karen casey smith photography: miniview

i want everyone to visualize calm right now. let’s breathe in deeply through the nose and hold it for a moment. now, slowly exhale through the mouth. if it make you feel better, then i think you’re ready to look at the meditative work of karen casey smith. karen’s collection is filled to the brim with thoughtful, focused shots that lead your eye in and hold it, quietly. afterwards, whether you were prepared to do it (or not), you might find yourself a bit more relaxed afterwards, a bit more focused inwardly, a bit more healed - in a million different ways. it’s a zen feeling. and who wouldn’t want to know a little bit more about the brains behind that operation?

q: where do you live and where do you create your work?
a: home is about 30 miles from chicago, in the northwest suburbs. my work is created first in thought, then with attention to my subject while making the photograph and then in my computer at home.

q: your flower collection is pretty extensive. what is it about flowers that appeals to you most?
a: i love being around flowers. they are a miracle of beauty, and with closer attention even more amazing than anyone could know at first glance. throughout the ages flowers have been loved and given in love, to celebrate, to comfort, and to lift spirits. the beauty of flowers can be experienced directly, without words. when contemplating a flower, time seems to cease to exist and in that silent space you can experience the beauty to the core of your being.

q: i think your mandalas are mesmerizing - can you tell us a little about your technique, and the reasons why you create them?
a: mandalas are so appealing to me. i’ve been working in that form since around 1995 when i first read judith cornell’s book, mandala. she teaches that creating and contemplating mandalas is healing at the deepest levels. each of my mandalas carries a energy or vibration uniquely its own. the mandalas are a way to share positive, healing energy.

the mandalas are made with the aid of templates i designed myself. i first do any editing of the original photograph that’s necessary to make sure the contrast is good, and that all color is in gamut and printable. depending on the flower, i have different templates to choose from that have a varying number of divisions of the circle. in choosing the flower and creating the mandala, i work intuitively. the message or energy of the piece is revealed when it’s completed.

q: what are you doing when you aren’t taking photographs?
a: sometimes i work with and assist my husband, and occasionally do freelance graphic design. i love photoshop, and am always studying and working to improve my skills in both photoshop and photography. currently you could also find me cooking, baking (sometimes in my solar oven!), gardening, playing my ukulele or djembe, practicing tai chi, and playing with our two cats.

see more of karen’s work on her website as well as at her etsy and redbubble shops.

thank you karen!

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paul pardue photography: miniview

if you are a regular visitor here you know i like to talk about “falling into” the details of some of the artwork i feature. i liken it to walking around with peripheral vision and then finding something that you can focus on sharply as you stumble along your daily path. this is how i felt when i saw the work of paul pardue. the consistency within his collection is noteworthy. each photograph has a powerful combination of great framing, incredible lighting and compelling subject matter. i really enjoy his work, so i decided to investigate further…

q: where do you live, and where do you create your artwork?
a: i live in sacramento, california which is where the bulk of my work is created, though if circumstances allow i do try and get out and shoot. most recently i went on a three day camping trip and visited two state parks and two federal parks. since i currently shoot digitally i do almost all my “processing” at home on the computer though i do have a laptop that i can take with me as a portable darkroom. i generally spend a lot of time on my photos, i may take a hundred photos and only work on a few. it really depends on the shoot.

q: what is it about photography that you enjoy the most?
a: i love that in photography you have control over your final image, but at the same time you have zero control over it. it’s a balance where you’re forced to take what is in front of you and make it your image. being able to control your environment to suit your needs is a really cool thought, in some ways it’s like how a painter takes their scene in front of them and paints in as they see. the difference of course is that the painter is open to their interpretation and style whereas i am forced to the constraints of what i can capture through the lens and later, through the processing and printing.

