Apr 24
Untitled by Oleg Oprisco
This surrealist image was created by Oprisco, a Ukrainian photographer, with a $50 Kiev 6C or Kiev 88 camera with medium-format film and a variety of lenses. Obviously he manipulates in Photoshop. The real genius in this image, to me, is the lighting. Anyone can learn to manipulate pixels but capturing the component pieces of the subject matter with the same lighting is an art.
Overhead
©2012 Leslie Noe Photography
One thing we’re not encouraged to do, as photography students, is shoot out of focus. There’s a very good reason for this. As humans, our visual perception requires focus. Our brain craves it and searches for it when we offer something visual for consumption. So when focus is removed our eyes don’t know where to settle, don’t understand the meaning. But sometimes there is no meaning. Sometimes it’s just enough to offer a beautiful composition of light and color. That’s what I’ve done here, and in some others not quite as successful.
In Charleston, downtown, there are lots of walkways shaded by overhanging branches, which bring relief from the afternoon sun. I love walking down these green walkways with the dappled light playing on the brick walls and slate footpaths. Last time I was walking, I realized I spend half my time looking up—at the blue sky in patterns against the leaves. So I squinted and took a photo that mimicked my view. I love it, but I can understand why it’s not for everyone. There is no focal point.
Jul 7
The Plucky Knitter note cards ©2012 Noe
Sorry for the long absence but it will be a bit longer before I have a new blog post about my creative photography. I’m busy filling orders for note cards and postcards of my yarn photos! Never underestimate the strong sorority that is the knitting community. Color, texture, skill…and it all adds up to talent from beginning to end. So, I will be taking photos this weekend, fulfilling orders early next week and we’ll see what the rest of the week brings. My goal is location. I’ll give you a hint: it’s historic, ruined and beautiful.
Jun 24
Arizona Cactus 1, 2002
That’s what I call cacti. I love them. They are creatures from a different place. No other plant life looks like them and no other evokes the same feeling in me of awe at the variety of life on this planet.
So, I’m working on my old prints that I made while traveling cross-country. I’m getting rid of scratches and dust spots on photos from my Holga and Diana cameras (both are plastic cameras with plastic lenses, originally made in the 60s). It’s a bit of a chore but the magic is worth it. I have two different series—one of the cacti and one of the images from my window as I drove. Two of the images from my driving series (made with my Diana) hung in a show curated by the Guggenheim Fellowship. As I work my way through, I’ll pique your interest with the one above.
Priced at $25 for 10 cards plus $4.50 shipping, each package will have 5 different images (see below and click for larger image). Because most people voted for a full bleed image, that’s the plan for this run. I will be able to offer these to 10 people. Please email me (noedesign@yahoo.com) to order or if you’d like to be on a list for the next run. I’ll also be offering photo cards of flowers in a separate post. And Around Charleston eventually. Thank you all for your wonderful support!
Bright Eyes, 8″x10″, © 2012 Noe
Yesterday I dragged my gloomy butt down to the Saturday Farmer’s Market when they first opened to avoid the crowds. I packed my macro lens and left the rest in the car so as not to be tempted. My goal was close-up photography of colors. It was so easy I felt like I was cheating. For the most part I used a small aperture so the whole photo was in focus. But on a few, I really wanted to focus on that color and so I opened the aperture and let the rest of the image go out of focus. Project Page
On the way out (shameless plug here), I spent my last $2.50 on one of the best popsicles in the world: Grapefruit Mint from King of Pops—one of the best things the south has produced!
King of Pops * not my photo!
Copenhagen Bicycle, undated
Forgive my absence for the past few days. I was busy feeling sorry for myself. It has nothing to do with my photography, rather my never ending search for full time employment. Since 2008 (when I was first laid off), my work history has been a series of hires and lay-offs, separated by long, long periods of uncompensated unemployment. So, the day before yesterday I found that I had not been rehired by a previous employer. They apparently hired someone they could pay less, although at this point I would take less. But I wasn’t given the option.
My mental space yesterday was predictably gloomy. I should have been capturing images of dark places. Instead I did nothing.
It bothers me a lot that there is a whole generation of widowed, divorced or single women in their 50s and 60s who are currently unemployed. That is a lot of experience and intelligence being lost to our society. Besides looking in the mirror and seeing one of them each morning, I’ve met these ladies at farmer’s markets selling crafts, at gyms keeping healthy, in knitting groups keeping their brains quick and online sharing family triumphs and woes. Maybe we’re not destined to return to corporate America. Maybe our influence will be face-to-face, one-on-one—a different kind of validation than the one we expected to achieve. I have to get used to the idea.
Maybe we’ll all get together and ride bikes across America. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? Anyone game?
Leslie Noe Photography 