Challenged to look at the work of Josef Sudek’s photography and emulate it, I chose to capture Still Life images like he did on the windowsill of his Atelier, or Studio. I’d rise early to get the moody images, especially on rainy days. The windowsill in my kitchen offered indirect, filtered light in the morning with sky peeking through the leaves of the trees. I chose to use this to create a bokeh effect for the background. I converted to black and white and applied various filters and textures to simulate wet plate collodion plates and used either a sepia tone or cool tone. This was a fun project, very much influenced by what produce was available.
Studio 2 offers new challenges. The first assignment was to photograph a “grab bag” item. All the items were mundane, every day objects. We were to photograph it in a way that made the object look like art, like a featured image in a magazine. So, can you guess which object I had to photograph? And what lighting style I chose?
Sometimes, a photographer just want to see things in black and white. Texture and shapes, focal points and details, all shift when the color is removed. These are a few images from my yard and neighborhood, mostly taken by my iPhone 6s. Edited in Snapseed.
Always be ready to capture an image! This morning the bright morning sun was casting an interesting shadow on my floor. Quick, grab the iPhone 6s and capture the moment. I chose to use my favorite black and white App, LenkaCam. I like the image so much, I uploaded to Instagram, applied minimal edits, and posted it. You never know what Instagram folks will like, but this image was a winner! There are 84 Likes in 26 minutes! A new record for me. Here is the Morning Sun Shadows image:
The gate that goes nowhere – the influence of humans on nature
My city is surrounded by Forest Preserves. We have lots of nature, places for hiking, photography opportunities, and a good view of the changing seasons in the Midwest. One of the newer Forest Preserves is St. James Farm, using property that was once a horse farm and equestrian showplace. I’ve been visiting St. James since the property was purchased. I’ve enjoyed visiting for walks, 5k runs and, of course, photography. Today I saw something I don’t remember seeing before: a gate that goes nowhere.
At some point in history, this gate likely was joined to a fence and allowed entrance to some aspect of the equestrian showplace. Today, it stands alone. There is no path visible in the snow. There is no fence connected to it. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for the gate to be there today. But as you travel through natural areas, you often see remnants of human occupation. It might be a cement foundation, or the remains of a building, or even pieces of glass or paper wrappers.
We leave a trace of ourselves in all natural places. Sometimes, it takes a major restoration to return a preserve to its former “natural” state. Sometimes, the human evidence become an abandoned building, falling apart and dangerous to enter.
Here, it is just a gate. That goes nowhere. I wonder what it was used for?
Wood supplies for the creative carpenter OR the makings of new kitchen cabinet parts!
Tools of the Trade
I enjoy using my iPhone 5s as one of my photography tools. One App I enjoy using is LenkaCam, which captures black and white images with great clarity and depth. I often post some of these images to my Instagram and Twitter feeds. Two of my images have recently been selected for LenkaGRID, a collection of LenkaCam’s favorite images that have been shared on social media. In this case, both are part of a series I call Construction As Art. You’ll see more images soon, but here are the two selected by LenkaCam.
