photography

“A Little Knowledge…

Is A Dangerous Thing.”

And it can make or break your photographs.

I have no excuse.  For years I worked off and on for professional finishing labs as well as a private One Hour Photo Lab that I operated for years, I did not own it.  Along with photo finishing I sold cameras & had knowledge of their operation, went to workshops, etc.  I used to care about aperture, film speed, now I switch my Pentax K200D to auto on everything I can.

I chose this body because I had a Pentax 35mm with a couple of lenses & I could interchange on this digital camera body which is what I have been doing for over 10 years.  I absolutely need to upgrade but know when I do, another better digital camera will come out even cheaper.

One of my shortcomings is that I don’t always think things through or verify information that I have before I do things.  Knowing quite a bit about cameras and their accessories gave me a false sense of security that I “knew it all.”  When I found a “softener” filter in my lens size I got all excited & purchased it.  It didn’t occur to me to ask why it had (B) on it.

Come to find out that B is a stronger softener than the A that was not available at the time.  Had I questioned the proprietor I would have been told that this filter has a stronger softening effect than A and asked them to order it for me since that was my intent.  I wished just the slightest hint of softening.  Instead I ended up with almost a “fog” effect which I intend trying at a later date in a cemetery or especially with lights like at Christmas.

Needless to say I used it a few times and was not happy with it.

Sharing the results of the Hoya 49mm softener B results.  I promise to do another post later when use it again with specific results in mind.  I had no idea what the effects would actually be until this trial shoot at Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan and my yard.

Pink Tiger Lilies

Close up of the stars that appear in lights with the softener lens.

 

This lens does not do justice to delicate pink rose petals starting to fade.

Miscellaneous flower shots.  A few are not bad.  I need to play with it more.

Layered Photography

If you are into arts or crafts you may be familiar with collages.  Layering various materials to achieve what ever idea you have in mind.

Many think of art as creative expression.  A way that some can “work through” various issues they have emotionally.  I’m sure some do.  I never thought of art as a way to express myself.  If I did I’m sure I would create much more and very different art than I usually do.

I just love collages.  I enjoy seeing others ideas and hoping something touches me.  Personally I create any art with beauty in mind be it visual, music, dance, etc.  Some modern art is downright ugly and offensive.  I don’t care if it is someone’s expression, if it’s ugly I don’t want to see it.

Some things can be a mess to some and I might like it.  Then there could be another mess that actually looks like a mess to me but someone else gets it.

I have always been enamored with the Old Masters.  They were perfection.  They had talent and went for realism.  Then came the sloppier impressionists.  They helped bring about what I call “crap on canvas.”

Speaking of which, I do love my collages.  The ones from altered books, pages, pictures, paints, papers, lace & anything else you can glue on.

This was one I layered from various photos to look hand made.  Usually when I create layered photos I have a different technique, similar to the one below which might be various flowers with complementary colors layered on an enhancing background.

 

Cemeteries in Black and White

Black & white photography really does give a certain “mood” to prints.

It especially gives a cemetery that added “cold as stone” feel.

My best friend took this picture of me many years ago pretending to be “Angelique Collins” from the old Dark Shadows series. We loved that show. Ironically I find I have a number of grandmothers on my French side by that very name, “Angelique!” Had I known this sooner I would have insisted my parents change my name. As you can see I lightened my hair so I could resemble her. (the picture is badly deteriorating and yes, that is a crystal ball!)
Some of my ancestors were burned as witches and I inherited it.

Psych!

Psycho!


Luscious Autumn

The colors of fall help to awaken the senses to delightful aromas of hot apple cider, cocoa and pumpkin spice that surrounds you no matter how hard you try to escape it at this time of year.

Please enjoy the following fall photos.

 

All photos, art and content were taken, created and owned by Po’ Girl Shines.  No part of this website may be used,  reproduced or transmitted without the sole written consent of the designer and author, Po’ Girl Shines, except for brief quotations for written reviews.  
Please contact me with any questions in the comment section. 

Panoramic Photography

I’m sure you could crop regular photos to appear more panoramic but I used to have a cheap camera that did this.  It was so expensive to develop the photos I stopped using it & sold it at a yard sale.  Not to mention the practicality of this size picture.  The finished size, without enlargement, is approx 3″ x 10.”  I finally got around scanning these so I could post them.  I hope they upload in a manner that enhances this effect without much cropping.

Sunset view from my condo years ago.

A few from Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan during the fall.

Many people still get married in the Martha-Mary Chapel.

View of the Liberty Craftworks area in the distance.

Ackley Covered Bridge.

The remaining photos are of a trip my friend & I took to Wilcox Lake in Edward Hines Park located in Wayne County Michigan to get some reflective fall colors in the lake.  Please click on each photo to enlarge.

 

Sunflowers

Sunflowers are very striking flowers and fields of them are so impressive to behold.  I have seen only two such fields that I can remember.  I used to grow a row of Sunflowers in my garden along the edge where our small cornfield was.  I really wish I would have taken pictures of that garden and many other things.  Photography was not a priority back then and was expensive to develop.

My post is dedicated to Sunflowers but I am thinking about my cornfields right now.  One year was dedicated to what I believe was the “Silver Queen” late corn, very sweet and tender, and another year we planted hulless popcorn.  Never together because of possible cross-pollination issues.  I have since found “hulless” at markets, but not often and none has ever been as tender as the popcorn we grew so many years ago.  We hung the ears out to dry and then stored them in large mason jars still on the ears, kernels removed right before popping.  Not sure of how to do this at first, we somehow dried them to perfection because they popped beautifully.