Posted on May 8, 2024
Lupji Photography chose the theme {upside down}, and I have to confess that that is what my life feels like right now. Lots of changes going on with work. We are also heading out on a vacation and trying to get everything sorted out and ready to go next week.
Upside down is defined as
with the upper part where the lower part should be; in or into an inverted position.
I had to think what I had either done or could do to meet this challenge
My favorite upside down was taken at the Miami Zoo. We were watching the dolphins swimming and this big guy came and said hello. Dolphins are incredible creatures and I have had the privilege of swimming in the ocean with them. We had gone out on a scuba dive when a pod of dolphin started swimming around the boat. The captain of the boat allowed us to go overboard and swim with them. It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Seeing them in captivity is not a great feeling for me but I understand that some are injured and brought in because they will not survive out in the ocean.
Also taken at the zoo was this display of the seal and his trainer. They put on a great show for us.
Sometimes even the birds spend a good deal of time with their heads upside down, preening and primping their feathers.
Reflections make great upside downs as well. The tree below was rotated to the upside down position and it works for me. The upper part of the tree, which is now at the bottom, was a lot lighter than its reflection.
There was not a lot of difference when this image was roatated, however in this case the upper is the lower and the reflection was a lot darker.
Every so often I like to play around with my lensbaby lenses. I rotated the sunset image and while I was not 100% sold on this image, it did work.
The next two images were taken using a super wide angle lens and the dark blue is the sky. By rotating the image the appearance now is that the blue is the water.
A great way to turn an image upside down is to use a lensball. I do not own one, but I met up with a friend to get these two images. It’s a fun sphere to have when you want to do something different.
By rotating the image of the moon, we went from a waxing moon to a waning moon. Only thing is Jupiter is now on the right instead of the left.
The last two images were taken in the wetlands doing my favorite style of photography. I like to just get that sliver of clarity. In both cases the wooden boardwalk has been rotated to show it upside down.
It was a fun challenge that Lupji gave us and I hope that you enjoyed what I had to offer and that you look at the challenge and see what you can share with us.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Claire of Wilhelmina Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page.
Until next time, stay well.
Posted on April 6, 2024
The theme for the month of April was chosen by Janet from @wiredtothemoon_ and it is {Curves}. Once again I decided to use images from the trip to Arizona and I was surprised at how many curves I actually came across.
The Oxford Dictionary says that a curve is : a line or outline which gradually deviates from being straight for some or all of its length.
Below ar3e some of the curves I found.
You can find curves in every area of your life. In the shape of a branch, the edge of a flower, the shape of a vase, roads, handles etc. There are so many different ideas out there.
I hope you enjoyed my second glimpse at Arizona. If you missed the first glimpse you can view it here. I will eventually get to editing more of our trip to Arizona. Sometimes I feel like I can hardly keep up with everything that is going on around us.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Katherine of Cobert Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Instagram page.
Until next time, stay well.
Posted on March 15, 2024
We have just spent 8 days in Arizona, specifically in Phoenix, Sedona, Page and ever so briefly Flagstaff. So this month’s Share Six theme {Sky} I really wanted to use photo’s taken on the trip. Outside of that I have some crazy sky photo’s that I have shared before, mainly sunsets which I love. But for this blog, Arizona sky is what you will get.
We saw some interesting skies this week and I was grateful for the changing sky and scenery along the way. It definitely makes the trip more interesting.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Lupji from Lupji Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of his work by clicking on his Instagram page.
Posted on February 6, 2024
I chose the theme this month with the criteria that the level of {Out of Focus} could vary. That said I have chosen some images that are my favorites from the archives and some that are more recent. I will say I kind of went overboard a little, but I hope you enjoy.
When I looked at the theme, I broke it down into a number of categories, elements, nature, lenses, and my favorite style of shooting images, that isn’t travel.
