Beauty

I've just found heaven: a website for women who love photography called The Shutter Sisters. Written by smart, thoughtful women, this website if full of invaluable inspiration and lots of very useful tips and information. I've joined their Flickr pool "The Shutter Sisters One Word Project" just in time to squeeze this photo in for the word for March: Beauty.

This is dear Frank again. The bud from my last post has fully bloomed and he is still enamoured. And it smells lovely. Right, Frank? .....He's busy.

Frank Loves Bud

Have you ever tried to photograph a still life with an evil kitty around? It's pretty hard to do! Especially when the kitty has a thing for flowers, like Frank.

I met Frank one day while I was visiting my mom-in-law's shop. It's on a very busy street and we have an art studio in the barn behind it. I was loading things into my car from the studio when this beautiful (huge) white cat came up to me, looked me in the eye and basically said "Help Me!" with those crazy eyes of his. He was very dirty. He had paint on his back and his tail had a huge gash in it that looked like it had been there a while (ouch!).

We already had three cats at the time and a three year old, but I couldn't ignore this beautiful, frantic kitty's cry for help. So we took him to the vet and my son named him Frank, right then. He's been a part of our family for over three years, now. He's crazy and clumsy and loves flowers and waffles. And he's safe.

Sometimes Blurry is Good

As of late, I've been scrolling past shots I come home with that are in focus and am drawn to the of focus shots. Or I've been distracted by the bokeh behind the subject I went out to shoot! I'm liking this blurry thing going on.

When I finished processing the first photo, Elysium, I couldn't help but think of Odilon Redon, the French painter and graphic artist. I looked at some of his work quite closely while taking a watercolor class one semester at school. So I tried to keep in that mode while processing the other two, Ephemeral and Efflorescent.

These are available in my Etsy shop.

Beautiful Wedding Invitation

Spending an afternoon taking pictures with my son yielded this beautiful REAL TtV photo of a chapel on a hill. After I got home that night I couldn't resist adding the layer of heart bokeh. Wouldn't this make a cute wedding invitation or congratulations card? Or even a "save the date" announcement? I don't know. That sweet little chapel brought out the romantic in me! And that cute little vintage car!

This image is available as a print and a card in my Etsy shop.

Vintage Muscle Car Tshirts for Spring!

Here they are! We finally were able to shoot our new Muscle Car tshirts today. I love these! They're soft and lightweight so they'll be a staple for me all summer (it gets HOT here in Texas). These are all available at http://www.tightropetees.etsy.com/. We are also taking wholesale orders from some boutiques around town (woo hoo!).

More Spring Fun Through the Viewfinder

I've been eyeing these sweet little flowers for a couple days now and finally took the time to shoot them through the viewfinder of my little Argus. Spring passes so quickly here in Texas and delicate petals like these won't last through April. One thing this addiction to photography has given me is a sense of the passage of time through the plants and animals around here. These are available as prints in my Etsy shop.

Through the Viewfinder - for REAL

This past weekend, I FINALLY had the opportunity to shoot some REAL TtV's!

But before I took the plunge and bought an Argus Argoflex 75 off of Ebay, I did a lot of research and found the BEST instruction on how to do this. Aside from being a wonderful photographer, Andrea (of hulaseventy.blogspot.com) is a genius explainer and I just love her sense of humor.

HERE are her instructions on how to shoot through the viewfinder of a twin lens reflex camera. In her blog post on this subject, she lists some great references - even a place to find a template for the cardboard contraption that goes between your digital camera and the twin lens camera viewfinder (to block out the light). I started making the contraption then realized it was for a different type of camera. So I ended up just cutting up a cereal box, wrapping it around the camera to fit snugly, and taping the crap out of it with black electrical tape. It ain't pretty, but it works just fine.

Shooting this way is a bit awkward at first. You are basically shooting (on the macro setting) the viewfinder of the twin lens camera through the cardboard tube and you can't really see what you're getting until you get home and upload your images. This is what most of my images looked like before processing.

But when you get home, WOW is it ever fun to see how they all came out! These are some of the images I ended up with.

So, needless to say, I'm bringing my little Argus contraption with me everywhere I take my digital camera. I love the way the world looks through the viewfinder of an old camera. This little Argus happened to arrive with lots of dust particles around the viewfinder, even a little bit of crud and I really like all the imperfections. To view more REAL TtV images, visit the Flickr pool HERE. To read TONS more information on this process, visit the Through the Viewfinder blog HERE.

And have fun!

Anna

My Favorite Things

Since I'm pretty much stuck at home because of the flu, and my satellite isn't working because of the roof that's being put up this week, I puttered around the house to find something to do. Well, I have bowls and boxes full of little things I pick up that I love. Bugs, seed pods, rocks, shells, pieces of glass, leaves, feathers.... There are things I pick up at garage sales and estates sales just because I love what they look like. Half of my worktable is covered with this stuff. So that's where I began today. I've only begun to make a dent.

Oooo Baby Baby

You're looking at the first of the photos I've taken with my new Lensbaby. We've all been sick with the flu around here, so learning how to use this doohicky properly will have to wait. It looks like I'm in for some FUN though!

Be well.