Day 196

This old barn isn't really used for anything anymore and is really falling apart, but it still looks pretty neat in photos with the unique topline. I don't like the mass of weeds cluttering up the right side of the frame, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I used the Holga effect to add an older feel.

Day 195

Today I'm going to keep it short and sweet - it's cold outside, I'm still pretty sick, and there's snow everywhere. This is a landscape of a field and the woods behind it. I liked the one tree that stood out and was taller than all the rest. I added the Holga effect because the blue snow and sky didn't look very nice with the brown weeds and trees.

Day 194

Sorry I haven't posted in the past couple days, but the whole family has been super sick. I finally seem to have started getting better, or at least I'm well enough to work on photography. I had my brother Elijah with me, and we went outside to get a few portraits. I'm not sure exactly what this pose is all about, but when I'm working with Elijah I usually just let him stand or sit however he wants to. In this case, he opted for a sort of squatting position with his arms folded across his body. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of the color red. But that's what color Elijah was wearing and I actually really liked it against the bright white snow. I added some vignetting around the edges to give a kind of ultra modern look to the portrait.

Day 193

We're in the midst of a snowstorm at the moment with snow falling from the sky in ridiculously large quantities. I braved these wintery conditions to see if I could get any good shots and the short answer is - no. With the snow falling between the lens and any subjects landscapes were blurry and indiscernible. The thick, even layer of snow covered up most potential macro shots. Finally I discovered this portion of a wooden fence sticking up out of the snow and I thought the pictures ended up looking pretty neat. I used a flash to reveal some of the detail of the already fallen snow, and it picked up on some of the flakes still in the sky which accounts for some of the round lights scattered across the photo. I knew I wanted the photo to be black and white because the flash had given a really yellow tint. I settled on a Holga effect from picmonkey.com because I liked how it really added to the dramatic aspect of the photo.

Day 192

Here in Iowa we get a lot of snow, ice, and cold nasty weather in general. On Friday we got 7 inches of snow, and are supposed to get 6 to 8 more tomorrow. Yay! The only upside to this dreary winter weather is how pretty everything looks covered in snow. The icicles on the buildings here in town are getting really big, and are the subject of today's post. To offset the vertical lines of the many icicles I angled the shot so a portion of this brick wall was also included, with the horizontal lines of the bricks providing a nice contrast. I added a slight dark edge to bring out some of the details in the icicles.

Day 191

This morning I was up before sunrise (not an often occurrence) and I noticed the sun was rising in a beautiful burst of color. So I ran outside in my pajamas without an shoes on to catch it before it faded, which was good because 5 minutes later it was already gone. It looked like the clouds or trees were on fire, and was really quite stunning in person. The camera didn't quite catch what I was seeing, but it still looked pretty cool.

Day 190

A few years ago I was given this rabbit shaped ring as a Christmas present. I love it, but I haven't worn it all that often. I was sifting through my jewelry box looking for subjects to shot and thought it would make an interesting image. I laid out the skirt of a dress for the background because I liked the shimmer of the fabric. I added a slight frost to the edges to enhance the highlights.

Day 189

As almost any teenage girl would, I love sparkles. Sequins are one of my favorite decorations, usually on dresses. Recently, however, I got a sequined fedora, which is pretty awesome. The way that they sewed the sequins onto the hat is pretty impressive, and gives some really cool details to this macro shot.

Day 188

Guess what tomorrow is? If you said that tomorrow is the one year anniversary of this blog, that is correct! It seems like an awfully long time ago when I look back now. Today's photo is of the insides of a geode that was cracked in half. Geodes are normal enough looking on the outside, but inside there's beautiful crystal formations of all different colors. Where I'm from, nearly all the geodes found are a white/blue, but this particular geode is half white/blue and half yellow/brown. I added a light Orton effect to bring out all the natural luster of the colors, and a slight dark edge to draw the eye into the center of the image and away from the sides.

Day 187

When I was younger my sister and I collected porcelain dolls. We gathered a lot, through birthday and Christmas gifts or by buying at yard sales and swap meets. The one featured in today's portrait was one of my favorites, and one of the first brides we got. When looking around for a subject today, I noticed her sitting in front of my window and thought she would make an interesting portrait. I love portraits taken with the face at an angle, and with all the details in her outfit I got a really life like shot. I loved the black and white, but I also wanted a softer look, so I added a focal soften which softens the edges while leaving the face in focus.