lightpainting

You've undoubtedly seen the speeded-up TV ads in which people paint with light, creating all manner of objects and movements. The same thing can be done with still photography -- all it takes is a dark location (a closet, or a location away from city lights), a long exposure, and some creativity. This is a 15-second exposure done indoors, with creative canine stylings by L. Hardison. I'm looking forward to doing some outdoor light painting as well, 'cause it's just so much fun.

A gift...

As if the early morning light wasn't gift enough, just as I was framing up this picture, some tiny insect made a tiny splash on the mirror-perfect surface of the lake, and I caught the concentric circles. All that, and there's no wrapping paper to throw away...

Is a photo of a piece of art a piece of art?

I've been retained to sell some artwork on eBay, and it's been interesting learning to photograph objects with wildly different characteristics to best capture their personality (and, yes, make the best impression to get the best price). I've been shooting in my macro studio, and finding that highly reflective glass objects are very difficult. Here's one that I have just listed on eBay -- I used several lights to minimize any one major reflection, and even stuck a tiny LED behind the vase to show the transparency of the art. I'll post photos of some of the other objects soon, including some very interesting masks.