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Photography Tales - February 2011

Weekly Photo Challenge, Week 8

February 23rd 2011 15:00
Hey Everyone! This is the 8th week of Shutterboo's 52 week photography challenge, and the theme was WHITE.

If you missed the previous weeks, check them out (ELECTRICITY, JOY, CONTROL, COLORFUL, SIGN, REPETITION, FEAR) here.

And if you want to join or look at the other amazing photos taken this week, check out the Flickr group here.

This week's theme was WHITE. I kind of like color challenges, it seems much more straight-forward and that’s just how my brain likes to work. But white, that’s a hard color for me. I like things full of color and white is the opposite of that, so when scoping around my house I came up with a very limited variety of things to shoot.


One thing I really wanted to shoot was my wedding dress. I wanted to get that popular “wedding dress in the window” shot. My professional photographer for the wedding (coming up on 2 years ago!) didn’t capture that shot, so now I have one (actually 3 that I love). Here’s the photo I submitted to the group:

Photography Wedding Dress in the Window
Photo Credit - Kristi V. Photography



I went with black-and-white, because I thought it gave the photo more power as well as fit the theme a bit better. The curtains that are up are white, sheer and green so it added a bit more color than I wanted. I amped up the brightness, high-lights and added some shadows to give it more of a glow and to really bring out the detail of the skirt’s embroidery. I love that dress. I saw it in a magazine and just knew it was mine. Luckily it was in my budget.

Here’s the runner-up photo from the “wedding dress in the window” shoot. It’s a more-detailed shot of the skirt’s embroidery with the glow from the sun through the window.

White Wedding Dress Photography
Photo Credit - Kristi V. Photography


Now, the other “white” item I found in my house was some white paint and white foam stickers. So I pulled out some black construction paper and went to town. I, again went with the black-and-white version and up’d the contrast here to get a crisper white. I liked these photos but they just seemed too literal for me.

White Paint Still Life Photography
Photo Credit - Kristi V. Photography


Then, I thought about what else I could shoot. There’s a pretty white chapel (Morris Chapel) that I pass everyday to work and it’s usually beautifully back-lit in the late afternoon. So I decided to stop on my way home one day this week. Luckily for me, I had a beautiful partly cloudy but vibrantly blue sky to work with. Here’s my favorite of that shoot.

Little White Chapel Photography
Photo Credit - Kristi V. Photography


One of these days, I think I’m going to do a photo-drive and capture all the different styles of churches/religious places around my town, they’re all so unique.

Okay. So that’s it for my WHITE shots. Here are some of my favorites from the Flickr Group:

Shutterboo502Dog in a Bathtub – She shot one of her “doggins” in the tub, and it’s just so adorable. He’s looking up at her in the empty tub; as soon as I saw it, I smiled!

WhitnickleWhite Chucks – It’s a black-and-white shot of a pair of starred converse sneakers. I think she cleverly staged them to give the shot more interest, even adding a shoe-lace heart.

Chaos & Bliss PhotographySnowflake – It’s a picture of a little girl kissing a snowflake wand. The picture has a lot of negative space, and appears almost like it was “white washed”. The girl’s eye looking up and off to the distance makes it a bit whimsical, it’s just a great shot.

Honorable Mentions – Mrs. Rev!’s Milk & Cookies and Natasha Joyan’s Window Frost plus many more, so check them out.

Next week's theme is LARGE... my wheels are turning.
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Weekly Photo Challenge, Week 7

February 17th 2011 22:01
Hey Everyone! This is the 7th week of Shutterboo's 52 week photography challenge, and the theme was FEAR.

If you missed the previous weeks, check them out (ELECTRICITY, JOY, CONTROL, COLORFUL, SIGN, REPETITION) here.

And if you want to join or look at the other amazing photos taken this week, check out the Flickr group here.

This week's theme was FEAR. Now, I know I'm a few days later than normal, but I was on vacation this weekend so things have been pushed back a few days. I did, however, submit a photo on time... phew!

It was kind of hard to think about capturing FEAR while on vacation... those two words don't really belong together in my opinion, so it was rough for me. My and the hubby went on our 4th Carnival Cruise... a quick 4 day escape to the Bahamas. Although the weather could have been better, we still made the best of it. At Nassau, Bahamas we visited Paradise Island which is the home to the extravagent Atlantis Hotel and since the weather wasn't cooperating with our beach time we decided to walk around the Atlantis Aquarium... which was the perfect spot to capture this week's theme.

Here's the photo I submitted - And I hope that I took it (me and the hubby trade off with the camera a bit) - It's a great white shark in the Predators' Tank.

Shark Predators Tank Atlantis Hotel Nassau Bahamas
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


He came pretty close to the glass compared to the other fish in the area, which really made him standout in the picture. Now, he is centered in the photo which isn't the best technically speaking, but I think it makes him look more powerful in a way. It was an instant favorite for this week's theme, cause who's NOT afraid of sharks?

I took A LOT of pictures at the Aquarium... more sharks, sting rays, poisonous fish, jelly fish, etc. and came up with a couple runners-up.

Fish in Atlantis Aquarium Nassau Bahamas
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


To me, this one's pretty funny. A small colorful fish being chased around by a larger bully fish, perhaps "FEARING" for his life. I think the framing works and I didn't even have to crop it!

Altantis Aquarium Nassau Bahamas
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


And I just like this one, justifying "FEAR" of the camera. Plus I used the rule of thirds, YAY me.

Besides "FEAR" photos at the aquarium, I tried to get some "FEAR" of heights around the ship, but nothing that I want to post here. I also did a mini-session in the dark at home, but I'm no model and they weren't even good enough to edit...

