Unique Photography For a Different Perspective

Graves

2011-06-20T17:35:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I love gothic photography, there is so much more passion that you can put into your photos. I, personally, enjoy shooting cemeteries and gravestones because there is a beauty there that no many people see.

These first 2 are from Colonial Williamsburg at Bruton Parish Church. They are both finished with a Daguerreotype film effect but each one shows a different emotion.

This photo is of a single tombstone placed beside a tree. It is the only one in this small area.

It represents a feeling of loneliness and sadness. While all the other graves are grouped with family and friends, this one is singled out and alone.

This second photo is an above ground tomb and the tree beside it has this branch draping down over the top of it. It symbolizes security and sheltering.

It is almost as if this tomb is being protected. I do not know the history of this grave nor who it belongs to because that section is closed off.

This last photo was taken at the Hollywood Cemetery and I just loved the design work on the stone. It was so stunning and the after effects really show that beauty.

So, that is the 3 grave photos that I have left after my computer crash. I am slowly building them back up but want to shoot the ones that spark that inspiration.

I have been having a hard time getting out and shooting with school, my business and my Fibro. However, I have a new camera that has some really cool features and that has been a great kick in the pants to get out and get some amazing photos. So there are way more in stock and some just blow the mind.

Bruton Parish Church

2011-01-15T19:23:00.000-08:00

I am usually one of those people who shy away from architectural photos. Mainly because if you get it off center too much, it looks like the building is falling over. Now unless you are squished under the building, it really shouldn't look like that.

Now, that being said, I couldn't help but take a photo of this church in Colonial Williamsburg. It is historical and beautiful, in a haunted and creepifying way. Now I took this photo along the back side of the main steeple. The effects I added in post edit, just to add to the creepy feel. Which one is better? I really can't tell, I like both of them in their own way.

American Beauty

2010-03-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

I love seeing how 1 theme can be captured in so many different ways. It all reflects the same image but each photo can produce completely different emotions when you look at them.

During a recent trip to Pennsylvania, my husband took this photo. Such an interesting image and so emotional as well.

It really pulls an emotional string when you look at it. You can almost feel the chill and it really is hard to pull yourself away from it.

Now this next photo, I took while on base at Fort Story. I was walking along the beach taking photos of the waves and this image caught my eye. Adding the black and white tone makes it feel more somber.

The framing with the trees adds to the emotional state and the overall feel of the photo.

The emotion that you feel from both photos are so different and yet the subject is the same. This just shows that any subject can produce different effects, you just have to see what you want it to say, how you want it to feel.

Barnacles

2010-03-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

Working with macro is something that I love. Getting up close and personal with your subject (as long as that subject doesn't bite). You can find some amazing things when you look closely at something.

I was down at the River taking some photos, actually retaking photos. Ever since I lost my last computer worth of photos when my computer crashed, I have been working on trying to get some of them back. At least reshooting as close as I can get to the original. Well I decided to get a pretty awesome shot underneath the fishing pier, seeing as how I am a sucker for leading line shots. Well anyway, as I was under the pier I noticed something that had the potential for a great shot. This is what I saw:

The texture of the barnacles is what caught me the most. I tilted the camera to gain depth of field so the closest barnacles are blurred and then they get clearer the further out they get. The reason I did that was so the composition would let you see the texture and not just the barnacles. The point I wanted to make with this photo was that anything has potential to be a photograph. It just depends on how you want to see it and what feeling you want to convey.

Negative Image Effect

2010-03-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

In photography, you need to edit your photos. Some photos lend themselves to more editing than others. Sometimes you just have one certain photo that you just can't help playing around with.

I like to push the limits of what you normally see in photography, but that is what makes a true photographer, right? Someone who isn't afraid to go beyond the "traditional" shots. If you don't push the limits you end up walking in the footsteps of all that came before. So I make some detours here and there and what I come up with is very worth while.

Take this photo for example:

A beautiful photo of the Cape Henry Lighthouses, here in Norfolk Va. While this is a very nice photo on its own, I had to play around with it some.

I changed the look to reflect a negative image. This effect darkened the light areas and lightened the dark areas. The clouds that had blended into the sky in the original image stood out and now produces an eerie feel. Here is the altered photo:

The photo now looks kinda post-apocalyptic but in a very interesting way. It is not something that you see everyday in photography. Admittedly, some photos are better left to the motto, less is more. However, sometimes you just have to go with your gut and push the envelope. Sometimes it does work out and what you will have is a photo that not only speaks to you but emits a feeling.

