The Wednesday Heart - QuietDarling

I had it all planned out, the way I was going to describe this photographers wonderfully dreamy, child-like, nostalgic and slightly disturbing style, but she's gone and said it all in her profile:

"chapped lips and skinned knees
blanket forts and paper cranes
hiding behind the magnolia treedreams of whales and the milky way
memories and grandma
freckle summer and bubble tea
someone to read withold ghostssecret treasures and whispering secrets
sad ghosts
lace and grandfather elk
run-away dollies and pippi
sailing a wooden shoe and peter piper
honey cakes and pear piea garden of my own
these magical mountain forests."

That's what her photography is like. Take a look:

I love how a lot of her work is about what's not seen. And that each of her images is a one of a kind (OOAK for those in the biz) polaroid that comes to you framed and signed. Her style is so distinctive and I love the feel of her work, like the feel in the few minutes where a normal film suddenly becomes a horror film that both entrances and disquiets.

Quietdarling, I heart you!

The Wednesday Heart - Mystique Island

I love etsy, and there are so many fantastic photographers on there. I'm going to review one photographer I love per week. This week is American-based photographer Mystique Island.

One of the things I love to see most in a photographer is variety, and Mystique Island certainly has that. I've chosen three photos here, and all are, I think, really good examples of different aspects of photography. This first one is just beautiful. I love the colours especially. The burnt orange leaves with the dark stamen contrast really well against the bright yellow of the background flowers and the high green of the grass.

It's also a great example of macro photography. The detail of the foreground works really well with the blurred background. On a slightly more symbolic note, this makes me think of how we tend to remember tragedy in so much detail, whereas the bright, happy times are more of a warm, fuzzy blur in the background. Therefore, this photograph symbolises the process of living, and you can't get much bigger than that :-)

This next one is simply stunning.

The wonderfully vivid colours combine well with the framing to give the overall image an eerie sense of a life floating under the ocean in complete silence. Awesome.

And this one is in just because it is such a cute elephant picture

I heart you Mystique Island!

How to make patterns with your photos

Recently I've really enjoyed making patterns out of my photographs. I especially love how the high detail photos can turn into really awesome patterns that have a lot of texture to them.  Of course, it's really easy to do. 

First pick a photo that you find really interesting. Lots of detail and lots of colour I find tend to produce the best results.

If you're using Corel Paint Shop Pro X2 just click on "Effects" and then "Reflection Effects" and have a play around with the Kaleidoscope or Pattern functions. 

There should be a dice located on the effect screen when you've gone into one of the above and when you click that it will randomise the settings and create a new image. I always make sure my preview screen shows the whole picture because that can definitely make a

 difference.

The other thing I would recommend is playing around with your colours and so forth after you're happy with the pattern you've chosen. Especially go to "Adjust" - "Brightness and Contrast" - "Brightness/Contrast" and play around with those settings. You can give your piece a muted, ancient feel or perhaps a highly vibrant psychadelic vibe!

The one at the top of the screen is made from a picture of the water from a waterfall at the local Bontanical Gardens hitting the pool below. This one is from one of the fireworks pictures I took at Skyfire a few weekends ago:

Skyfire XXI

Skyfire is a Canberra tradition, held by the banks of Lake Burley Griffin. The local radio station, 104.7, holds this excellent fireworks display once a year. I love going, but normally the weather is drizzly and you have to sit around for hours if you want to get there early enough to get a good spot. This year the weather was perfect! I took my camera (naturally) and was very excited about the prospect of photographing fireworks. Here are the results of my attempts :-)

Creative Photography Swap

I recently joined this great site called Swap-bot. Everyone shoud be a member. Here is my creative photography swap.

 Welcome swappers!!

1) My emotions seem to echo those of the people I photograph. . "Whether it is photography, assemblage art or filmmaking, my work is to see beneath the surface. - Christophe Agou

2) Like every other means of expression, photography, if it is to be utterly honest and direct, should be related to the life of the times - the pulse of today....The photograph...to merit serious consideration, must be directly connected with the world we live in. - Berenice Abbot

3)A photograph can be as striking and as haunting as a great painting or a fine poem.  Anonymous - Handbook annual, 1988.

4)It's not the camera, but who's behind the camera. - Anonymous

5)Photography is like a meditation for me. It is such a concentrated moment. - Stephanie Torbert

Self Portraits

I've been experimenting recently with self portraits and I think they haven't worked out too bad.





The first one was the hardest because I had to keep the baby asleep, hold the camera over my head and still try and look reasonably peaceful :-)

I'm a bit nervous because I am starting a photography course at the ANU Art School on Monday, and I am very much dreading being told I am crap or wasting my time. I'll let you know how it goes.

Recent Photos

I've been really interested in portrait photography at the moment. I love the way some photographers can take a photo of a person and transform it into a work of art. I would love to take more photos of people but I feel very nervous asking people if I can take photos of them. On that note, I absolutely love this picture of Hilary Swank.



The strength and power inherent in this shot is excellent. I wish my stuff was that good. This is the closest I have got to a good portrait recently:



I was reading a book on portrait photography recently which suggested that one good tip for people wanting to take more people photos was to go up to people and tell them that you were a student in a local photography class and could you please take some photos of them for your portfolio. The same book also suggested sending people a free print of the photo you took so they get something material out of helping you.

Anyone got any other hints for how to combat portrait shyness?