October 31, 2009

Halloween Fun! Photography Assignment Week 7

The assignment for this week is to take a photograph that tells a story. Please bring at least 10 images from this assignment and past assignments to class. Please print one or two of your images (even black and white is good), so we can talk about them and examine them.

Black and white is a great test of the contrast in your image. If the photo is flat without a lot of black and white range, try again.

At class, we will work on creating a scene. Bring in your Halloween costume (to get a second use out of it) and we will have some fun creating a set! We will use some props I will bring in (bring your own too) and create a mood! We will take photographs of each other dressed up  and ourselves with the self-timer and a tri-pod.

October 26, 2009

Whose Ball?

Ever gotten to the green and wondered whose ball was in the hole? Don't let that happen with these marked balls. Let me know if your guy will play with hearts!!! Buy this photograph on Etsy














Buy the box of balls (below) on Etsy too. You can specify a brand if you would like me to paint a different type ball.

October 23, 2009

Photography Assignment Week 5

Lyrics... please print the lyrics to a favorite song and then... illustrate it with a photograph. Have fun with this... and pick more than one? Concentrate on framing your image with a natural or man-made frame.

Happy Shooting!



Here is my illustration of Van Morrison's "Moon Dance," a song I really love. And the link to purchase on Etsy.










Moon Dance by Van Morrison

Well, its a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
neath the cover of october skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling
To the sound of the breezes that blow
And Im trying to please to the calling
Of your heart-strings that play soft and low
And all the nights magic seems to whisper and hush
And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush

Chorus:

Can I just have one a more moondance with you, my love
Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love

Well, I wanna make love to you tonight
I cant wait til the morning has come
And I know that the time is just right
And straight into my arms you will run
And when you come my heart will be waiting
To make sure that youre never alone
There and then all my dreams will come true, dear
There and then I will make you my own
And every time I touch you, you just tremble inside
And I know how much you want me that you cant hide

Chorus

Repeat 1st verse

One more moondance with you in the moonlight
On a magic night
La, la, la, la in the moonlight
On a magic night
Cant I just have one more dance with you my love

October 20, 2009

Turquoise, Teal and Aqua Dreams

So, what is in a dream? I am talking about the rich kind we can control, change and affect. I find that writing them down and talking about them gets them out on the table and happening. Inside my head, they fester and die.

In June 2007 I visited Spain, specifically Barcelona. I was shocked at how different the city looked than the states. I could not put my camera down. In all I took 886 photographs. On the way home on the airplane I told myself I would become a professional photographer. I have been busy at this since stepping back in the U.S. By now, I have developed several different products. My business and dream are growing!

I created this Etsy Treasury with a house, couple, height, ocean, quiet, crafting and dance in mind. Hopefully there is something for everyone here. Open a word document and start typing -- What do you want?

My Treasury has expired (They are only around for 2-3 days) but here is the picture of it below.


October 19, 2009

Buy the Pound


I haven't ever been to a pumpkin patch, but it was fun! So was the carving and cooking dinner afterwards. Here are three pumpkins that impressed me! Thanks Rusty!!



October 16, 2009

Capturing Movement in a Photograph Week 4

This week's photography class will focus on movement. We will spend time in class practicing panning (moving the camera with the subject) to try and stop the movement. We will also test out our camera's sports setting to see what a fast shutter speed does to stop motion. The assignment this week is to

Take many shots to still movement.
Take many shots to illustrate movement.
Take several shots to capture moving lights at night.

Bring five best images to class.

Musicals about Music

There have been many musicals featuring the music of a musical artist.

Mamma Mia
Movin' Out
Jersey Boys
Rain

My favorite will probably always be Mamma Mia because I love it and have seen it at least three times. The movie of the show is very well done as well. This show features the music of ABBA. I listened to the music of the show many years after I saw it the first time. Dancing Queen and Take a Chance on Me both strike chords in my heart.

Movin' Out is interesting in that the music is sung by a pianist like Billy Joel would have done had he been in the show. I don't remember this show as well, but I've seen it.

I loved Jersey Boys because it really made me aware of Frankie Valli's life and obstacles. My rap-listening son downloaded at least three songs from this show on to his iPhone. This was very nice. Click on the Jersey Boys link to see my previous blog about the show.

Most recently, I saw Rain at the Fox last week. It wasn't my favorite show. I felt like I paid a lot of money to watch a video pieced together with Beatles' songs. Yes, the tribute band was very REAL... but there wasn't a plot to the show except to convince us through the video and players that they were an authentic copy of the Beatles. Having purchased multiple seats, I was hoping for a nice story line and some information about the Beatles besides how their appearances changed over the years. As my ex-husband said, "I don't want to go because I saw the real thing in Piedmont Park a few weeks ago" (about the Paul McCartney concert) I should have listened.

October 12, 2009

Photography Assignment for Week 3

Had a busy, busy weekend. This time I was looking forward to Monday to relax.

Our photography class assignment for middle schoolers is

Take a still life photograph of your favorite collectible. Take a still life shot of a stuffed animal. Take a still life shot of your choice. Bring three images to class.

For the class I created a simple one page photography critque questionairre. This may be helpful to all beginner photographers. Take a look!

October 03, 2009

Quick Click -- chirping your way!


Very cool birds out there on Etsy... But I'm sure you know you can search on anything and everything and find exactly what you want or need and need and want. So, I've collected them. Click to see them all and make a comment. Remember treasuries are only there for 2 days, so act quickly. This treasury has expired, but you can see it to the left.

October 02, 2009

People photographs Week 2

Continuing the photography class this week. We will discuss Annie Leibovitz's work. She is an amazing portrait creator. Here is a link to a recent New York Times article about her financial problems, which seem to be on-going. Regardless, her ability to capture amazing shots of people is something to study and learn from. While we discuss Annie's work and style, we will talk about capturing people on film. Most cameras these days have many settings to "get the red out" of eyes and photography programs help with that as well. Try different settings and lighting to determine what is best for your camera. BUT the most important part of capturing a person may be to turn the camera so that it is portrait. See my blog entry about portrait shots.

The assignment for next week's class is to create a portrait of a family member(s) only one person per shot please. This will require many practices to acheive a final image. Please bring multiple examples to class.


Here is a recent portrait I captured. This July, at a performance for http://www.culturedkid.com/, Michael Levine played and sang for a summer camp. Michael is an amazingly talented singer, song-writer living in the Atlanta area. He is especially gifted at playing guitar. CulturedKid is my birthday party business. I create art and science parties. Learn more at www.culturedkid.com/party.html.