portrait

The Land of Magic

This time I will share some of my pictures that I have taken during Elena Shumilova’s workshop and edited for this blog. To those who haven’t read my previous posts about the workshop, there are two links: https://inesemjphotography.com/2015/10/23/back-to-the-north-inishowen/ and https://inesemjphotography.com/2015/10/30/elena-shumilovas-dream/

To start with, I want to make it clear that I have never had any intention to copy Elena’s style, but I did wonder how she makes all her images to look so warm and alive, and how she brings every single detail of her composition to perfection. I wanted my photographs to be perfect too :). I did learn some of Elena’s techniques, I came home enriched and joyous, but I know that it is just a beginning of a magic journey, where hard work and inspiration walk side by side.

Elena’s workshop encouraged me to use my painting skills in my photography – something that I do very seldom, and only when it is absolutely necessary. Elena says that to know is not enough. It will take time and experience to learn what opacity and brush size to choose, and where to put a stroke.

I was playing with Photoshop, and want to share the pictures I have edited straight after the workshop. Some are heavily painted, some just retouched. There are no added textures or presets – I have only used Photoshop brushes and painted manually. If you don’t mind, could you please tell which of the images you like better.

This is Sean. I know, I know, it is impossible to take a bad picture with Sean as a model. I am so grateful that he agreed to model for us, and sure he deserves a better portrait than this one I took on the run. Sean is a musician, a local Father Christmas, and one of the nicest men I ever met, with a personality larger than life.

I have always had a love for backlit scenes. Unfortunately we got that thick cloud sitting on the horizon – there goes the golden and dreamy light… This one got a little bit of light though.

In this image, I painted the background more deliberately, making it look like watercolor.

In the opening image, I painted it a night. This is the real scene, with just a basic editing.

In the end of the day we are all exhausted. Tried my best to squeeze a smile.

Some more photographs to acknowledge our beautiful models.

That’s it from the workshop. In my next blog I will share some pictures of Inishowen – the land of magic and beautiful people.

I had been on the road many hours, and did a lot of thinking ( it is probably why I had missed my turn and got lost somewhere between County Cavan and Monaghan)…

As we are living our life, unpleasant things happen. We may meet some people or groups of people who act unethically and mean; who destroy others with lies and themselves with envy. We can get hurt. We can be targets or collateral damage victims. There is some ugliness always lurking in the shadows, but you know what? The rest of the life is magic! Most of our life is magic. I would be a fool if I let this perfect life to be overshadowed with bitterness and negativity. This precious, exciting, glorious life! Sadness, and even frustration takes over at times, but the magic has never failed me – after every unpleasant experience something wonderful happens.

I would love to share another few links as a Thank you to all of those who made that weekend unforgettable.

Strand Hotel, Ballyliffin – highly recommended! http://www.ballyliffinstrandhotel.com/

Famine Village – photo shoot location http://www.doaghfaminevillage.com/

Malin Stables https://www.facebook.com/malin.stables

Transportation http://www.ghostsnake.com/bradleys/index.htm

Clothes https://www.facebook.com/Mc-Os-Vintage-284538278256601/?fref=ts&__mref=message

Irish TV http://www.irishtv.ie/

And again, thank you Elena Shumilova and Brendan Diver, and all our beautiful models! More workshops scheduled for 2016, including two in the USA ( Long Island and Orange County).

More to follow…

Have a wonderful weekend!

Year is running out

This year is running out, and there is still so much to do! Finishing projects and fixing things in a hurry doesn’t seem to be neither productive nor satisfying. Sometimes the front looks OK, but the back tells another story… like in this picture… Well, lets don’t press too hard on ourselves: it might take years to realize that some things look better unfinished.

There is something I call perfection, though. It is a video clip that I share every Christmas. When I watch this video, I feel like everything falls into place; my questions and my doubts get a perfect answer; vanity dissolves; harmony returns. Music and Art are perfectly woven together, and I am sure you will enjoy watching and listening to it, all of you, regardless of your age, religion or familiarity with arts.

Mike Masse is a former attorney who began performing once a month at the Pie Pizzeria in Salt Lake City in 1993, and did it until recent years when he moved to Colorado with his family. Now he is a full-time musician, performing in different states. Check out his web site : there is his gig schedule, and you might find him near where you live.

Mike also performs live with the former members of the band Boston, Barry Goudreau and Sib Hashian. Here is a great piece, More Than A Feeling (1976) for you to enjoy.

This is a fantastic acoustic cover of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” performed by Mike Masse & Jenny Oaks Baker.

So, it is what I am doing today instead of “finishing and fixing” 🙂 I am listening to the music I enjoy.

This is Dublin in December.

This is an old farmstead in the mountains.

I love Irish music. Its roots go back to the medieval times, and one of the best examples is Wexford Carol. You can listen to this traditional Irish Christmas song sang by The Palestrina Choir of St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Dublin.

Listening to the beloved hymn, I think about the coming year 2015. I cannot believe I have lived so long, but I don’t mind to keep on living.