q: did you think when you were a little kid that you would grow up to be a photographer?
a: i remember as a little kid playing with my mom’s polaroid camera, even if there was no film in it. there is always something magical about photography, i really got in to it in high school and the thrill of watching a print develop in front of your eyes in the dark room is something that very few people get to experience. but, it wasn’t till high school that i really thought of photography as anything. as a kid, i’m sure i wanted to grow up to be an astronaut like all other kids.

q: if you could shoot anywhere in the world, where would it be?
a: i’d love to travel and do more of the landscapes and visit the state and federal parks, and even leave the country, but until that day comes i’ll continue to shoot locally. i guess above anything else it depends on what i want to shoot, where i end up shooting. if i continue with the landscapes and such i can inevitably end up anywhere in the world or even all over the world on some world trip of photography. maybe once things pick up in the sales department i can consider planning a trip.

see what’s available for sale at paul’s etsy shop. if you enjoy the human form, he also does fine art nudes, and that shop is here. view his full portfolio on his website and while you are at it, say hello to him on his blog.

thank you paul!

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amy stein photography

excellent work in new york photographer amy stein’s portfolio. i especially am enjoying the stranded collection today. amy traveled back and forth around the country for weeks creating this brilliant chronicle, which is as much about isolation and anxiety as it is about faith and community.

i don’t know about you, but i’ve been there.

see more work from amy on her website, and see what she is up to on her blog while you are at it.

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flickr friends: la trollette

there is more than one a gem of an artist photographer in the vast sea that is flickr, and when i find them, i want you to see them too. today, we kick off this regular series with some lovely french style from rachel osowiecki, aka la_trollette. whether rachel’s subjects are people, animals, places or plants, her photos are striking, vivid and balanced - and tell some beautiful stories. turns out rachel has a few tales to tell as well…

q: where is your hometown?
a: i have lived in paris for 17 years now. my pictures are mostly taken from our windows, on our parisian balcony, in the public gardens and sometimes in the streets during public events or during concerts. when my husband and i visit our family, i can shoot in the east or the south of france. of course we always travel with our complete equipment, photography bags are always packed first!

q: how did you get into photography?
a: i think i can say that love get me into photography. my husband is an amateur self-taught photographer. in the beginning of our relationship, he took me as his model. but i quickly wanted to know how this thing works on the other side of the camera. fred taught me everything he knew about photography, composition, DOF, etc… on his olympus OM-1 reflex camera. this camera was completely manual and was a very good way to understand technique. fred quickly offered me my own camera, a semi-automatic minolta x300s.

a few years ago, we had a sort of black out. fred and i mostly did black and white photography, as fred developed the films in our tiny parisian bathroom. photography never was a cheap hobby but as digital snapshot cameras were getting affordable, silver-based photography became really expensive and difficult and we bought a sony cybershot. we mostly took pictures during friends and family events with a digital snapshot camera. and as i had some sad family events to manage, i almost abandoned practicing.

two years ago, as i’m a little lazy and had enough to mail the same things to each of my friends, i started to write a blog. i talked about what i saw or what i read, who visited us, where fred and i went for the weekend… a simple regular “that’s my lil’ life” blog! as i read many other blogs, i quickly thought it would be cool to illustrate some of my articles with pictures, and why not my own pictures? i again listened carefully to my dear husband when he gave me some very wise hints to get better pictures. that’s how i got back into photography. i shoot and/or process on photoshop every day or so since.

q: what do you enjoy most about it?
a: as a child, i secretly wanted to be a painter and a pianist. the thing is i’m not only a little lazy but i’m also very impatient. that’s not really compatible with the hours you need to learn painting and drawing or to practice piano. i tried of course but i didn’t try enough to be decent. maybe later, when i’m old enough to be less impatient ;o)

but as i can quickly be a decent musician by singing in a choir, i can quickly express what i want to with photography. photography is also a good way for me to be connected to the world and at the same time to have some distance with it.

what i really enjoy about photography is that i cannot control everything. i learn to give up with details, i learn to wait till the conditions are good enough so i must not give up with details… i learn to take my time as well as i learn to be very reactive. but i’ll never be able to control everything and i find it very comforting: photography remains bigger than me, something magic.

