Switiching Gears

 Beautiful Cactus-one of my favorite photography subjects.

 Sweet white star shaped flowers..I love them.

 Passion Flower-such a curiously strange looking flower.

Yellow Zinnia-bright and happy.

So, after my epic soaping disaster/blooper outtake. My daughter and I went to lunch and decided to not go straight home. We went by a little garden where I like to photograph whatever is blooming. I didn't have the good camera, so I whipped out the phone. Wow! I'm impressed-it does a pretty good job. We both took a number of pictures and it was fun to come home and compare. 

I was glad to hang out with my girl on her last few days of summer. :-)

Exquisite Epiphyte

While there are plenty of soap related tasks going on behind the scenes at Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps, I don't have any new soap images to share. I did want to share this photo taken yesterday of a gorgeous Orchid - to see more Exquisite Epiphyte images hop over to my photo dedicated blog.

A Change of Pace

Beautiful Ironwork

Some sort of  beautiful & wonderful smelling conifer..smelled like a Christmas Tree lot.

Salmon colored Prickly Pear blossom-this particular cactus was "blind."

My first silhouettes <3- in the beginning I was slightly annoyed that these people stepped out into the archway just as I was about to hit the release-just goes to show that sometimes serendipity plays a beautiful hand.

Part of growing and learning anything involves stepping off outside your comfort zone, so last night I struck out to work a bit on "freezing motion" and to see what else I could find other than flowers. I found plenty of subject matter in the most ordinary of places and it struck me how magical photography really is. 

To realize that photography documents a very specific moment in time that can never ever be duplicated  again-the elements of lighting, subject, timing and photography need to be congruent before a desired image can be achieved-it's magical.

More Goodies

 Inhospitable beauty...unless your an ant.

  Pink cactus flowers

  Prickly pear beauty

"Red Velvet" Yarrow

My Morning

Clearly I have a "thing" for pods.

Glorious Purple Leaf Plum in the sun

I had a visitor this morning.

Obviously, I still need to work on placement of text. lol!

Monday :-(

Because it's Monday, and we could all use a little break to daydream...

So, What do All These Other Photos Have to do With Soap?

Red Yucca

 As a small business owner I find it just isn't feasible to outsource product photography 1)it's costly 2) it's not convenient - I have new soap coming out of the mold all the time and I want to take photos right then. 

The only way I know to get comfortable with your camera is to practice, practice, practice. I would say I consider myself merely a novice photographer. I enjoy it, and I work at it because I want to have the ability and freedom to take photos of my handmade soap when I want to and when I need to get it up and listed on my blog or website. Below is a list of a few tips I have found helpful.

• Using your camera often, helps you to become familiar with the settings.
• If you aren't comfortable with the manual settings put the camera on auto and go at it. 
• Experiment with the macro and different angles- using different angles makes your photos more interesting.
• Take lots and lots of photos and you will probably find a few that you are very happy with. 
• Pay attention to lighting opportunities - I've learned just what kind of light I like best. I look for that very warm light found usually in the late afternoon, early evening depending on the time of year. (of course that always varies with the seasonal changes.) 
• Check out library books, or look to your local community center for a class in digital photography basics, check out books from the library and read a chapter daily.
• Spend a day one day a month carrying your camera with you - you'll be surprised at how differently you will begin to look at things - and you will find yourself becoming more and more at ease with your camera.   

 Good Reads

7 Product Photography Tips

7 Ways to Improve Your Product Photography Without Buying New Equipment 

Tips for Great Product Photography