ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY UPLOAD-SITES...

ANY photo upload site is a place where you open yourself AND your images to outside 'factors'!
Someone complained that they were 'gaming places'!
And indeed, ALL of them are gaming places.
Like in any game, there are specific rules which you accept when you sign up, and either you play the game ... OR you don't... there IS NO MIDDLE-GROUND!!!
PLUS: YOU are on your OWN!!! Site owners, I am sure like many politicians, started out with good and idealistic intentions... then... the success and money started to come in... that is it... no more help or care... why should they? Forgotten are the people who actually 'made' their site (career?) successful, that is the way it IS TODAY in this world we created!
The sooner one accepts that, the sooner the stress will go.
There are people on the sites without any photographic incentive, interest or motivation, all they want to do is cause problems, they are the bullies and saddos... they are the ones afraid of you and your talent, it shows them up. Did they remain stuck in childhood or very bad puberty?
The Site-owners are NOT prepared to do anything about this 'problem', they must be overwhelmed by emails, don't bother to answer, creating even more grief and miscontentment, members try all kinds of tactics to stop it, to no avail and they often are the ones who get banned?
Most of the sites have a life-cycle, I see them come, I see them go, I have yet to see the 'PERFECT' one.
All I know, is... if I conducted my business in this way and mistreated my clients as such, not listening to anything they have to say, categorically sticking to my opinion... I would NOT LAST VERY LONG, certainly in this economic climate!

I am on sites, as I said before, to build up a portfolio, and some have served me well. I USE them to expand and broaden my social media profile (wow, another MUST today!!!), next thing you know, I'll be doing nothing else... no more photography lol.
I made a choice though, I do not have time for twitter or Facebook, what little time I have is for my (free) photography, my lovely husband, my faraway family AND the friends.
I made some fantastic friends over the last 8 years on these sites, quite a few I have met, some I am going to meet very soon... so, yes, I am happy!
All the rest is just useless annoyance and I am not going to get my knickers into a twist for THAT anymore, I'm way past that!


I just shrug and continue with the GOOD!!!
Maturity and wisdom (like good wine, cheese...) comes with age..., my dear friends, it is not that I don't understand your frustration, however, you are fighting a losing battle I'm afraid, do NOT give them the satisfaction of not uploading your images... that is what they want ultimately, take out the best photographers and they become the top Rooster! Once that happens, start looking for another, newer site, caus this one is dying...
Enjoy your photography! M, (*_*)

Flower Photography by Magda Indigo

Flower Photography by Magda Indigo

GRANADA, ANOTHER HOUR IN THE LIFE OF A PHOTOGRAPHER...

Granada.
We arrive at the Flamenco School on time after quite a trek through narrow steep winding streets, it says on the beautiful old door: Escuela Carmen de las Cuevas. It is too dark to photograph, we must hurry. We are led into a cellar-like row of vaulted small rooms, introduced to dancers, guitarists, singers... onto the small studio where the advanced dancers are already warming up. As in every dance studio, the performers are NOT wearing the 'stage' finery! But comfortable warm'cool clothing, also always lots of water bottles, it is very dehydrating exercise! One wall of a dance studio is always mirror.
Paul and I look at each other and grin... interesting... the size of the room, the lights,the reflections... how are we going to keep OUT of the picture?
The teacher comes in, he shows the ladies some steps, they follow, the floor starts to shake and 'thunder', it goes right through you! What an experience! The rhythm is wonderful, I see the important attention also on the hand-movements. The counting goes on, the clapping, the feet so fast.
A guitar player comes in after a short break... a deep swallow of water and they're off again...

It is a Bulería, which originated in Jerez during the 19th century, originally as a fast, upbeat ending to soleares or alegrias. It is among the most popular and dramatic of the flamenco forms and often ends any flamenco gathering. The name bulerías comes from the Spanish word burlar, meaning "to mock" or bullería, "racket, shouting, din". It is the style which permits the greatest freedom for improvisation, the metre playing a crucial role in this. Speed and agility are required and total control of rhythm as well as strength in the feet which are used in intricate tapping with toe, heel and the ball of the foot.
Paul and I are transfixed... then it is over... Silence, the smell of perspiration, the sounds reverberating, atremble still, our adrenaline still pumping...  one young lady stays behind, slides down, takes off her dancing shoes, massages her feet, takes care of the blisters...
A wan smile, we say good-bye and thank you, disappear into the night, silent and still very affected by the whole thing. Another unique experience!

Thanks, hope you enjoy? M, (*_*)

A small series of 9 images.


For more of my other work visit here: www.indigo2photography.co.uk

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

THE WINGS of ANGELS...ANOTHER CHRISTMAS STORY...

