The Call: Bear One Another’s Burdens — Cheryl

Caddie is 15 years old. There are times when she can stand and times when she needs to be carried. We’ll likely have to make a significant decision about her soon.

The Response: Dessert Bowls — Cheryl

I loved this Call. I got out my black tri-fold board, a flashlight, and a number of curvaceous objects, and have lots of shots to play with now. I didn’t even think of these bowls at first. Stella asked for Hershey’s Kisses, and I served them up in the dark blue one. That was enough to get the wheels turning.

The Call: Orange Curve — Jessica

It was another frustrating day climbing the multiple exposure curve — so here is a straight-forward shot of the orange. Maybe I’ll try some larger subject /landscape ME shots next time, but for the past few days, I’m just NOT loving the images I’m getting and I feel hopelessly confused on how to improve them. Like you said, Cheryl, often the judgement of whether it works or doesn’t seems so arbitrary.

The Response: Persian Lilies — Jessica

The nice thing about abstracts is that you can turn them anyway you like and they sometimes work better…

I’m completely self-taught when it comes to photography and photoshop. Other than a few online courses, everything I learned was either through books or playing around. Now, I’m facing another learning curve with this multiple exposure stuff and it’s frustrating and aggravating and lovely all at the same time. How is that even possible?

I had a brilliant idea for a photo while watching this video about Charles Sheeler. I thought a cubism-inspired multiple exposure would look so neat. Unfortunately, nothing I tried got me to what I was envisioning. Back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be as much instruction out there as I would have liked.

The Call: Learning from My Mistakes — Cheryl

The first time I ever heard the phrase “teachable moment” I was writing for The Denver Catholic Register, and the archbishop or pope had said it. I think of it every now and again when the kids encounter a situation I had hoped to spare them (it generally involves friends or persons they think are their friends). The bottom line is that I try to create something positive out of something negative. This house that we bought nearly ten years ago has provided me with countless teachable moments. Those enormous icicles hanging from the eaves are a good example: they’ve taught me to be much more skeptical of the contractors I hire and much more open to trusting my gut.

The Response: Blue with Cold — Cheryl

This was a tough image to finalize. I played with temperature, clarity, tint, saturation. The multiple exposure sometimes throws me for a loop. I look at my images and like what I see, but start to doubt. “Nobody else will get it,” I think. “This is not what people expect from me.” “They’ll think it’s cheesy.” But here I go. I’m putting it out there. (Perhaps I should have named this one “Blue with doubt.”)

The Call: Frozen Bubbles — Jessica

Well, I had the best of intentions today but somehow never was able to pick up the camera until it was late. Which means that I was rushing to find a subject and feeling the pressure of time does NOT help my creative process. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow.

The Response: Lily Kaleidoscope — Jessica

I’ve been having a lot of fun playing with the multiple exposure function on my camera. It will blend up to nine images, but I had only ever used it to take three or four at the most. Well, I was curious how many I could pack in there and since my daughter’s second set of science-experiment lilies were looking so beautiful, I decided to set up a little experiment myself.

I put the flower vase on a black tri-fold board and then a shot from each side and corner – so eight shots all together. Just a touch of contrast and boosting of the black in LR and this is what I got. Curiosity satisfied. For now…

The Call: Inquisitive Red Squirrel — Cheryl

I glanced out the window and caught this little guy popping out of the snow to have a look around. It took more than a minute or two to satisfy his curiosity. Once he was good to go, he headed back down under.

The Response: Shocking Pink Glove — Cheryl

Bridget’s orthodontist appointment today meant that I had to leave the house. It was toasty in the car, but my colorful gloves were handy when I had to step out of it into the air that registered right around zero degrees on the thermometer.

The Call: Orange Sections — Jessica

The late afternoon sun was coming in and out of the clouds and when it peeked out for a few minutes I was able to catch it backlighting the orange sections that were sitting on my black granite countertop. Easy peasy! ; )

The Response: the Color of Light — Jessica

When I looked over this morning, the light on the wall seemed white, but then looking at it closer, it wasn’t.

The Call: Where the Light Gets In — Cheryl

Jessica continues to inspire and challenge me. Today it was an email about in-camera motion blur and multiple exposure. I went with the second technique for this image: three different photos, stacked in camera, and tweaked a tiny bit in Photoshop.

The Response: Light in the Distance — Cheryl

Jessica has got me thinking about abstract images. This one was created with crystal vases, and a few layers in Photoshop. When I began thinking about the Call, I decided I’d approach it in terms of those that go into creating a photograph: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO, and probably concentrate on shutter speed. It didn’t work out, and that’s when I turned to the crystal vases and the visual elements of line, color, and light.