Lil' bug

Found this little bug while weeding my garden today.

Photo manipulation practice continues, and I'm certain my methods leave a lot to be desired, and a class would be awesome, but who has the time.  So I'll continue to practice, and surf the net for information, and practice more. I'm betting the model, my daughter Drew, will become exhausted with me long before I've mastered the manipulating technique. (After all, the shrink ray really takes a lot out of you!)  Until then...

This piece is actually three separate shots combined. The first shot being of my daughter pretending to sleep with a stuffed toy.  We set up on a white sheet spread out for staging in her bedroom.  The second shot was of the shell which measures approximately 1 inch in legnth.  I took many shots of many shells, some placed on a black background, others on white.  The third and final shot is the nature shot.  This came from the garden in my front yard.  There were several areas and several angles but the rock and greenery in this shot is from one take, although while working on this I had to duplicated this layer.  I don't believe I added any textures to this, so any appearrance that I did is "accidental".  In the end, I really need to be more learned on better shading techniques.

Therapy (Series entitled: Consequently, me)

Another turn in my photography/art.  This piece is inspired by several of my flickr friends.  I really wanted to try my hand at some manipulative photography.  This was my first try and I have much more in mind, but it was eating at me to get something done, and I was the only "model" at the time.  I hate having my picture taken, so I really thought of this as therapy in that way (hince the name).  The plan is to do a series entitled "Consequently, me", which will tell my story defining me and my life's path.  In that right, the title of this piece (Therapy) stands true, as it still defines me in that I have, at times, resorted to my dream state to escape my reality.  When surrounded by unhappy or unsatisfying circumstances, which I don't feel I can escape in actuality, I create my perfect world in my fantasies.  Maybe you can relate?

I have plans to do other series as well, so I may flip-flop between them, but you have to go where the heart leads, right.

Bree

Here are a few shots from my first "professional" infant setting.  Baby Bree was one month old at the time and absolutely adorable.  I could have held her all day.

I was super pleased with the end results, and consquently, photoshopping was quick and painless.  Therefore, I played a bit and came up with the piece below.