ALEXANDER SKARSGARD BY CHAD PITMAN

 I don’t think I need much copy here to explain why I love these photographs, do I? Yesterday when we were vacillating over which matinee to go to for my birthday afternoon,  the violent one starring Mr. Skarsgard was at the top of our list.  Why?  I have feelings for him and the Fancy said he thinks he has a man crush on him.  Yes, Mr. Skarsgard has this brunette loving woman and her jock finacee swooning. That my dears is what I suspect is called movie star quality. We ended up seeing Crazy, Stupid, Love, which I must say was a sweet treat.  Ryan Gosling isn’t too shabby either, just sayin’…
P.S. Thank you all for the birthday wishes!

DEAR CARNATIONS…

An open letter to Carnations…
Dear Carnations:
I am humbly apologizing to you and your family for turning my very pointy nose up to you on so many occasions.  It is with great humility that I write this today as you have really stepped it up. No longer are you relegated to the roadside stand, or mere filler in a drugstore bouquet, no you have graduated to Mother Nature’s pom pom and I am happy to be celebrating my birthday with you.  The ballerina tutu petals you created with the slight fringe, in shades of coral and deep pink have made me change my mind.  All clustered in bushels, your warm clove like scent perfuming every inch of my tiny apartment have brought a wide smile to my face.  I usually eschew color but your bright pops were the perfect way to bid adieu to the last day of summer, today is that day, I know most of North America thinks it’s Labor Day, but they would be wrong, it’s today.  Tomorrow we will wake up and it will be fall, a new season but you won’t mind you will still be blooming in Technicolor colors  throughout the year, sharing your pom pom presence with those willing to give you a second look . You are are a hard worker little Carnations and I am honored that you have picked this day to grace your presence on my little world.
xx,
Miss B.
::photo by miss tristan b.::


ALEXANDER JAMES:: UNDEWATER VANITAS

I am here late today because I was up all night at an event.  An event that I did the flowers for, amongst many other things. For these events I am usually relegated to ‘staff’ photographer, which I actually don’t mind because I am a bit of a shutterbug, but last night it was an intimate party, no photo night and thus I concentrated on the flowers.  I had visions of harnessing my inner Amy Merrick, but the client wanted a single floral story so I went wild with the Casablanca lilies, well as wild as one can get with utilizing only one floral. Again, no photos as it was banned from the evening.  If I had my druthers I would have created Dutch vanitas type arrangements, not that I know how to, I only wish I could attend Chelsea Fuss’s floral class and get some floral design chops. I am only obsessed with floral design right now for one sole purpose (see shutterbug above). When I saw Alexander James’s work and learned his process I was duly inspired. Mr. James recreates Dutch painting vanitas, not via painting in the traditional way, but via painting with light.  Yes, my dear friends, the above image is a PHOTOGRAPH!  How are the painterly effects created?  Not via Photoshop or some texture but rather by shooting these still lifes underwater and allowing the ripples to create the allusion of paint strokes.  Why this man not one of the world’s most celebrated photographers is beyond me.  Pure Genius. I hope you enjoyed this find and decide to celebrate his work with me.

THE DAILY FRENCHIE

How I did not know that The Daily Frenchie existed is beyond me.  I really do feel like I have special powers of cute prowess and have introduced the cutest images to the interwebs with my super cute sleuthing, but alas I must be slipping because The Daily Frenchie until now has alluded me. I recommend that you visit today to make up for my cute inadequacy. All I can promise is that I will try harder in the future and hopefully a Frenchie puppy in a sailor get up will more than make up for this wildly abhorrent slip.
P.S. And why didn’t I think of this magnificent idea?

A WEEK OF FILM PHOTOGRAPHY:: REPLICATING FILM EFFECTS

As I draw this week to an end, I figured I would end it with some secret resources for replicating film effects. The trend for the look of film is at an all time high and a lot of savvy entrepreneurs have created some pretty convincing doppelgangers. I have gathered a collection of links for you to explore if you decide film is not for you right now but you still want the look.   The key to any simulation of the ‘real deal’ is moderation. Who knows, you may even develop your own film + Photoshop processing hybrid.

::FILM SIMULATION TOP SECRET RESOURCES::

  • Clickin’ Moms (don’t let the name dissuade you) just released a set of film presets for Adobe Camera Raw + Lightroom.  I was very impressed with the samples and even happier when I knew they were available for Adobe Camera Raw (I don’t work in Lightroom…yet).
  • I mentioned a truly talented photographer Sean Flanigan a few weeks ago. Sean offers both private classes and workshops.  I hear he is generous with sharing his post processing techniques which include film inspired looks. If I could afford a private class I would have booked it yesterday.
  • Totally Rad Actions, you may have heard of these Photoshop actions and I do have to say if you are going to lay out some dough for Photoshop actions you should lay them out for TRA. They are highly customizable, organized and just really good. For the filmy look try their Detroit B+W, it’ll give you that low contrast, soft gray effect without being too contrived.
  • FloraBella classic film action, this just arrived in my inbox yesterday.  I think FloraBella creator Shana Rae does a superb job with her offerings.  I haven’t tried the new set yet but I do own a couple of her other Photoshop action sets and they are excellent.
  • Tutorial for creating natural film grain in Photoshop.

If you have any resources you think I should add to this list please let me know in the comments.

 photo by:tristan b.