Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings Kathy Lawler — Guest Blogger and Resident Color-Guru ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ever wonder how to choose a great color scheme for you living space? One way is to start with one of your favorite pieces of art and choose your color scheme based on that work. It can be a painting you love or a photograph you have just purchased. Trust the Artist’s palette, the combination of colors they used and how they work together, and then with those create your own space that you love to be in. Take this beautiful image of a Chinese Elm bark. Bring these wonderful colors of Nature into your living space for an outstanding and inspired interior. Let’s take a look at the color palette you could use with this image. First we have this luscious shade of mahogany. Pair that with the lovely turquoise and a rich pumpkin and you have a great combination. These aren’t the only colors you can pull from this palette — there are great neutrals with shades of ivory, tans, light blue, steel grays, along with reds, oranges, and whites. You can pump up the volume on the colors by using a more intense version of the shade or you can tone them down or make them lighter as well.
As discussed in a previous blog on Color, there are many approaches you can take with color combinations. Our first two choices from this palette happen to be complimentary colors and make a great basis for this color pairing. Add pumpkin and you have a great accent. One great way to work with color and give your home a sense of flow while changing up the look is to use one of the colors — the turquoise for example — as the primary color for your living room. It then becomes the secondary color in your bedroom and just the accent color in another room while other colors in your palette will become dominant colors for each of those rooms. Learn to experiment and don’t be afraid of color! Color can set a mood in your home — your bedroom can be done in restful shades of blues for a calming effect or you can add some color zing to your kitchen for a bright energetic space. You can make a room appear bigger, cozier, more restful, or more cheery depending on your color selections. Even small amounts of accent colors bring life into a space. There are several ways to experiment with color. I do recommend experimenting with painting your walls, using throw pillows, adding new art and accessories that can be relatively inexpensive upgrades and are easy to change. Thank you for visiting… and remember to color outside the lines! — Kathy P.s. See our Change of Art blog for additional color ideas for your home.
2 Comments
Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the things I routinely like to photograph is tree bark. It offers such variety in texture, color, and scale. Bark is ever-changing and you can capture really great images all year long, in all kinds of weather conditions. There so much variety in bark — the peeling, the cracking, the swirling patterns, smooth and rough patches, intersecting veins, and the amazing colors when the light hits it just right. I have a favorite tree that I found one year while hiking in Mason Neck State Park in Virginia. I have been revisiting this same tree for several years now.
The tree was a dual-trunked specimen and it split in two, with each half falling in opposite directions. It has been amazing to revisit this tree to view the changes, the decomposition, the fungus, and the new weathering bark and wood patterns that have developed. Now, several years later, I’m still finding new, intriguing sections to photograph. Since I always shoot macro and close-up images, another great advantage to photographing bark is that you can shoot in any wind conditions. Unheard of for macro! (If that bark is waving in the wind then you’ve got bigger problems than just getting a great shot!) Here are a few tips and things for you to try when photographing bark.
