Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings Kathy Lawler, Guest Blogger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Art should be dynamic… in more ways than just one. I grew up the mountains of Southern California and my mother had a picture of the ocean over our mantle. My mom was questioned about this image a lot; no one could understand why she wouldn’t have a mountain scene in our home. My mother patiently explained to visitors that she could look out the window and see trees and mountains anytime she wanted. But she couldn’t see the ocean. Growing up with a rule-breaker gave me a different slant on life — to say the least — and it is no wonder that I am now always mixing up our Art in our home. We are avid collectors of Art. We have been doing Art Fairs for over 30 years and have amazing work that we enjoy, not only because we know the artist, but also because we appreciate all the love, hours, and creativity that went into each and every piece. It is not surprising that we have more work than we can display at one time. So we came up with a simple solution . . . We change out our art as the seasons change, or sometimes just to make a room feel new again, or to make room for a new piece we have just purchased. And it’s getting to be that time again in our household. This time around we are working with the upcoming change in seasons and are choosing to create a feeling of warmth with our art, since we are moving into the cooler months of the year. We took photos of the before and after so you can see how very small changes have created a whole new feeling in the same space and made the room feel ready for a long winter’s night. This is the current summer version of the space where we wanted to escape the summer heat and to feel cool and calm. The image, Reptile Ice, cools the viewer right down. Reptile Ice is a macro shot of Ice on Glass. We added a blue pillow on the sofa and a few pieces of artwork on the end table, including a ceramic vase and a beautiful blue blown glass piece, also adding to the cool and comfortable feeling. This next image shows the same space with a few different pieces. We traded out our cool feel to create a cozy space to relax and feel warm on a cool fall/winter night. As you can see, we removed the blue pillow and added another beige pillow to accent the fabulous image shown, Nature’s Fireworks, and the two additional pieces titled Traces. We traded out the ceramic piece and glass vase for a ceramic dish with pine cones and a crazy arrangement of fabric flowers, both of which compliment the images we choose to hang here. When the crazy cold starts, I will add a cozy throw to the mix for cuddling up on the sofa with a good book.
It is amazing how a few elements can change everything and make your home feel fresh and new. Wait until you see what we have planned for spring! Of course, that will be after Christmas and all the magic that season brings! Thank You for visiting, — Kathy Lawler, guest blogger P.s. Do you change up your home from time to time? Rearrange the furniture? Do you rotate your decor pieces? Do you have summer things and winter things that you switch out? Maybe sofa throws or throw pillows? Tell us all about it and we'll compare strategies!
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Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello! Thank you for stepping into my world for a bit. The world of close-up and macro photography. Of hanging around outdoors, in the flower beds, by the ponds, out in the woods. Of communing with nature and listening to the tales it has to tell, and seeing the beauty it has to offer. Oh yes, and scratching mosquito bites, wiping sweat from my eyes, flinching from the sunburn on my neck. This is my life and I love it! I grew up in Southern California, so was outside about 370 days a year. Being among the bugs and plants and dirt is in my soul. Even way back then, in my Polaroid and Instamatic days, I was intrigued by the tiny component parts of the grand scheme. We’d go to Yosemite and I’d take pictures of tree bark and lichens. Oh, I loved the grand view, too, but my soul went to the minutia. Not surprising that my professional work gravitates to macro photography. “Don’t you mean ‘micro’?”, you ask. You’d think so, but no. Macro refers to photography which takes the small and makes it big; the micro is made macro. In macro photography the subject is recorded on the sensor (or film) at the same size or larger that it appears in life. A 1/2 inch fly will be a full 1/2 inch (or larger) on the sensor; a 1:1 ratio. Macro shots cannot be done with a 35mm camera and a 3 inch butterfly because the sensor isn’t big enough to record the whole butterfly at 1:1; the sensor isn’t 3 inches across. This shot is Close-Up Photography; it is not a 1:1 but rather might be 1:2 or 1:3 meaning 1/2 or 1/3 life size. You could, however, take a macro shot of that butterfly’s head because the sensor is big enough to record the whole head, at life size, 1:1. Micro photography refers to photography using a microscope. You might be achieving a 20X magnification, or 20:1. The ratio notations are confusing, but think of them like this:
So you can see how Micro Photography is really Super-Macro since a shot at 20X is 20:1 or 20 size-units on the sensor to 1 size-unit in life. Sheesh! Now I’ve confused myself! Let’s move on to something easy. Topics for future posts. I do love photography, but I love a bunch of other stuff, too. Yardening, for one. Not gardening, cuz I’m not a farmer but rather a landscaper. We “planted” a really fun yard project recently involving fun, brightly-colored pots, random arrangement, and some “thinking outside the pot”. Look for all the How-To’s coming… Since I’m a Photographic Artist, naturally I will talk about fun topics relating to photography and The Arts. Maybe “Overheard At An Art Fair”, or “So You Wanna Be An Artist?”, or how about “You Call That ‘Art’?”. Whatever the topic, my focus will be to explain it in plain language, but also to find the fun in it; to bathe it in a bit of humor — with just a touch of technical stuff.
Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. Do you have photography questions? Comments or viewpoints concerning The Arts? Something art-related that opened your eyes or presented an interesting concept? Or how about some of your own ideas for fun yard projects, fun photo ops, or any other fun topic? Write a comment; let’s see what others have to add. If you have a particular something you’d like for me to take a stab at, lemme know about it. If I get asked similar questions often, I’ll see if I can answer them — in plain language. If I’ve got anything to say on the subject, believe me, you’ll hear about it! |
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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
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