Be Still Week 5

After many bright sunny days spent getting my home ready for a viewing I finally got round to doing this on a cloudy cool day.  So the light I used is naturally diffused, I many try to capture specular light another day.

I had to find a different place to shoot as my conservatory where I have shot so far has light coming from many directions as you would expect.  So I moved furniture away from the window (south west late afternoon light) in my living room and used a small side table painted with an intricate but soft design by my daughter as a base and the floral wallpaper of the feature wall as a backdrop trusting it would be out of focus enough not to be a distraction.

 

1 kk texture music lovin soft light 100% rainyday soft light 100%  with texture removed from small parts of the rose and scarf in both cases.

 melancholy preset in LR and voilet texture in CC, soft light 100% and some partial removal of texture on the flowers.

And then I could not resist a bit more play.

 

 

 

Be Still 52 Week 2

Week two is about taking time to breath.  During the day to find a quiet calm space and for a minute to find a place of stillness before shooting.

The emphasis was on taking account of the negative space, space to give the subject room to breath.

A lovely excuse to buy a potted rose and a new pot.

I had fun with various perspectives.

Using chairs and ladders and my newly painted sideboard.

 

The final image is quite heavily textured, I was almost looking for the old sign printed on wood and a little faded effect.  The sad death of Maya Angelou this week pointed me to a very pertinent quote.

I am loving this, it is so very like play and there has not been enough of that in my life for a while.

I used two different textures by Kim Klassen, Paperstained, multiply blend at 49%, her Paperstained music, soft light at 100% and a gradient map and curves.  I removed most of the texture and gradient from the roses and the edges of the plant pot.  I am quite pleased with it, a little heavy maybe but lots of time to refine my style.

Before.

And after.

Be Still 52

I am taking this course as a way to maintain an eye for beauty and peace and a space in my heart for gratitude as I navigate a challenging and unexpected redirection of my life.

I am hoping that this new beginning, while not exactly welcome, will allow me to reignite my creativity and make it a regular part of my life.  And to find a visual and emotional mindfulness in the process.

I am really enjoying the course, textures are a revelation and add a painterly manipulative quality to processing that is something I love.  It is also reinforcing what I know about layers.

I like the way the course is already pushing me to set shots up and not just snap what it there.  I cannot remember what textures I used here, I might pop back in and add the details when I have caught up blogging the process.

I played around with some of the other images I had taken too.

And I am loving a legitimate reason for buying beautiful flowers, fabrics and bric a brac.