art – Deanne Dements Photography

expanding my photo ideas with new props

My housemate Susan sells clothing patterns online in her Ebay store… She is always on the hunt for more patterns to list, which usually results in shopping trips for me to expand my photo prop collections. Last week she found large collection of patterns for sale locally on Facebook Marketplace and we went to check the collection out. She bought all of the patterns and as we talked with the lady we found that we had a lot of things in common…. and that the she had several things that she was going to send on to the thrift stores would I be interested in them. The answer was “SURE I could do something with the stuff….” a couple of bags and a box later I had some interesting things that could show up in my photographs…. These tarnished silver plate creamers and sugar were part of the collection. I usually avoid things that are shiny and reflect … well…. Me photographing it. I loved the detail of the set and that afternoon I tried to photograph them with some flowers…. but it was hot in the studio the flowers wilted quickly as did I.

This is probably the best of that photo shoot and there I am reflecting in all three wearing a bright red shirt…. I didn’t like the tablecloth background there were too many flowers so you couldn’t see the creamers or the sugar bowl. I did decide to start over the next morning in the coolness of my studio.

Thinking about that quick shoot the day before I decided to change things up. Use one of the photo backgrounds I had picked up last year. Use the off-white fabric I had picked up at a garage sale a month ago. Grab some of the 2x4s and 2x6s that I had painted earlier this spring and use them under or on top of the fabric.
Grab a couple of my floral frogs. One home made from chicken wire and the other belonging to my mom. This was my basic starting point.

Before going out to my studio I had noticed these books that are some of my favorite reference books. I grabbed them put them in the basket with the camera equipment I wanted use. I love these books because they give me ideas on how to accomplish what I want with my own flowers, vases and other objects that could be used to make the photograph mine. I also love our local public Library where I can check out these books and read them, then decide to purchase them for my own collection. (There is another one on the way to me, that I ordered after finishing it and returning the original to the library).

With the inspiration of the books I cast about in my studio area for something that would go with the creamers and sugar bowl. I found this broken and chipped teacup and two of the swans in my small swan collection inspired by a couple of swans I had gotten from my grandmas and moms’ collection.

Now to arrange them.
And then to go collect new flowers from my own yard…

All of these books used fruits and vegetables in many of their arrangements. So the strawberries were a first collection… and I could eat them as I was working because I have more in the garden. Then came the long salvia stems and the thyme sprigs. The very hardy rose was next with its small open blooms that scattered on the table, and the violas were last.

I am much happier with these photos that I took the time and thought into arranging. I was hard stopping but well ….. The temp in the studio was heating up to the upper 80’s. We still have some more insulation to install and to get a ceiling put up. I would also like to make a better hanging frame to put the background on. Something that is easier to put the background on and stretch it out so that the fabric is not wavy. PVC frame should work. Lord knows one of these days I will climb on top of the table trying to make that background look just right and I will tumble off….
Could I do better? Yep. But that is for another shoot with different flowers…and props…

Collections. How did I get so many?

For the last post I shot this photo with some of my glass bottles, to go with the new ones I had purchased, the day before. I was looking for different but similar shapes. That is when I realized that I have a lot of glass bottles, and a lot of other things, too. These things were purchased because I liked them and I wanted to use them as photo subjects. I don’t collect anything. I don’t say “Ohhh…, That is a glass bottle I have to add that to my collection.” I say ” Ohh! How would that look to photograph with a sunflower in it? or that is an interesting shape vase, it would look so Cool with….” or “That is the most funky buffalo planter and he needs to be photographed with the trolls surrounded by daisies…” It is not until I start putting things together that I realize that I have a collection, or two, or ten, or???
During this photo shoot an idea for a new blog post was inspired, I cleared off my photo table and started grabbing glass bottles, not the jars just bottles…

This is a pretty good representation of my bottle collection that is usually spread all over my house and photo area. It is not the whole collection, and I admit some of them I have had more than 20 years others just a few days. While it was fun to find these bottles, it quickly became boring to photograph them by themselves. I had so many ideas for things that I had collected and if I tried to photograph each group of things individually, I could be photographing for days….
I decided to add multiple collections in one photo. A lot more fun to make it interesting.

My first idea was using the fake flowers, and then adding some of my vases, not just the ceramic vases but some of the pottery vases as well. 3 collections in one shoot.

I remembered the shot of the feathers and natural forest and decided to recreate that again. Every time I photograph them it is different. I looked at the small rocks and crystals and thought…. I have many collections of big rocks in my yard. All of which have been used in various photo ideas including my coffee cup and thermos collections

Again, a small sampling of all 3 different items, but the boulders are hard to move so you have to work with them where they are…. all over the place….
These rocks have been good backdrops for the troll family and their pet lizards and sometimes if I am lucky, I can catch a real lizard.

I admit the troll family and their pet lizards have been of my most favorite subjects to photograph. They inspire my sense of whimsy and they are quite portable…. I can take them most places, simply tucking them into a backpack, tote, or basket and placing them wherever I think I can get a fun photo…
Each photo idea that was photographed inspired another idea and all were taken within a 3- or 4-day period of time. Truth is I would come up with a new idea and go out and shoot it then come back in and deal with the photos. The next day I would start the process over again. Adjusting this, tweaking that.

