tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53603531237018329072024-02-07T19:12:25.038-05:00Mortal Muses - More MusingAshley Siskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08964259733610203026noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-30227397201991277552011-05-07T00:57:00.021-04:002011-05-07T00:57:00.811-04:00muse university - correcting white balance<div style="font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>correcting white balance</b></span></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">a repost by ashley of <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://ashleysisk.com/">Ramblings and Photos</a></span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you follow my blog, I've mentioned that I have an ongoing battle with the lighting in my inlaws' home. In fact, I'll be there this weekend! Although I operate primarily out of Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop (as well as Photoshop Elements), I wanted to offer some tips that could be applied in any program as it relatest to correcting your white balance in post-processing. </span><span style="font-size: small;">First, let's start with a SOOC shot (straight out of the camera). You might never know it if you only looked at my edited shots, but here is one of the originals: </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347272403/" title="IMG_1268 SOOC by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1268 SOOC" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5209/5347272403_d32ea09aa5_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>How ya like that white balance? Or lack there of. </span><br />
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<span>Anyways...as I mentioned before, I wanted to start simple....so, I started this edit in Adobe Camera Raw. Regardless of what editing program you're working in, you should have some of the basic functionality that Adobe Camera Raw offers. If you are using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, you already have ACR (and although I shoot in RAW, you can open JPG files in ACR by opening PS or PSE - go to File > Open As> Select open as Camera Raw file and select your image). Below, I've copied my SOOC data and the revisions I made in Adobe Camera Raw. Here's what I did:</span> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Used AUTO to correct my white balance (it's pulling from the white of my nephew's teeth). </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Pulled the recovery slider up. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Dropped my blacks a bit.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Decreased my brightness.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Increased my contrast.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Decreased my clarity. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Decreased my saturation. </span></span></li>
</ul></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347291149/" title="ACR Adjustments by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="ACR Adjustments" height="675" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5245/5347291149_e5e4cbc0db_o.jpg" width="598" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Just making those few adjustments creates a nice clean edit. I've included my edit below. If you're new to editing, I encourage you to try adjusting the exposure, brightness and contrast within your editing program.</span><br />
</span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347272471/" title="IMG_1268 ACR by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1268 ACR" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5006/5347272471_3e5454092c_z.jpg" width="640" /></a> </span><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>I should warn you that most editing programs offer an "Auto" option. Sometimes selecting auto works perfectly but more often than not, you'll need to make some manual adjustments. I'm finding more and more that I use my eye dropper to select an area of the image that is meant to be white, black or gray. In many cases, I'm left with the whites of a person's eyes.</span></span></div></div></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>So that was my very basic edit only using Adobe Camera Raw. If you're interested in an advanced edit...keep reading. </span></span></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347881054/" title="IMG_1268 Basic Edit by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><br />
</a></span></span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Beyond my edit in Adobe Camera Raw, I brought my photo over to Adobe CS5 (also known as Photoshop). Most of my steps can also be performed in Photoshop Elements. Here are my steps:</span><span> </span><br />
</span><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Created a duplicate of my background. I applied a high pass filter (found under FILTER at the top of the screen). I then applied a soft light blending mode to the layer. This is my #1 favorite trick to make the details of your image pop. You can lower the opacity if needed and/or use a layer mask to erase part of the effect. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Created an adjustment layer - CURVES. In PSE, if you don't have an action curves adjustment, you can download one <b><a href="http://www.cavesofice.org/%7Egrant/Challenge/Tools/Files.html">here</a></b> (it also includes a mask layer that I use often).</span><span> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Created a new adjustment layer - LEVELS. I pulled the left side (shadows) of the graph to a 11 - this makes my blacks just a tad bit darker. I pulled the middle bar (mid-tones) up to a 1.11 I often pull the midtones up to a 1.38 to brighten up an image, but that was not necessary here. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Created a new adjustment layer - BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST. I decreased brightness to -10 and added a contrast of 8. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Created a new adjustment layer - HUE/SATURATION. I find with my computer that I always have to pull back on my yellows and reds (if I want to avoid creating oompa loopmas). </span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347881054/" title="IMG_1268 Basic Edit by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1268 Basic Edit" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5123/5347881054_8c5e475143_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span><br />
</span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beyond this point, I felt like my shot looked a little too much like a snapshot (nothing wrong with that, I mean, it is a snapshot), so I decided it needed to be cropped. I used the same photo ratio to crop the photo. I then made a few more adjustments and created two photo options (I wanted to share both a color and black/white). With my color shot: </span></div></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;"><ul><li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Created an adjustment layer: BLACK AND WHITE (in Photoshop Elements, you'll want to use a background copy then go to Enhance>Convert to Black and White). I created a custom black and white by playing with the sliders and adding a tint. I also lowered the opacity to 15%. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Adjusted my brightness/contrast and levels adjustment layers for a little more drama. </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Finally, I applied Totally Rad's Lux action at 50%. For a similar effect...you can create a new fill layer - fill it with a shade of cream or light pink, set the blending mode to screen and lower the opacity. </span></span></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347881274/" title="IMG_1268 lux by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1268 lux" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5347881274_5207dbd72b_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;">For my black and white edit, I simply increased my black and white adjustment layer back to 100%.<br />
</span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5347881378/" title="IMG_1268 BW by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_1268 BW" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5347881378_39820d1956_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">So, hopefully that all made sense and you've learned a trick or two.</span> If you want to know more about basic editing techniques, feel free to pop over to my blog. I offer a new editing tutorial every Thursday.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">___________________________</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">repost by ashley of <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://ashleysisk.com/">Ramblings and Photos</a></span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/"></a></span></b></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div></div>Ashley Siskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08964259733610203026noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-2075584067933547002011-04-30T12:57:00.023-04:002011-04-30T12:57:00.110-04:00muse university - capture the sky<div >="" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>exploring with a camera: capture the sky</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">a repost by kat of <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/">The Kat Eye View of the World</a></span></b><br />
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</b></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhRUBqlFiHF6tqJClhruRRbmzoRtXI8u1SHB9u1hhyphenhyphenzRo-OeB_RDUVEKBi2DkMfAkci7BZMY-dbicJpiCxygwnTkdQguJAg_V6ZctlTVOiHV0AnNizLCs-XCXU5GS9KYcHBqLsJA5zmQl/s1600/IMG_8622_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhhRUBqlFiHF6tqJClhruRRbmzoRtXI8u1SHB9u1hhyphenhyphenzRo-OeB_RDUVEKBi2DkMfAkci7BZMY-dbicJpiCxygwnTkdQguJAg_V6ZctlTVOiHV0AnNizLCs-XCXU5GS9KYcHBqLsJA5zmQl/s640/IMG_8622_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Welcome to <a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/p/exploring-with-camera.html">Exploring with a Camera</a>! Today I'm going to talk about capturing the sky. The sky is a subject that I've been fascinated with over the last few months, and I wanted to share what I've learned through observation. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">What is it about the sky that is so fascinating to me? I think because it is always changing, it is always interesting. The sky is never the same. The weather and clouds, the change in light from the time of day and season, and where you are located all have a dramatic impact on how the sky looks. Not only that, compositional choices, camera settings for exposure and post processing can have a big impact on the final appearance of the sky.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here are a few things I've noticed...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Big Sky</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The image leading this post off is an example of what I call a "big sky" image. Captured on the Oregon Coast in 2008, this wonderful sky has stuck in my mind. Why does the sky feel so big in this image? First, the photo was taken with a wide angle (short focal length), which enables the capture of a lot of space. Second, the horizon is positioned low in the image, so the the sky is dominant. Finally, you can't ignore the effect of the cloud formation. The formation itself leads you into the distance and gives more depth. I want to mention that I did boost the color in this image, to emphasize the blue of the sky.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's another big sky image, from the Amalfi Coast of Italy. This image is similar to the Oregon Coast image, not only in subject, but in the focal length, placement of horizon, and interesting cloud formations.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLH4hDwiIWSS1TfNpE426KTVVCTCeMnl8jsLRTcQMEax5cYy4X2JZdr1VsVb2i2qSgZ_MrraMl8hLejKKr8_KqxN5mtAF-47JR7KzURmxU5zxSZSk6zeQ2wtFatbLPYsYIKc6EgH9_yNL/s1600/IMG_8520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLH4hDwiIWSS1TfNpE426KTVVCTCeMnl8jsLRTcQMEax5cYy4X2JZdr1VsVb2i2qSgZ_MrraMl8hLejKKr8_KqxN5mtAF-47JR7KzURmxU5zxSZSk6zeQ2wtFatbLPYsYIKc6EgH9_yNL/s640/IMG_8520.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Big sky images don't have to be of nature, they don't even have to have blue sky in them. This image of London is a great example of a big sky in an urban environment. The same elements, wide angle and low horizon, apply to this image as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGeqRwQRZiaJOEgGnIXGM2kHJ2lhZgEpGZxgLyrwztOJDThQKs-04cuQl8Fz2nhAwGRjJxIX4jgMRSKtr1_CeMJrn-0N1L8MOqLZV_F-llNYNRqf06zNhERl2CaxXGO8_asVzU_KkMRPG/s1600/IMG_2838_crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigGeqRwQRZiaJOEgGnIXGM2kHJ2lhZgEpGZxgLyrwztOJDThQKs-04cuQl8Fz2nhAwGRjJxIX4jgMRSKtr1_CeMJrn-0N1L8MOqLZV_F-llNYNRqf06zNhERl2CaxXGO8_asVzU_KkMRPG/s640/IMG_2838_crop.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You don't have to have clouds to capture a big sky, that just seems to be what I am drawn to when I capture the sky. I hope some of you will share some cloudless skies in the link tool to provide examples.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Orientation</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">How you choose to compose your image, horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait) orientation, has an impact on the feel of the sky. The image below, of the sky above Mt. Vesuvius in the Bay of Pompeii, emphasizes the height of the sky, rather than the width or expanse as seen in the previous images. The vertical format compresses the depth of the clouds coming toward the viewer to create height.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSjK-HwlRSITfEe5XwBgt63Lb3NadXVX4CadGjCe0An-krPk2x8aC7eUirK-SnZoL4xPISzlECgi9CRm_h9vHQD4K6del5elZ4Gu80lZElVCx-WNVgAhMvGxplKy_81mNnXpY0XO3hlAf/s1600/IMG_8731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpSjK-HwlRSITfEe5XwBgt63Lb3NadXVX4CadGjCe0An-krPk2x8aC7eUirK-SnZoL4xPISzlECgi9CRm_h9vHQD4K6del5elZ4Gu80lZElVCx-WNVgAhMvGxplKy_81mNnXpY0XO3hlAf/s640/IMG_8731.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is another vertical example, above the Swiss Alps. I find it interesting how both of these images make the sky and the clouds seem so large compared to the massive mountains. Note that both also use a low horizon, to emphasize the sky.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdi08JzriG5-VmL8dav6yIrd91XGVim3Zava0Jt3MQadXG_fUyzUykVzfJa1CUYMNqTOdGxY1KszKPZdoVKA6CufnX-JjKzZHy7DHPPcn25WlMt0g7_z8LVWkSq7jvtAlPphxNHJt1p-_M/s1600/IMG_0264_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdi08JzriG5-VmL8dav6yIrd91XGVim3Zava0Jt3MQadXG_fUyzUykVzfJa1CUYMNqTOdGxY1KszKPZdoVKA6CufnX-JjKzZHy7DHPPcn25WlMt0g7_z8LVWkSq7jvtAlPphxNHJt1p-_M/s640/IMG_0264_adj.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Contrast</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">When capturing the sky, I like to have something to provide contrast to the sky itself, something to ground the image and provide a frame of reference. I find I ground my images with a piece of something real, even if I don't include the horizon. The tree in this image of sky from Madrid grounds the image, giving a little bit of context without changing the focal point.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgRjDiNkHhc6niGgwUgAMOhJvqHaJOFB2dxRPfQSwXwEwrOpuRF0Y2xh1MtIC1ZNRAJTGkaXpQAQPUeq_3Up5NgpVU-t3XMR_ZdnKJo1ezxNDMdNe2cej_mtrowCJ8XUoP2ykz4LzL6Us/s1600/IMG_0229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgRjDiNkHhc6niGgwUgAMOhJvqHaJOFB2dxRPfQSwXwEwrOpuRF0Y2xh1MtIC1ZNRAJTGkaXpQAQPUeq_3Up5NgpVU-t3XMR_ZdnKJo1ezxNDMdNe2cej_mtrowCJ8XUoP2ykz4LzL6Us/s640/IMG_0229.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And if you can have an interesting object help ground your sky, why not? This ancient Greek temple in Paestum, on the Amalfi Coast south of Naples, both grounds and provides a point of interest to the fabulous sky on this day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjViNdlEKpFKJZlIEjUrn-nx5YvgzpVRDktFhFs2a4rZbB0kDtR-nJUBp0uc0M_gMnfhQwtW2JpdHz1guBySu6GYwizZ2jRbyd8FQieiZ36ZlsuJHKD0ChyaQfhm6PUVXxjSNsWsygprScN/s1600/IMG_7586_sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjViNdlEKpFKJZlIEjUrn-nx5YvgzpVRDktFhFs2a4rZbB0kDtR-nJUBp0uc0M_gMnfhQwtW2JpdHz1guBySu6GYwizZ2jRbyd8FQieiZ36ZlsuJHKD0ChyaQfhm6PUVXxjSNsWsygprScN/s640/IMG_7586_sky.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Contrast that with a slightly wider angle crop, below, and you can see the difference in the focal point of sky versus temple. The sky is still an important feature, but the temple becomes the primary focal point.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAL_QrHCm6gPiwJONaOYVieNpjQzC_bL7LmLPvov2Js4wsgrUAumQ_5QB065I-VtZc7iNMZik384EwwC90m1MUAB47Q_zb5DbFXPA834PG42wX8HZpSkY2J_MK4StBqyK28nKRagOSQX44/s1600/IMG_7586.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAL_QrHCm6gPiwJONaOYVieNpjQzC_bL7LmLPvov2Js4wsgrUAumQ_5QB065I-VtZc7iNMZik384EwwC90m1MUAB47Q_zb5DbFXPA834PG42wX8HZpSkY2J_MK4StBqyK28nKRagOSQX44/s640/IMG_7586.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Slice of Sky</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You don't always have the luxury of having a broad view of the sky to capture. You can create equally interesting sky images by catching a slice of the sky. These images are trickier for exposure, since you have a bright sky behind often significantly darker surroundings. My camera light meter will always choose an exposure in this situation that results in an overexposed sky, so I deliberately underexpose. This will make the foreground darker, but the correct exposure on the sky will make it the focal point.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is an image from an early morning walk in Parco di Monza. The slice of sky is the dominant feature in the image, but there is context in the foreground.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19uBpker2PbOL-kgOfklhV426k24bd_LbY_8jkPFVdM1wknem0GjAN5WzfVnDgCeucaahyaTW7fQjM0tLOdUMhp6BNi6n0JtUnL5JnEVql8iQDE4FnlLXueUzhT7sxTl-AmcEUD50x284/s1600/IMG_0942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh19uBpker2PbOL-kgOfklhV426k24bd_LbY_8jkPFVdM1wknem0GjAN5WzfVnDgCeucaahyaTW7fQjM0tLOdUMhp6BNi6n0JtUnL5JnEVql8iQDE4FnlLXueUzhT7sxTl-AmcEUD50x284/s640/IMG_0942.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The image below comes from an especially frustrating evening walk in Lisbon. I could tell the sky was gorgeous with the clouds and golden light, but I couldn't get anywhere I could capture the broad vista I wanted. There were buildings all around, everywhere I walked. Instead of the big sky, I focused on a slice of sky. I like this image for the subtle details of the city in contrast with that gorgeous sky.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLg84NA21ahEPj-OCjCZWgA4Ftz7c0rbTfNo5lXqkm9n_Jubtjx34mr0X1PJb9ewO6YKWEkIcSTaTuPnn0Fbv_mnQUD3GHY-OMkvPJznDbWXzgyhNqY6URoq2elYWoD-wsc7emntZqimAk/s1600/IMG_1395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLg84NA21ahEPj-OCjCZWgA4Ftz7c0rbTfNo5lXqkm9n_Jubtjx34mr0X1PJb9ewO6YKWEkIcSTaTuPnn0Fbv_mnQUD3GHY-OMkvPJznDbWXzgyhNqY6URoq2elYWoD-wsc7emntZqimAk/s640/IMG_1395.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This slice of sky, the view when exiting from a Paris Metro station, gives me an interesting feeling of emerging. The looking-up perspective and escalator provide the context that changes the image from a standard sky shot to something more unique.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjiI7lOrKd5Tp5c4rsAerf4c0IpN5P_vjt5AppM5c_hQlbp3zECag5MlATXZwh8QLGc_TU9YL5k_0DQvuqS_1LKy2s2-jI-zy8N0y1j6whT3Cag3jGOMnf5pirj7j4MVAvLaUaHfQuZyQ/s1600/IMG_3441_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjiI7lOrKd5Tp5c4rsAerf4c0IpN5P_vjt5AppM5c_hQlbp3zECag5MlATXZwh8QLGc_TU9YL5k_0DQvuqS_1LKy2s2-jI-zy8N0y1j6whT3Cag3jGOMnf5pirj7j4MVAvLaUaHfQuZyQ/s640/IMG_3441_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Reflections</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><br />
