Cynthia Shaffer

360 Degrees

An idea popped into my head just a few minutes ago and so I had to act on it ... of course I have nothing else to do ... Ha!

I grabbed my wide angle lens and set out for some photo fun.

I was out a few days ago shooting a model for an upcoming book, and I had her lay with her belly flat on the ground and I did the same, and then snapped away. I remember how nice and warm the grass felt and how connected I felt to the earth ... such a great thing to try.

Here I am flat on my stomach with my camera resting on the grass. This is the back of my house and to the right you can see my favorite tree ... Yummy bacon avocado!

Berklee loved the fact that I was right down on the ground at her eye level. She came and gave me lots of slurpy kisses.

Then I gradually turn in place and snapped photos along the way.

This is the very back of my yard  ... and just yesterday, sitting on the back wall was a beautiful momma opossum and 3 babies ... here's the shot! The baby was yawning.

And this is the side yard and the "Man Cave" aka ... "My Studio" ... as soon as all the kids are off to college!

And that's it ... a full 360 degree view on my backyard!

A glimpse of our day .....

 

Yes, we went outside and braved the rain ... for just few minutes.

And captured some great photographs of the architecture and of the rain frozen in time.

I'm not sure what everyone was shooting here, but I couldn't resist taking this shot.

Cynthia Flores was such a beautiful model and this photo is so fabulous with all the brick, I had fun playing with it and applying different presets.

And back inside we were down on our belly's shooting up, at the ceiling, down at our shoes and at strange and fun angles of each other.

Here's Christine Schulz checking out a capture or two.

We talked about different types of lenses ... the wide angle lens is great for capturing almost everyone sitting at these tables.

And my Lensbaby, sweet 35, tilt shift lens is fun to play with and gives some pretty cool effects.

And here's a photo using my favorite lens to date ... 50mm f/1.2 ... it really doesn't get much better than this! Well, that is until I get my hands on that 85mm lens that I have been eyeing for a while now!

And what a great way to end the day ... Dinner at Memphis!

Thank you Janet Higley, Deborah Ambrosino, Jenelle Van de Mortel, Amber Anderson, Kerri Bradford, Cindy Lantier, Nancy Peevey, Cynthia Flores, Christine Schulz, and last but by no means least ... Rita Reade!

 

The Studio is Ready!

Photography 101 class is tomorrow and the studio is all set up and ready to go!

And with a little luck the rain will stop right around 2:00 so we can go outside and get some great photos of the neighborhood.

In the studio I have a few different vignettes set up ready to be shot.

And then at the tables I have small pieces of art, cookies and flowers ... just waiting to be photographed.

If this group of ladies is anything like the last class ... everyone will love playing with this set,making this fabulous bokeh.

So ... stayed tuned and I'll post some photos of our fun day together.

Bokeh and Bees

The weather is soooo beautiful these days and the bees are out in full force! 

(50mm lens, 1/160 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 100, flower filter ON!)

In my backyard I have a few fruit trees ... a pink grapefruit, avocado (Yum, my favorite), an apple tree and a peach tree!

(50mm lens, 1/800 sec @ f/2.2, ISO 100, no filter.)

And let me tell you ... they are all in full bloom and the bees are hard at work pollinating and buzzing all around!

While I was shooting away here, I noticed all the nice bokeh, so I went and grabbed my flower filter that I made ... tutorial is here ... then went back out to shoot another round of the bees hard at work.

These filters are so much fun to shoot with. You can see the photos that have the filter and those that don't. 

Love this guy coming in for landing ... and that shadow ... so cute don't you think? Might have to go back out and shoot something else ....

There is a shot of one of the last stalks of Lavender, hanging around ... I might just have to paint this photo! I'm loving the colors!

Friday Featured Artist

I know I'm a bit behind here ...  but last Friday I was featured on Harmony Pypers blog as her Friday Feature Artist! Oh, this is me ... I needed a new head shot ... and check out my uniform ... I've worn it for 6 weeks straight and still loving it!

Anyways ...what a privilege it was to be interviewed by Harmony ... such a sweet, sweet soul!

I first met Harmony  a few months ago. A bunch of us had gathered to paint together at Studio Crescendoh.

The next time I spent time with Harmony was when she enrolled in my Photography 101 class. That's where I really got to know her ... what a doll and so driven to really figure out her camera and man oh man has she caught on ... her blog has such great energy now that she's shooting in manual mode! Oh, and she's funny too! Go read some of her posts!

Anyways ... check out her blog and her Friday Feature Artist interview ... I kind of just tell it like it is ... and so far nobody has been too offended. I don't think.

