ReWorking Forgotten, Again

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Archives, Mallee, Photography, Reworks

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This is the third time I have reworked this image, will it be the last, who knows.  The last two times I have worked on it I haven’t been happy, and this time I’m happier with it.  I knew when I reworked it the last time that I wouldn’t be done with it, so today was the time to do.

So, first of all let’s have a look at past attempts.

Leanne Cole - Fogotten OriginalThis one is too saturated, the colours are very nice and warm, but too much.  Also, the blurring is way over done.  I think this one was done around the time I first started doing processing like this.

Leanne Cole - Forgotten ReworkedThis one was a lot better, but there’s something about it that I didn’t like.  It’s still a little oversaturated.  Though it is getting better, but there is something about it, I don’t know a glossiness or something, that just doesn’t seem right.

Leanne Cole - Forgotten Reworked AgainSo here is the third attempt at it.  After I saw the second one, I thought maybe the second one was the best one, but I like this a lot more,  It has a much more antique feel about it.  I have desaturated it quite a bit, upped the yellows and a touch of red. I have done the blurring again, but I hope it is a lot more subtle this time.

I have been learning so many new things about Photoshop, it has been fantastic, and now when I look at an image, I think about different things I can do, it is amazing.

Speaking of Changes

I think it is time.  I have hinted and said to a few people that I want to start some new work.  If I don’t find a income stream soon, then I am going to have to get a normal job, and I don’t want that.  I love doing photography and I want to be able to keep doing it.  I do make money from it, but no where near enough.

So, I recently saw some work that has made me realise something, I do want to photograph people, but in a particular way, so I am going to try and do that.   I hate portraits of people sitting there looking pretty.  I know a lot of people do those, but recently I did some for someone and I didn’t know what to do with them.

This is going to mean changes, and what that means for this blog is to be decided.  I may stop blogging every day and just do it a few times a week. I don’t want to stop altogether, but it does take up an awful lot of time.  I had hoped that I could make it work, but it has slowly dawned on me that no it isn’t.

So what I am thinking?

I want to keep photographing some of the stuff I do, but I thought, I might start talking about the hassles of trying to start a business, what problems that happen, good things that happen.  Of course, not every post, but some.  We are just going to have to wait and see what happens.

Reflections on a Building

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Architecture, Art, Melbourne, Photography

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The other day when I was in the city we strolled past the Manchester Unity Building and it had the most amazing reflections on it.

LeanneColesccity-3hpm2120The building is already a orange sort of colour, terracotta, I think and with these reflections it looked like the building was gold.  I didn’t get very good images, but it would be good to go back to see if it happens everyday.  If it does, I would like to be more prepared and get better images of it.

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This was taken from across the corner.  You can see the reflections a lot more, I wonder if it is the sun on Eureka Tower, that is what it looks like to me.  It probably changes throughout the year.

I am going to leave it there today, I have to head into the city, so time is limited.

Places Where Ghost Stories Start

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Architecture, Deaf Children Australia, Melbourne, Photography

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Why is the basement always the scariest part of a building?

Okay, they are dark, they are dingy, but why would a ghost want to live in one?

Buildings, like the bluestone that belongs to Deaf Children Australia has an incredible basement, much like many of the old buildings have.  It is very large and I can see how it would be creepy, especially with the lights turned off.  Though it is not right into the ground and there are windows, so does that still qualify?

Down the Corridor in the Basement.On the DVD that Deaf Children Australia have produced they have ex students talking about their experiences there.  Many of the boys, well men now, talked about sitting up late at night and telling ghost stories.  They would then dare each other to go down to the basement.  They must have been terrified.  Though, scary noises wouldn’t have been a problem.

Playing Room WindowIt would have been good to be outside here, and made some commotion outside the windows, but not sounds, that wouldn’t have worked.  It is amazing the things they came up with to scare one another.

Window from the BathroomThis window is near the bath, there is one on the other side so when it is hot they can open both for a cool breeze, well they did when they used the bath.  I will put some other photos up at the end of some of these.  The basement is not really a maze, but there are lots of places for people to hide.

Meat LarderI have done quite a bit to this, but I really wanted to show it, the men on the DVD talk about how this room reminded them of a jail, and when they were children, they were scared of it.  It was the meat larder.  The door reminded them of bars.

I had a few people writing poems and stories in response to last weeks post on the dormitory and those photos.  So I am going to put the links to them here.

Lucy Williams Poetry

Bastet and Sekhmet

Svetlana Grobman: Writing With an Accent

A Poem and a Drawing a Day

I think that was all over them, so I hope you will go and see what they wrote in response to the images last week.

