lens-artist: move

This week Anne (Slow Shutter Speed) begins the lens-artist challenge with a question, “Now what would happen if you had a fixed lens and had to walk forward, backward or sideways to get the shot?” Well … it is interesting how this simple question took me back to why I invested in telephoto lens … fixed lenses and street photography … yeah … even to image today using a fixed lens while walking down town … anxiety provoking.

Today, an autumn dove-gray sky … the gray that opens up the magnificence of reds, yellows, and oranges. A sweater-weather morning walk – forward, closer, and sideways – through the neighborhood garden.

Rather busy … should I move closer?

Ricoh GR III: f/8 1/25 s 18.3 mm 100 ISO

The painted rock in the left corner … more interesting than the blossoms?

Ricoh GR III: f/8 1/125 s 18.3 mm 100 ISO

bee happy

lens-artists: harmony

Leya invites lens-artist to share … a maximum of seven pictures illustrating harmony – the combination of separate but related parts within a work of art that uses their similarities to bring unity to a painting, drawing, or other art object.”

Visual harmony refers to the balance and cohesion of elements within an image. It involves strategically placing key components to create a sense of unity, order, and aesthetic appeal. When a photograph possesses visual harmony, it engages the viewer and guides their gaze through the frame, allowing them to appreciate the subject in a captivating manner. ~Boluwatife Ogunojuwo

lens-artists: waterscapes

Journeys with Johnbo invites lens-artists to “share up to six waterscapes—images where water shapes the scene. Choose your favorite places, your favorite photos, or a single location that inspires you. Natural or man‑made, peaceful or wild—if water helps tell the story, it’s fair game.

Horsetooth Reservior

Long before white settlers and local folklore emerged, the mountains and plains surrounding Fort Collins and Larimer County were inhabited by Indigenous peoples for up to 12,000 years.

Tribal Presence: The traditional homelands in the Cache la Poudre River and Horsetooth area were shared, hunted, and traversed by the Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Shoshone peoples.

Relocation: During the mid-to-late 19th century, increased Euro-American settlement and federal policies forced these nations off their traditional lands onto distant reservations in Wyoming, Oklahoma, and southwestern Colorado.

It is often recommended by photographers to return to the same location to help one to become aware of the changes of light and shadow and unseen details while building a unique personal history with the location that over times shares it’s history.

lens-artists: what is it?

under exposure – ?

Sofia invites lens-artist to “think of anything that looks ambiguous, difficult to understand or unusual, look for details instead of the whole thing, conceal what might give away what your subject with editing, but most of all, have fun!”

Looking back through images one finds a self on a journey of exploration. An exploration of the many ways to create images, in and out of camera: long exposure, double exposure, intentional blur, macro, points of view, long exposure combined with double exposure, selective coloring, and the list goes on.

Gallery

1.long exposure – lake, 2 macro/pov – salsifies, 3 edited blur – campus walkway

4. long exposure combined with double exposure – town square, 5. macro – jewelry, 7. dusk light – creek

lens-artists: one photo edited

Ritva invites lens-artists to explore the different methods they use to create images. To “capture the same subject through a variety of unique approaches.”

The skyscape image featured within this editing discussion was created using Fujifilm X-TR: f/8 1/5.3 s 35.8 mm 400 ISO.

I generally photograph with my camera set on RAW with White Balance on auto as RAW seems of offer a playground to explore. And as Ritva noted in her blog, this RAW image does appear somewhat flat.

It is interesting to explore the variations of the White Balance settings within editing programs. The image above reflects the use of Capture One’s “as shot” while the following image reflects the use of the eyedropper tool clicked on a white part of the image.

After the initial base adjustments within Capture One, I begin playing around with cropping which begins with a “focus” of interest (I’ve chosen the cluster of clouds in the lower right side) via the rule of thirds. Then there is a creative hopping around as I explore various presets.

And then … how about a flip?

Thank you Ritva for this week’s lens-artists challenge.

lens artists: summer daze

After we moved into town I roamed through a backyard that extended south to the Yampa River, north over the creek and up the hill behind our home, and to the eastern and western edges of town.

During that summer the only concerns she expressed were to be home before dark and to wait an hour after eating as I [joined] a group of friends on the dirt path to the Yampa river with worn, faded, and tattered bath towels draped over our shoulders. Black inner tubes of various sizes dragged behind us filling the air with the pungent scent of faded rough rubber. The sounds of splashing water and laughter would fill the air as we gathered along the river bank and swam to the sandbar. No parents…no supervision. Freedom.

My mother gifted me freedom. (cited: My Mother Came to Visit, b c kofford)

A Summer Daze

… the repeating tic-tic-tic swoosh of the water sprinkler’s voice with its tiny fingers of ice cold water drops … tickling and awakening goose bumps.

… the freedom of bare feet — bare feet freed from school shoes and rubber boots … running across fields with their dandelions, clover, and tall wild grasses; bees, butterflies, and dragonflies; as well as, unknown caves filled with magic carpets, hidden treasures of gold and diamonds, and invisible sailing ships. Coming into the house and instantly hearing my mother’s voice, “Go wash those feet! Who knows what dirt and germs you have picked up!”

(Translation: You are home … a home filled with a mother’s love and care)

… weekend trips to the library … books lined upon shelves … filled with the richness of words … brought home to bring to life stories slumbering within pages and creating imagined adventures out of treasure boxes filled with rummy-sale clothes and trinkets.

“No! You may not build a raft to float down the river, NO!”

… an aging self looking back for long ago summers … an aging self, locked into a present, fatigued by the absence of summer’s afternoon showers and drained by summer’s drying heat … missing, wishing, for those Sunday drives to Never Summer*

*Designated in 1980, the Never Summer Wilderness area is located mostly within the Arapahoe National Forest. Situated to the west of Rocky Mountain National Park, the Never Summer Wilderness area, including the Never Summer Mountain Range, provides a beautiful backdrop for the famous mountain vistas from Trail Ridge Road.



lens-artist: adventures

Leya (to see a world in a grain of sand…) has invited lens-artists to share “adventures we remember – from long ago or lately … big or small.” With this in mind, I set myself out for a small adventure … through the community gardens with a Richo set on macro. Hum…what interesting things will I see…what challenges will I encounter?

There is an awe-ness that awakens when seeing unique geometry spirals.

It was exciting to see the dapple light created by the morning light as it created patterns on the leaves. This dapple light is known in Japan as Komorebi – the mesmeric effect created when sunlight filters through the leaves of trees, casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on the ground

Smiling when the magic of a macro image opens the door to imaginative fantasy … searching for Thumbelina.

Thank you Leya for the motivation to set out on an adventure that opened up a new perspective of the world outside my window.