I Heart Laguna Beach

The above photos were all taken at Tuvalu and if you ever get a chance to visit this store be sure to bring your camera ... There is eye candy everywhere!

And then there are lots of fun furry friends out for a day at the beach.

There are really no words need here ... The Candy Baron has every type of candy under the sun!

While the sun never made an appearance today, the overcast sky's gave me the perfect amount of filtered light to shoot and shoot and shoot ... Field trip anyone?

One Photograph : : Many Presets

I was out in my front yard talking with my neighbor the other day and at the same time we both turned around  and noticed these little tiny white berries on a very barren tree.

(Untouched original photo)

I had never noticed them before. I grabbed my camera and started shooting away. I fell in love with this photo ... Oh, can you imagine it layered with another photo? 

Then I started playing with it and applied a bunch of different presets. 

Preset: WOW-Antique 10

Preset: Color Creative - Yesteryear 1

Preset: Creative - Split Tone 3

Preset: Color Creative - Purple Glasses

Preset: WOW-c HSL-Only_BRown

Preset: General- Auto Tone

Preset: WOW-c_BnW_02, WOW-d_Bnw_02

Preset: BW/Bodie/Lite

Preset: WOW-f_Vignette_Lt-07

Preset: Color Creative - Cold Tone

Preset: B&W Creative - Antique Gray

Some of these presets are included in Adobe Lightroom3, which is the photo editing program I use, and then some of the presets I have purchased here at RadLab and them a few are from onOne Prefect Presets. 

Oh sure I could monkey with all the sliders in Lightroom 3 and get these same effects, but why when I can just push a button and get these great effects in seconds?

 

Project Home Ec and Water.org

Have you visited Jenny Doh's blog in the past few days? If you have then you know that she is at it again. This time, in the spirit of the Uniform project, Jenny is wearing a uniform, a little black dress (designed and stitched by yours truly) everyday for the next 365 days, all in an effort to raise money for Water.org.

There's a few of us that will be doing the same, but probably not to the extreme that Jenny is taking it. My promise was to wear my not-so-little black drees, whenever I take a class, teach a class or meet with friends or am at Bible study and so far ... that has been 18 days in a row now!

In addition to wearing the black dress daily, we have all agreed to not purchase any new clothes for a year and instead, make do, mend and alter what we already own.

Welcome ... Project Home Ec.

Come join us won't you? 

 

Photography 101 : Bring It On!

I just spent the last several hours setting everything up for my Photography 101 class tomorrow and I can't wait!

There's 1 spot left in tomorrows class, and a few spots still available in the March 17th class.

Small vignettes and sets are peppered throughout the studio, so that after everyone has a pretty good grip on the basics, it will be all about playing and practicing!

I'll be shooting while tethered to my computer so everyone can see what happens when I change aperture, lenses and perspective.

If you're interested in joining us, check out the class registration information here!

 

Bokeh LOVE : : Fun Filter Tutorial

It's all about the bokeh these days ... you know the blur you get in the background of a photograph when you open up the aperture on your lens and then focus in on a subject that's pretty close. This works best with a focal length of 50mm or more and a wide open aperture! 

One important element that helps to accentuate this effect are twinkling lights in the background. It doesn't need to be twinkle lights really but just bits of light shinning through trees will help you get that effect also.

With a little bit of patience and practice you can add some really fun, cool affects to your photographs.

While focusing on a particular subject can be a little challenging, the look is just way to fun to not keep playing till you get a photo that really speak to you. LOVE this love photo!

Ok, how much fun is this photograph? The only thing missing are raindrops on the flower petals.

So ... here I'm purposely out of focus to accentuate the bokeh shaped raindrops.

I love this filter I made. Can you imagine photographing a church or an outdoor wedding using this effect? BEAUTIFUL if you ask me!

Here's what you do:

Trace the lens cap onto a black piece of card stock and cut out circle.

Using a light colored pencil, draw a small shape in the center of the black circle and then cut out using a craft knife.

Cut a strip of black card stock the circumference of the circle and then snip into the strip.

Wrap the clipped strip around the black circle and tape in place.

Now ... go play and experiment!

As you can imagine, the sky is the limit here!

Here are a few other bokeh filters I made. I shot all these at night ... forcing the bokeh effect with the twinkle lights that are hanging from my back patio all year long!

If you're new to this whole photography thing and want to take that DSLR out of auto mode ... You might want to consider taking this class I'm teaching ... Photography 101: Shooting Beyond Auto Mode. I know that the february date is nearly full, but there are still a few spot open for the March 17th date!

