Marilyn Botta Photography

Ruth’s Vase and Green Apples

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I went to visit my friend at Brandon Wilde a few weeks ago. I had admired a vase she had on her desk and thought nothing of it. But the next time I went, she insisted she wanted me to have it. I thought it only fitting that I use this beauty in a picture. I had some beautiful lavender lilies so I added them to this porcelain vase with a southwestern motif. I felt that the green in the Granny Smith apples would offset the vase’s design. I photographed this scene against a black background for dramatic effect. I felt the red candle holder and flame would enhance the composition. It was a labor of love for my wonderful friend.

Boots, Lilies, and Skull

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I had these old brown boots in my closet that I had not worn in a while. I wanted to use them in a photo, but decided to add a few items. Why not use the boots as vases? I absolutely love lilies, especially the gorgeous pink and purple ones, so I placed them into the boots. I felt the green stems and pink blooms would offset the brown in these boots. I decided to use a red candle holder and a skull. One would think that the elements I chose for this image would not work if taken by themselves. But together, the contrasting colors, shapes, and subjects form a pleasing, distinctive, yet unusual composition that somehow pleases me. For dramatic effect, I chose to photograph this creation in my studio against a black background.

 

 

Orange Lilies, Pumpkins, and Candle

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I love everything about the Fall–from the beginnings of cool crisp days, to even the end of daylight savings time. I love the colorful Autumn leaves. I decided to incorporate all the elements of this season into these images. Pumpkins are a big part of the season. I incorporated some lovely orange lilies to match the pumpkins. I added some green grapes to a green ceramic vase, as well as an upside down goblet with a white candle and flame. You can see more of my work on: marilyn-botta.pixels.com.

White Daisies, Orange Lilies, and Ukulele

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These lovely creations are my latest features in my Still Life repertoire. These are three very different Still Lifes using white daisies, orange lilies, limes, oranges and a ukulele. I found all of these vases in my favorite place, Goodwill. Each image uses a different vase. The orange lilies really spoke to me and I felt they would look beautiful against a black background with a green vase. The green ceramic vase spoke to me because it comes from Costa Rica and shows turtles as a design. White daisies added to the green vase really looked exquisite. For the last image I  decided to add a ukulele to the picture with white flowers and green ceramic vase. Again, a black backdrop filled the bill. I love the varied colors and how I incorporated the contrasting  colors to realize my vision.

Food and Flowers in Studio

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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.