From Clay to Color – Black, Red and Blue

May 19, 2014 Filed inCreative,Meetup,North Carolina,Photography,Photoshop,Thoughts

blog_19_may_2014Well it was a short-lived trip from folk clothed to those with not,  and there is still some edit finessing to be done  for the snaps posted here …. regardless today’s adventures into body painting and how to do it with my Meetup Group was lots of fun.  Probably less instruction and more inspiration than anything, but the models were stellar and despite a fairly drawn out proceeding I have a number of pictures that I know I can work with down the line.

I am also gaining experience in studio lighting, ‘what NOT to do” and what I do want to do, which, in a community environment is often hard to achieve.  Had I had my druthers, I would not have photographed the Porcupine model on a mixed grey “mall portrait” background, which for lots of reasons does not work, but there is nothing like trial and error and also the beauty and luxury of having the ability to replicate a shot scenario in your own home!  And there are already re-edits that I would do, with a fresher mind and perhaps some sleep!

I do have to admire my Blogger friends who continue to follow me through my photographic journey.   I appreciate that I have strayed long and large from my Mixed Media blog of old.  Not much painting or sewing to  be seen these days….and I thank you that you keep on keeping on.  At 50+ I never tire of new challenges and the current thrall of the camera is a force to be reckoned with for sure…

 

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joanne thieme huffman - Such an incredible array. Do the models come with make up and accessiries or do you tell them what to do?

gotham girl - Amazing!

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Some Carolina Clay

May 18, 2014 Filed inNorth Carolina,Out And About,People,Photography

They don’t really DO “dirt’ down here in the Carolinas …. rather bright orange clay for ground and it certainly gives the Mud Racing a different tint as evidenced by the pictures snapped today at a local Warrior Race.  Not quite the complexity of a Spartan Race either and very limited accessibility for photographing the participants, which was a shame.  Nevertheless there were some interesting moments (and characters) to be captured …..

blog_18_may_2014Nor did this venue have the usual shower stations to wash off, rather HUGE water trucks parked nearby that just turned on a wide bore spigot and fairly drenched the racers in a torrential downpour…

blog_18_may_b_2014

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joanne thieme huffman - Interesting photos; but I can’t quite grasp why anyone would do this.

Alison - mud,mud,glorious mud,but a rose garden would be my choice. OXOX M

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And Back to Dublin

May 17, 2014 Filed inCreative,Digital,Digital Painting,Photography,Photoshop,Workshops

blog_17_a_may_2014A little Fine Art Grunge to start your weekend off.  A change of pace from naked folk in all their glory!  This is some street art snapped in Dublin with some hand painted watercolor layers added.

blog_17_may_2014And then a little castle deconstructed.

Hard to figure out what to do with oodles of blah stone edifices, so making a kaleidescope’ish image seemed like not a bad idea.

The starter is here:…

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Yep, you gotta love Photoshop! (and my fisheye lens!)…..

And in less than two weeks now and Karen Burns and I will be heading off to France to teach our week long workshop on Photography, Photoshop and Digital Painting…. I can’t wait….

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joanne thieme huffman - I’m always so impressed by the variety of your views.

Chris - Hi! I am finally getting back to where I left off. I had the screen up for hours, with that top picture glaring at me, trying to continue last week’s perusal of your site, and never was able to. But I love that image so much it didn’t bother me! I’m kind of dark, sometimes. Especially, when I forget my screen, hat, and caftan at the beach.

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A Little Modern Statuary

May 16, 2014 Filed inCreative,Photography,Photoshop,Thoughts,Travel

blog_16_may_2014A while ago I came across an online tutorial on making your own faux statue and in fact I have seen a few people do a version of this concept.  Not too hard, a bit like marrying ballerinas and tulips, it’s just layer masks and blending.  However the concept was in the back of my mind when I shot the mud maid the other week and I knew I had some busty sculptures in the bag – which were photographed at the Trinity Library in Dublin and I had already mentally paired the two.  The textures are courtesy of some more billboard poster grunge snapped in NYC last week as well.

I can’t decide between the color or the mono version…. what think you?

And just as a head’s up for my private students… I’ll be off and away teaching in France in two weeks time so there are only a few appointments left for lessons until mid June when I get back!

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joanne thieme huffman - What a great look!

Sue Berry - Both are stunningly creative and imaginative but for me the b&w is more dramatic.

Chris - Well, I’m about a year or two too late, but I love that rusty/bronzey/caramelly tone of the left one. And you can keep working on her as much as I want.

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Thoughts on Digital Compositing

May 13, 2014 Filed inCreative,Digital,NYC,Photography,Photoshop,Thoughts

blog_13_may_2014Tinkering a little more with images shot in NYC and creating a little composite magic.

As most of you know, I’ve had a love affair with Photoshop and Digital Art way before I fell in love with  my camera and for the longest time spent hours trolling through Stock sites to find images with which to create my composites.  But I got to a point where I realised that for the sake of ownership and “feeling” that the ART belonged to me then so the content of the digital work had to as well.  It was not enough to cobble together other people’s images and call it a ‘derivative’ work.  Nor is it acceptable in the competition world to use stock imagery or textures from 3rd parties.

I have to say it’s been a challenge.  I like creating images with people in them, and so now I have to shoot models.  I’m good with the textures and backgrounds, as I have always “snapped” those…. but the challenge really is bringing your own “stock” together.  As much as you might create collections in Lightroom or ACR, Keyword and so forth, trolling through years of pictures on your hard drive is nowhere near as easy as doing a Google search for NYC skyline images or traipsing over to Deviant Art for a quick person pic ……

So I get better at image organisation each day, fortunately still have a fairly “elephant” like memory and can usually navigate my way to where THAT skyline picture is and now go to great lengths to take pictures of people that I can use …..

Regardless of the effort entailed though, if you are creating digital montages, composites or whatever you want to call them….. have a go at taking ownership of the “whole” image …. you will find that it is quite rewarding as well as quite the challenge!

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Joanne Thieme Huffman - Although I am several skill levels below you in photography and digital manipulation, I agree with you about using my own images for my art. It seems to make it more mine.

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