</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The sky in reflection is gorgeous. Water reflections are a great tool to expand the impact of the sky in an image. In this image of the Venetian Lagoon, the reflected rays of light and colors of the sky continue the effect of the sky through more of the image. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLA-olMUyvA9inuY6C7W-VwSiMN_n7eVimDlTCkXYC-qyKXWpDkjVTJ8woQHhaWv-UDEAmrhuW1MYTKqn0cdMlIrSsJNT0KJRNs1rsJ5GEvzH3EVp1vtRhHkao2EypuI8Zge-UPCdJnV1D/s1600/IMG_6765_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLA-olMUyvA9inuY6C7W-VwSiMN_n7eVimDlTCkXYC-qyKXWpDkjVTJ8woQHhaWv-UDEAmrhuW1MYTKqn0cdMlIrSsJNT0KJRNs1rsJ5GEvzH3EVp1vtRhHkao2EypuI8Zge-UPCdJnV1D/s640/IMG_6765_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Using selective color processing on a reflection of the sky can completely change an image. In this image of my son from 2007, I loved how revealing only the sky in color gave me a feeling of springtime hope and moved the focal point to the sky in reflection.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMquze_v72xuL9LpRp9uUgKfP1mnm7w1qOwNPk68NSyOmgyG6C1YqAnV_EJ54E-SdJao0K5QAbz02yGkbe0tavcCrwWUJkeeqJU6r0zSkS0MdbVCTK-ClyTBiyQFOJAkoaSw8PWD1rQha6/s1600/IMG_3654.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMquze_v72xuL9LpRp9uUgKfP1mnm7w1qOwNPk68NSyOmgyG6C1YqAnV_EJ54E-SdJao0K5QAbz02yGkbe0tavcCrwWUJkeeqJU6r0zSkS0MdbVCTK-ClyTBiyQFOJAkoaSw8PWD1rQha6/s640/IMG_3654.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I like this sky reflection from a modern Vespa for a couple of reasons. First, you can see that it has just rained from the drops on the mirror but the sky is reflected blue - things are clearing up. Second, a modern silver Vespa, while unique if you are from the US, is not all that interesting on its own. This sky reflection provides significantly more interest to the photo.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jkKN5CeLOMoXL1RX_shKTCnULCIc3BohawFNb_qPgYkQk0R4PazJDJssOo90yLQObQoSRkIjVp4kgcj17xiBwkhvOx2I3vAqy9oZXbXOJ64hpjlBwulbO_Dyh9vvyYTDbiGKyQjDgV4C/s1600/IMG_2227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5jkKN5CeLOMoXL1RX_shKTCnULCIc3BohawFNb_qPgYkQk0R4PazJDJssOo90yLQObQoSRkIjVp4kgcj17xiBwkhvOx2I3vAqy9oZXbXOJ64hpjlBwulbO_Dyh9vvyYTDbiGKyQjDgV4C/s640/IMG_2227.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Backdrop</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, I want to explore the sky as a backdrop. Sometimes an image just doesn't work without the backdrop of the sky. It may not be the focal point, but an interesting sky in concert with other elements make a great image. This Parco di Monza sunset image needs both the sky and the tree in silhouette to work.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIlSk9CJTUoV4nC1z_q_JAJqeoPSxg07oU4bjvkCIO93dnD4Zvck4hn93e1wgV_WKd2NEli-NNWzUi8R8xqnM1GrOIjsEzQQvR-8EeaRC6k2CuRgmeKZ-Yt43OKXy97U-ffwcBin54_lo/s1600/IMG_2004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHIlSk9CJTUoV4nC1z_q_JAJqeoPSxg07oU4bjvkCIO93dnD4Zvck4hn93e1wgV_WKd2NEli-NNWzUi8R8xqnM1GrOIjsEzQQvR-8EeaRC6k2CuRgmeKZ-Yt43OKXy97U-ffwcBin54_lo/s640/IMG_2004.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The focal point in this image is the life boat on the Ferry from Italy to Croatia, but the light in the sky is what makes it interesting. Can you imagine this without that light? I can, and it's not anything special in my mind's eye.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVgJptLYNNKdhP9Rjt85vFD2r8ZYZGpJZ_K5T9eUPM80BXRafCEn-bQeLZIPooK6SE_k0A9BBtjc7a3y1iVnP2IGT6zRXp6ruOJN5aXb9oexZL5omMq7zru635hp8X_OCWBf3Rz8phaKT/s1600/IMG_7312_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVgJptLYNNKdhP9Rjt85vFD2r8ZYZGpJZ_K5T9eUPM80BXRafCEn-bQeLZIPooK6SE_k0A9BBtjc7a3y1iVnP2IGT6zRXp6ruOJN5aXb9oexZL5omMq7zru635hp8X_OCWBf3Rz8phaKT/s640/IMG_7312_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have taken lots of images of church steeples and domes and monuments, and I can tell you this: the sky makes or breaks the shot. This evening sky in Split, Croatia makes all the difference between a ho-hum church steeple and a marvelous evening shot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUXvKv6gLPRYDnb9DJVbGi7YXPu8JJLWv3sE0_3Zr1guF1ack_HDn4RoyQYuv3tzGt7lSyu-oWTHGFeGa_7B86AOXkH9WHbRAVNBzQq_b1j1QXoVhDegOIqFLqqF8wYmM3wB-u_JM1Uuk/s1600/IMG_7675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUXvKv6gLPRYDnb9DJVbGi7YXPu8JJLWv3sE0_3Zr1guF1ack_HDn4RoyQYuv3tzGt7lSyu-oWTHGFeGa_7B86AOXkH9WHbRAVNBzQq_b1j1QXoVhDegOIqFLqqF8wYmM3wB-u_JM1Uuk/s640/IMG_7675.jpg" width="457" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">So, what skies attract you? Is it cloudless skies of blue? Stormy, threatening skies? Whatever the sky, go capture it!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">___________________________</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">repost by kat of <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/">The Kat Eye View of the World</a></span></b></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div></div>Kat Slomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00645480835605671040noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-72091037072287341712011-04-23T00:57:00.001-04:002011-04-23T00:57:00.069-04:00muse university - spirals<div >="" style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>exploring with a camera: reflections in glass</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">a repost by kat of <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/">The Kat Eye View of the World</a></span></b><br />
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</b></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFecz2ZzYOLfbpv3fMWlLUVtBASCu2kIJ7OWZawk8H7Fenmc89IuXpxGUnwVYpZuh9Lw4vAD1pVZe270r4NlJZytx5aRl9F9U079PHD941paEcP_-x2XEGsp0pUSEijI0seRpoDxlgV54/s1600/IMG_4385_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHFecz2ZzYOLfbpv3fMWlLUVtBASCu2kIJ7OWZawk8H7Fenmc89IuXpxGUnwVYpZuh9Lw4vAD1pVZe270r4NlJZytx5aRl9F9U079PHD941paEcP_-x2XEGsp0pUSEijI0seRpoDxlgV54/s640/IMG_4385_adj.jpg" width="427" /></a></div><br />
Spirals are a beautiful shape. They have marvelous curves and convey energy and motion. Not only that, they are a truly efficient form used in nature, and we see them so many places in our every day lives!<br />
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While I have captured spirals with my camera countless times, the first place I truly became aware of the spiral form explicitly was in the Barcelona Science Museum. The exhibit on forms found in nature had this to say:<br />
<blockquote>The spiral is a circumference that twists away on the plane that contains it. It is the best way of growing without occupying too much space. It is frequently found in animals when there exists the contradictory need for something massive, voluminous, broad or long that does not affect mobility (horns, tails, tongues, trunks, shells, etc.) and in plants to grow something that will subsequently be unrolled. If we unrolled all the spirals we have at home (kitchen and toilet paper, audio and video tapes, adhesive tape, records, springs....) we would be forced to leave the house, as we would not all fit.</blockquote>Wow! I had never thought of it that way. The typical form in nature that comes to mind for me is the shell (above, from Barcelona Science Museum), but there are so many other places you will see it. Take this photo of a gardenia, for example, from my online friend <a href="http://amongthesaguaros.blogspot.com/">Barbara</a>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQvRvG2vmJ2G8la4mDthuKfuOYas6DypPAwXuQ_oIugOnVMyj8ffTNL_kg5KScETLcbzFjkU2MmNpLTd6mY0aaqOGagNYXueTQo7ar1OIuV5j2BzuPZKjmNm2hTkHgnT3lVLNzUKnB95y/s1600/barbara-gardenia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQvRvG2vmJ2G8la4mDthuKfuOYas6DypPAwXuQ_oIugOnVMyj8ffTNL_kg5KScETLcbzFjkU2MmNpLTd6mY0aaqOGagNYXueTQo7ar1OIuV5j2BzuPZKjmNm2hTkHgnT3lVLNzUKnB95y/s640/barbara-gardenia.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><br />
So gorgeous! Mother nature really knows what she is doing in these things (and so does Barbara). :)<br />
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Our man-made world copies nature to use the function of spirals. I don't personally have any photos of toilet paper, but the common spiral staircase, like this one in Verona, is a good example.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7f7umM7qcJPn-A3zegCeluSdN8HljdauHL-UkU9bRU3bIWsVSatmI1ELhDK9MuuZ4Es_0WxUPF47ExCMvuLJIDVDJUqUNs949o25Ac4APh0js8efa2jgpg-Uz3RoQXTbDamLnGCtDr571/s1600/IMG_0547_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7f7umM7qcJPn-A3zegCeluSdN8HljdauHL-UkU9bRU3bIWsVSatmI1ELhDK9MuuZ4Es_0WxUPF47ExCMvuLJIDVDJUqUNs949o25Ac4APh0js8efa2jgpg-Uz3RoQXTbDamLnGCtDr571/s640/IMG_0547_adj.jpg" width="427" /></a></div><br />
And I will spare you the countless spiral staircase photos I have of lighthouses on the Oregon coast! I can't step into one without capturing the wonderful curves and lines of them. (In prepping for this post I learned that technically, this is not a spiral because it is not all on the same plane - it's a helix. But you'll forgive me if I claim artistic license here, won't you?)<br />
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Even more than function, humans copy the form of spirals in our everyday world. The Romans used them, as I discovered in this floor mosaic in the British Museum:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3lfdrhdclQenFsqK0J5NqqatqCpyzR4nU3pz4gsNNELFeu_yZoekuaFJ1HjefP4uRqDNZhoMff5ywMsyV_2iyb-_mDwmb7DCNtUaRmOS67jxU0XW4pDbWFf4nfrb9U4ndY9S3Q3u4-FYV/s1600/IMG_2797_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3lfdrhdclQenFsqK0J5NqqatqCpyzR4nU3pz4gsNNELFeu_yZoekuaFJ1HjefP4uRqDNZhoMff5ywMsyV_2iyb-_mDwmb7DCNtUaRmOS67jxU0XW4pDbWFf4nfrb9U4ndY9S3Q3u4-FYV/s640/IMG_2797_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
The Greeks used them, in their ionic columns. (Thanks to my 9-year-old son, I've relearned which columns are Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. Ionic have the spirals.) These columns are used all over in architecture, here's just one example I caught in Bath:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK_C9w1KhLjdf73-gvBZOhXZQmUe3a7uJZRTTY9yHHCkRLBwyQJ4jvT3xfQ3Jrn1s3J2gDm9EZb3deMeiwkdzPxc16iN5j7CY81oMme9zfaGHfSvZP-A2vsDUyN14pqm6PK-HeBum3ITX/s1600/IMG_1798_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK_C9w1KhLjdf73-gvBZOhXZQmUe3a7uJZRTTY9yHHCkRLBwyQJ4jvT3xfQ3Jrn1s3J2gDm9EZb3deMeiwkdzPxc16iN5j7CY81oMme9zfaGHfSvZP-A2vsDUyN14pqm6PK-HeBum3ITX/s640/IMG_1798_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
And they are used all the time in wrought iron work, as I've noticed here in my travels in Europe. Here's a light post in Bath:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPycRtnn584RPorNzA8WlH8WjAJPBGY0wXc2MpDHTdfohiYwu43931xhP2DUXdJJ4a5zFEG5oEgAM_DI8OKfczb-J9uUQeZDWS6keVvMCZSgG9ORPwM4G6oBziIU-6bj-ZwXNNlOW1E9il/s1600/IMG_1808_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPycRtnn584RPorNzA8WlH8WjAJPBGY0wXc2MpDHTdfohiYwu43931xhP2DUXdJJ4a5zFEG5oEgAM_DI8OKfczb-J9uUQeZDWS6keVvMCZSgG9ORPwM4G6oBziIU-6bj-ZwXNNlOW1E9il/s640/IMG_1808_adj.jpg" width="416" /></a></div><br />
My favorite wrought iron spiral of all time is this railing in Amsterdam. Talk about function following form! What graceful curves...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTI-dRDYljkdQ1HjRT4I3FhSv4fn4jx6SJ54zAPV1KlHsowarf0uhK5EYRiQTAd6R2FKvSi4o74Ambbg5Rt1MGWbpzeTrV_oe5ezTDvTgGuDz8udPn2nYjztGDUou180q4u5mwFO859h88/s1600/IMG_3560_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTI-dRDYljkdQ1HjRT4I3FhSv4fn4jx6SJ54zAPV1KlHsowarf0uhK5EYRiQTAd6R2FKvSi4o74Ambbg5Rt1MGWbpzeTrV_oe5ezTDvTgGuDz8udPn2nYjztGDUou180q4u5mwFO859h88/s640/IMG_3560_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
An architect who used spirals over and over in his work was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD">Antoni Gaudí</a>, in Barcelona. He took much of his inspiration from nature, and this ceiling detail is but one example.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_8DAcR-BBBXU3EDLar11m_KitYm24flWtkfRbvxnrQ_3idyMBcyNoDRBTBQkouhXSpa36-q6ZD4vJJmr6N9O0V-iVjRCtpfcXG3ou2z_rUcmghfl1mXPhA1e5-vjPvkV1hkC_iEsvZaM/s1600/IMG_5385_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_8DAcR-BBBXU3EDLar11m_KitYm24flWtkfRbvxnrQ_3idyMBcyNoDRBTBQkouhXSpa36-q6ZD4vJJmr6N9O0V-iVjRCtpfcXG3ou2z_rUcmghfl1mXPhA1e5-vjPvkV1hkC_iEsvZaM/s640/IMG_5385_adj.jpg" width="427" /></a></div><br />
We see spirals every day, even if you haven't noticed it lately. I captured these two images of bus shelter advertisements in different cities on our recent trip to England. Spirals are used in graphic arts to denote natural beauty and to convey energy. They catch your eye and draw you in.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8jsf4zLTuFnYnwSbM8Mqzm22U5UUrEZzRn_KXzuW-20naPDwIDgaFjE2Al0ByOkMX_COLqVp5bBRQXlFbjQoRMnxuhyphenhyphenmJZBGIhE5uufpROeprPxKrhWAfk2yWt5Zlg14TSaCE3drhINd/s1600/Spirals-Ads.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8jsf4zLTuFnYnwSbM8Mqzm22U5UUrEZzRn_KXzuW-20naPDwIDgaFjE2Al0ByOkMX_COLqVp5bBRQXlFbjQoRMnxuhyphenhyphenmJZBGIhE5uufpROeprPxKrhWAfk2yWt5Zlg14TSaCE3drhINd/s640/Spirals-Ads.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Keep your eye out for spirals around you. Here are a few ideas:<br />
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1. Look at home. All of those rolls of paper! And then there are spiral notebooks, springs, even toys (hello, Slinky!). What is there with spirals, sitting right next to you?<br />
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2. Look at nature. Flowers, ferns, vines, shells all show spirals. Water moves in spirals, think whirlpools and breaking waves. How can you capture them? What else can you find? <br />
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3. Look at architecture. Staircases and wrought iron are two I've mentioned, what others do you see?<br />
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4. Look at art and design. Artist have used spirals in their work for thousands of years, and the <em>golden spiral</em> or <em>golden ratio</em> is a fundamental compositional principle (see a short and helpful explanation <a href="http://blog.nekophoto.com/?p=623">here</a>). What traditional and modern uses of spirals can you find?</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;">___________________________</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">repost by kat</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div></div>Kat Slomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00645480835605671040noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-79977258161243178212011-04-16T00:57:00.005-04:002011-04-16T00:57:00.287-04:00muse university - flare<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>flare</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">by muse kirstin</div><br />
I must confess that I am a flare addict. I love flare just because it is so ethereal, so difficult to capture, so fleeting and otherworldly. I love it that my children know that when the sun is out and low that I will be out there taking photos, pointing my camera towards the sun to try and capture some flare. They love to shout "FLARE" at me while I take them. We all whisper "flare" to one another in the cinema when we spot a flare shot. I hope I have passed on some of my love of flare to my kids. And I hope I can get you out there taking flare shots too.</div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstinmckee/4998564084/" title="Fence, flare...and feet! by kirstinmckee, on Flickr"><img alt="Fence, flare...and feet!" height="640" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4153/4998564084_199225e814_z.jpg" width="480" /></a></div></div><div></div><div><br />
</div><div>The most important ingredient for capturing lens flare is sun. And it needs to be low, ideally. And of course, since lens flare is a lens fault, you need to use a lens with lots of elements and preferably not a prime. This is when your kit lens can really make itself useful. </div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstinmckee/5571585047/" title="eyelashes by kirstinmckee, on Flickr"><img alt="eyelashes" height="427" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5224/5571585047_5b83f64d59_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Metering on the subject, you then point the camera at the sun or catch a few rays from the side, and tilt it so that light scatters within the lens elements to make the flare. I sometimes use my viewfinder as it's easier to see what's going on but always make sure not to look directly at the sun.</div><div><br />
</div><div>To get big arcs of flare, open the aperture. </div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstinmckee/5512619077/" title="For you Vikki x by kirstinmckee, on Flickr"><img alt="For you Vikki x" height="480" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5512619077_d07900ce7d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>More recently I've been playing with getting flare to drip across the picture by using a smaller aperture. </div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstinmckee/5558576964/" title="fence in the woods by kirstinmckee, on Flickr"><img alt="fence in the woods" height="427" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5558576964_4404d51aec_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I love knowing what kind of flare each of my lenses can produce. Have a play and see what you fancy! Maybe you too can become a flare addict. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">___________________________</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
by kirstin of <a href="http://fleeting-moments.tumblr.com/"><b>fleeting moments</b></a></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div></div></div><charset="utf-8"><br />
</charset="utf-8">Kirstinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10005413845221023288noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-69578437508996279292011-04-09T00:57:00.056-04:002011-04-10T15:36:22.561-04:00muse university - orton effect<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Orton Effect—how to do it, where to use it</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">By guest <a href="http://www.gillywalker.com/"><b>Gilly Walker</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVJqo2_MhOVZoNMSb_UhWtVneKEBtOHlqNADujaxC8eSdfDXqh0JQnwrqqQGc8UF17zf7Mdow8xYzZxHTmcpSLll-8aSrkykbdXANA3Yepf6bFWLNjp87T22bL-UVnUeIK0RVrdvJUpY/s1600/Canoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcVJqo2_MhOVZoNMSb_UhWtVneKEBtOHlqNADujaxC8eSdfDXqh0JQnwrqqQGc8UF17zf7Mdow8xYzZxHTmcpSLll-8aSrkykbdXANA3Yepf6bFWLNjp87T22bL-UVnUeIK0RVrdvJUpY/s640/Canoes.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The Orton Effect is named after photographer Michael Orton, who developed a technique of sandwiching together two images he’d shot on film – the images were identical except that one was sharp and one out of focus. Although Orton was using film, the effect is even easier to create in Photoshop or any other digital imaging software that allows you to use layers.<br />
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It has the effect of intensifying colours and giving a dreamy, ethereal look; I often think it resembles those old-fashioned postcards where the colours don’t look quite real and bleed a little at the edges.<br />
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There are lots of variations on how to do it, and if you Google ‘Orton effect’ you’ll find them, but this is the method I use. Instructions are for Photoshop Elements 6, but should be easy enough to adjust for other versions of Photoshop or Elements. I’m assuming a little bit of basic Photoshop knowledge here.<br />
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Here’s our starting image:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpOg1PPp_vQ65TU5ihKqnpktmgXlkGeB_SOZ2mbRiFuIJ-WgwSOC_qCG9qRP30z9M6W0AgkqJ9uqXJ_dpAnKLRWexLxZ_OcwzkmTB0lvTiRZvwPmufoaDgE9VewIZTMmTNQA9WT4A6VE/s1600/Start+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpOg1PPp_vQ65TU5ihKqnpktmgXlkGeB_SOZ2mbRiFuIJ-WgwSOC_qCG9qRP30z9M6W0AgkqJ9uqXJ_dpAnKLRWexLxZ_OcwzkmTB0lvTiRZvwPmufoaDgE9VewIZTMmTNQA9WT4A6VE/s640/Start+image.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<b>Method One</b><br />
<ol><li>Open your image and make any necessary adjustments until it looks the way you want it</li>
<li>Duplicate the background layer twice (either right-click on the background layer, then Duplicate Layer, or click Layer, Duplicate Layer in the menu at the top of the screen). Call the first layer Sharp and the second one Blur.</li>
<li>Click on the layer immediately above the background layer (Sharp) and change the blending mode to Screen.</li>
<li>Click on the second duplicate layer (Blur)—it should be the one at the top of the stack.</li>
<li>Go to the Filter menu, and choose Blur, then Gaussian Blur. The amount of blur you need to apply will vary with the resolution of your image and the effect you want to achieve—for an image 600 pix-els across, you may only need about 5-6, but for a large image you might have to go up to 35-40 or even more. You should be aiming to use enough blur to keep the shapes and outlines clearly visible but to lose most of the detail.</li>
<li>When you’ve applied the blur, change the blending mode of this layer to Multiply. Other options than can work are Soft Light, Hard Light and Overlay—I find Multiply usually works best but give them all a try. Your screen should now look something like this:</li>
</ol><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWK8cSobnmKvWpQoe9bTzouAW3wbJoVgGGPBQP51bfholGaCzV2C9BStXfpszrMryrnVin5x1fGKGiyF4LNjObyCEuI6h6KuoRIRJB3Tmjx6zfJi9sGVIGqAwp1ni2PCUNUQSGTN0WDg/s1600/Screen+shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAWK8cSobnmKvWpQoe9bTzouAW3wbJoVgGGPBQP51bfholGaCzV2C9BStXfpszrMryrnVin5x1fGKGiyF4LNjObyCEuI6h6KuoRIRJB3Tmjx6zfJi9sGVIGqAwp1ni2PCUNUQSGTN0WDg/s640/Screen+shot.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
The final image is often a bit too dark. To fix this you can either increase the transparency of the top layer a little, or adjust it using Levels or Curves.<br />
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Compare the original image with the Ortonised one:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1l0qsb2PrHTnjOm_62p8yC-RMxxH3vkqIseUjyUH7W-dKQ0LVZ3WvV5ot1MnXmtPGgLe2w-LFSjYq_KCVK8lqEXA-iUMuGUvvA_hrhU0jepwMvkMZRjLTtPSYdjyqlBABD1h8tUfod4/s1600/Original+and+Ortonised.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS1l0qsb2PrHTnjOm_62p8yC-RMxxH3vkqIseUjyUH7W-dKQ0LVZ3WvV5ot1MnXmtPGgLe2w-LFSjYq_KCVK8lqEXA-iUMuGUvvA_hrhU0jepwMvkMZRjLTtPSYdjyqlBABD1h8tUfod4/s640/Original+and+Ortonised.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<b>Method Two</b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
There’s a variation on this technique that also works well:<br />
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<ol><li>Open your image and make any necessary adjustments until it looks the way you want it</li>
<li>Duplicate the background layer and change the blending mode to Screen.</li>
<li>Click Layer in the menu, then Merge Down to make these two layers into one</li>
<li>Now duplicate the resulting layer and add Gaussian Blur as before. Change the blending mode to Multiply. Adjust the transparency, Levels or Curves as necessary.</li>
</ol><br />
