Pray Cream

Wow! Have I had some major lessons to learn this week! #1. Do NOT walk along the edge of a duck pond with your eye at the viewfinder and your attention on your subject. Invariably you WILL find the only slick muddy spot for 50 miles. #2. When you are working with God you work on His schedule, not yours. I don't like to make excuses or whine so you won't get any of the details about my week, but suffice it to say that the above photo and quote were a blessing from God after a very difficult week full of frustration. A blessing which was also bestowed upon my sister at the same time 1500 miles away over the course of today. Many of my works of art and photography are blessings. I hope as time goes by you will find that the blessings in them touch your lives as they touch mine.

A little about the photo: This was actually from the first photo shoot assignment in my class Frugal Still Life Photography with Cheryl McCain, however the assignment required that the subject be completely "in frame" so this one did not get turned in. It is my favorite shot, however!

I used Adobe Photoshop CS6 and applied a levels adjustment layer and a curves adjustment layer. I added a veil from the Botanical Collection at Love That Shot called Prairie Milkweed. It is set on "Multiply" at 100%. The font is La Danse from MyFonts.com. The quote is from one of my favorite sites, ThinkExist.com. The frame I created with the pencil tool in the same program. 

If you have no clue what I am talking about, but would like to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop please let me know via the comment section and I can get you pointed in the right direction.

That's it for today! God willing I will see you tomorrow!

Warm regards,

Sharon

Photoshop Fine Art Grunge

Empyrean

I thought I had better jump on here quickly and apologize for having been in absentia for the last couple of days. 

Saturday, while doing my first ever senior photo shoot, I slipped on a muddy spot on the bank of the duck pond and broke my foot. Between the pain and the pain meds, I have been hard pressed to think straight. I will be back tomorrow, but in the meantime wanted to share one of my pieces of artwork from the Photoshop Fine Art Grunge class that I am taking. 

This piece of art will go up for sale shortly in my online gallery and plans are to have a short balloon series done in time for Balloon Fiesta week! 

See you tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by!

Warm regards,

Sharon

Weeds or Flowers?

When I first moved into my house I had just finished laying out a small fortune to relocate for work. All my things were in storage and I wanted to make my new home cozy. Flowers aren't in abundance here in the high desert but this little purple plant seemed to be everywhere in small but bright patches which dotted the landscape including my yard. Since I had no extra money at the time to buy something as frivolous a vase I thought an old pill bottle would do the trick as these are fairly tiny flowers. It did much to brighten up my kitchen windowsill! I have since discovered that everyone here calls this a weed although it truly is a flower (whose name escapes me at the moment.)

I am forever taking photos of odd things that catch my eye. Rocks, walls, shadows on the ceiling cast by the light hanging there, funny little statues in the store. You name it, if it catches my eye I will snap a photo. I have a plethora of odd photos sitting on my hard drive. Recently I started a class Photoshop Artistry: Fine-Art Grunge Composition  Finally I can put all those odd photos to work. The photo on the right is the result of one of the challenges in the class. Tomorrow, 01/06/14, I begin a new 8 week journey in Frugal Still Life Photography with Cheryl McCain. The cost is FREE so come join me as I take this journey. I can't wait and am very excited to streeeeeeech some more!

If you are taking any challenges, be sure and leave a comment with a link to your work and tell me about the challenge you have chosen. Let me know if you have some photos you felt really had no place to be showcased but you love them anyway and, please, share what you do with them besides letting them just sit on your hard drive.

And now I will leave you with another of my favorite quotes: 

A weed is no more than a flower in disguise, 

Which is seen through at once, if love give a man eyes. 

~James Russell Lowell

Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow!

Warm regards, 

Sharon 

Strreeeeeeeetch!

I am so excited to be able to share with you that I did my very first senior photo shoot this morning! Just so you get the "picture", I have not been a portrait photographer. My photography has been for the most part, up until a month ago, purely art and personal family/friends photos. 

