So on Friday, August 13, I went out to Colony High school to watch the Knights take on the West High School Eagles. Unfortunately, not only was I trying my hand at sports photography, but also at dealing with terrible weather. Alaska, has just broken its previous record for most days in row of rain and Friday was no different, it was rainy and wet.

After calling around and searching the internet for ideas on how to deal with photography in the rain I was shocked to find that there wasn’t too much to aid in this. I was able to find something that looks like a fancy plastic bag, here’s an example of one. I was able to pick up a comparable item in a pack of 2 for only $10 bucks from Stewart’s Photo on 4th and F, in Anchorage.

I don’t want to ramble on too long, but keep in mind, that your cameras DON’T LIKE WATER; so, do whatever you can to keep them dry. You can use a plastic bag from a retail shop and cut a whole in for your lens, purchase on of the camera bags mentioned before, or go with a friend and use an umbrella.

If you want a recall of the game, the Knights lost 6 to 7 against the Eagles. For a complete recap, check here.

Now on to the shots, I have decided to buy a large lens for distance and light sensing capabilities. Look for shots in the future:

Why? What do you do at 5am on Sunday mornings? …So this isn’t normal? *sigh*

…That’s what I was afraid of…

I arrived at the home of Kimberly Bustillos at 5am on June 6th for a painting adventure! If you can believe it, the above photo was taken before we left her house.

I’m LOVING all this light!

When we arrived at our destination it became evident that selecting a subject would be a challenge. There is a point where too much inspiration can be problematic… especially for someone who is already decisively challenged and running on yesterday’s fumes. *grumbles at coffee stand that was closed that morning*

We walked the trail to make sure we didn’t over look something.

Large swaths of Sitka Rose bushes were blooming with impressive displays of magenta on either side of the trail. Kimberly quickly succumbed to their beauty and  in a mere 2 hours created an amazing painting.

While searching for a place to set up I lost one of the legs to my easel, 8-0 !! My 2 year old son apparently thought all the wing nuts on my easel needed to be loosened in preparation for mommy’s adventure. Then I discovered I forgot my palette. Luckily, I had an extra canvas panel covered in shrink wrap…

After a somewhat rocky start I settled on this setting for my painting…

I really had fun putting down bright colors straight from the tube. There was a glow in this setting that the camera didn’t pick up on. It was just beautiful!

…and the result!

After 2 hours of painting we had to return to reality Children and husbands awaited our return. This one will have to be finished in the studio but what fun to get out and throw the paint around. Can’t wait to do it again… Tomorrow!!!

Only this time we will be painting irises

Throwing some paint around feels so good!

Our painting group decided to visit the home of  Talya Johnson for a little plein air paint-out. A “still” life emerged. The colors were just stunning! I however, could not pry my dirt-deprived self from her flower bed. Her tulips were gorgeous and in full-bloom.

Kristy Tracy (left), all beautiful and tan from her recent adventures, joined me in painting the flora. Talya buzzed about with her camera like a hummingbird searching for the perfect angle. She eventually settled on the still life, with beautiful colors resulting.

Jeanne Young was a trooper and stuck to the plan and painted the still life. I admire her focus! *jealous*

Her painting turned out just gorgeous!

A little later, Kimberly Bustillos came with kids-in-tow. She got out her supplies and sketched a beautiful flower, again from that irresistible flower bed.

When I wasn’t wrangling my preschoolers and assisting with the resulting chicken-rescue, I got to lay some paint down. It felt so nice to have the warm sun at my back while I pushed the paint around. Though my efforts did not produce a painting I was happy with, the time I spent was very productive. Sometimes I just need to paint for no other reason than to paint. Not concerning myself with, will this be salable, but using the experience to learn, enjoy, and experiment.

Ahhh, Summer in Alaska. How I’ve missed you!

]]> http://whitworthgallery.org/?feed=rss2&p=505 4 http://whitworthgallery.org/?p=505 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhitworthGallery/~3/k8fYJFMNpBE/ http://whitworthgallery.org/?p=479#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 23:44:15 +0000 karenwhitworth http://whitworthgallery.org/?p=479

A big thank you goes out to all who came by. What fun! Here are a few pics!

Here we have the “Fire” side of the show.  On the Easel is My latest painting, “River of Fire”. This piece features real lava I brought back from Kalapana, Hawai’i. I used it to build depth and texture in the painting’s foreground. I encourage all who go see it to run your fingers over the surface of the painting. It is intended to be touched. It measures 20×30″

To the left of the easel is “My Hawaii”, another New Release. Measuring 24×36″ it is a generously sized still life.  Executed in oils and painted from life, this painting features a loose style with emphasis on form and light. Multiple light sources, one warm artificial and a large window whose lighting changed throughout the day created a dramatic and challenging composition. I am excited how it came out, and the kids are even more pleased with the smoothies that resulted from the painting being completed. A remaining papaya and Mango were served at the reception. That’s how recent the painting is!