Photography in today's culture allows for trying new things. Since we have entered the digital age, it is easier to produce effects like this. If you try it and you don't like it, easy peasy change it back. It's so easy to try out cool effects and see what fits the mood of your photo. For me, the mood for this photo is very dark and eerie, almost depressing but it keeps drawing you in.

Great News!

2009-08-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

I have some great news, while I have yet to get some of my older images back, I am working on getting some of my newer images ready to be adding.

So I will be giving you all some hints as to what will be coming soon.

I have some air show pictures coming. These are amazing so if you love planes, this will be perfect for you. I am still working on editing these and boy do I have some amazing shots.

Also coming soon are more of my darker and haunting photos.

Lost photos

2009-06-05T08:46:00.001-07:00

Well I have had a bit of misfortune. My computer hard drive with ALL of my photography and my portfolio crashed a little while back. Of course, it does this the day before I scheduled to back everything up on disk... Don't ya just love it.

So, while I had all my photos here on my ArtFire shop for sale, they have now been taken down for the time being. The only photos I still have up are the ones I still had either on my memory card or on my old computer.

Good news, is that as we speak, my photos are being retrieved from the old drive and will be back in my possession soon. So until that time, the only photos that I can update with would be new ones. And that might happen if it ever stops raining and being just generally miserable.

I will also be updating this blog with some of my columns for HandmadeNews as I begin to discuss composition and this will play perfectly with my plans here. So as I show photos here that relate, you can also read the tips for achieving the same composition in your own photos.

If you have not already done so, check out HandmadeNews.org and read up on articles in all forms of crafting as well as my own photography tips and techniques.

Brackens Pond - Colonial Parkway

2009-04-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

As you drive down the road you never really know what events have happened there unless you have really done your homework on the area. Well, if you live in a historic area where there are numerous haunts, you tend to find them all out in a relative short amount of time.

The Colonial Parkway is a scenic drive that goes from Yorktown, Va through Williamsburg and all the way up to Jamestown Island. Its a beautiful drive and full of history itself. There are several pull offs that you can stop and take a walk to the waterfront of the James River and there are even areas that are no longer open to the public unless you park 5 miles down and walk into. (I will be doing that this summer when it's warm so we'll see what I get then). There are also several little swamps and ponds along the way. I took this picture at a pond that boasts a little bit of haunted history.

This is Brackens Pond and the photo was shot looking through some branches on the bank. (I think it kinda adds to the spookyness of the shot) It was then edited with a Daguerreotype finish to give it that deep black and white tone.

The Story:
A long time ago in the Colonial days when people used horse and carriage to get from place to place, this area used to be a well traveled path. Some say it was a dirt road while others say it was cobblestone that got replaced when they made the Parkway. Well, a group of people were traveling down this road one night and as they neared the pond, something spooked the horse. The horse bolted to the side of the road, lost its footing and fell into Brackens Pond taking the whole carriage along with the people into the pond. It was said that the people passing by couldn't get to them fast enough and when they finally was able to get to them, no one, not even the horse survived.

Now, if you drive by this pond, there is a pull off on the other side of the road where you can park your car and get out. If you come out at night and sit and listen, you can still hear the sound of the horses hooves on the road today. When they get to the side of the pond, they vanish...

*********************************DISCLAIMER****************************************
I am stating the obvious here... I am only retelling ONE of the NUMEROUS stories about this particular ghost story. This is in no way to be taken in any other way except for entertainment.

Bruton Parish Church

2009-04-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's no big secret that I love ghost stories, I mean after all my mom used to work as a tour guide on these nightly ghost tours by lantern through Colonial Williamsburg. Having lived in Yorktown for 21 years and working in Williamsburg myself you see a lot of history. History just in the land itself, such as the Battlefields of Yorktown and then all the history that is Williamsburg, all the original houses and even the local ghosts.

Well, I love working on my photography in these areas because of all the history and you never quite know what you may end up with by taking a picture here. This photo was taken at the Bruton Parish Church on Duke of Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg.

