Day Seven
Black and White Photos – Day Seven
Category Archives: Photos
Black and White Photos – Day Six
Day Six
Black and White Photos – Day Five
Day Five
Black and White Photos – Day Four
Day Four
Black and White Photos – Day Three
Day Three
Black and White Photos – Day Two
Day Two
Black and White Photos – Day One
Well, I couldn’t help but notice that various friends, colleagues, and family members of mine were posting black and white photos on Facebook for a seven day challenge.
I found many of their posts to be very beautiful and inspiring! As a result I became quite intrigued by the task at hand, and decided to jump into the fray.
I happen to believe that black and white photography can be truly amazing (for example, think of a photographic artist such as Ansel Adams, and others). Breathtaking work! Never underestimate the aesthetic impact of a purely tonal image! Nobody tagged me on Facebook to participate, but I decided to enter the challenge of my own accord.
Rules: No people, no explanation… and one photo per day (from my life).
Starting today, I will post one black and white photo for the next seven days. All of these are photos which were personally taken by me. None contain any people. Further, they are all recent photos. Most were taken within the past two to six months or so; but I will include a couple of photos (which I really like) that I took in 2016.
I argue that if I take a photo then it IS a part of my actual life, yes? At the very least these are images that have some sort of personal resonance.
Day One
Jazz Fest 2016 in New Orleans
As a change of pace today’s post is a mini-travelogue. Recently my husband and I returned from attending Jazz Fest 2016 in New Orleans. This was our first time taking part in this major annual musical event. Also, it was the first time that we visited The Big Easy since the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Prior to arriving we wondered what it would be like.
Since we spent most of our time at the fairgrounds (where Jazz Fest was located), at our Uptown hotel, and touring the French Quarter, we did not observe any obvious differences from past visits. At the festival we had a lot of fun listening to all of the music and sampling the delicious food which was available onsite.
Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us while we were there. Even prior to flying down we were warned by my cousins to bring mud shoes and umbrellas due to the excessive rain. True to form it continued to rain a good bit throughout our visit. The fairgrounds were very muddy and it made things a bit challenging.
The second day was sunnier and hotter, but it was still very muddy at the festival. We were stalwart, but after a while the presence of mud everywhere began to wear a bit thin. So, we began to think of something else to do…
On our third day, John and I decided to skip Jazz Fest and to go see the sights in the French Quarter. We enjoyed a lovely lunch in the courtyard at The Gumbo Shop, and then later had café au lait and beignets at the Café du Monde! It was very enjoyable to roam through the Quarter and to take in the local ambiance.
As it turned out there were torrential rains that afternoon and also significant flooding occurred. As a result, the festival was forced to close early. We were glad that we decided to skip the festival and go tour the Quarter that day; but we also appreciate those who braved the elements to go to the festival too. Stevie Wonder was the final act and we understand that he tried mightily to carry on by singing through a megaphone.
Later that evening we reconvened at our hotel with my cousins. A fabulous poolside Happy Hour and dinner were enjoyed by all! My cousins brought a box of white wine to share, and we all ordered carry-out Po’ Boys from a nearby restaurant. We had the best time chatting and catching up and eating yummy local cuisine! It will definitely go down as a wonderful vacation memory for me.
Wearable Art
I am so pleased to announce that I have become a VIDA designer! They found my artwork online and contacted me to inquire if I would be interested in collaborating with them. VIDA is a Google Ventures company which connects designers with apparel makers all over the world. Read more about VIDA and their story here.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the blog, this has been a time in my life when I have been cultivating my interest in creating visual art in various forms – from photography to digital art to drawing. Of course the idea of having my art incorporated into apparel and accessories is very exciting!
Yesterday VIDA accepted my first design and launched my collection. It is called Hibiscus Bloom, and it is based on one of my photos from Florida last year. The design is featured on a white Sleeveless Knit Top. I love adding texture to photographs, and in this one I used a technique with Photoshop brushes to create a watercolor effect.
Here is a link to my collection page at VIDA.
Please take a look!
Restoring An Ancestor’s Photo In Photoshop CC
It’s been a while since I last made a post about photography. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the site, I’ve been learning how to retouch and restore photographs in Lightroom and Photoshop CC for some time now.
Having completed two online courses specifically about photo restoration, I wanted to test my skills in restoring an actual heritage family photo. The photo that I chose to work on is a copy of an ambrotype (a successor process to the better-known daguerreotype). This particular image is of my great-great-grandfather, Isaac (ca. 1850s). Thanks to my cousin Jon for the scan!