Playing with light painting this morning. The sun was playing hide and seek so I opted to shoot indoors and experiment. I could have worked this a bit more but can't spend all of my time messing around. Have you tried light painting? I originally got the idea from a video I found on CreativeLive www.creativelive.com/creative-photography-challenge/light.... Give a try, it is challenging and fun!

Working on another CreativeLive photo challenge - "high speed" water images. The shutter speed suggested is much higher but I don't like to push the ISO up on my t3i because the noise gets so noticeable. It's garbage day, the bokeh in the background is from the garbage cans lined up at the curb. I am so tempted to make it mono, I really dislike the green and purple fringing, it's all I tend to notice.

I will be having more fun with water as soon as I get my other camera back, it's so exciting to see the shapes you can get.

ODC - high energy

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”

― Bob Marley

Working more on the CreativeLive photo challenges from last month, water drop splashes. The sun wasn't cooperating so I had to use flash. I don't use my speedlites very often because there is always something that doesn't work, today the battery in my transmitter was dead so I had to use the flash on camera. I just aimed it at the white backdrop and it seemed to work. I still don't feel like it is as sharp as I would like but after 100's of shots this was the most interesting shape.

Spent way, way, way too much time playing with splashes this morning. I really want to revisit this again soon, this was taken for the CreativeLive photography challenge that is going on right now. If you want to participate, go to CreativeLive.com, blog.creativelive.com/creative-photography-ideas-challeng.... I thought it might be fun to try some of these techniques, probably not all of them but a few to mix it up and learn something new.

Also, I probably overprocessed it but I really liked the dramatic look so I went with it.

I treated myself yesterday to a $2 bundle of daffodils. My husband came home with a longer lasting but more expensive gift, an ice light with barn doors!! We have been watching CreativeLive again and this time it has been all about weddings. My niece asked me to do hers in June, this will be my 2nd one. I am very flattered but nervous again because I need more practice on people. If you review my feed I mostly do still life and can take my time but people are a whole other thing and they intimidate me.

"You need to make art that no one in the world can create but you." - Chase Jarvis

These words have helped inspire me many times when I question myself especially when I start comparing my images to what other people are doing. I'm growing, learning and sharing and am finding my own style and voice.

How are you forging your own path and finding your creative voice? Have you heard of CreativeLive or Chase Jarvis? If you haven't, you should do yourself a favor and check them both out.

Mantis

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#mantis

#macro

#castellar

#les_arenes

#closeup

#insect

#closeup

#catalunya

#meditation

#nature

#macro_brillance

#natura

#angelgallardophotography

#fineart

#photography

#animals

#instapic

#creativelive

#world_great

#makemoments

#naturegram

#natureshots

#canon

#love

#featurepalette

#earth

#instamillion

#dof

#bokeh

#natgeo

Robber Fly

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#fly

#macro

#castellar

#les_arenes

#closeup

#insect

#closeup

#catalunya

#meditation

#nature

#macro_brillance

#natura

#angelgallardophotography

#fineart

#photography

#animals

#instapic

#creativelive

#world_great

#makemoments

#naturegram

#natureshots

#canon

#love

#featurepalette

#earth

#instamillion

#dof

#bokeh

#natgeo

Bombylius

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#fly

#bombylius

#macro

#castellar

#les_arenes

#closeup

#insect

#closeup

#catalunya

#meditation

#nature

#macro_brillance

#natura

#angelgallardophotography

#fineart

#photography

#animals

#instapic

#creativelive

#world_great

#makemoments

#naturegram

#natureshots

#canon

#love

#featurepalette

#earth

#instamillion

#dof

#bokeh

#natgeo

Another CreativeLive photo challenge, light painting. I tried this with 3 lenses and just couldn't get exactly what I wanted. Note to self: charge ALL the batteries for the camera, what is the point of having extra if they are all dead? It was great fun and a bit frustrating to experiment with light painting and long exposure. I would like to get a different light to try again. Wish I could keep playing but dead batteries and real life responsibilities are holding me back.

A landscape photograph of the winter sunset over Lake Quinault, Washington.

Another CreativeLive photo challenge, this time it is all about capturing sunstars. Now what I discovered when doing this challenge is that I really need to clean my camera sensor because I have a lot of sensor dust. I've never done it and am afraid I'll ruin it so I keep putting it off.

My light-painted light vanilla swirl image was highlighted on CreativeLive's instagram account yesterday, fun!

ODC - the wrong way (I guess this isn't the way solar power really works)

A selection of my textures layered together.

