Studio on a Shoestring» photography

Down by the Sea Shore

deborahwolfe — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:04 +0000

Or, He Says She Says She Sells Seashells Down by the Seashore

Have you ever had one of those inspired moments, where you realize you don’t want to be where you are for another second? Just such a feeling overwhelmed us last week. After days and days on end of rain and gloom, Atlanta was feeling rather oppressive. So, just like that, we decamped to our favorite spot on the Gulf of Mexico ~ Santa Rosa Island.

I cannot remember the last time I felt so peaceful and calm. The weather was perfection, the ocean breezes sublime, the light delicious and the colors mesmerizing.

We stayed in our favorite hotel with it’s glorious view of the gulf. We even attempted, in between beach walking and oyster eating, to do a bit of work. And speaking of oyster eating, I had NO idea I had such capacity for EATING OYSTERS. Oh. My. God. Oysters every day. Twice a day. Oysters Rockefeller, Cajun, Parmesan, Fried, Steamed, Baked. On a single day I consumed no less than two and a half dozen oysters. Mmmmmm. Did you know that Apalachicola Oysters are listed on the official Food of the Gods Guide to All Things Good? Mmmmmm. Pardon me while I wipe the drool off my chin.

Can I tell you how scandalously decadent it feels to have a view like this while you’re working?

I think my favorite part of the trip was how few of the other humans were there. Solitude is hard to come by sometimes. We fell asleep every night to the sound of the surf and woke at sunrise each morning. We walked on the beach every evening and watched the sunset.

I decided leave my Nikon D700 at home, and only brought instead my Canon PowerShot A590. I love that little jewel. I’ve figured out how to rock it’s wide angle lens by tilting it off axis and paying attention to the LCD.

There are beautiful places all over the world, but I find it hard to believe any could be more beautiful than America’s own land of snow white beaches on the gulf side of Florida.

I’m sitting here smiling as I remember the sound of the breeze whispering through the sea oats. It was a perfect get away, with not one single thing amiss. We returned to Atlanta feeling greatly restored in body and spirit.

I’ll conclude with my grandmother’s sharp words to all of us wild and unruly grandchildren:

“Now git out from under my feet and go outside and play. And quit slammin’ that damned screen door!”

If you’re interested in shooting with wide angle lenses, check out this post:

Wide Angle Lenses Are for Portraits Too – Tutorial

Freedom

deborahwolfe — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:50 +0000

Or, Follow the Yellow Brick Road

This is one of my favorite images from my tenure in New Mexico. When I’m feeling particularly squeezed by life’s seemingly impossible demands, I find myself seeking this image out in my archives. For me, it represents complete freedom.

Sidewalk Feast

deborahwolfe — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:02 +0000

Or, How to Eat for Free Off the Sidewalks of Midtown

First you select something from the bread group, like this crispy pretzel.

How about a tantalizing ‘sidewalk salad’ to go with that pretzel?

Of course you’ll want something to wash it all down with.

And now if you could just find some place comfortable to watch the big game with a friend or two.

Who gets the ‘good chair’?

Unexpected Gifts

deborahwolfe — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:00:12 +0000

Or, Wake Up ~ Your Life is Calling

View from ‘my’ bedroom window at my parent’s house, 6:30 am Saturday October 3, 2009. Sometimes it pays to wake up early. What a gift. What a surprise. I love this little patch of heaven on earth. You can HEAR the breeze through the trees and the tall grass murmuring. It is such a respite from the intensity of the city. I want this life. It doesn’t have to be in exactly this place, but I want this life.

Darkness on the Edge of Town

deborahwolfe — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:00:55 +0000

Or, Let the Record Reflect That Some Days the Picture is Dark

“Everybody’s got a secret Sonny ~ Something that they just can’t face ~ Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it ~ They carry it with them every step that they take ~ Till some day they just cut it loose ~ Cut it loose or let it drag ‘em down ~ Where no one asks any questions ~ Or looks too long in your face ~ In the darkness on the edge of town” Bruce Springsteen/Darkness on the Edge of Town

I’ll admit to a certain amount of brooding of late. These images are from a single and solitary walk around Midtown. The lighting cooperated with my mood.

The American West Through the Lens of a Point and Shoot

deborahwolfe — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 12:00:39 +0000

Or, How a Cheap Camera and a Thousand Dollars Worth of Software Can Work For You

My parents are retired, but not retiring. As a matter of fact, they’ve begun to range far and wide. Over this past summer, they set off on what I’ve begun to refer to as their Grand Adventure. They recently purchased a gigantic ‘Monster Bus’, a sort of land yacht RV thing, the type of thing you might see certain rock stars ensconced in. My mother had never seen the great American west or southwest and it had been decades since my father had. They set off on a 45 day ‘walk about’, following the setting sun.

