EXPRESSIONISM & FRACTIOUS

Here are two old photos that are some of my earlier efforts at making abstracts. The above, "Expressionism," is clearly heavily color manipulated.

This one below is "Fractious" and is more mildly color-tweaked --


I think of these two photos I prefer the more subtle coloring in "Fractious." I tried making the colors "softer" in "Expressionism," but the picture didn't work at all then, it just looked messy. The problem in "Expressionism" may be the crop, since those greens in the bottom half become rather "neon" bright when I get the rest of the photo at an intensity of color that I like. However, I recall this being the only crop I liked. Ah well, I just put it back in my needs editing category to try again. A further complication? A 4"X6" print I had made of it from an online company is just fine! The entire photo came out a little darker and softer colored. Sigh. And I also know it looks different on different computer system screens -- as do all my pictures. Worrying over this particular aspect of post-production color technology may be the death of the one brain cell I have left. :-D

Both of these were cropped from larger pictures I took of wide open roses looking straight down at their centers. Just about my favorite kind of shot from which to harvest intriguing shapes.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

PLAIN STITCH, SEAMSTRESS, DARK INTUITIONS, & NOT ONLY THE SEA

Finally! Got myself to take "just this one shot." Of course, as with potato chips I couldn't just have one and wound up taking 59 photos. (So maybe my "photo block" is broken. :-D) The vast majority of those 59 wound up being deleted, as is usual with any batch I take. But a few went into "needs editing" for further consideration and a few others feel about as finished as any picture (or poem) ever feels. Was it Paul Valery who said something like "poems are never finished, just abandoned"? I'd say that applies to any of my own creative efforts.

I'm sharing those from the part of the batch I took looking down on fiddle head ferns just outside our community's front gate. I was leaning on the railing of a second floor overpass between buildings. This not only provided an interesting angle with light that wasn't too bright, but perfect physical support for my arthritic knees and shoulders.

Here's "Plain Stitch" --


This next is "Seamstress" --


And this is "Dark Intuitions" --


This last one, "Not Only The Sea," is obviously color-manipulated and I'm not sure I've settled completely on the color. (It's maybe only the third picture in which I've gone monochromatic.) --


NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

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‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

SEARCHLIGHT, SPOTLIGHT, & THREE'S A CROWD

Ah, self-indulence, great on a day when nothing else seems to call and one has not a single M&M left! Here's more of those sweet and endlessly entertaining canna leaves of which I keep sharing photos. These three were taken just about two years ago. The first below is "Searchlight."


This second is "Spotlight."



And this third is "Three's A Crowd."



Now, one might think that I've color saturated these pictures. But I haven't (though I do often have great fun saturating and/or changing the colors on pictures of these leaves especially). I generally find color to be somewhat unpredictable, but with these greatly vari-colored leaves and differing weather and times of day, the colors are always a surprise to one degree or other. The only thing that is almost for sure is that the colors will not be what I actually saw when snapping the photo. Oh to be sure, those vivid colors do tend to be there as in the above, but the delightful shades of blues, pinks, purples, etc. that often show up aren't so wonderfully apparent as in many of the photos I've taken of these leaves. As I've said before here, these color surprises are the sorts of happy accidents that I truly enjoy. There may very well be adjustments I could make to my camera's settings to more accurately reflect what I see. However, I delight in the vast majority of the resultant photo "accidents," and decidely do not enjoy reading my camera manual and fussing with settings.

Of course all of the above is moot as long as I'm not taking pictures, which I haven't in a couple of months, maybe longer. I have found myself thinking to take some as I spy all the new buds and blooms appearing on our community grounds. But there always seems to be an excuse to leave the camera in my purse. However, if my experience in years past with poetry "blocks" is any indication, this "dry time" will pass.

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****

HANDLE WITH CARE

"Handle with Care" pretty much reflects my mood today, very prickly. But there's also something about this almost two year old photo that is sort of cute to me. (I keep thinking of a baby poking her fat little fingers into anything she can.)

I've slightly color-saturated this picture and increased the contrast to try to bring out the patterns and prickles, at some cost to it's clarity I'm afraid. However -- in my defense :-) -- the copy I worked with this morning is not the original (which has been lost) and was not of high quality. However, I'm posting the results anyway. I'm prickly and I like it. So there!

NOTE: In most browsers you can click on a photo to view a larger version. And here’s the link if you wish to read an Introduction, Background, & Technical Aspects post about this blog.

* * * *

‘til next take, may you enjoy life in the ever changing light,

[aka: Patricia Kelly] **** If you wish to copy or use any of my writing or photos, please email me for permission (under “View my complete profile”) ****