The year 2014 has been both successful and devastating. They say 2015 will give us a break. We will see. There is a song I really like: Muse, Time is running out, from their best album Absolution. It is difficult to say what the song is about: Matt Bellamy himself is not sure…

Matt Bellamy: “It’s just about feeling that the last moments of your life are running out and… it’s more about the emotion itself: being suffocated, feeling that your last chance is being taken away from you by something that’s outside of your own power, and you can apply that to society, a relationship, your religion or whatever”

I like the song, but it makes me feel uneasy when I think it might be about something that is coming – something that is outside our power and control; something that can affect us in a bad way. So, may be lets think that it is simply about a mad love with a woman of destiny 🙂

What I really want to say – the truth of the matter is that the time is truly running out. Gradually.

Thank you for listening to this very different selection of music with me!

Tip of the day: This holidays, take some photographs that are out of your usual genre. Discover yourself 🙂

Have a great weekend!

WORKSPACE BLOG HOP

The Half Eaten Mind and his human Vijay invited me to participate in the Workspace Blog Hop. It means, I have to reveal something about myself and the place I am blogging from. Thank you, Vijay!

I moved to Waterford city just a month ago, so my working space has not yet achieved a stable and respectable look. My books are still packed, and some of my stuff is sitting in my friends’ garage. I haven’ t yet decided either I stay here another couple of years, or keep moving.

I have a one-bedroom apartment and work in the living room. This is the table I work at: I prefer my working place being ergonomic rather than comfy. Two windows – on my left and on my right- provide enough light during the day.

A HP laptop, two external hard drives and a handful of USB memory cards – it is all I use for writing, editing, storing and carrying around my files. Plus a printer and a scanner.

This is a fragment of a surface, random. All the surfaces in this room look similar 🙂 Except my table. The table is bare: I have pushed things off the table with my elbows enough to learn the lesson.

So, this is pretty much everything about my working space.

I don’t have any pets – it is enough to ask my friends to take care of my cacti plants when I am away. I have 17 cacti plants.

I would love to have a pet though. Any critter.

My new contract forbids me to keep “any living creature” in this apartment. Yes, it is a quote.

I live in the medieval center of Waterford city, next to the oldest buildings. One day I will make a separate blog about Waterford, but for now I just want to report that it was a great sunny morning here, and I walked through the city center for my “cardio with a camera” and took this picture.

And this one too: it is a shop across from where I live, and it is reflection of my car in the window.

Sure I am moving around for my photography rather than stay at home. Sometimes I am lucky enough to get an assistant for the test-shoots.

Now you have an idea about my blogging space and the world around it. I might also add that this is mostly a pedestrian zone, clean and quiet. Most of the noise is coming from the Cathedral when they are ringing their bell:)

I have to pick up some of you to join the Workspace Blog Hop. It is not as you are forced to write all these things about yourself, but I give you this opportunity 🙂

http://indahs.com/ Indah

http://believeinadream.com/ Kellyann

http://whenwomeninspire.com/ Christy

http://aquileana.wordpress.com/ Amalia

http://studiocandelabra.com/ Linda Sue

http://oncemorewithforeboding.com/ Tony Single

A wonderful blogger The Crafty Lady in the Combat boots nominated me for a One Lovely Blog Award. I am always humbled to receive awards from people who are so good at what they are doing. Thank you so much, for your kindness!

There is about the nomination:

The One Lovely Blog Award nominations are chosen by fellow bloggers for those newer and up-and-coming bloggers. The goal is to help give recognition and also to help the new blogger to reach more viewers. It also recognizes blogs that are considered to be “lovely” by the fellow blogger who choose them. This award recognizes bloggers who share their story or thoughts in a beautiful manner to connect with their viewers and followers. In order to “accept” the award

Thank the person who nominated you for the award.
Add the One Lovely Blog logo to your post.
Share 7 facts/or things about yourself.
Nominate 7 bloggers you admire and inform nominees by commenting on their blog.

Here are seven facts about me – they are truly the facts 🙂

1. My favorite people are my daughter and two grand daughters and my son in law; 2. I love many other people; 3. I read every night even if it is one page; 3. I love music and play the piano when I have a chance; 4. I love my Micra; 5. I love earthly colors; 6. I love nature and creatures; 7. I despise fake individuals and stay away from them.

Now the nominations:) Thank you for your wonderful blogs!

1. http://postcardpieces.wordpress.com/

2. http://dorisbolliger.wordpress.com/category/blog-posts/

3. http://prolificdaydreamer.wordpress.com/

4. http://littlechomper.com/

5. http://cynthiasreyes.com/

Photography tip of the day: When you store your files the names of your folders matter a lot. Start with a year followed by a month; then write a key word/words so that you know what is there in that particular folder. Don’t make huge folders; divide them in parts: 2014-05-30 Moab – Devils Garden-Part I

Have a great weekend!

