The Magic of Black Backgrounds

 Bored. With temps in the -9 F range and wind chills much lower, I decided to stay indoors except for chores. 

I was...

Bored. Bored.

So I decided to look up and learn some more about photographing with an invisible black background. I tried it once before with little success. So I spent Friday evening watching some tutorials and found a photographer from the UK that explained and went through how to do it so easily.

He also took apart an old picture frame to create stunning reflections and used the back part of the frame to hold up an appropriate backdrop for his work. He used a simple flash light to create dramatic photos of macro images. He used feathers, flowers, and other beautiful things. 

I thought I'd try some Christmas stuff.

The set up was super simple. Black paper clipped onto a holder .. you know the back part of the frame that holds the photos up. I put Christmas paper under the photo glass, and used an old cube light and flashlight to set up a couple of dramatic shots of a gnome. I didn't keep the one with the gift, it was not quite what I wanted.

But I liked this one.

I took out my wooden critters that were given to me by a childhood friend and tried two lights. I am fond of the deer and the dachshund so I chose them. I guess they could be brighter, but that was my effort for the day as I am learning quite a bit with this method and making many mistakes.

I got fancy by adding Christmas paper to the back and under the glass for the next shot which worked much better since I wasn't going for the dark mystical look.

I just kept adding and subtracting things to see how they worked. It was quite fun.

I got so busy trying out new things that I just kept making a bigger and bigger mess on my work table that is also housing the Christmas Village


I eventually put everything in its place and set the Village back up then got distracted by creating a new scene about the goings on in the Christmas Village.

It took me a good hour to tidy everything up because I kept stopping to think of something else I could try.

And so I did. My friend Pat gave me this beautiful ribbon she'd made to put on a wreath. I didn't put it on a wreath, I studied it with my camera with whites, high key, and other trials and methods.

I finally settled on this.

I liked the word peace showing up twice in this shot. And felt it was appropriate for right now.

It was a busy day for me. Cleaning house, running warm water out to Little Richard, getting distracted, and studying more videos regarding lights and still life.

As if you haven't guessed, this time of year is my favorite for playing with beautiful and cheerful colors and of course the characters I've acquired for years.

I'd given up the idea of doing it this way until The Happy Whisk [Ivy] commented on how she did her DYI black backgrounds using the inverse square law and her flash -- I think I am correct on that.

I don't have a flash but am enjoying creating an 'invisible' or black background with camera settings and then using LED lights or a simple flashlight to highlight my image.

With another below below zero day, it looks like a fun day to try a shot on my wooden floor in the daylight and use nothing for the background and see what results I can have.

Light manipulation is insanely fun once learned.

I found a tutorial by Lee Hall on YT that finally explained things so I could 'get it'. 
How to get black background easy way for beginners.

I'm going to be checking out his mushroom photography later on so I can learn how to up my game in the forest when it is warmer. I love learning new things.

-15 F this morning. I think that is freaking cold even in Celcius!

Beeee still my beating heart!

 

It was a balmy 20-ish degree F day or a -5ish C day so my Assistant thought we should go snowshoeing at the Reserve. Last week I slugged through the snow, so I decided to use the snowshoes once more. After all, it went so well the day before.

We had parked in a lot near the maintenance shed for the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to get on the trail head.

Charlie and I were trucking along, he was fresh and bouncy and stuck to the tracks someone made while x-country skiing. I broke trail off to the side. 

I heard machinery behind us and looked back. There was a 4 wheeler coming our way. I was a bit confused. In the winter the trail we were on is part of a snowmobile trail and in the summer, they mow through the prairie grasses. However, there is no motorized vehicles allowed at all on these trails.

The 4 wheeler had tracks on it instead of wheels and as the 4 wheeled gizmo pulled up to a stop, I recognized the smile on the dude. This time he wasn't in the Police Truck nor was he in uniform. 

"Hello Jesse," I said when Charlie ran up to him and tried to jump up on the 4 wheeler to hitch a ride. "How are you today?" 

"I'm good! How are you?" He motioned to the 4 wheeler and said, "I just finished putting snow tracks on this 4 wheeler for the winter and thought I'd try them out."

For a moment I was dumbstruck. 

"Wow, that looks like a fun transformation. I'll trade you for my 17 year old 4 wheeler at home." 

He laughed. And then we both stood quietly listening to the light breeze in the trees. 

"Gosh I love that sound," he said.

