comic relief

Lately I've been exploring

iPhoneography

thanks to my friends

Roxie, Sarah, and Viv

who have been tempting me

for months

with its

myriad of

creative possibilities.

So much to learn!

I have only just

scratched the surface.

Spontaneity

was not exactly at the top

of my list;

however, one day last week

as I was sitting down to

draw this little dried rose petal

- in a quiet, contemplative, Zen-like state of mind -

who should happen along

and plant herself

right in the middle

of things?

Lillian
couldn't resist
this set-up.
Immediately,

my plans were

up-ended.

Literally.

I am always fascinated

by the dexterity of her

comma-shaped paw

as she daintily
sweeps small objects

hither and yon.

And then she glanced back at me,

as if to say,

'Well, what did you expect?'

God bless

Lillian

for her

gift of

comic relief!

Good thing I had

my iPhone

handy.

***

Notes:

CAMERA

iPhone 5

APPS

ProCamera

initial capture

(rapid fire mode)

Snapseed

Details: Sharpening ~25-30%

Drama: Bright 2 - default filter strength

which nicely lightened

Lillian's 'darker side'

and oh-so-subtly

brought out just enough

detail in

the sketchbook.

Image Blender

Second layer: kk_tuesday texture

Blend Mode: Soft Light 20%

I wasn't really after any

'dramatic' texturizing,

but rather to see how

subtle texturizing could enhance

an image.

***

Linking up with

30 Day Scrap With Apps Challenge (Day 6)

Texture Tuesday

Friday Finds

unforgettable: fen meets kermit

Have you ever
been
inspired to
grab your camera
and just
'shoot from the heart'
?

I mean
what's the worst
that could happen?

The photos
might not
'turn out,'
technically-speaking

or you might
fall flat,
not capturing
that special
'something'
that made you
pick up your camera
in the first place.

You might even end up
deleting
each and every
shot
in frustration.

Or...

you just might

end up

capturing

something

truly

unforgettable.

***

I did just that

one afternoon last month

when Fen came over to

Grandma & Grandpa's house

to play.

Recently

I have been reading

The Unforgettable Photograph

by

George Lange

who says,

"Which moment will provide the unforgettable picture isn't much in your control...If you can't see the moments, you can feel their flow, like feeling the flow of music. That feeling is essential to taking good pictures; it's as important as having a good eye...I shoot using my heart more than my eyes."

I highly recommend

this book.

***

Someone's nose is out of joint

whenever

the

'noisy little bald kitten'

comes to visit.

Time

 for a nap

- safe and secure -

in Grandpa's arms

***

Notes:

CAMERA

Canon EOS 6D

Tamron SP 24-70 f/2.8 lens

Manual Mode

hand-held

ISO 3200

f/4.5-3.5 1/125 sec

LIGHTROOM

Minimal editing:

just a bit of the basics

and minor cropping.

How often does that happen?

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

unstaged

An 'unstaged' still life

for

Be Still 52

Week 12

 Not what I had

originally planned,

but

more in keeping

with the theme

I think.

So...

I came home Sunday

after an enjoyable photoshoot

at the antique mall,

where I figured

I'd find plenty of

subject matter

suitable for an

'unstaged' still life

(a term

which I thought to be

delightfully

contradictory!)

I did manage to

gather several

possibilities.

Then,

as I sat at the kitchen table

and chatted

with my daughter Erin

about this and that,

Lillian stepped in

and

changed my plans

altogether.

She patiently

obliged

as we

gleefully snapped

one photo after another

with our cellphone cameras. 

So much for my plans

to upload, choose

and edit

the antique mall shots.

***

Monday morning

I woke up

with a new

idea

and

a simple plan.

original photo SOOC

Notes:

CAMERA

A chance to play with

my new lens

and

flash,

striving for

optimum light,

fast shutter speed,

lower ISO,

without a tripod.

And 'tack sharp' detail

of course.

LIGHTROOM

lens correction

straighten and crop

basic edits:

Then I auditioned several of Kim's presets

before settling on

kk_walnut preset

+

my own split tone adjustment

PHOTOSHOP

I auditioned a few different textures

and several blend modes

before deciding on

Kim's new

kk_quiet

 ***

Linking up with

Be Still 52

Texture Tuesday

baby spoon

a simple little still life

for our

Be Still 52

assignment

for Week 10:

playing with

lighting direction...

and spoons.

***

Notes:

Quickly assembled

Friday morning

before work:

The silver spoon and dish

were my mother's

as a baby.

(I know I should get out the silver polish

but the tarnished patina is so lovely!)

+

a wonderfully old, humble washcloth

from I don't know where

+

daisies from our garden

+

a very old children's book.

I played for over an hour

with various

ISOs, shutter speeds, apertures and angles.