You can compare these two methods below - in this example there’s not a huge amount of difference. (the first image uses the first method, and the second uses the method just given)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6pkWNRDwvZRpqiFnwRWd6m6AqSKRQq6Omvykr4RPDqBO3OVWidSUiBJQoWchm7tgnMH3X1x-POa5WbUyPhf_8Vb7hwT3kNRbSzJaPRMJ72CeuUhFXrUPefcQPr53X5jSCYHyAzX9uyQ/s1600/Methods+compared+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm6pkWNRDwvZRpqiFnwRWd6m6AqSKRQq6Omvykr4RPDqBO3OVWidSUiBJQoWchm7tgnMH3X1x-POa5WbUyPhf_8Vb7hwT3kNRbSzJaPRMJ72CeuUhFXrUPefcQPr53X5jSCYHyAzX9uyQ/s640/Methods+compared+1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, with other images there will be a much more noticeable difference between the two:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAA33PDnUOndRpkd7OuwLQBJcxCFIbaFxggrq53RAZKzd6aEg4_jFThWSM4DnATr_SHYhQN2Ok59RfsX1mEhBl1aCwGE9bCThKazExrkBvngVRbC9RMj0SLBzhvRvVM_hgrN65k1RCTAI/s1600/Methods+compared+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAA33PDnUOndRpkd7OuwLQBJcxCFIbaFxggrq53RAZKzd6aEg4_jFThWSM4DnATr_SHYhQN2Ok59RfsX1mEhBl1aCwGE9bCThKazExrkBvngVRbC9RMj0SLBzhvRvVM_hgrN65k1RCTAI/s640/Methods+compared+2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As you can see, the second method gives a lighter result, but the colours are not so intense.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Orton technique doesn’t work on everything. I find the best subjects are landscapes, nature and anything that has a kind of timeless or retro look to it anyhow. It often looks all wrong on anything sharp-edged and modern. It’s also very easy to overdo, ending up with something garishly coloured and cartoon-like; it’s usually at its best when used subtly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To a certain extent, you can use it to save an image that’s not quite in focus, although there are limits to how well this will work. It’s best to start by sharpening the original as much as you can without making it look over-sharpened.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I’ve also seen it used on portraits to good effect, although I haven’t tried this myself. It’s particularly good for portraits of children, as it smoothes out skin tones and gives a subtle glow. It tends to work well, too, for anything with coloured lights in it, like Christmas lights for example. It can give a lit-up Christmas tree a really magical effect.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Although the way it enhances colours is one good reason for using it, it can also be applied to black and white images for its dreamy, fairytale look.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmfIveddHGfsUX074Seu_2_PpAZytGWbKObKD65H3xmyjDnqbAp-bozY92KFbsIF6jTbetb5xrrvJSl5epMyASsEAgtw8C548adK-OIZabMsIKTotPyq_7O4bdCyN-1uI5XXoIuqvLMw/s1600/Winter+trees+diptych.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfmfIveddHGfsUX074Seu_2_PpAZytGWbKObKD65H3xmyjDnqbAp-bozY92KFbsIF6jTbetb5xrrvJSl5epMyASsEAgtw8C548adK-OIZabMsIKTotPyq_7O4bdCyN-1uI5XXoIuqvLMw/s640/Winter+trees+diptych.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Something else you can try is to convert the Blur layer to black and white; this gives a different effect again, with the colours becoming softer and more pastel—a bit vintage in style. (It works best where there isn’t too much strong colour originally.) You will probably need to reduce the transparency of the black and white layer a little to allow more of the colour to show through. In the example below, it works to emphasise the graphic elements of the picture.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2Q1p74uOQanyLyHjMRqW1T9CEitPmRyXRzqZ2KCg0lmHr4D4ZbZZWIvVZeJud8raKv41ArN0FDlcGdJXGtWq0uKcvizvBkKYocLRIMPsUlSEPCn2c55N-sS6cRXcOXqUDqJ-SFOiYiY/s1600/Tree+shadow+diptych.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2Q1p74uOQanyLyHjMRqW1T9CEitPmRyXRzqZ2KCg0lmHr4D4ZbZZWIvVZeJud8raKv41ArN0FDlcGdJXGtWq0uKcvizvBkKYocLRIMPsUlSEPCn2c55N-sS6cRXcOXqUDqJ-SFOiYiY/s640/Tree+shadow+diptych.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Until recently, I hadn’t thought of using it in combination with a Lensbaby; I assumed there would be alto-gether too much blur to make it workable. However, I played around one day and found that It actually works very well – the Lensbaby effect is very dreamy and soft-focus anyway and I don’t think Orton on top of it adds much more blur to the mix, but it does enhance the colours quite a bit and gives a very painterly look, as you can see in the two examples below:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNe23XUG59dn_f7-7M_DefGkYw2j_YllxN_7cD-vDPLY9DQVeLMl4Z1oCRpbCK8nNFL5otvX4cj_Ene0DxIZWJiVPtiMY2a-9ozTPxFAg9vcx53HYRnTXGeJRU65BTBFPzHpXIQ00feio/s1600/Acer+curves+Orton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNe23XUG59dn_f7-7M_DefGkYw2j_YllxN_7cD-vDPLY9DQVeLMl4Z1oCRpbCK8nNFL5otvX4cj_Ene0DxIZWJiVPtiMY2a-9ozTPxFAg9vcx53HYRnTXGeJRU65BTBFPzHpXIQ00feio/s640/Acer+curves+Orton.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0yNZUf6KhoqPoOcVlayCiGcFgTLlXyZIwLHgU8hw2O_IsOoEBuM5w_FYZ0rpMetFCrL_Wj39sOrm1QLG32qgQgAP6L-y-2wCudNpsebpd1QVGH-YroK-DAhemVITktxyofqCn1YE91g/s1600/Westgate+gardens+2+Orton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP0yNZUf6KhoqPoOcVlayCiGcFgTLlXyZIwLHgU8hw2O_IsOoEBuM5w_FYZ0rpMetFCrL_Wj39sOrm1QLG32qgQgAP6L-y-2wCudNpsebpd1QVGH-YroK-DAhemVITktxyofqCn1YE91g/s640/Westgate+gardens+2+Orton.jpg" width="420" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Finally, you don’t have to retain the Orton effect over the whole picture: another option is to use the Eraser tool (or a layer mask in Photoshop) to remove the effect in some parts of the image while leaving it in others.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you want to know a little more about Michael Orton and see some galleries of his work, get hold of his book ‘Photographing Creative Landscapes’ - available on Amazon. (Note: this is not just about the above technique—he uses a variety of methods to produce impressionistic landscapes) Another photographer who is known for using this method is <b><a href="http://www.andregallant.com/images/galleries/5/gallery.html">Andre Gallant</a></b>; his website is here and has some stunning images on it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hope you have fun trying out this technique, and it would be great to see what you come up with!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">___________________________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">post by Gilly Walker</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Website—<a href="http://www.gillywalker.com/">www.gillywalker.com</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Flickr—<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27863935@N03/">GillyinKent</a></div><br />
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<b><br />
</b></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">Today we're looking at capturing images with <em>Reflections in Glass</em>. Reflections in glass are so cool because the image you see is not a direct image of a subject. What's behind and around the glass changes the images, and the reflection itself often softens and distorts the subject.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Below is an example from a visit to Lucerne, Switzerland. In this image, the only "direct" image you are seeing is straight through the walkway. The rest of the arches and store windows are reflections. See the people on the right? They are really on the left, not <em>directly</em> visible to the camera, but in the reflection they have a "ghost image" quality. It's like an optical illusion, but it's just looking down a corridor lined with glass.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zx8IeT6r-8NGb4OdNBj2gT_7APvT-O7lGI_CbGITLbkUOFLsV3XAegIGbgTwUaTKnwRJesOt5DcZLsLjWK8mOIkBHV11ArhiJa-5RwWjHpszt8yCjQalzJ-ahdyJ8sagcbCMszLFmOuh/s1600/IMG_9632_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501803413996388114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zx8IeT6r-8NGb4OdNBj2gT_7APvT-O7lGI_CbGITLbkUOFLsV3XAegIGbgTwUaTKnwRJesOt5DcZLsLjWK8mOIkBHV11ArhiJa-5RwWjHpszt8yCjQalzJ-ahdyJ8sagcbCMszLFmOuh/s640/IMG_9632_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">To get this image I moved around and took photos from several different angles and at different times with varying amounts of people. When I took this specific shot, I didn't even notice the people visible in the reflection on the right because I was focusing on the "direct" part of the image being free of people.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is another example, of my son looking out of a train window. The reflection draws your eye to his profile. Look at it for a while and you start to see the symmetric shape between the two profiles. You'll also notice that the key areas of his face in the reflection - eyes, nose, lips - are clearly visible while the other parts are modified by what is seen out the window.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOx43rS5Jo7W-jdcQo0bHRQEmH8lXtUGhgji8di6BAKuTvolDtAzHV23Eznalc2TLjP1tyVLTbTomFqRk1hOe-WBb9x6BJcds3C_cPTBktEEZBAE4Hwwww04iHQ3550ewSAM70iC7QORK/s1600/IMG_9791_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501803409576339762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOx43rS5Jo7W-jdcQo0bHRQEmH8lXtUGhgji8di6BAKuTvolDtAzHV23Eznalc2TLjP1tyVLTbTomFqRk1hOe-WBb9x6BJcds3C_cPTBktEEZBAE4Hwwww04iHQ3550ewSAM70iC7QORK/s640/IMG_9791_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">If there is something immediately behind the glass, you can get really cool effects in your reflections. The security door immediately behind the glass in this photo enabled me to get an uninterrupted scene of the reflected street in Lucerne but with a really unique texture.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EPBZHQJIPBT5j_cvtWJTO5K52OodoJ8n3oRRNWrWTMIt-hw3i9hkt0JjYSYl7HxXQeqL_4in82uqSVFoP7aTsg6cCvEmXXXc-0S8uTiy1py3eOYypSy1PaSCOIHOh_jRwf5I664ywvIf/s1600/IMG_9877.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501803405488145106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EPBZHQJIPBT5j_cvtWJTO5K52OodoJ8n3oRRNWrWTMIt-hw3i9hkt0JjYSYl7HxXQeqL_4in82uqSVFoP7aTsg6cCvEmXXXc-0S8uTiy1py3eOYypSy1PaSCOIHOh_jRwf5I664ywvIf/s640/IMG_9877.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="492" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">A reflection can completely change a setting. Without the reflection of me and my family, the image below would be just another doorway to a modern building. Nothing of note that I would routinely photograph. With the reflection, it becomes a family portrait with a sense of place - you can see the wording above the door is in Spanish (we were in Barcelona) and the funky tube things draped across the top show part of the science museum we were entering. Notice how everything in the photograph seems to draw your eye to the center, where the reflection is. Also notice also the cool "double" effect with our reflections because the entrance had two sets of glass doors.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisexxolSFPg5q6xtzTVEs578TBMACfr3IxoE0wgtyOqMVSJ0jyXjo0cpYbXaCSGTVtwYoaJ0KTmrXSlsJVC3ZkJ-UL7FOGTPB7BG0ik1lzLRlQny3O2qopF0rl3CX-0tUf0W3QOaN1sypy/s1600/IMG_4333_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="420" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501803415442937362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisexxolSFPg5q6xtzTVEs578TBMACfr3IxoE0wgtyOqMVSJ0jyXjo0cpYbXaCSGTVtwYoaJ0KTmrXSlsJVC3ZkJ-UL7FOGTPB7BG0ik1lzLRlQny3O2qopF0rl3CX-0tUf0W3QOaN1sypy/s640/IMG_4333_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is another reflection of an entrance, a self-portrait of me at our apartment building in Italy. I love the sense of place that is achieved by what is reflected in the background, along with the tiny little suggestion of what is behind the door. Not a huge fan of my pictures of myself (who is?), I also like how the reflection softens my image so that I don't focus on all of the things I immediately see as "flaws" in a regular photograph. Maybe I'm able to better see the real <em>me</em>, as others see me, because it's a reflection.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiuDccLGpm1bYLurk_SeWrI4xcvvK1m0o5BVLRu8XbOjYTgfShYjAlg3L2dCsqKXK9ZggYm-Mq0yZfNkhR1N_sEi9rjRXUEMH5LMZflSoUaEQc1ZKoSnPbDxOteB0uD_UHigUz9AaOd1e/s1600/IMG_1100_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501803743628961666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiuDccLGpm1bYLurk_SeWrI4xcvvK1m0o5BVLRu8XbOjYTgfShYjAlg3L2dCsqKXK9ZggYm-Mq0yZfNkhR1N_sEi9rjRXUEMH5LMZflSoUaEQc1ZKoSnPbDxOteB0uD_UHigUz9AaOd1e/s640/IMG_1100_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="426" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">And, just a reminder, glass is just not windows and doors! Here is a wine bottle, but in it there is a reflection of me and my family along with the buildings across the street in Nice, France. The subject here is the bottle, but the reflection adds interest.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7ap6A1gEfecVUUWqih4FhZjCRBPNPfm92SfeDKBBXLZmeJO9vxyi1aje0gpRxbFCfVNv22hZ5W48SkN0gWhyphenhyphenjz__V9tcNUpqMnTS16yRI0SNKyEUwIYeL5ETb0KHIUkuibKL2vXQWF8a/s1600/IMG_0820_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501803423352139922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz7ap6A1gEfecVUUWqih4FhZjCRBPNPfm92SfeDKBBXLZmeJO9vxyi1aje0gpRxbFCfVNv22hZ5W48SkN0gWhyphenhyphenjz__V9tcNUpqMnTS16yRI0SNKyEUwIYeL5ETb0KHIUkuibKL2vXQWF8a/s640/IMG_0820_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Tips for getting your own images of reflections in glass:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">1. Look for indirect light on both sides of the reflection. In reviewing pictures for this topic I realized that the most interesting reflections have indirect light as the main light source - either in shade or cloudy day or evening light. When there is a direct or strong light source on either side of the glass you will not get the kind of reflections I'm showing here.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. Look in and Look out. Keep you eye out for reflections on both sides of the glass, whether you are indoors or outdoors. When you see the reflection, also notice what you see <em>through</em> the reflection. That can make or break the image! It's easy to focus so much on the reflection that you don't see something distracting on the other side.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. Change your perspective. If you see a cool reflection, move around and photograph it from different perspectives and compositions. Because of the way you can often see what's on both side of the glass, you may find a more interesting composition, or even a different reflection, if you move a few steps to the left or right than where you first noticed the reflection. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">4. Look for reflections in all kinds of glass - not just windows. When you start to see these, you will notice that glass is everywhere, in all shapes and sizes and colors. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Have fun seeing all of the reflections in glass around you in a whole new way!</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;">___________________________</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">repost by kat</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div>Kat Slomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00645480835605671040noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-23574081957965148462011-03-30T00:57:00.037-04:002011-03-30T00:57:00.318-04:00what inspires me? - gilly<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse gilly</div><br />
For three months of the year I am almost completely uninspired. Down at the bottom of the UK, where I live happily most of the time, winters are not crisp, clear, white-snow-and-blue-sky affairs, but grey, grim and grungy. I lose interest – because what really gets me going is colour and bright light. Eventually spring does reappear, teasing me by peeking shyly round the corner at first, till eventually it gains the courage to come out in its full finery, and I start to perk up again.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I live in a small Victorian terraced house which was built to keep the elements out and to stop the sun fading the rugs and antimacassars. Even when a weak winter sun appears, it hangs too low in the sky for its rays to penetrate these defences, and the first sign of spring for me is when patches of light start appearing here and there on the walls and floors. Something as ordinary as sunlight on a wooden floor then becomes a reason to run for my camera.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lQLsUFrARUk/TY4sZBhIHVI/AAAAAAAAaKg/UtRxX8t44_U/s1600/Patch+of+light+floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="434" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lQLsUFrARUk/TY4sZBhIHVI/AAAAAAAAaKg/UtRxX8t44_U/s640/Patch+of+light+floor.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
I get obsessed with these patches of light, lying in bed in the mornings watching them move across the walls, and even photographing their progress (yes, still lying in bed). Eating dinner with my husband in the evening, I might suddenly grab his arm and say ‘LOOK!! Look at the light on that cushion!’ He’s a kind and obliging man and does his best to join in with my enthusiasms.<br />
Neither was he offended when I told him that I took the following picture because of the shadows cast by the sun shining through his straw hat, and that they could have fallen on anything at all and I’d have been equally enthusiastic. But still, much-loved husband plus interesting shadows is a good combination.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8mqo6Lra1rY/TY4sbjDX4xI/AAAAAAAAaKs/1m-nyQUbc9Y/s1600/Geoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8mqo6Lra1rY/TY4sbjDX4xI/AAAAAAAAaKs/1m-nyQUbc9Y/s400/Geoff.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This image is a rarity in my archives because it’s in black and white. I like looking at other people’s black and white photos – heck, I even subscribe to Black and White Photography magazine – but I’m so totally besotted with colour that I hunt it down and photograph it everywhere I go. During the sensory deprivations of winter I can get rather desperate about this, which often leads to some interesting experiments. Once, I took a plastic picnic glass and placed transparent coloured sweet wrappers inside it, then shone a very bright spotlight into the glass from above. This was the result:</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VRh42be1Le4/TY4sbL6P-SI/AAAAAAAAaKo/tLP8I_Df-ig/s1600/Colour+and+light+refraction.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VRh42be1Le4/TY4sbL6P-SI/AAAAAAAAaKo/tLP8I_Df-ig/s640/Colour+and+light+refraction.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Some colours are just so utterly delectable that I want to sink into them and pull them round me like a soft and exotic quilt, and that’s when I make them the whole subject of the photo. Ernst Haas once said ‘Colour is joy’ and for me it really is.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VQ5S40vhogw/TY4seb_mIcI/AAAAAAAAaK0/VJqvXqwGWNs/s1600/Spring+tryptich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VQ5S40vhogw/TY4seb_mIcI/AAAAAAAAaK0/VJqvXqwGWNs/s640/Spring+tryptich.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>I can get rather manic about reflections too; I don’t mind where they appear – glass, water, metal, sun-glasses, whatever – it’s all good. I’ve spent whole days photographing nothing else.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fZtT4VE-sFY/TY4sdD-7HvI/AAAAAAAAaKw/Xi2t2IvU-9A/s1600/London+reflection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-fZtT4VE-sFY/TY4sdD-7HvI/AAAAAAAAaKw/Xi2t2IvU-9A/s640/London+reflection.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
If you add one more ingredient to this colour and light mix– water – I’m in a veritable frenzy of delight. Water feeds all my senses: I love the sounds it makes, the salty sea smell and the clean linen smell of rivers and lakes, the silky way it feels against my skin when I swim in it, and most especially the way the light sparkles, shimmers, and dances on its surface. Often I simply take abstract shots of light, water and colour.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p4C9ZW6Oo8M/TY4sf7EYSBI/AAAAAAAAaK4/Icbz8EHuS2Y/s1600/Water+mosaic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p4C9ZW6Oo8M/TY4sf7EYSBI/AAAAAAAAaK4/Icbz8EHuS2Y/s640/Water+mosaic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
And when I look at the next photo I can hear that wonderful rattling sound the pebbles make when the retreating wave sucks them in:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2kRsxlfLVhw/TY4sgxWWo-I/AAAAAAAAaK8/O4fCuQoOMNo/s1600/Wave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="414" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-2kRsxlfLVhw/TY4sgxWWo-I/AAAAAAAAaK8/O4fCuQoOMNo/s640/Wave.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Nothing lasts forever, and ultimately the light and the colour begin to fade into the soft golds and rusts of autumn and my camera lies more or less abandoned (although not unloved) until spring comes round again. Winter is my time for processing and digital play; this year experimenting with textures has kept me going till those patches of light start appearing again.<br />
<br />
gilly of <a href="http://www.gillywalker.com/"><strong>www.gillywalker.com</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27863935@N03/"><strong>GillyinKent</strong></a> on flickr<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hLj5sldwQEE/TY4saUz4WfI/AAAAAAAAaKk/z6pdFNmiphM/s1600/Angel+textured.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="486" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hLj5sldwQEE/TY4saUz4WfI/AAAAAAAAaKk/z6pdFNmiphM/s640/Angel+textured.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>"what inspires you?"</strong> is the the second assignment of the <strong>mission: MUSE</strong> series. </div><div style="text-align: center;">You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are still accepting <strong>"where i live"</strong> submissions.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-91391043660916664492011-03-26T00:57:00.020-04:002011-03-26T00:57:00.968-04:00muse university - repeating patterns<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>exploring with a camera: repeating patterns</b></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">a repost by kat of <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/">The Kat Eye View of the World</a></span></b><br />