On Thursday I received a FB message from an ex-colleague and friend  asking if I could do a photo shoot of her son on Saturday (today) because he was only home for the holidays and would be leaving.  Of course I can! So, early this morning we met at the local university duck pond and we started shooting away. My concern was posing the young man so that I would do justice for both mom and senior. I had never posed a senior before. I had never really posed ANYONE before. My photos are usually just of spontaneous interaction with me just clicking away photo after photo. 

Well, long story short, I don't know what I was anxious about. As soon as we got to the duck pond, it seemed as though I had been posing people forever. Jonah was a joy to work with, my creative juices were flowing freely, and we had a lot of fun!

Today I actually have 2 quotes that seem appropriate for today's exciting adventure, both among my very favorites:

Faith

When you walk to the edge of all the light you have
and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown,
you must believe that one of two things will happen:

There will be something solid for you to stand upon,
or, you will be taught how to fly.
~ ©Patrick Overton

 

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
~ Lao Tzu

Needing to take that first step? What's stopping you?!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you again, tomorrow.

Warm regards,
Sharon

P.S. Yes, the tie had to stay. It is an OU tie! 

* Thanks to Angelic and Jonah for allowing me to share the senior photos with you!

Photo Challenges

Daily or Weekly?

 Are you the kind of person who needs a nudge to get out there and capture some photos? Challenges are a good way to get motivated. Sharing with others that are like-minded can be inspiring and give a new perspective, especially if the challenge is themed. There are several challenges going on all over the web. Since we are at the beginning of a new year now is a really good time to start fresh, as well. Some of the places that you will find challenges allow for printing your photos on a regular schedule. Others allow you to share them as a collage or montage at the end of the year. Whatever your preference (no fuss, little fuss, lots of  fuss) there are websites out there that can get you taken care of. I am personally working on P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday with Kent Weakley,  Project 365 and the Instagram Challenge over at Love That Shot. I have also set a personal goal to fill every single day on the calendar at shuttercal.com. So, if these few suggestions don't get you out there taking tons of pictures, I am sure you will find something that works for you if you search the web. 

Also, if you have been around the Internet and photographers much of late, you might have heard this quote: "The best camera is the one you have with you." It is so true. The photo above was snapped in a series of photos that took about 2 minutes before the opportunity passed away completely. I was on my way to a training class and passed this open field just yards from the road I would be turning down, which is at the edge of nowhere. Had I been a few seconds earlier or later I would have missed this shot altogether. All I had with me was my phone since I was "just going to class."

So, there you have it. Challenge yourself this year and always carry your camera, even if it is just your phone. 

See you tomorrow!

 

And To All a Blessed and Prosperous 2014!

Welcome, welcome to my new blog! I have really struggled with what to write for my very first entry as I am embarking on a journey to a place I have never been before. It is a journey to pursue my passions and in the process share what I learn along the way and inspire those who choose to join me on the journey. This venture has  been several years in the making but on Thanksgiving day, as I turned the final corner and took the first step to make the journey a reality, I said a prayer. I hope you don't mind if I share it with you:

Dear God,

... Thank you for the gifts and talents that You have given me.

Help me to use them to glorify You. 

Thank you for the opportunities that have

presented themselves along life's path,

each one building on the last to bring me

to the place I am right now, physically, emotionally, spiritually.

I see Your hand in every turn.

Thank you for the beauty in Your creations. 

Help me to share that beauty with others

and let them know that it is through You that

I am able to share in creating earthly ways

of enjoying your Heavenly gifts.

Your humble daughter.

Thank you for stopping by today. I hope to see you on a regular basis. I will be posting a little bit of everything here that pertains to memory keeping via photography and digital scrap booking which will include climbing the family tree. 

I would like to leave you with one of my most favorite quotes (you will see a lot of uplifting quotes here as words and quotes are some of my passions, too!):

“Immortality lies not in the things you leave behind, but in the people your life has touched.”

 ~ Author Unknown

Have a blessed day! I hope to see you tomorrow!