Saturdays are for getting out of the house. Some days we run errands, other days we get in the truck and pick a direction, North, South, East or West. And then there are days we do both. It’s all about getting out and away from the house and finding a fun place to have lunch.
One recent Saturday we ran errands first and ended up in Cartersville, GA at the Savoy Automobile Museum. We have been there before, unfortunately this time I was without my camera. Big mistake, but oh well at least I had my Samsung Galaxy cell phone!
Today’s photo(s) is of a 1954 Plymouth Savoy. As the developers were clearing out the 35-acre lot for an unnamed museum, they uncovered this rusted-out shell of a car. Taking it as an omen, the Savoy Automobile Museum was born and the namesake, Savoy was preserved as part of the museum landscape.
If you’re into cars, I highly recommend you check out the Savoy Automobile Museum. They change their collections frequently and have some very interesting automobiles making the trip well worth it.
We were out and about last Saturday heading into Historic Newnan, Georgia. There are beautiful, historic homes lining each side of the street as you head into town. As we approached a 4-way stop I looked to my right and saw this beautiful, unusual looking tree. It almost looks like a cross between a spider and a hand, don’t you think? I couldn’t resist snapping a photo, but my camera was in the backseat! Oh well, time to use the cell phone camera (Samsung Galaxy).
I did a little research on the house in the background and as it turns out it is the McRitchie-Hollis Museum. A beautiful, 1937 Neoclassical Home which was eventually purchased in late 2000 by the city of Newnan, Georgia and became the McRitchie-Hollis Museum. We didn’t have time to stop and explore, but from their web page it looks like a wonderful place to visit and learn about the city of Newnan.
This week Anne has us focusing on “filling the frame.” Why? As Anne reminds us “when you fill the frame with your subject, you eliminate various background distractions. The viewer’s eyes have nowhere to wander. Their attention is where you want it.” She provides many wonderful examples of “filling the frame” so be sure to read her post here.
I use this technique many, many times in my photography. My archives are full of examples, and it was hard to pick a few, but here it goes.
Oftentimes, I’m intentional with “filling the frame,” especially when it comes to wildlife and nature photography. In the photos below, I included portions of the background to better highlight the subject. This may go against the thought of removing distractions, but as Anne reminds us photography is subjective.
Bee Pollenating on Rododendron
“When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” ~When Harry Met Sally
Filling the frame can also come in handy when shooting weddings. It’s a perfect way to capture the little details from the day.
In this photo, I purposely pulled together the elements in order to capture the memory of the invitation, shoes, earrings and bouquet. The invitation may get tucked away in a scrapbook, her shoes will probably never be worn again, and the flowers will fade away, but the photo gives her one single lasting memory of all that went into planning her wedding.
When I photograph weddings or other portraits I will start with the full subject and crop the images in editing to fill the frame with the appropriate details. I’m always looking for the “picture within the picture.”
Take the photo on the left I love the sweet moment of the groom taking the bride’s hand as she overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. But what was even more special was when I cropped in on their hands. You capture the feeling of the groom’s strong hand delicately holding his bride’s hand.
The next photo was a special prayer moment between the bride and bridesmaids. I was blessed to be able to photograph my niece’s wedding and just before the ceremony began, she and her bridesmaids circled up for a prayer. It was a sweet moment, and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of them all holding hands.
In this example, there are two (2) “pictures in a picture.” In one photo, I cropped her wedding dress. Don’t you just love the detail of the delicate applique and the laced up back with satin bow? It’s something the viewer would have noticed if I hadn’t cropped the photo.
In the other photo, I cropped in on the bride’s right hand holding her matron of honor’s hand. Her matron of honor was her sister. Can’t you just “feel” the love and pride the bride’s sister has for her?
“Why am I using a new putter? Because the old one didn’t float so well.”
~Craig Stadler, Professional Golfer
I’ll end with one last example of “filling the frame” from my days of shooting golf tournaments. This was a fun one of all the golf carts lined up waiting for the tournament to start. Fore!!!!!
