Corvallis

January 18, 2013 by Kat

Blurring the Lines

So, how is it going with capturing Artistic Blur in-camera this week? It’s been a fun exploration for me! I’ve spent a couple of mornings this week working with blur. As I mentioned in the original Exploring with a Camera post… lots and lots of throwaway shots for the one or two good ones. I did get frustrated a couple of times but then I remembered what I told you all, and had to tell myself too!

Ghost Tree

I spent most of my time playing around with the Slow Shutter Cam app, because I was must successful with getting blur that way. I spend a lot of time playing with getting blur around a mostly recognizable image. To do this, I set my shutter speed to 2 or 4 seconds, held the camera (mostly) still for at least half of the time, and then started moving.

The kind of movement changes the effect. Above, I had a swoosh to one side and must have sat in a new place to get the “ghost tree” effect. Below, I bounced around a bit instead of having a single direction of movement.

The image above wasn’t the final image though. I wanted to show you the in-camera blur (above) but this image was calling for more. So even though we’re focusing on in-camera blur, I want to show you the finished piece with a texture and a frame added. They also add to the soft feel of the image. More on post-processing next month though!

And… drumroll please… I did manage to get out-of-focus blur with the iPhone. Once. It was completely by accident and I can’t do it again! Argh! So I’m still working on that skill. Here it is, straight out of the camera:

How is your exploration of Artistic Blur going? Share with us!

January 10, 2013 by Kat

And then the rain came…

Ah, yes. Rain. I live in Oregon, and yet I forget about the rain sometimes. We’ve had a good run of not-so-rainy weather and you know how I know? I had forgotten about puddle paintings! Until yesterday, when I was walking into work and the reflection of trees in puddles on the parking lot surface caught my eye. Really, it’s not like it’s been that long since it was rainy. I think I just have a short attention span!

Last night when I looked at the photos I was inspired to create this piece:

And then the rain came…

I’ll show you how it came together for this week’s Paint Party Friday post.

It starts with the captured image of a tree reflection in a parking lot puddle. I now use ProCamera for capturing most of my iPhone images. I like that I can switch between 1:1 and other aspect ratios in app and can easily separate the focus and exposure when needed. The “Anti-Shake” shutter is also really nice for avoiding blurry pics when the light is low… like if we have an overcast day or I’m in a shady forest or something. (Um, yeah, that’s pretty much all the time for me anymore.)

Then I pulled the photo into Snapseed to rotate and add some color and texture. I felt a bit blue yesterday.

From there, it was into texturing apps to play with textures and see what happened. I liked this one, from Distressed FX. Hey, my blue turned to green! But I really liked the effect.

I could have stopped there, but it was not quite as abstract and painterly as I wanted. So into the painting apps… Glaze, the Autopainter apps (HD, 2 and 3) to see what I could do with it. It’s interesting how some painting apps really work well for one type of image, and then don’t work at all for another. That’s the part about this whole digital painting thing that is full of play and experimentation. There is no precise process in this medium… it just doesn’t work that way.

Out of all of that play, I started with the output from Glaze as the base in Image Blender. I like to start with Glaze output as the base when I can, because the base sets the resolution for the final image. Since I save out of Glaze at the highest resolution (4096×4096), my final blended image is saved at the same resolution, which is larger than the native resolution of the iPhone 5 camera. This means I can print the final image as large as I might want.

From there, it was just blending of the different images I had created while playing in the different apps. I really can’t remember what I was blending with what, or the blending modes I was using. That’s all play too! But I’ll show you the intermediate blends so you can see how it progressed to the final piece.

Blend 1:

Blend 2:

Blend 3:

Final Image:

And then the rain came…

I love the abstraction of the final painting, the watery feel and the depth of color. Even though I started out in a blue mood, the green in this makes my heart sing.

I definitely don’t mind rainy days this winter. People have been wishing for spring, but I’m not asking for it to come yet. I am inspired by the reflections found in puddles, and the blank canvas provided by a grey sky. I’m getting out to hike regardless of the weather, or maybe because of the weather, as the rain and mist provides such atmosphere to the forest. I am grateful, every day, for this wonderful art form that inspires me so much.

