND my camera will be back from repair! It is all just so exciting!

A blast from the past from Samantha on...

2010-12-30T11:29:00.000-08:00

I'm a day late...(and definitely a dollar short!)...but here is this weeks hump day happiness to get you through the week from my daughter's flickrstream...

Her most current and personal photograph brought me back to a photoshoot she created with her sister years ago. Samantha is very serious about her photography but her modeling days go way back. Who knew that an afternoon of rainy day fun would lead to her career behind the camera? (...or her creativity with self portraits.)

...so 2010 was a year of learning important stuff!

2010-12-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

My grandson Dominic...taken manually, tritone processed in Photoshop

I finally learned how to use my camera manually! This was a huge step for me. I am embarassed to say that I took a weeklong photography workshop in Aspen, Colorado 31 years ago where I learned how to use my SLR manually as well as how to develop black and white film. Those lessons were forgotten over the years as my camera gathered dust because it was either diapers or developing film...4 kids later, the diapers always came first.

I feel like I am starting my creative life all over, overcoming some of life's big obstacles so that now I can focus on my photography along with my family. I used the beginning of 2010 to research equipment, techniques, start my blog and joined some fun groups. One of the groups I joined was Clickin' Moms where I could learn and ask questions of other mom photographers, although I love flickr...the alpha male photographers could get a little overbearing in the discussion groups. I took a paid workshop called "Rock Your Camera 101" for 4 weeks and I learned so much about using my camera manually!

I learned a great technique for black and white conversions that I love! I was researching how to create sepia images but the technique works even better for black and white. I think it is an old way of refining black and white images from film days. Here is the link for the tutorial, I have had lots of fun playing around with it...the image I have posted of my grandson uses this technique.

Another fun group I joined was Iheartfaces. They have challenges every week with different themes. It gives me something to work on regularly to improve my skills. I also joined the group for a fun Photo Walk (along with a close friend) at the Dana Point Harbour in Southern California. I was the old lady of the group but most of the young women were helpful and supportive. I learned about using a loupe that hangs around your neck to look at my screen in the back of my camera to quickly preview my images. That has been very helpful. They also have a group you can join where you can ask questions, post images and find support.

There you have it, the biggest things I have learned and all summed up in the image I have posted...there have been so many other little things. I am determined to keep up with my blogging and share them with you (did you notice the redesign?). I look forward to portfolio building in the next few months and setting up my studio along with my talented daughter. I hope you join me along the way and share your ideas, links and photography with me as well. We can all learn from each other!

12.27.2010

I have added links to my free copyrighted textures for you to use! Please use them as you please, just don't redistribute them...it would be a bonus if you shared your creations under the texture images and gave vintagedesignsmith credit. :)

Learn from some others in the Iheart faces group...

A little something from Samantha I call...

2010-12-22T14:42:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the many bloggers who weekly share a little something to brighten your day, I am going to give you a little happy on Wednesdays featuring the work of my talented little pup...Samantha Smith. She recently did an engagement shoot for a friend as part of her portfolio building and she did an amazing job. I was her styist, grunt labourer and scarf waver.

soooooooo excited for this new texture set!

2010-12-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

You will be too and you MUST get them and use them...but not yet. I have posted my love for textures in still lifes and composite images. But they are also wonderful to add dimension to portraits as well as to brighten the colors, darken the edges and create a mood.

I just downloaded the lastest offering from one of my favorite blogs http://www.thecoffeeshopblog.com It is an amazing FREE set of textures that Rita is generously sharing with her blog readers. It is the set I have been meaning to make and haven't (lots of time and work there!). I also love that they are called these wonderful, yummy "Baking with Mom" names like "favorite apron", "pie pan", "old whisk" and my favorite (at least right now and it's not just the name)..."foamy chocolate milk". It makes me happy to play with these just like baking with mom would have if she could cook.

Here is a photograph I took of my grandson who just passed his 1 year old milestone SOOC (straight out of the camera)...

Here is the "foamy chocolate milk texture"

Now here is the image with the texture pasted on an overlay layer in Photoshop...that's all.

If you just desaturate the color in the original image somewhat, you get this...

This one I cropped and turned into black and white using grayscale...I was going to do my usual tritone processing but the texture overlay brightened up the areas I would have in tritone perfectly.

