Saturday, August 30, 2008

Mother Nature wields a mighty paintbrush!

I've entered two photographs in this month's EBSQart's Flower of the Month Show. It's on begonias this month. You can see them here along with all the other entries.

If you're feeling generous, maybe you could go vote? If you're not a member of EBSQ, then you can join free as a Patron and vote. Here's where you'd go to join up as a Patron. Voting starts on September 1 and goes through until midnight on the 7th.

Here's my two entries and accompanying statements:




















Floral macros fascinate me! I love to shoot them and I love to paint them. The lines and curves and colours are just so amazing when viewed from so close. It's like a whole other world.

Begonias are so beautifully lush with colour and texture that it's difficult not to be attracted to them. Even though this one is white, I usually have some peach coloured begonias somewhere in my garden! But if you look closely, you can see a myriad of colour in those whites. Magical!

Something else that draws me to begonias is the waxy look of their huge leaves.

I shot this begonia originally for reference use as I like to use my own photographs whenever possible for reference.

I also have on file the original tiff format that I shot this in so that I can enlarge it to poster size. I use a DSLR with excellent macro capabilities.














I call the above photograph "fiery heart".

I love the inner world of a flower. I love to shoot them and I love to paint them. I use a DSLR that allows me to get very deep into the heart of the begonia.

The magical thing about shots like this is that you tend to feel like a little fairy that can actually step into this incredibly beautiful spot.

This begonia didn't have many petals yet when I shot this and for that reason, I was able to get a deep-looking macro like this.

Since this is also in tiff format, I can enlarge this to poster sizes.

The reds and the yellows look so fiery and I love the way the colours blend together.

Mother Nature wields a mighty paintbrush indeed!!!

9 comments:

Ann Buckner said...

Deb, both the photos are just beautiful. So which one will you paint first?

Anonymous said...

Deborah: These photographs distill down the essence of flowers. Color, tone and form are highlighted in a manner reminiscent of Georgia O'Keeffe's work. Great work!

Atul Pande

Deb Léger said...

HI Ann,

Thank you. Ummmmmm, I think I'll have to add them to my very long list of 'I-must-paint-these-before-I-die". LOL.

One day though, I will. (That mythical 'one day' - I wish it'd get here!)

Deb Léger said...

Hi Atul,

Thanks very much for dropping by and for the compliments!

(It's not often that my work is mentioned in the same sentence with Georgia O'Keefe's wonderful work!!)

I really do enjoy going deep into the essence of flowers with macros.

Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

Done!

Gorgeous photos Deb, you haven't lost your touch with the camera :)

Anonymous said...

Deb: Your flower pictures reminded me to pull out a couple of clos-up flower paintings I did a while ago. I have posted them on my blog if you want to take a look. Not quite as compelling as your photographs but still interesting.

Deb Léger said...

Thanks very much Teresa! Sure wish we'd see a blog from YOU!

Carol Schiff Daily Painting said...

Your photos are fantastic, very Georgia O'Keeffe. Who knew a close up of a flower could be so beautiful.

Deb Léger said...

Hi Carol,
Thanks for the comments and for dropping by! I love floral macros - it's a whole other world in there.