Over the Easter holiday, my husband and I were able to explore some of the wooded walking trails in our hometown. The Tennessee Valley Authority Nature Loop is a good trail for bird watching and wildflowers. Over the past two years, the Tennessee Valley Authority and volunteers have removed the privet hedge that grew along the trail to allow more wildflowers to bloom this season. For more information on this trail, visit Local Hikes.

 

Spring is happening in my backyard…

This year, we are trying to grow some of our own produce. I have planted several vegetables using organic soil, so we will see how we fair in a month or so. The top left image is a broccoli plant. The rest of these images are from blooming plants in our yard. It is nice to take a moment to notice what is happening in nature.

Happy Easter! 

 

I recently went on a little field trip to the Marietta Confederate Cemetery. I have passed this cemetery many times in the 8 years that I have lived in the area, but never stopped to check it out. It is located off Powder Spring Street in Marietta, Georgia close to Marietta Square.

The cemetery began in 1863 and consists of the Marietta Confederate Cemetery and the Marietta City Cemetery. There are 3,000 soldiers buried here from every southern state. Improvements have been made over the years from local donations.

I thought it was a good place to learn a little bit more about my region while practicing with my new digital SLR camera. Before I was enamored with design and marketing, my first love in the creative field was photography. The recent purchase of a digital SLR camera has helped me remember how much I love taking photos. It will be a new creative medium for me that I am happy to embrace again!

If you have any tips or critiques of these or any other photo that I have taken, please let me know. I am still learning and all is fair game! 

 

Awhile back, a friend of mine was working on a music CD and in need of photography for the packaging and marketing. Fortunately, I was able to help by pulling together one of the best teams in Atlanta and I think the final photos came out beautiful.

During the photo shoot, I took some behind the scenes shots, so we could remember the day. Here are a few:

 

The effort and work of the people behind the scenes is what makes all those models and stars look so dashing. You can start with an already beautiful subject, as we did in this shoot, and bring out all the best attributes. The team that comes together to produce creative work (whether it be photography, television and film, graphic design, interior design or architecture) is invested in the quality and beauty of the finished product. This shoot was no different.

To see the final professional photos from this session, you can visit Harold Daniels Studio website and click on portraits. Harold is a wonderful photographer with a personality to match.

 

Photographer: Harold Daniels

Hair and makeup: Stephen Mancuso

Creative Direction: Darryl Moland and Angela Moland Barnes   

In 2001, I attended Design Ranch in Boerne, Texas at the beautiful Guadalupe River Ranch. I believe 2001 was the second year that the Austin Chapter of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) put on this event. It is a great retreat into the wilderness where you can explore your artistic talents without computers or cell phones! Boerne, Texas is about 35 minutes Northwest of San Antonio in the middle of nowhere, but it is full of life. The drive from San Antonio will get you ready for fun and relaxation. If you are ever in that neck of the woods, be sure to visit The Alamo!

In one of the Design Ranch workshops, we made pinhole cameras. A pinhole camera is made without a glass lens, usually out of a box or a can. You can learn how to make a pinhole camera too on the Kodak website or learn more about them on Wikipedia.

I thought I would share some of my pinhole photos below. I love the lighting and perspective that the photos have.