Vacation!

Summer vacation this year was way not exotic or fancy- just a week of tent camping and spending the afternoon under the trees reading books. Although neither of these tent photos are of my own tent, these images capture the spirit of camping for relaxation for me.

The cute teepee is actually something that I made last summer for a photo session (yes I am crazy, but it was way more cost effective than just buying one- besides I really wanted to see if I could pull it off!) It is made of a lighter weight muslin instead of heavy canvas. That may not be that useful in the rain, but for shelter from the hot sun, or on a clear night it would be just fine. I worked out the mechanics with a scale model just out of plain copier paper-  some tape, a ruler and calculator was all I needed to work up the pattern dimensions. I looked at other tents to figure out how the closures should work, then found the muslin fabric on sale. The somewhat narrow width of the muslin required adapting my measured model into panels that would be sewn together. This tent is about 7ft between the bottom of the poles. I dressed it up with classic vintage camping gear and some cushy pillows and viola! Add models, and we had a terrific photo session!

Below is a real tent at the campground that I stayed in last week. The setting sun through the trees added the magic mojo. I will look at this picture all through the long winter to come and dream of going camping again next summer. A week away from home, my time spent under the trees with the sound of Lake Erie lapping the shore nearby is what I need to rest, relax, and recharge!

 

Happy Summer!

This blog has finally been renamed to reflect what it really has always been, a personal record of my work in photography. I will continue to include my own personal photos as well as the work I do as a greeting card photo stylist. This includes some of my own photography done for greeting cards in addition to my main work as a stylist. All photos identify copyright ownership as well as the photographer's name. I do other things in my life- I am an artist, and that work is more quietly documented elsewhere. I have also turned a personal hobby into a little Etsy shop, but it is not related to photography either, so it as well is promoted elsewhere too. This site is a way to show my work in photography as that has been my profession for many years, along with some of my favorite photography subjects.

That said, here is a shot that I styled as a celebration of summer- ice cream! As yummy as this looks, looks are deceiving- the ice cream is fake! I use the standard "dough" mixture when making artificial ice cream (vegetable shortening, powder sugar, corn syrup and colorant). This tried and true recipe is perfect for use on photo sets if no one has to eat it!

Spring at last!

Mock oranges from my garden, ©AGC LLC all rights reserved

Giant Dahlias in bottles, ©AGC LLC all rights reserved

I am finally able to post these images that I took last year during a couple of shooting sessions that I did in my own yard. Flowers are always my favorite subject- no matter how many times I arrange them or photograph them, I still marvel at their beauty and expressiveness.

The white blossoms are mock oranges which grow on large, open-branched woody bushes. They really do have the most intoxicating scent of orange, and in their season they fill my yard with orangey delight. It has taken years for these wonderful old fashioned shrubs to recover from abuse at the hands of a former occupant of my house. As that person was moving out before my husband and I bought the house, they cut down giant armloads of the mock orange branches which were at the peak of blooming. They filled their car with the branches and left the nearly century-old bushes seriously hacked and mutilated. It took many years of careful tending by my gardener husband for them to recover. Now after 20 years they are back in full glory, arching over the driveway, making a wonderful fragrant bower. Although the weather has been pretty severe, spring might really be here at last, and with any luck their season will soon be here- I can't wait!

Fall

Bikes on fence- Tina Elkins photo stylist; photographer Mark Galbreath

This is a shot from a couple years ago, but it is one of my favorite fall themes- the autumn bicycle. It is probably my favorite time to ride although I get very little opportunity. Fall is pretty unpredictible for weather, and it is always such a busy time here at home just getting ready for winter. But I love riding through the glory of fall color, and the crisp air is such a relief too after the summer heat and humidity.

I've been busy shooting all season and I wish that I could share some of those images, but they will have to wait a little while. The blue bike in this photo saw some more fall action this year. I recently did a photo session with the same blue vintage Murray bike where I had a little boy riding along a country lane with a great big pumpkin on the rear rack! I love to use the bikes in every season, even winter. In a few weeks I will post a shot that I styled last winter with my own vintage Schwinn bike. (The card will be available on the market by then so I can show the image.)

This is a recent shot, another outtake, from a floral photo session. This was a bouquet of mixed flowers all in delicate pinks and corals, offset with wonderful fuzzy lambs ears. I especially love the anenome - it is so gently blushed with pink. Often anenomes come in very bright, strong solid colors- super dark purple and rich reds are pretty common. The whites are pretty common too, but delicate colors and shadings are harder to find, and this one is outstanding. These shadings are actually accidental- they show up randomly, often mixed in with solid colors. To my great joy, this whole bunch of white anenomes came blushed with pink; I always savor floral anomalies like these.

Dramatic Sky shot in the Cuyahoga Valley, May 2013

Although I have not posted recently, I am still out there shooting all of the time. I actually pulled down at least 3 posts because the images were too close to ones that I did for greeting card work, but this one can get posted. Believe it or not, I stepped out of a movie theater and shot this in a parking lot! I will admit to retouching out some annoying utility poles and the edge of a building, but otherwise this shot is not heavily retouched, Once in awhile I just get lucky!

I have been shooting a mix of things around my home for my day job, and indeed most of that cannot be posted at this time, but here are a couple that can be shared.

This is my major distraction- what free time I have anymore I spend practicing guitar. This is my new guitar, a classical cutaway by Cordoba. I love the slightly modified neck design on this guitar- just a tiny bit more narrow and a little bit better contoured to fit my fairly small hands. I put my guitars away after college and quite thoroughly forgot what meager things that I ever knew. That is until about 2 years ago. I tried to work on it on my own at first, but I broke down and started lessons almost a year ago. It's been difficult at times, but I am making progress enough to feel that I deserve a decent guitar! I am not a classical guitarist per se, but I love the mellow sound of nylon strings and I am working on fingerstyle technique so it is perfect for me right now.

Here is an item from the vast collection of things that I live with. This is a vintage pinball game that is played with marbles shot by a spring loaded pull-knob. Another board that I photographed made it into the image bank, but this one didn't. Still, I love the vintage lettering and the little pins.

My Greenhouse Cottage Fantasy

©Tina Elkins 2012;  Instagram shot from iPhone; all rights reserved.

I grabbed this shot this past week at a location shoot. We shot at a little B&B -a lovely little white on white shabby chic farmhouse located in the middle of the rolling countryside outside of Mt Vernon, Ohio. I spent an unbelievable amount of time working late on my props and getting my sets ready for my photographer! I know we got some great stuff, but I was too busy to even snapshot my sets on my phone- out of nearly 20 setups I think I snapped 3 pictures!

The is one I set up on a whim late in the evening. I was trying to get my sets ready for our second day of shooting when it struck me that if I was going to shoot anything at night it had to be right then and there. I started setting it up intending to shoot it myself, but thankfully my photographer Mark stayed up late to shoot it for me. His shot is better than my Instagram snap, but I still think it is lovely shot of candles in and around a vintage style birdcage surrounded by Norfolk pines and lemon cypress.

I found this little house to be really inspiring; it indulges a fantasy that I have about living in a greenhouse cottage. Although styles come and go, the shabby chic thing has had real staying power because it is adaptable, comfortable, and easy to work with on any budget. You don't have to be a designer or stylist to understand the appeal of white on white or chippy paint. 20 years ago it looked all lacey and Victorian, but recently the look has been reinvented with a more sophisticated French farmhouse/Scandinavian vibe.  Check out the terrific hardbound book The New French Decor; Living with Timeless Objects by Michele Lalande. I have been drawing much inspiration from this book over the last 4 years or so. If only my real life looked anything like this!