Here’s a happy song that resonates with me right now. Enjoy!

January 7, 2013 by Kat

Creating with Ease

I’m rolling into the new week after a wonderful weekend. I didn’t have any big plans. I didn’t rush around on errands.

I did simple things, like go on a hike with my son. Enjoy a bagel and chai at the local coffee shop. Read a book or two. Print some images. Create some new ones, like this one I call “Twizzly Trees.”

Everything is flowing right now. I’m creating with ease. There is no pushing through, no trying to pull something out that doesn’t want to come.

It’s been like this for the last few weeks. When I sit down to write, the words just come. When I want to work on images, things come together nicely. And if they don’t, I just stop. There will be another moment, tomorrow or the day after, that I can come back to it if I need to.

Part of me holds back, nervous for this ease. Looking to the future, thinking, When is it going to end? But there is a part of me that knows. It doesn’t have to end. This is what happens when you align with your heart. When you stop worrying about rules or external expectations, and follow your joy.

How about you? Are you creating with ease?

Today is the last day to link in to the Photo-Heart Connection for this month! I am so amazed by this month’s connections. It seems this practice is really deepening for many of you, as it is for me. I’ll draw for the winner of the “Windblown” print tomorrow morning from all of you who participated this month. I printed it yesterday and it came out awesome. I’m so excited to send it out into the world to one of you!

January 2, 2013 by Kat

Ready for Launch

Three… Two… One… Blast off. Time to launch back into real life. After a glorious eleven days off of my regular schedule, today I go back to normalcy. What a wonderful break! No schedule to follow, no real deadlines to worry about. I went on several hikes, read a bunch of books, hung out with my family and worked on photography projects. I spent a lot of time in my pajamas, I will happily admit. Heaven!

As much as I loved the time off, it’s always good to get back into a routine. I do best with a regular schedule. I’m feeling a bit rusty and creaky in the routine this morning though, even with my blogging, so I’ll be short and sweet.

If you are launching back into reality today too, I hope your reentry goes well. It’s my time to launch… I’ll see you here tomorrow.

December 22, 2012 by Kat

When Good Holiday Lights Go Bad

I’ve been wanting to get this shot for months. Since the days began getting shorter, and I began noticing the lights on my drive home from work. I love that “Books” sign with all of those books in the window! Usually there are cars parked on the street in front and three lanes of traffic passing by, so I knew I was going to have to make a special trip to capture it. I was going to have to be out some time when people were home in bed. When the streets were quiet.

4am on a Saturday should have done the trick. It was perfect… the streets were slightly damp, reflecting the red glow. The bicycle that’s usually there was still parked on the bike rack – score! There were no cars, except mine parked across the street. Just me and the shot I had been wanting.

Tripod, ISO100, 82mm, f/18, 25s

I set up, framed, captured… and then noticed the reflected Christmas lights. Argh! This store is across from our county courthouse, which was all done up in its holiday light finery. The lights were reflecting in the window, ruining my otherwise perfect shot. Just a reminder that you can’t get everything you want, especially when you are working with the Lights of Night.

Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to go out again, once the holiday lights come down. I hope the bicycle will be there next time! Has this ever happened to you?

December 21, 2012 by Kat

Color or Not?

Today we are continuing our study of the Lights of Night, this time with a tripod shot from my weekend excursion. One of the things that captivated my attention were the tree shadows. Probably no surprise, since I’ve been obsessed by trees lately! The question at the end of the day becomes… How to process them?

Do I leave them in color, with the interesting color from the streetlights…

Tripod, ISO200, 82mm, f/18, 30s

…or do I convert to black and white and eliminate the color?

I tried both, and prefer the color. It doesn’t have the same feel of night in the black and white, and I like that warm glow from the lights of night. What do you think?

While you are thinking about it, you can visit the other participants of Exploring with a Camera! And have you gotten out at night yet? Brave the weather and give it a try! Dress warmly, bring an umbrella if you need to, ask someone along as a “spotter” and get out into the night. The holiday lights won’t last too much longer! Visit the Lights of Night post for lots of links to night photography resources. See you back here!

« Previous Page