The story:
A long time back when Williamsburg was booming, there was this little boy around 8 who had made best friends with a slave boy of the same age. These two were practically inseparable. They would sneak out and play around the graveyard of this church and steal potatoes from workers as they would pass by to go into the taverns. The father did not approve of the boys friendship and tried to keep the two apart. This did not stop the boys from sneaking out and playing together at night. Well, the young boy became very ill and eventually passed away. The father laid his son to rest in a family tomb in the cemetery at Bruton Parish. Heartbroken and now without his only friend, the young slave boy ended up passing away a year later. The father, knowing how much this little boy meant to his son, buried the slave boy on top of his own son in the same plot.
Now, these two little boys are together in death as they had been in life. They have been seen by passerbys of the cemetery at night. They say that if you look real carefully you can see the two boys, one white and one black holding hands and walking around the cemetery.

*********************************DISCLAIMER****************************************

I am stating the obvious here... I am only retelling ONE of the NUMEROUS stories about this particular ghost story. This is in no way to be taken in any other way except for entertainment.

Leading Lines

2009-04-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

I had a project in my Photography class that dealt with leading lines. This is a composition in which the photographer draws the eye to a subject by using lines such as a railroad track. The lines will begin very wide and draw you down as they get closer together. This got me to thinking... What would happen if you only used a single line to draw the same type of composition but getting a different perspective.

You can see my leading line photo:

This photo draws your eye down the road as you see the colors of the leaves as they are turning for the fall season. A very traditional leading line shot, to be quite honest. I could have added more depth even if I had a bicyclist on the road but this was the best I could do while standing in the middle of the road hoping that a car didn't run me over.

I wanted to shoot something that still used lines to draw attention but didn't have the traditional look of leading lines. So I went to Yorktown Beach and walked over to this pier. I shot some regular leading line shots and then I looked off to the side. That is where I got this idea and this photo is what came of that...

This is looking down the side of the pier with the beach in the foreground, the pier off to the side. I also chose to leave in the jut of the rocks on the right so that it added to the depth. The clouds add a bit of a surreal look as they rolled out. It was right after a storm so they added a bit of texture to the photo as they were not just solid white.

This is what happens when you push the limits of the traditional and make your own path. Sometimes it works and sometimes you crash and burn, but if you don't try, you'll never know. You have to fall a few times to learn. I have taken so many pictures that I just look at and then delete because they honestly look like crap. I have tried things that didn't work out but at least I know that now and I will try something different later on.

French Cross

2009-04-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

This photo is very historical and definitely for those that love the past and are big history or war buffs.

I took this photo along Surrender Field which is a scenic loop drive in Yorktown, Va. It is very close to the Colonial Parkway as well as the Battlefields. This particular cross is a marker for about 50 unidentified French soldiers during the Siege of Yorktown. This Siege marked the allegiance of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by General Comte de Rochambeau against the British Army led by General Lord Cornwallis. This also was the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War.

I shot this photo in the late fall of 2008. I loved the blanket of leaves and the rust colored mums that surrounded the marker in front of the cross. I then edited it in the Cross Process technique to highlight the fall colors and give it a little more of a surreal feel. I love how the neutral colors just come to life. In this photograph I have raised the intensity of the process slightly to accentuate the colors that would normally blend into the background.

You can see the markers for this area at this website: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11144

Introduction and a bit about me

2009-03-31T14:53:00.000-07:00

I am a work at home wife who pretty much enjoys anything I can do to create things. I live on the coast of Virginia and am near a lot of history and really amazing places. I love to see something that I made with my own two hands form into a piece of art. I started out designing jewelry and then expanded that into chainmaille. I went back to school and enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography and began to really concentrate on my photos. I began to expand my online shops further with the addition of my photographs. I also sew and make items for Home Decor. I am always working on creating something, whether it be art in the form of something you wear or something to place in your home.

This blog is going to about photography that pushes the limits. This is my style of Photography, photography that is beyond the boundaries of tradition. Unique views of the world around us and the perception that anything is possible. I break the limits of photography and my photos are not what you would see in the local gallery window. These photos are breaking the limits of traditional photography.

I have grown up seeing amazing photos from some of the best photographers. I have often wondered what sets them apart from the next person who goes to that spot to take a photo. When I began photography school, I started to understand that it's all in the eye of the photographer. I want to stand out, I want to have photos that are not seen all the time. I have a different perspective than most. I like things a little darker and maybe a little more morbid than the next photographer.

I like shooting digital but I still have a soft spot for the effects of film. I enjoy taking my digital shots and adding different effects to give them a certain ambiance. I will be showing some of my work and the effects used to produce the shots. My prints are available for sale and can be purchased from this blog. I will be showing some of my regular photography as well as my more unique prints so you never know what I might be shooting next.