"Nothing like it," I agreed. "If I could be out in this 24 hrs a day, I would."

He nodded and then gestured towards my snowshoes. "I didn't think we had deep enough snow for those yet."

"Ahhh, we do. I have over 6 inches at home and had a blast yesterday snowshoeing through my woods. I thought the ice crust and the heavy snow would be perfect for snowshoeing along the trails today."

"So it is going good then?" 

[Oh that grin and smile. AND no, I couldn't see the color of his eyes because he had some rather cool shades on and I regretted not having cool shades on myself]

"Yes it is, I'm going to take a peek at the ice caves over the hill today. I intend to cover about 4 miles of hiking. It's a good day for it. Saturday will be awful."

He nodded and we both fell silent and watched Charlie who was trying to figure out how to climb up on the 4 wheeler for a ride. I walked over and picked him up. 

"Okay then. Have a great hike, " he said and started up his snow machine. 

I waved and turned to go with Charlie under my arm. 

I heard him head back down the trail and I started grinning like an idiot. "Charlie, Charlie, was that a coincidence? It had to be. Dang, he is still quite handsome." 

I laughed out loud and thought of how I'd have told Rich about this. Rich would just laugh and remind me that HE was the absolute best-est handsome-ist man I'd ever met. And I would agree with all my heart.

I did note on the card that he'd given me last Friday that he was a Land Manager and Police Officer for the Reserve. That made sense. Still. I felt a bit girlish and atwitter. 
Maybe it was just nice that he recognized me from last week and that he thought he'd better check on that crazy -a$$ed old lady and her dog that liked to wander the Reserve in the winter.

I tossed tall dark and handsome out of my head and continued on my trek.

I walked for a mile into the woods looking for the blue tags that used to mark the 'winter trail' to The Valley of Ice. But those are no longer in existence. The previous management had markers on trees to guide people to find the ice caves aka rock shelters.

I'd been there often enough that I knew how to come through the forest right on top of cave #1. So we backtracked to the old Cedar tree and headed down the steep hill. I paused for a bit as I watched a coyote run out of the shelter and head towards the river.

I'm always mindful that I am hiking in wild animal habitat. I wasn't afraid. I just carefully picked my way down to where I could peer into Number One. This is the same cave/shelter that I met my good friend Jason the Geologist on a New Years Eve of 2021.

I didn't see any evidence of the coyote making a den in there, but there was an ice curtain forming.

I went back up to the very old equine trail above the cave and followed it around to cave #2. I peered down and decided not to climb over all the downed trees this trip. I skipped cave #3. It isn't well known and isn't on the map. 

We weren't worn out or even cold at this point so we went past the maintenance shed and hiked down to Bridge 18 which is a covered bridge over the river.

I'd wanted to get a 'snow' shot of the hand-hewn bench with the covered bridge behind it. 

It is now the cover of my blogger header.

We went up on the bridge and checked the views of the river. 

I am just a curious person. I love to watch the river as it changes through the winter months. I like to see how different the forest looks in the stark landscape compared to the lush greens of summer.

I probably take shots of this area every time I hike or bike through it.

Charlie and I found a nice dry spot out of the light breeze to sit and have snacks. He had dog treats, I had an energy bar.

The temps were dropping as we hiked back up to the ridge and to the parking area. It was a good day. 

Decorate Stuff

Just a random shots of some ornaments on my Christmas Tree Chair and scenes from the chair itself. The ornaments on the tree itself are all equine themed.

I will often change things around when the mood strikes me.

 The Winged Pegasus.

On the chair itself...

I have a few more but just got distracted by other fun ideas.

Sometimes characters just show up and I just have to make a go of it.

You never know who is going 

to sit on the chair next.

I finally started to set up my Lego Winter Village.
Seems mini-me and mini-Charlie are about to 
meet Bad Santa!

Just for fun.

This is not the Christmas Chair but a scene on one of the cabinets I built earlier this year.

Nothing much going on here other than snow, cold, and more snow and more cold.

I was plowed out twice this week! And we have been snowshoeing.

PS: my kids used to call Decorations ... Decorate. Thus the way I define it!

Close encounters

...on my Sunday hike on our land.

With the wind chills in the slightly below zero range, I thought I'd break out the fox and protect my eyes at the same time while walking across the open places. 

One of the very first encounters that surprised me was blue birds. Blue Birds!

They were in and out of a box elder tree that sheltered them somewhat from the winds. There were plenty of plant bits and seed in the snow near the tree and in the field.

