A New Adventure

I really thought that 2011 was going to be my slowest year since An Artist View Photography started. With the economy as slow as it has been, I've been avoiding doing art shows. There were lots of lookers but unless you were selling food, there were just not enough buyers to pay the rent.

But then it happened, one day over lunch with a friend. We got to talking about publishing books. POD's they call them. Publishing on Demand. Which means basicly....you do everything yourself. You write it, edit it, design the layout, buy the books and promote them all by yourself. Yep, lots of work.

I took on the writing of Second Glances, An Introduction to Seeing. It's a pictorial book about my Second Glances photographic collection. Second Glances started on the beach at East Tawas State Park in my home town of the Tawas Cities. While on the beach taking pictures of the sunrise I came across a really cool design the colored sands were making with the waves and just had to take pictures of it. Later I discovered the awesome designs within the sand design. It contained faces. Lots of them. That is when the game began for me. Every since then, I look just a little closer to designs in nature. You would be amazed at what is there, just by taking that second glance. And that is what the book is about. Showing you how to see the images within the designs of ordinary things.

So now that the book is published and is available through my web site, www.anartistview.net, Amazon.com, Barnes and Nobles or any other book store, book signings are my next big adventure. Where do I start? What do I do now? Well, today I'll start by putting it all in motion. My first step, making a list of book stores and libraries in my area. Then I'll need a flyer designed to mail to all of them as an introduction. I have a feeling the writing of the book was the easy part.

Join my along my journey and be sure to post your suggestions of stores near you. It's always nice to see a familier face.

A fall trip to St Louis

So I was reading the magazine, Midwest Living and they had an article about taking a trip down the Illinois river. Beautiful scenery, canyons, waterfalls and when we reached the end of the river we would be so close to St. Louis we just had to go there as well. Sounded like a fantastic plan so my daughter and I packed up Emma(our springer spaniel), my mom and dad, and were off on our way.

Our first stop was to Starved Rock State Park. What a beautiful place to spend the day. I had been practicing taking waterfall pictures so I could capture the water coming over the canyon walls. That didn't quit happen since it was all dryed up by this time of year. But with it all dry, we were able to climb into the back of each canyon and take some wonderful shots that would have been impossible with the water flowing. The place was packed making it hard to get some great shots without people in them. But without the people in them it would be hard to show the vastness of the canyons. My recommendations....go on a weekday, were your hiking boots, bring the dog and be ready to climb hundreds of stairs. It was well worth the stop.

Our next stop was Chautaugua National wildlife refuge. It was a little rainy that day but the forest was still beautiful and the birds where plenty. We went in hopes of seeing the white pelicans that make their home there. Of course that day there were on the other side of the lake.

Dickson mounds museum was next. The story goes....Dr Don F Dickson desided to start excavations on the family farm. Which turned out to be the burial mounds for the american indians who lived there some 12,000 years ago. They have a wonderful museum filled with artifacts and a awe-inspiring journey of their way of life along the Illinois river valley. What I found to be fascinating is that their culture really didn't grow at all until the explorers introduced them to their way of life and all the things they had learned to make and trade for a better way of life. This is diffently a must see place.

We were off to Beardstrom. The only place where President Lincoln ever tried a court case. And of course he got his man off because the farmers almanac said it was cloudy that night so the witness couldn't possible have seen him commit the crime. That courtroom is still in use today and tours are available by this very nice lady. She dissappered before I could get a picture of her and get her name.

We made it to St. Louis that night and stayed at the Drury Hotel right next to Union Station in downtown. I highly recommend this place. Emma was very welcome there, although she really didn't care for the elevators. Very resonable pricing that included the dog, breakfast, drinks at 5, a small evening meal and free parking. The hot tub and pool was very clean and much needed after a long day of exploring.

We visited the zoo and loved it. It is very clean and the animals seem to be happy and moving around so you felt like you were so close. This guy was in with the baby giraffe and seemed to want all the attention on him. He was posing very well so I didn't mind.

Next stop was the art museum and the botanical gardens. Again, very nice and clean. Oh and by the way...the zoo and the art museum has free admittion. The botanical gardens was 12.00 to get in but well worth it. And lunch is exceptional at their cafe.

We made it home the next day tired out and ready for the weekend to relax.

The one thing I do have to say......Although we seen some great places along the way, Michigan has the best fall color you're going to see in the midwest.

