Category: Photography

August 10 2016

12 Nature-Inspired Art Prints

I’m always on the look out for some good art or photography to hang on my walls. This time, I thought I’d try to find some nature-inspired scenes. You know, beaches, animals, mountains. Here’s what I came up with.

“I have always found it a powerful experience to look into the vast horizon of an expanse of water. It reminds me of how small I am as a person in the world, and there is something both intimidating and reassuring in this thought. This view, no matter how many times I’ve seen it, never ceases to affect me. This photograph is about this feeling-just one small person looking out across the water.”
By Laura Bell.

Is this guy practicing yoga? Sharon Montrose is the best at capturing the adorable expressions of baby animals.
By Sharon Montrose.

Just a lone swimmer in a vast and clear ocean.
By Gray Malin.

Cloud watchers rejoice: Debbie Carlos’ dreamy poster is a window out to the beautiful heavens above, even on those bummer days when the sky is cloudless.
By Debbie Carlos.

The way the morning light shines off these trees is beautiful.
By Tordis Kayma.

This photo consists of long exposures of fireflies. Magical!
By Pete Mauney.

In this black and white image, the silhouette of ’20s mountaineer Thomas G. Hermans approaches a Paradise Glacier ice cave in Washington State’s Rainier National Park.
By Vintage Editions.

This is a composite of a series of star trails photographed from a mounted camera on the Earth-orbiting International Space Station, from approximately 240 miles above Earth.
By Donald Pettit.

“For this photo, I was standing in a downpour. Shortly thereafter the rain stopped, the lead-colored clouds were carried away and the lake restored its calmness again. Suddenly, the brightest sun showed up and its light glittered on the surface of the water. The dew on every plant began to evaporate, their scents carried away by the gentle breeze. I was in the midst of seasonal changes, summer enchantment.”
By Chikara Umihara.

What’s more arresting than a lone wolf standing in a bare forest?
By Lindsey Ocker.

This one straddles the line between art and photography. Which is it? (I believe it’s a photograph.)
By Tordis Kayma.

There’s nothing more beautiful than a colorful beach print.
By Wendy Laurel.

Photography

August 2 2016

Milky Way Man by Alex Gafig

I like this self portrait taken by photographer Alex Gafig. It’s like he’s one with nature.

Photography

July 26 2016

Beautiful Street Photography of Paris by VuTheara Kham

It’s not too often that I come across beautiful street photography such as this. Of course, it helps that photographer VuTheara Kham lives in one of the most photogenic cities in the world, Paris. With 1.2 million followers on Instagram, Kham takes photos that rise above the Instagram community because of their style and beauty. Whether it’s of a waiter taking his smoke break on a scooter or a woman on a balcony overlooking the opera house, Palais Garnier, Kham can make any scene come alive. My favorite photo is of two young adults riding a pink swing. The caption is perfect. “Above the clouds in Tuileries garden.”

Don’t these photos make you want to pack your bags and move to Paris? At the very least, they make me want to take up street photography.

VuTheara Kham Instagram and Facebook

Photography

July 25 2016

Before and Afters of Dogs in Adorable, Japanese-Style Grooming

If you love a good “before and after” series, you will not be disappointed with this one. Pet and lifestyle photographer Grace Chon is back with Hairy, a series where she takes dogs who are in a desperate need of grooming and transforms them into adorable creatures. All of these dogs weren’t just given the normal treatment, however, they were cut in a Japanese-style of grooming, with an emphasis on making the dogs look as cute as possible. Chon worked with the talented groomers of Healthy Spot in Los Angeles to make this series come alive.

If the name Grace Chon sounds familiar, she’s the photographer behind the viral series Jasper and Zoey. (It’s still one of my all-time favorites.)

I got a chance to catch up with Grace and ask her a few questions about the new series, Hairy.

What made you want to start this new series? How did it come about?
I think a lot of us have a fascination with before and after images because it’s always fun to see dramatic transformations. I had the idea of doing a before and after series with dog grooming because there’s something about it that’s so funny to me. Sometimes the dog looks so different and you wonder if it’s the same dog in both images. I wanted to capture that idea in the series, and have the after photos be really extreme by showing Japanese Dog Grooming cuts since they aren’t that common and the results are so striking.

How much time and effort went into cutting the dogs’ hair?
These cuts truly are works of art – each haircut takes about 2 hours or more, as the majority of the styling is all done with hand scissoring.

Can you describe the Japanese style of grooming?
The emphasis of this style of grooming is to make the dog look as adorable as possible by highlighting the uniquely cute characteristics of the dog. My personal take on it is that they make the dogs look almost like stuffed animals – cute overload!

What did you learn from shooting the series?
Grooming is definitely an art form. I don’t have dogs that get groomed, but watching the groomers up close made me realize how much time and dedication goes into a cut especially when the majority of it is being done by hand with scissors. The groomers I had the pleasure of working with are so creative and great at what they do.

