LauriMiller-YearWord-Wk01

My word for 2019 is Enough. I watched a TEDx talk (a rabbit hole I followed with a starting point of The Quilt Show!) about that word in December and as those talks tend to do, it gave me food for thought. I have an abundance of things and know that I have enough, so I want to make 2019 the year I focus on asking myself if I really need that next shiny object or whether what I already have is enough. This includes resisting adding to my photography purchases as well as quilt stash! We shall see how I do, haha. My photo starts with a portion of an old vital records book from the early 1900s that appears to have been used first for tracking customer purchases from a family dairy farm. At some point recipes were captured both written and cut out from a newspaper. I came across the recipe for Potato and Lemon Pie you see in the background. I thought both were great reminders of making do with what you have. I would not have imagined lemons were a common commodity in northern Minnesota where this book was used as a cookbook, but as evidenced by this recipe, perhaps they were available more than I’d expect. I know the recipe book came from my step-Father’s family. The vintage ceramic bowl came from my husband’s family while the hand mixer came from my Mother’s family. I made some LR adjustments to highlights and shadows and added a preset I had on hand that I liked. In PS I added a high pass layer as well as a texture on the background (I used a mask to remove the texture on the lemon and potato).

LauriMiller-StartsWithJ-Wk02

J is for blue JEANS! I love how each challenge really sends your thoughts flying over the possibilities and options each week. I finally settled on trying to portray a worn pair of jeans as a sort of make believe landscape. Not sure I succeeded, but I enjoyed playing with the idea and paying attention to the light for my series of photographs. I don't have a macro lens so I used my set of extension tubes to take this and a few of the editing options in LR.

LauriMiller-DeadCenter-Wk03

This is a 3-image panoramic melded into this final image using the filter > distort > polar coordinates option in PS. The location is the Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs, CO.

LauriMiller-StillLife-Wk04

Soon, soon the wind says. Soon you will be out on the trail.

LauriMiller-Curly-Wk05

Enter the worm hole if you dare. Where in time space continuum will you travel? I adjusted highlights, spot healed out a dust particle (that looked like a worm, but in the end was deemed too distracting) and used the Color FX Pro Fog/Graduated filters. Did you guess what this is? It has probably been awhile since you have seen a phone cord! This one came from a 1970s model desk style phone. I used a nib style pen to write some random thoughts on a sheet of paper placed underneath it and used that ink color to coordinate with the graduated filter.

LauriMiller-RhymesWithOrk-Wk06

I went back to the submission for “Fork(s)” I did last year and decided to see how I could improve on my composition. I used a deep red glass charger for the bottom layer as before, a glass dish containing oil and water (these are the drops) on top of that and of course the fork partially submerged in the oil. I did a small rotation and some cropping in LR and then used content aware in PS to fill in a corner I wanted to save. I used a different clear glass dish this time, one with a subtle wave pattern in it and a completely different perspective although I started with the same vantage point when I began taking photos. You would have laughed (or perhaps gasped) if you could have seen me as I ended up standing on top of my kitchen counter to get this photo. Oh yes. I didn’t plan to do so, but one idea led to the next and since I didn’t want to move the oily water mess it meant a little gymnastics routine. If you are curious, my prior year’s submission is here: https://www.millerclarke.com/2018-Photo-Class/i-dHwMVrP/A

LauriMiller-Opposites-Wk07

Adjusted highlights and shadows, cropped a smidgen and used a 2 Lil Owls texture called Mischief 5.

LauriMiller-It's Alive-Wk08

I enjoy the intricate details that succulents provide. The background is a section of the same plant. This perspective made me think of a celebration with candles. I had another version with more area in focus, but I liked the softness and mystery of this version best. Used extension tubes and LR adjustments including a 2 Lil Owls preset.

LauriMiller-Letters-Wk13

Another old typewriter. This was my Grandfather's, he repaired these for a living back in the day. I cropped a little and added an old film texture. I used the afternoon sun to cast a ray of light across the strikers.