<b><br />
</b></div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">We have repeating patterns everywhere in our lives. So much so that we don't always notice them. We see, catalog, and sort the differences in things, that's how our brains work. The sameness can blend in to the background. But, when we notice, we can use the "sameness" of patterns to good effect in our photography.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">First, let's explore repeating patterns as the focal point of our images. In the photo below, of a Barcelona apartment building, at first glance it might look like a photo of windows. It's not. It's a photo of a repeating pattern - the windows, balconies and shadows all repeat in a regular fashion. There's no one place for the eye to look. I've heightened the "pattern" aspect of the photo by changing it to black and white. No pesky color to distract you from the pattern. The image becomes more about the pattern of light and dark, than what is creating the pattern of light and dark. I especially like the undulating light "stripes" that appear, where the sunlight hits the building, when you stop looking at the windows and shadows and just look at it as a pattern.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><ol></ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-S935AgX48ZLUbt8LgtE1Wntll-9p-5Y4WjvQX4Ah-lgwOppFQa37HcN_QH2oZyOXtRDmicxugdzjGvO6p7NliEIdcIWPdvus8pGNcxHDiJMiulHdROdbvUzt2i5BOf6wUplvG0o7k-Pb/s1600/IMG_4506_bw.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506992959854523522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-S935AgX48ZLUbt8LgtE1Wntll-9p-5Y4WjvQX4Ah-lgwOppFQa37HcN_QH2oZyOXtRDmicxugdzjGvO6p7NliEIdcIWPdvus8pGNcxHDiJMiulHdROdbvUzt2i5BOf6wUplvG0o7k-Pb/s640/IMG_4506_bw.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="424" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's another image that is of repeating pattern, of a rooftop in Murten, Switzerland. You see the shingles, all repeating at regular intervals vertically and horizontally. There is a difference in this photo, however, from the image above. In this photo, the repeating pattern serves to highlight another aspect - the fact that the shingles are different. The pattern repeats, but what makes up the pattern does not, so this image is about the differences. Differences in color, size, shape. You notice them all more because of the pattern.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxHmpISF_1oECR2Nnah9BMfAUP44g42aVZ2S4uW5d562-8EfwaF5wi99QIPTnhb6OVnBdKZLiHvxDKMlm14RJgyqSLB9f8qmhOByALkuLd6oYegjGDzYX0fKl6ZyRxiu7caZb2Sg0umjQ/s1600/IMG_0324_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506991721368432370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxHmpISF_1oECR2Nnah9BMfAUP44g42aVZ2S4uW5d562-8EfwaF5wi99QIPTnhb6OVnBdKZLiHvxDKMlm14RJgyqSLB9f8qmhOByALkuLd6oYegjGDzYX0fKl6ZyRxiu7caZb2Sg0umjQ/s640/IMG_0324_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">In thinking about repeating patterns and how I use them in my photography, I find that this second use, using a repeating pattern to highlight some third aspect, is my primary use. This image of shadows on the street in Bolzano, Italy is a good example. Imagine the image of the shadows without the contrast of the pattern, or the pattern without the shadows. Either way, in my mind's eye, it falls flat. But when you combine the two, and use the repeating lines and shapes of the pattern as a backdrop for the irregular and solid shapes of the shadows, you get a great image. The repeating pattern really sets off the subject, the shadows. Again, in this image I converted to black and white to highlight the lines, shapes, patterns.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSzsAC3SB79HBBSlw0DFYKWJ9kHhP9KvgwU8bQ82iVfzCoHCupc4YBCPFR4ij06QwfvcNHpbO9dSDz-bOEGFvtBdRLZNOJBl4GgfabHMOrp8WvSOBXrmOqfAShWIvMvs_Y12AwFlJvHP2/s1600/IMG_3879_bw.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506992436783457378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSzsAC3SB79HBBSlw0DFYKWJ9kHhP9KvgwU8bQ82iVfzCoHCupc4YBCPFR4ij06QwfvcNHpbO9dSDz-bOEGFvtBdRLZNOJBl4GgfabHMOrp8WvSOBXrmOqfAShWIvMvs_Y12AwFlJvHP2/s640/IMG_3879_bw.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="426" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The pattern of the edges of the floor tiles, of this Gaudi design in Barcelona, serves to contrast and enhance the flowing nature of the art that is impressed into them. The angle of the photo, with the pattern growing smaller and blurring toward the back, serves to enhance your awareness of the dimension, how the light and shadow is showing you the impressed elements. The pattern of straight lines provides a structured frame that the flowing curves reside in and move through. You also get hints that the natural, curvy figures impressed into the tiles are a repeating pattern of their own, when you look at it closer. All that in one picture of a floor!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kuGxpkelVLhprBj7IrBrKExOD7PLvXjj6csSbeDDOj3Dn0IpF8OBK2v1YFl2gc3bPqJ3xHS18dCbn9AIUmY3PkgHTXKWhIibouuuN3wZdy47AZjsy3aC_lX6c8_Tw46TUD4iYJPn_vWr/s1600/IMG_5372_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506992429421290642" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4kuGxpkelVLhprBj7IrBrKExOD7PLvXjj6csSbeDDOj3Dn0IpF8OBK2v1YFl2gc3bPqJ3xHS18dCbn9AIUmY3PkgHTXKWhIibouuuN3wZdy47AZjsy3aC_lX6c8_Tw46TUD4iYJPn_vWr/s640/IMG_5372_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here the repeating pattern of the balconies serves to enhance the feeling of height in the skyscraper in Barcelona. You see this in many "looking up" skyscraper shots, but this one is very dramatic because of the horizontal lines and angles jutting out on each floor.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qNRJZNQeNrBNtgWKzRPMRDXvcitw1QZzbuQDp6u2s68TRUzZjzbEmZQRzCpzjUVbYYnoS4qji7wAMiXGkWbz4jeYHd0PFnmbzfrwqZzTJAeUJsT4hNa1WHWxuRTUgQ5spNc-K7bO-4-H/s1600/IMG_4638_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506992422339658466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4qNRJZNQeNrBNtgWKzRPMRDXvcitw1QZzbuQDp6u2s68TRUzZjzbEmZQRzCpzjUVbYYnoS4qji7wAMiXGkWbz4jeYHd0PFnmbzfrwqZzTJAeUJsT4hNa1WHWxuRTUgQ5spNc-K7bO-4-H/s640/IMG_4638_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="426" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This image, from Milan, shows how the pattern of the light and shadow on the unusual bricks of this building serve to show the curve and size of the building. You see the bricks, but the repeating pattern of them immediately leads your eye along the curve toward the edge. What happens after the edge of this picture? The crop of the image, which doesn't show you beyond the building, leaves you with the impression that the pattern continues indefinitely.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFehMmKb_4SZv_queizR4hQV5NEepdRVZ0iZTTYDJRjS48XJs8UH1kTTobtwwrbuD9mbRtB61iLRBS0e1jh5T2FndWGKZTKGqItylbTIHOSaezV9Ogknw7nEaBtAVRNyKblbIciEalycn6/s1600/IMG_4506_bw.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqoDRNP4Ut2tRHRStQ0sMLAzgU-fbjMNvIDq0jfL_QWQZbThdm_N0I4iVgaUGhjdtx0EhtULnK0uij28df3TVdrvDuNDmLbwAsO4lFzqjoSYvbb3sGWZurT2T5AH3SFw9GQYPsYzXfU9hX/s1600/IMG_1300_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="422" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506998960667567618" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqoDRNP4Ut2tRHRStQ0sMLAzgU-fbjMNvIDq0jfL_QWQZbThdm_N0I4iVgaUGhjdtx0EhtULnK0uij28df3TVdrvDuNDmLbwAsO4lFzqjoSYvbb3sGWZurT2T5AH3SFw9GQYPsYzXfU9hX/s640/IMG_1300_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">While all of the examples so far have been of architecture, I also find store displays a wonderful source of repeating patterns. In this image,you have repeating patterns in three dimensions. An image of a single chocolate bar, while showing the design of the wrapper, color, etc., would not be as interesting as this one with the repeating pattern. The pattern of multiple bars repeated, as well as the repetition in the third dimension, gives depth and a feeling of abundance. You see the chocolate bar wrapper just as clearly as if that were the only thing in the photo, but you also see more.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVD4MnO9t4UOi_HZGPDowgQ3Ld_IoJ_CTuAJOMOhy13_9bMt8Jtf27Apym2XH8nFvZQZ0c9E-gPjGg_PfPQYATH5tZOHgxkxI8msW_11rlUyPAcr0-im5eDnj3B9dz4e-2nvUvfGDNLGXh/s1600/IMG_0409_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506991717637174178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVD4MnO9t4UOi_HZGPDowgQ3Ld_IoJ_CTuAJOMOhy13_9bMt8Jtf27Apym2XH8nFvZQZ0c9E-gPjGg_PfPQYATH5tZOHgxkxI8msW_11rlUyPAcr0-im5eDnj3B9dz4e-2nvUvfGDNLGXh/s640/IMG_0409_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: left;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So, how can you use repeating patterns in your photography? Some ideas and tips...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">1. Look for repeating patterns, they are everywhere around us. Architecture is one of the best sources, because it takes lots of little, repeating pieces to build something big. Elements of architecture with repeating patterns can be found in the facades - windows, doors, trim, bricks, blocks of stone - or inside - steps, beams, flooring. Our modern world is built with repeating patterns! Stores are also a good source of repeating patterns, because they have a lot of the same thing to sell. Look for creative store displays that use that to good effect.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. Look for opportunities for the pattern to be the subject. Choose your composition and angle such that you see the pattern repeat several times at the same size and there is no "perspective" effect. This will often be looking straight at, or very close to straight at, the subject pattern. Try converting to black and white to enhance the pattern aspect, removing color as a difference that may distract from the pattern itself.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. Look for opportunites for a pattern to enhance or contrast with a subject. Use angles that show the dimension - distance, height, depth. Use compositions that capture differences in the pattern - whether it be color or shape. Use a pattern as a backdrop for the subject. Use post-processing, like selective color, to have one element of a repeating pattern pop out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">What other ideas do you have for capturing images with repeating patterns?</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;">___________________________</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">repost by kat</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div>Kat Slomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00645480835605671040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-84350829942125991192011-03-22T18:28:00.001-04:002011-03-22T18:30:23.537-04:00* muse flash *<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">You will notice a new Muse link in the left sidebar. We have added a <a href="http://mortalmuses.blogspot.com/p/chat-room.html"><strong>chat room</strong></a> for everyone to use. We invite you to visit often and chat with your fellow muses. If you would like to have scheduled chats or more in-depth discussions on Muse University topics, <a href="mailto:mortalmuses@yahoo.com"><strong>let us know</strong></a>. We would love to hear your ideas on how to use this forum to build the Muse community.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><u>To log in:</u></em> Enter a screen name, click enter, and begin. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Please note that if you close the window, you will need to log-in again.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">________________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BpUKoZ3bpZQ/TYkgQeLvVZI/AAAAAAAAaGA/5OkRSLcnZas/s1600/chat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-BpUKoZ3bpZQ/TYkgQeLvVZI/AAAAAAAAaGA/5OkRSLcnZas/s640/chat2.jpg" width="598" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-66741745759266419302011-03-19T00:57:00.009-04:002011-03-19T00:57:00.140-04:00muse university: planet photography<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>full circles make me happy!</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>a repost by </b>ashley sisk of <a href="http://ashleysisk.com/"><b><span style="font-size: small;">ramblings and photos</span></b></a><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Several months ago, I ran across a post by <b><a href="http://cherylekupschphotography.de/blog/2010/07/365-project-day-350-planet-photography/">Cheryle Kupsh Photography</a></b> (this is her post on "planet photography" that inspired me...you should really check out her work, she's incredible). In her post, she links up with Dirk's Tutorial on <b>"<a href="http://www.dirkpaessler.com/blog/index.php/photographers-tools/2006/09/06/tutorial-create-your-own-planets/">Creating Your Own Planets</a>"</b>. So, I thought I would recreate Dirk's tutorial and show you how to create this effect yourself. </span><span style="font-size: small;">The effect starts with a panorama image. I personally don't take many panorama images, but you can mimic the effect by using a cropped landscape photo (where the width of the image is at least two times the height of the image). </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/4921296370/" title="IMG_5782 RS by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_5782 RS" height="426" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4921296370_fe1af19ca5_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">This particular image seemed to work well because the bottom area of the photo has very little detail (this becomes the center of the image and will be very distorted), the upper area of this image also has very little detail (skies and plain backdrops work well) and the horizon is pretty straight (the horizon of your image should be as close to straight as possible since the left and right sides of the image will fit together and you don't necessarily want your final image to look like it has a cracked surface. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Step 1. </b></span>My first step in the process was to crop my image so that the width was twice the height. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5013666628/" title="Trees Step1 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Trees Step1" height="297" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5013666628_d4676cce9f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 2.</span></b> Next, I needed to convert the photo into a square image. Go to your top tool bar in Photoshop Elements (it may be similar in Photoshop)...go to Image>Resize>Image Size and set your "height" value to the same as your "width" value (or vice versa, doesn't really matter). Be sure you uncheck "Scale Styles" and "Constrain Proportions." Click OK.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5013667690/" title="ScreenHunter_03 Sep. 21 21.36 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="ScreenHunter_03 Sep. 21 21.36" height="319" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/5013667690_19548691e8_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">By doing so, you will get a square image like the one below. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5013666720/" title="Trees Step2 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Trees Step2" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/5013666720_fca04948ee_o.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 3. </span></b>Rotate your image </span><span style="font-size: small;"> 180°</span><span style="font-size: small;"> by going to Image>Rotate> 180°. It'll look like this:</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5013060539/" title="Trees Step3 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Trees Step3" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/5013060539_8fccc012cb_o.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 4: </span></b>Apply a polorizing filter by going to Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates and select Rectangular to Polar at 100% - Click OK.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5014297165/" title="ScreenHunter_02 Sep. 22 10.14 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="ScreenHunter_02 Sep. 22 10.14" height="481" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4154/5014297165_b02719d72f_o.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">By just doing this much, you can already get an idea of the final product...it's pretty cool. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5013666904/" title="Trees Step4 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Trees Step4" height="600" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5013666904_a513109b35_o.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, </span></b>you'll want to rotate and clean up your image. I used a healing brush to clean up the line and then did a little additional processing to achieve the effect I was going for. So...what do you think? </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5014766146/" title="Trees Final RS by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Trees Final RS" height="640" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5014766146_bb66ae5262_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Now it's your turn...take these steps and practice with your own photos. I'd love to see what you come up with. If you have any questions...just let me know. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">_______________________________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">repost by ashley<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new<b> </b><a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><span style="color: #212121;"><b>muse university</b></span></a> post! </i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div>Ashley Siskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08964259733610203026noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-87699719211605742762011-03-18T17:09:00.004-04:002011-03-19T17:41:05.187-04:001000 paper cranes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMA29RL9T8VHUYymWvjkMVwXJ2hJVxbD1aPfqf9tuhnClhUA-K89FiwrTtO1KjVHKcMZp2nPhNu5rwZq6q0Ks-q2EHRbLHfjCRlPl5JeSU09Pi3VKD4M2nr07d94YnWbnSNwH3H9lBW0gq/s1600/cranemosaic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMA29RL9T8VHUYymWvjkMVwXJ2hJVxbD1aPfqf9tuhnClhUA-K89FiwrTtO1KjVHKcMZp2nPhNu5rwZq6q0Ks-q2EHRbLHfjCRlPl5JeSU09Pi3VKD4M2nr07d94YnWbnSNwH3H9lBW0gq/s640/cranemosaic.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Paper cranes have a special place in Japanese culture. An old legend promises that anyone who folds 1000 origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. A crane is a mystical and holy creature in Japan.<br />
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Usually, 1000 paper cranes will be strung together and brought to people who are emotionally or physically unwell, have suffered a tragedy, or have received devastating news.<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22487105@N06/5529897024/">damiec</a></b> on flickr started folding paper cranes this week as a symbol of companionship with other people. To spread love, hope and blessings in parts of the world where they are most needed right now.<br />
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We all know a lot of people in Japan are suffering right now. Let's reach out with our hearts and our hands, all around the world, to fold cranes to make wishes for the people in Japan.<br />
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Get your origami paper out and join in at the <b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1000cranesforjapan/pool/with/5529897024/">1000 paper cranes</a></b> group on flickr.<br />
Our lovely Kim (mosey) is raising money to send to people in Japan, along with her wishes and blessings. Go to her <b><a href="http://moseyalong.blogspot.com/2011/03/helping-hand-auction.html">blog</a></b> to read more about it, and help make a difference.<br />
