Thursday 29 July 2010

Team Up Thursday Photography Challenge




Hi everyone! This week seems to be flying by & by next week we'll be in August - scary thought! Don't you find that beyond June - once the first half of the year is over - the momentum just increases exponentially until December, which is always a crazy month?! That's the way it goes for me anyway...

Today is already Thursday & time for "Team Up Thursday!" where we set photography challenges for each other every week, my partner Tania & I. I am always open to new experiences because I know that they are the only way to bring about change in my life. Well this experience is certainly improving my photography. Maybe not my technical skills, but definitely teaching me how to style a shoot, etc...

When I received my prompt from Tania - "Fairytale" - my first thought was "Forget it! Can't be done!!" Had I not been having a problem with my e mail I would have sent a reply straight back saying "No way - can't do it - no idea what to do!" but fortunately I had the whole day yesterday to think about it as I was going about my business, and some ideas started forming. I used my ever faithful model, my daughter Camryn to pose for me & took around 200 shots! I chose this one above all of them because it makes me imagine stumbling upon a little fairy in the forest, fast asleep...




And here is my partner Tania's photo below. Love how she has given it a Sepia wash to make it more Olde Worlde.

This is what Tania has to say about our challenge:-

"I chose fairytale, because I had something in my mind, BUT could not do it, for my model was not available.
I had to think of something very quick and my husband reminded me about this castle, the Eben Haeser Castle, just outside Rustenburg. They only finished building it, beginning of this year. And guess what?? It is empty!
Nobody living there,nothing happening. So, should you have few millions lying around, this is the way to make a fairytale come true ;-D"

I had a tough time choosing a photo as I edited the shoot down 75%, to 50 shots & from those had about 10 that I thought were the best. Here are 5 of them, the other 5 were great but not so much for the fairy theme. These showed more wings, fluffy feathers, tulle, etc...all essential to any self-respecting fairy amidst her own delightful little Fairytale!

This little fairy wasn't too happy I might add...she has a tiara that she wanted to wear & didn't really understand me when I told her she needed to channel her "Morrocan Fairy" as I was going for a darker, more grown up look, her being 10 & all now y'know...

She has a plastic crate under her bed, FULL of dress-up clothes, being the Drama Queen that she is, so selecting one fairy dress, a couple of co-ordinating feather boas & a bejewelled bangle was a cinch {she gets all my junk jewellery when it starts to tarnish - doesn't take long to corrode here at the coast lol...}

I love this different facial expression here above {not the best quality photo - not very sharp} - but I was teaching her how to pout & she did a very subtle job of it I thought - model material I tell ya! She certainly can work it for the camera this one!! She got an idea of what it would be like on a real shoot after half an hour in the cold wind lying on the concrete besides our pool - not as glamorous as she had imagined - but I treated her to a swim in the heated pool at the gym afterwards ;-D

I shot all these in Aperture Priority Mode with an F-stop of 10, very low, because I wanted them all overexposed intentionally. I desaturated them a bit & added a touch of glow to give them an ethereal feel. I cropped a teeny bit here & there but hardly at all. I've got the hang of composing a decent shot these days.

Here are the links to some of the other Team Up Thursday participants, so if you are interested in Photography Challenges hop on over & have a looky at what they have come up with. If you are here & taking part in the challenge & your name is not on the list please leave your link in the comments section for me to add to the list next week. TTFN.

My partner Tania http://littlethingiesofme.blogspot.com

Stefanie http://semplydone.blogspot.com
and Lynette http://creativemoments-lynette.blogspot.com

Andrea http://andrearobertsontoo.blogspot.com
and Claire http://www.mcgeers.blogspot.com

Berta http://rboice.blogspot.com
and Corey http://livingandlovingeveryminuteofit.blogspot.com

Megan http://mentalinventory.blogspot.com
and Melody http://thehipmommasjournal.squarespace.com

Cat and http://juggelingactoflife.blogspot.com
Shayne http://scrappy-time.blogspot.com


Joanne http://worth-it-all.blogspot.com




7 comments:

topkatnz said...

Cami makes the perfect fairytale princess!

Andrea said...

FANTASTIC shots for a FANTASTIC theme - I would have been running for the hills! Good girl Cami for helping mom out so brilliantly :0)

tania said...

this is stunning helen!! you nailed it girl!!
she is a real fairy:)
love the colours and all of it!!!

Cindy Lee said...

OMG!! Your skill is SUPERB!! Those shots are fantastic!!

Jessy Christopher said...

That is a very beautiful photo of Camryn!! She is such a natural :) Can you shoot me like that too? LOL!! I love the fairy theme and she looks so stunning!! Your kids are beautiful in their own way.

Ella Swan said...

Thanks girls! Saw afterwards that I still had my ISO right up from last weeks night-time shoot - no wonder they were a bit grainy - I am such a dufus! Anyway, this challenge sure is teaching me a lot every week & I am really starting to get into it!

Pearl said...

omg, Helen ! your fairy girl is soo gorgeous here !!! i have to borrow her sometime when I run out of things to scrap ! lol