Friday Finds -- Peonies, a Bottle and Classes to Take

With the summer heat already upon us, getting out and shooting becomes more and more of an effort. It is like winter in the rest of the country -- the weather just keeps you indoors. So I thought that Kim Klassen's Be Still 52 class would be perfect for me. I have always admired her still life photography and the chance to learn from the master was impossible to resist. The photo above was my first week's submission and I have to admit I really enjoyed playing with just a bottle that I picked up at Ross and one of my peonies from Trader Joe's.  I set up a couple of pieces of white foam core on a chair (I don't have any cute little peeling-paint chairs like Kim does!) and I played. This shot was actually taken and processed with my iPhone.

This week's assignment in Kim's class was all about breathing, taking the time to just be still and breathe. My peonies came to the rescue again as a photographic subject and I played with this shot (again taken on the white foam core) using Kim's True Grit LR preset and her Rainy Day texture. I felt it needed more so I then applied Kim's Daisy texture at soft light as well as her Silence texture at multiply. The quote is one I have always loved from Oprah Winfrey. As far as applying textures and editing, I don't know how you ever know when you're done! So many fun things to try. But this exercise accomplished the desired effect -- making me slow down, focus, breathe and be totally in the moment of capturing beauty.

I am also taking Kim Manley Ort's class called Keeping it Simple which I thought would be a good complement to the Be Still class.  This is another peony shot taken at the same time but with no processing. We are learning about the difference between "simplicity" and "minimalism" this week. See how it is dovetailing the Be Still class?

Then, of course, I had to give it a try with my iPhone camera. I mean, you have to take advantage  of having peonies while they last!

No processing on this, just the addition of the text.

So there you have it -- my Friday finds were a bunch of peonies from Trader Joe's, a great (and cheap!) bottle from Ross, and two classes that are making me very happy!