Honesty seed heads are a real favourite of mine.

Image 4 of 4 of a series of landscape photographs of the setting winter sun over the ocean beach at North Cove, Washington.

"Just put your best foot forward and hope for the best. You also have to acknowledge that you're going to make mistakes." - Damon Lindelof.

These limited edition K-Swiss shoes are my treasures, they were designed by Chase Jarvis. He is one of the founders of CreativeLive, hosts The Chase Jarvis show, 30-Days of Genius interviews and author of Creative Calling. I find so much inspiration and knowledge from following him on all of his channels. There are so many nuggets of wisdom that he shares and his interviews have introduced me to other fascinating people to be inspired by as well.

Today I created a make-shift light table to backlight my arranged bay leaves. I have the plans from Andrew Scrivani's CreativeLive class to make a light table but haven't taken the time to do it. My set up is an LED light panel with the diffuser panel over it, above that is just the glass from a photo frame balanced over the light on two chairs then placed on the glass is a sheet of parchment paper to further diffuse the light. The issues I ran into with this set up is the light is strongest in the middle and very dim on the edges I think the solution would be to use two lights or to move light source further away. Also, I just had to play with the exposure to try to find a balance. I'm sure this could be greatly improved but this is it for today. Every time I look at it I see leaves that I should have adjusted but I'm embracing my creation and know that perfection isn't everything. Just as these leaves are not perfect, there is something interesting and beautiful about the them just like with people.

Image 2 of 4 of a series of landscape photographs of the setting winter sun over the ocean beach at North Cove, Washington.

Yes, it's the smoke from an incense cone. I absolutely loved this challenge and have done many shots. This was one of my favourites because it almost looks like soft floaty fabric rather than smoke. Photographing smoke has quite captivated me. I super love learning new skills and this has been a magical experience. 😍

Holding value in my work and the journey of growing as an artist is something I am trying to improve. This was brought on by someone else not valuing my work. At first I was taken back by their words. But interestingly enough this brought me to the realization that the value I place on my work should not reflect what other people think. Has anyone else had experiences of realizations like this?

Creative live is broadcasting this free class right now if you happen to catch it.

www.creativelive.com/courses/make-more-money-discover-you...

So about 5 years after it was introduced, I finally bought a Nikon D500 which I had been lusting after. Then I had a bunch of personal issues that required a lot of time and concentration and out-of-state trips so I never used it...but I started an online CreativeLive course on it a few days ago and I finally am able to do the basics. I've got a lot more to figure out...

My Mentors For Food Photography Or Andrew Scrivani & Penny De Los Santos, You Can Take There Food Photography Courses At. www. creativelive.com

Vampire

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#vampirediaries

#horrorlook

#modelshoot

#goth

#gothboy

#photooftheday

#vampire

#creepy

#art

#texture

#darkart

#photoshop

#angelgallardophotography

#fineart

#photography

#ink

#blood

#creativelive

#darkness

#expofilm

#darkphotography

#ps_fantasy

#misery

#love

#featurepalette

#humanedges

#instamillion

#conceptualart

#fineartphotography

#emotive

A black and white photograph of the Astoria-Megler Bridge that spans the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington state along US Route 101.

A must for me when visiting the beautiful coastal town of Aldeburgh is taking some photographs and a walk on the beach. I know I have photographed this same scene many times before as it doesn’t change much but using Procreate to make it a little different from the others I’ve taken.

Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's finally time for me to jump onto the creativeLIVE set and teach a 3-day workshop to anyone who wants to watch...I was inspired to do this thanks to the most wonderful woman I met from Nigeria, who reminded me that not everyone around the world can take workshops and travel, and told me that I should give back. So, I've planned so much for the next 3 days and I can't wait to share my passion with you.

Join me May 16-18

www.creativelive.com/courses/fine-art-portraits-brooke-sh...

Homage to Michael O'Donoghue's Masterpiece Film - "Scrooged" - Starring Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane and Bill Murray:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ajwSBuozVs

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride:

youtu.be/K0zvX6AGd7Q

Composite of two photos, first the Scrooge Mobile photo taken at Hot Rod City: Las Vegas's Movie Car Museum:

www.hotrodcitylasvegas.com/

and Rocco, the Ghost of Xmas Puppies Past, taken at last years Animal Network's Santa pet portrait fund raiser, and while "Puppies Aren't Presents", there are still a lot of pooches who would love a "Home for the Holidays" - Don't Shop - Adopt!

www.animalnetwork-lv.com/

I was attempting to emulate this Scrooged photo on the back of the DVD:

www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/63056097...