I tried flash, but it diminished the shadows,

so I practiced holding the camera

v e r y steady.

I repeatedly repositioned the little table

with an eye for directional shadows.

Lillian helped with the setup...

...and then she just relaxed

and let the process

evolve on its own.

Feline 'insight' maybe?

CAMERA

Canon EOS 6D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens

Manual Mode

both photos:

ISO 1600

f/5.0

1/30 sec

LIGHTROOM

I 'painted' in some basic edits

to emphasize

dramatic light/shadow play;

applied two of Kim's presets:

sharpen still life

&

kk_summersun

then I kept playing around

in the Develop module:

I de-saturized the yellows and greens

and applied a faded split tone

(blue highlights + pink shadows)

to keep things cool.

Then I synced the edits

with the second photo

and fine-tuned things there too.

PHOTOSHOP

Just two layers of

kk_pinitonly4

Soft Light ~30%

Vivid Light 15%

masking off the spoon

***

Linking up with

Be Still 52

Friday Finds

Texture Tuesday

random friday finds: hands to work part 2

See Part 1 of this post here.

My mother has been my 'stitch buddy' for most of my life...and my "best girlfriend" for all of my adult life. (She knew better than to try to be my friend while I was growing up; then she was simply Mom.) 

Here is a random sampling of Mom's quilt artistry. These few examples of her handiwork tell the story of a woman who creates with needle and thread for the pure joy of it...and for the love of her family and community.

Mom has won several ribbons

at the Boulder County Fair

over the years

including Best of Show and Viewer's Choice.

This is one of the quilts

she made for each of her seven grandchildren.

***

Mom also made a baby quilt for each grandchild.

I "documented" ours in

the girls' scrapbooks

a few years ago.

Here is Kelly's:

(quilt made in 1989)

...and Erin's

(quilt made in 1991)

Mom submitted the photo of herself with wee Erin

to Quilters Newsletter

and "got published"!

***

Many years ago

Mom helped make this quilt

with her friends on the 

Lakewood Arts Council

commemorating the city's 25th anniversary.

She was instrumental in all phases of its creation:

organization, design, and construction.

It is hand appliquéd and hand quilted.

The quilt is displayed

in the lobby of

Lakewood City Hall.

***

Mom and I have shared our love of stitchery

over the years.

We were both long time members

of the

Columbine Quilt Guild

and

Colorado Quilting Council

Here we are making baby quilts

at a

Charity Sew-In

in 2000.

***

Mom also made a quilt

for each of her four children.

This Grandmother's Fan

is mine.

Mom machine pieced it

and then had it hand quilted.

Each and every quilt

has been documented.

Lillian likes to nap here.

(she is the only one allowed

to sit on a quilt in this house)

***

Hands to work,

hearts to God.

Shaker proverb

***

Linking up with

Friday Finds

Random 5 Friday

Stay tuned: there's gonna be a Part 3 really soon...

animal lover

I'm linking up with Kat Sloma's Photo Heart Connection today, in which I choose a photo from last month that really speaks to my heart, and then tell why. While looking through my Lightroom catalogue I came across these two photos of the garden next to our front porch.

These were just quick practice shots I took the other day, picking up my 'big girl' camera for the first time in months after shoulder surgery in August. As is so often the case, a casual snapshot accidentally captures something special, and ends up worth keeping. These two photos remind me why I love my husband.

I call this my Hamster Memory Garden, the final resting place for Lulu, Buddy, Scooter, and now Henry. You can see the four stone 'markers' (one is actually a neat grouping of smaller stones). Two of these little guys - Lulu and Henry - started out as Erin's pets (Lulu was initially thought to be female, but the vet eventually informed us otherwise, but we never did change his name); the other two were mine from the start.

Bob never wanted to hold or even pet any of my hamsters (being a street cop in Toronto held too many memories of real-life encounters with large urban rats...hamsters are, after all, rodents).
UPDATE 11/8/13: After Bob read this post he clarified his position on petting the hamsters..."I just didn't want to get attached to the little critters..." He also routinely feeds the squirrels (also rodents), as well as the dogs next door.
But when Lulu, the first one, died it was Bob who talked me into going to the pet store to fill the void in my heart; I came home with Buddy. Then when Buddy died, Bob went to the pet store with me and helped me choose Scooter. Henry - the last one, and the sweetest - passed away in September.

It was Bob's idea last year to find a Saint Francis statue for this little corner of the garden, to watch over my beloved little critters. It was Bob who carefully dug each small grave, deep enough for the little kleenex-lined box to remain undisturbed. It was Bob who stood by my side - patiently, quietly, respectfully, each time as I tearfully said good-bye. Together we covered them with dirt and a simple stone marker (also his idea). And this last time just a few weeks ago, when I put a few peas and a sprinkling of broccoli slaw on each grave, he smiled as I reminded the little fellas,

"Life's short: eat your peas first."

