Kiawah Sunset

I just finished editing this photo of the sun setting at Kiawah and thought I'd share it.

Beginning of a new year

I've decided to do a "loose" 52 week photography blog as a follow up to the 365 day blog I did in 2010.  After experiencing what it was like to do the 365 blog, I've decided to be a little kinder and gentler to myself this time.  This is my first post of a 52 week blog for 2012, and already I've been a little "loose" since technically the photo should have been posted by last night at midnight.  Oh well.  My "rules" this year are also a little loose.  Since I have more than 1000 photos still left to edit from our Africa trip this year, I've decided that I will post any photo that I'm currently (or recently) working on, even if I didn't take the photo during the week.  My goal is to have a higher quality of work to post in lieu of the discipline of taking a new photo every week.  I still want to use this blog to get the camera in my hand often, but I also know that doing good editing is also an important part of the process and I want to balance the two.  I'm also getting ready to start a new photography class tomorrow night for the next 4 weeks, so I know I'll be grabbing my camera a lot during the remainder of January.

I imagine I'll be posting a lot of my photos from Africa since I'll be editing those over the next couple of months, but this first posting represents some photos I took in Kiawah in late December.  I've been experimenting with low saturated, high exposure shots lately, and these two represent that type of photography.  I'm still all over the board on developing my own style, so experimentation continues to be part of my development.

Here's to 2012!

Dark Secrets

My friend and talented photographer, Sarah, is sponsoring a photo contest on her blog with the title "Dark Secrets".  It was fun trying to think of things to do for this assignment.  (A big thanks to John M. for his creative thoughts!).  I sent in a couple of submissions.  The first concept was to show a woman, at home in the afternoon drinking.  So my idea was to do a self-portrait sitting in front of afternoon soap operas nursing a bottle of vodka.  Concepts are always so much easier than reality.  When I got ready to stage this photo, I realized that all our TVs sit right beside windows, so taking the shot right into the windows was going to present quite a lighting challenge, and since I am very lighting-challenged myself, I went looking for a way around the problem.  I finally set up a chair and table in front of the TV in our exercise room.  Not the best environment to stage the photo, so it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, but I think it got the message across.  So that's the first of these two images and it's entitled "Afternoon pick-me-up".

The second image was also a fun little "self portrait" of my foot and leg, playfully rubbing up a man's leg.  First of all I had to set up lighting in dark room and I had to put the camera on the floor (actually on a pillow propped up by a little cardboard box.....yes, I am very hi-tech!).  So, after every shot with this one, I had to pick up the camera, check the image....try to put it back in the same spot and shoot again.  I used a stand-in for the guy's leg (my yoga bolster) until I got something I could live with.  Then, when George got home, my real guy took the place of the yoga bolster until we could get another shot to live with.  Anyway.....one of my learnings over the past year is that art is a little like sausage....sometimes you just don't want to know how it's made!  So, the second shot is called "An Affair to Remember".  The full idea for this was to do a diptych (two images shown side by side that tell a story) and show a second image of the same leg with the fishnet stocking and stiletto disappearing into the curtain of a confessional (thanks to John and Claudia for that idea!).  But, I just couldn't get up the nerve to call a Catholic Church to ask if I could "borrow" their confessional for a while!  I love the idea, though, so if anyone knows a friendly priest that might be willing to help, please let me know!

I'm certainly not expecting to win the contest with either of these shots, but it was a fun way to spend an afternoon and got me shooting again!  Be sure to check out Sarah's contest and all the entries at her blog http://bulb-photo.blogspot.com.

Here are the photos.  (PS....I would have posted this on the blog section of my new website, but I still can't figure out how to get it to do an RSS feed to facebook....hopefully soon!)

Moving to a new home

I've put together a very rough effort at a website to use as a photography gallery.  I put up a few photos tonight to test out the template and start to figure out how to set up the site, but this is definitely under construction and I doubt the photos on there now will even be the ones on the final site.  I have a ton of work to do.  But at least now there is something to see.   If you're interested, you can check it out at www.debrawarrenphotography.com.  I have a blog page set up as a place holder and as soon as I learn how to use it, I'll start blogging there.  I figure that I needed to move away from the "365 blog" anyway, and hopefully this will be a good substitute.  So....this might be my last blog at this site  (assuming I figure out how to do it on my website!) and my only one without a photo!

aging gracefully

My first photography post of 2011.  I've been "taking a lot of pictures" lately (construction on our house in the mountains, a family member's collections I'm trying to sell, stuff like that) so my camera has been in my hand fairly often, but certainly I haven't produced anything that I felt like adding to my blog.  But today I thought I'd post one just to enjoy the process again.  As any of you know who have followed my 365 blog, I enjoy photographing flowers.  I particularly love tulips and even more specifically, I love the stages they go through from their tight little buds to the curling petals drifting falling to the floor.  I bought some pale pink tulips last week and watched them go through their metamorphosis.  Yesterday when we got home from being away for the long weekend, they were in their final stage.  I knew I couldn't move the vase of flowers since it was very fragile and the petals would fall away quickly, so I just left them where they were (fortunately near a window so I could take advantage of the natural light) and I put a white board behind them to simplify the background.  I like this image because it's so light and airy.  I usually gravitate to dark and heavily contrasted photographs, but I thought the delicate treatment, with the brightness enhanced and the colors slightly desaturated, fit the subject.

I still promise that one day soon I'm going to write about what I learned from last years 365 journey, but I just haven't taken the time to put it all together.  Meanwhile, think good thoughts of spring with this little photo.

One last shot and I'm outta' here!

It's with sadness and joy that I post my last entry in my 365 photo blog.  It's been a wonderful experience. Have I become a better photographer than I was on 1/1/2010?  Not so sure.  But I've learned a great deal about photography and about myself.  For one thing, I've learned that I've never engaged in any art that I've found more inspiring and captivating, and I know that creating images will always be a significant part of my life.

After a few days of thought, I'll post my learnings from the year and what's next for me.  I do know that I'll keep posting when I have something worthwhile to show, just not everyday.  There may not be as many photos of my kitties or George drinking, but I know I want to keep this process in my life to some degree.

In the meantime, thanks to all of you who have followed me and given me feedback.  You've been gentle, kind and encouraging and kept me at this everyday even when I just didn't think I had it in me to post one more time.  So Happy New Year and stay tuned for future developments!

Mac within a mac

I have a new baby and as with all new babies, it's requiring a lot of time, energy and love.  Santa brought me a badly needed new Mac for Christmas and I've spent the last several days transferring photos, files, applications, etc.  I finally got Lightroom installed today (as you can see in the photo), so I decided to break it in with my next to last (yea!) daily blog post.  My new baby is so much faster than my old one, but it has served me well so I almost feel guilty posting my last two days on the newbie rather than staying loyal to my old friend.  But did I say how much faster it is?  Oh well....so much for loyalty.

Oh yeah....only ONE MORE DAY!!!!