Trying out some stuff I'd picked up on Phlearn.com and Dave Cross's "30 days of Photoshop" on CreativeLive...

www.creativelive.com/courses/30-days-photoshop-dave-cross...

Strobist for the Rocco Shoot:

580EXII CL w/ Shoot Through Umbrella

430EXII CR Bounced into Soft Silver MPEX Umbrella

580 Fired with Long "Flash Zebra" TTL Cord & 430 Slaved with Canon Easy Wireless.

BTS Set-Up:

www.flickr.com/photos/heiney/8257052765/

UPDATE! 2/7/2014

Rocko's photo here was selected as an "Editors Choice" and is now live on the iOS Newsstand in Photography Masterclass Magazine! PMM provided a

Free 3 Month Magazine Subscription for me to share with ya'll if you'd like to check it out...

photographymasterclassmag.com/mike-heiney-special

Covered in mud, dressed in rags, reaching beyond reality to capture a more inspiring future. My inspiration for creating this picture, which I did in front of the CreativeLIVE cameras, seen here: www.creativelive.com/courses/fine-art-portraits-brooke-sh...

"Every single day that I can wake up and create something is the happiest of my life, and I consider that a success."

New blog:

shadenproductions.com/blog/2013/04/29/the-impossibility-o...

New NYC workshop announced as part of my new [Framed] series, "The Concept", taught with Lindsay Adler! framednetwork.com/theconcept/

facebook | formspring | website | blog | twitter

Model: Katie Johnson

I dyed my hair last week, sort of a gray/white color, and I was super excited to do a picture that could use it. I thought, what better way than to embody Alice and really take on a fairytale. I decided to jump down the rabbit hole, which I find to be far more fulfilling than simply falling down it.

I actually used lights for this one, something I rarely do and quite honestly don't enjoy. But it is fun to experiment and see what comes of that experimentation...at the most, a new technique...and at the least, confirmation of what fulfills us.

Next week I'll be on CreativeLive teaching all about image compositing! And then a week after that I'm headed to Australia for 2 weeks for workshops in Sydney, Melbourne, and even New Zealand...absolutely can't wait to visit some of the Hobbit sets! I'm really looking forward to a nice quiet holiday season though, complete with family and friends. My sister is moving to my area, and I couldn't be more thrilled. We haven't lived in the same state for 6 years!

Happiness to all <3

A photographic collage using my textures. I enjoy making images so I often just look through my pictures and pick a few to see which ones put together will give me the look I’m after. I like the challenge of just selecting different textures, text and colour. I photograph all kinds of things to use as textures and collect old papers, sheet music to use or it might be a piece of my artwork. I use Affinity and Snapseed mainly but try many other apps to get the look.

Inspired after I watched some of the Peter Hurley seminar on Creative live today.

www.creativelive.com/courses/simple-lighting-for-portrait...

Strobist:

2 Speedlights:

580EXII w/ Rogue Grid Boomed over the chair to light background & Bear 1/32.

LP180R CL in Westcott StripBox @ 1/4

Fired w/ Phottix Odins

My family and I (dogs and all :P) were able to enjoy a lovely, relaxing weekend at my Aunty's property in celebration of Christian's Birthday on the weekend. I've been working on this shot for a couple of days and have been incredibly inspired by Miss Brooke Shaden and her CreativeLive Session.

I've only got a couple of weeks left before I'm back at uni, ugh. Not looking forward to it at all. On a more positive note, I hope you've all been well. I recently completed an interview so if you're interested, you can follow this link here and have a read. It's pretty detailed and I share some insight about some of my photographs :)

Facebook | Tumblr | Twitter | Posting everyday on Instagram | Blog | Website | Ask me anything!

Photographic collage using a collection of my images.

"The image is more than an idea. It is a vortex or cluster of fused ideas and is endowed with energy" --. Ezra Pound

Playing with light painting and long exposure. I was fighting time and a breeze that kept knocking my minion over so I had to put him on a more stable surface. Nothing like setting up in the backyard at 6 dark thirty. If you haven't tried light painting there are some really good tutorials on youtube and www.creativelive.com/creative-photography-challenge/light....