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(cranes by Suki, Tammy, Mosey, Kirstin, Michel, Maureen, Ashley and Damiec)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-48886776086943880342011-03-12T00:57:00.001-05:002011-03-12T00:57:00.116-05:00muse university - let the light shine!<div style="text-align: center;"><b>let the light shine: tips on shooting starbursts</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">by muses ashley featuring karli from <a href="http://thebonnie5.blogspot.com/"><b>the bonnie 5</b></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">I have recently become obsessed with capturing starbursts in my photos. I'd like to think it has something to do with the sun shining more and more each day, and that makes me happy. I first came across this effect several months ago when my friend <a href="http://thebonnie5.blogspot.com/"><b>Karli </b></a>posted the night image below. <b> </b></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz1/Karlita91_photos/?action=view&current=IMG_8597d.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="426" src="http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz1/Karlita91_photos/IMG_8597d.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: inherit;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ISO 200, f/14, 6 sec</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">I quickly learned that this effect is rather easy to achieve, and it all starts with a tiny aperture (I prefer a minimum f-stop of f/20). You can certainly achieve the effect if your aperture is open wider (such as Karli's shot above), but it'll likely have more of a glow rather than big starburst lines.<b style="font-weight: normal;"> </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-weight: normal;">If you're shooting a night scene, you'll want to use a tripod since your shutter speed will be slower to achieve proper exposure. I also recommend a remote shutter to prevent camera shake.</b><b> </b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5487858198/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Sunburst BW RS by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Sunburst BW RS" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5487858198_9c6caa5c22_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ISO 125, f/25, 1/160 sec.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During daylight hours, try your best to not to point your camera directly at the sun as it can damage your lens or your eyes. You can do this by partially blocking out the sun with another object such as tree limbs, blinds, or anything else that might provide visual interest.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s808.photobucket.com/albums/zz1/Karlita91_photos/?action=view&current=IMG_3236b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" height="426" src="http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz1/Karlita91_photos/IMG_3236b.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ISO 800, f/22, 1/160 sec.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">You may also try using your hand to block the sun entirely so that you can adjust your settings (if you meter off of the sun, you'll overexpose the shot). Once you're satisfied with your settings, just remove your hand and let the light shine!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5512850200/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Sunburst RS by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Sunburst RS" height="426" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5512850200_13d2900f06_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ISO 125, f/25, 1/60 sec.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">I hope you find these tips helpful. Remember, tiny apertures. Now go out and shoot some starbursts!</div><div style="margin: 0px;">___________________________</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;"> by Ashley of <b><a href="http://ashleysisk.com/">Ramblings and Photos</a></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;">and featuring Karli of <a href="http://thebonnie5.blogspot.com/"><b>The Bonnie 5</b></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div></div>Ashley Siskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08964259733610203026noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-36328197019038090742011-03-09T00:57:00.006-05:002011-03-09T00:57:00.561-05:00what inspires you?: gillian<span lang="EN"></span><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse gillian</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-csay2AiEqF8/TXZrTpcPGhI/AAAAAAAAZ9M/k5mS4ma6Y-4/s1600/mm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" q6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-csay2AiEqF8/TXZrTpcPGhI/AAAAAAAAZ9M/k5mS4ma6Y-4/s400/mm1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em>“If you are not failing every now and then it is a sign that you aren’t doing anything very innovative.” Woody Allen</em></div><br />
Failings have inspired me more than any other muse in the art of photography. <br />
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I derive most of my inspiration from my failings. Let me explain that the best way I know how.<br />
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I began photographing my world at a very early age, always enjoying photography immensely since my mother handed me her Kodak 110 and asked me to snap her and my father in front of a thunderous Niagara Falls one summer evening in 1980. My father prior to that all through the 70’s snapped us growing up with his Yashica, a slick fully loaded SLR. That baby was fully manual. I thought dad was a genius; he knew about apertures, film speeds, and natural light. I listened as he spoke of f-stops and all the knowledgeable photography talk. He would create slides for us; we’d sit around in the living room...macramé plant holders pushed aside to make way for the slide projector aimed at one blank white wall in the living room. To us children those evenings were special-it was a voyeuristic glimpse into our own lives. This was way before the Facebook profiles of today where your average tween sports over 800 profile photos. We loved this little look at ourselves that occurred exclusively outside of our own reflection in the bathroom mirror. It was a kind of magic.<br />
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</div>My brother and I were captured in the autumn leaves, wearing our suede shoes and our pointed collars. Mum with her blue jean bellbottoms, plaid shirts and cigarettes. Grandpa’s backyard coal barbeque and his bright orange Volkswagen Beatle. Memories painted onto those cardboard 2x2’s were more glamourous because they were projected in full blown colour, larger than life. I was enamored with picture taking from that point onwards. <br />
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However. We never had the means or the finances to pursue photography to any great degree then-it all cost so much money. <br />
Cameras were expensive.<br />
35mm film was expensive.<br />
Slide film was expensive! <br />
Developing was expensive.<br />
Waiting patiently for photos to come back was torture! Seven days and that was considered ‘express’ in those days.<br />
So photography was a luxury kept for birthdays, Christmas, and graduations.<br />
Until we stumbled forward into the digital age and I glommed onto digital SLR photography. <br />
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</div>Now my father has picked up a paintbrush-he uses his camera to take pictures of scenes he wishes to paint. (Another love I’ve inherited from him, thankfully.)<br />
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But as for my photography, I stumbled into blogging in 2006 courtesy of my mum. I had no idea what a blog was, but once I read the few that were out there I couldn’t stop. It was a daily pleasure for me to read the thoughts of others and even more so to view the images I was now privy to, little glimpses into the sultry corners of the world. <br />
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I started my own humble little web space then. I didn’t mind borrowing and giving credit for photos that were not my own in those days. But I wasn’t finding what I wanted after awhile and I began having all kinds of ideas flow and needed to express them in my own voice. I started shooting my own photos and wow did I make plenty of mistakes! I’d post photos that I thought were just fabulous and then realized slowly....surely....there are really good rules to follow if you want excellent pictures. Clearly my photos were not excellent. I had broken so many rules, resulting in failure. Hence this is the part of my story where my failures make their appearance. Granted they’ve always been a part of me, but for the subject matter at hand this is where they feature most. <br />
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I failed miserably. I still fail. I am not the world’s most fantastic photographer. Far from it. I’ve broken all the rules of photography and been successful only in my own growth as a photographer. For each time I think I’ve made a breakthrough to the next level, I find that there is always something no matter how small, that I could have improved upon in a photo. <br />
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I now consider my 2006 work my ‘early period’. I then had a ‘blue period’, being heavily influenced by work of people who may not have been the healthiest emotionally. So then I feel the resulting failings of such interactions only served me to dig a little deeper into the recesses of my ability. <br />
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Each of my failings has blessed me with the determination to improve upon what I already know. I don’t compete with other photographers out there. I compete with <i>me.</i> And only me. So much talent abides out there in flickr, Instagram, Red Bubble, JPG and more. These sites serve up so much brilliant talent it’s hard not to go there and feel inadequate. Yet-do we not all have our own unique voice? Do we not all have our own personal goal setting with photography? YES. And YES. <br />
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I’d like to think that my failings have served as my greatest inspiration. For without them I’d never have strived to get outside of my own head and try new ideas, perspectives, or subjects. I use my camera as a salve for anything that ails me; photographing my world while travelling or while my kids are messing around with crafts, or while my dog is peacefully sleeping by the fire...and it mends. I’m mended by the very thing I feel I need to most improve upon. It’s cyclic. I’ll keep failing and keep trying and I’ll have so much damned fun the whole time I’ll consider it to be my greatest success eventually-as having contributed to a most full and vibrant life by opening up my eyes to see afresh.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CsTkQPpBvIM/TXahdU9bCpI/AAAAAAAAZ9c/2JFo8DnsP14/s1600/190427_10150153674617324_580287323_8699040_4544948_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CsTkQPpBvIM/TXahdU9bCpI/AAAAAAAAZ9c/2JFo8DnsP14/s320/190427_10150153674617324_580287323_8699040_4544948_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #400040; font-family: Andalus; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #400040; font-family: Andalus; font-size: 13.5pt;">Gillian da Silva</span></span><span style="color: #993300;"><span style="color: #993300;"></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #804000; font-family: Andalus; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #804000; font-family: Andalus; font-size: 12pt;">author of </span></span><span style="color: #993300;"><span style="color: #993300;"><a href="http://thedreamingpress.typepad.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: green; font-family: Andalus;"><span style="color: green; font-family: Andalus;">thedreamingPress</span></span></a></span></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><em><i><span style="color: #804000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #804000; font-size: 12pt;">freelance photography & writing</span></span></i></em></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><em><i><span style="color: #804000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="color: #804000; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span></i></em><span style="color: #993300;"><span style="color: #993300;"><div style="text-align: center;">_____________________________________</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>"what inspires you?"</strong> is the the second mission of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/moremusing/"><strong><span style="color: #212121;">mission: MUSE</span></strong></a> series. <br />
You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Submissions for <strong>"where i live"</strong> are still being accepted.</div></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-26365609681314604532011-02-25T20:16:00.004-05:002011-06-05T16:22:37.906-04:00muse university - confessions of an i-shutterbug<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>confessions of an i-shutterbug: 10 tips for better mobile photography</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">by christy of <b><a href="http://urbanmuser.blogspot.com/">urban muser</a></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It's no secret that my cellphone is the apple of my i (ooh, bad joke, sorry). Ahem, anyway...I love the creative process of using my iPhone 3GS to shoot, edit and instantly share my images with the touch of a button and a swipe of a screen. Although I'll focus this post primarily on iphoneography, I hope it may still inspire others to explore the growing world of mobile photography on whatever device you may have in your pocket or your purse.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLGat3QH0UdygbZbojOfuIZHRtz86u9e4ErhnMva4XLZbcKz1ncawgSbTEOFC51kM-GBkE9UTy6TVvayFhbILv_h0-HwtR0y4LURVOp0P7FKZL2ls2P8GFiH_SqJj5XpMFsFuZOhimfI/s1600/lomop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjLGat3QH0UdygbZbojOfuIZHRtz86u9e4ErhnMva4XLZbcKz1ncawgSbTEOFC51kM-GBkE9UTy6TVvayFhbILv_h0-HwtR0y4LURVOp0P7FKZL2ls2P8GFiH_SqJj5XpMFsFuZOhimfI/s640/lomop.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"foggy GWB"; app: lo-mob}</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Although iphoneography has liberated me from many of the "rules" of traditional photography, here are a few things that I try to keep in mind when shooting with my phone:</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">1. <i>Steady as you go.</i> As with all types of photography, a steady hand is key. This is even more important when shooting with a camera phone, as every little bit of shake and movement can affect your image, and you are less likely to have image stabilization to help you out. For you iPhone users out there, remember, the camera shoots <u>upon release</u> of the shutter button so you can to tap the shutter, hold it, steady your image and release to take the photo.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">2. <i>Play with light and color.</i> Some may disagree with this, but I say go ahead, point that iPhone right into the light---it has a way of turning bright lights and what might otherwise be considered "overexposed" photos into something interesting. The iPhone lens also captures color really well, so experiment and see what you come up with.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsUxCCELOivyfPlDTUMrmiF2ul4B5l-wo47LGlZ9a94ORDyF_-VXoKr3FwqG7wdY4mHHon4L6lQ-BKaGVskuy73-jFNtBGZc6eUJJLFYSBducpeI6PLa2XQNlijugOKj2GEeZ8vZx7XI/s1600/winter+sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsUxCCELOivyfPlDTUMrmiF2ul4B5l-wo47LGlZ9a94ORDyF_-VXoKr3FwqG7wdY4mHHon4L6lQ-BKaGVskuy73-jFNtBGZc6eUJJLFYSBducpeI6PLa2XQNlijugOKj2GEeZ8vZx7XI/s640/winter+sun.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"winter sun"; app: camera+}</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">3. <i>Composition is key.</i> Since my iPhone doesn't let me control aperture, shutter speed or depth of field, it makes composition all the more important. Try to fill the frame with your subject as much as you can, and don't forget to change your perspective once in a while. Get down low, look up high, or turn the phone on an angle for a unique look.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">4. <i>Capture the everyday</i>. Go ahead, photograph those little things you might not usually pay attention to. The camera phone has a way of providing a close and intimate feel to many photographs. So get out there, and experiment with whatever catches your eye.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZg7d_Tbrezj5t8XpNihDSl_Fw08sR1o2DVDBY3jxbPPXnwwnJvmah3HtpUmjVmp1RgRlNlLyjq4ykZu0R7djv1_jcMM75LRdhQ45GP3B-ocfaiwRvFzlDrOCdVadKIjwEoQouzw2AnnU/s1600/leaves2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZg7d_Tbrezj5t8XpNihDSl_Fw08sR1o2DVDBY3jxbPPXnwwnJvmah3HtpUmjVmp1RgRlNlLyjq4ykZu0R7djv1_jcMM75LRdhQ45GP3B-ocfaiwRvFzlDrOCdVadKIjwEoQouzw2AnnU/s640/leaves2.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"leaf tattoo"; apps: format 126, picture show, ps express}</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">5. <i>Don't over process</i>. Just as Photoshop and other editing programs can't make a bad photo good, using several different apps and cool effects won't mask a bad mobile photo. It will still just be a so-so photo with an interesting light leak or a vignette. [OK, it can be fun every once in a while to do something abstract and completely over the top, but don't tell anyone I said so.]</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">6. <i>Practice, practice, practice</i>. As with anything, you'll get better as you take more photos with your phone and experiment with new apps. Try to develop your eye to recognize a subject or a scene that may make an interesting photo or tell a unique story. Sometimes you will be right and sometimes you will be wrong, but that's what the delete button is for, and your skills will improve as you click away. And, don't be afraid to take the opportunity to be silly and creative, to channel your inner artist. Take fun self portraits, create diptychs, look for reflections and shadows...the sky is the limit!</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/52504401@N03/4954116359/" title="convex reflection by Urban Muser, on Flickr"><img alt="convex reflection" height="640" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/4954116359_5ac38767bd_z.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="473" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"my convex self"; app: picture show}</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">7. <i>Yes, you can focus, sort of. </i>With the iPhone 3GS and higher, you have a tap-to-focus feature that allows you to tap anywhere on the screen to specify that you want to focus on that spot. It also adjusts the exposure according to how light or dark the area is where you tap, so you can use this to (slightly) manipulate your image if your lighting conditions are less than optimal.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">8. <i>Don't think, just shoot.</i> Or what I sometimes like to call, pure luck. Take advantage of not having to fumble with camera settings and be sure to capture those ephemeral moments in life before they pass you by. Sometimes the best shots come when I don't think too much about it. I remember when I first got the "Picture Show" app, as I was trying to figure out how it worked I snapped this photo of my cat and started randomly playing with the filters and effects. I decided I really liked the final image, put it up on flickr, and it ended up being featured here on Mortal Muses (this was months before I became an official muse myself, and I was thrilled.)</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjOUMz6kcU_a5iVmhPkQNzbEEopUnoLHJejvp_HtmTyOi_yQjTObadAKo3W___x32h5NAGrCrafvVDZENqCiviPn_pvfrNwYbkH6K-iXET9jwggeVhIfstUhsYPTr-cDk5N0qIPSn_9Y/s1600/animals+082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjjOUMz6kcU_a5iVmhPkQNzbEEopUnoLHJejvp_HtmTyOi_yQjTObadAKo3W___x32h5NAGrCrafvVDZENqCiviPn_pvfrNwYbkH6K-iXET9jwggeVhIfstUhsYPTr-cDk5N0qIPSn_9Y/s640/animals+082.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="480" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"cat around the house"; app: picture show}</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">9. <i>Be app-tacular</i>. OK, so let's get down to it, shall we? It's not the iPhone, the camera, or any of these tips I am sharing with you. <u>It's all.</u> <u>About.</u> <u>The apps.</u> Well, OK, it's really a combination of these things, but installing apps on your phone gives you a virtual darkroom at your fingertips, and that is truly an amazing thing. To be able to capture an image and process it right on my phone while the creative instinct is still fresh in my mind is so inspiring. Crop, blur, vignette, saturate or desaturate colors, add borders and oh, those light leaks. The possibilities are endless...but try not to abuse your newfound superpowers.</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubyTsHbjeRCOCWdOuJiuhvIwqHEZvFaoj0FIIGia1bFmoT94fG8QRr8ypnJZKx10aM7pcf-zo9e8WD-6BKxUMnwbTkwUURvXDatbLe7IEy8PrsboOgE4_ZEZUdghjxToXvbPhQmBiGwA/s1600/bennett+park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubyTsHbjeRCOCWdOuJiuhvIwqHEZvFaoj0FIIGia1bFmoT94fG8QRr8ypnJZKx10aM7pcf-zo9e8WD-6BKxUMnwbTkwUURvXDatbLe7IEy8PrsboOgE4_ZEZUdghjxToXvbPhQmBiGwA/s640/bennett+park.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"lonely in bennett park"; app: plastic bullet}</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">10. <i>Share and study. </i>You know how we love community here at Mortal Muses, and there are so many places on the interwebs to share and learn about the world of mobile photography that I thought I should mention just a few:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"></div><ul><li><a href="http://www.iphoneart.com/"><b>iphoneart</b></a>:<b> </b>This one is my new favorite for sharing my iPhone images. It's got some good flickr-esque qualities (groups, comments, discussions) and there is a real sense of community and support among the photographers.</li>
<li><a href="http://urbanmuser.posterous.com/"><b>posterous</b></a>: I have a simple photoblog at posterous and it's an easy way for me to keep some of my favorite iPhone images in one place. I love that I can email them there right from my phone at any time.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.eyeem.com/"><b>eye'em</b></a>: This is a super fun place to view a constant live stream of mobile photography from around the world.</li>
