This week-end I found a lot of inspiration in a blog post by Ibarionex Perello titled Just Shoot Something and I think it’s something that will resonate with most photographers, so go take a look for yourself, specially if you’re a little low on inspiration.
In the last few days I have been concentrating on using my Lensbaby on my dedicated infrared Canon 20D which I had converted to infrared by the folks from LifePixel.
I haven’t had any particular subjects in mind that I have been wanting to shoot, so I have just brought the camera with my whenever I could and in the spirit of just shooting something I have just made some photographs along the way.
Here are three infrared Lensbaby images that were all shot today.
An Abstract Extract
I took this picture at one of the local playgrounds in the harsh midday light. I think it was the simplicity of the scene along with shape and form that attracted me to take this picture. I have given the image a rich brown tone simply because it seemed to work well for this image.
Palm Fronds
Palm fronds in bright sunlight work well for infrared photography. Here I have isolated one palm frond and framed it by two lower out-of-focus fronds. It’s all then then set off against an almost pitch black sky which has only been marginally darkened in Photoshop compared to the original RAW file. For this image I chose to convert the image to a black and white infrared image.
Lensbaby Infrared Texture Overlay
Yes, I know, I’m really mixing it up in this third image; Lensbaby, infrared and texture overlays!
Don’t ask me why I did it, I just thought I would try something else. Call it playing around which I think is an important endeavour for any creative activity. Playing around sometimes leads to nothing, other times it might lead to your next big project.
In this third image I used three different background textures: the fur of a mountain goat, a piece of grey cardboard with cutting marks on it and then a photo of a brick wall. These textures were then simply blended into the infrared image of the backlit leaves using blending modes in Photoshop.
Just shooting something keeps you in shape, it helps stimulate your mind and it helps keep your vision sharp. It doesn’t matter that you might not produce a Pullitzer Prize winner shot. The important part is to just shoot something.
11. January 2010 at 12:39 am
I like the blending of the last image! It is a very creative combination and I find that brick walls always add “Zap” to some images. I have been collecting some from the Getty Museum (LA) buildings…
12. January 2010 at 9:42 pm
Hi Gerald, thanks a lot for your kind comments. Texture overlays are always quite fun although I don’t always find that they work.
As for using bricks for texture I agree they can often provide that little bit of extra, but I also like to experiement with lots of other textures. I have even scanned paper towels, tea towels and various papers.