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Spring Inspiration

I don't know of one gardener who doesn't start looking for even the slightest sign of new growth sneaking up through the last remains of our michigan snow. If there is even a hint of spring in the air we are out there inspecting. I'm so quilty of this myself.

And those first hints of spring are my inspirations to get out my camera. I've always been amazed with leaves. All kinds of leaves. From the new buds on the trees to the unraveling of the first ferns. Their shapes, their textures and even the many, many shades of color. I ask myself every time...."Who designed these anyway? They are fabulous!" Year after year I go through the same rituals, discovering, amazement and then taking even more pictures of them. I may have 20 images of grape leaves but there always seems to be another special leaf or bud.

Here are a few of what I've found in just my own back yard.

Ground covers, boxwoods, grasses,


lavender and grapevines all make wonderful subjects

to study.

To me it's all about color and texture. I try to keep my images to many different shades of the same color. To me, it seems be easier on the eye. A kinda calming effect. But don't overlook the importance of your lighting. Making sure it is playing off your main subject will keep it the center of attention.

There is no need to wait till the plants are in full bloom. Get out there now and discover the first round of amazing beauty all plants have to offer.

April Showers bring May weeds

Did you ever hear gardeners say "just use your grass clippings for mulch"? I thought.... I've got a lot of grass clippings and it sure would be cheaper and besides it would give me someplace to put all those clippings after I mow. I gave it a lot of thought then decided that I would give it a try in an area that wasn't full of my most desired flowers. So I had this new area that had bad soil and figured the clippings could help. Every week I would use the sweeper on the mower to collect the clippings and spread them as evenly as possible in this new area. Seemed to be working great all summer. It keep the weeds down to a managable rate and keep the ground moist. In the fall even the leaves were added. Everything was working out fabulous and thoughts were taking hold about spreading the clippings into the main gardens.

Then....spring came,

Now I'm not too sure about ever spreading clippings again! With the new weeds and new grass appearing everywhere I have come to the conclusion that this is not going to work at all. It worked for a quick fix all last summer but in the long run, Forget it! Now I'll have to start all over again with clearing this garden area of all weeds. It might have worked for a lawn that had been chemically treated for weeds but not for just the ordinary lawn full of weeds, crabgrass and of course all those beautiful pesty dandilions.

There's a thought......I should just plant a dandilion garden?

Specialty Lighting

Light is the first and formost importance of a beautiful photo and getting it right holds the different in between a great image and an image that will just be OK. I've been working on a technigue that isn't as easy as it seems. It's all about adding that extra lighting when the lighting just wasn't there to begin with or maybe it was there but wasn't as dramatic as what I had hoped for.

I knew I wanted to work with candle light so I composed an image that I could visualize where the light was heading and what I wanted to stand out the most. At this point I wasn't too concerned with light. I need just enough to show detail and some shadowing. Then I imported the image and desaturated it. The next step was to get my base color on the image by giving the print and overall deep brown cast using the color adjustments. With a new layer above this one, change the blending mode to multiply and make it a smart layer. Now use the lighting effects to highlight the points of interest. I used two. One for the candle and one for the book adjusting the lighting effects for a soft yellow light. I then made another layer above this one and changed the blending mode to color dodge. Using a yellow and orange paint and the paint brush, the image started to come alive with every stoke of my brush. A little vignette on another layer and few extra things like highlighting the candle wick and the image was done.

Ski Weekend

My husband, Jerry and I traveled up to Belair MI this past weekend to go skiing at Schuss Mountain. I figured out that I've been going there one weekend every year for about 20 years now. It started when the Tedrick lab, a few photographers and their staff started going up to just have a good time and ski. If it weren't for them I probably never would have started skiing.
Many years were spent with just the girls going up. We all stuck pretty close on the hill since none of us really knew what we were doing. I remember all of us being pretty embarrashed when a little boy about 5 years old keep passing us up on the hill. He would just schuss right on by like he was born with skies on his feet. The fifth time he past us, he stopped, looked at us funny, then asked, "Are you ladies OK?" We had been falling and laughing so hard on our first run down that this little guy just couldn't help himself. We were all shamed into watching a video on skiing. We did much better after that.
Years later I'm still just as much afraid of those slopes. Although it doesn't take me 2 hours to get down anymore the fear is still there. Jer learned just four years ago and he is the one who looks after me. I guess I better go watch that video again because it won't be long before we start taking the grandkids.