She's a Ham

This photo is a couple of years old. She was up in my wildlife blind and I was standing on the ground.

She heartily hams it up for the camera which is mostly always fun. I found it was hard to get good, natural posed shots so I opted to go the spontaneous route. Otherwise, both of the girls would put on this phony, fake smile.

I have always liked the expression on her face in this one so I decided to try to make the most of it.

Original:

This is what I did to it.

Multi-Tasking

I am still working on my Photoshop class homework. While I am doing that, I am "thinking" about another project I want to try with my digital cutter. It has required a lot of research but I think I now have a direction in which to precede. I am still designing the file and have tried a few things that didn't suit so I am planning and picturing it in my head as I work on my photos. Add to that, I am working on a painting. I have reached a brick wall and need to figure out how to proceed with it. I just have to find a crack in that wall to crawl through.

I have APA (Against Photographers Advice) accumulated a lot of images that in no way could be considerd good photos. Most photographers would delete what I have kept as soon as the images are downloaded. Maybe even before. At least that is what they tell me. But, I consider mine a record of memories; adventures taken with friends and family even if they aren't the best. Plus, I don't need good photos to paint from. Hey, they don't even have to be in perfect focus for me to be able to use them as a reference.

I used one of those photos to create a piece for my class.

This was taken at the zoo while on a field trip for home schooled children. None of the animals were particulary co-operative that day.

This is the original picture. Bleh!

This is the first image I created from the original.

I added to the first and created this image.

I like the first one because it maintains the integrity of the white tiger, but I also like the color in the second. I could paint a canvas from either one of them.

Speaking of adding to the first. I added more to the first image I did. The butterfly image. I kept adding until I felt like I was just looking for stuff to stick on it. I knew then that it was enough.

I don't Know

I have always been taught and believed that when you are creating any artistic endeavor that you only add enough additional elements to support your main focus. Or, conversly, you eliminate the unnecessary. Learning to do that is not easy. There is always something more that can be added but should it?

How far do you go?

I have seen artists and artisans alike pile so much stuff into their creation that its focus is completely lost. I have seen scrapbook pages embellished to the point that you can't find the memory that is being preserved. Cards created from papers with big, bold designs then more big, bold elements slapped on top creating a sense of clutter and the excessive frills hugely popular among the Victorian era upperclass and, still to some extent, today. Paintings with so many components that you can't find a point of interest. Photographs stacked on top of photographs, on top of textures, on top of colors until they become surreal.

Again, how far do you go?

Surprise! There are buffalo in the Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. A lot of buffalo. They are hugh, magnificent creatures. It seems that what they like to do most is eat, drink and lay down. Not exciting photography but who can resist?

I took this photograph early one morning.

I created this from the original.

So, how far do you go? Art is highly individualistic. You go, a little or a lot, until it pleases YOU!

An Oldie but Goodie (Sometimes)

The technique of converting an image into black and white then bringing back only isolated areas of color has been around a long time. I like it, but, IMHO, it takes a special image for the technique to work really well. I think those images are far fewer than the number of times I have actually seen it done. Personally, until now, I have only used it on one image.

I have done these just because the technique is a class requirement.

This is my oldest Granddaughter. She's truly a Texas gal.

This is my youngest Granddaughter. She's truly a Texas gal,too.

Come Fly with Me

First, I want to say that I love butterflies just in case you haven't already figured that out. We are lucky that we have a whole slew of Giant Swallowtails flitting around every year. I love to photograph them as well as any others that come our way, but the Swallowtails are so easy. They are large, up to a 6" wingspan, and are not awfully shy. Sometimes I think they even pose. Like everything else, though, I may get some good shots and some that are not so good. Can they be rescued?

Normally I wouldn't dream of manipulating their images, but I have started the Photoshop Artistry course. The first few lessons were on the functions in Photoshop that we will be using in the course and how to create and collect images in order to assemble our image library for use in our composites. We finally had the first lesson on putting everything together. Our assignment was to utilize the information we gleaned from the lesson.

I chose to use an image of one of the Giant Swallowtails in flight.

Before:

After:

Maybe I'm nuts, but I can see the After image on the front of a card with something like,"Come Fly with Me" printed in the less busy space around the butterfly. Can you?

Imitation of Life

I have never seen a butterfly do this before. The Giant Swallowtail draped his back wings down over the flower.

I'll be Darned

The Grands were out swimming yesterday. This little fellow developed a crush on my oldest Granddaugher. He came and sat on the tip of her finger at least five different times. He's a young one and his body was only about 1 1/2 inches long.

Hubby said that he and all of his friends were deathly afraid of them when he was but a wee boy. My Granddaughter, however, was thrilled!