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October 14, 2016October 15, 2016

Artists Inspired Blog Circle | October 2016 – Pink

Pink. What does pink mean to you? What does it mean to me??! …I’ll admit, I’m stuggling with this one.

I suppose, stereotypically speaking, I’ve always associate pink with little girls; I have boys. I’m a girly girl though; I like pretty things and bags and shooooes. And yet pink has never been my favourite colour. Growing up my life was all about yellow, the colour of sunshine and happiness; and now I prefer cooler tones; sage greens and turquoise blues. So what do I think of when I think {pink}? …Flowers. You can’t beat a pink flower.

I’ve always felt that colour is essential to botanical images; flowers ARE colour. But are they? A month of {Inspired by…} themes at Artists Inspired’s sister page By HeArt, researching different artists, all of whom worked with black and white film, got me to thinking: how much does colour really matter? What difference does it make to floral images? By studying the botanical art of Imogen Cunningham, converting images I would never have considered candidates for black and white, my mind may have been changed. I see form. I see structure. I see light and dark.

“I see more in black and white – I like the abstraction of it.” ~ Mary Ellen Mark

What do you think? Does pink add anything to these images? Is the colour distracting? I will leave it to you to form your own opinion on this one. There is no right or wrong; just preference and personal taste. But I’ll leave you with this quote:

“Colour is everything, black and white is more.” ~ Dominic Rouse

This blog is part of the Artists Inspired Blog Circle series. Click here to continue the circle and see how talented photographer, Channon Williamson, interpreted this month’s theme. Be sure to follow the links all the way round to complete the full circle.

The Artists Inspired Blog Circle is made up of an exceptionally talented group of photographers from all walks of life, from all over the world. They are wives, mothers, friends, daughters and visual storytellers who draw from their own experiences to create art that is inspiring, unique, beautiful and thought-provoking.

September 14, 2016September 14, 2016

Artists Inspired Blog Circle | September 2016 – Gold

What does {gold} mean to you? Wealth, prosperity, pretty shiny things? Gold for me, and photographers all over the globe (and a large chunk of this blog circle I expect), means golden light and the golden hour, that short window of time where the sun is low enough in the sky to bathe everything with a delicious, warm, golden glow.

Last month I took images specifically for the Artists Inspired Blog Circle; this month I want to look back at my most favourite ever golden hour images. More specifically, I want to share with you one of my passions: my creative take on golden hour at the beach.

As I approach the end of my first Project 365 (goodness, I can hardly believe it) I find myself searching for ways to stay inspired. I am constantly thinking about what I can do to step it up creatively, be it in-camera double exposures, freelensing, intentional camera movement or shooting through objects. As you’ll see from the selection below, in the past few months I have rarely taken an image at the beach that is just ‘what you see is what you get.’

A word frequently used to describe my photographic style, and a metaphor I certainly aspire to, is ‘dreamy’. I aim to create images that feel like they’re part of a dream, that are memories before they have even departed, where the sound of the waves and the colour of the sky sweep you away and you feel like you’re floating in the moment. My aim is to capture that in-camera in a single image, using layers and textures to give you the sense of how a scene looks and feels. I hope to create a visual depiction of a memory, not purely what that memory looks like, and certainly not simply what it looks like now, but how it will look and feel after the blur of time. I want these images to hold the viewers gaze, to capture their imagination, to send them on a nostalgic journey, to make them feel the moment a little longer and a little more sincerely. I hope that the images I’m sharing now do that for you.

August 15, 2016August 15, 2016

Artists Inspired Blog Circle | August 2016 — Blue

{Blue}

What does {blue} mean to you? When I first heard the theme for our first blog circle my mind was a whirl with ideas: clear blue Arizona skies; our summer in the pool; a trip to the aquarium. But my thoughts kept drifting back to my youngest son. Blue is his colour. Not just his favourite colour but the colour he has when his brother is ‘green’, the colour of his eyes, the colour of his toothbrush, his prefered bowl and spoon and favourite shoes. But more significantly and in a photographic context, when I think of Dryw I think of his emotion turning {blue} when my camera is pointed in his direction for too long.

Dryw has the most expressive, speediest flick-of-a-switch range of emotions and expressions of anyone I know, from happy to crying to laughing to sulking and back again in a matter of minutes. This epitomises his entire character. I’ve lost count of the number of images I could title {blue} because of the face that I see through my viewfinder. But rather than looking back to existing images I decided to celebrate his no-nonsense, what-you-see-is-what-I-feel approach to life. I want Dryw to know how much we love this side of his character, how much his ability to express his emotions will help him in the future, how we embrace the little things that make Dryw, Dryw. So here is our family homage to Dryw (and the moment that follows {blue}).

“no more photos mummy”

This project was so much fun and the results far exceeded my expectations. I have so many images of each of us, I’m able to show to you the range of emotions that my sweet little one can muster in just a few minutes. This sums him up. What you see is what you get:

“It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, its another thing to make a portrait of who they are.” ~ Paul Caponigro

August 2, 2016August 1, 2016

Spring Freelensed Part II | Scottsdale Photographer

Spring in Scottsdale is a wonderful time to be a photographer and a perfect time for daily photo challenge. Yesterday I published a gallery of my favourite nature images from my Spring Freelensed Project (Part I), but Spring isn’t just about nature; it’s about making the most of the great weather (and conversely, getting out the heat as the summer approaches). So today I bring you my favourite people (and dog) images from the project:

If you’d like to see more images from this project, you can see them on my facebook page…here. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below.

Thanks for stopping by,

~ Ceri ~

August 1, 2016July 31, 2016

Spring Freelensed Part I | Scottsdale Photographer

Spring in Scottsdale, AZ is a wonderful time to be a photographer. The blooms, the blossom, the outdoor lifestyle, the light. Oh, the light! The perfect time for another freelensed project! A freelensed picture every single day, from the first day of spring to the last.

“Ok but hold up, Ceri! What is freelensing?” I hear you cry. Simples. It is a technique that can be done with any camera that has interchangeable lenses. Detach the lens, hold it close to the camera body and manually focus by tilting and adjusting the position of the lens. Using this technique, you can create really interesting slices of focus, extremely shallow depth of field and amazing sun flares. It takes some practice, believe me it did not come easily to me, but with perseverance your results can be magical!

As I sit here in the sweltering heat of the summer, avoiding the outdoors at all costs, I am finally finally finding time to share a few of my favourites. First up, a blog post dedicated the best of the natural world. Enjoy!

If you’d like to see all of the images from my Spring Freelensed Project, click here. If you have any questions or you’d like to share what you like (or don’t), please feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by,

~ Ceri ~