It’s been a long time

I can’t believe I haven’t posted in a week! For shame! 🙂

Well, we survived the 3-day art fair despite the hot & humid temps and sparse crowds. Another indication this economy is hitting artists quite hard as there were fewer vendors than ever this year. Many we spoked to confirmed sales were down for them as well. Not good. Please support your local artists!

“Tempest” (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ aka Black-eyed Susan) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/9, 1/160s, +0.3EV, ISO 320

“Lady Macbeth” (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ aka Black-eyed Susan) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/9, 1/200s, +0.3EV, ISO 320

I’ve actually been in sort of a photography lull, finding myself seriously lacking in inspiration. After a few days of feeling this way, I decided to kickstart my creative juices by shooting only in black & white. Removing color from the equation immediately forces me to look at my world a little differently and it wasn’t very long before I found a lovely subject.

Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ (aka Black-eyed Susan) is a fairly common perennial flower and so far, my small clump has managed to elude the radar of the resident bunny! As lovely as they are in color, I find their stunning form is even more evident in black & white, especially when lit so beautifully in late afternoon.

“Much Ado About Nothing” (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ aka Black-eyed Susan) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/9, 1/160s, +0.3EV, ISO 320

Not much was done in post except for some petal cleanup (who likes spots on their crisp white flowers?) and tonal changes to accentuate all the details.

“Romeo & Juliet” (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ aka Black-eyed Susan) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/9, 1/100s, ISO 320

Oh, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a big ol’ nod to my pal Shakespeare for helping me with the image names. Thanks, Bill! 🙂

Settin’ the mood

Many apologies for my lack of posting lately, but with the book keeping me busy last week and my getting ready for a 3-day art show this weekend, I’ve had very little time to shoot, let alone process and post! Plus, our temperatures have been extremely hot so any down time I get is spent by the pool. (Summer is much too short to be sitting at a computer!) 

Even when poolside, I typically have a camera with me just in case something attracts my attention (or, the hummingbird decides to make a visit!). This week I noticed the table-top zinnia’s and how I could alter the mood of the photo simply by changing my angle of view. 

In the first photo, the bright sun was shining right on the blossom with the pool behind. One of our colorful pool floats kept bobbing through the frame providing some vibrant pops of background color and creating what I think looks like a very happy, summertime photo. 

"Summer in Paradise" (White Zinnia) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/10, 1/400s, +0.3EV, ISO 640, Color Efex Pro 'Glamour Glow' Filter

Moving to the other side of the flower completely changed the mood. Now, the flower was somewhat backlit with a very muted background courtesy of the (dying) grass and foliage (did I mention it has been extremely hot?). For me this one is similar to the mood change that occurs in a restaurant when the house lights are dimmed and all the room becomes aglow. Romantic, no? 

"Jeu de Lumière" (White Zinnia) Nikon D300, 105mm, F/9, 1/640s, +0.3EV, ISO 640, Color Efex Pro 'Glamour Glow' Filter

Right now I’m preferring the second image but that is simply because it is hubby’s birthday and the mood I’m hoping to set is ‘Ooh la la, mon chéri ‘ ! 😉

Happy Birthday, babe! ♥♥♥

Published!

If you’ve all been wondering what I’ve been up to (and why I’ve been a bit behind in posting and commenting), well it’s because I’ve been feverishly working on a photobook based upon the Playground Series images!

I self-published the book today just in time to enter it into the Blurb 2010 Photography Book Now contest – so exciting! 🙂

A preview of the entire book can be found below. If the text is too small to read, even in full screen viewing mode, you can zoom your browser (for example, in Internet Explorer, the zoom control is located in the lower righthand corner). You can also add your comments on the Blurb website. Not sure if that will influence the judges or not but it can’t hurt, right? 🙂

I must say that putting together a professional-looking book is much harder than you’d expect and I now have newfound respect for editors! I cannot tell you how many times I thought the book was ‘done’ only to upload it and discover yet another typo or layout error. Here is one time where my eye for the small details came in handy!

Many thanks to those who helped to review some draft versions – your feedback was much appreciated! Quite a few things have changed since the versions you reviewed, so go ahead and give it another looksee. I’m very proud to have followed this project through and can’t wait to see it in print! 🙂

Child's Play by Tracy L. Milkay | Make Your Own Book

One for Hallmark?

Consuelo’s comment on ‘Shoobie Doobie Dew’ must be on my mind as I couldn’t help but think of greeting cards when I saw this image:  

"One of a Kind" (Eastern Cottontail Rabbit with Garden Sculptures) Nikon D300, 340mm (200-400mm w/1.7x teleconverter), F/6.7, 1/125s, -0.3EV, ISO 500, Silver Efex Pro 'Antique Plate I' Filter

Inside: In a world filled with phonies, I’m so glad you’re the real thing. 🙂