Here I am standing in front of the “Ice” side of my display. My new release “Signs of Spring” is just above the table. I really enjoyed painting this young bull moose. He had so much character and personality. Thank you Heather for the reference material. This painting measures 24×48″ acrylic on panel.

Back to the “Fire” side now.

Proudly showing it’s new gold frame is “Mists of Iao Valley”. It measures 24×36″. This painting I had started a couple months back. I decided to set it aside until the week of the show when in a fit of inspiration I glazed some saturated green, red, and purple tones over the painting. It was amazing how much dimension was added. The Iao (Pronounced ee-ow) Valley is a very beautiful place on the island of Maui with an incredible history.

Lower right is the original of “Secret Sanctuary”. 24×30″ acrylic on panel. This piece is extra special to Greg and I as it represents our first snorkeling experience on Maui. Swimming with this gentle Green Sea Turtle was a wonderful opportunity. The color of the water and the ocean life was astounding. Such beauty! This is my tribute.

Here is a little better angle of  “Signs of Spring”.

And lastly, a larger shot of “River of Fire” Here you can begin to see the rough texture in the painting’s foreground.

Thanks again to those who stopped by on Saturday. It made the reception even more special. If you would like to go see, (or touch ) the show, It will be up until May 22nd at Shane Lamb Studios Gallery

Thanks for following along!

April 23rd through April 25th
Menard Sports Center, Wasilla, Alaska

We are excited about this years Woman Show in Alaska as we will be joining together with Pia’s Framing. Make sure to stop by our booth and see us to talk or inquire about our art work. Don’t worry we will be taking pictures and will update everyone on the event! Check back later.

UPDATE!

The show has been going decently today. There are a lot of booths to look at, from Envisioned Studios (a wedding videographer – had to give a shout out to Jamin), toys that inspire learning, even professionals from the medical field speaking on how women can help identify and protect against breast cancer, and of course there was food and door prizes, so make sure to stop by tomorrow and check out our booth with Pia’s custom framing.

A shot of our wall at the Women's show in Wasilla, Alaska.

So for the test I setup a subject, in this case a Nascar, and kept everything but the ISO consistent. The shutter speed was 1/100, F-stop was at 4.5, and the distance remained constant. So here are the full shots with the ISO in the caption.

So you can see that when you up the ISO the image gets brighter, making it so that you can take pictures in lower light with the same variable settings. While this is handy it has a big draw back and can be the death of a great shot for any photographer. The higher up in ISO you go the more grainy your image will get, this used to be referred to as film grain (Photoshop even has a filter for this). You can see the differences in photo quality on these enlargements of the previous shots:

Notice how smooth the shot for ISO 100 hundred is, while the 400 looks alright you can begin to see some pixelation, and in the 1000 ISO setting the pixelation is very apparent in the blurred and darker areas.

To prevent having shots with a lot of pixelation, practice shooting in an ISO lower than 200 – this takes some work as you need a good amount of light to achieve the same results.

Let’s move on and look at some examples of good and bad composition.

You’ll notice that while this shot is intriguing, your eye really doesn’t know where to go or what to focus on. It may work well in a stock shot, but other than that this shot is junked because the view paths are non-existent. Now let’s look at a shot in the same location but with a good composition.

In this one your eye is set to look at the leaf and then gradually circles around the image, there is control and order to the photo. When creating a photo composition I have learned to be a “Silent Director.” What do I mean by this? Well, in most photography settings you may not have control of your subject like a director would, but at the same time you do have a final desired shot of that subject much like a director. So, what needs to happen is instead of you controlling the director – you in turn need to move to force your shot to happen. Like in the following shot:

The lighting is good, we have a good sense of motion but the shot is ruined by the slicing of the image by the swingset poles. It calls your attention away from the girl. So, I moved around to make a shot where the entire focus is the girl and made sure to limit the amount of cotton wood (the white stuff on the ground in the above picture) and elements of the swing set.

You can see in this shot that not only do we have a neat angle, a good sense of motion, but your eye is drawn and held on the girl – there is nothing to distract your eye from your desired subject.