With the elements I found two images that reminded me of what days in Florida can be like, hot, humid with the occasional fog,
Nature, particularly sunsets, when using the Lensbaby lens, can create unique out of focus images. Here are a few taken at one of my favorite sunset spots.
Using lenses to create different styles of out of focus is a fun way to experiment. In the days before I had a macro lens, I discovered the reverse ring method. It’s hard I am not going to lie. Its kind of like free lensing with a reverse lens. At the time I could not afford a macro lens, and this was my best option. It was definitely fun, until the day I could not get the reverse lens off my camera and I panicked. I did get it off but that made me more determined to get a macro lens.
At one stage I got into all the different types of Lensbaby optics. I have a huge variety of them, but I constantly forget to use them. My favorite is the sweet 35, but I also have the double glass, plastic, sweet 50, twist, pinhole, single focus, and soft focus. I will confess that the soft focus messes with my eyes. When you are used to sharp images the Lensbaby optics will cause you to do a double take. Below are a few of the images I have taken with the different optics.
The images below were taken with the Lensbaby sweet 35. This is probably my favorite of the Lensbaby optics and if I am going to pack one, this typically finds its way in. My problem is that for the most part I am using my zoom lens and I definitely forget to pull the Sweet 35 out.
Macro lens are super fun. The focus in on the main area and leave the rest out of focus. We have these plants in the garden that are really great with water drops and dependent on the light can give a nice hazy effect.
My favorite style of photography by far, is done with the 70-300mm lens, and my 150-600mm lens. This requires me to get down level with the critter or leaf that I want to shoot and just getting that tiny sliver of focus while the rest are out of focus. This I broke down into two areas, critters and still life.
Critters are a lot harder as they move, but here are a few examples of the out of focus with the attempts at in focus. What I love about these photo’s is the creamy out of focus feel with just an element that is in focus.
Leaves are still life and don’t jump on me and using the same concept of getting low and level with the object, and having people look at me as if I am weird, and wondering what the heck I am taking photographs of, I continue to take my photo’s of leaves or something that catches my attention. Of course, there are ants on the board walk and Florida loves fire ants. I got bitten once and those critters are nasty.
Again I love the sliver of focus with the balance of the image being a creamy out of focus. Dependent on the leaves, you can get some really interesting colors. One of my favorites was a boardwalk that had moss on it, and it gave off this blurry greenish creamy color.
Another images that captured my attention that were not leaves, was this feather that clearly someone had picked up and stuck in the groove sometime before I walked along. It just looked really neat sticking up and so I snapped a shot.
Last but not least I came across two other images that were experimental that can create a beautiful out of focus effect.
Out of focus is fun and I am expecting to see some stunning images from my fellow blog contributors. Some of them specialize in the Lensbaby and ICM effects and I can’t wait to see them. Which reminds me, this is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Janet from @wiredtothemoon_ is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of his work by clicking on her and Instagram page.
Don’t forget to share your photos on the theme {Out of Focus} Tag us #sharesix_outoffocus
I have struggled since Covid to pick up my camera. The combination of covid, Richard getting sick, a new baby on my days off, and just a lack of desire to pick up the camera has made it harder. I am seriously considering doing another 365 just so that I pick up my camera everyday.
I’ve also noticed that I have struggled to edit as well. I am sitting with unedited images from Macedonia. Unedited images from Australia, and in 4 weeks we are heading to Phoenix for 10 days. I have been doing some research and the images I have seen from Antelope Canyon and Sedona blow me away and so I know I am going to come home with a million images to edit. I need to stop doing other things and settle down and get these pictures done.
Until we share again, stay well
Category: Share Six Tagged: #blur, #doubleexposure, #feather, #flora, #fog, #humidity], #lensbaby, #lizards, #nature, #plastic, #sharesix, #sharesix_outoffocus, #sharleenstuartphotography, #spiders, #sunset, #waterdrops, #wetlands
Posted on January 6, 2024
I am not sure where time went but this group is starting their 9th year as a blog group. We have had people come and go but I have loved every minute of being with this group and learning from them. They challenge me and force me to step out of my comfort zone. This month is no exception. Claire chose the theme {Painterly} and I have to be honest that I was forced to go to Youtube to figure somethings out.
