This years projects and Mindfulness again

 I've been getting out to do photography a bit less lately with M.E.  affecting my ability a bit more in the last couple of months. So I have been spending less time doing photography at home too, just trying to conserve energy and get myself feeling a bit better. Instead I have been spending time planning photography projects for this year and doing a little water colour painting which I have loved. Two of my first water colour paintings is below.

 As usual I have planned some photography projects for this year and I am finally going to try hard to get a portrait project off the ground that I have been slowly planning and creating accessories for, over the last few years. Its a personal venture incorporating interests close to my heart - nature and pagan beliefs. I am not religious but do follow the pagan wheel of the year which has 8 celebrations throughout the year, based on seasonal changes. Each occasion involves various significant elements and occurs at specific times, for instance the next one is Imbolc  - where the Green man chases off Jack Frost, we celebrate growth, hope and the changing of light. Spring cleaning  possibly comes from this, where we clean out and let go of the past and make way for new beginnings. The Goddess Brigid is honoured, as she brings healing and fertility. My project involves creating my own visual interpretation of various characters that are associated with these celebrations, starting with Brigid, Jack Frost and the Green man in his Oak guise. Each character will be thoroughly researched and I hope to involve many elements that are important to the particular character or celebration. I'm sure many of you may be fascinated with the stories and how they are connected to modern day culture, or other religions.

I have already attempted to create two of these characters in the past few years, but my progress has been slow due to many factors - but mostly M.E. So I am excited to get started and with careful planning, even a very short photo shoot can produce what I am after, although I have decided to involve other photographers to allow me to take my time and  just shoot for brief spells with rests. Below is my first attempt at one character from Ostara the 2nd celebration in our calendar. This was taken a couple of years ago, in a short shoot in my bedroom.

Model Courtney Lorraine
Make up b #Annsmakeupchair
Headwear by  me 

Based on Goddess Ostara ( Eostre - Goddess of Spring/Balance/fertility/rebirth) - the hare gave the Goddess an egg - hence the the hare and eggs in the head wear, daffodils, birds nest and butterflies incorporated into it as signs of spring

One popular story you might know of involves the origin of the Easter Bunny. Essentially, the tale is that Ostara, the Goddess of the spring, transformed a bird into a hare, and the hare responded by laying coloured eggs for her festival.

Another of my characters is a Tree spirit based on beliefs of trees being chopped down and brought inside to warm the tree spirit at the end of the year. Although I did not produce all the elements I intended in my two attempts - I'm getting closer each time. Here are two attempts at my ideas of Tree spirits. 

Trees have traditionally been used to celebrate christmas and winter festivals throughout time. Pagans would bring in evergreen trees or branches to celebrate the festive season around the winter solstice. Legend has it that a long time ago a tree would be brought in during the cold months to invite the wood spirits inside homes to share and relish the warmth of the fire inside ( slightly ironic considering they were most likely burning wood/trees). The use of evergreens would symbolise everlasting life and the coming spring, Pine and holly would be used in decoration as it was thought to offer protection, Ivy was used for immortality, the use of mistletoe and its white berries would symbolise fertility.

A few of these elements, but not all are represented in some of these images.
Whilst I have used a Lensbaby to produce the ethereal, effect that I felt helped make the character more spirit like, blending into he surroundings. The studio images deliberately have fiery orange in the background as the warmth of the fire, or green for the everlasting greens and promise of the coming spring.

The headwear, neckwear and top were created by me, with a tiny faux fur waistcoat over the top.
Modelling was the amazing Hell DBella who was very expressive, emotive and full of a million poses.
Make up and body paint was provided by the lovely, talented Viki Lloyd and funky hair carefully styled by the lovely Solitaire Weber. Again this was produced a few years ago.

Below - MUA Jayde Louise from Glass house glamour and Natalie Mckee modelling
Headwear, and top by me Created two years ago.

So I look forward to getting further with this project this year and sharing the stories with you. Even if I only manage the first 3 characters this year then I am still moving forward with my project.

