Tuesday 7 May 2013

Beyond Fun!! [2B.14]




I know I have been remiss with my blog posts but
I am juggling so many balls right now that I just don't have the time!
I have managed to post all challenges on the classroom wall and on Flickr
...so far...
Running behind and just getting to last week's class!!
What a treat this class was...and the timing was just perfect because
I have a mass of sequential photos of my adorable niece
and I was not happy with a tryptic or other collage treatment.

So now I can make a million little gifs of the sweetest little one on the planet!

Here was my first attempt, made from a series of photos taken last summer.
She spent a lot of time that day putting on and taking off my sun glasses.

I am thinking I might have to figure out how to slow down the pace...



You'll have to make a trip back to see the animated story of
some of the other fun we had that day.

Or maybe I should make one of myself, juggling all those balls...
NOT!

Promise I will be back when things settle down a bit.

Janet xo

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Beyond Grateful [2B.3]

The challenge in Kim Klassen's third 2B class
is to experiment with different focal points
and to create a collage of the results . . .

I have fallen in love with become totally distracted by Lightroom!
So, in an effort to continue with the class work
while at the same time exploring,
I chose some archived experimental focal point photos . . .
and used the opportunity to practice/develop my culling & rejecting skills
as I explored Lightroom.
I also created my collage template in Lightroom a la Kim's careful instructions.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE Lightroom???

I am so grateful to Kim for suggesting it and, 
though I know it is going to take a while for me to go through all my photos, 
in the end I will be so much happier and more efficient!

:::
EMBARRASSING CONFESSION TIME
I should point out here, that the lovely young man at the "Genius Bar"
in our Apple Store was STUNNED at how many photos I had on my hard drive,
which he kindly saved for me . . .
It was the talk of the 'backroom' for several days apparently.
I love it when techies revel in sharing stories of my technovirginity.
I am so grateful to the Genius for saving my photos
:::

Even with hundreds of photos strewn about my virtual cutting room floor
I had plenty to put together for my collage.


The photos are all SOOC,
 as I am just beginning to experiment with the Lightroom controls . . .
I hope to dive into them as soon as I am caught up with my assignments! 

Kim included a little "just for added fun" exercise
which was to experiment with her "Frosted" texture . . .


All this working with photos of flowers
is making me impatient for spring!
I can't wait to get out there and get my hands in the warm dirt!!
The operative word there being WARM . . .

On to 2B.4 and then I shall be all caught up!

Love, Janet xo


Beyond Layers

Thursday 14 February 2013

Beyond Simple [2B.2]

Day 2 of Kim's Beyond Beyond Class was awesome for me!

Besides great tips and tricks on Aperture settings, Kim took us through the start to finish steps for processing a photo . . . mostly in Lightroom!

By the time I had finished watching her short video tutorials 
I HAD to have Lightroom! 
I NEEEEEEEEED Lightroom! 
I downloaded a 30 day free trial at the Adobe website, and I am thrilled so far (but have much to learn!
I am in Love! 

Challenge 1: 
Download sample photo or use your own and give the steps (from tutorial) a go or do your own thing.
I used Kim's photo, not only to got through the steps and to experiment but also to learn a bit about the Lightroom software . . .
I messed around so much that in the end I can't exactly remember what I did!!
I flipped Kim's original photo horizontally and added a warmer tone than she has in her tutorial, just to see how it was different. I used her "- 43 texture" and added a quote by Oscar Wilde.

Original photo and texture layer (-43) by Kim Klassen

Next I am going to find a photo of my own to experiment with!

Challenge 2:
Experiment with your camera. 
Set up a shot and shoot, bumping the f/stop, one stop at a time. 
Move in closer and do it again.
This exercise totally fascinated me!
Perhaps, as someone who once used a Nikon FM SLR back in the day, it shouldn't have . . .

I won't bore you with the gory details . . . 
but have chosen two shoots, SOOC, to demonstrate the difference.

f/stop 5

f/stop 32

Can you see the difference?

I love the dreamier effect one can get with the lower f/stop!
Not that garlic is particularly dreamy . . .

Not exactly the epitome of Valentine's Day wishes either . . .
But wishing you a happy Valentine's Day anyway!

Love, Janet xo



Beyond Layers

Monday 11 February 2013

Going Beyond [2B.1]

Wow . . . what a learning experience this has been already!! . . . and on so many levels.
This truly was a challenge for me right from the start . . . 

Kim said: “Set up your own scene”?
I have always been a sort of spontaneous shooter - I am rarely without a camera . . . 
I see something I like - I shoot it!! 
Yikes!! I question my ability to actually even ‘set something up’ in a way that is visually appealing . . . 
I have always been a proponent of the great photographer Diane Arbus, who said:

"I work from awkwardness.
By that I mean I don't like to arrange things. If I stand in front

of something, instead of arranging it, I arrange myself."

 . . . this was exactly what Kim was asking us to do!!  Arrange ourselves, not our subject
 . . . and that is why I am here . . . too learn, to stretch, to grow my creative talents . . . 

So I set up my scene.   Sort of . . . I added the flowers to the red vase

The Scene






































Kim said: "try taking 10 different shots"
No problemI have pretty much always used what is affectionately known as the ‘spray and pray’ approach to photography . . . 
I think I took over 100 shots . . .
  
This is likely why I have always found the next steps to be a huge challenge . . .

Kim said: "Take note of 1 or 2 of your favourites"

Did she say 1 or 2?? 

Note to Self: Learn step 3 in Kim’s ‘Photo Workflow’ - Cull/Sort

I confess. I find it so hard to delete rejects . . . 
I wince, I hesitate, I rationalize and, when I finally force my hand, I apologize profusely to the offending photo . . .

Oh yes I definitely need to be here . . . and now . . . I need this so badly!  I am far too embarrassed to admit to myself tell you how many photos I have saved . . . all over the place . . . or how much time I spend waste looking for them

So today I will turn over a new leaf . . .

I inspected, I culled, I deleted (ow, Ow, OW)
I realized that I needed to adjust my idea of ‘the scene’
I had too many components to ita bouquet, a stack of cups, a Ball canning jar. . . In my mind I thought I would use each part in the collage . . . I broke it down and decided I would make three collages! One for the bouquet, one for the cups and one for the Ball Jar . . .
Then I decided that was rationalizing and made a valiant attempt . . .

et voila



Kim asked: "Did I enjoy the challenge?"
Absolutely!!

Kim asked: "Was it difficult to find time for the exercise, did you feel rushed…"
No, not this time because I set aside the whole day (yes, I am lucky that way) to get up to speed . . . which didn’t happen but I will get there . . .
I know I can’t spend a whole day on every assignment but I am so excited to be feeling inspired again!!

Kim suggested: ". . . printing a small version of your fav and . . ."
My fav?????   Uh oh . . .
Okay. Okay.  I'm working on it . . .


Thank you Kim!!
For allowing me to join late and for igniting the creative spark and kick starting my photo mojo . . . 

Love, Janet xo

P.S. I LOVE Ommwriter!!




Beyond Layers