I always wished I had not sold my old Nikon FM 2 film camera. At the time it was considered one of the fastest SLRs. When I upgraded to digital, I decided I didn’t need it anymore. But when I started doing still life photography, I thought that my antique camera would make a good subject. But, recently a friend had some old camera equipment used by his father packed away in a closet. He was doing housecleaning and came upon a box of two cameras–a Canon and a Minolta, plus numerous lenses. He asked if I wanted it and I said yes because I simply wanted to photograph these treasures.
Yellow Sunflowers
I always loved sunflowers; all different sizes. The blooms, bright yellow, are so beautiful but the backside of the flower is exquisite. It is just as expressive and lovely as the front. I decided to concentrate on doing a close up. I had not used my macro lens lately, but I found the closer I zeroed into the lush, complex, green petals of the backside, the more excited I got. I always think an image, especially a sunflower, is so much more dramatic when moving as close as possible and photographing just a portion of the flower. I think this vivid picture was exactly what I had envisioned.
Green Grapes and Pears and Table
I decided to do a still life with the color theme green and brown. I like those earthy colors because they blend so well together. I already had a small, green ceramic vase, and rather than my usual red grapes, I felt that green grapes would be in keeping with my theme. I bought some yellow chrysanthemums to offset the green and brown tones. Once I had the specific composition mapped out, I assembled my vision on a shiny brown reflective desk. The brown pears, green grapes and all the elements came together. For a dramatic flair, I photographed the scene against a black background.
My second image is similar except it is assembled on a wooden board, taken against a white background. I then used a texture in Photoshop to add the blue background. It is similar to the first, yet different.
Orange Lilies, Ukulele, and Pears
I purchased some beautiful orange lilies. I decided to use them in some Still Life photos featuring a green hat, green vases, Bosc pears, and a ukulele my friend loaned me. I photographed these images against a black background so they would pop. I rather like them and I sure hope you do too.
Self-Portrait
This is a self-portrait that I took in April, 2022. I think it is very reflective of how I feel. It is a close-up of me taken with a macro lens and a tripod in my studio. I got the idea by looking at similar images on line. I would like to take this kind of shot of a model, and hopefully I will, but for now I am my own model. Unlike many of the photographers I see posting on Facebook, I do not have a bevy of people waiting to get their portraits done. I guess if I make a request on FB for models, I should be able to get people to pose for me. I did get a few people and I love how those images came out (Beth, Susan, and Gerry). The black and white images of Gerry are, in my opinion, some of my best work. He was a good model. It would be super if I actually got paid for things. But, for now, I am happy just getting to apply my art to anyone who will model for me. They are actually doing me a favor, and if they want pics and will pay me, all the better.
Beth
I did a photo shoot of Beth on a stormy Sunday afternoon in January 2022 upstairs in my little studio. She came prepared with several different outfits and I researched several poses for her. The result was a number of lovely photos of her ranging from demure to sexy.
Sunflowers by Window
I was up visiting my family in New Jersey in November. My son had bought some beautiful sunflowers for the kitchen table to brighten up the room. I often photograph flowers in the studio setting using strobe lights. But on this day the light coming in through the window was so inviting that I decided to place the vase on the garbage can, right next to the window. These are the best of the shots that I took that day using natural window light–no flash.
Self Portraits Feb 2021
I decided to do some self portraits in February 2021. These were taken in my little studio upstairs. Hopefully I will be taking some portraits of other people. I’m a very cooperative subject. The first one is very reflective of what I was going through at the time.
Self-Portraits Dec 2020
I decided to get some full body self-portraits of me sitting on a seat in my studio. I put the light source to the side and added a grid to achieve the low key effect. It took a while but I finally got the angles I wanted. Some are the same image, but one is in color, and one is black and white. Can’t decided which I like better. I lean toward the color. It took a long time to pose myself but I did it. I also added an old self-portrait of me with a painted face. That was not taken on the same day.
I was pleased with the results and people on Facebook seemed to like it too.
Sunflowers
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.