 I am also going to continue trying to improve on and enjoy photographing plants, fungi and still life as time, life and my body allow, probably mostly from home but hopefully outdoors too.

Mindfulness

 You may recall my blog about mindfulness last year, well I have continued to practice this ever since, finding it even more important when my body is not functioning well or when stressful events occur. I have extended my mindfulness strategies to include art and crafts, on top of the meditation, appropriate yoga, deep breathing exercises and photography. 

 Recently I was honoured to be involved with an article in Amateur photography magazine about how photography has helped people with various illnesses. Do look out for this issue mid February, its a great read by Geoff Harris and Tracey Calder has apparently produced a fab piece on mindfulness too. I'm looking forward to reading it all. Amateur photographer

Some images from my most recent mindfulness photography below, losing myself in the beauty of nature. All taken within a few ft of a car park. I went out feeling quite unwell, but needing to get out of the house and spent my time right next to the car, to avoid using too much energy and making myself feel worse. I had no photography ideas in mind, but just captured the beauty of nature around me, and it was a gorgeous day. As usual this helped me by distracting me from all of my symptoms, reducing their impact. The next day I paid for it with worsening symptoms but that is the nature of M.E. and at least I had a lovely time and some nice photos.

 It was an interesting experience as its a well frequented spot by photographers and this particular car park had around 16 photographers passing through and waiting around to photographer an infrequent bird visitor. They all stood for hours not getting the shots they wanted and I thought that it cant be very fullfilling stood for hours not getting any photos. I over heard two of them saying they wanted to go and look to see what I had been photographing whilst lying on the ground ( did you see that photographer lying on the ground!!!). I had a good giggle. Im sure I enjoyed myself more than they did and I certainly had a more productive time, with no set ideas. Im sure it would benefit other photographers if they challenged themselves to photograph what was around them, they  could find new joys in capturing the very obvious details right in front of their noses.

Some good news on the photography competition front for January. Firstly I have had 2 images shortlisted in CUPOTY's Two of a kind challenge, I look forward to seeing the results in February. There are so many incredible images shortlisted - do pop and take a look - CUPOTY Two of a kind shortlist

Pic above is Derwentwater, near Pow hill in Northumberland

I am also looking forward to hearing results from IGPOTY 2021 in February and to see if I am nominated in the SWPP POTY 2021in one of the categories where I received a gold award (Macro, In camera artistry and Plants, forests and fungi) - apparently nominated photographers find out next week, with the prize giving in March at their convention. Then there are the results of the NPS POTY 2021. So its an exciting time with competition results.

My Focus stacking journey part 2

 Back in February I wrote a little on how I was starting to try out focus stacking and ended up trying out some super close ups of an interesting beetle and other small objects such as tulip stamens. These images involved a great deal of patience and up to 300 photos per stack. Since then I moved on to using focus stacking out doors for floral and fungi images, which luckily required a lot less frames due to the nature of what I was capturing. I would say that most of my photography from late spring through to winter was centred around trying to produce floral or fungi images with a nice out of focus foreground and background whilst getting as much of the subject in focus as possible. Whilst using a longer lens helped me to achieve this on location at time, it was not always practical or possible, so this is where focus stacking came in useful. I did also try a few floral images where everything was in focus such as the lovely Red Ranunculus below which took 78 photos stacked to get this result, using the Nikon Z6 plus Sigma 105 macro lens shooting at F18 with lighting to get every tiny detail. Whilst I like it, I prefer the atmosphere and mood that a bit of shallow depth of field gives such as the next image of the same flower below where I combined a short stack shot at F10 of the centre part of the plant with a shallow depth of field shot.

For further comparison below is a single shot taken with my Sony A7ii plus Sony 90mm macro lens at F18, using studio lighting, of the same flower. Now this is my favourite of the 3 images, with the 1st shot being my least favourite.