<li><a href="http://lifeinlofi.com/"><b>life in lofi: iphoneography</b></a> and <a href="http://www.iphoneography.com/"><b>iphoneography</b></a>: These sites are useful for the more technical aspects--app reviews, announcements, etc. They keep me in the loop.</li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMJAaWX40x2vu-SRCFaqsnexWHgE-Q1LxFS-zLtN_kK0wvGISajMlgO73nSduEsLESHtCb7jkquBl094FxlCfsrW93XOIOMSW5n0ONxOTjrNXyTx7x4gL-9cEugaa0hv67W_xKsNgOUU/s1600/0n+187th.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="564" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMMJAaWX40x2vu-SRCFaqsnexWHgE-Q1LxFS-zLtN_kK0wvGISajMlgO73nSduEsLESHtCb7jkquBl094FxlCfsrW93XOIOMSW5n0ONxOTjrNXyTx7x4gL-9cEugaa0hv67W_xKsNgOUU/s640/0n+187th.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"on 187th"; apps: vint bw, camera+}</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There are some amazing iphoneographers out there--I mean, real pioneers in this art form--and looking at their work will inspire you and push you to be better. Here are a couple to get you started:</div></div><ul><li><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sionfullana/"><b>Sion Fullana</b></a>: Check him out on flickr. Amazing iphoneographer and street photographer. I'm seriously jealous of this guy.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.ardini.nl/iphoneography/iphone365/"><b>Valerie Ardini</b></a>: She did a beautiful 365 project with her iPhone. </li>
</ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBcZtRdulhjaB_NvzL06gTOuaNj10O6nv3vW_nF3zPRWG4hD56CjItD4qp0TNsQdZX0_AnmNEa3Dk3YrSGDE8Ky4F0cpOR4ZVI1lNze2wi5OpdAFnuI16wKFPB5kMU52KCcDTquzAGMU/s1600/green+tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdBcZtRdulhjaB_NvzL06gTOuaNj10O6nv3vW_nF3zPRWG4hD56CjItD4qp0TNsQdZX0_AnmNEa3Dk3YrSGDE8Ky4F0cpOR4ZVI1lNze2wi5OpdAFnuI16wKFPB5kMU52KCcDTquzAGMU/s640/green+tree.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">{"the green movement"; apps: photo studio fx, camera+}</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">It was about a year ago that I began experimenting with iphoneography, and I've got to admit, my creativity and love of photography have been sparked by the instant gratification and spontaneous nature of this mobile art form. Do you take photos with your phone? Please do share your own tips and your favorite apps in the comments, I'd love to hear what you are up to.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">~christy of <b><a href="http://urbanmuser.blogspot.com/">urban muser</a></b></div></div></div></div>urban muserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17174488230882848637noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-59196375812326066472011-02-19T00:57:00.021-05:002011-02-19T00:57:00.274-05:00muse university - shadow portraits<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>exploring with a camera: shadow portraits</b></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">a repost by kat of <b><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The Kat Eye View of the World</span></a></b></div><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDgP20CfEOwi90JBvZWxos_EYXpfYEae-XAc7M3wt6papThSH29Aa21hS-zKTCmxTZE23gVL-7AN7D6GDtzy3nt8roK4uAIIexW7bT2f40aHqNjorw-OicdLAeBR4bCM9Qu7YL_eb9gP2/s1600/IMG_3683_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473617536315738546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDgP20CfEOwi90JBvZWxos_EYXpfYEae-XAc7M3wt6papThSH29Aa21hS-zKTCmxTZE23gVL-7AN7D6GDtzy3nt8roK4uAIIexW7bT2f40aHqNjorw-OicdLAeBR4bCM9Qu7YL_eb9gP2/s640/IMG_3683_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Here is a fun exploration idea that I've played around with a few times. Finding a great "shadow portrait" opportunity like the one above requires a few things:</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">1. Sunshine or a direct light source that throws shadows. OK, obvious. :)</div><div style="text-align: left;">2. A wide open enough surface that the shadows are recognizable.</div><div style="text-align: left;">3. Noticing the shadow. </div><div style="text-align: left;">4. Deciding on composition: Angle to capture the shadow to get the "portrait" of your subject, how much of the background to use to "frame" your portrait, etc. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">You can do this with any object, it doesn't have to be people. The thing I like about these shadow portraits of our family is that they are all three of us together (since I don't turn my camera over to strangers, it's hard to get a family photo all together) and that they are also of the place we are visiting. It puts us, in that place, in a unique way.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The first photo was in Riomaggiore, in the Cinque Terre last Spring. The photo below... well, it should be obvious.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOh5Trc3C-qOBjvcyrE_EDDpZhPe_ZOnc9EKEG5sFCo-RtvZUSFt7ae-mw3nqc5bMXyaORUDh99aaX-fx-2bN7FZMVV_4xLNvOiWSe33pXZleGshmnEk4Lh__6KrnK0a0vWYtlAvuAOPFY/s1600/IMG_8323_adj.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473617535507345762" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOh5Trc3C-qOBjvcyrE_EDDpZhPe_ZOnc9EKEG5sFCo-RtvZUSFt7ae-mw3nqc5bMXyaORUDh99aaX-fx-2bN7FZMVV_4xLNvOiWSe33pXZleGshmnEk4Lh__6KrnK0a0vWYtlAvuAOPFY/s640/IMG_8323_adj.jpg" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;" width="426" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Play around with capturing shadow portraits like these, or just notice the shadows around you. Shadows add so much depth and dimension to our world, they are worth a notice of their own.</div><br />
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___________________________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">repost by kat</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div>Kat Slomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00645480835605671040noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-9959806783513850212011-02-12T00:57:00.115-05:002011-02-12T00:57:00.720-05:00muse university - white backgrounds<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><b>white backgrounds</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;">by muses kat and april with guest karen</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KWgso3_4f0IoqWT4FLH2UNQTV5C7uAiu2Ko-crK8M6XRPAj4SrLERqpTv8Yhq1xWCosJAcyY8UZ8S5rcQzBtYp0D5bw9NNFgMupxgYbtUSNpEUO22Jdo24XueVRpkM2Ifqm3tENXuBs/s1600/IMG_7252.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2KWgso3_4f0IoqWT4FLH2UNQTV5C7uAiu2Ko-crK8M6XRPAj4SrLERqpTv8Yhq1xWCosJAcyY8UZ8S5rcQzBtYp0D5bw9NNFgMupxgYbtUSNpEUO22Jdo24XueVRpkM2Ifqm3tENXuBs/s640/IMG_7252.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have you ever wanted to create professional-looking shots on white backgrounds, but aren't sure how to do it? This week, the muses are here to help! These shots with white backgrounds, also called "high key" photos, are commonly used in product photography. To capture a good high key image you need both the white background and a strong light source. Fortunately, these images are easy to create with a few simple supplies.</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuAS-GoTOdNIiiePRvaz9YOxTsVOVflh8OOm7pexKRzX3_yqKm8GOwLc1iVGS60tCxHF-Xt4wUMNFHCo_g_oDcVLAU9iHrzPlF6mHfEttOZq91A1E9XGittTdOtQS5x9y0KI8DCsdyzY/s1600/IMG_3518_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnuAS-GoTOdNIiiePRvaz9YOxTsVOVflh8OOm7pexKRzX3_yqKm8GOwLc1iVGS60tCxHF-Xt4wUMNFHCo_g_oDcVLAU9iHrzPlF6mHfEttOZq91A1E9XGittTdOtQS5x9y0KI8DCsdyzY/s640/IMG_3518_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Both of the shots above were created on Kat's kitchen table, shown below. With the white table, white wall and a big window for natural light, she has everything she needs to create a high key shot. Once she moves the kitchen chairs and the table decorations out of the way, she's ready to set up her subject.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79RPmtyKssqOcQSQHIpKY9nI9yuc3kBsiWJ_SMT4ml8Le7sBjZ5-6YMPQ71Cii6rtDUXBoGalrlekFGUyYY7xliFUFWFWn8pfYEuL9ubk0uxTEkN7Lym99YLCLZEeUny4DkfNGNRQggw/s1600/IMG_9110_adj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79RPmtyKssqOcQSQHIpKY9nI9yuc3kBsiWJ_SMT4ml8Le7sBjZ5-6YMPQ71Cii6rtDUXBoGalrlekFGUyYY7xliFUFWFWn8pfYEuL9ubk0uxTEkN7Lym99YLCLZEeUny4DkfNGNRQggw/s640/IMG_9110_adj.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">If you don't happen to have a white table and walls nicely convenient to a big window, you can create your own white backgrounds. Karen of <b><a href="http://kbwalker.blogs.com/random_relfections/">Random Reflections</a></b> created this beautiful still life of lemon drop cookies using foam core board.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAmSVzimDojeMizEKaSMmL5NzOc4kpLeD9hoSPPNDcPefAR9d0dGg8ITngO9o-na4FCsvDNKjBG0wnkmD72CchHJSX2LwJe9CKfom5ehF78OPbiluf550-euVcggUi-sPN460-_z9v-A/s1600/LemonDrops.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwAmSVzimDojeMizEKaSMmL5NzOc4kpLeD9hoSPPNDcPefAR9d0dGg8ITngO9o-na4FCsvDNKjBG0wnkmD72CchHJSX2LwJe9CKfom5ehF78OPbiluf550-euVcggUi-sPN460-_z9v-A/s640/LemonDrops.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">Karen doesn't have good light in her kitchen, so she set the foam core up by a north-facing window on her dining room table. She scored the foam core in half so it folds, and props it up with anything handy. To eliminate the seam in the folded foam core, she runs a piece of freezer paper down the foam core, matte side up, taping at the top and tucking it at the bottom. You'll notice how she allows the freezer paper to flow along the surface of the foam core, so there are no creases to create shadows.</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmxfb8_YJtxoZCaJDrL61POJLXI6ZbQfFZsy86BXvZGua79RKy__bv1lhQo7VC-Fq_MD45FZ73tCZeN7Sh06wtlSi0kBjWKHRmnvanI-ijyZyMN4dy1e2HZRrRYt0z0416zHs3YxVNBI/s1600/Set-up2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmxfb8_YJtxoZCaJDrL61POJLXI6ZbQfFZsy86BXvZGua79RKy__bv1lhQo7VC-Fq_MD45FZ73tCZeN7Sh06wtlSi0kBjWKHRmnvanI-ijyZyMN4dy1e2HZRrRYt0z0416zHs3YxVNBI/s640/Set-up2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: left;">April uses a similar idea as Karen except she uses a white poster board. It is easy to move around the house to chase the best light and it can be slightly bent so there are no lines in the background. Another wonderful thing about poster board is that one side is usually shinier than the other so you can get a nice little reflection if it is desired in your shot.<br />
<br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBNaq3vN-bA0SRKfnJJHeTW8kQU7T_Px-wrjM4c5bBJtWyhGFSJZTfDf0-mvcCD9ut0VdkVy_MdkHJbNbOdiKZ9h9_5nxIwg6Rkx-ExVzv-fSHeZhmdBwAg2hzvujhkY2qtDjpmfjYTki/s1600/IMG_3632_edited-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMBNaq3vN-bA0SRKfnJJHeTW8kQU7T_Px-wrjM4c5bBJtWyhGFSJZTfDf0-mvcCD9ut0VdkVy_MdkHJbNbOdiKZ9h9_5nxIwg6Rkx-ExVzv-fSHeZhmdBwAg2hzvujhkY2qtDjpmfjYTki/s640/IMG_3632_edited-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Poster board is very inexpensive and easy to store so it can be handy anytime you want a clean, high key shot. Just keep toddler hands away so they don't bend (see below) and goobers all over :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVMHVVLdDF20CtSKfhLouwgXQuBhzA3I5Mw6uTl_9EB3hbujX5G4XLcOHmDoMNdNtoTt9M2nTnOCs6-Ygw5lSTu_xVFMAHE5NiJyJjcpOb4_Qvc9JR-lT3w5KqwTpfXV2C0ZiX0T2sNGrF/s1600/IMG_6261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVMHVVLdDF20CtSKfhLouwgXQuBhzA3I5Mw6uTl_9EB3hbujX5G4XLcOHmDoMNdNtoTt9M2nTnOCs6-Ygw5lSTu_xVFMAHE5NiJyJjcpOb4_Qvc9JR-lT3w5KqwTpfXV2C0ZiX0T2sNGrF/s640/IMG_6261.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDE4LnRoZVdOXK4-7r_z3bOwvoPPlmajiy5tAquDNrdKLuqnOQpSzdbkBWoWP4Rdo5foiaTrWcOl4VmeXoAdPXLovn_-6rnwLDfkSFDcw5VsVn1OrmDDwgqmI0LlkRJfQRJ4BXvKgK5nsp/s1600/IMG_6255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDE4LnRoZVdOXK4-7r_z3bOwvoPPlmajiy5tAquDNrdKLuqnOQpSzdbkBWoWP4Rdo5foiaTrWcOl4VmeXoAdPXLovn_-6rnwLDfkSFDcw5VsVn1OrmDDwgqmI0LlkRJfQRJ4BXvKgK5nsp/s640/IMG_6255.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><i>Styling by an 18 month old!</i></div><div style="margin: 0px;">___________________________</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0px;"> by Kat of <b><a href="http://www.kateyeview.com/">The Kat Eye View of the World</a>,</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><b></b>April of <b><a href="http://aprilnewmanphotography.blogspot.com/">April's 365 photos</a>,</b></div><div style="margin: 0px;">and guest Karen of <a href="http://kbwalker.blogs.com/random_relfections/"><b>Random Reflections</b></a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><br />
</div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post! </i></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div></div>Kat Slomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00645480835605671040noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-17072649744219864862011-02-10T00:57:00.000-05:002011-02-10T00:57:00.561-05:00what inspires you? - lindsey<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse lindsey garrett</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div>I take photos every day...WILLINGLY!! I will admit it I may be a tad bit obsessed with the whole thing and I blame it on my 5D. Since the addition of my first full frame last May I have filled up two external hard drives soon to be three. As I go from point A to point B in my perpetual rush having a camera reminds me to STOP and take the time to <strong>expand </strong>and <strong>enjoy </strong>the moments. Inspiration surrounds me and I find that I really don't have to look very far to see it.<br />
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Being a mother of two who works from home I have a limited amount of free time to roam. I shoot primarily in bursts and on the fly. I may be grocery shopping, pulling out of the driveway or just sitting in my front yard (butterfly). Exploring my own backyard and rescuing critters gives me a chance to capture so many natural treasures.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.themodchik.com/?attachment_id=6606" rel="attachment wp-att-6606"><img alt="" class="size-full wp-image-6606 aligncenter" height="614" src="http://www.themodchik.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/modchik-MM-collage.jpg" title="modchik MM collage" width="614" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I am drawn to color and detail.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.themodchik.com/?attachment_id=6604" rel="attachment wp-att-6604"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-6604" height="614" src="http://www.themodchik.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/modchik-MM-collage-2.jpg" title="modchik MM collage 2" width="614" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Surrounded by constant noise and activity I use my photography to create a world where there is simplicity and order.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Food and cooking is another source of great inspiration.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I spend hours in the kitchen with my ingredients and my camera. Be prepared if you come to my house I'll make you wait before you can have that first bite.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/4761918577/" title="Cedar Plank Salmon by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="Cedar Plank Salmon" class="aligncenter" height="640" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4143/4761918577_5decb99274_z.jpg" width="427" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5310168318/" title="LIFE is sweet by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="LIFE is sweet" class="aligncenter" height="401" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5282/5310168318_7b005bc4b3_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5406443375/" title="Zov's Cupcakes by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="Zov's Cupcakes" class="aligncenter" height="640" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5100/5406443375_3d9f6acda3_z.jpg" width="427" /></a></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Nothing makes me more happy than when I successfully plate, photograph and devour my culinary creations.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">My famous <a href="http://www.themodchik.com/2011/01/tiramisu-anthony-bourdain/" target="_blank" title="tiramisu">Tiramisu</a>.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5354370879/" title="heaven on a plate by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="heaven on a plate" class="aligncenter" height="427" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5161/5354370879_79ea022b14_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">And on the days when I feel more relaxed and in the moment I find shoot more candidly.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5380997361/" title="23/365 by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="23/365" class="aligncenter" height="600" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5285/5380997361_be19a4063d_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Morning light makes me so happy.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5272644242/" title="ms. green eyes by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="ms. green eyes" height="600" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5047/5272644242_721572c30b_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5357974849/" title="when the rain never stopped by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="when the rain never stopped" height="600" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5088/5357974849_b0c62e0eb0_z.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Light directs my attention to the little details reminding me that I need not look ahead so much but look around.</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/modchik/5402856942/" title="kitchen table by Lindsey G (modchik), on Flickr"><img alt="kitchen table" class="aligncenter" height="600" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5402856942_c2d3c0fee1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Life may be short but it is also very WIDE.</div><br />
Thank you for having me muse with you. <br />
xo Linz<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.themodchik.com/?attachment_id=6586" rel="attachment wp-att-6586" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6586" height="204" src="http://www.themodchik.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Lindsey_Garrett-5-musette.jpg" style="margin: 2px 5px;" title="Lindsey_Garrett-5 musette" width="136" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Lindsey Garrett lives in Southern California with her husband, two kids and her bipolar cat. When she is not busy stalking her favorite rockstars on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/modchik" target="_blank" title="modchik on twitter"><strong>twitter</strong></a> Lindsey chronicles her life on her blog <a href="http://www.themodchik.com/" target="_blank" title="the modchik"><strong>the modchik</strong></a>. Over the past year her blog has become a platform from which she launched her <strong><a href="http://www.modchik-photography.com/" target="_blank" title="modchik photography">photography</a> </strong>business specializing in event and food photography. Her work can also be found in her ETSY <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/modchik/" target="_blank" title="modchik on ETSY"><strong>store </strong></a>and OC Family where she writes a weekly photo <a href="http://ocfamily.churmmediablogs.com/2011/02/02/photography-tips-repetition" target="_blank" title="OC Family Photoblog Photospeak">blog </a>featuring photo tips and prompts.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">_____________________________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>"what inspires you?"</strong> is the the second mission of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/moremusing/"><strong><span style="color: #212121;">mission: MUSE</span></strong></a> series. <br />
You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-84361589112433435622011-02-07T00:57:00.004-05:002011-02-07T00:57:00.435-05:00what inspires you?: austin-lee<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse austin-lee</div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnZ5Kf6wkI/AAAAAAAAZUw/1OnboTh-ioE/s1600/Inspire1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="430" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnZ5Kf6wkI/AAAAAAAAZUw/1OnboTh-ioE/s640/Inspire1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Inspiration is such a multi-faceted thing. Sometimes it comes to you gently like a breeze, a little whiff of something leading you down a road that gets your heart beating faster, excited with possibilities. Other times it almost knocks you down, like a river that you just need to go with.. There are few things in my life that inspire me more than my babies. From the moments they were born, they've knocked me down with the love I feel for them, and inspired me to hold their sweet faces captured in pictures forever.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnaGu2AZHI/AAAAAAAAZU0/TDJTmv1DUPA/s1600/Inspire2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnaGu2AZHI/AAAAAAAAZU0/TDJTmv1DUPA/s640/Inspire2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected little places for me. You catch a glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye...like a leaf or a flower, the way the light is falling across someone's face, a vibrant color that you don't want to forget. Often times I'm inspired to document the sweet memories we are making each day with little dog ears called photographs. Ordinary moments that might slip by unnoticed if you didn't catch them just in time.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnaMEj0dnI/AAAAAAAAZU4/puddWfMHmKM/s1600/Inspire3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnaMEj0dnI/AAAAAAAAZU4/puddWfMHmKM/s640/Inspire3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Inspiration is a blessing. People need and crave it. I think it's also something that can and should be shared. It gives us hope and moves us forward. Keeps us from being sedentary in our souls and helps us grow. So often I'm thankful for, and inspired by, the hard work, the sights seen, the words penned by people around me. By sharing what they feel and see with others, others are inspired to see and feel. It's a wonderful gift that we can set the soul of someone else on a creative journey...my hope for what inspires me is that it will, in turn, inspire someone else.<br />
<br />
