Tulips....part 7 epilogue

I really intended the last tulip blog to be the last tulip blog.  I emptied out the vase of water, laid the tulips out on the table for one last look, as I dismantled the still life.

Then it occurred to me that the tulips were both themselves lying in the final state (dead), as it were, and a kind of memorial.  For some reason we always put flowers on graves.  I had never thought about why.  So it occurred to me to do one last few shots of the tulips en soi (as themselves deceased) and pour soi (as memorial to themselves) , as Sartre might have said, and it just seemed best in colour.  They really were intense at the very end.
Bravo tulips!

BTW if you'd like to look at or purchase my latest photo books, they are here:  Tools and Silhouettes

Gorgeous tulips age admirably....part 6

What can I say?  I'm into decay?

I loved that flower with my eyes, nose

when it was fresh, young. 

but when used, experienced;
I love it with my soul.

Do the tulip droop...part 3

I am documenting the tulip droop.  It seems I'll turn anything into a series these days.  Tant mieux !

This time I shot them with the beauty light, not the Rembrandt light.  I was stunned at the result.  The beauty light (soft box high above and right beside camera position) models the forms spectacularly.

Sometimes you have to try different things even if you don't think it will work.  Happy accidents.  This is the second time the beauty light has come through; the first time was with the two portraits of SL.

I will use the beauty light more now.

BTW, if you'd like to look at and perhaps purchase my photography book here is the link   Tools & Silhouettes   .

Il danse encore

My friends often observe that I seem very serious in all my self portraits.

Well this Bud's for you!   It's Saturday night.  I'm listening to a webcast of Beirut Nights Radio....doing the neo-baroque two step.....

Plus I just took delivery of my new Canon Eos 5D mk III camera; in fact, it took this photo.

Il danse encore.

My new book, Figurative Landscape, is published

I have just published my new figure book called Figurative Landscape on Blurb.  If you'd like to order a copy, just follow this link.  Figurative Landscape

Portraits can surprise us...part 2

I mentioned yesterday that  I rarely shoot in front lighting with high key (light) processing.  The other thing I usually do is work in black and white.  But I must confess that lately, colour has attracted me more and more for some work.

The portrait of my friend Sam is an example.  She brought so much energy and colour to this shoot herself, that I felt this shot just had to be in colour.

As I said, it's never a formula.  It's what feels right for the shot and what works.

Portraits can surprise us

This is a portrait I made of my friend Sam.  I see her as creative, energetic, confident. As many of you know, my usual style is what I call New Baroque: strong side light, high contrast of dark and light. I don't do it as a gimmick.  It just feels right and natural for me.

But that style of lighting just wasn't capturing my friend's image.  So I switched to the so-called photo beauty light position: light right beside the camera elevated to the ceiling.

And then I did a second thing I don't usually do.  I made the development high key in LightRoom (the images is lightened significantly).  I did all that because I thought that was what the portrait needed to convey the likeness as I saw it.  I think it works.