Yuki (Before)

Yuki (After)

Athena (Before)

Athena (After)

Teddy (Before)

Teddy (After)

Herman (Before)

Herman (After)

Raider (Before)

Raider (After)

Rocco (Before)

Rocco (After)

Lana (Before)

Lana (After)

Grace Chon’s website and Instagram

Grooming credits:
1-Yuki by Alyson Ogimachi
2-Athena by Donna Owens
3-Teddy by Donna Owens
4-Herman by Cindy Reyes
5-Raider by Koko Fukaya
6-Rocco by Patricia Sugihara
7-Lana by Koko Fukaya

Photography

July 20 2016

New Aerial Photos of the Crystal Clear Blue Waters of Bora Bora

It was only a week ago that I found out about Gray Malin. He’s a photographer that take spectacular aerial photos of beaches around the world. He recently announced a brand new series, aerials shot of people swimming in the crystal clear blue waters of Bora Bora. While in some photos, you see a number of swimmers all snorkeling around reefs in still others you see a lone person surrounding with nothing but unbelievably clear water. (I love all that negative space.) These photos would look stunning hanging on any wall.

Gray Malin’s quickly risen to be one of top three, current photographers that I follow. (Of course, Max Wanger is first and Rodney Smith is second.)

On a personal note, back years ago, I went to Bora Bora on my honeymoon. The water there is really that clear blue.

Gray Malin’s website and Instagram

Photography

July 19 2016

Photo a Day Project: Day 20 of 365, Swimming

Yesterday, I forgot to put up the picture of the day. (This is harder than I thought.) Parker took a swim class and, though he was scared at first, he soon got the hang of it. He took swim classes last summer and still carries some bad memories, particularly of being dunked. Like a lot of children, he hates getting his hair wet. The teacher was very understanding so she never fully submerged him. Instead, he practiced floating and kicking. I’m such a proud mama.

Photography

July 19 2016

Adorable Photo Series of a Camera-Shy Girlfriend, Part II

These are the types of photo series that I love. Almost completely spontaneous, these adorable photos show a photographer’s girlfriend trying to hide her face from the camera. When Mikael Theimer began taking photos like this, he could have never imagined that his series would go viral. Shot in Montreal and the Quebec countryside, the photos show the playful side of photography. Theimer now has over 11,200 fans on his Facebook page and he is contemplating putting together a book. Here, he shares the second half of his series. (I love the cat’s many appearances.)

When asked how his girlfriend feels about her newfound fame, Theimer stated: “Mostly she finds the whole thing funny. When the first series started being shared all over the place, she was a bit uncomfortable (we never expected it would reach so many people), but when she started reading what people were saying about the pictures and about us (lots of positive things), she thought it was really nice.”

Mikael Theimer’s Facebook page

Photography

July 14 2016

Photo a Day Project: Day 16 of 365, Brothers

Lately, Parker and Logan have been getting along incredibly well. They’ve become like best friends. Sure, they have the occasional fight but they take care of each and look after one another in an endearing way. Though their personalities may differ (Parker’s the sweet one and Logan’s a bit temperamental), they somehow make it work. I took this photo of them yesterday, as they were playing outside.

Photography

July 13 2016

Beautiful Aerial Photos of Beaches Around the World by Gray Malin

Yesterday, my older sister Grace told me to check out the work of photographer Gray Malin. She said he had a “Max Wanger”-type of vibe, clean and crisp images of beaches and ocean waves. I instantly fell in love with his photographs.

A quick search led me to this article at the LA Times. Though it mostly has to do with his home, I came to find out that Malin also sells his fine art photography. (This is a dream of mine.)

“Malin has found the sweet spot between fine art and decorative photography. Today, his direct-to-consumer approach has blossomed into something bigger than a cottage industry, with 10 employees, commissions from designers, hotels and retailers, and a host of fashion and home decor items — including wallpaper, bathing suits and Sperry Top-Sider shoes — all bearing Malin’s colorful images.”

If you’re a fan too, you can buy a print on his website or follow him on Instagram. In his beach photographs, I love how people appear as tiny, colorful dots.

Photography

July 13 2016

Story Behind the Iconic Protest Photo

It’s not often that you come across a powerful image such as this. Photographer Jonathan Bachman took this photograph, of Ieshia Evans, at the Baton Rouge protests. The demonstrator stands peacefully in the middle of the road as police officers look as if they’re rushing towards her.

Time magazine hunted down Bachman to ask him about the shot. “I had gone to bed and when I woke up and went right back to Baton Rouge,” he says. Not even when the BBC sent him an email with questions did he understand that his photograph was going viral. Then, his father called. “He said, ‘John, your photo is all over the Internet.’”

“I knew it was a representation of what was happening in Baton Rouge at that moment,” he said. “But I really, honestly, never thought it was going to be something like this. I had no idea I would be talking to everyone these past few days.”

The freelance photographer humbly gives the protester all the credit saying, “People have been trying to talk about me, but really it’s that woman that made the photo.”

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