Orton Effect

It was an awesome week.  Weather is fairly nice and Sun has stayed as much as he can. There is no doubt in my mind that I feel upbeat whenever sun is up there delivering his everlasting friendship to Earth. After a long and cold winter, I was optimistic to have some decent weather when we adjusted our clock one hour ahead for summer saving time. Thinking of spring and summer, I am instantly energized.

My Lantern Rose was barely surviving in the rain just one month ago is now gradually opening up. I wonder why God created this stunning flower and yet let them stand with faces down.  If I was not searching for deer-resistant flowers, I would not  discover this hidden jewel. I cannot photo this flower without turning their faces upwards, so I simply picked them from the stem and placed them on a plate full of water. For macro shots, I have to set myself a limit, otherwise, I can easily spend hours peeking into the stigma of the flowers. Through the stigma (center of the flower), I witnessed our Creator's design talent. The design is not only intricate and colorful, it coordinate so well that each flower is like a piece of artwork.

This picture shows the stigma of Lantern Rose. I took the shot and used Orton effect to create the second picture in Photoshop. It is satisfying to observe the details from the first photo, but the soft tone on the second photo adds enchanted, dreamy and artsy flare. I think we are here on earth to create something beyond what has been created in Nature. Nature is an infinitive resource for inspirations. We should utilize what we are given as a human being and expand it.

As I said earlier, this is my portrait month. I got lots of fun taking my own pictures and I discovered a lot of about myself that I have never noticed before. It will be nice if I can go out with my tripod, pose in front of a field of green or blooming colors, but I am too bashful to do that.  So, how do I get rid of my boring look… I thought about wearing a hat and I did.  I am simple and plain, posing or wearing hat for photos are usually not my thing. But what the heck, just do it. Nobody will care. I tend to think too much.

Out of many hat shots, I picked this one. There was a story behind it.  When I lived in Taiwan during my college days, there was a very popular TV talk show. Family, marriage and relationship are the theme subjects.

The host lady wore a hat, nothing special about wearing a hat, but her beautiful hat covered most of her face. The only thing we could see was her mouth and lips.  People watched her lips talking for months and months and nobody ever knew what she really looked like. She was supposed to be a marriage specialist and she did a good job on that particular subject. Some audience was so charmed by her mysterious look and her show that they grew desirous to see her face, so did I as far as I can remember. Probably about one year later, she was finally un-vailed herself and was brought to the public, without the hat.

Were people getting more excited after the secret was broken? I don’t think so. She still talked as usual but her mysterious appeal disappeared. Not long after that, there was a rumor which turned into the truth that she was divorced!

Human beings are born with curiosity.  This strong desire of knowing can sometimes drive us insane. Once the truth is unfolded, then, it is just like another day or another thing in life.  However, it is the curiosity that we are driven to be creative and it is the creativity that enhanced and improved our life.

I don’t intend to look like that lady. My purpose for this shot is to experiment my portrait in a completely dark room and rely flash as the single light source. In this case, I set my flash right in front of my camera and have a navy blue cloth with the edge of green wall shown just to add a bit of colors. I also tried to show Orton effect on a portrait picture. It softened the look and made it look more artistic.

As you have probably already seen that the hat is more like sitting on my head instead of me wearing it.  I have a big head and I cannot find a hat in regular hat stores. Even if I can find one, I usually lose it in one trip anyway.

Ortan effect can also be used on a landscape shots. I came across this old flour mill on one of my recent drives to the countryside.  The building is nothing dramatic, but I love its reflections on the pond.

The original shot is contrast, intense and more dramatic,  when the Orton effect is applied, it becomes soft, relaxed and peaceful.  

Photography records reality and modern technology provides know-how to tweak it to our likings and to suit our mood. Isn't that the coolest thing? I do want to say that I don't care for 'extreme make-over' on photograph. Particularly on HDR shots, some people can really go overboard and make some fake looking stuff.