Our times of triumph

When I was very young, I used to read a lot. Some episodes impressed me so much that I replayed them in a real life. As we all know, life and fiction are not the same, so I used to get in trouble on many occasions.

In that particular book, two teenagers, a boy and a girl, had climbed onto the roof, and lying on their back, watching the passing clouds dreamed about the future. The scene looked so appealing that I immediately jumped to action.

Next to my Grandma’s cowshed there was a small annex used for storing a week supply of hay bales; adjacent to it, under the same roof was a chicken coop. My plan was to climb a stonewall, then get up on the annex roof and from there climb on the cowshed roof, high enough to set up the scene as desired.

And I got there, laid out a blanket I brought with me, and sat staring into the sky. My future did not send me any hints. The roof was hard and rough, but I lied down hoping it might help, as per book. Still, my mind was blank. The clouds just passed by, I had spotted a few animal-like shapes, but it was clear that there was no excitement in it, my back hurt and I was getting bored and annoyed. I think it was the day when I learned something about a good literature and a fake literature. On my way down, the roof caved in and I fell in the hay – lucky me. My Grandma was so happy that I didn’t kill myself that she baked a plate of biscuits for me, and we decided to keep the story in secret, for our mutual good.

Later, in my bed, I was dreaming about the future. In my dreams I was a famous artist, and all the children books were illustrated by me. One scene followed another, all in beautiful, rich colors; people and animals did look like people and animals; there were sun spells, fresh breeze, pouring rain and flowing water, and it was all real. I made it live; I was that magician.

Very often we learn the life’s lessons in a hard way. Very often we get slapped in the face, and our efforts don’t impress anybody. But there are the times when we feel like all the spotlights are turned on us, and all the praises and admiration in the world are expressed for us, and these are our moments of triumph even if no one else knows that.

Pictures of my Grandparents and me. In the last image (1914) my Grandma is the one who is standing. The baby is my Great Granddad’s daughter from his second marriage. I named my daughter after her.

Photography tip of the day: For Nikon users starting out 🙂

http://photographylife.com/which-nikon-prime-lens-to-buy-first

www.inesemjphotography Have a great day!

Forever Cats

“Of all God’s creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.”
― Mark Twain

I cannot disagree with the wise man. Cats cannot be made slaves. Look at this face if you had any doubts.

Look at this royal gesture.

A warrior fighting invisible evil…

“A silent guardian, a watchful protector”…

He used to live a life of emperor and didn’t know what was coming …

… but he took it with dignity.

Another remarkable cat I had a pleasure to meet.

Leo, the most patient and meek creature ever, a good-hearted friend of his humans and their young.

There are many kitties who are less fortunate, but you can see the aristocracy of blood showing through. This kitty was living in the streets and took the food offerings with grace and dignity.

I met this kitty in Dingle Peninsula, driving around the Slea Head. He was sitting at the empty cottage and wouldn’t make any eye contact with the strangers ( otherwise he didn’t mind us, and was actually purring).

This is another stray cat. The only difference is that he was living in Coliseum, Rome.

There are many stray cats in Rome. Old people feed them. The world is a better place because of the caring old people.

This young fella is KC, a member of a family of four cats all rescued by their human in different circumstances.

These three kittens were taken to the vets and put down by a man whom I knew as a kind and caring son, father and husband. I knew he didn’t want the kittens and I asked him if I could take them and find them home, but he lied that he would do it himself… Three years ago we were reconnected at the deathbed of our friend. After we left the room he was trying to make an apology, mumbling something about a reconciliation. I told him he was fine. The following year I got a word that he had an accident at work, and he isn’t himself anymore since. God knows, I didn’t wish him anything like that.

I still keep the simple toys I had made for them.

“The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats…”

― Albert Schweitzer

Cat’s in the Cradle” is a 1974 folk rock song by Harry Chapin from the album Verities & Balderdash. It has nothing to do with cats. The song is about a man who never had time for his son.

The Cat’s cradle is a string game. You can read about it and many more old and forgotten games here.

Well, we had enough of sad things, let’s have a chuckle 🙂

This image belongs to a Russian artist Svetlana Petrova. Click on the link to see Zarathustra the cat improving some famous artworks with his presence. When Svetlana’s mother died she was deeply depressed, and creating these images was a part of the healing process.

This cutie is Jonne. He had a big happy family – another two cats and a dog. They are all gone. When Jonne joined the family he was sick and weak because of neglect, and he was beaten too. It was long ago, he lives with his significant human now and they are inseparable.

Speaking of friendship.

“You know a real friend?
Someone you know will look after your cat after you are gone.”
― William S. Burroughs, Last Words: The Final Journals

Thank you for reading! These pictures were taken over the years, and some of the cats must have crossed the Rainbow bridge since.

Could you share a few words about your Pet ( not necessarily a cat)?

Photography tip of the day: Taking pictures of your pets use natural light and come closer. The best time for a portrait ( close up) is when the pet has just woke up and is still sleepy. Show their personality in your pictures: You know all these faces and looks, capture them 🙂

Have a great weekend!