And yes, the four tiny pumpkins were Bob's idea too.

***

***

Until one has loved an animal,

a part of one's soul remains unawakened.

Anatole France

***

Linking up with
Photo Heart Connection
Texture Tuesday

texture used (top two photos only):
kk_savor
Multiply ~50%
+Soft Light ~65% 

pre-Photoshop editing in Lightroom:
Dave Delnea's preset: C+V Washed Vintage-001

then my own RadLab 'recipe':
Edge Blur
+ Derelicte (39%)
+Meadowlark
+Homestead BW (28%)
+Boutwell Magic Glasses II

siamese love

Just had to share with you a couple recent Finds (I know...it's supposed to be Friday Finds, but by the time I pull it all together, it's days later.)

Not quite sure the cyber path I took to actually get here, but the other night I discovered Paper - a new app for my iPad mini (which I bought so that I could more easily edit my iPhone photos). The initial download is free, but for less than $10.00 I quickly upgraded to the full version. This is my first effort, a quick sketch of Lillian, lying next to me on the floor. Just done with my finger on my iPad! How cool is that?! I'm thinking about getting this stylus to improve my drawing experience.

***

And speaking of Lillian...she's been living with us for over a month now, but it wasn't until Erin and Haakon were gone this week - housesitting for my brother (make that keeping their dog Bixby company) - that we learned about the nocturnal behavior of cats. Since we've never had a cat of our own, this was something new. Well, there were a few sleep-deprived nights, spent navigating our turf and attempting to establish boundaries.

Lillian won.

She managed to keep me awake for a few hours each night, simply wanting attention. I never once considered banishing her to her lonely room, and since Bob is still sleeping downstairs on the recliner sofa (two weeks after shoulder surgery)... I was her plaything: trounced on, laid upon, licked, nudged, pawed and meowed at. She did on occasion pay Bob a brief visit, gently climbing onto his lap - mercifully without disturbing his sling.

Lillian is delightful company...the cat Erin always wanted but couldn't have because Bob is allergic to furry critters, especially rabbits and cats. So is Haakon. Apparently not all breeds though.

It is debatable just who is the luckier one in this equation: Lillian or Erin and Haakon. They got her last summer on Craig's List, from a family that just didn't really want her anymore.

Lillian is doted on, pampered, indulged, photographed and cared for lovingly by Erin and Haakon...and now us too.

Lucky cat. Lucky us.

***

Lately I've been focusing on layouts - both in Lightroom and in Photoshop - studying Kim's many tutorials. And just playing around, which is the best way to learn. I wanted to unify these disparate photos, so I followed Kim's Matte Finish tutorial for LR, where I also made the layout; in Photoshop I added the text (font: MTF Skinny Jeans) and Kim's 'zen thing' texture (Multiply blend mode 59%), which I masked off of the photos a bit.

Linking up with Friday Finds, Texture Tuesday, and Tuesday Muse.

xoxo

Cindy

4 kitties

A little pet photography assignment from our Beyond Beyond class this past week inspired this little storyboard. Fortunately I already had a collection of pix from recent photo shoots of Kelly and Aaron's four beloved kitties. (All four were 'rescued' from local shelters/situations.)

I used the CoffeeShop Five Storyboard - a free download from The CoffeeShop Blog. If you haven't been there, be sure to check it out. It is a wonderful resource for tutorials, actions, templates for Photoshop, Elements, and Lightroom...and most are free!

Since I'm anxious to get a bike ride in this morning, I did just a quick bit of editing of each photo in Lightroom, then headed over to Photoshop, where I completed the storyboard part. I wanted to keep the original colors, but looking for some continuity I applied a Rad Lab filter (Divine Light) before adding some texture layers:

1. A scratched-up looking 'glaze' from Sarah Gardner's Beyond the Lens Collection (Screen blend mode @42% opacity...I lightly brushed off the scratches on the cats' faces with a layer mask)
2. A layer of Kim's kk_way texture (Multiply blend mode @61% opacity)
3. A layer of Kim's kk_3003-2 texture (Soft Light blend mode @44% opacity)
4. A final Hue Saturation adjustment layer, clipped to the last layer, to de-saturate it a bit.

BTW...here's the layout I did for Kelly's scrapbook a few years ago (inspired by one of my all-time favorite artists, Rebecca Sower, from her wonderful book, Scrapbooking Life's Little Moments, which after nine years is still one of my go-to sources for inspiration.) Kelly provided the journaling details. 

Click on the images so you can read what Kelly wrote.

***

xoxo

Cindy