My mother took a little point and shoot with her, to document their adventures. The images in this post were taken mostly by my mother, Patricia Sims. A few were taken by my father, Wayne Sims. My mother is an incredibly creative individual who has tried her hand successfully at a great many endeavors. Among other things, she has:

Built a beautiful field stone patio, single handedly
Learned to sew and applique’ beautiful garments
Taught herself to crochet and created lovely sweaters, afghans etc
Created incredibly intricate and unique art with decoupage
Created lovely art with gathered and dried lichens, bark, flowers, seed pods etc
Painted truly wonderful oil paintings of a great many subjects
Created the MOST fabulous outdoor courtyard with lush greenery and burbling fountain
Is a fabulous cook with an innate understanding of how to prepare wild game

Don’t tell anybody…..most especially her…..but I think my mother is an artist.

My mother has never taken a photography class, but has become a keen observer of what I do : ) I gotta say, she’s been a great ‘student’ and has a fantastic eye. She emailed all these images to me, just to share. They came directly out of her camera and were all rather ‘flat’. I couldn’t resist taking them into Lightroom and doing that voodoo that I do. Then I exported them to Photoshop and also ran some ‘actions’ on a few of them. Enjoy! This first one was taken through the moving RV window, hence the ‘grid’ effect.

My Daughter As Marie Antoinette

deborahwolfe — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:00:45 +0000

Or, How to Help Your Family Time Travel

My daughter just celebrated her September birthday and I wanted to give her something very special. She has a fascination with all things Marie Antoinette. I have a fascination with all things ART and thought it would be a good opportunity to continue working on my digital mastery and eventual conquest of the world. Not too mention I thought ‘J’ might enjoy BEING Marie Antoinette! How often DOES a young, modern woman get to see herself in French court attire?

The first step was research and selection of a suitable Marie Antoinette image. Fortunately, there is a wealth of visual imagery out there, produced directly from life, during Ms. Antoinette’s lifetime. After much searching and perusing, I finally settled on this one:

The next step was finding the best image of my daughter. Despite the fact I have been a professional photographer for a couple of decades AND have photographed my daughter ad nauseam, I did not have a current photograph that would work for what I had in mind. However, all was not lost. Digging though my files I came across a photo someone had taken of her with a cellphone.

Cellphone images are really low resolution, so I had to do a little rezzing up voodoo before I could isolate her face. After isolating her face, I flipped it horizontally and performed all manner of magic on it so it would match the painting when I dropped it in.

Then came the moment for the face transplant……drum roll please…..

At this point, I continued to refine the piece, using several different techniques, such as cloning, sampling colors, blending, opacity etc. I originally thought I might remove the glasses, then realized how much Marie Antoinette would have probably loved the sense of ‘decorum’ they provide.

I decided the final piece should be printed on canvas, to mimic the real deal. More decisions; should I just use the straight up image, or should I drop it onto another layer? I decided that the French court was NOT about restraint in…..anything. The more layers, ruffles, colors and lace, the better. So, I used a portion of another image I had on file, of a pink rose overlain with another color layer and some sort of interesting choice of blend modes.

That’s it for this week’s brain salad surgery.

Artist Indulgence

deborahwolfe — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:00:48 +0000

Or, A Few of My Favorite Things

Yeah, I know. EVERYBODY photographs flowers. Well, everybody also breathes, but you don’t see me insisting that fewer of you do it, now do you? I aim my camera at pretty things. Call me shallow, but not for me, all that journalistic ‘we really should do something about these terrible conditions’ kind of photography. It’s enough that it should be pretty. Make me feel good. Lift my spirits.

Like most artists and creatives, I have more work than will ever be seen. And like most artists, I WANT my work to be seen. I do it for me, but I also do it for the world. Really. These of some of my personal favorites.

Home is Where the Mom Is

deborahwolfe — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:00:10 +0000

Or, No Really – Home is Where the Mom Is

My family is going through a bit of a rough patch right now. Nothing I care to go into on the world wide web, but it is painful enough for us to have circled the wagons and drawn closer to each other. This particular passage in life has turned my thoughts to home and hearth. Odd, isn’t it, how many of us most often think of home as ‘Mom’s’ place? I mean, Daddy lives there too. Always has. But really though, truth be told, it’s Mother’s house.

When I go home to visit my parents, I’m going home to Mama. So many of my memories around home evoke savory cooking aromas and comforting things; creamy chicken and dumplings, down comforters, the drone of the television and the comings and goings of old family friends and neighbors. In looking at these images, I realize so much of my photography is about ‘feelings’. I’m always trying to show visually what I feel emotionally. All of these photographs were taken on my last visit home. Welcome to my homage to the rich environment of my mother’s world. Home.

Texture in Photography

deborahwolfe — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:00:26 +0000

Or, Bumpy is Better

All of these images were taken on a single day…nay, a single walk around my neighborhood. I’ve been living in and photographing this same roughly 7 square blocks of Midtown Atlanta for over three years and you’d think I’d run out of things to aim my camera at. But it a busy, chock full o’ stuff kind of place and there are always new things to see or new ways to see the same old things. Like texture. On this particular walk, texture was just popping out all over the place.