I also like my images to tell a story (less scrapbooking that way). I took a snapshot of our "Meet the Family" dinner to introduce my sister's new boyfriend (she became a widow last year so this is a big deal). I just did the "spray and pray" method of taking pictures while everyone is eating because no one would look at me, you would think that they hadn't eaten in years (well, the food was amazing...I'll have to blog the recipes)... When people are eating they make all kinds of goofy faces and it makes for interesting photographs. I chose this one because it really shows the family dynamics. The guy is nervous and looking around not knowing what to do, my sister is looking at him twitterpated and the rest of us don't really care, he's a nice guy and we'll see how it goes. The point of the texture in this image is help tell the story by brightening up the key players and emphasize the family laissez faire attitude by darkening around the edges. I think it does that quite well. I think I used another texture but I have forgotten already (what with my rambling on)... I also had to play with the color a little because I forgot to set the white balance in the camera and the color was a little too yellow.

By the way, who really knows what anyone is thinking...but doesn't the texture help with what's imagined? So now it's time to get yourself over to this page on The Coffeeshop Blog to get your own FREE set of "Baking with Mom" Ethereal Textures.

12.27.2010

...so the self portrait is required for "le artiste"

2010-12-07T15:32:00.000-08:00

...and how can I be take seriously as a fine portrait photographer of I won't even take a photo of myself right? I've been meaning to do this and then I read in a blog about how photographers don't often take self portraits... http://blog.heygirlniceshot.com/2010/11/the photographer has no shoes In her blog she mentions a contest you can enter WITH PRIZES on another site, go4pro! Then lo and behold, my favorite site for photography challenges had the theme of self portraits for this week. http://www.iheartfaces.com Well, I figured I better get to work. I needed inspiration for just the right shot (you know, one that would minimize my over the hill, er, um...faded beauty and wisdom of advancing years).

I did a search for "older woman self portrait". That was scary! First of all mostly self portraits of pretty young things came up, did NOT do much for the ego. Then there were the smattering of older people self portraits...NAKED! ugh, I thought I was going to lose my lunch. I don't know what kind of statement these people are making but seriously, try it with clothes on! Thankfully, images of paintings, artist self portraits came up in the search and I found those the most inspiring. I like the idea of the feel of a classic painter's self portrait, usually kind of dark and shadowy with light coming in through a window and the usual tools of an artist at hand. I like the feeling of musty age that textures add to a photography so I added one to my portrait (click on the photo for the credits). What do you think?

Don't forget to check out Iheartfaces.com to see more self portraits...click on the button below!

...so I am learning how to use my camera manually and life got in the way.

2010-11-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

I decided to take an online workshop called Rock Your Camera 101 through clickinmoms.com to learn the basics of using my camera manually. The first week went great and then I overconfidently thought I could take my next lesson with me to my sister's as I helped her empty the home she is losing to foreclosure after her husbands death in February. BIG MISTAKE! Not only because I didn't pay attention that the lesson would be in 3 parts (and I only had the first part) but because I also was not prepared for the emotional and physical task helping my sister would be.

By the time I arrived back home the day my homework was due, I was overwhelmed and exhausted. I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into all the way around and my brain was on overload trying to catch up on my photography lesson. I just couldn't process any of it, I spent the next few days just trying to organize and sort my sister's old married life onto tables and counters for an estate sale. I read my lessons over and over including the new third weeks lesson hoping that something would sink in, trying to practice when I could. This is the most important thing I have ever wanted to learn and I was mad at myself for spending the money without thinking about my ridiculously difficult schedule this year. But somehow I am getting through it.

I took some time one morning to practice my lesson on grey cards while having coffee with my husband. I really didn't understand what I was doing, I still don't have the lesson clearly defined in my head as to what it all meant but it seems to have laid some groundwork for later lessons. Here is that practice.

Not only am I trying to catch up with my husband but cats are trying to drink water from the vase and dogs are trying to get in the picture as well. I like this shot I got with one of the dogs, I was playing with focus which was hard with the very bright window and the big light drop off on the left.

The next morning, I didn't even have time for coffee...my homework is already massively late and I take a moment to play with my white balance buttons. This is important because whenever I take my camera inside someone's house, I notice the colors are always to yellow and I don't know how to fix that. This is one of the reasons I am taking this workshop. This is my attempt at the assignment and I still am not sure of what the heck I am doing.

