Wednesday is Lensday: Close Ups!

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So, I haven’t done a “Wednesday is Lensday” in a while, but tonight while thinking about what I was going to post, my heart just wasn’t in it. I felt like expressing myself through my photos and that’s just what I did. The fact that they are Halloween colors, well, that’s what I have laying around the house right now, so it was an immediate go-to. Go figure.

sparkle's edge
Glitter paint in my palette.

chain gang
A new necklace that is made of different types of chain.

bow abstract
This is a close up of an orange foil gift bow. It’s not quite as in focus as I would like, but maybe that makes it cooler? Very abstract, I think.

x marks the spot
A detail of my retro reproduction lamp. I purchased it at Deadly Nightshades about 5 or so years ago. Kinda wish I bought the double lamps. Maybe down the road…

flamer
And a little detail of my Cider Web Yankee candle.

Admittedly, when I shoot close up for a while, it sometimes strains eyes, so I have a teeny tiny headache right now. Nevertheless, I hope you found these little orange and yellow photos inspiring!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Backtracking a bit

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Well, I didn’t post my Wed. is Lensday post cause I had to get my Thursday link up by Wednesday night, so, I have a few photos to post for tonight!

Chris and I went out for another one of our infamous Flickr walks out and about around Lexington. At first, we were going to go to the Lexington Cemetary, but it was closed. Bummer. But we did end up going to an old garden nursery where he found a lot of cool pics to take and I found just a few. Here’s one (that I oded to my friend Retta, an amazing photographer who loves to take nature pics)…

nature ode to retta

Here’s the old nursery…it had a lot of character but there were a lot of no trespassing signs and whatnot, so I wasn’t too adventurous with my photos… I love the bold letters on the brick.

hillenmeyer nursery

After a dinner break at Chipotle, I ended up snapping these three photos in the same block. Sometimes inspiration just hits at the same time…oh, and my telephoto lens takes some pretty good quality photos (I love how it does a subtle and natural vignette around the frame).

up against the wall
Here’s Chris posing rather lonely/distressesque. He’s a good model.

cut it out I find that I always think of Dave Coulier when I think of scissors. Anyone else remember that show Out of Control that he was on? I always loved the opening and who can forget Diz? UhhhhhhhhhhhhuhUNH! That’s the closest way for me to type the screeching sound she made on that show. Check out the intro here!

rock&scrollThis was just some random scroll fence set up next to a tattoo parlor wall. I don’t know what it is…maybe I just connected with the blue/grey color cause I’ve been feeling a little that way of sorts personally. It seems like emotions come in waves, doesn’t it?

Hope you enjoyed the photos Swellions! Catch ya tomorrow!

Alexa

All content/photos copyright, © Alexa L. Westerfield, 2008

Wednesday is Lensday!

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Took some photos with my friend Chris last night. I think it is good to not only do fun crafty art, but also see things from another perspective, from behind the lens. I’ve got a fun project in the work for some of my photos, that I plan on sharing on here soon. I really love the idea of crafting with photos. It’s so much fun to compose an image, then make something tangible out of it.

Anyway, here’s some photos from our excursion. I plan on sharing once a week photos of this and that that I take and the stories behind them and where I was at and where my mind was when I took them. A little insight that’s swell. Hopefully you will find it inspiring? I hope so.

Roadblock
roadblock
There was a street with a lot of construction near downtown Lex that was pretty vacant. It was also situated next to an old building with a lot of distressed brick and character. When I saw the spot and the way it was illuminated, I got Chris to pose. He did a few poses, including laying in the road…well, I wasn’t much of a lookout (he told me to tell him when a car was coming). Right in time, I told him, and turns out it was a cop car!! Ha ha…I guess he saw we had cameras and were only doing it in the name of art. Anyway, I like how this image turned out. It was originally orangy and a bit grainy, so I turned it into a black and white. Black and white always has a way of setting the mood. I think it ends up having an uneasy, old horror flick kinda vibe. Perhaps not knowing where to go or where to turn next? I also tilted it in the frame a bit so I think that adds to the tenseness.

Heart Attack
heart attack
I was feeling a bit down, cause the series of photos I took before this weren’t exactly working out, so I guess when I took this I was kinda feeling it. I took this straight neon-like, but the insides of the business (it was a dry cleaner) were blah, so in a last ditch effort, I decided to twist my lens as I took the picture to create a zooming effect. I think I salvaged a blah photo and turned it into something interesting and I have to pat myself on the back for that one.

Proceed with Caution
proceed with caution
Since it was dark when we took photos, I had to work with what little light I had, so I scoped out interestingly lit areas. One such place was the loading dock of an old factory. I really dug the yellow and black emergency stripe (I heart yellow and black together). Anyway, Chris was all about working the pose. He’s really good at posing and coming up with unique ideas, so I just snapped away at this lifeless position. I did darken around around the whole picture to further capture him as the focal point. I really like the blue windows as well. It makes you wonder what exactly is going on in there.

Bella Rose
bella rose
A local clothing shop had mannequins with roses for heads (well, it actually makes sense, cause the store is called Bella Rose). They made for a nice presentation. I snapped a few, but was struck by this one the most. I really dig the blue/grey background tone next to the red and yellow. I don’t know if you would immediately recognize it as a mannequin, but the roses, jewels, and ruffles, definitely bring out a feminine vibe that make you have to stop and take a look.

Well, off to bed now.

Until we meet again tomorrow, Swellions.

Alexa

All content/photos copyright, © Alexa L. Westerfield, 2008