I have also been lucky enough to have the opportunity to try focus stacking butterflies whilst they were in torpor - still asleep early in the morning - if you are very careful not to disturb them too much then sometime you get lucky and manage to photograph a full stack. Its down to luck, the temperatures and weather etc. I find the best time to photograph butterflies and most other insects in early morning, I cannot run around chasing them for photos, so Im better off slowly looking at dawn for roosting specimens.( luckily my partner enjoys photographing them too and has a knack of spotting them which is helpful). It helps if you are aware of the species that are around at different times of year and the plants/trees/habitat they prefer. For instance early spring sees the emergence of Orange tip butterflies which lay their eggs on Cuckoo flowers, as this is what their caterpillars feed on. So if you know a spot where there are Cuckoo flowers then you will increase your chances of finding them roosting nearby.

 Its worth taking along a mini tripod and also maybe a printed backdrop photo or two - just in case the surrounding area is too cluttered and buy to achieve a nice clean image. The stacked image below involved using one of my out of focus backdrops. I did find the butterflies would sometimes move their antennae or wings, or even walk around as the awaken, its just patience and luck getting a stack that is usable.

With insects, if they are still sleepy in the morning and they are not in a position to photograph, it is sometimes possible to place a more pleasing plant just in front of them and ever so gently touch their legs with it, sometimes they will sleepily step onto the new plant, but other times they will wake and fly away. I also carry a tiny pair of scissors with me so that I can snip any distracting elements of vegetation out of the way, providing its not an uncommon plant etc.  Alternatively vegetation can be held out of the way with a clamp, clip or blue tac etc, the aim is to not damage the environment.

Above is another focus stack where I have used one of my printed photographs in the background.

Below is one of my favourite focus stacked floral images this year, it took quite a bit of setting up and was achieved in our dining room, sat at the table. I used an out of focus photo in the background, placed my flowers between the camera and backdrop, then added more flowers behind the main Cyclamen flowers and a few right in front of the lens to get more or a hazy blur. It only took a stack of 18 frames to achieve and is pretty much straight out of camera other than the stacking in Helicon. It was shot at F4. 

I used the same technique for the next two aswell.

As the year progressed I started t try out focus stacking mushrooms, sometimes on location and sometimes at home, creating mini set ups in our home studio/dining room. The more I tried focus stacking on location, the more I discovered I needed extra bits and pieces to my kit, taking along small LED lights, a Gorilla pod, a mat to lie on, foil/reflector, cocktail sticks and floristry wire to help hold things in place. Even with mushrooms the wind can have a detrimental effect so I needed to avoid windy days as this did ruin a few stacks. My first few fungi attempts were at a lovely spot at Wallington hall woodlands, just off the path where I found quite an array of species and pleasing backdrops. Below are two from my first proper attempt at this location. Both required use of a stable mini tripod, a shutter release cable or use of the time function and adjustable led lights to balance against daylight. I found LED lights work better for me than flash, I can take a quick focus stack this way, minimising the chance of movement - with flash there needs to be time between each shot to allow the flash unit to recharge.

I did take some mushroom specimens home to practice on, only if they were growing in abundance and below are a couple of examples. I wanted to be able to take my time to get everything right at home and add in the faux rain aspect. Im thinking this specimen below  is Lactarius rufus due to its brick red colour and because it was growing near pines, amongst sphagnum moss at Wallington Hall NT, Northumberland. This is a focus stacked image of 80 photos at F4.2 taken on a Nikon Z6 with a 105 macro lens and circular polariser to reduce glare. I sprayed water during one photo to mimic rain.

I used one of my out of focus backgrounds behind it, plus leaves from the woodlands floor to create the foreground haze. Photographed using studio lights. I sprayed water in my final photos and only used one of these in the stack. 

After processing in Helicon I still found that there was some fringeing around my subject which I  had to fix in photoshop - not so easily done with the water droplets, but I have an easy fix for a clear background.

I used pretty much the same  set up for the Amethyst Deceivers below - a stack of 72 images

Below is another set up created at home of Waxcap mushrooms which I had to glue in place ( they are found amongst grass usually), it won a couple of Gold awards with the SWPP and NPS in the macro category.