Now I have to get the actual homework done and the only people around me are my sister and her daughter who are overwhelmed with their life spread out all around them at the end of a very hard week. My niece encourages me and offers to model for me. She holds up the appropriate gray card I am learning to work with in a very poorly lit room about 10 feet from a window and the sun is going down fast. My sister steps in and I caught a very intense moment but it isn't until I drive down the mountain road on my way home that I realize I forgot to set the custom white balance properly so this won't qualify for my homework.

Now my homework is late, I have a whole new lesson to learn and my life is feeling a little out of control. I am an old mama dog who is not only past late homework excuses, my kids are too. But because I am an old mama dog, I put one foot in front of the other and just take care of what's important knowing that somehow everything will just fall into place.

At the end of the estate sale, a wild crowd of gypsy hippies come along and one of them (Sunny) shares her emotions, her dreams and her children with me to photograph as they shop what's left of my sister's old life. They have no guile, I can shoot away while changing my settings, playing with my focus, clumsily trying to figure out what I am doing.

As I practice, I start to understand the lessons and I am so excited to finally get it, have that AHA moment. The photos aren't great, these people don't stand still but I understand how to get the light right.

I guess my excitement was contagious because Sunny broke into song and nursed the baby at the same time) while Dylan continued to play his pretty green guitar. So as the kids wandered around, I practiced changing my settings including the custom white balance settings I had given the camera in the house.

My crazy 2 weeks ended in a crazy, colorful way. I came of age in the late 60's, early 70's when hippies were everywhere. It was never a lifestyle I was attracted to, I liked baths and security as well as fashion way too much. But I love art, creativity and openness in people. I realized as I listened to Sunny's romantic vision of the world, that my sister and I have already lived a lot of Sunny's dreams. Romantic vision means hard work and time, sometimes money. Things don't end up as romantic or appreciated as we hope and sometimes they are better. But our dreams once fulfilled or ended means that there needs to be new dreams, new adventures. That is why I am finally learning photography, it is an old dream I had given up on for lack of money when my kids were young. I guess inside I have a young hippy child with creative hopes and dreams although I still love baths and fashion! I have learned that security is something I can give myself and share with my family and that it is still important to me even with an itinerant life. I had so little emotional and physical security as a child, that insecurity has sometimes kept me from enjoying my dreams. I hope that little Willow and the other children in this group never have that in their lives.

Many thanks Sunny, Dylan, Willow and the rest for helping me get my homework done!

So it's another challenge on Iheartfaces...pink and props!

2010-10-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

I love this photo of Isabella, she was so hungry and it was the first day her mommy had been gone for a little bit so when she got back she was in no mood for picture taking! But we were all excited to try the birds nest I had made of a smaller grapevine wreath supporting a larger wreath with some natural mosses, grasses and wildflowers woven in. There is a soft comfy round pillow in the middle under the blanket. The bird's nest prop makes this photo so perfect, her mood was like a baby bird that needed feeding NOW! She was quiet and fine as we were settling her in and trying to figure out how to pose her. Then she let loose and here she is, the delicate fragile beginnings of female life.

The challenge for this week includes pink to remind women to think about their breast health and breast cancer prevention. With all the public education and awareness month, marathons, mammograms, fundraisers,...the statistics for breast cancer has not improved. It is important that women educate themselves on their health and that we as women educate our daughters on how to live the best life possible to prevent cancer of all kinds...by our lifestyle, by our diet, by our choices.

I am now watching women my age who took birth control long term face breast cancer and other hormone driven cancers. Do you know the difference between a synthetic hormone and a natural one? Do you realize the profit in pharmacueticals for women and that drives a lot of our health care today? This is my photography blog, but it is Breast Cancer awareness month. Make choices so that you and the women in your life can live long enough to have many photographs taken.

My sister is an herbalist who works with holistic doctors in treating cancer patients to build their immune systems even while undergoing traditional cancer therapies. You might enjoy this article on preventing cancer... http://www.botanicawest.com/understanding-cancer-prevention-and-treatment-part-1/

So I am trying to stretch my creativity and improve my artistic Photoshop skills...

2010-07-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to see the credits to the artists of the textures used

There are some really artistic people on flickr who create amazing photo manipulations that don't look...well...manipulated. I admire the work as art I want to see, own and create as well. I have been entering challenges in texture groups on Flickr like this one and Ghostworks Not only am I learning but I am inspired by the textures available from the group which has inspired me to create my own textures you can see on my Flickr for you to use...these are some of my favorites:

One of my favorite artists is Jamie Heldon who creates imaginative, whimsical digital illustrations with Photoshop. Here are 2 samples of her work, she also has a website...J Heiden Photo You just have to look at her work, it is amazing! The picture I made above for a textures challenge was inspired by her work.