THE WINGS of ANGELS

THE WINGS of AN ANGEL's FIRST CHRISTMAS

The THREE LOST FEATHERS

Another year, another story. I wait till the last moment to write it, so that it is fresh and spontaneous!


In our home, we have a cupboard. Nothing extraordinary there?
Except, it is opened only once a year, it is where our Christmas decorations are kept.
I still feel the same excitement I felt when I was a little girl, and I'd climb the stairs, behind my dad, up to the (huge) attick, yes... open 'the cupboard' holding all the cardboard boxes with the shiny glass baubles, the sparkling garlands.. It wasn't heavy, so I was allowed to help, and ooooh, when I opened the first box, I smelled the pine and wax from years past...
Most of the treasures you remember and look forward to seeing again, many are a renewed surprise.
Last Sunday, it was the moment, the tree was put up, the lights were working, the wreath hanging on the door, it was all going smoothly...
Wind and sleety rain battering against the windows, nice and snug indoors, I was slowing down, growing a little tired... when I heard the most heavenly music, voices singing of a Silent Night, I opened the door, three little angels stood there, bedragled and cold. I rushed them quickly inside, rinsed off their wings and hung them up to dry.
Made the angels a nice warm drink, in no time, they'd recovered and sang their songs of bells that jingle, chestnut roasting, some drummer-boy,things in a pear tree?  They helped me decorating in a festive and jolly mood, lighting the candles, arranging the Holly.
One of them felt the feathers, they were dry, they fluffed them up a little, stroked some smooth, time to go...

Two were quick to don their wings, I noticed that one was a bit slower, turned to me and whispered, I've not been an angel for very long, this is my first Christmas, bbbrrrr...
The music echoed in the distance for a brief moment, aaaahhh, what a lovely dream, now I still had to finish what I had started!



I wish you a day full of peace and goodness, thanx, M, (*_*)



For more of my other work visit here: <a href="http://www.indigo2photography.co.uk/" rel="nofollow">www.indigo2photography.co.uk</a>

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

OF GRASSES, COMPOSITION and THE GOLDEN RULE OF THIRDS.

GRAPHIC GREEN GRASS

TRICHOTOMY

MY 'INTERPRETATION' OF THE GOLDEN RULE OF THIRDS....

HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED AT THE SPLENDOUR OF WILD GRASSES?

Or should the title say, my 'interpretation' of it...

Lately I've had a 'rekindled' interest in the compositional rules...
It came through the curiosity and eternal question why certain images 'seem' to work better, please more than others?
My flower photography actually evolved out of that hunger to understand, ( of course it also had to do with lighting, the effects of colours, shapes and textures!)

I am still fascinated by stark compositions... and I love (need) new challenges...

The Golden Mean or Golden Section is a mathematical constant, a ratio that appears in nature and was discovered by Pythagoras in the 5th century B.C.E.
The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts namely painting, photography, design and across cultures and history, designers such as artists and architects, composers and poets have adopted the Golden Mean as a ratio that is pleasing to the human eye.
Rotation of plant leaves on a stalk follow the Phi (φ) ratio insuring that the same position is not used twice, affording optimal exposure of underlying leaves to sunlight.

In philosophy, especially that of Aristotle, the golden mean is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. For example courage, a virtue, if taken to excess would manifest as recklessness and if deficient as cowardice.
To the Greek mentality, it was an attribute of beauty.

I know the 'rules of composition'... and personally, once I knew them... I loved to 'break' them... creatively that is...

This is a good site for information, simple and direct!

http://photoinf.com/Golden_Mean/Petteri_Sulonen/Geometry_in_Composition.htm

The last image  is of YORKSHIRE FOG or Holcus lanatus.

On a tour in our garden last Summer, in between two showers, I found these grasses, they love this type of weather, thrive on it! Very common in grassland and moorland, also in waste ground and neglected gardens.
The birds must have brought in the seeds, or they glided in on the wind...
When I looked closely, I saw all the beautiful colours, the shimmer... the beauty!

Decided I could make a lovely, strong and graphic design, comp in camera. 

Up close and personal, there's beauty in everything? (well most...lol.)

During a stop on our outing this Summer,  last Sunday to Malham Moor, the views were stunning, the silence deafening, the sky high, the grasses glisteningly waving on the breeze...

I'd taken my shots and was just enjoying everything, while Paul was still busy (aah, the joy of both being photographers... we understand and have a lot of patience with each other)
I looked at the verges and discovered grasses, amongst the abundant Yorkshire Mist (www.flickr.com/photos/9550033@N04/4422947132/in/photostream ), I had never seen.. picked three and photographed them for you...
Now last weeks grasses, well, not wanting to throw them away, I put them in some water, to my surprise, they flowered, well, as you can see, different stages.
Sadly they are gone now, the pollen not so good for Paul!!!


