Wisteria Before Work

Since I decided to start photography seriously, about two years ago, I have had one camera. In that time, as you can imagine, I have grown very comfortable and somewhat attached. As of several days ago I have officially stepped into the semi professional camera world and it feels great as well as intimidating. My new camera in both size and weight has probably doubled...in fact so has the amount of memory, focal length and battery capacity. 

Yesterday I had a break in my crazy work schedule, so I decided to take out my camera for a spin. I happen to be very lucky in that my work is nicely situated in both a beautiful location as well as having beautifully kept "grounds". For the last several weeks, we have had the most beautiful wisteria blooming, as well as roses, california poppies and columbine. 

I can't believe how many years I have seen this beautiful vine growing and how long I have waited to photograph it. Now I just have to find different variations!

When I tried for my first shot I had a hard time getting my camera to focus automatically. Therefor I tried manually focusing to find that I didn't know where the ring was...heh heh. So about fifteen shots later I finally figured it out. (I should probably read the owners manual first) In the mean time I kept getting a lot of blurry shots, which I ended up liking, mostly because they reminded me of an impressionistic painting. 

When I photograph I tend to shoot more on the macro side then anything else. Unfortunately my lens is more on the telephoto side, which is great for some things, but when it comes to flowers it can be terribly frustrating. Maybe my tendencies for macro photography are due to my photography professor always saying to get up close and personal with your subject...or maybe I like the idea of photographing things that are not normally or easily noticed. Either way, getting use to a new vantage point resulted in some different and interesting photos. 

Stepping back from my subject also allowed me to focus more on composition, shape and contrast, rather then solely on small details. Which is always a good thing. 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my blog! Stay tuned for my photos soon!

 

Tulip Heaven

Let's just say that for a photographer, events such as festivals are a dream come true. When it comes to me, put any sort of flower in front of the word festival and I will even get butterflies of happiness. Because of this un contained excitement out in the field I have lots of photographs to share with you.

This was my first time going to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and it exceeded my expectations. To get there we decided to take the Port Townsend Ferry up to Whidbey Island and take the bridge over deception pass. For those of you who have not had the privilege to visit this area, the view is breathtaking...literally.

In order to take this picture I had to walk to the center of the bridge, that not only has some great height to it, but also had cars whizzing past your body by only a foot (I am probably exaggerating, but that is what it felt like!). I think my palms might be sweating even as I write about it...did I mention that I am not particularly afraid of heights either? Anyways, my point being, if you get the chance to drive through Whidbey Island, take it! It is beautiful! But be warned.

Once we passed through all the wonderful little towns headed towards Mount Vernon, we began to spot glimpses of fields displaying wonderfully bright patches of color. With Mount Baker behind us as a background, I began to have fun, relax and take lots of pictures of one of my favorite subjects, flowers, thousands and thousands of flowers!

This is the first field that we stopped at. The time of day was perfect for lighting and two bike riders just happened to pass by giving me a nice photo opportunity.  

Purple and green make a beautiful contrast. For some reason the phrase from the Beatles song, "strawberry fields forever" kept popping up in my head throughout the day. Maybe because the fields went on forever?

Sunshine, flowers, mountains and beautiful blue sky! What more could I ask for?

Although the focus of the day was tulips, I couldn't help but to step off the path when I noticed these beautiful yellow flowers and the wire fence. 

As the day went on, the sun became more intense making it harder to photograph without losing detail in the photographs, or having them become washed out. 

This is an example of a photo that is just about to be blown out. Yet, it still works and became stronger even, because of the harsh light that illuminated the flowers giving it depth and texture against the shadows. 

These are my last two photographs of the Tulip Festival. I am fortunate that I live in an area where natural, and even un natural landscapes create beautiful photo opportunities constantly. All I have to do is take a walk outside and I would find thousands of things to catch my eye. Enjoy!

A Walk on a Spring day....

The change from winter to spring is one of my favorite times of year. The sun starts to come out more and small groups of flowers start emerging from the dreary brown. As a pacific north westerner, it can mean even more rain but mixed with glimpses of that bright yellow light we like to call sun! In the mood to take my camera out, I decided to go on a walk and take pictures of whatever caught my fancy.

For me photography is either planned or unplanned. That seems simple enough, but none the less, they are very different. When photographing people, events or even the 52 week photo challenge it takes a lot of planning and preparation on my part because when you step out into the field you have a set objective you wish to achieve. As you can imagine, sometimes this can take the fun out of photography, which is why I like to step back and go out into the field without a plan, which is exactly what I did today.

