Happy Flowers

Just thought I'd keep this post simple, and share with you some photos I took of this lovely floral arrangement my mother threw together from the left-over flowers of a bouquet. The colors are so bright, they cheered me right up!

.


Have you seen any bright floral-themed photos/products/blog posts? I'd love to see them, post a link!

Also, which would fit the best with my Etsy shop? I need some new images!

Color Palette - Peach and Green

Peach and Green: a slight variation on the Pink and Mint craze that is taking over an entire half of Forever 21's floor (have you been in there lately?!) This is a more muted, subdued version, for your viewing delight. The photograph is one of mine, and the clothing below are all items from asos.





I also love the metal-edged clutch. I've been seeing this on sandals and collars as well.



What do you guys think about this pastel craze? Metal-edged things?

Old Subject, New Eyes

It's always interesting to return to a place you've been before with new eyes, a fresh perspective, especially for a photographer. It's amazing how a little change in mood, weather, time of day, or creativity can result in completely different images from the same source.

This second time around at Rancho Los Alamitos, I brought my zoom lens and got MUCH closer to my subjects. I absolutely love taking photos of nature, and capturing a separate, magic little world. I love searching for and finding the tiny universes within large spaces like gardens, zooming in as far as my lens will go and swimming through depths of focus amid a sea of blurred color. There's really nothing else like it - except maybe walking through dense fog, the fog being an unfocused image, and my journey through the fog being finding the perfect focus.








The only issue I've run into is that my zoom lens doesn't auto-focus (it's broken), meaning I have to manually find the exact focus by turning the dial. I mostly enjoy this aspect, it feels more organic, fluid, and creative. The downfall is, it's really difficult to see such tiny details in the viewfinder, that I often don't get things in perfect focus. At times this can be a bit frustrating. Am I the only one who has this problem? I'm not sure what I can do to fix it, and I can't even remember when the auto-focus broke! It's like it's always been broken!









Which one(s) do you like the most? And since I'm always trying to improve, how do you think your least favorite images could be improved? I can always use honesty and constructive criticism :)

Still Life

Before I begin, I have to mention a grammatical nuance that is rather confusing to me, and now I am second guessing every single punctuation mark and word I've ever written in my entire life because of it.  What is the plural of "Still Life"?  There can only be two options, "Still Lifes" or "Still Lives."  Neither of them look right, so I'm going to opt for something completely different: still life photographs and/or paintings.  Problem solved! 

I've always loved pictures and paintings of objects, the way items are placed and lit can be so beautiful.  A still life has the power to turn ordinary objects such as fruit, a bowl, or a vase into something magical.  The thing I love about photographing inanimate objects is that I can compose them exactly how I envision, and they never complain.  However, I have yet to photograph a still life that I truly feel satisfied with and proud of.  In my eyes, there's always something missing.  I was able to use natural light from my three fantastic windows, and I found these flowers near my house, but the colors weren't exactly what I had wanted.  BUT, I can always use practice, so here it is!

I'm not sure which, if any, I should post for sale on Etsy.  Any thoughts?  Do my readers have a favorite?

PS: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Huntington Gardens

It is time to beautify this blog! I visited Huntington Library & Gardens near Pasadena a couple weeks ago. For the ticket price, you not only get to roam wistfully around the themed gardens, surrounded by statues, you also get to go inside the old Huntington mansion/Art Museum as well as an old library where you can see extremely old books and even a Gutenberg Bible from 1455! If you're going to be nearby (when gardens typically are in bloom), you MUST go. Plus, they have a stellar gift shop. Being there makes me feel like I'm in an older, grander part of the country. It is harder to come by places like this on the west coast, so when I find them, I savor them.

Here are some shots of the gardens and beautiful statues.