When shooting focus stacked images outdoors I often find that the background of the final stacked image can be messy due to foliage etc moving in the wind. So once stacked in Helicon I now replace the messy background with one from a single image from the stack - usually fairly easy to do using the select object tool and masking. This also helps to remove the resulting fringeing around the subject. I used this technique in the image below as the out of focus leaves had moved substantially during my stack.

I did find as the months went on that I was attempting more challenging ideas, often taking quite a bit of time to get right. Such as getting mushroom bokeh shapes in the background bokeh and trying creative lighting. This Hedgehog mushroom below really needed a bit of creative lighting to help show off the wonderful details. This was a stack of 65 images and required several lights.

 The image below is a focus stack where I held a mushroom in front of the lens to obtain the mushroom shape in the bokeh 

Then there is this puff ball image, which is a stack of 31 images, composited with the spores from me pressing the backs of the puffballs with floristry wire etc Definitely a technique I need to work on more

So as you can see I have progressed but still have lots to work on to improve, but its a fun journey

I have entered a few of these images into International garden photographer of the year in the mushroom category and the portfolio category. Watch this space for news on whether any get placed

Still life progress and success with IGPOTY

Following on from my previous blogs re Still life photography ( see July & October 2020 plus Feb 2021)

I have continued to experiment and try to develop my own take on still life photography. This year I have concentrated a lot more on lighting as well as aiming to improve compositions and coordinating the set ups that I create.  Yet again I have thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in this genre and found it a most useful pastime during the months where we were required to stay home more during lockdown. Spurred on by my previous success of a highly commended image in IGPOTY ( International Garden photographer of the year), I yet again aimed high, hoping to get another image placed in the competition this year.

ABOVE A summer fruits and wildflower still life - using colours to pull it together

This summer I created a couple of home made Gobos out of cardboard, these are simply a piece of card with shapes cut out so the light and shade hits my background or subject the way that I want it to. I mostly used a couple with squares cut out so it appeared as if sunlight was streaming through a window that was split into squares ( apparently called a Muntin). My challenge was to light by subject in the way I wanted whilst also getting the gobo lit backdrop, all in a small room - this was EXTREMELY challenging, with all sorts of things balanced around the room to keep my Gobo in position, to block the Gobo lighting affecting my still life scene negatively, whilst using Flags to stop light bouncing in certain places and reflectors to help bounce light back into the scene etc.

Above - A simple Summer wildflower still life setting, making use of crinkled paper to go with the crinkled Poppy petals I used back/side lighting to light the Poppy petals up, allowing it to also fall on the strawberries

This year I aimed for a bit more of a themed approach to many of the still life images I created, choosing to use mostly wild flowers that most people can obtain easily, many from our own gardens.

My reasoning was to be able to pull together a portfolio of 6 images to enter into IGPOTY and as I am also considering  subjects for possible Fellowship panels I decided this could be one of two subjects I would work on this year with the Fellowship aim in mind. Last year we had decided to plant lots of wild flowers in our own garden to help wildlife and the environment, so I had access to quite a few.

 I had also built up a small collection of vases, ornaments, dried items from nature, other props plus materials to use in the fore and background.

ABOVE Using a GOBO for the lighting, a mushroom I made from Polymer clay specifically for my still life photography, adding snail shells for extra interest and textures in the vase plus muslin.

Once I had my set up created I usually found myself starting with adding my first light from behind and to one side of my subject ( even though I only had about 2-3ft of space behind) this was often using a gridded diffuser to keep it directional. This kind of created a little bit of a lift to my subjects, helping them stand out more, but keeping this light coming from the same side as my Gobo so that it would appear more natural. Once I was happy with the light hitting the back and side of my scene, I would add my second light - often through the Gobo. This light needs to be a small source so I used a speedlight, unmodified. Again, space was an issue - I only had about 1-2ft of playing room to move my light within, plus balancing the Gobo in precarious positions whilst trying to keep it outside of the scene. Sometimes I would only use this light to hit my backdrop, other times I wanted it to hit my subjects as well. Even with these two lights the whole scene was often not fully lit how I wanted. For most sets lit this way I needed to introduce reflectors to bounce light back into the shadows and/or a 3rd light. My 3rd light was usually modified with a white shoot through umbrella pointed away from the scene and towards the white ceiling or walls to bounce just a small amount of light in to lighten the whole scene slightly, reducing shadows too. With all the lights it is crucial to note if any are causing unwanted reflections or glare off any shiny, wet, metallic or glass item which can be distracting. In the middle image below you can see a distracting glare on the jug caused by introducing a 2nd light, this was easily resolved by moving the muslin material. Another way to help reduce glare is spraying hairspray or specialised photography spray on the surface - I use a very light spray of dry shampoo sometimes. The series below is an example of how things can progress as I build lighting and sets/composition.