Photography 101 : : Shooting Beyond Auto Mode

I am so excited for this new year and to have the opportunity to teach Photography 101 ... Shooting Beyond Auto Mode. 

With just a few basic skills ... ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, and a little bit of knowledge of camera lenses under your belt, you will be up, off and running ... and then practicing what you learn.

The first part of the class will be very hands on ... in the studio shooting little vignette I will set up and ... learning and ... making mistakes.

The second half of the class time will be spent outside, shooting each other and the great architecture found in the area, then back into the studio for some uploading and photo manipulation. 

The time is now to capture great photographs of your art, family and details of everyday life. 

And trust me ... once you learn what your camera can do in the creative manual modes, you'll never turn that back knob to that green box again!

Ready? Sign up here ... Photography 101 

Christmas Quiet : : 2011

 After lots of preparation, cooking, shopping and wrapping ...

Christmas 2011 is a quiet Christmas ...

Yes, my husband was in town for this Christmas ... Playing with his camera while waiting for our dinner guests to arrive ...

The table was set and ready for prime rib and lobster ... our favorite ...

Then came the sweet treats ...

Yes, that is Harper sitting at the dinner table ... patiently waiting for someone to pop open the lid of that cookie tin.

And a little quick check of facebook ... Really Cameron?

 Then ... the exchange started ... Harper led the way and was more than thrilled with her little chipmunk she got from cousin Lucky.

And there's Corry sort of spacing out after a few too many sweets?

A few things that really stand out in my mind about this Christmas ... lights ...

And even more lights and color ... 

Here's to having a wonderful Christmas with friends, family, lights, color and the quiet.

Merry Christmas! 

Family Photo Shoot

Meet the Furry family ...

Such a great fun family of 6 ...

Here's Jen and Larry ...

And Ella ... We started up on the train tracks and then ventured down to the river bed ...

Here's little Olivia ... so sweet and innocent ...

Until all the attention is on big sister Ella ...

Mom Jen and the girls ...

Dad Larry and his boys ...

We were starting to lose them towards the end here. Mom was pretty determined to get all the shots done and was not humored at all by this time ...

And things got a little out of hand but I just kept on shooting ... Some of my favorite shots here!

But by the end of our time together everyone was back to holding hands ...

Out and About In My Hood

I call them photo warm-ups.

For no real reason, except to get my creative juices flowing, I often grab my camera and head outside to snap away.

The sky was particularly blue today with a slight breeze and ...

the leaves in the liquid amber trees that line my neighborhood, have just started to turn these amazing colors.

I didn't have to walk too far to capture the beauty and the variety of colors that remind us all of the early days of autumn.

And yet the mexican sage bush is still blooming all over the place with bees buzzing all around it.

And then there are the bougainvillea bushes, one of the last to bloom in my backyard ... so rich in color and such a hard worker!

 And the delicate tiny clusters of flowers that make the lantana bush a favorite here in Southern California.

And then there's Harper, taking a mid-afternoon snooze, soaking up the warmth of the last of the sunshine.

And as the sun sets behind the eves of my house, I am thankful for the glimpse of the seasons that I sometimes fail to see ... right here in my neighborhood ...

And even right here on my front porch!

Cheers to the mild seasonal changes, here in So Cal! 

A little of this and a little of that!

After putting the finishing touches on my next book, Stash Happy Applique I took some much needed time off and did some spending on a little bit of this and a little bit  of that! First it was The Farm Chicks Antique Show where I found this fabulous step stool. I couldn't resist and scooped it up right away. 

While it was a bit too large to stuff in my suitcase, the good folks at Blue Canoe, here in Tustin, transported it home for me in their trailer! Thanks Tim and Lisa!

This vase is my next favorite purchase of the summer. Believe it or not, I found it in a tack and feed store in Ojai, while on a mini vacation with my mom, sisters and niece. Love, love this vase, especially on my new/old step stool!

What's so great about it? Check out the holes in the lid, this makes it so easy to use just a few flowers and make such a whimsical arrangement ... Ice burg roses and fading hydrangeas.

And some of my favorite flowers in my garden are my hydrangeas. I love to watch them change from vibrant pinks and lavenders to this dusty rose and melon color. In a few weeks or so they will be faded away to taupe and tan and even more beautiful than ever.

But probably the purchase I get the most comments on ... these many fabulous pieces of jewelry I purchased from artist Lisa Souers. Apparently Lisa has been a vendor at the Farm Chicks Antique Show for several years and always has something new and different to sell. Love, love her art!