My frustration was the brush tool. It kept brushing white on a new layer. I have not figured out the answer as to why it is doing that but if anyone has suggestions I am so open to hearing them. There were some great techniques but I was stumped with that tool.
The next effect I aimed for was a watercolor effect using different filters.
The next attempt I made with to create layers of texture. I followed a Youtube example and quite like the rough textured effect.
I am not quite sure how I got the next effect but I kind of like the embossed feel to it. I used texture images, with and emboss filter and changed the layers from normal to a different setting.
For the next image I wanted to do portrait painting and make it look like a water color. I followed the tutorial step by step. I am not 100% sure that I like it. Added to that I have a limited amount of brushes and I really need to find some more.
This image already had a textured feel to it when you looked at the wall, but again I used textured overlays and embossed them and added some filters what provided a bit of grain .
This image already had a strong bokeh effect to it created with my lensbaby sweet 35. Like the first image I used attempted to get a watercolor effect to the image. Plenty of texture and paint brush swirls.
Claire definitely challenged us this time around, but it was fun to play and find different ways to do things.
I followed a number of tutorials, some worked, some didn’t. Here are a few that I followed:
https://www.psfreebies.com/convert-any-photo-to-digital-oil-painting-effect-in-photoshop/
arizo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MAoR4-Jnjsna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obokOCj3vNs&t=644s
I also downloaded some free brushes from
https://www.brusheezy.com/brushes/59067-free-painter-photoshop-brushes-3
Lastly I used some textured images for the overlays:
blank-concrete-wall-white-color-texture-background Image by ArthurHidden on Freepik
pexels-kseniya-lapteva-9176032
smears-from-from-brush a tmImage by kues1a on Freepik
whie-cracked-wall Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
Finally my last image was an attempt to get a brush stroke effect as well as the blended edges. Again the brushes were a problem but in the end I was happy to just get something.
Trying the {Painterly} effect was fun. It was a nice change of pace and I really enjoyed doing something different.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Katherine of Cobert Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of his work by clicking on her Facebook page and Instagram page.
Don’t forget to share your photos on the theme {Painterly} Tag us #sharesix_painterly.
Look out for more blogs along the way. I have Macedonia and Australia to finish and we are already planning our next trip to Phoenix, Arizona in a few months.
Stay well
Posted on December 6, 2023
I have to be honest. The past couple of weeks have been hectic and a little stressful. We had a call for my husband to go for an ultrasound. That is never a good feeling when you are dealing with melanoma. Some of his blood levels had spiked. However the good news was that the ultrasound came back clear, and they will just monitor the blood levels.
I had a crazy spike with my blood pressure. Not sure what caused it but I saw the doctor and he put me on medication. Now every time I take my blood pressure it is low. Can’t win.
Lukie has to go back for more ear surgery in the New Year. Apparently his body is rejecting his tubes. Poor little guy. In addition his tonsils are enlarged and his adenoids appear to be a problem as well. So I guess that those will come out as well.
In addition we have had a run of birthdays. Everyone is getting older, myself included. Which brings me to the theme of the month {Vintage}, and I am right up there with it. I am a collector of family history, and so when things have been handed down to me I hate to let them go. I have a clock that is almost 100 years old. It fell off the wall and broke the glass. The way the glass was fitted meant it was hard to replace. I could not get the same thickness. In fact everything was too thick. I could not see it in the garage, so I asked my husband what he had done with my clock, thinking that he had tossed it. Turns out it was hidden, and I asked him if there was a way to just put a piece of glass in and secure it so that I can get my clock back up on the wall. I am not sure that the clock has ever worked to be honest. I hung at my mother’s house for years with it not working. I may try to get a clock maker come to the house to get it going again.