Lucky me, I got a shot of one.

I decided then to walk into the valley and go find the area of the creek where the underground spring still kept a small area open for water. In years past I've find all sorts of birds feeding in that area in the winter. 

Last year on Christmas day I found Robins in this same area. Over the years I've found different species that I thought should have migrated!

When I got to the valley, I felt the colder air from being in the creek bottom. Granted it was not windy, but I was in the shadow of steep hills and surrounded by a frozen water and land.

Just ahead of me a yearling deer stood up awkwardly. It stared at me and didn't move. It stood for a long time. I recorded it with my cell phone, took photos with the phone and then slowly pulled out my camera.

It simply blinked at me from the other side of the deadfall.

I took several shots and moved a bit to try and get a shot without the weeds in its face.

Still it stood and watched me. Then I realized that it was cold. I mean like shaking humped up cold ... or it was injured.

I kicked myself for not bringing my pistol, if it was injured, best to put it down so it wouldn't suffer.

I decided to get closer. That is my gloved hand in the photo so you can see how close I got. I talked softly and babbled a bit. It shook, then slowly turned around and tripped through the rest of the downfall.

She stopped for a drink in the open water and slowly and on shaky legs started to climb up the sunny hillside.

I wondered if she/he hadn't bed down in that spot to avoid the winds from yesterday and just got too cold. I've found other deceased deer in the creek bottom over the winters with no apparent injuries. 

Nature takes its course.

I found the area I was curious about and was happy to see a small area of open water.

This is where most of the odd birds gather during the winter, Robins and Bluebirds were here last year on Christmas Day.

No such luck on Sunday. So I headed back up the hill to the sunshine in the meadow near my house. Halfway up the hill I stopped to catch my breath and look back on the opposite hillside.

The deer was eating. Then it lifted its head up and watched me.

Don't be fooled by how close it looks, it was easily 500 yards away on another hillside. I stood and watched for a while and eventually it dropped its head and continued to browse. As it walked, I could see the stiffness was gone so maybe it was just so cold when we ran into each other.

Uh Oh, I did it! The Christmas Tree Chair!

 Well, there it is this year. The Christmas Tree Chair. 

To be fair, it is a very ancient tree I purchased in 1996 for about $19. It comes all apart and has 'dead' needles and green needles. By itself it sort of looks okay, but one year I decided I wanted a platform mixed in with the tree to put things on. 

So the tree this year is stuck in a corner and only branched in front. When it gets to the chair level, the branches come through the chair along with some garlands that are wrapped around the chair.

I use the white lights because at night it lights up the whole cottage with warm light. That makes me happy on long winter nights. 

The Chair becomes the center of action for the month of December.

My old jointed Teddy Bear I made in the 1980's always makes an appearance. [He is corduroy and I can say that I will never attempt working with that material again!]

I'd planned on snowshoeing. That did not work out. We had three Eagles hanging out in the trees near the house. Charlie could hear their chirping when we went to get the mail. I spotted them too and scooped Charlie up and tucked him under my arm. I think he understands that he'd make a nice little meal for Eagles and Hawks. 

I spent the day indoors finishing up things I've left undone.

Yep, I have a thing for old chairs. I finally finished this Painted Lady. I only need to coat it with some Satin protective finish.

Since Charlie didn't want to be outside, I moved the Turtle Stool in front of the chair and tossed a green blanket on it. Charlie hopped right up on the chair and sat down. I decorated him while he gave me this look.

I didn't expect him to stay there, but I grabbed my camera and started to shoot in case he changed his mind.

He didn't.

I took the ribbons off from him and gave him his treat. 

He ate it and then jumped back on the stool and stared at me.

Smart dog. 

We have done this every December since he came to us.

This is his first 'Christmas' photo. He was still not quite a year old in this shot. For the first few years he did everything he could to avoid eye contact with the camera or me. I then discovered if I balanced a treat on the lens he'd stare at it.

I just want to squeeze him all of the time. So darned cute.

My first iteration of things happening on the Christmas Chair.  

The Tree Topper.
Yes, it is a mule. It came from one of the trophies Rich won with his mule Opal years ago for having the State Champion jumping mule.

My 'workshop' and table that needs clearing off so I can start with the Lego Christmas Village design. 

Watch out as I go crazy enjoying setting up the buildings and creating scenes and stories both on the table and any other flat surface I can find!

Play. 

The secret to happiness.