The first artist in this type of work that I saw on Flickr has a wonderful old masters painterly quality to her work. I wish I could show you a sample but it is not available to share so you will have to follow the link HERE Believe me when I tell you it is a must see!

Now because of her work I was introduced to another generous creative talent whose textures are used by many Photoshop artists...Jerry Jones. Once I saw his work, I saw that he was recommended by some of the bloggers I love like Rita at the Coffeeshop. He has some wonderful work of his own but his true talent is creating textures that he offers for FREE! for other people to use in their own works as well as tutorials on how to use them. You will be inspired by his website as well that also has other fun goodies you will want to learn and use! Find his website HERE

Here is one of his works that inspired one of mine for a Flickr texture group competition. I suppose I love doing these because I cannot paint without making a muddy mess or getting impatient and I can create these, print them on canvas or make greeting cards and other fun things with them.

The last image I created is of my daughter who always wanted to be a princess (especially after finding out that's what her name means)! Now I am thinking of illustrating a story for her baby about his mama wanting to be a princess but finding out that being a mother to a little prince is better.

Making these helps me learn skills to use on any kind of photo editing as well as stretches my imagination as well as seeing the world around me in a more creative way. I hope it affects my photography and the way I will take pictures. There are many more inspiring artists I hope to share with you in the future. Who and what hat inspires you?

So this weeks challenge on Iheartfaces is pets.

2010-06-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you agree with me but I think that terrier's have old men faces so I wanted Osita's photo to look like an old chiarusco painting (like the paintings of the artist Caravaggio I once saw at the Smithsonian) with dark shadows and light shining on the face. Osita is backlit slightly by the late afternoon sun above and behind her with a reflector on my right side only on her face (not her body).

I would love to take this kind of portrait of an old man. It's hard to ask old men, they are so self conscious about their age and what they can't do anymore. I love them for the things they can do, like encouraging my children and loving them no matter what, for their stories, for loving their wives so dearly and for knowing how to do all kinds of things (today my dad told me how to make a baby bottle out of a coke bottle and a rubber glove...I lost all my grandpup's bottles and he was hungry!) In case you didn't notice, I tend to digress alot...Hey! Give me a break cuz' I'm an old mama dog!

See more cute pet photos from others trying out this challenge at Iheartfaces

Photography Terms to Learn from this Photo - Shallow Depth of Field (DOF)
Depth of Field or the acronym DOF is a description of how much of your photograph is in focus. A shallow depth of field simply means that one specific area of your photo is sharp while other elements are blurred. A great use of DOF is to single out your subject while at the same time reducing the effect of distracting background.

So I like to use textures...

2010-06-25T09:58:00.000-07:00

I love how textures can take a boring photo and give it dimension and interest. It's also an easy way to "scrapbook" a photo for giving away to the grandma's, aunties and friends. Today on I heart faces, it's Fix-It Friday where we can edit a photo they give us however we like to make it a better photo. It's so interesting to see how lots of people come up with different ways of editing. Of course, many people crop the photo...they may give it a totally different angle and play around with the color or make it black and white.

before editing

Because I knew I wanted to add a texture and lettering, I cropped it with those in mind. (I am using Photoshop CS4 by the way)...I always make a couple duplicate layers and those are the ones I change so I always have the original to work with. My daughter taught me a cool way to sharpen a photo and bring out the color, I just go to "filter" on a duplicate layer choose other/high pass usually set to around 30 and after that's done choose overlay/softlight/hardlight and decrease the opacity if needed. I add the texture by making it a layer (copy/paste from a texture image) and choosing the overlay/softlight/hardlight thing the same as the filter I just described. I then added the lettering. On this photo I wanted the backround color to be more intense so I made another layer and erased the boy out of the photo (which was easy because of the light halo around him). Then I just saturated the color and changed the hue a little. It took me 10 or 15 minutes to do and it's lots of fun.

I have a collection of textures on flickr you might like to try (I used one from the Guadalajara textures I made from a trip to Mexico) and you can see them here: Guadalajara Textures on flickr or another collection here: Fine Art Textures on Flickr Please feel free to download them and use them, I would just appreciate a credit for the texture and that they don't get posted online anywhere without the credit/link or offered for sale. You can learn alot about textures from a great blog by a very generous artist called Shadowhouse Creations and you can see his latest post from my blog list to the left. It's also great fun to see the artistic efforts people create by posting them under the texture that gets used. I've learned much seeing how others see things differently just like I am learning with this Fix-It Friday challenge that you can view here.