Another {vintage} that I have packed away is a cutlery set that my grandmother was given in 1925 when she got married. I opened it up the other day thinking I could use the casing and the cutlery is all tarnished. But I packed the box back away again because I couldn’t bear to take the cutlery out and use the box for another set that I had bought. I wanted gold for the Christmas table and ended up using it for thanksgiving as well. I liked the look to be honest.
One of my favorite {vintage} items that I have is books. I have a collection of classics that include Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Rabbit Hill, Call of the Wild, Jane Eyre, The adventures of Sherlock Holmes. These are linked to beautiful memories of evenings cuddled up on the bed with my dad as he read us stories. I cannot wait for Luka to sit still enough to pull out these books and read to him.
Digging away in the same display cabinet is my mother’s tea set. It is named Crown Regent 1950s Gold Chintz from what I can see. I have a couple of variations of the set. In an endeavor to get gold plates for Christmas I set out to find a set locally and managed to pick up another variation of the same style. So for this theme I decided to use the china set to show my take on {Vintage}.
I am a collector of history (and my husband will say all sorts of junk), I love things that link me to the past. To the memories of loved ones, and times that have slipped away. I miss my folks and this is just a little part of them that I can pass on to my children, with the hopes that they will pass it on to their children. I have this doorstop that used to be at my grandmothers. Every time Luka comes to the house he makes a beeline for the doorstop. It is a soldier on a horse. I am not sure what they attraction is for him, but I told him that is going to be his.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Lupji Photography up next. I can’t wait to see what he has to share. You can see more of his work by clicking on his Facebook page and Instagram page. Definitely check out his sportrait art.
Don’t forget to share your photos on the theme {Vintage} Tag us #sharesix_vintage.
Look out for more blogs.
Stay well
Category: Share Six Tagged: #flatlay, #flora, #saucer, #sharesix_vintage, #sharleenstuartphotography, #teacup, #teaset, #vintagebooks
Posted on November 6, 2023
For the month of November, Lupji Photography chose the theme {Shallow Depth of Field}. I have to confess that this is one of my favorite themes and I love to get out into nature to get these images.
I had the perfect opportunity to get out today. A old school friend arrived at our home on Friday. He has been hitch hiking through the USA, sleeping on the beach, catching up with friends, sleeping on more beaches. He is a very interesting character who has traveled the world. Today instead of sitting watching sport, which him and Richard did yesterday, I dragged him out into the wetlands for the morning. That freed up Richard to do his own thing.
For me nature is beautiful. I love finding leaves on the boardwalk and taking pics of them. I love that sliver of focus that I am able to capture this way.
Getting out into nature does wonders for my soul, and I have needed it this week. This walk was not as quite and contemplative as I may have wanted but it has helped lift a little of the sorrow of last week.
I would encourage you to keep in touch with family and friends, let them know you are thinking of them. If they are close by give them a hug. If they are further away, drop them a note letting them know you are thinking of them. You don’t know when time will become short or when time will end, either for yourself or your friend. While I stayed in touch with my friend, I was still stunned when I heard the news he had passed away so unexpectedly. We have no idea when time will stop, lets not waste it unnecessarily. This is in memory of you my beautiful friend. Myles you were my rock.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Elizabeth of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page and Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Don’t forget to share your photos on the theme {Shallow Depth of Field} Tag us #sharesix_shallowdepthoffield.
Look out for more blogs.
Stay well
Posted on October 30, 2023
We’re back in Sydney post the Bondi walk and I had things on my list that I wanted to see. In 1846 the Customs House (below) was built near the Sydney city center. Over a period of 10 years from 1837 to 1847, convicts worked to reclaim the land to form Circular Quay. The Customs house form the solitary symbol of British power over the land and sea, with custom officers checking for contraband and smuggling.
Towering over the customs house is this very unique building. Again I am fascinated by the juxtaposition of old and new buildings and grateful that Sydney has maintained it’s unique history with the upkeep of these interesting old buildings.
