The orchid and tillandsia blooms are about a half inch long! It is fun to be able to get close enough to them with enough light to be able to see them.
Jan 232021
Jan 182021
Last fall I became a Volunteer Photographer for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. The Botany Department is building a data base of their whole collection with photos. This means I get to pose plants from the greenhouses and wander the grounds taking series of photos to give botanists different views of the plants and at different times of the year. Yes, there are seasons in Florida!
Dec 092020
After yesterday’s visit to the butterfly house at Historic Spanish Point, which is now a part of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, I am inspired to share a message of hope, faith, and a return to joy! Stay safe and stay well!
Aug 272020
The winners of the Selby Gardens photo competition were announced this morning. My photo, Ballet in Space, won Best of Show! I also won an Honorable Mention for Pond Reflections in the Geometry category.
You might already know how reluctant I am to enter any competitions, but this year I felt the need to support Selby Gardens as a long-time visitor, a member, and recently as a volunteer. The entries had to be taken in the past two years at Selby Gardens or Spanish Point and could not have things added or deleted–so no Photoshop montages which I delight in making. My three entries are attached. Even though the bird portrait did not win a prize, I am happy with the photo.
Because of the Covid 19 Pandemic, this year’s competition is digital only (no prints), so the display is published digitally at the link below. They state that they will have all the entries displayed soon.
Also because of the pandemic, my volunteer work has not yet started. I read an article in Selby’s newsletter that they were looking for a few more photographers. I submitted Selby photos and shared my background, was invited in for an interview, and was invited to volunteer.
So please enjoy the virtual gallery visit!
Suzanne
https://www.yourobserver.com/photo-gallery/40th-annual-selby-gardens-juried-photographic-exhibition#photo-1
Aug 162020
My ways of coping with the social distancing needed to contain Covid 19 include gardening, creating photos and montages, studying art, photography, Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop, and sharing electronically. Hopefully sharing electronically will lift your spirits and remind you that the world is beautiful, mysterious, and powerful and the human spirit remains creative.
Montage is a pretty word for composite. So far I use all my own photos and brush strokes, layer and intermingle them with a variety of techniques. I say “so far” because I was recently given some interesting digital textures and I am wondering whether or not to use them. Is this any different than my taking a photo of a sculpture or someone’s garden and including them in a montage?
In this series you will see both my original photos and in a few cases how I “gilded the lily.” To me the flowers and efflorescences are beautiful in themselves. They inspired me to combine them in a way that a floral arranger may develop a composition from multiple elements. In this case I made their collars and plumes digitally from elements of the flowers themselves, arranging, lighting, and blending them together. There were so many iterations it was hard to choose which to display. I left them in layers so that I can go back and play with them.
The efflorescence of this bromeliad is pink and spiky
Tiny purple flowers emerge from the efflorescence
A close-up looking straight down
I created the collar from the efflorescence itself
The montage
The bud of a tiny iris
The iris with collar montage
A tiny red star flower
Red star flower with plumage montage
Tiny orange flower
And finally flower with ruffled collar
Apr 302020
Enclosed are my recent montages, that is to say, composites of my photos layered together with special effects and/or brush strokes in Photoshop. If you would like a limited-edition print of any of my work, please let me know and I will give you a quote, based on size, substrate material, framing, and shipping. You can subscribe by providing your email, then reply to my email. I give my profits to P.E.O., a philanthropic educational organization for higher education for women. Enjoy!
Amaryllis with Drawing Overlay on a Gradient Background
Amaryllis with Trellis
Hummingbird with Brushed Backgound
Moon with a Brushed Background
Super Moons
Tivoli Girl Rides the Sea Turtle
Apr 022020
Last year when this amaryllis bloomed in the flowerbed, I potted it up and brought it inside. After it bloomed I kept it in the pot all year in the lanai. It bloomed again this year! I brought it into the studio and let the sunshine back light the blooms. This consists of two series of nine photos each, stacked and blended together. This allows a greater depth of field for the flowers and keeps the background out of focus. Notice how the hues shift in the light.
Isn’t nature beautiful!
Apr 012020
Three abstract paintings inspired by the colors, forms, and atmosphere of Yellowstone National Park. I painted them in a series and after they were displayed in my show at The Players Centre for Performing Arts in Sarasota, Florida I decided to hang them all together.
Jan 122020
Nov 102019
On a tiny island across the IntraCoastal Waterway from Gasparilla Island, white pelicans gather year after year just for the season. They are larger than the brown pelicans who live here year-round. Instead of diving for fish, they work together to drive the fish into a circle and dip them from the water. This year there is an outbreak of red tide and poisoned fish in the area. I hope they find enough to eat. On this tiny island other bird species join them, including the brown pelicans and I saw no fighting despite the cramped quarters during high tide.
