N LEG
Now ON loved sweet MLE,
And quite B9 was F8
B4 he did with NRG
SA to AV8.
He flew with EZ XTC,
Nor NE did XL;
A B caused him one day, ah me!
2 DV8, he fell.
They gave to ON ODV
And XS OP8;
His brow grew IC 4, U C,
Y then it was 2 L8.
“O, ON,” MLE did say,
“No more an NTT,
I envy even grim DK
Your MT FEG.”
Part of me is just a purist – photography should be straight forward, SOOC, with some – but not a lot of – modifications. Â However, blending and layering different images and textures is not something in my repertoire. Â I don’t think like that. Â I see art that is not realistic as something we do with watercolors or etching, but not with photography.
And then, now that I have started playing much more with presets in LR or PPS9, I find there are a lot of ways to post process pictures to a point that I like. Faded presets are all the rage now, ones duplicating, or attempting to duplicate, colored images from the past. Over-exposed film, under-exposed film, light leaks, cross processing, faded Kodachrome. There are family photos from the 50s that now look like this.
To me, this is a “normal” bit of post – but layering images to send a message? Looking at the work of different photographic artists, I realize I need to re-think my approach to the merged and blending of images. There is a lot out there that is emotionally appealing and thought-provoking. The voice of the artist can take many forms, but I have never really given too much credence to this in photography, or using photography to move into more creative realms. It’s hard to explain, really.
When I looked at the above photos, I started thinking about how dry our area is, in the third year of a serious drought. Tomorrow, some rain, but California is way behind on its water needs. Countries worldwide are reporting their hottest years – Norway, for one – and California as a state, too. Not good, but we all “know” that there isn’t any global warning . . .
What will this landscape, already barren, look like if it goes up in one of the periodic fires we get? We’ve had several in our area already, one being the Springs Fire that swept through last year, killing animals, damaging environments and narrow ecosystems. This, then, is my thought about a favorite local park, and a dropped match . . .
Crustless Ricotta Spinach Pie
4 eggs
1 c. heavy cream
1. c. whole milk ricotta cheese
1. c. grated Swiss, Jarlsberg, or Emmenthaler cheese
1 bunch of baby spinach, washed, rinsed, chopped, and squeezed as dry as possible
Fresh nutmeg
Preheat oven to 325 F. Rinse spinach, put in pan, steam until limp, then drain and squeeze and chop. Set aside.
Beat together eggs, cream, ricotta, and nutmeg. Stir in spinach and grated cheese.
Pour into 9 inch pie pan, sprayed with oil. Bake for 30 minutes; remove when pie is set but still jiggles. Cool.
Good with a fresh salad, or for an easy breakfast grab-and-go.
The other day I went shopping deliberately for fruit to shoot. Â Food photography can be fun, but it does require more of a set up than I use when I am shooting pictures as I work in the kitchen. Â I bought pears, tangerines, and apples from Whole Foods, checking the produce out for perfect fruit, and because I really think they have the best fruits in the autumn and winter months. Â I used flash with the MagMod, backlighting from my eastern-facing studio window, a Lastolite scrim, along with silver reflectors and white foam core. Â Not everything was used in every shot, but I did enjoy playing around. Â Camera was the Nikon Df and the Nikon 24-85mm f2.8-4 lens.
The purpose of this study was to work with equipment and to work with software. Just practicing a studio set up and then working with the light – which was done in the morning given the eastern window – was fun. Shooting outdoors is not the same as shooting indoors. Doing studio work helps me focus on thinking about light, shadow, texture, composition, color, ad infinitum. It is a good way to focus more than just the camera – it creates a consciousness of the environment, one which I can control to a certain degree.
Besides the learning curve of studio work – and the fun – I really enjoy still lives of plants, food, fruit, and vegetables. For me, it brings the beauty of the natural world and an appreciation of its diversity to the forefront – something easy to forget in the face of just the busy-ness of everyday life.
For Christmas, there were a few photography accessories on my list, one being the MagMod 2.0. Â I must have been a good girl, because I got one. Â It is an attachment for your speed light, and allows a grid to be added to the flash, along with colored gels, to focus and change the light of the camera. Â It is made of rubber – or a rubbery substance – that stretches to fit the speed light. Â I put it on my SB600 as well as the SB400 (which is smaller than the SB600) by stretching the MagGrip.
From there, using the MagGrid 2 and the MagGel 2 systems, I could change my image’s character. Â Coupled with extra lights from the side, or backlighting, the results were rather nice. Â What I liked was the fact the MagMod 2 is very easy to use and is modular – hence the “mod” in MagMod. Â The grid reduces the divergence of the light spread from the flash and focuses it to 40 degrees, per the MagMod website; add another, and it reduces it to 20 degrees. Â (Will a third halve it to 10 degrees?) Â In looking at this site, it appears they are now developing a bounce and a diffuser, but they are not yet for sale on the MagMod web page.
The MagMod 2 is easy to use – and rather fun! The magnets do have north and south poles, and they will remind you of that when you line them up wrong. Quality seems to be very good. I am not sure how the filters are made. There are air bubbles in them, which move around, but they do not affect the image at all from what I can see. Also, a few months back, I emailed them with some questions, and I was very pleased with the promptness of their replies. For the price, some people may find this an expensive item, but the kit is a good place to start, and from there, you can add what you want. Modular they are, and you can buy pieces individually.
Finally, here is a video done by someone in the studio, using a number of them.
And here, you can see all their products in production and available for pre-order. Â Altogether, this is a rather exciting product, I think, and look forward to the continuing development of the MagMod system.