We were not the only people taking pictures of the city that day.
Below is a mix of new and old that we found on our walk back into the city center.
Below is the Sydney Sky Tower. We did not go up but it stood tall amongst the buildings and was pretty neat to look at.
The building that impressed me the most, and one that I had researched and also been told to visit was the Queen Victoria building. I loved the old dome roofing and the beautiful arched windows, along with the intricate scrolling on the outer façade of the building. Walking inside this gorgeous building is a shopping mall. And I wanted one pic, but I did get a few more.
The pastel window in the ladies bathroom was gorgeous. In fact, the ladies bathroom was impressive.
In the center of the mall was this tall clock with historical images in the center of the clock.
There were also some incredible stain glass windows.
This was the photo I wanted showing all the levels and the beams of the roofing.
We’re back out on the street again and the first thing I saw was this vibrant burst of color.
Last but not least I was out of time and added to that super tired. I will explore the clock tower on another day.
We’re back at the hotel, ready to put our feet up, but there is still the repacking to do. We have to switch up the contents of the suitcases because we are traveling Qantas in the morning to Melbourne, and honestly my camera back is equivalent to a small suitcase. So I am going to be booking my two suitcases and Richard’s one, and he will take clothes for both of us in his small suitcase, just in case.
My nerves are already getting the better of me. We are off for a quick dinner and then it is off to bed. We have an early start in the morning back to the airport. I am looking forward to seeing family again. We have not seen our nieces since they were 5 and now the one has a little girl who is 5. Crazy how time has flown. I am so glad that we are doing this trip now.
Check out my friend Lupji Photography to see what he has to share this month.
Until next time …. stay well.
Posted on October 6, 2023
This months theme was chosen by Katherine of Cobert Photography and it is {Artifical Light}. I don’t typically use additional lighting so this challenge was harder for me.
However, I was part of a meet up Photography group that did some studio work, and so I pulled some images that I had taken and edited them. I also pulled an image I found of my daughter during her pregnancy.
The meetups happened over a period of about 1 year.
I wish I could say that I rushed out and took photo’s but it did not happen this month.
In Amy’s case she has all the studio lights, but never uses them. At that stage she had them out so that we could do this maternity shoot.
If I have to be honest I wish the meetups were still happening and that we were still spending time working with different lighting but as all things happen for some reason or another, this group stopped meeting.
Perhaps one day I will consider asking my daughter for her light set and turn the bedroom into a studio and play some more. Right now my other room is my at home office, craft room, come Luka playroom.
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Katherine of Cobert Photography is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page and Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Don’t forget to share your photos on the theme {Artificial Light} Tag us #sharesix_artificiallight.
Look out for more blogs.
Stay well
Category: Share Six Tagged: #lighting, #maternity, #models, #portraits, #sharesix_artificiallight, #sharleenstuartphotography, #studio
Posted on September 6, 2023
This month theme {Beautiful Light} was chosen by It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson. Beautiful light can mean different things to different people. Since I am still working through my Australian images, I decided to look though them and find the images where the light appealed to me. Walk through them with me as I share just a little bit more of our Australian trip.
In addition to the Australian photos are some of my older sunrise and sunset photos which are favorites of mine.
And, finally, a few outdoor flora shots.
Beautiful light, I believe, is in the eye of the beholder. We all see light differently. When googling the definition of light my favorite was this found in the Marriam Webster dictionary:
“the sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors”
This is a circle blog and as I mentioned, we have some very talented artists in the group. Take some time to follow the links and see what they have for you this month. My incredibly talented friend Liz of It’s Still Life Photography by Elizabeth Willson is up next. I can’t wait to see what she has to share. You can see more of her work by clicking on her Facebook page and Instagram page. Definitely check out her incredible art.
Don’t forget to share your photos on the theme {Beautiful Light}
Look out for more blogs.
Stay well
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