A Day of Scanning and Restoring Old Photographs

Yesterday evening, I had hoped to be photographing my seven-year-old grandson’s first competitive football game.  Unfortunately, the south Florida weather had a different idea and did not cooperate! After a long delay the game was canceled due to thunder and lightening.  So, this morning, instead of processing those football images I decided to use the time to scan some old photographs that I recently received from a relative in France.  The photographs are of my father’s side of the family and were taken in the early 1900’s.  After scanning them I spent some time in Photoshop doing a little  photo restoration work. The photograph below was in good condition to begin with so was an easy one to restore!  I posted this image of my Dad, at three years of age,  because I think it bears a resemblance to my grandson when he was younger! 

Why Blog?

I have been asked why did you start a Blog? Several reasons come to mind.  Primarily, I want to share my enthusiasm of photography and hopefully spark an interest in this art form that might not have been there before. Many people have inspired me on my photographic journey and I now hope to inspire others. I want to share the many useful tips and tricks that I have learned along the way and show examples of the different ways I experiment when painting with light. That’s how I feel about photography. It is painting with light. I read a quote the other day by John Berger that said, "What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are light and time."  That is so true and in some of my images I consider the light as my paint and the movement of the camera or subject matter as my brush strokes. An example of that can be seen in the images I posted yesterday. There are also many on-line resources available and I will be posting links to my favorites.  The Internet is a wonderful resource for the learning and sharing of ideas …and that is why I’m here.

Below is a link to a video I enjoyed watching this morning.

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU&feature=player_embedded

Photographing trees at Miami's Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Today it was a hot and humid Sunday in Miami, but I was determined to have some fun with my camera! I decided to use the weekly assignment suggested by DPS (Digital Photography School) as my inspiration. DPS is an Internet site that is comprised of a community of photographers of all experience levels who get together on-line to learn, share and grow in their understanding of photography. The assignment was to photograph trees, but in a unique way. So, I decided to go to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden and see what I could do!  Fairchild is a really beautiful 83 acre Garden and is a popular Miami tourist attraction and also one of my favorite places to photograph nature.  Below are three of my attempts to do something a little different.

This is an image of a Cannonball tree with it's amazing flowers.

I used a 70-200mm lens and zoomed in as I took the photograph. 

Here is a reflection of some palm trees

This is an image of  single palm tree. Again I zoomed in as I took the photo.

What I liked about this assignment was that it made me take chances and try some different techniques.  I'm not saying I think these are amazing images, but for me this was fun and a useful challenge!

Below are links to:

Digital Photography School  and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 

http://www.digital-photography-school.com

http://www.fairchildgarden.org

The Beginning

Today I start my blog to document my journey in the world of freelance photography. Though I originally trained as a nurse, my passion has always been photography. As a nurse I did enjoy the close interaction with people and the feeling that I made a difference in people's lives. However, I chose nursing because it was the smart choice. It guaranteed me a job. It was safe. Thus, photography became my hobby, too risky for a career. After marriage I became a stay at home mom and felt privileged for that opportunity. Today, divorced with both my children successful and independent, I pursue my passion of photography.  For the past ten years I have dedicated my free time to learning all I can about photography!  There are so many resources available. I have taken classes at the local University and Community College, studied from books and educational DVDs, Taken on-line classes, and attended some amazing workshops taught by well known photographers and digital artists. I am never without a camera and use every opportunity to advance my skills. I’m often told I should focus on one area of photography, but I find that impossible as all photography excites me …landscape, portrait, action, documentary, abstract and on and on!  Not only do I enjoy the actual taking of the photograph, or making of the photograph (as one should say) but I also enjoy bringing that image into the digital darkroom called Photoshop. That is where I have fun and experiment as an artist. Not every image needs to be or should be manipulated, but I love the freedom of being able to play with ideas. Some ideas are winners and others provide lessons on what not to do!!! So that brings me to today. Currently I take on small jobs of my choosing such as Senior Portraits, Family Portraits, Children’s sporting events etc. I create promotional brochures for artists and events and I do photo restorations. I’m also skilled at HDR photography which is useful when I photograph architecture and interiors. My fine art images are now being sold at a local gallery. But, above all, photography is my passion. It excites me and that is why I want to share my story.