From the Trees of Tranquility series Last weekend, I spent some quality time with my water drops, trying to get one last photo for my "Life in the Pacific NW" series.  So I'm sitting in my darkroom, with all the lights off, except for one small red light and the glow from my iPod, that has my music on it, and pondering what to do.  I was working on the last photo in the series, which was going to be Camas, WA based.  I did get photos, but was not quite satisfied with how they turned out.  I'll probably revisit them later.  I knew I wanted to redo a photo I had done last month, that I loved the background, but felt a different drop shape would look better.  I wanted to convey serene, tranquility and peacefulness. 

So I re-shot to get that photo, with a different, rounder drop shape. The result is the photo shown here.  It took just over 60 photos.  The funny thing about this background, is with the straight lines of the trees, I can't have the music up too loud or even vibrations from the tv in the next room, or heavy footsteps.  It makes very, very tiny movements in the water, which makes for wavy, Dr. Suess trees!  So I wait a little longer in between photos until I can see the reflection is absolutely still.  I was able to get the shot I wanted, so I started thinking about more backgrounds, with simple clean subjects.  All the trees are blossoming pink and white right now, so I moved on to that background.  From that, the new series just evolved, I kept finding backgrounds of trees that I liked.  Hence, the new series I've started, titled "Trees of Tranquility."

To see the Pacific NW Series, "drop in" (drop in, get it, haha) and see me:  I'll be the featured artist of the month at Aurora Gallery, for First Friday Art Walk, in Vancouver, WA.  April 4th, from 5-9pm.  I will be there from 6:30-8:30.  Thank you, and have a great week!

 Last week, I dropped off new work to Dragonfire Gallery, in Cannon Beach.  Cannon Beach is two hours from my home, but a relaxing drive.  Besides dropping off prints from items that sold, I dropped off two new pieces:  "Multnomah Falls Drop" and "Soaring Free."

Multnomah Falls Drop is a photo I've had in my head for awhile, and this is actually "take two" as the first shoot I attempted with these I wasn't satisfied with the result.  The Benson Bridge pictured in this photo, at Multnomah Falls was shut down, Jan. 9th, of this year, after a boulder took out part of the deck and the handrail.  Multnomah Falls Bridge DropOregon's iconic Multnomah Falls and Bridge, taken before the rock damaged part of the bridge.
Open edition. Repairs won't be done for quite awhile.

Soaring Free is from my new layered textures collection.  It seemed to perfectly mimic that days drizzly, gray overcast skies and turbulent water.  The town was quiet, with just a few tourists here and there.  There were several people on the beach, walking their dogs or just beach combing.  If you are ever in Cannon Beach, check out the Dragonfire Gallery, they have a varied and wonderful assortment of amazing artwork. 

So I had this idea, to do a Powell's books/coffee drinkers photo.  It would have books in the background, and a cup of coffee with a splash of cream. 

Lady in my tea water First I started with just water, to get the timing figured out and ready to switch to coffee.  Milk proved to have its own unique challenges.  For one, milk is a thicker density than water.  I got a lot of "blobby" drops, that looked like all sorts of creatures, for instance, like the white monster from the old cartoon, Scooby Doo (and did you know that the name "Scooby-Doo" comes from the last line of the Frank Sinatra song "Strangers In The Night?").

I also had a lot of lighting challenges with white porcelain, getting it lit evenly.  I ended up with two flashes for the background and hand holding one flash above the camera, to reduce shadows.  I also had to keep cleaning the sides of the cup.  Four hours later, I got a few drops I was happy with.  I did only small enhancements in Photoshop, besides adding the text. 

I changed out the cups of coffee frequently, to keep the dark, rich brown color, as the cream kept diluting it to a caramel color.  I made 12 cups of coffee, drank one and photographed the rest!

I moved on to other projects after that, as I am getting new photos ready for the galleries.  So ten hours later, I called it quits, with quite a few images to upload the next day.  More on that, on the next blog. Strong Coffee