Thinking I have more backgrounds and cloths that could be used but I have never used them, wanting to do something with my collection of string, adding a paperweight and a brown glass globe, a couple strings of faux pearls some shiny beads, marbles, small Christmas ornaments and glass stones. I played with the idea of circles…. The balls of string were made by me as a rehabilitation exercise for my left wrist, that I had broken one summer.

I have taken a stash of 2x4s and 2×6 scraps and painted them some of my favorite colors or just white simply to use as photo props. Those were inspired by some wooden cubes that I picked up at a business closing sale. Most of the time they are under a cloth giving me elevation in my photos but what better way to use that collection of props than to show off my collection of broken of old cameras and lenses. All of these cameras except for the two Polaroid cameras, I have used in my photography journey and with the exception of a couple of them most of them are just worn out from use. Lots of use. I have a pretty good collection of photographs, Too….

The benefits of supporting friends and creativity…

I have totally enjoyed working with the trolls, they have allowed me to expand my creativeness. They have pushed me to execute some of my ideas that I had been trying to figure out for a couple of years. Many of those ideas came from the 52-week Challenge by Nicole Smith, Nicolsey Photography. I loved trying to come up with new ideas for the challenge, and the supportive conversations I would have with the other members of that group. The ideas were constantly flowing even if I could not totally figure out how to do it. I had quite the photo set up on my back deck but always knew that I wanted to move it back into my garage studio area. The back deck was too limiting even though it was convenient. I made the effort to use the photo studio area in the garage studio area this last year. Adjusting the height of the photo table, putting down flooring that is comfortable to stand on.

Another thing that has helped me with the photography has been the Current Class at the Bend Parks and Recreation. I have always had good balance but that really doesn’t stay unless you work at it constantly. The exercises in the pool are designed to improve and keep that balance and fitness intact. While photographing the gnomes and trolls I found myself constantly needing to step up on the little footstool to get the better shot or hanging snowflakes from the ceiling , stepping over it to adjust the scene, or moving it so I could bend down and pick up one of the Styrofoam snowballs off of the floor. All the while dancing on the floor to… Well Christmas music this time.
The thing is all of these things are easy to do simply because of the friends I have made over the years. From my little coffee group of online sellers, to the bigger group of people in the 52 week photo challenge, to the group of people in the pool who also like to go out to eat and hike. All of you have contributed to my health and enjoyment, in one way or another and I would like to Thank you for that….
So Thank You Friends….

Behind the photograph scenes Challenge for 3 years

My early spring flowers.
This shot was made last week for the 52 wk challenge Behind the scenes. The theory behind this challenge is to show what actually goes on during a photo shoot. Ideally you might include the photographer in the scene shooting the shot and then include the shot. But lately I have been just showing my inspiration for the shot. So while this was the shot I was going for

This was the shot that was posted on the challenge. It shows the main photograph which was the idea. The small inset photograph on the right, are the dandelions in my front yard flowerbeds the inset on the left is my garage photo studio and several of the containers I thought might look good with the dandelions.
Last year for this challenge I had a much harder time getting inspired. I had my photo area set up on my back deck which is protected in the winter.

My inspiration for the 2024 was simply what can trigger an inspired idea. I decided to photograph what had been set onto the photo table, where I kept my photo props and the lights I had purchased to make lighting the scenes easier. In the center photo you can see my feet propped up on a footstool to show that I was sitting in my favorite chair trying to come up with an idea for that years challenge.
My most favorite year was 2023 I had so many ideas

2023 was much chillier most of my flowering plants were way behind schedule. We were still dealing with COVID limitations, I think it was my most creative year and many of the other photographers in the challenge that year were inspiring me.
This shot I had pulled out my bracelets that I had worn for work before I retired. What better way to show them off than to put them on some of the natural rock features in my lower yard. I even used the rock that the bracelets are sitting on as the background for the collage. The shot with me in it was taken using my tripod and self timer while I held one of my other camera bodies…. Did I mention that I have worn out 3 cameras during the 4+ years of this challenge.

2023 was also the year I had given myself a secondary challenge, for each challenge I did one submission in Black and White and the others in my usual color. This was my B&W submission, again, on my back deck photo studio. The subject was an odd shaped vase some juniper sticks, and the few daffodils that had just started blooming, but my idea was to photograph the chair that had so many uses behind the scenes.
The day I shot the B&W collage I also shot the color photos and made them into a collage for the challenge too.

In this collage I used the same daffodils, juniper sticks, stems of dried Flax seed heads, various vases and some toile inside a diffusing light box. All of these were with natural light. I also used Pinx as my photo assistant. I put the different photos on a background that was a piece of sample glass I had photographed to use for collages.

I find I enjoy playing with this type of challenge and hope to continue to play with my camera my ideas and the ideas of my friends.
And the first shot? with the dandelions…. Well that wasn’t my favorite shot it was this shot. I needed one more flower, went out to pick another dandelion and came back with this tulip instead.