It's the final, huge giveaway to celebrate my new CreativeLive class! Leave a comment about 1 way you are proud of yourself + RSVP to my new class cr8.lv/fine-art-series (it's free to watch for 24 hrs!) to win a *** Sony Alpha A7C camera + 35mm lens valued at $2,600 USD!***

The biggest lesson I've learned this year: TRUST. I've spent most of my life worrying. I'm anxious by nature. I want to control everyone and everything, none more than myself. My foster son taught me to trust in the natural rhythm of my life. My art taught me to trust in the natural vision of self-expression. But mostly? I taught myself that I am trustworthy and that my experiences are valid. Over time, What I say is worthy, what I do is impactful, and how I inspire others is entirely up to me. TRUST, yes, but in myself above all else. I TRUST that I naturally meet my own expectations. I TRUST that I create important art. I TRUST that I am filled with all the answers to the lessons I have learned and will learn. I TRUST that I can pass that on to you. I'm very proud of that. What is one thing you're proud of?

Can you please help me celebrate my new class "Creating a Fine Art Series" by doing 2 things? 1) Comment here to enter the giveaway, and 2) Click the link cr8.lv/fine-art-series to RSVP for the FREE premiere of my class TOMORROW (Oct 27) at 9am PST! It will replay for free for 24 hours.

Thank you #SonyAlpha for supporting my new class and our community!

I had been going through old files yesterday to find a specific Photoshop file, and I stumbled across this image that I had taken months ago. It was halfway edited, I had had no idea where I was going to go with it, but Ive been very much inspired lately by people like Brooke Shaden (whose recent creativeLIVE workshop has gotten me itching to shoot) and Stephen Maycock (whose editing and style I really admire), so I decided to continue with this. And Im actually very much happy with it, which is something I havent felt about one of my own images in a while. Its a great feeling.

Etsy

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Tomorrow morning (4am) I am leaving on a trip to Australia and New Zealand (dream come true!) and because of that early time, I'm posting my Monday Promoting Passion video today. I thought this image was an appropriate one for the theme today, since I wanted to talk about overcoming anxiety. Creating an image with cameras pointed at your face while you are fairly certain it won't even work out in the end isn't the most comfortable of experiences...but I was determined to overcome that fear and have an amazing time with it, since the most important part of creating is not the final outcome, but instead the process to get there - "failure" or not.

www.promotingpassion.com/promoting-passion-week-49-overco...

I hope that no matter how you create you love the process, and that you're always pushing yourself to break out of your comfort zone. Dealing with anxiety is something I've done for a long time in varying degrees, so it felt good to talk about that in this video and share a part of myself that is very much a work in progress.

"Great Sea Battles" modeled by Heather Wilson, photographed on CreativeLive with assistance from John Cornicello Photography and some of the in-studio audience! You can watch the shoot here: www.creativelive.com/courses/basic-techniques-advanced-co...

Low-key lighting is a style of lighting for film and photography with an emphasis on shadows. That's certainly a medium I enjoy working with and really enjoy making shadows in my photography..

3 Days of Giveaways for my new CreativeLive class (cr8.lv/fine-art-series) totaling over $3,000! Today: a 3 Legged Thing RayKit tripod valued at $450 USD! To enter, comment: Do you feel awakened to your own potential?

Jerry Uelsmann once said that his greatest goal is to surprise himself. I couldn't agree more. When my art is most innovative, my life feels more alive, aligned. A few months ago I had the idea to paint on glass and overlay it onto my images. Distinctly different from my conceptual work, these images took on emotion+form over concept+idea. It feels new/weird/scary/explorative in ways that excite me in my guts. I love this image with all my heart and can't wait to print it (and the companions) for my home. What would I do without self-portraiture? What would I do without the tools to express myself so deeply? I shudder to think of my life if I had never been awakened to my own potential.

Can you please help me celebrate my new class "Creating a Fine Art Series" by doing 2 things? 1) Comment here to enter the giveaway, and 2) Click this link cr8.lv/fine-art-series to RSVP for the FREE premiere of my class on Tuesday Oct 27 at 9am PST. It will replay for free for 24 hours.

Image 1 of 4 of a series of landscape photographs of the setting winter sun over the ocean beach at North Cove, Washington.

I got this big dreamy skirt on ebay of all places and let me tell you I have never had so much trouble walking in a skirt before. I tripped more than once almost slipped on the skirt down the rock haha I'm sure I was comical to watch.

So I have been really enjoying the 30 days of genius series over on creativelive. It covers a wide range of topic. One of which is health which ends up effecting creativity. Sitting is the new smoking. Since I sit a ton for work, this is something I have to change. I've been standing most of the last couple days and can already feel a difference.

www.etsy.com/shop/MortPhotography?ref=hdr_shop_menu

www.instagram.com/mortalyssa/