Kitchen Still Lifes

The photographer, Elliott Erwitt once wrote, “To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”

Every now and then in order to sharpen my creative skills, I like to create some still life photographs.  Some of these images I plan and others sometimes just present themselves within the confines of my kitchen.  Like the painter you control the subject matter, composition and lighting.  It is probably the easiest way of exploring composition and lighting within an area you control. You do not need expensive lights or a studio to produce this type of photography.  Your lighting equipment can be as simple as window lighting to a small portable LED light.  Your staging area can be the kitchen counter to a small table placed by a window.  Some black and white poster sheets purchased from a craft store can provide simple backdrops.  A piece of poster board covered with aluminum foil can be used to help light and open up shadows.  The rest is up to your imagination –or maybe just the ability to see the items that occupy your every day environment.   

 

Photo Narcissism

Mirrors or reflections act as windows that sometimes combine many subjects within a single image and at other times show things differently where patches of light and distortions seem to create another world or dimension trapped in the glass before you.  Since the 15^th century and the advent of the mirror, artists have gazed into it and attempted to grasp their identities.

I think we all have attempted to make a self-portrait of ourselves –either using a cell phone or a mirror reflection.  It is a simple process –aim into the mirror, focus and shoot.  Well, maybe not that simple –yes, a little planning is necessary.  However, if you have a window behind the mirror where sunlight is reflected on to the mirror –the possibilities can be very unusual.  Here is some of my narcissism I found in the reflections of this other reversed world.

Urban Canvases

I find the world around me a fascinating series of images -a landscape, which includes the buildings, people and all things that are worth observing and recording.  While the painter, writer or musician applies what he sees and hears to interpret this landscape -the photographer is rather bound by his eyes and the eyes of his camera to merely record it.  On the way downtown about a week ago I became aware that many of the brick walls I pass everyday -have become canvases on which some have used to interpret this urban landscape.  I am not sure what the messages are or if they are of great interpretation.  I am only a photographer who has stopped to look and record some of them.

Faces of Exit 270 Part 5

Not all-street photography is spontaneous, you sometimes have to position yourself and wait for the moment.  You might say that was the case of the person sitting with the wall of hands.  I simply waited for someone to come and sit on the bench.  The women with the buffalo head -took a couple of minutes and shots before the right moment when she looked up into my camera.  However, most of my shots are grabbed as the moment happens combined with a certain amount of luck.  You might say it requires a certain amount of street awareness or 360 degree eyes that sees the whole canvas.  In most cases I set the camera at aperture F8 and an ISO200 in advance and still have the ability to make quick changes that will cover any variants of light and shadows as I aim the camera. For these images I am using a Sony Nex7 camera with an 18-35 zoom lens and a 16mm 2.8 coupled with a fisheye attachment.

Urban Color

Living in the Southwest, I sometimes take for granted the wonderful rainbow of colors present in this urban environment that I live in.  For this entry in my blog, I present you with the colors and urban shapes of Exit 270.  Because of the cultural diversity of native Indian and Spanish cultures this urban environment is a bright canvas of vibrant colors in the building structures.  Here I present some of these shapes in stark black and white contrasted against the colors of La Placita.