Shadows and Silhouettes: Part One

I basically love lamps.

Was that random? Eh, probably. But it's also 100% true! I really do love them. Not only do they cast wonderfully pleasant glows on otherwise dull environments, they also makes some wicked awesome shadows, which is what I want to spend the next few posts talking about.

Some of my most favorite pictures are taken with light cast by my everyday-nothing-special desk lamp. It's nothing more than a 40 watt GE bulb, but MAN, can that thing light up a room!

One day, I noticed how absolutely wonderful it was at making shadows of things. After a bit of rummaging through my closet to find a few props and the "perfect" outfit for the planned shoot, I went downstairs to our basement where we have a theater screen set up. After setting my camera on a tripod that was setting on a table, and after adjusting the lamp just right, I was able to get the following pictures.




Of course, the lamp is also good for just creating really good, clear light, which helps the Macro mode on my camera to get better pictures(more on this later.).

Just An Update....

My wonderful mother bought TWO new masks today! What are they? Well, I shan't tell you, because they're simply too good to just tell you about! They're so epic, so amazing, so simply marvelous, that you will need visual so that you can at least try to grasp their immense awesomeness.

I plan on taking pictures with at least one of them tomorrow, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for some new pictures!

Walking On Sunshine

I believe some of you have seen this picture before? Well, I'm here to tell those of you who care how I went about making it! First step: Take some leg pictures!

I don't think most people realize how hard it is to take pictures of your own legs. There's so much bending involved. It's insane! Anyways, I had to get my brother Jesse to take the picture of me in "mid-step".

The reason I'm stepping on the notebook is so that way it will be easier for me to trace my foot with the Lasso Tool without me having to worry about the carpet getting in the way.

After getting the right picture, I had to make a background for my legs to go on. I'd been envisioning the finished project for some time, and I've always seen it with a sort of cartoony/make believe sort of feel. So, I opened up Corel Painter Essentials 3 and used the simple-yet-loved Bucket Tool to cover the image in a sky blue, then I used the Image Hose Tool to lay out grass on the bottom half of the image.

So far, so good! The next thing I thought the picture would need is some detail added into the sky. I didn't want to make the typical white, fluffy clouds, so I decided to take a picture of some tissue paper I had and use that as my cloud shape filler, using the Clone Tool on Photo Impact 8.

The next step was to add in my legs. Do to that, I had to use the Lasso Tool on Photo Impact 8. The Lasso Tool is the best way to create new objects, and it can take anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes to completely trace something. Since the image of my legs was sort of large, it took me about 10 minutes to trace everything I wanted to transfer onto the background I had created. After I moved the newly created object onto the backdrop, I used the Image Hose from Corel Painter Essentials yet again to add a few flowers to the grass.


The picture, though getting close to being done, still wasn't what I had fully imagined. It still didn't come off as cheery and Spring-like as I was wanting. After about 5 minutes of looking and thinking, I finally decided to add in some butterflies. I used some butterfly images found on the Stamp Tool on Photo Impact, and then added in a few more smaller flowers. I used the Pencil Tool to show the flight lines behind the butterflies, and voila! The finished project!


I still think I probably could have thought of a few more things to add or do to this, but I guess it didn't turn out that bad. Not too shabby, I must say. ;]

Food, Glorious Food

I love food. Like, a lot. It's so good and some of it is just so pretty! I don't JUST eat it, though; I also take pictures of it. Below are some of my favorites. No drooling on the computer, please.

Yeah...eventually, I'll take some pictures of some healthier foods. ;P

No Swooning Allowed, Ladies...

My apparently super-cute(i'm kidding, of course. i know he's cute. ;p) brother can be pretty great when it comes to letting me take pictures of him. He puts up with my bossiness(to an extent) and he's a great model. ;] Here are some pictures from last year at my Grandparent's house.

¡Proyectos!

5 Projects That I Need To Work On

1. A photo shoot with the boyfriend? YES.

2. Photoshop projects that my friends suggested to me.

3. This one particular picture idea that involves the soccer fields, an empty goal, and "someone".

4. Rain pictures! Yay!

5. Japanese-y pictures with Tonya. Oh yeah!

Snow Photo Shoot? Yes, Please!

The following pictures are from one of my favorite photo shoots ever! I was over at Kirstin's house and it just so happened to be snowy outside. 1 awesome friend + 1 silly cat + snowy yard = Sweet pictures! These aren't great of course, but it's mostly the memories I get when I look at these pictures that make them so special to me. =]

Brittany and the Bubbles

One of the very first good photo shoots I ever done was with my cousin. At around this time last year, I was spending the night at my Aunt's house when we decided that we wanted to go out and take pictures. We found her an outfit, picked out our location, and away we went! Below are some of the best shots taken that day. Enjoy!

What The Hey...It's Photography Day!

Ok, so it's not actually Photography Day. I might have possibly made that up. But you know, if you want to get all technical about it, everyday that you take pictures is a "photography day". So I guess that since I took around 150 pictures today, it IS Photography Day. Yay!

Alright, enough nonsense! I have 3 main topics that I want to talk about.

1. Masks.
2. A different blog.
3. One particular friend of mine.

NUMBER 1- MASKS: I absolutely ADORE masks of all sorts. Whether they're homemade, store bought, or just there, all masks are amazing. I love the feeling I get when I wear one. I won't say that I feel like Erik from The Phantom of the Opera or anything, but I do start to feel pretty mysterious.

NUMBER 2- A DIFFERENT BLOG: For those of you who need more art than just photography, how about some music? The Marshall Tucker Blog is a blog newly started by my best friend(and boyfriend. Just saying). He plans on writing about a different song every day, posting the lyrics, and then telling us his take on them. He's also going to tell us a memory that the Song of the Day gives him. So far, it's been pretty good. Be sure to follow it!

NUMBER 3- ONE PARTICULAR FRIEND ON MINE: You simply can't have a good, fun photoshoot with an awesome friend to pose for it. Kirstin is one of the best friends ever for many reasons, but some of the main reasons would be her sweet nature, her easy going-ness, her ability to be super photogenic, and how great of a sport she is. She basically will do just about anything when it comes to me and my crazy ideas, and for that I am forever grateful. I love you, Kirstin!

So there's my 3 topics for right now. Hasta luego!

It's A Contest Of Sorts

Hello to my wonderful(if any) readers! I come to you today with a plea for help.

I need you, yes YOU, to help me come up with some picture ideas! Photoshoots, something you'd like to see photoshopped, something random, anything! I'll pick the very best of the suggestions, then I'll post the picture(s) and dedicate the blog post to the winner.

Comment with your suggestions now!

Fredrick, The Great

So, it all started with a marionette...


She was a very well known actress among the other toys. She was so good in fact, that she had a secret admirer....

That's right; Fredrick the Bear was our star's biggest fan. Needless to say, it didn't work out between them. As he was walking outside of the theater, his heart broken, his dreams crushed, a young girl drove by.

Seeing Fredrick in his pitiful state, she kidnapped him with best interests at heart, and took him home. After much "persuading", Fredrick agreed to pose for a few pictures.


She wasn't an easy-to-deal-with picture companion, her sanity constantly being questioned by everyone, including the frightened bear.

Eventually, the crazed girl tired of her fuzzy companion, and she introduced him to some new friends who lived in a box in the back of her closet. The bear, more than glad to be rid of the strange girl, found that he was welcomed warmly by his new friends. As for the girl, she decided to share Fredrick's story with the world. ;]