Here are a few photos I have posted on flickr with textures, sometimes I am inspired by old faded postcards and photos, sometimes a style of painting or art medium and it's fun to play around with. Have you used textures?

So I went on this Iheartfaces photowalk...

2010-06-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

I really like the Iheartfaces blog and everything they offer to improve my photography so when they announced their first Photowalk across America...it sounded like fun and I wanted to go. I wanted to meet some of the people behind the photography I'd seen on Iheartfaces AND an added bonus was an outing to Dana Point Harbor. One of my first dates with my husband was a restaurant called "The Jolly Roger" overlooking the harbour...sigh, good memories. I hadn't been that way in years since I moved inland to the country. I signed up and my friend Trish who loves photography more than I do (without telling her - SUPRISE!)

Trish and ME!

taken by Amy Nguyen, click on the image to see her flickr photostream!

Although we had been on flickr photowalks (the guys mostly ignored us) before, we were looking forward to this one hoping we could learn a few things and meet some supportive photographers in all ranges of ability. There was a group leader (professional photographder Susan Keller) but she had to leave early for a wedding shoot. That was a little disappointing but "we go with the flow where ever we go". She starts us off with the opportunity for headshots of each other since we often don't photograph ourselves and it was a good idea for our personal blogging profiles.

the group leader, angry julie who has a cute blog & unknown
http://angryjuliemonday.com/

Then we headed off to a jetty to take a group photo and any shots we wanted on the way.

Right off the bat we met a couple of young moms that were like a version of us 20 years ago (except they knew way more about photography than we did). I feel bad I could not remember both their names...one was Sharon and she gave us pointers on manual settings, her friend had this cool loupe around her neck that fit over the lcd screen and enlarged the view of the photos taken. We LOVED that and must have one! She sent me the link to buy it here... bhphotovideo.com Another photographer had a white balance ring for over the lens hanging around her neck, she said it really helped and was easy to use. It seemed handy to have helpful tools hanging around your neck but I would need a personal instructor hanging there too and that might be a little much.

Sharon and Shannon (after looking at almost 5000 photowalk images...figured out her name)

Sharon's beautiful photo was taken by Shannon Flores, click on the photo to see more.

I had a hard time leaving the beach. It was so peaceful and beautiful but this was a PhotoWALK not a PhotoSitonyerbuttatthebeach. I love the photos I got there. By this time the crowd was headed through the dock area to the lunch restaurant. We were straggling in back with Sharon and Shannon having a good old time. By the time we got there the group leader was long gone, there were only a few people left and the lunch was ...meh. Actually my lunch was terrible but the manager came out and replaced it with a pound of unbelievably flavorful just out of the smoker smoked salmon to take home. I wish it wasn't a 2 hour drive to go back and get some more! After lunch those cutiepies Sharon and Shannon gave us more tips and then we said goodbye.

Trish and I walked around a took a few shots of interesting things and people on the way back to the car and ate a wonderful lunch she packed of fresh spring greens with poached fish and greek yoghurt with fresh blueberries.

On the way back to the car a woman was searching the trash for recyclables. I am always still moved by the resourcefulness of those with less to provide for themselves in such a well to do area. If I was in a really bad predicament, would I be humble enough to do such work? Hmm

Over all it was worth the 4 hours of driving we did that day to go. There is another photowalk hosted by Scott Kelby in July. I might try that one even with all the real professionals and "dudes" that will be attending...Will you be going? Did you go on this one? Link your blog in the comments!

photo by the group leader, Susan Keller (a REAL and talented professional)...click to see this and her other photos on flickr

Check out my blogs on pretty places, things, people at:
http://thevintageeclecticlife.blogspot.com/
and recipes
http://vintagerecipesmith.blogspot.com

So this is one of the ways I learn...this week - "Celebrating Teens"

2010-06-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone (at least most of the opinions on Flickr) says that "the more you shoot, the more you learn" and they say things like "challenge yourself, "try new things, typical motivational speaker speak. I've been jumping around the internet discovering photographers websites, blogs, competitions, seminars, youtube videos and have been so totally overwhelmed that I can't remember what it was I was trying to accomplish.