Prepared with my plastic bag and rain jacket I set out for the south end of the island and was pleasantly surprised to find the rain had let up. As soon as I parked my car and walked across the street I was greeted by a little song bird, who amazingly, sat long enough for me to take a photo.

I am always amazed at how much there is to take photos of in such a small area (especially when you have a small obsession with flowers). Walking along the beach, there were plenty of flowers for me to oooo and awe over. 

Now thoroughly chilled I decided to go get a cup of coffee to satisfy my coffee addiction (I blame it on living in Seattle)...but not before I found a few more flowers just waiting to be photographed just outside the cafe. 

So Inspired...

"So inspired" was the theme for week eight of the 52 week photo challenge from M4H photography. (My Four Hens Photography) Being inspired to me means being moved by something to the point of taking action or making a life change. As a photographer I can be inspired by the way the light shines through the trees or the way a person naturally and comfortably poses, to name a few. If you look hard enough you can find inspiration in just about anything and that is what makes the world so interesting.

One of the last times that I was inspired to the point of being in awe, was when I was in Sevilla, Spain. It was there that I was able to watch a traditional Flamenco show. I was caught up in the movement, the music and most of all the passion and energy that went into every step and every sound. It was an image and energy that I have yet to forget and also the inspiration for this photo shoot.

I decided to venture off the Island and head out to the Hood Canal. It was there that I found a small park just outside of Gig Harbor. Although today was a very gray day, I was still able to enjoy myself and I hope you enjoy the result!

Looking onto the Hood Canal Bridge.

A great blue heron decided to pose for me as he was looking for fish!

Although a very gray and winter like day, I was still surprised and pleased at the amount of color that the landscape provided.

Here is my photo for the theme. I took the idea of movement and energy that starts from the feet like I saw in the flamenco dancers. I then added my own twist by adding words. Ideas start with what you see, but for me writing is where I take the ideas and use them to complete thoughts and create something. 

White

Week Seven of the 52 week photo challenge brings me to the subject, White. You can join the 52 week photo challenge by going to, M4H Photography! Hmmm, back to, white? White as a color was not the most inspiring thing I had heard lately, but sure enough, I found myself getting excited with lots of ideas. When brainstorming, my brain tends to get stuck on and jump first to, flowers! This is probably due to the fact that flowers are one of my favorite things in the world...so what did I do? I went out and found some white flowers to add to my photograph!

For the rest of my photo shoot I picked one of the most beautiful spots on the Island, Pritchard Park. It is always quite and you can sit and watch as the ferry goes over to Seattle. :)

Composed

Week six of the 52 week photo challenge from M4H Photography has already come and passed! This weeks theme was; Composed. When I think of composer I think of control and a sense of calmness. For photography it is a similar thing. Composing is a part of the process when you are creating a photograph and an important one at that. When you are composing a photograph you are mentally deciding what elements are important and how you are going to frame your subject. It does not matter if you happen upon a subject quickly that you wish to photograph or whether your subject was pre-meditated, you are always going to make a choice about how you wish that photograph to be captured.

Having said that, some photographs are more composed then others. So, for this week, I decided to photograph in a way that is not normally my style, and completely create my subject. For this particular shoot I went to a shore access at the mouth of Eagle Harbor, where if you show up early enough in the morning (around 6 am) you can watch the rowing team practice!

So, here is an example of a photograph that was composed quickly and by using what was around me. This is generally the type of photograph that I like to do, just snapping whatever catches my eye!

Here is another example of a photograph, this time becoming more composed, by taking a chosen subject and putting them in what is around them. 

This is my final photo for composed. I took a subject and created it in a controlled background and then further edited to make a final image that I wanted. 

My Favorite Color

It is week five of the 52 week photo challenge from M4H photography! If you wish to follow along with the photo challenge here is the link:

My Four Hens Photography

The theme for week five was, my favorite color. As a beginning photographer you begin learning in black and white. You focus on your subject, line and composition of the photo and you edit for shades of gray. Color can be distracting and take away from the importance of your subject, but if done right and in the right context, it can also help to enhance your photograph and add interest. As a Fine Art photographer I tend to lean towards photos that are black and white.

Since the theme of the week was color, and my favorite color, I decided to (mostly) leave out the black and white. I don't know if it is because I live in one of the grayest places in the country and I can't remember the last time I saw blue sky or because I actually enjoy the color blue, but that was the color that I chose to take as my focus. Bainbridge Island and the Seattle area in general is an area where people are surrounded by nature and it is important to our culture. This is why I tend to prefer to photograph outside as much as I can rather then in a studio. Enjoy!

Lytle Beach!

My favorite color!