Austin Lee Barron of <a href="http://bunchofbarrons.blogspot.com/"><strong>Bunch of Barrons</strong></a><br />
flickr: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/envoutant/"><strong>http://www.flickr.com/photos/envoutant/</strong></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">_____________________________________</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>"what inspires you?"</strong> is the the second mission of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/moremusing/"><strong><span style="color: #212121;">mission: MUSE</span></strong></a> series. <br />
You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Submissions for <strong>"where i live"</strong> are still being accepted.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-54398115826500543802011-02-05T00:57:00.003-05:002011-02-05T00:57:00.529-05:00muse university - creating the "fairy garden" effect<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>creating the "fairy garden" effect</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>a repost by</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">ashley sisk of <a href="http://ashleysisk.com/"><b>ramblings and photos</b></a><a href="http://www.blissandfolly.com/"><b></b></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Last year, I stumbled upon a tutorial on <a href="http://www.iheartfaces.com/">I Heart Faces</a> called: "<a href="http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2009/10/inspiration-in-fairy-garden.html">In the Fairy Garden</a>." At the time, I was so excited to use it that I wrote my own variation of the tutorial for Photoshop Elements - <a href="http://www.iheartfaces.com/">HERE</a>. I used those same steps to create the <a href="http://ashleysisk.blogspot.com/2010/10/macro-friday.html">photo I submitted to Pioneer Woman.</a> I previously shared this tutorial with the <a href="http://paperheartcamera.blogspot.com/">Paper Heart Camera</a> community, but thought it was worth revisiting here at Mortal Muse University.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">I've put a lot of work into recreating each step using screen shots and trying to simplify it the best way I know how. But you </span><span style="font-size: small;">may also want to look at the original tutorial to find an approach that works best for you. I also seriously need to thank Michelle Johnson at <a href="http://lovethatshot.com/">Love that Shot</a> for writing the original tutorial and turning me on to this effect!</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Program:</b> Photoshop Elements (I use version 7)</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Estimated time:</b> 15 minutes</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Materials </b>(open and download files): A clean processed photo of your choosing, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/4525643639/">Garden Lights 1</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/4526275056/">Garden Lights 2</a>. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Actions:</b> We'll be using </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2000/02/coffeeshop-sun-kissed-pspse-action-and.html">Coffeeshop Photography's Sun-Kissed Action</a> and a Layer Mask (if you don't already have one - it doesn't automatically come with PSE unless you have version 9). Download <a href="http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2008/11/coffeeshop-layer-mask-action.html">HERE</a> before you get started. </span><span style="font-size: small;">I've linked nearly everything you need - all free. Before you get started, you may want to download and install the actions. Here's a great tutorial from the <a href="http://www.texaschicksblogsandpics.com/photography-page/installing-actions-in-photoshop-elements/">Texas Chick</a> on installing actions. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">With all that said, open your cleanly processed photo (I decided against walking you through basic processing for this tutorial) - here is mine. </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5056022820/" title="IMG_6895 RS by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="IMG_6895 RS" height="640" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5056022820_58d848068e_z.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 1: </span></b><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-size: small;">Select one of the darker hues in your photograph using the eye dropper. Make sure your background is black and the new darker hue will be your foreground. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Create a gradient map layer (in your adjustment layers). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Check reverse </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Lower the opacity to 45%. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Optional: You can change the gradient map layer's blending mode to HARD LIGHT for a slightly different look. </span></li>
</ol></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5055404487/" title="Fairy Garden Step 1 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Step 1" height="520" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5055404487_a42e003626_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 2: </span></b></span></div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Create Hue/Saturation layer (in your adjustment layers). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Select Colorize.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Change numbers to: Hue (35), Saturation (30), Lightness (0). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Lower opacity to 30%. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Use Soft BLACK brush at 30% (or less if you prefer) opacity to paint effect OFF in the layer. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Optional: You can change the Hue/Saturation layer's blending mode to SOFT LIGHT for a slightly different look. </span></li>
</ol><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5055404675/" title="Fairy Garden Step 2 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Step 2" height="520" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5055404675_85ae36bdcc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 3: </span></b></div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Open </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/4525643639/">Garden Lights 1</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/4526275056/">Garden Lights 2</a> - they will be placed in the bin at the bottom of Photoshop Elements. Drag and drop Garden Lights 1 texture (from bin) on top of your photo. You may need to rotate it by going to the corner of the image and pulling right or left. There are other ways to apply textures, but this has always been the easiest way for me. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Change the blending mode to SCREEN.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Lower the opacity to 30%</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Use a soft BLACK brush at 30% (or less if you prefer) opacity to remove texture from the flower (or your subject). You will have to add a layer mask (in the previous steps, it was automatically given) - you can download a layer mask <a href="http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2008/11/coffeeshop-layer-mask-action.html">HERE</a>. </span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></li>
</ol><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5055404803/" title="Fairy Garden Step 3 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Step 3" height="520" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/5055404803_df7eff86d5_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 4: </span></b></div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Drag and drop Garden Lights 2 texture (from bin) on top of your photo. You may need to rotate it by going to the corner of the image and pulling right or left. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Change the blending mode to OVERLAY.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Do NOT adjust the Opacity - leave at 100%. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Merge layers (ctrl+shift+E)</span></li>
</ol><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5055404931/" title="Fairy Garden Step 4 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Step 4" height="520" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5055404931_04e42c0c4a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 5:</span></b></div><ol style="text-align: justify;"><li><span style="font-size: small;">Apply </span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2000/02/coffeeshop-sun-kissed-pspse-action-and.html">Coffeeshop Photography's Sun-Kissed Action</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">. If you have a chance, read through Rita's quick steps...she makes things so easy! You can see the adjustments I made below, but you should adjust them to your preference. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">The one note that I'll make here is that when you're prompted to render a lens flare I typically use my default settings: 50-300 mm zoom at 159%. Unless it's over-powering, I won't adjust the opacity. </span></li>
</ol><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5056022600/" title="Fairy Garden Step 5 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Step 5" height="520" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5056022600_cf58207ab2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Step 6: </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li>Create a duplicate layer (ctrl+J)</li>
<li>Go to Filter (in your top tool bar)>Other (at the very bottom of your drop down list) and select High Pass Filter. I think I have mine set up on <span style="font-size: small;">66 </span>so I can lower the opacity later - feel free to experiment here. </li>
<li>On that layer, change the blending mode to SOFT LIGHT.</li>
<li>Add a layer mask (<span style="font-size: small;">You will have to add a layer mask - you can download a layer mask <a href="http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/2008/11/coffeeshop-layer-mask-action.html">HERE</a>.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fill the layer mask with BLACK paint (in this case, you'll be revealing the effect, not removing the effect). </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Use a Soft WHITE brush at 30% opacity and paint over the flower for an extra POP - this is my ALL TIME FAVORITE photo editing technique! </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Now, create a levels adjustment layer. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Slide left slider to 10 (you can also add a vignette here, but I prefer this approach). </span></li>
</ol><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5055405221/" title="Fairy Garden Step 6 by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Step 6" height="520" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4092/5055405221_2fd6923868_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once you're done with that step, merge your layers and re-size and sharpen (if you're posting to the web). Here's the Before and After. What do you think? </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/46902158@N07/5056022048/" title="Fairy Garden Before and After by Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos, on Flickr"><img alt="Fairy Garden Before and After" height="477" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5056022048_da48775de3_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">What questions do you have? If you do try out this effect, we'd love to see your results!</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Until next time, </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ashley of <a href="http://ashleysisk.com/">Ramblings and Photos</a></span></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">_______________________________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new<b> </b><a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><span style="color: #212121;"><b>muse university</b></span></a> post! </i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div></div>Ashley Siskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08964259733610203026noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-75078368127937711522011-02-04T00:57:00.000-05:002011-02-04T00:57:00.189-05:00what inspires you? - chelsea<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse chelsea</div><br />
<i>"In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary." </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>~ Aaron Rose</i></div><div><i><br />
</i></div><div style="text-align: center;">To me, light creates magic.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUMdZ15R_3I/AAAAAAAAZRc/v-8cCfJgd2Y/s1600/DSC_0405_4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="489" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUMdZ15R_3I/AAAAAAAAZRc/v-8cCfJgd2Y/s640/DSC_0405_4.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> Dew drops in the grass sparkle like diamonds.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUMfPhD80vI/AAAAAAAAZRo/xJ8fR5uv7gI/s1600/DSC_0720.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUMfPhD80vI/AAAAAAAAZRo/xJ8fR5uv7gI/s640/DSC_0720.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Beautiful silhouettes and dramatic shadows.</div></div><div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567091078992267138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAOnRvCDQmMkAMZU4ntjUtKMOjqUmS7U0J31q5OjyuGg8D9bN6VUHxoAd1k44fnptd3XjRmY4jh4vDIThpfXlmF2R_ixHyTd3aE_9Yp6VNZZaJhclWe3zymSQeifYLYdSBqsz6KGdvJlY/s640/DSC_0097.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="425" /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Flowers illuminated, glowing vivid colors and showing every detail.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567091260736270482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1IhuZZyjNQNf8kqsKgcSQ3-H0wyxAnv-WTqqlqzVrNL6q7IHO0UVsOGS1QOBpGARsJBZ6SVaB3XRSaSq8qAg-vyzQOXm_zyLI2xipEKRrMHHlcTFtLqF1qe-3fId-_dYGeuqWRfBzp4/s640/pier2.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="425" /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Light is playful...hide & seek and peekaboo.</div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" height="425" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567091091144433394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrEpUqTumwBP85HFkb8PqfU_No1Cvy60DS-RnkWAYfgIZ-1deiy1JvKVoNJt_9fBLrW8dKDqSXP5zzRK1KW-j1UZIRkmFuDbrbaTxJyVvuTIaKQYVj0-A1tgECA-Lp_R9C4tUPu8OgT2E/s640/DSC_0147.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="640" /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Something ordinary is transformed into extraordinary.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567091090393218098" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE61avCyQrHrJP3xFaVsCyE9jIRiVXUuGmc_iCc3mHM3Iqtm6OEWh5KdQcvxSC5LyLR51J24rwiUC6HjqOYc86wYPrk-q4cQMEWCImbustZrObEzRl2yYmDLlTKBAeL5c5u0jznFw8L6M/s640/DSC_0144.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="448" /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">Light reveals, showing the intricacies and imperfections.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567091084627424498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnhsrXtDTz_WarAfhErDIfP6qZmYgIeTphmuc9njdXRic-0TqI2G_okhbv0vs1a63kU0QXe2KSuoBfpGPPe9wQPF-WdCnUtaM7Tttem_QnGP6B9oFGVeqAQOjac5DPS1arRxyH49hc8Ds/s640/DSC_0122+-+Version+2.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="384" /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">A rapid change in color as the sun rises and sets.</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"></span><br />
<div>Light is what inspires me daily to pick up my camera. Seeking out natural light leads me, draws me in, and dictates when and what I will shoot.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Every morning is like unwrapping a present, unsure of what nature will kindly offer that day. Light is always there waiting for me, and these little moments of beauty take away my breath. I know that the sight before me will never be replicated exactly, so I treasure each photo as a way to remember it forever.</div><div><br />
</div><div>The synonyms of the word light are: bright, brilliant, clear, glowing, luminous, lustrous, radiant, resplendent, rich, shining, vivid. I am inspired by the physical presence of light. But these variations of the word perfectly illustrate what I strive to find in my shots, what I search out through my viewfinder, and what I hope my style reflects.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">a musing by Chelsea Chamness of <a href="http://heartsandscars.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>hearts and scars</b></a> and <b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chelscham/">chamcam</a></b> on flickr</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">__________________________________________________________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>"what inspires you?"</b> is the the second assignment of the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/moremusing/"><b><span style="color: #212121;">mission: MUSE</span></b></a> series. <br />
You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are still accepting<b> "where i live"</b> submissions.</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-50401417683852877212011-02-02T18:11:00.001-05:002011-02-02T18:35:35.275-05:00what inspires you? - linda<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse linda jackman</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">When asked to answer the often asked query of "what inspires me?", my first thought... God and everything he has created, but that is too broad. Narrowing it a bit, I would say, the meaning behind the image.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have always been a deep thinker and even as a child my brother would make up meaningless songs about my name and exasperated, I would plead with Johnny to tell me what it meant. He never would.</span></div></div></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So for as long as I can remember my quest for meaning has been important. Everyone one is shaped by their experiences and those experiences are part of their heart’s story. I capture the images that tell their story and in the process capture a piece of their history. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is an amazing story of an expectant mom: you can read it <a href="http://blog.lindajackmanphotography.com/2011/01/05/story-of-an-expectant-mom/"><strong>here</strong></a>. </span><br />
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnfKZ7N37I/AAAAAAAAZU8/eOvDLVn4b8s/s1600/2_2751.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnfKZ7N37I/AAAAAAAAZU8/eOvDLVn4b8s/s640/2_2751.jpg" width="460" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And here is the story of a child being handed back the freedom of childhood. <span style="font-family: inherit;">You can read about it <a href="http://blog.lindajackmanphotography.com/2010/12/27/the-wish/"><strong>here</strong></a>. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnf_YGq0EI/AAAAAAAAZVE/gMEJKnfoLPM/s1600/Freedom_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnf_YGq0EI/AAAAAAAAZVE/gMEJKnfoLPM/s640/Freedom_.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hearts and daisies have a special meaning for me and I love to make them a concept.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUngdbDNALI/AAAAAAAAZVI/FzSnZU6Cyg8/s1600/2772+as+Smart+Object-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUngdbDNALI/AAAAAAAAZVI/FzSnZU6Cyg8/s640/2772+as+Smart+Object-1.jpg" width="612" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnghEa78OI/AAAAAAAAZVQ/oQGjVStKMvA/s1600/IMG_6294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnghEa78OI/AAAAAAAAZVQ/oQGjVStKMvA/s640/IMG_6294.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnqKqQiRmI/AAAAAAAAZVo/-E8D7htlgcI/s1600/IMG_0275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnqKqQiRmI/AAAAAAAAZVo/-E8D7htlgcI/s640/IMG_0275.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUngk56UF8I/AAAAAAAAZVc/99ydGLFjgj0/s1600/wm2IMG_5458.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUngk56UF8I/AAAAAAAAZVc/99ydGLFjgj0/s640/wm2IMG_5458.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUngkVw6VVI/AAAAAAAAZVY/kSYaHdQ4fms/s1600/newIMG_6265+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUngkVw6VVI/AAAAAAAAZVY/kSYaHdQ4fms/s640/newIMG_6265+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most of my portrait photography tells a story. Prior to the session I have to know what the story is and become immersed in it. I ask myself questions like, “What is it, how do they feel, what were they thinking. What do t hey like and dislike, what makes them cry and what makes them laugh? Most of the time my clients are in tears and have said "you have captured so and so's personality perfectly" . I know I have done my job when the tears are flowing. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">So with meaning as my muse I tend to be a storyteller behind the lens with photos instead of words. Putting it down in black and white, I realize after all it is the human heart that inspires me above all else. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnqAn5FS4I/AAAAAAAAZVk/gDz2hwj8qzQ/s1600/IMG_6439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" s5="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUnqAn5FS4I/AAAAAAAAZVk/gDz2hwj8qzQ/s640/IMG_6439.jpg" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you Muses for inviting me to dig deep down into my heart and see what inspires me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Linda Jackman </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Visit me at <span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://lindajackmanphotography.com/"><strong>http://lindajackmanphotography.com/</strong></a> for a sneak peek at my newest inspiration... </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">templates, textures, and overlays.. Actions coming soon! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You may also connect with me on facebook: </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Jackman-Photography/139161493124"><strong>Linda Jackman Photography</strong></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">_____________________________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>"what inspires you?"</strong> is the the second mission of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/moremusing/"><strong><span style="color: #212121;">mission: MUSE</span></strong></a> series. <br />
