"let your eyes do the work"

This is Glen McClure. Go ahead, click on the link. I know you're curious. He's a local photographer, and I kinda lovelovelove his stuff. He offered a Master Class at the Contemporary Art Center last weekend, and let me tell you, I was all over that puppy. It was great.

He had come to speak to our last class, and this class started with a little bit of a recap (which meant looking at more beautiful photographs) and then we talked about lighting and portraiture and had lunch, and I just soaked up as much as I could.

zooming out...

zooming in...

Way, way back in my first class, I got really interested in studio lighting and portraiture. We did some sessions in the class, and I really enjoyed them. I wanted the lights and the back drop, the whole smash. I wanted a studio with a big ornate antique sofa in front of a back drop, and everyone who came in would get their picture taken on that sofa.

Something happened to make that interest fade for me....I got more connected to natural light and lifestyle photography, I guess. Well, this class with Glenn reignited my interest in portraiture. I got so jazzed when I saw what we could do with light and how things changed when we changed our camera settings. Couple that with being back in a regular class at the CAC, and it's so exciting to be taking pictures again.

What a great day. I'm back, baby! Now I need that sofa.

baby steps, people (for Mark)

Okay, I am making progress on this Lightroom business, but it's having to happen in baby steps, you guys. Mostly because of work and life and all that other stuff. (Like more work and life and weather headaches and worry about my friends and family in the deep southeast.) But I need to keep on keepin' on because a new photo class starts today (YAY!) and an all-day photo workshop on Saturday that focuses on portraiture (OH, YAY!), and an external flash (YIKES, but YAY!) that I got for my birthday, and well , things are (as you know) already backed up.

Hold me in the light, because clearly, I need help.

sigh of relief

Now maybe I can get somewhere! Thanks, Dad!

fireside supper

We've had a couple of cool nights, cool enough to allow us to sit fireside for dinner. A few weeks ago I had a yen to make soup, and this was the result. I wanted something brothy and vegetabley with spinach and leeks and some sausage. This was a bit more tomato-y than I intended, but the evening was cooler than expected so it worked. The bread, well, my friend Debbie would hate it, so maybe she should stop reading. Mayonmaise mixed with garlic, spread on a baguette. Top with parmesean cheese and broil. Hello.

These photos are really pleasing to me for some reason. After all this (The show comes down today. The art center kept it up for an extra day, which was lovely.), it's nice to take pictures of things sometimes. If I do this class again, and I'm leaning that way for next fall, I think I'll focus on something besides people. Still lifes like this are calling my name.

how I spent my Sunday

It was a good weekend, really! Neel got tons done in the garden. Callum scored the go-ahead goal in his game on Saturday. And I spent Sunday banging my head against my keyboard trying to learn Lightroom.

It'll be worth it in the long run; I know it will. But oh man, today was hard. All day to be able to import that one picture into the blog. And I have so many! More to come, I promise. The hectic life has died down a bit, and I plan to use the breather to get myself pulled together.