Thank you, Anne for inviting us to explore “filling the frame.” It was and fun and interesting way of exploring how I use this technique with my photos.
Be sure to join us next week when James of Jazzibee will guest host and present our next challenge. Be sure to look for his post.
If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info.
In an effort to get in some “photo-therapy” I decided to pull out my macro lens and wander around our backyard for inspiration. It’s Fall here in Atlanta so there’s not too much blooming. But, nonetheless, there is ALWAYS something to photograph in a backyard.
Take for instance, the faded blooms off a hydrangea bush. They are truly beautiful in their own way.
And you certainly can’t deny the beauty of this pink rose. This is the only rose bush that has performed well for us this year.
And Mother Nature gave me a bonus while shooting the pink rose. This little fella decided to get into the picture, too!
I enjoyed getting back out with the Macro lens and also working with the images in Photoshop Elements to enhance their colors and bring out their features.
The fall colors are beautiful and are falling rapidly. So, who knows, I may just have to get back out there for a little more “photo-therapy.” Stay tuned!
The area of Atlanta, GA we live in is surrounded by several county, state and federal parks and it’s not unusual to see a Blue Heron or two (2) circling above the river or fishing in a feeder stream. Last week on our Sunday walk, this fella flew over us and landed on the stream below the bridge we were standing on. He was so still but looked as though he was getting ready to take flight. Fortunately, I was able to snap a quick photo with my cell phone.
What I like about this image is how the water, rocks, leaves and branches all seem to perfectly frame him. Since I used my Android phone, I did have to make a few adjustments in Photoshop Elements to bring out the colors and details of the Fall leaves. Still, it turned out to be a decent image (just don’t zoom in too closely 😉).
Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve joined a Lens Artist Challenge. It’s not because of a lack of trying as I have three (3) posts still sitting in draft form. Call it a creative drought or, whatever. Maybe they’ll eventually come out of draft form. So, if you’re reading today’s post, then yay me….the drought may be over! 😊
Back to this week’s challenge where Ritva invites us to share whatever is inspirational about our kitchen. You can read up on her challenge here.
Fortunately, I’ve dabbled a little (for fun) with food photography and even wrote a few posts, too. So, this was a good challenge to hit the re-start button with.
First up, if you’re familiar with Southern Cooking, you’ll recognize the cast iron pan with its golden, sizzling fried chicken. Cooking fried chicken is my husband’s specialty. It’s a skill that doesn’t come easy (that’s why he makes it and not me) but somehow through osmosis, he learned how to make the best fried chicken from watching his mother. You can read all about his fried chicken in my post, Peggy’s Fried Chicken.
Next up, our good friends are Foodies through and through. There isn’t anything they won’t try and fortunate for us, we’re usually the guinea pigs for new dishes. I featured the dish below “Cuban Chicken” in a blog a few years back.
Oh, and then there was that time they made “Paella in a pan.”
The place setting below holds a special childhood memory. “Desert Rose” was the everyday pattern my parents used when we were children. No one seems to remember what happened to the original dishes, but one year my sister found a set on-line and ordered them. We decided to use the set for our Thanksgiving dinner that year. It was a very special day because it marked the 40th anniversary of our mother’s passing. You can read more about the dishes and the special memories in “Giving Thanks over Desert Rose”.
One summer a few years back our hydrangeas were in full bloom. I mean, we had A LOT of blooms! So, I decided to repurpose a kitchen pitcher into a flower vase. I took it a little further and decided to stage a few other elements into the photo.
In this week’s challenge Ritva also asks us to share our favorite cup. I don’t really have a “favorite” cup, so I thought I would take a photo of the cup/saucer setting from my parent’s china pattern. It doesn’t get used very often anymore (well, never), so I thought I would give it a chance to be seen. 😉
Thank you, Ritva for inviting us to find inspiration in the kitchen. What a fun opportunity for me to take a trip down memory lane and revisit some fun posts and photos.
Be sure to join us next week when Philo of Philosophy Through Photography invites us to post our thoughts and images of simplicity photography.
Donna Robinson Photography 