maybe a wind machine

Press kit photo shoot, sounds glamorous doesn't it? It is more like agony for us folks here, that would be me the model and my poor husband, the photographer. Yes, the time had come and it could not be avoided any longer - I needed a new picture of myself for my press material.

The main driver for this hideous activity is my website. I am currently putting together an entirely new website and it is so past the time that I do this. My current website has languished for an embarrassingly long time with no new uploads to my gallery and while I have been tweaking info along the way, it needs major work (for starters I needed new web software so I could have more bells and whistles, me and new software, ugh). So, major work is underway...that is good...ah but the photo I used of myself in the past just won't make the transfer to the new site. For one thing my new website is going to have a nice green background colour, carefully selected to colour coordinate with my brand colours and the image snippet in my header. (You will get the idea once the new website is revealed.) A major problem is that the green sweater that I am wearing in my old photo clashes terribly with the new background. Drats. Okay, it isn't the best photo either and my hair is a lot longer than I wear it now and I need a fresh pic for other press material so darn it all, a new photo simply needs to be taken.


A picture of oneself, goodness, doesn't sound too difficult does it? Unless you are a perfectionist and a spend thrift like me. The perfectionist bit explains itself. The spend thrift bit comes into play as I am determined to do this with no budget. As a self employed artist, all expenditures are kept to a bare minimum and going to a professional photographer is just not something I am willing to pay for.


I have put this off to the last hour but my bio page on my website needs the photo now. So this past holiday weekend, while others were at the beach, camping or chilling at a cottage somewhere I was fussing and fretting over a photo shoot. One look in the mirror quickly revealed that the scissors had to come out. I cut an inch off my bangs. Okay, you could see my eyes now and my husband trimmed the back (yes, this spendthrift has only been to a hair salon maybe three times ever and the last time was probably 25 years ago). Then the what to wear decision, can't clash with that background you know. Don't want to look too seasonal, i.e. winter wear or a summer look, didn't want a busy pattern, oh dear. Finally a simple white top was chosen. Next, the studio. Time to frame the shot. Don't want the hanging plant to look like I have something growing out of the top of my head, that painting behind me needs to be changed, the chair in the background needs to be moved...you get the idea, a professional photo studio starts to look more appealing...Then we have to fiddle with lighting!

Now I am not going to show you my bloopers. While I may cut my own hair, I do have some pride! LOL But below you will see one picture that didn't make the cut. I don't know what my quizzical expression is referring to but you can see that we haven't worked the bugs out of the lighting. In some pics I look very washed out, some I look like I have spent my life near the equator, some lighting choices left me with a glow in my bang area that looked like a bald spot... Sheesh...

Finally after some angst and yet with limited nashing of teeth (i.e. it went easier than last time), I have settled on the image below. It will do...But perhaps a professional photographer would be best next time, or perhaps a whole team of experts, you know, hair, make up, the works. :-)  And maybe a wind machine!!!! Don't all glam shots make use of a wind machine? LOL

So what do you do when that professional picture of self is required? Do you struggle like me or do you simply hire the job out?

Anyway, I have this done for another significant chunk of time and I am much relieved.

Does anyone know what the shrub at the top of the post is called? It is in my backyard and I haven't been able to identify it. Whatever it is called, it is a prolific bloomer, simply covered in a mass of very fragrant white blossoms. Beautiful!

my journey to a painting...

It's time to start a new piece. I thought it might be fun to detail the various steps that make up my journey towards a finished work. So here we go...

First I need inspiration for a subject. A few months ago, I was rereading an old art magazine. I came across an image of an oil painting a woman had done. The subject was swiss chard. I was struck by the colours she used in the chard as well as the lighting in the piece. Suddenly I was inspired!

Next came the search for some chard. I wasn't looking for just any chard, I wanted Rhubarb chard as it has red stalks. I finally found a specialty supermarket that carried a a wonderful variety of veggies. I found the variety I wanted but I was disappointed to see that much of the lovely stalks were trimmed off. Nevertheless, I left with a few bags of still life material and/or a vegetable for supper.

After trying to get the oodles of chard home without any tearing or crushing taking place, I now had to set up a place for my photo shoot. The lighting was getting just right on the back deck. I set up a portable table (one that I use at art shows). I needed a white background so I used a sheet of mat board. The mat board was one of several sheets that I purchased for a ridiculously inexpensive price a few years ago. Little did I know that it was on sale because it was flawed. Each sheet had dirty flecks imbedded in the surface fibers. Obviously something had gone wrong during manufacturing. The mat board wasn't suitable for framing paintings but I have found some wonderful uses for it. Here is a picture of my setup.

The next photo gives you a sense of the lighting. You might also notice my husband's hockey equipment getting aired out.

Once things were set up, I had to work fairly fast. My lighting was quickly changing as the sun was moving behind trees and the warm sun was actually wilting the chard. I wasn't sure what exactly I was looking for. Initially I wanted to feature the long stalks. Notice my bit of tape in the next photo? I was trying to piece stalk bits together to create what I was after. Photo shoots aren't as glamour as one might think! :-)

I took lots of photo from different angles. These are just a couple of examples. I am sure you get the idea.

I was busy on other projects so I left the photos on the camera for use at a later date and I cooked up my still life material for supper.

Fast forward to the end of December. I am now ready to revisit these photos. I have just started editing them and the image at the beginning of this post gives you an idea of where I am currently heading. I shall keep you informed of my progress...