what you don't see

I have to tell you how amazingly freeing it is to show you the photo above.  When I started writing this post and looking for photos that show the, “what you don’t see”, I started finding and laughing at all sorts of discarded photos in my computer files.  What you could perceive from the first fireplace photo is that my house is perfect enough to get this shot or as one comment I received on the fireplace photo, “It’s like you live in a magazine”. ..ha, not with four kids and a dog! That is just photography magic (and clever cropping) my dear friends. I’m pretty sure a magazine wouldn’t have an unfinished fireplace, dusty wood floors, a discarded newspaper and wires poking out where once there was a flat screen. There is so much we don’t see in photography.

 I took the “pretty” fireplace photo before we were finished because I needed inspiration.  Priming and painting an entire two story, floor to ceiling fireplace is not an easy task and taking this photo kept me focused. It reminded me that soon, hopefully soon, I would have a wonderful showpiece in the house in which to hang our family’s stockings and decorate with each new season.

Photos speak volumes in both what it shows and doesn’t show the viewer. Often times what you don’t see, the real shot,  is the most beautiful part.  I have a photo of one of our newly arrived chicks sitting on a window sill looking out.  In hindsight what I wish I had done was take a step back or two.  What you would have seen then was my sweet husbands’ hands cupped underneath the window sill, steadying himself there just in case miss chick decided to jump, simply because I had asked.  To me, that memory means so much more than the professional looking chick photo. It reminds me how real and wonderful life is outside the perfect point of focus.  How although a pretty picture has its place to keep us inspired, the not so perfect shots (or uncropped versions) shouldn’t be so easily discarded, because they too have a story to tell. The newspaper on the ottoman in the right side of the fireplace photo…my kids sharing a chair, laughing and reading the Sunday comics in pj’s.

A dear friend of mine posted this photo on flickr a few years ago. Out of  the hundreds of beautiful and perfect shots she has taken through the years, this one stands out most in mind.  Why?  Because it is so real.  It is her and I adore her.  It is her life on her farm summed up in a single photo and I find it so achingly beautiful. Today, show us the real, the perfectionist, the messy, the inspirational, the uncropped and the gorgeously, beautiful parts of YOU.

Images and words courtesy of the lovely Andie edwards.

the lighter side of vignetting

Vignetting can be one of the most effective post processing tools there is. It can also be taken too far or used too much. At least that's what I've heard some people say. Like with most things, I chalk it up to a matter of the photographers perspective and prerogative.

I feel that a subtle vignette often enhances my imagery and so in post-processing I'll often try one on for size just to see whether it will be beneficial for the final image. And sometimes I slide it all the way to the opposite side of the spectrum to see what the lighter side of vignetting will offer.

Every once in a while it's exactly what I think the shot needs. In the photograph featured above, the darker vignette revealed the true setting of the shot which was in the pumpkin patch (especially when it was left in color). Once I dialed out the color and added the lighter vignette, the entire image was transformed and the setting felt much more mysterious to me. The white glow that surrounds my subject now could even be construed as a snowy field. That for me is magic as we don't get snow where I live! A few clicks of my mouse and my entire image was transformed. The story changed, mysteries deepened and I have an image I love more than the original SOOC.

Have you ever gone to the lighter side of vignetting. It's not nearly as common or popular as the darker side but if you don't try it, you'll never know if it fits your shot!

Today share your favorite vignette, be it dark or light. We'd love to see (and hear) your take on the art of the vignette.

communing with nature

 "...deepening our emotional ties to nature is as vital to our well-being as the close personal bonds we pursue with family and friends." - Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance

Today, let's deepen our emotional ties to nature.  Share with us a captured landscape, a scenic view or even a tiny vignette graciously and lovingly provided by Mother Nature. 

the softness of morning

Many of us wake each day to the immediacy of morning. Alarm clocks. Children up earlier than should be legal. Burnt toast on the way out the door to work or school. It's all part of the "norm" and yet morning can be such a soft and quiet time of day when we have the luxury to listen, watch. wait; for the sun to rise, for birds to begin their songs, for the smell of a hot cup of coffee. To enjoy the calm and quiet of a world that is stirring before it begins.

And for as much commotion and dare I say chaos can come from traveling (packing, planning, trapsing, lugging) so too can come the kind of peace and serenity we only dream about. Waking with the sun when on vacation can be as delicious as sleeping in. When you wake to the softness of morning, the day is bound to follow suit.

How do you keep your mornings soft? Is there a vision of calm you can conjure up; colors, light, vignettes that start your day with the perfect peace? 

Superhero Photo Challenge: Vintage look

Maybe it was the dress. Maybe it was her beautiful skin or her hair or her classic beauty. But there was something so old world about the shots I captured of Gypsy Girl Alex that day.  

As many of us post-process our images, we start to recognize when a shot lends itself to black and white or a more saturated Lomo look, or something even dreamier. This is one of my favorite parts of digital photography these days.... being able to decide what the shots wants to be even after the fact, or surprising myself by saving a mediocre shot with a bit of creative post-processing. 

Do you have any shots that have a special look to them now? Maybe a vintage wash was just the right thing, or a super saturation or a vignette? Show us your creative shots that surprised even you.