q: what you are doing when you are not taking pictures?
a: processing pictures on photoshop, publishing pictures on my blog, reading blogs, a little drawing, writing to best friend, singing in a choir, doing the dishes, fixing dinner, buying food, ironing (not very often, i confess!), going to the museum, having lunch with friends, shopping, sewing some little things and send them to friends and, the most important thing: petting my lovely husband and my big fat grouchy cat. life is a full time job.

q: if you could shoot photographs anywhere in the world, where would it be?
a: that’s a very difficult question… location is important of course and some day i hope i can go to japan, iceland or canada or go back to new york and new zealand. but what i really need is time to see these places live during seasons, time to see all the little things, all the details, time to meet people, time to capture the fleeting, time to live for the moment. i’m blessed, i can do all that right here, right now, everywhere i am.

see rachel’s flickr stream here, and her blog over here.

thank you rachel!

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bill fantini photography: miniview

i am always on the lookout for beautiful sepia toned imagery and so when i saw these pieces from bill fantini, aka etsy seller houseofsixcats, i thought the mothership had landed. the lighting, texture and composition is so lovely in each and every photo. fortunately for us, bill’s skills are not exclusive to the sepia style. as i dug deeper, i found his shop to be a virtual treasure trove of through the viewfinder, sepia, black and white, still and urban photography. it is inspiring and impressive to see such a breadth of work in just one shop, which really got the old hamster wheel in my mind running, so i thought i would ask just a few questions…

q: where do you live and where do you create your artwork?
a: well, presently i live in ossining, ny. that is in westchester county, about 45 minutes north of the city. but i have lived on both coasts and we are planning on moving back to portland, oregon in october.

i don’t have any one particular place i create my art, i shoot in many different locations. i guess the one constant is that i use adobe lightroom and photoshop to help make the shots i took into images of art.

q: how did you get into photography?
a: i got my first 35mm SLR, a Minolta X700, for my 16th birthday, and have been hooked ever since!

q: browsing through your collection, it is clear that you have a broad mastery of several different styles. do you have a favorite piece of equipment, a location or technique you like to use?
a: thank you for the wonderful compliment! i really like shooting ttv, through the viewfinder, it’s great fun using the old argus 75 to compose the shot.

i have to say my favorite shot is rusted gear (below), and it is also from my most unique location, an abandoned power station.

q: what inspires your creativity?
a: that is the most difficult question. i really don’t have any one thing that inspires me. what i love to do is walk around a location and look for unusual angles or ways to shoot what i find interesting.

q: if you could shoot anywhere in the world, where would it be?
a: the first place that comes to mind is japan, i love the asian culture, and from what i have seen that country looks fascinating. another photo journey i would love to take is to explore more abandoned buildings here and in europe!

q: are any of the six cats in the house photographers too?
a: when i started my shop we had six cats, and i wanted a unique name that people would hopefully remember. since then two have passed, but i think it is a nice homage to their memory.

see more of bill’s broad portfolio of work on his flickr stream, and purchase these prints and more at his etsy shop.

thank you bill!

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horacio salinas photography

need some creative inspiration today? how about something visually fresh and clever, like this terrific conceptual work from new york-based photographer horacio salinas? you may have already seen his striking work in the new york times, gq, or vogue, among others.

see horacio’s portfolio on his website, and contact him there or through his rep, chris boals.

via musings of mine

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brad jamieson photography

some intriguing urban (and not-so-urban) compositions and great lighting here from brooklyn-based photographer brad jamieson. brad says he takes his pictures “for proof.”

see more work and contact brad on his website.

via notcot

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eduardo cervantes photography

this color and black and white imagery from california artist eduardo cervantes, aka etsy seller eddyizm, are lavish with light; so lavish, in fact, that i feel guilty and indulgent while looking at them.

purchase these prints here, see more on eduardo’s website and say hi to him on his blog.

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