Last, but certainly not least ....

A stack of vintage hexagon quilt blocks. Love, love the old 1940's fabrics!

So my summer spending has come to an end (Oh wait, the Long Beach Quilt show is coming soon!) and now it's time to get back to work ... After I clean and organize my studio, that is! 

 

Andrew's Art

Once in a while, while I'm photographing art, I come across an artist that speaks to my soul. Andrew Mouet is one of those artists.

His art is not perfect. The lines are not straight. The blending and shadows are a bit off. The seams in the clay are not smooth. His stitches are not even, his cutting is jagged. And yet Andrew's art is perfect, perfectly who he is: simple, complex, raw, refined, cloudy yet clear.

You see, it is not the perfection that draws us to his art, it is his imperfection and his vulnerability, his willingness to put it all out there ... it is emotional ... it is Andrew.

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing Andrew's art for his portfolio. A portfolio that he would present to a panel of instructors and administrators at Orange County High School of the Arts.

I was brought to tears while shooting his art just knowing that his stick-to-it-ive-ness, his teach-ability, his pure and raw talent will be his best friend, his resting place, his peace of mind and his window to a big world of arts and crafts.

Andrew just learned yesterday that he has been admitted to OCHSA as part of their visual arts program.

Congratulations Andrew!

For the Love of Hummers and Telephotos

As I was standing at my kitchen sink this morning looking out at my backyard, I noticed a tiny little hummingbird fluttering around. I grabbed my camera, changed out the lens to my telephoto and tiptoed out the backdoor.

He was hovering right above my avocado tree in search of fresh nectar from the trumpet vine that has found its way into the tree.

Then he landed on a branch and sat there for what seemed like an eternity. He puffed himself up,

gave a quick little tweet,

then stuck out his tongue. He was so entertaining to watch ...

and so adorable especially when viewed through my telephoto lens.

Oh, for the love of hummingbirds and my telephoto lens!

Happy Shooting! 

From Fresh to Fab

 Four weeks later ... my Valentine's flowers are better than ever ...

 
 




 

Macro Love Part II :: Tutorial

There are only a few things in life that I am sure of. One of those things is that I will receive flowers on Valentine's day from my husband Scott. 

So beautiful, don't you think? He knows I love color, all color and all color combinations.

Here are the flowers I received on Monday! I immediatly grabbed my camera and started shooting with just my usual go-to lens, a Canon EFS 17-85mm. Then I quickly changed to my Canon macro lens EF 100mm.

Can you see why I love my macro lens? The flower in the above photo is so tiny that to look at it without the help of the camera, you can not see all the little stamen and pistil parts and pieces. 

And because this is a fixed lens, I love to get really close to whatever I'm shooting and then compose the shot through the camera. (Note: none of these photos have been cropped.) In this case, an amazing bright purple Gerbera daisy. My favorite color.

 

Here's a little tutorial on shooting with a macro lens.

Compare these two photos. In the above photo my film speed or ISO is 640 and the exposure, or shutter speed is set at 0.8 sec f/32. Needless to say with such a slow shutter speed, my camera is mounted on a tripod and is tethered to my computer so I am not touching the camera when the shot is taken. And, at an f-stop of 32, much of the image is in focus.

So here I have the same compostion, but I have changed a few settings on my camera. The ISO stayed the same at 640, but the exposure changed to 1/30 sec at f/5.6. Shots like these remind me of why I love to shoot with this lens. The foreground  and the background are fuzzy and a bit blown out, focusing on just a small portion of the composition.

In this photo, I still have the film speed at 640, but the exposure at 1.0 sec at f/32. Again, I'm on a tripod and tethered. As you can see most of the image is pretty crisp. Ok, Ready...

Same composition as the above photo, but what a difference aesthetically. Again, my film speed stayed the same, but the exposure was changed to 1/125 seconds and the f-stop was set at 2.8. Notice that I have focused on the little flower bud at the top right part of the image.

And here is the same shot, with the focus shifting to the flower bud in the middle of the image. Again, giving me another unique image. 

ISO 640, exposure 1/100 sec at f/2.8.

ISO 640, exposure 1/200 sec at f/2.8.

ISO 640, exposure 1/100 sec at f/2.8.

I Love this last shot and the blown out petals of the fabulous white gerbera daisy. This shot would make the perfect ground for an art quilt!

Happy Shooting!

 

Macro Love

Oh how I love my macro lens!

I'm so inspired by these photos ...

I want to paint ...

 Like Georgia O'Keeffe!

Happy Shooting!