I knew I had to start somewhere and so I found a blog that seemed pretty supportive and encouraging of everyone's efforts from newbie amateur to professional. They have challenges every week that were the type of things I wanted to improve on, mostly taking pictures of people. I've only just started with a couple of entries so far. I love having a theme to work on so I only have to focus on what I want to learn from the challenge. Here's the link to the blog (they make it easy with the html for the cute icon)...

This week's challenge is all about the teenager and it just so happens I know some! Lucky for me, I no longer have any, my youngest recently turned 21. By the way, has anyone else noticed that having teenagers is often accompanied by perimenopause and aging parents who sometimes act like the teenagers, worse yet they join up and "get all up in yer' grill". My 77 year old mother has actually used phrases like this along with my kids(with a heavy spanish accent no less)BUT I digress...don't get me started.

I decided that I would use this challenge to use fill flash on African American skin. The girl I am featuring is 14 and a little self conscious about being the darkest in her family and disappearing into darkness in photographs. Her skin color is so beautiful and perfectly even, she glows in natural light when she smiles and I wanted to capture that. I decided to pose her on my shaded patio with the sunlight reflecting off the fence walls as ambient light to one side of her as well as using fill flash on the other. The spot was perfect for her, another spot I used on her sister prove to have to much light drop off and there was too much contrast darkening one side of her face too much even for fill flash. I used a super fast and easy solution...an inexpensive flash diffuser that fits around the lens and will diffuse the on camera flash (either built in or on the hotshoe). It diffused the flash set to 1/4 power and softly lit the side of her face opposite the ambient light. It is inexpensive and one of the first accessories I bought for my camera that I keep in my purse along with my camera.

So this is my entry for this weeks Iheartfaces challenge, you can see the other entries which are equally as inspiring as the challenge itself here at: iheartfaces.blogspot.com/week 25 - celebrating teens

Read about the teenage judge, it a beautiful thing that talented teens are being encouraged to follow their bliss and be supported. It is because of my youngest daughter Samantha that I have rekindled my love for photography as an old mama dog and it's been great fun to share it with my pup. Can't wait til I post about her photography, she is soooo amazing!

Below you will see a few thumbnails including the diffuser as well as some other shots of her younger 12 year old sister. They are the same age difference as my sister and I, it's funny how that relationship is loving, spiteful, fun, crazy, supportive, divisive and soooo important to treasure for life!

Inspired!... Virginia

So I like to take pictures...

2010-06-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Yeah, lots of people take pictures. So many of them take way better ones than I do, so other than my friends (and even then!) who really wants to look at mine. Thats the thing, the "it", what I want to learn. How to create a photograph that draws you in, that conveys feeling, draws out emotion from the viewer or helps them to see what is being expressed whether it's an idea, an inspiration or a point of view. I know I have a good eye trained from being a visual person. But I want to be a photography ninja, one with my camera and a master at that!

I like to be good at what I do. I can cook really well and I am always being asked for my recipes. Its always "a little of this and throw some of that in" so learning to write the recipes has required patience and taking my time. (Let me tell you right now I am an old mama dog with the attention span of a puppy)...sigh. Okay, now I think I got that down but then people lose the recipes and I gotta find them or write them down again...AAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK! So then I thought about blogging (anytime access for everybody) BUT that means pretty pictures of beautiful food! That means styling the plates, finding a clear spot in the mess I just made cooking the food, making sure there is enough light and taking the picture before it gets cold or the family has started eating it! There is no do overs for a bad photograph without waiting for another meal and nobody is going to want to eat more of it right away no matter how good it was. That became the first reason to improve my photography skills.

I bought a new camera and learned that the 50mm lens from my old camera would fit and work perfectly for my food photography photos blurring out the unnecessary backround enough to add mood but not detract from the FOOD! This, I learned is called "bokeh". Still not sure how to pronounce it but I love the effect. So now I am taking nice, pretty photographs of food for my friends to be inspired by on my recipe blog... vintagerecipesmith.blogspot.com

But then DSLR cameras were changing at lightening speed because they still didn't take as nice of photos as an SLR film camera. That meant an upgrade especially because a great need was brewing for great photography efforts...A...GRANDCHILD! That's a whole other post and then some. So I will leave it at that and here we go.

I have posted a slide show of my flickr account photos for all to see my evolution as a digital photographer. So what do you think so far?

Virginia