I also invite people to do the same with the basement images, what stories do the images conjure up for you.  Once again, link it back to me, so I can get the pingback or the reblogged notice and will include it in next weeks post.

Now here are some other images I have taken of the basement, not that many.

I look forward to hearing what you write about, some ghost stories might be fun.

Finding Solace in the Gutter

21 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in Art, Melbourne, Photography, Portraits

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Last Friday, as we were doing our trip around the city with our cameras, we came upon an unusual site.  A woman was sitting in the gutter, visibly upset.  She was well dressed, had an ID tag, so we assumed she worked.  It was quite sad seeing her sitting there.

Of course, being photographers we took photos, from a distance, she had no idea we were doing it.  We were going to go and ask if she was okay when she very suddenly stood up and walked away.

Crying in the Rain

Crying in the Rain

It was raining, but the rain hasn’t come through very well, you can see it if you look really closely.  It is so dramatic.  I do feel guilty photographing someone who was obviously going through a bad time, but it has made a fantastic image.

I have been doing some workshops on the internet at Creative Live and I have been learning some amazing things on Photoshop, so I was really excited to work on this image.  There is a story here, and I am curious to know what it is.

I love that so many writers follow me, and I would like to do some collaborations with them.  I need to think about this, but maybe, before I put an image like this on my blog, I could post it on facebook, then the writers who it inspires can write something to go with it.  Then when I do a post on the image, we can include some stories or poems.  Now, I’m thinking of this off the top of my head, so we may need to revise it, but I would love to hear what your thoughts are on this.

I used to people all the time, but I was never happy with the look at the camera and smile sort of photos.  I am starting to see ways to do the photos I wanted to do, so now I am on a mission.  I think you are going to see a lot more people on the blog from now on.

Just an extra idea

I think for those that do write something in response to this, if you send me a link or send me your writing I will put them up on facebook.   So check out my facebook page is you want to see some, hopefully I will get sent some.

My facebook page.

Influencing Me – Pompeii

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by in Architecture, Art, Influencing Me, Photography

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Many, many years ago when I was about 10 years old I saw a book, or it might have been a gift to me, I don’t know, but inside the book was one of the bodies that was found at Pompeii.  Of course, being the child I was, I thought it was real.  It is an image that had a powerful affect on me.  It was probably the beginning of the journey that I find myself now on.  Though Pompeii was not abandoned, it was destroyed, an element of nature reducing it.

Pompeii-Italy-PicturesHow can an image like this not have an impact on you?

Of course, I know now they weren’t real bodies, I think I read that they found cavities in the ash where the bodies were and they filled them with plaster to get the shapes.  It is still quite astonishing.  It is also incredibly sad.

I think the thing I find so sad is that with all the talk of climate change, rising sea waters, we are going to see a lot more cities being destroyed, perhaps not by volcanoes, but nature does seem angry right now.

2787073479_a6e0be5982I don’t think I ever realised either what a huge place it was.  So much work has been done to uncover it.

italy_pompeii_01It is hard to imagine that life was ever here.  How many people died, why didn’t they try and get away.  So many questions.

One of the things that is wonderful about being an artist is the ability to react to things like this, whether it be through painting, drawing, writing, or photography.  We can make a statement about this sort of thing.  We can react.  We can make other people react.

What happened in Pompeii was not because of man, or because of anything he has done, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been responsible for other places.

I have collected a whole heap more images for you to look at here.

I think those of you who have known me for some time would understand how Pompeii has had a major influence on my work as an artist.  It has been pretty important in the development of it, that is definitely true.  I don’t know how much of a role it plays now, but it has been very important.

The images I have got from all over the internet.  Most of them came from the first page of a Google Images search on “Pompeii”.  I have left the original file names, so I am sure if you want to find any of them that name should help you.

Weekend Wanderings – The Details of Melbourne

19 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Architecture, Food, Melbourne, Photography, Weekend Wanderings

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On Friday I spent a very intensive day teaching a client how to use her camera and how to take photos.  We had a great day, and at the end of it I came home with over 500 images.  It was fantastic.  The part that was really fantastic, though, was that my client was very interested in photographing food.  You wouldn’t believe how many places there are to take food photos.  Not that that was all we did.  Many of the photos are from similar places to the post I did last weekend on the arcades, but there are differences, mainly because there are a lot more detailed images.