Speaking of all things bark — this month at the Workhouse Art Center you can see my un-official showing All About the Bark. I have images of: Chinese Elm, River Birch, Royal Palm, the afore-mentioned fallen tree, and more. Hope you drop by for a visit, now through October 2nd. Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. What’s your favorite subject matter? Why do you find this subject to be so interesting? What difficulties to shooting does it present? Share with us, we’d love to hear about your experiences. Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aye! This be one of them just plain fun holidays where ye can let yer inner pirate out ta sail th’ seven seas! An' ye can declare yer love of all things pirate on Talk Like A Pirate Day! There be all kinds of ways ta sail-abrate th’ day… — Ye can dress in boney-fidey pirate garb. Go ta yer big trunk of old-timey garb you’ve been keepin’ down in the hold fer the past few decades an’ pilfer a few pieces, er eight (a lil’ pirate humor there!) that don’t go together at all an’ wear ‘em inta the office! — Remember ta practice yer most intimidatin’ pirate voice an make up a few pirate jokes ta share with — or force onta — yer shipmates, whether they be willin’ er naught. I’ll give ye a couple-a mine ta git ye started… What be a pirate’s fav’rite flower? Aaarrrggh-aranthemums! What camera do a pirate favor ta shoot with? A Canon! An’ what lens do a pirate favor ta shoot with? A Fisheye! How much booty fer a good pair of pirate earrings? A Buccaneer! — Get some of yer fav’rite shipmates an’ go ta mid-day grub-n-grog, an’ carry on right through happy hour, an’ impaired hour, an’ right on up ‘til the witchin’ hour. After all, pirates arrrr their own man — er woman — an’ answer ta no one! But, beware, cuz the las’ mate standin’ gets the tab! Not sure about bein’ a Pirate, arrrr ye? Need more convincin’? Need a good, sound reason fer ye ta be boardin’ the good ship I Don’t Give A Crap an’ wager it all on a long shot at the fame an’ fortune ta be won at the risk of yer continued service on the fair ship Don’t Be Rash? Well, here be a couple of good ones: — You’ll gain instant respect — or ridicule (they be jealous!) — from yer shipmates fer yer daring-do! An’ yer cap’n will prob-ly give ye a promotion ta Chief Gangplank Inspector! — When ye do sign on with a new crew on a new ship, ye can put ‘bilingual’ on yer resume; after all, ye do speak fluent Pirate! Me thanks ye fer visitin’, me Hearty, — Cap’n Cantankerous the Cranky P.s. So, get yer Pirate-a-tude all stirred up an’ set sail fer a glorious day of chivalry an’ rivalry! Thars glory an’ booty just a-waitin’ out thar fer ye ta plunder an’ loot! Grab fer yerselfs all th’ bounty ye can carry! An’ don’ fergit ta regale us with tales of yer escapades an’ adventures so’s we can all share an’ comment on each others’ lies… er… Tall Tales! Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have recently started experimenting with setting up Contemporary Still Lifes — not bowls of fruit or vases of flowers; my Still Lifes have taken on a New Life. These studio set-ups, or dioramas, combine various elements, not usually associated with each other, into a single story-telling image. And this is not easy! I’m in the habit of letting Nature do my set-ups, then all I need to do is snap a photo! ;-) That was obviously a bit — a lot(!) — of an over-simplification. Just as with my outdoor-based photography, where all the rules of composition, visual flow, coordination of colors and elements, background considerations, scale, story-telling, etc., come into play, all these rules also apply to these studio set-ups and need to be followed … or intentionally broken. And all this just to set up the scene. Next, the usual second set of rules also needs to be attended to and employed. These are all the technical considerations that contribute to photographic quality: lighting, focus, depth of field, exposure, shadows, highlights, point of view, etc. This ain’t your Gramma’s bowl of fruit! This is even better! In working with these studio set-ups, I can engineer whatever story I want, using whatever elements and appliances I want without regard to preconceived associations or meanings. I can combine elements Nature would never see to put together. I can put orchids in a bird’s nest. I can pair up a hibiscus flower with malted barley, hops, and wheat stalks to depict a refreshing summer brew. I can shoot summer flowers through a sheet of ice if I want to! You say you’re not up to the challenge of all this imagination, invention, and visualization? Hogwash! You did just this every time you played with your dollhouse or action figures or built a sand castle or snowman. You put together various elements into a single scene to tell the story you were playing in your Mind’s Eye.
So now, channel your inner-adventurer. Let your imagine go free. Get together your “things”, your visual elements, and tell us a story! Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. What story do you “see” that you want to tell? I know you can’t attach an image here, but give us a synopsis so we can share in your story. I invite you to come see a few stories I’ll be telling at my upcoming solo exhibit. My work will be on display from November 9th through December 4th at Arches Gallery in building 9 at the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton. |
Categories
All
About Chris
I am a Virginia-based photographer and gather my images while hiking in parks and natural areas here at home and in the locations I travel to. I also love to visit arboretums and botanic gardens to find unusual and exotic subjects. Archives
March 2017
|