Beyond Layers II

Inspirational thoughts and projects hosted by Kim Klassen

Day 4 Week 3 - Vision and Blur

First, more on MY STORY

Flowers were my primary reason for taking up photography as a hobby many years ago. With a 35mm Pentax and attached zoom/macro lens, I was able to put myself at the very heart of a flower or catch the delicate workings of a honey bee. My horizons expanded to the landscapes around me and the people in my life, but always, there was the lure of my petaled friends in the garden. As most hobbies go, with a number of diversions over time, my interest in photography waned. I would pick up my camera periodically, but we had moved in the meantime, built a new home on 20 acres and frankly, I had more to do than time to do it.

Kim has a way of producing very dreamy images and she shared with us how she goes about achieving that effect.  Light is the key element--the right time of day if you're shooting inside when sunlight brightens a room.  You can also utilize a bright window if sunlight doesn't reach into the room itself.  The other key is a good lens.  50mm with the lowest F stop will guarantee maximum light through the lens when shooting your subject. A 50mm will also provide greater depth allowing a fine focus on your subject while blurring the rest.

I lacked the light inside my house to experiment so I found a bright spot outside where I set up a white board to keep that 'dreamy' background.  She also provided us with a texture called 'plasterboard' to use.  She asked that we think of one word to center the theme of our shot around.

                                          everlasting ~ light and focus

These everlastings are Ammobium, a recent harvest from my garden. My garden is a good friend indeed. We weather the times together. My devotion is rewarded though the bounty of fruits and vegetables during their season as well as a plethora of rich color that delights the eye. Ah, the tranquil moments we spend together. . . .everlasting.

And my second image completed for this exercise:

First, the original shot ~

After applying the texturing, playing a bit with desaturation and adding text

In addition to the white plasterboard, I used another of Kim's textures.  Then using the same subject I attempted to diffuse more of the lighting between the ceramic white and background white.  I also used an additional texture,

Little flowers fill my soul

As I move forward , I already have some great tools to utilize in composing shots.  I hope to make it back to several of these early lessons to retry my skills.  Meanwhile on to the next bits of inspiration and lesson in Days 5 and 6.