Laura's Prints

Last time, I spoke about being able to take great photos with your talent, not the most expensive camera. The photo below is the example of this. It was taken with that fixed-lens camera and is still one of my favorites. This is also available for sale as a BOGO for a limited time at Laura's Prints on Etsy.

Now for your first photo and story. The photo below was one of those brief windows of opportunity to take a shot. It was at the end of my eastern seaboard car trip, where we stopped at one of the plantations in South Carolina. Driving back out the long "drive way" road I looked to my left and yelled, "stop!" When I looked out the car window at this scene it just seemed to be perfectly framed and composed.

The sun was growing dimmer and I still had to grab my tripod and set up the camera, but when I turned it on, I had exactly two shots left on my memory stick.

TWO? So of course, I wasted the first shot by thinking I could handhold the camera. No time to erase. Plop it on the tripod, dang it! And boom. I got the shot.

This photo, Swamp, conveys so many things to me as I hope it will for you. As a photographer is says to me, don't hesitate, don't wait, take the shot.

The swamp, all swamps, have a particular depth and feeling of the unknown. And they're creepy! I love creepy - Anne Rice creepy. On some days it reminds me of New Orleans, which makes me think of the Garden District, and that leads me to imagine witches and vampires because of the books I love of Anne Rice's (back when she weaved such wonderful stories). All of these leaps and connections happen as fast as a synapse, come to think of it, they are synapses!

One gentleman who purchased a print of Swamp remarked that he found the photo mesmerizing and it reminded him of his family and home in New Orleans. I wonder if his kindred consists of any witches or vampires.

If you would like your own print of Swamp, please visit my Etsy shop.

"...the swamp rising on either side of us, a great wall of seemingly impenetrable cypress and vine. I could smell the stench of the muck, hear the rustling of the animals," Interview with a Vampire, Anne Rice.

Laura

Welcome to my photography blog. Though I love photography, my interests are not so monolithic. I might talk about Photoshop or Lightroom tips, or printing techniques, computers... well, those all relate to photography! Okay, web design, traffic grievances (say on the way to a shoot?), other artists and desktop wallpaper are all topics that pop up on this blog.

I am Laura Hardesty and if you really want to read more about me you can see my bio page on my portfolio site. You can see more about my photo exhibits also.

The main purpose for this blog is to share my passion for photography and the creative process behind my photos available for sale at my Etsy shop. Some photos are the result of a great deal of analysis of a subject (as long as it is inanimate!) and many shots, in hopes of getting one great shot. Some images are a whim, taken instinctively as I see the rapidly fleeting opportunity about to escape.

I'll be honest about my work, so that fellow photographers might find something useful for their own work. I like to give background information on the photos, such as why I took that particular shot of a certain subject, so as to share the story it tells to me. That way when you decorate your home or office with one of my photos you might think of that story when you walk by it.

Look for giveaways and BOGO (Should I admit I spent some time at first trying to figure out how this acronym worked out to Bring Your Own Bottle!) offers on my prints (some of you are still wondering... buy one get one) and free desktop wallpaper of my photography.

Here's my first giveaway, my first insider revelation, the poop, the scoop: The great arcanum of being an accomplished photographer is NOT having a big fancy camera, it is having a unique perspective and a way of appreciating the environment and things around you.

Some of my best photos were taken with a fixed-lens, 5 megapixel digital Sony camera. It was the F707 that had a remarkable zoom lens and manual settings. That, if you are an artist / photographer at heart, is all you need to get going. I'll talk more about this later on.

Laura