I decided to complete my Still Life series with some daisies, mums, and fruit. I am fascinated by beautiful flowers and setting up a scene utilizing items on hand. It can be never ending, since I create my own reality. Sometimes my own reality is much more palatable then the real thing. Living in a beautiful fantasy world, where there are no wars, or outside horrors of the day, is a wonderful way to live.
I decided to do some still-lifes of beautiful mums (Chrysanthemums) along with pears, and lemons and a basket. I also did some photos using a chair as well. These are gorgeous flowers that I never knew the name of.
After losing my hair during 3.5 months of chemotherapy for breast cancer, I was pleased to finally see my hair coming back. It started on the sides and back of my head and I looked like a man with a fringe of hair around my head but it finally covered the back and top of my head. It will take a long time to grow it back to the long layered look that I had before chemo but it is on the way. At this point I will settle for a pixie look as long as the front can be combed into bangs. I know I must be patient but here are a few self portraits I took. The one with the flowers in the front with bare shoulders was taken naked with the flowers covering what I need to keep private. The black and white shots had no pink in my hair, but I added the pink in Lightroom.
I was asked to do some family portraits of my friend Joyce, her daughter Amanda, and her granddaughter Lainey. I started out with Lainey who wears glasses. She allowed me to shoot some without her glasses but we ultimately decided she would be more comfortable with her glasses on, since that is how she is used to seeing herself. Joyce was a great model and basically posed as I instructed her. I added in some flowers she picked from her yard. She loosened up a bit later on. I gave her a shawl that I had in my closet and it did the trick. Joyce also wore another fringed shawl bought in my favorite places for props, Goodwill. It was a fun day and hopefully they enjoyed themselves.
I discovered some gorgeous sunflowers at Kroger recently. I thought they’d make some beautiful photos in the studio. I staged them on a white and then black background. On the white, I added in Photoshop, a texture. On the black background – no texture. I like how they came out. I tried several textures. I even took a self-portrait smelling the sunflower.
I set out to photograph some lilies and other pink flowers with fruit. I decided to add this to its own post since I wanted to highlight the flowers. The pink flowers bloom on a bush in front of my house but I don’t know their name. They bloom every year. I added some different textures to show how the same photo can be changed with different backgrounds. I also set the lily up on the silver platter to show the reflections.
Since we are in a lockdown due to the Pandemic, I have been coming up with creative photo ideas in my studio. What do I like most?–Food and flowers! So, I set out to make some fruit plates with cheese. I put everything on this silver plate that I got from Hobby Lobby as a prop some time ago and never used. I added a lovely lily that had bloomed in a vase at home. The resulting images are just what I had envisioned.
I also took some photos of the same lily and added different textures as backgrounds. It is amazing how a background can make the same image look different.
I have an endless fascination with flowers, particularly pink ones. My friend Fran had these gorgeous pink flowers blooming right on a bush in her back yard back in late February. She gave me permission to cut a few off the bush. In the studio I placed the flower against a black reflective surface and used my strobes. The other shots were lilies in my studio in March 2019, again on a black reflective surface. The flowers in the saucer were on a white background so I added a texture to punch things up.
I found my guitar in the closet, in the back, and felt so sad that I abandoned it years ago. Life became life and I got involved with other endeavors, such as photography. But I found another use for my poor, lonely, guitar–namely putting pink lilies on the strings and, voila, it has been brought to life again. Here are my flowers and guitar photos.
Here are shots of white lilies and roses
taken in my upstairs studio. I used strobe lighting to capture these beautiful flowers. I also am including a shot of a pumpkin for the Fall season.