Just Do It, Right Away

It was a clear night.  Chilly but refreshing.  Having been trying to do some water feature shots unsatisfactorily, I walked out to the deck for some fresh air.  I looked into night sky and was soaked under the dark blue canopy. How I always like this color called 'midnight blue'? Because it is so calm, so deep and so peaceful. 

When I was a child, I hated night, the long and dragging darkness.  Particularly when I could not sleep and had to wait patiently under the comforter till all the adults finally got out of the bed. Now I appreciate that our Creator has actually given us this time of the day to rest and relax, and, if I cannot sleep, I would tune in my smartphone for audio books. It usually put me right back to sleep.

I love to use my marco lens to explore the intricacy of Nature, but I want to broaden my horizon not to limit myself to certain style and I want to change my focal point.  I know at times the stunning beauty is right there and it is hard not to capture it at that instant. It is irresistible.

If I want to do something, I want to do it right away.  JUST DO IT and do it RIGHT AWAY.  That's me.  I don't sit and wait around, I want to act now. I can easily stay all night to finalize a task and next day, I will keep my day going as it is just another regular day. One of my fond old memories is to work with product photographers to set up the backdrop for product shots. We were working on a catalog with hundreds of items. It took a while to prep up the background and it took even longer for some close-to-perfect shots to come through.  We could work day and night, slept on the floor of the studio, and got right back to work with a fresh cup of coffee to kick off our morning.  When the momentum is there, let the inspiration flow.

I never thought that I would become a designer towards the end of my working career. Being an introvert, I do prefer to work with products than people.  But I don't dislike people, I am only not social enough.  I don't like the product itself as much, I enjoy the process of creating products.  Product sounds too commercial and my interest is not being measured by monetary value.  My joy is to see an idea materialized and become a product and people actually like my product. It is so rewarding.

Back to the deck under midnight blue sky.... Prior to the first freeze, I put away all my plants and flowers and have them sheltered under my patio table. I have not looked at them for months while I was working on my photo book projects.  I suddenly had a desire to check on them and stay outside for a bit longer.  Spring life sign is shown on almost every plant. I was pleased and could not resist smiling. They looked dry however, so I sprayed some water on them to quench their thirst.

For a long time, I want to shoot flowers in the night time, but I never did (well, I did not get my flash till last Christmas). It is the time and I want to do it right away.  But, there are buds no blooms. Give up, no, I just gave up my project inside the house. Now it is time for me to do something outside the house, but what?

My honeysuckle survived through winter and it is full of new leaves and flower buds, but there is nothing like spring time when I could click my shutter for hours.  Well, do something and do it right away.  I had my camera, tripod and flash out on the deck and I was looking carefully for possibilities.  Few honeysuckle buds were colorful, but they were not even close to the shot I took last spring.  I moved through my plants, had deck lights out and took some shots with my flash.  When my flash is working properly, I feel I can swim like a fish (I don't swim by the way). I like the ambiance look of my shots, but I was not thrilled, not fun enough. Beautiful and full-bloom season is not here yet.

I turned on my deck lights to re-adjust my focus and I spotted something glistening on my camera viewer. That remind me of the gold-filled pendants made from real leaves. The water I sprayed on the leaves is now creating a golden glare. I purposely used low watt light bulbs for the deck for ambiance sake and these light bulbs were putting out yellow lights.  Immediately I put away my flash and bump up my ISO and started to snap it away. Suddenly I saw gold everywhere.

My husband likes a show called How Things Are Made. He recently found another show Gold Rush that he really enjoyed for the same reason. This show portraits a hard-working family crew who faced unknown Nature and unexpected mechanical challenges from time to time. Their strong desire to hunt gold for money kept them motivated and the unmeasurable potentials kept them at task. It is their profession, their means of living. 

I had my little gold rush at home comfort, on my deck, in a beautiful night.  The little bit of gold on two tiny leaves have made me so happy. I don't need to weight them and figure out the ounces. I am content by just looking at them.

Winter in northwest is long and cold.  My in-home photography projects have kept me busy and feel fulfilling all the time.  There are simply endless subjects around the house to explore and to turn them into pieces of artwork through a camera.  How I love photography!  And I am glad that I just do it and do it right away.