ABOVE Using grasses and root vegetables, I liked the colours, shapes and textures so tried to make the most of those with my lighting.

Looking back on last years images compared to this years, I can really see a difference in my approach. Now I am using lighting to focus attention on the details that I want to stand out - at least in many of the images. I will also take a lot more time in creating a set, putting a lot of thought into what subjects I want to use and why, the composition and relationship of the items to each other, the textures, colours, shapes, vessels, materials, background. I am paying attention to the tiniest of details and can sit in our dining room / mini makeshift studio contemplating my scene, changing things around and altering lighting for long periods of time, often leaving it and returning to the project the following day. This suits me nicely, having so little energy, I can spend just a few minutes at a time faffing and rest, there is no rush as little will change over the course of a couple of days providing my flowers are watered and kept well. 

ABOVE This image demonstrates for me how my approach to lighting has changed, taken last year, it was one of images I was most happy with then. It is pleasing enough but I think i could improve on it so much now by changing the lighting. Never the less it still did well in two competitions. NOTE I used dry shampoo sprayed on the pewter vase to reduce glare in this one.

After playing around with all the points mentioned above, I did manage to pull together a portfolio of 6 images which I have entered into IGPOTY Portfolio category this year and will eagerly await the results - usually announced in February the following year. I did also enter a few single images into the IGPOTY Still Life category and I was thrilled to at first discover that I had 7 images shortlisted. I was even more overjoyed when the winners were announced! 

Imagine my delight when I logged on to the winners gallery and saw one of my images at the top of the page in first place! I was quite surprised and even more taken aback as I scrolled down the winning images to learn that I had images awarded 3rd place, finalist, highly commended and 2 commended!!!!

I was in complete shock - 6!!! images placed in that one category and the overall winning image! I still find it hard to believe. It just goes to show what can be achieved from messing around in your dining room, using flowers that many consider to be weeds. I hope my results might inspire others to try out different genres and entering competitions, if I can manage this as an unwell, disabled person then Im sure most others can too. So here are my winning images :)  IGPOTY STILL LIFE WINNERS

Watch this blog to see how my portfolio does in the competition and to see how I progress in pulling together a possible Fellowship panel ( also see my next blog on Fungi photography - the other subject I have concentrated on for a possible panel and entered into IGPOTY)

Mindfulness and photography

Why use photography as mindfulness 

A brief couple of paragraphs explaining why I have started focusing more on mindfulness and applying it to photography.

 Recently I have commenced a new health programme to correct a few imbalances and nutritional issues in my body that may be causing many of the symptoms associated with M.E./Chronic fatigue syndrome which I have had for 14-15 years. My health professional has a wonderful holistic approach despite her main focus and expertise being in nutrition, which is very much in line with my own approaches. As part of the new health plan I spend time outside in nature to compliment my circadian rhythms and aid sleep, follow a complex nutrition and supplement protocol ( gluten free, dairy free, low sugar, low alcohol, low lectins, low oxalates) plus work on practicing mindfulness and stimulating my vagus nerve. In people experiencing M.E./CFS it is thought that a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system (ANS) could be causing many symptoms such as sleep issues, cognitive difficulties, inflammation and pain. People with M.E/CFS are said to have a low vagal tone and increasing this is thought to aid in reducing symptoms. These mainly involve techniques that induce the relaxation response which, over time, affects autonomic nervous system functioning. More in depth info is on the ME association for anyone who is interested. Self help measures that help to increase vagal tone include - Deep breathing exercises ( check out Wim Hoff the ice man - fascinating), Mindfulness, Meditation, gentle aerobic exercise such as yoga, massage, acupuncture, cold (showers), sunlight, laughter, healthy eating. 