For years I 'experimented' in the studio, to get that Flemish painter's light? Well, I was born in Flanders, it must be in my blood? LOL.

NEW!!! A NEW TREAT HERE, a second choice of some of my images:
 youtu.be/IzRM4viw-7g


Lead and enjoy a good life, do and say things that enrich... and do not forget to tell the people close to you,  how much you love them!
With love to you and thank you for your time, M, (* _ *)

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved


WHAT PART of DO NOT USE is it that you DO NOT UNDERSTAND?
I  find my images on numerous blogs and websites EVERY DAY, without my permission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ON and FOR FATHER'S DAY, in England 19th June 2011

THE FURTIVE KISS

It is never easy being a parent!
Each child is an individual... does not come with an instruction manual! LOL Have a great one dads.

A lifelong commitment, that's being a parent, to care about smaller and bigger things, the being there, we have a duty, the morals that we teach them... that's what will (ideally?) shape them, let's not underestimate the impact we have on our nearest and dearest.
The 'father' figure is often one of strength and discipline, never forget that bit of tenderness, so needed in all our lives.

An unforgettable moment in my youngest son's life, she is the apple of her parents eye... not every child is that lucky...

The little girl had been playing very intensely involved in a game, the adults having a vivid conversation, when she suddenly jumped up, ran to her daddy and gave him a kiss. I only had time to lift my camera to my eye and grab this precious moment. The settings all wrong... I was able to 'retrieve' what I wanted, everybody else would have deleted the raw file!

A perfect example of the fact that it is NOT only about the technicality but the emotion in a photograph.
In a studio, the light would be perfect but you would NEVER be able to 'create' a moment like this!


I believe we have become too obsessed with the 'technicality' of the manipulation rather than with the content of the pictures.
Personally, if a photograph touches me, that is the first criterion!
Unfortunately I must admit, if it has been 'massacred' with some software, that rapidly takes away ALL emotions except, GGGGRRRRRR.
 Technically perfect images are often , dare I say it? ...BORING???
So  feelings and emotions in an image, so often discarded yet so essential!
Mine is pure, unadulterated photography, I'm old school, darkroom age, haha.
It is great fun to 'try' out some of the new gimmicks, however, it is not for me.


Lead and enjoy a good life, do and say things that enrich... and more than ever, do not forget to tell the people close to you,  how much you love them!
With love to you and thank you for ALL your faves and comments, M, (* _ *)

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved


WHAT PART of DO NOT USE is it that you DO NOT UNDERSTAND?
I  find my images on numerous blogs and websites EVERY DAY, without my permission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Why not view the set as a slide-show?
Also I often upload more than one image at the same time, I see a tendency to only view the last uploaded...

Of stage fright and portraiture...

OOUHH-LA-LA... STAGE FRIGHT...

Stage fright Is Good and Makes You Better Looking Too!
Before you learn how to deliver your lines, it is important to be ready to deliver your lines.
For me the same applies in photography! If your portrait is going to be taken, get ready for your close-up and remember it is a good thing 'to not like to be photographed', lol!
Most people 'freeze' as soon as they feel the lens aimed at them...
It is so nice, the odd occasion that someone does NOT say 'I do not like to be photographed'.
It is also the responsibility of the photographer to put your subject at ease, give them time to adjust, have a chat, explain, talk about different possibilities, keep asking if a 'pose' feels natural, comfortable... if not, start again, otherwise you WILL see it in the image!
Stage fright is a phenomenon that you must learn to control.
Actually, stage fright isn't the most accurate term for the nervousness that occurs when considering a speaking engagement. In fact, most of the fear occurs before you step on-stage. Once you're up there, it usually goes away. Try to think of stage fright in a positive way. Fear is your friend. It makes your reflexes sharper. It heightens your energy, adds a sparkle to your eye, and color to your cheeks. When you are nervous about speaking (or posing) you are more conscious of your posture and breathing. With all those good side effects you will actually look healthier and more physically attractive...
( parts used from www.antion.com/articles/stagefright.htm)

I don't talk to flowers, they talk to me and I gladly listen!

This Golden tulip seemed OOUHH LA LA, so FLUSTERED... in a studio? Being portrayed, MOI???


For years I 'experimented' in the studio, to get that Flemish painter's light? Well, I was born in Flanders, it must be in my blood? LOL.

A NEW TREAT HERE, a second choice of some of my images: youtu.be/IzRM4viw-7g


Lead and enjoy a good life, do and say things that enrich... and do not forget to tell the people close to you,  how much you love them!
With love to you and thank you for ALL your faves and comments, M, (* _ *)

IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved


WHAT PART of DO NOT USE is it that you DO NOT UNDERSTAND?
I  find my images on numerous blogs and websites EVERY DAY, without my permission!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!