Now there will obviously be times where you can’t control the background due to movement constraints (media box – you have to stay in for instance), so what do you do then. That’s where lenses come in. In the following shot I show you how to pull off a forced subject while being unable to change my location and angle:

In the water on the North Shore of Maui, there were at least 50 – 75 surfers in the water, but notice that I zoomed way in and moved the subject to the right side of the frame so that I didn’t get any other surfers in the shot. This once again allows the eye to have no confusion and knows where to focus.

Finally, in the end you want to think of what you are using your image for; is it for stock photography, a magazine or newspaper, or is it for someone to place on their mantle. Each one is different and requires a different director’s approach to the shoot. But in any of these, you have to have control of your shot even though you don’t have control – you need to make sure that your subject is obvious and the view paths are easy to follow with little confusion.

I began my excursion in early afternoon in Wasilla, armed with my camera and my iphone. First I visited the reception of watercolor artist Karen Mattson at Primrose Retirement Community.  Here she unveiled several large floral watercolor paintings. The colors were beautifully vivid and intense!

I think one of my favorites was, “Peony Puzzle”, one of Karen’s new works. It is absolutely stunning. The intricate petals all intertwine in a delicate, mesmerizing pattern. Just beautiful, Karen! You can view more of her work here.

Next I was off to Palmer to take in the art of Tracie Tompkins and bronze work of Paul Seibel at Turkey Red.

Tracie had some beautiful paintings up. Some of my favorites were the pirate themed works.

The theme and colors harmonized beautifully. Bravo Tracie! You can see some more of her works here.

In the same venue was the bronze work of Paul Seibel.

These beautifully sculpted works were a pleasure to view. The artist captured a great deal of character in each of his subjects. Quite lovely!

With a very satisfied tummy (thank you Tracie for that amazing pasta! ) I headed over to Madd Matters to see the 4th annual “For the Birds” show. What a great cause!

“This Art Show features bird related art of all kinds, including paintings, photographs, sculpture, fiber arts, etc. And in addition, real, live birds from the Alaska Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center will also be on display from 6 to 8pm. These wild birds, such as a Great Horned Owl, Red Tailed Hawk, and others species have been injured and can’t be returned to the wild. Now they have a new job: educating the public!

The Alaska Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center, also known as the AWBRC, has a wild bird medical and rehabilitation facility near Prator Lake in Houston, Alaska. This worthy organization was founded in 2005, and in their first year, the AWBRC helped over 250 injured wild birds. For more information on the AWBRC, go to their website www.akwildbirdrehab.org.”

I arrived just as Greg Gusse was hanging the last picture. Look at all that art!

I must say, the birds complemented the art quite well…

The show was enjoyed by many. What fun! …Maybe too fun???……..

After the birds I made my way back to Wasilla. This time for the work of  Ilene Paulsen at Pandemonium Booksellers.

I squeaked in right before closing time but found Ilene smiling as usual

As I wandered around the store I kept being pulled back to the same painting. I could not get over it. It made me smile inside and out. Here, let me show you…

This bug guy graces the west side of the fireplace. You should go take a peek for yourself! Such a great painting. Way to go Ilene! You can see more of Ilene’s work here.

Whew! After all that running around I was thoroughly wiped put! I think it is safe to say I have accumulated my art ‘fix’    …until tomorrow, that is.

Speaking of fun shots, this is a shot of my son at a church event in July, where he was just enamored with the large bubbles that one of the youth were creating. I could show you a few hundred of these shots, but this is indeed my favorite. Kids are always a great source to shoot, but heads up from a parent, make sure to get permission before you start taking photographs of a child.

Another one of my favorite things to shoots is flowers, and it may be simply because they’re beatiful but also because they sit still. They are great way to get pretty pictures but also a way to hone your skills as a photographer. For instance, in the shot above I was working on getting an in-focus close up that could be resized to 100% viewing have no artifacts or extreme pixelation and a great blurry background from camera alone. I accomplished this by setting the rose in a location far away from the background (this achieves a blurry background) and setting the ISO to 250 and the F-Stop to 3.5 to counter-act the low ISO. It was just raining so I thought it a perfect time to capture this composition.

Now that I’ve been accepted into iStock I have been looking for more ’stocky’ compositions to capture, and the other day Karen was talking about painting this and I told her I had to shoot it first. So I positioned them and allowed the light to hit them just right. Once again, to get the photo into iStock I had to make sure to keep the ISO as low as possible to keep the pixelation down so in turn I lowed the F-Stop to capture the great spring sunlight flooding into the kitchen. In the end, I think we got a great composition and wonderful shot.

I hope that you liked the first of many photography blog posts I will be doing. In the future I will try to cover some techniques that I use to accomplish some of our shots. Happy shooting.

–

Greg