 In the last couple of months I have found myself more and more drawn into learning about mindfulness, which has led to exploring spirituality and meditation, even a bit of yoga. I started by reading books when my brain fog would allow, watching a wide variety of videos on you tube and listening  to guided meditations. I've tried all sorts from Wim Hoff's intense guided Deep breathing, to sleep hypnosis, very gentle guided yoga, and a programme of ten minute mindfulness exercises to be practiced daily. So I have proceeded along a new path of self discovery quite by accident. I have found deep meditative states that I can only describe as bliss, a more peaceful way of being and I have been left questioning all that I do, including photography.

 I get out to try a little photography an average of once a week and lately I have had some very set ideas in mind that I specifically wanted to attempt producing, with end results in mind. However, things don't always go to plan -sometimes wind or sunshine ( or lack of it) have affected my plans, other times my cognitive functioning, fatigue, low energy levels have resulted in me forgetting something crucial in the process, making schoolgirl errors etc - its not easy when your brain does not function fully, or equipment has been a little off! Consequently I have repeatedly been disappointed with my results, usually knowing I could do better if my brain and body were functioning better - I don't like being negative so tried hard to brush it off, but underneath the frustration and struggle is real as I only get to try once a week and that's my energy gone, all used up and having to rest for days afterwards. 

 Luckily I love the process of taking photos, whether they work well or not, I have often said that photography is my own therapy, my own form of mindfulness. I enjoy planning for it, getting things ready, scouting locations, planning lenses or lighting etc and any accessories or people involvement. This is where the mindfulness ties in, I realised in the midst of practicing and learning about all these meditative techniques and my frustration following my difficulties producing what I wanted in photography and realised that I need to step back a bit, applying mindfulness to my photography in a different way.

 So I am setting out to simply take my camera and lenses out with me without preconceived ideas, aiming to be totally engaged in the present moment, to take in what is around me and try to look at things in new ways, applying the techniques I have picked up over the years. My plan is to simply enjoy the peace and beauty of nature, the natural wildness and attempt to capture some of it in photographs, without judgement or pressure. I will be combining this with short spells of meditation, totally immersing myself in my surroundings, whatever the weather, relaxing and being totally relaxed yet uplifted by nature. Hopefully this will shine through in the images that I produce.

 I started in my garden, sitting and lying looking at the plants, insects and birds. The sun was shining through the undergrowth, peeking through and causing the surface of our pond to sparkle with the colours of the plants beyond. I chose a couple of crystals to give a similar feel and used a shallow depth of field to provide a more ethereal look, closer to what I was experiencing. These are not what I would call good compositions but closer to what nature was presenting - you cannot control nature.

 This is a different approach to most of the photography I have done lately, often at home, I have been trying to produce specific type of images with a purpose in mind - often for competitions, which has been my main driving force. I wonder if my new interest in mindfulness, meditation and spirituality will change my reasons for doing photography, or entering competitions, if it will affect what I produce. It will be an intriguing path to follow and may help me see things through new eyes. Watch this space.

Here are a selection of images taken on a recent trip to a Bluebell filled woodland where I could not move far due to mud on the paths ( my mobility scooter kicks up a fuss in mud!). I had planned to simply photograph some close ups of Bluebells, but the light was so beautiful that I felt compelled to capture it. Here I did sit and absorb the sights, sounds and smells, being one of the most beautiful sights of the year for me ( missed last year due to lockdown restrictions). All 3 images below were taken within about 20 ft space. A family were out with their dog and I grabbed the opportunity to capture the moment.

 I would like to add that in the months following this approach that I have progressed from being in moderate pain pretty much  99% of the time to only having normal aches and pains. I am fairly confident that this is as a result of reducing both lectins and oxalates in my diet, but know that mindfulness is helping me to address residual pains effectively. Its early days yet, but this is a very promising sign.