You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-53125571540628348072011-01-31T00:57:00.003-05:002011-01-31T00:57:00.258-05:00what inspires you? - genevieve<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "what inspires you?"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse genevieve</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrIKdYAEI/AAAAAAAAZQ0/xFlQlHIiK9s/s1600/Winter+Red+Coat+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrIKdYAEI/AAAAAAAAZQ0/xFlQlHIiK9s/s640/Winter+Red+Coat+%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I am inspired by the desire to create my own reality and bring you along with me. There is so much ugliness in the world. Sometimes it takes <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1296181840_0" style="background: none transparent scroll repeat 0% 0%; border-bottom: medium none; cursor: hand;">concerted effort</span> to see the beauty, effort that many people don’t have the time, ability, or circumstances to cultivate. I want to do the work for you. I want to use my camera to blur out the mud, crop away the garbage and skew reality just enough to remind each of us that there is still good, pretty, sweet, kind, happy things worth looking at.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrKBJs8PI/AAAAAAAAZQ4/QJisToxigoU/s1600/Blessings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrKBJs8PI/AAAAAAAAZQ4/QJisToxigoU/s640/Blessings.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrMPUMehI/AAAAAAAAZQ8/gLmAU6jG0rQ/s1600/Blond.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrMPUMehI/AAAAAAAAZQ8/gLmAU6jG0rQ/s640/Blond.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I want to make you look good. I want my photo of you, with a smile on your face and a spark in your eyes to be the best version of who you are, and I am inspired when I suceed in capturing that and turn it into a tangible thing.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrMpy602I/AAAAAAAAZRA/rEXGHkU1Dqs/s1600/Bucket+of+Daisies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrMpy602I/AAAAAAAAZRA/rEXGHkU1Dqs/s640/Bucket+of+Daisies.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrM9JBMnI/AAAAAAAAZRE/NZI0k97I8PI/s1600/Sun+Kissed+Nap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUIrM9JBMnI/AAAAAAAAZRE/NZI0k97I8PI/s640/Sun+Kissed+Nap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I love the ability to paint with light, splashing sunshine on your best features for everyone to see and sending a shadow in to protect a flaw from the eyes of those same viewers. I want my photos of you to boost your confidence, make you feel good…make you realise you are beautiful because if I succeed then maybe, in some small way, that validates my reason for being. Maybe reminding you of that was my contribution…and it inspires me to try again…</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>Genevieve Letkeman <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/GenevieveMLetkeman">facebook: <strong>Genevieve M. Letkeman</strong></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/geneletk/">flickr: <strong>geneletk</strong></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
_____________________________</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>"what inspires you?"</strong> is the the second mission of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/moremusing/"><strong><span style="color: #212121;">mission: MUSE</span></strong></a> series. <br />
You may submit an entry to mortalmuses {at} yahoo.com.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong></strong></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-55199506696155063222011-01-29T00:57:00.143-05:002011-01-29T06:15:58.130-05:00muse university: everyday textures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>creating your own textures</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>a repost by</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">tammy lee bradley of <a href="http://www.blissandfolly.com/"><b>bliss and folly</b></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUMO6iNLtaI/AAAAAAAAZRY/6A0mIKPBc_M/s1600/lily.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="462" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TUMO6iNLtaI/AAAAAAAAZRY/6A0mIKPBc_M/s640/lily.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">textured with burlap</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In our last <a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><b>muse university</b></a> post, Ashley discussed how to apply textures to your photographs using Photoshop Elements. This week, I am creating textures from everyday objects and a scanner. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To start this project, I wandered around the house and garage looking for items that would create interesting textures. With a stack of diverse items at my disposal, I scanned each one. Using Photoshop Elements 8, I made minor adjustments to color, sharpness, and brightness. The completed scans were used to texturized the photos shown below. I used Photoshop Elements 8 with a blending mode of Soft Light and minor adjustments to the Opacity. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQSuGoLVI/AAAAAAAAZGs/Bnr15HFWbCQ/s1600/denim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQSuGoLVI/AAAAAAAAZGs/Bnr15HFWbCQ/s320/denim.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">my husband's denim jeans</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTyDzVF9coI/AAAAAAAAZLo/vyLhW-k6eSs/s1600/Orange+with+denim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTyDzVF9coI/AAAAAAAAZLo/vyLhW-k6eSs/s640/Orange+with+denim.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQTUEfAgI/AAAAAAAAZGw/JCO16OJEbAQ/s1600/WITH+DENIM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQTUEfAgI/AAAAAAAAZGw/JCO16OJEbAQ/s640/WITH+DENIM.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQUlJGIwI/AAAAAAAAZG0/pLD7DPxPn1g/s1600/music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQUlJGIwI/AAAAAAAAZG0/pLD7DPxPn1g/s320/music.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a sheet of my harp music - I erased the portion over the fiddle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTzrAZ_nvLI/AAAAAAAAZL4/d2vK7eI6Q0Q/s1600/music.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTzrAZ_nvLI/AAAAAAAAZL4/d2vK7eI6Q0Q/s640/music.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQpLC2dCI/AAAAAAAAZG8/sfbzlE2K3eE/s1600/burlap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQpLC2dCI/AAAAAAAAZG8/sfbzlE2K3eE/s320/burlap.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">piece of burlap fabric - I erased some of the texture on the cup</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQ4HbANrI/AAAAAAAAZHA/WYQ8r8B-dAY/s1600/with+burlap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQ4HbANrI/AAAAAAAAZHA/WYQ8r8B-dAY/s640/with+burlap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTyD_u8gZtI/AAAAAAAAZLw/u2mqgl3n31M/s1600/everyday+with+burlap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" s5="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTyD_u8gZtI/AAAAAAAAZLw/u2mqgl3n31M/s640/everyday+with+burlap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQ_0pAgbI/AAAAAAAAZHE/6vjRSQURUgE/s1600/marble2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJQ_0pAgbI/AAAAAAAAZHE/6vjRSQURUgE/s320/marble2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">marble slab</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRA4VuM9I/AAAAAAAAZHI/TVqrF7BlXb4/s1600/holiday+flash+marble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRA4VuM9I/AAAAAAAAZHI/TVqrF7BlXb4/s640/holiday+flash+marble.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRC5hgX4I/AAAAAAAAZHM/uPA0xL7RnaE/s1600/paper+towel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="244" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRC5hgX4I/AAAAAAAAZHM/uPA0xL7RnaE/s320/paper+towel.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a generic paper towel</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRPAe-CyI/AAAAAAAAZHU/yU7hIEy4Vvw/s1600/treat+with+paper+towel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" n4="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRPAe-CyI/AAAAAAAAZHU/yU7hIEy4Vvw/s640/treat+with+paper+towel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRU96ndmI/AAAAAAAAZHY/xe3aq5Lqrhg/s1600/tissue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRU96ndmI/AAAAAAAAZHY/xe3aq5Lqrhg/s320/tissue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">crumpled tissue paper</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRV2p8i_I/AAAAAAAAZHc/xgtvLVRIglg/s1600/pear+with+tissue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" n4="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRV2p8i_I/AAAAAAAAZHc/xgtvLVRIglg/s640/pear+with+tissue.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRX-fVdrI/AAAAAAAAZHg/ObkUj6DyHTA/s1600/leather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRX-fVdrI/AAAAAAAAZHg/ObkUj6DyHTA/s320/leather.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">leather pillow</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRZlWgnxI/AAAAAAAAZHk/UIpo1f0Fxe8/s1600/rural+florida+leather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" n4="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRZlWgnxI/AAAAAAAAZHk/UIpo1f0Fxe8/s640/rural+florida+leather.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRcrwJFHI/AAAAAAAAZHo/KHc3S7joxPA/s1600/velour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRcrwJFHI/AAAAAAAAZHo/KHc3S7joxPA/s320/velour.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">velour pillow</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTyD9YITpQI/AAAAAAAAZLs/ywcivo3YG2I/s1600/Mother%2527s+Day+velour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" s5="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTyD9YITpQI/AAAAAAAAZLs/ywcivo3YG2I/s640/Mother%2527s+Day+velour.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRpxkKlyI/AAAAAAAAZH0/QVq5WJ9H6c4/s1600/with+velour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" n4="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_O7jn19RDH4o/TTJRpxkKlyI/AAAAAAAAZH0/QVq5WJ9H6c4/s640/with+velour.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a few tips:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">1. Be careful with coarse objects so you do not scratch your scanning surface. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">2. Cover your scanner with a dark sheet if you are scanning big items to avoid light leaks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">3. Keep it subtle. I tried using crumpled tinfoil and brushed stainless but the final results were overworked.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have provided more examples and a linky tool at<b> <a href="http://bloggingbradleys.blogspot.com/">bliss and folly</a></b>. Share with me your photos with homemade textures. Get creative. Think outside the box and make sure to tell me what you used for your texture... that's the fun part.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">♥ tammy lee</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">_______________________________</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>Join us every weekend for a new<b> </b><a href="http://mortalmusesmoremusing.blogspot.com/search/label/muse%20university"><span style="color: #212121;"><b>muse university</b></span></a> post! </i></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;"><i>If you would like to provide a post for this series, please contact kat [at] kateyeview.com</i></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360353123701832907.post-9851841959316344622011-01-28T00:57:00.000-05:002011-01-28T00:57:00.074-05:00where I live - canterbury, united kingdom<div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>mission: MUSE - "where i live"</strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">by guest muse gilly</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Canterbury is a very beautiful, very old, and very small city in the UK. I’ve lived here for about twenty years – I came here to study for an MA at the University of Kent and liked it so much I never left. The city’s been in existence since pre-Roman times, and there are so many layers of history here that building work can take years because they have to allow the archaeologists time to excavate everything first. In Waterstone’s bookshop in St Margaret’s St, you can view the remains of a Roman bathhouse in the basement while buying your books. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">This photo is taken from one of Canterbury’s parks, Westgate Gardens. It’s a long, thin park that runs alongside the River Stour, and the opposite end to the one you see here disappears into open countryside</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyJPtBrXR-HMUeZtXG93hwobmj9a7WtAV_QWRpEoPOYMsiWsIJIT516PvR1qXNaGCX0OI9fKiV7KI69Phyphenhyphen8_rmHEmFNh8LSoSsAJefaAfFQJjLvxrr7carS8igh9oC0Jmvj0m4eUxkGQ/s1600/Westgate+Park+flickr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="426" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563255431754102386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyJPtBrXR-HMUeZtXG93hwobmj9a7WtAV_QWRpEoPOYMsiWsIJIT516PvR1qXNaGCX0OI9fKiV7KI69Phyphenhyphen8_rmHEmFNh8LSoSsAJefaAfFQJjLvxrr7carS8igh9oC0Jmvj0m4eUxkGQ/s640/Westgate+Park+flickr.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="640" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The river runs right through Canterbury and although it’s really very shallow and not much more than a stream, there are punts operating along its navigable length. This makes for some idyllic scenes in summer.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKOesu-O4msX0_J6CaIuOIPVNaM4mZOtHRymHcJZkjs7T4YqaO-Ys0C6-QuKUNnUfh8R3qUqsQJKgfRASi-3B9IwXfLKCEJ5UVT_jUf9VV8cKOtPTU6KRXAcBYI1t8jflGBiS5kHxXe8/s1600/Punting+on+the+Stour+flickr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563257180899117538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQKOesu-O4msX0_J6CaIuOIPVNaM4mZOtHRymHcJZkjs7T4YqaO-Ys0C6-QuKUNnUfh8R3qUqsQJKgfRASi-3B9IwXfLKCEJ5UVT_jUf9VV8cKOtPTU6KRXAcBYI1t8jflGBiS5kHxXe8/s640/Punting+on+the+Stour+flickr.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="414" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Canterbury was once a walled city and you can still walk along much of the old city wall. Westgate Towers is the only remaining mediaeval gate to the city, and the road now runs through the archway underneath it. This is one place where the modern and the very old have an uneasy co-existence: double-decker buses have to inch slowly through the arch, occasionally getting stuck and entertaining passers-by. This photo shows the wider end of the archway – the far side is smaller and buses and large trucks only have inches to spare on each side.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5w6X22DRh5fesUnsLcUmKFLEchP_KsMv_GA9WnmXvsRTjDn7Z7dt-p88MbmfC_uGPhdv5hViVXeNy4tBVzU8llI5a3JsnAeR1wPepCxb1YSZ_38npqjKToKuN8r-dotTbAF1dDsAm08/s1600/Old+and+new.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563257479665474306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN5w6X22DRh5fesUnsLcUmKFLEchP_KsMv_GA9WnmXvsRTjDn7Z7dt-p88MbmfC_uGPhdv5hViVXeNy4tBVzU8llI5a3JsnAeR1wPepCxb1YSZ_38npqjKToKuN8r-dotTbAF1dDsAm08/s640/Old+and+new.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="418" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">Canterbury is best known for its Cathedral, which dominates the city and is a stunningly beautiful building. I’ve taken so many photos of the Cathedral and its surroundings that it’s almost impossible to choose just one, but this is my current favourite shot of it. You can see the Cathedral interior reflected in the sphere – this is part of the lectern right at the head of the Choir and it’s formed of a golden eagle which supports a bible on its back and holds this ball in its feet. It reminds me of some lines from Ted Hughes’ poem Hawk Roosting:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">‘It took the whole of Creation </div><div style="text-align: center;">To produce my foot, my each feather: </div><div style="text-align: center;">Now I hold Creation in my foot’</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRm_1u5tK2rVziWt2IRiRy9oSRE9hKfFMUcfiCQ_X5y3zJ4dJMgxqbIu8KonBdLb50jeNprCFNoXJtfN94l2pipYCQpU-1sy_vh5MXjkoO_Kjz7jkuHFk-h801Dmkdlh4v8Y_gcuktk4/s1600/Claws+2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563259112122088354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRm_1u5tK2rVziWt2IRiRy9oSRE9hKfFMUcfiCQ_X5y3zJ4dJMgxqbIu8KonBdLb50jeNprCFNoXJtfN94l2pipYCQpU-1sy_vh5MXjkoO_Kjz7jkuHFk-h801Dmkdlh4v8Y_gcuktk4/s400/Claws+2.jpg" style="display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
I could fill a whole book with the huge variety of ancient and picturesque buildings we have here. The following picture shows how well the black and white timbered Tudor style buildings show up when we get a rare fall of snow. Although it’s often wet in winter and we do occasionally get light snow showers, it’s very unusual for snow to lie, so we don’t see this very often:<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_9ZasG3C8aV4e7zICsUTRyvrp1w3r2pNVgvau2IMYnjfEC_wVOzx2NrlzPiFQ8Y6BuWKiANRmpuvviYRAhaqzwG4F_CHVkQl98cnWpdnFLShwKxS1ngIApO2jLzecKa3q1rVP04gvqw/s1600/Tudor+snow+2+flickr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="469" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563257763857672018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_9ZasG3C8aV4e7zICsUTRyvrp1w3r2pNVgvau2IMYnjfEC_wVOzx2NrlzPiFQ8Y6BuWKiANRmpuvviYRAhaqzwG4F_CHVkQl98cnWpdnFLShwKxS1ngIApO2jLzecKa3q1rVP04gvqw/s640/Tudor+snow+2+flickr.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The snow also makes it easier to see the mediaeval ducking stool in the next image – you can spot it sticking out high over the river, just above the boat. The ducking stool was both a form of punishment and a way of testing to see if someone was a witch. It was used to punish nagging wives and cheating businessmen by dunking them in the river. However, more worryingly it was also used to determine whether or not someone was a witch. The accused woman would be strapped to the chair and lowered beneath the surface of the water for 2-3 minutes. If she survived then it was thought that she had used her powers to stay alive and she would then be burned at the stake. If the woman was dead when they brought her up again, then clearly she was not a witch and her name would be cleared and her family given an apology from the church. There are times when you just can’t win……</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCYYUU7JH04knMkPoSiqbHGVDp-pbXkb-Kio0xZIc7wcRqdAU75-17Ij7lPAVe0caGGlOK4nuA-BJFGWaHN3KyJ1isM_rVN8D39Zb1AlvHubZLIQMCXRn1tkJV19fU-4VPRzU4kCTnoY/s1600/Witches+stool+flickr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="433" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563259573048254946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCYYUU7JH04knMkPoSiqbHGVDp-pbXkb-Kio0xZIc7wcRqdAU75-17Ij7lPAVe0caGGlOK4nuA-BJFGWaHN3KyJ1isM_rVN8D39Zb1AlvHubZLIQMCXRn1tkJV19fU-4VPRzU4kCTnoY/s640/Witches+stool+flickr.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">The main shopping streets are lined with loads of quirky and colourful cafes and tearooms. This is just one of them, but I particularly like it because of its brightly coloured chairs, tables and tablecloths.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-2GD6KvTp2n8K7WYBAQ4raeYL1j9IlxeR5nM9-6fKiEueLVKj94bjipAYtERG6ddn95KDgZebvRYVJ0bWJp0YiXEprVQhwpBwTdkHG6_tv9K6iIgymmm1kOJAGIq7g65s0WnRNws4qU/s1600/Boho+orton+flickr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" height="441" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563260033752556018" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo-2GD6KvTp2n8K7WYBAQ4raeYL1j9IlxeR5nM9-6fKiEueLVKj94bjipAYtERG6ddn95KDgZebvRYVJ0bWJp0YiXEprVQhwpBwTdkHG6_tv9K6iIgymmm1kOJAGIq7g65s0WnRNws4qU/s640/Boho+orton+flickr.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is just a tiny taste of where I live – there’s so much more I could have shown you – but I hope it gives you a flavour of the kind of place it is and how much history we have here. I fell in love with Canterbury when I first came here and I still love it after twenty years – it feels like home now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div></div><div>gilly of <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1BMhCWfgJGV3MWV2owP3m6eyrQhbwrT0l3lKh7Fl8lsHtQPRMcesjLXX9AFfcftTg5CY1lor8cf609s2N4WErAT3_RYloscGBer-IdcC1ub8gMD4iTVNXtyLua13tdq_iAc5c1RUcvc8/s1600/Westgate+Park+flickr.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><strong>www.gillywalker.com</strong></a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27863935@N03/"><strong>GillyinKent</strong></a> on flickr</div><div><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><i>We would love to see where you live. </i><i>If you would like to join in, send an email to mortalmuses [at] yahoo.com.</i></div>Kirstinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10005413845221023288noreply@blogger.com9