The only other "FEAR"-esque photos I took were in Savannah, GA (a stopping point on our roadtrip to the cruise). We went to Forsyth Park on a gloomy, cloudy day and a snapped away. I captured this one of one of the main walkways of the park and transferred it to black and white. I liked it, but I thought it was more SAD than FEAR, so I didn't use it.

Forsyth Park Savannah, GA
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


There were tons of great FEAR shots over at the Flickr Group, so check them out. Some of my favorites this week were:

CarsonHBM - Fear of Heights - The photo is taken from the 36th floor of Park Place in Buckhead - As soon as you see it, it's as if you're the one standing on the edge, plus all the lines and curves add interest that are really spectacular.

Mrs.Rev - Fear (of Spiders) - It's a black and white photo of a tarantula crawling on a hand. CREEP-TASTIC. Plus the detail of the spider is amazing.

Vicotria Riddle - Monsters Under My Bed - I love the idea of capturing this fear, and I think she did it in a very unique way. The letters and the lighting were wonderful and I laughed as soon as I saw it.

Honorable Mentions - Loner Amongst Friends' Skull Fear, violetlmk's Fear of Running Out, It's Me... Jan's Fear of Clowns and duffalo's Fear through a Keyhole... okay, I'll stop listing now, but you should check out the others!
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Weekly Photo Challenge, Week 6

February 9th 2011 14:56
Hey Everyone! This is the 6th week of Shutterboo's 52 week photography challenge, and the theme was REPETITION.

If you missed the previous weeks, check them out (ELECTRICITY, JOY, CONTROL, COLORFUL, SIGN) here.

And if you want to join or look at the other amazing photos taken this week, check out the Flickr group here.

This week's theme was REPETITION and for some reason I slacked BIG TIME. I'm going to blame it on the fact that I was so busy this weekend, and that's usually when I fit in my photography shoots. SO, for me this week, was more about editing fun in Picnik!

What was I doing this weekend, you ask? Well, on Saturday, I ran 4 miles in the rain in Raleigh, NC for the Krispy Kreme Challenge (run 2 miles, eat a dozen donuts, run 2 miles back in 1 hour or less). Sound disgusting? It really, truly is... and I didn't even eat the donuts; I just ran.

I wanted to take some pictures at the event, because I thought it would be a great fit for the theme this week, but because of the rain my camera didn't make it into my hands. (All the pictures were taken by my hubby, nice and dry under an umbrella at the donut station, so I couldn't use them for the challenge.)

Then on Sunday, my hubby and I hosted a Superbowl party at our house, and I got so busy with hosting duties, the game (Yay Packers!), and the commericals that my camera laid dormant.

So I was scrambling, in pure procrastinator fashion, last night in hopes of finding something to shoot for this week. All the shots I took seemed kind of boring, but I started playing around with them in flickr's picnik and I like them so much better now because of it.

First up is the photo I submitted of a decorative white shell ball -

Weekly Photo Challenge Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


I did some contrast changes, then used the "Orton-ish" feature as well as the "Heart's Desire" feature to get that pink tint. Take a look at the orginal photo (cropped).

Weekly Photo Challenge Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


My next favorite was one of my favorite necklaces with a scrapbook paper backdrop -

Weekly Photo Challenge Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


With this one I did some exposure/contrast changes, then used the "Vignette" feature in a tinted tone, followed by "HDR-ish" feature (that really popped the shine of the beads). Here was the original photo (cropped)

Weekly Photo Challenge Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


My third favorite was one I took on Sunday. It was really sunny, and the light was casting a repetitious pattern through the window/blinds on my bedroom wall. However, in the original photo, I thought it was really flat. But I think this is so much more interesting...

Weekly Photo Challenge repetitition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


After some exposure/contrast adjustments I used the "Neon" feature and gave it a blue-ish-green tint. Here's the original photo.

Weekly Photo Challenge Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


And lastly, I did a deck of cards, because I thought it fit well with the theme, and we have a good half-dozen decks around the house...

Weekly Photo Challenge Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


I started with my usually exposure/contrast adjustments, and then used the "Black & White" feature which I thought made the patterns on the card stand out a bit more. I then used the "Lomo-ish" feature to brighten the center of the photo and add a slight vignette around the edges. Here's the original photo (cropped).

Weekly Photo Challenges Repetition
Photo Credit - Kristi.V.Photo


There's tons of great shots over in the Flickr Group, so go check them out! Here are a few of my favorites from this week:

larkin2285 - WallofLove - Which is a photo of a colorful wall of Valentine's hearts (at Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville). The hearts overlap and there's light coming from behind (through the glass). It's quite lovely and lots of fun to read

slapshots - Cave Hill Cemetery Repetition - It's a black and white shot of the curving rows of headstones with a backdrop of diagnol rows of more headstones. It's just a very powerful shot, and the spot he chose was basically perfect.

mikeysends - Repetition - It's a shot looking up at strings of lights (horizontal) with a backdrop of a sparsely cloudy blue sky. I think the photo is eye-catching, but yet it's very simple and a great representation of the theme.

Honorable Mentions - Jason Schindler's "Yatzee", CarsonHBM's "Repetition - Row of Brick Townhomes" and The Craft Floozy's "Repetition - Matryoshka Dolls"

Next week's theme is FEAR... hopefully I can come up with something while cruising in the Bahamas...
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Weekly Photo Challenge, Week 5

February 2nd 2011 15:41
Hey Everyone! This is the 5th week of Shutterboo's 52 week photography challenge, and the theme was SIGN.

If you missed the previous weeks, check them out (ELECTRICITY, JOY, CONTROL, COLORFUL) here.

[ Click here to read more ]
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