Block ArcadeWe spent a lot of time in front of shop windows like the Hopetoun Tea Rooms in the Block Arcade photographing the window of cakes.  Then zooming in on individual cakes.  It was interesting for me to do, because it is not something I normally do, but no one seemed to mind.  It was great to actually take in the details.

Royal ArcadeI know if I had been by myself I would have probably just walked straight past this wonderful display of macaroons in the middle of the Royal Arcade.  They were so colourful and the display, well, it was stunning.

GPOThen there were the surprise finds, like this funny display in the GPO building.  We noticed after we had taken photos that there was a sign saying no photos, but it was too late, we already had them.  I explored the GPO building a lot more and saw some fantastic things.  It is an amazing place.

It is great to be able to just wander and take photos without having people telling you to stop.

Queen Victoria MarketWe ended up at the Queen Victoria Market, where we took more photos of, you guessed it, food.  Though I found the market a lot harder to photograph, I felt like I should have been buying stuff as well, which I couldn’t do because I couldn’t carry anything.  Perhaps next time I will go to shop as well.

As I said, we took so many photos, there are some fantastic places to take photo in Melbourne around the city.  I have prepared a heap more and shall put them into a gallery for you.

Hopetoun Tea Rooms
Lemon Tart
Raspberry Tart
Mosaic Floor
Because it Looked Good
Macaroon Tower
Macaroon Display
Special Macaroons
Roses with the Macaroons
Still Life Display
Up on the First Floor
More on the First Floor
Looking into the Whole Building
Looking Through some Detail
More in the Centre
From One End to the Other
The French Inspired Chair
The Covered Area Outside
Some of the Decoration
The Meat and Fish Hall
Where All the Cheeses Are
Some Interesting Displays
Swords Wines, look them up
Some baked Goods
Mmm, My Lunch

If you are in Melbourne for the day, there are many things to photograph and see.  I could spend days in there and still not see it all.  It was wonderful to see the city through someone else’s eyes.  I need to thank Karen for the recommendation, I really appreciate it.  Hopefully more people will like me to teach them photography.

I have so many more photos, but they are going to have to wait for another time.  We photographed some buskers, and we photographed the city, so may be next weekend. I had hoped I would do the lady singing, but I hope she doesn’t mind if I do her image another day when I can spend more time on it.  It is so exciting to be working on different sorts of images.

Weekend Wanderings – Royal Botanical Gardens, Cranbourne

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in Photography, Victoria, Water, Weekend Wanderings

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Recently Miss Rosanna mentioned that I should try going out to Cranbourne, to the Royal Botanical Gardens there.  I had never heard of the place.  I knew there were Botanical Gardens in the city, but not out in Cranbourne.  So I googled it, found the website and decided to see if my new photography buddy wanted to go along. So last Monday we went to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne.

CRBG 1This desert garden is one of the first things you see.  It is quite incredible and is meant, I believe to represent the Australian Outback.  This garden is the Australian section of the Royal Botanical Gardens.  Cranbourne is all Australian, from what I can make out.   The Royal Botanical Gardens in the city have more exotic and foreign plants.

The weather was not great when we went, but it did mean we got some fantastic skies.  The clouds were spectacular, but it did make photographing some of this stuff really hard.

CRBG 2There are a lot of water features all around the gardens.  This is the biggest landscaped garden I’ve ever seen.  The area above had flags at either end saying you could paddle in here, as long as it was between the flags.  I took my camera and tripod out onto the areas with no water to take this image, then came back.  Just after I got back, the water was turned up and a lot of those areas that have no water were covered in it, including the place I was standing.  Lucky I got the shot when I did.

CRBG 3Here is another water area.  I loved this image, I loved the sky in it.  There seems to be so much mood in it.  Does that make sense?  It is moody.  I took quite a few images from this place, which I am going to include in a gallery.

We spent a few hours here, we did have to run for cover once when it started raining.   That was okay, we just had an early lunch.  The sun didn’t come out a lot, so while I was there, I tried to use the clouds as much as possible in my images.  I don’t think it made the day bad.  In fact, it was nice to not have to worry about the sun and getting sunburnt.

Taking photos didn’t seem to be a problem.  I used a tripod quite a bit, and no one told me to stop.   We did stand on some seats to get up a little higher to take some photos.  I don’t think it is strictly allowed, so probably best not to do it.

I will include the above images and many more in a gallery for you now.

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Entry is free to the gardens, and it is open almost every day of the year.  There was a link at the top of the page to the gardens, so you can get more information there.  One thing that was disappointing was that there weren’t a lot of flowers out, but hardly surprising when you consider we are heading into winter.  We think we might have to go back in Spring.

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