Mars Beach Creatures

This week's image is something completely new and different in content. However, I'm applying the same technique to create this art piece.

@anewlifeoasisphoto

A photo posted by A New Life Oasis Photography (@anewlifeoasisphoto) on Jan 11, 2016 at 11:44am PST

The story short that goes with the image:

Imagine with me for a moment... I'm on a beach on Mars. [Yes, there's beaches on Mars! ;-D Beaches are one of my favorite things, as well as astronomy.] So, back to the story. I go on a journey to this magical beach where everything glows in magnificent colors. I come across all these wonderful creatures. I run and dance in excitement at their beauty. In my excitement they all rush in together to take part in this joy. I grab my camera to capture this moment for memory in history. Take in this joy and pleasure, even if for a slight moment. It's so magical!

This is part of a 52 week challenge in my Arcanum cohort in the Google Community I participate in.

Really the only thing stopping me is myself. The possibilities are endless. Lay aside all self-limiting beliefs and let the creativity flow.

What I'm learning is that it doesn't matter where you are or what your subject matter is. See things from a different perspective and apply that. I'm finding that I really enjoy creating abstract art. No limits! 

Happy New Year 2016

It's been some time since my last post.

I've been busy with other projects.

One of those projects is learning to make my photo art better.

I learned a new technique called lens painting.

Here's some of the pieces I created:

Some original lens painting pieces.

A photo posted by A New Life Oasis Photography (@anewlifeoasisphoto) on Nov 26, 2015 at 12:50pm PST

New lens painting piece.

A photo posted by A New Life Oasis Photography (@anewlifeoasisphoto) on on Jan 7, 2016 at 8:48am PST

You can click through to Instagram to see what's there. I've posted all the scripture images for Trinity Digital Ministry.

The story behind the lens painting goes like this:

I joined The Arcanum just a little over a year ago. It's been quite an adventure and journey. I was hand picked by +Craig Colvin. He promptly invited me to join the Google Community he created for his cohort of apprentices. I have been following many photographers for a while. I was checking out their technique and art. I came across a photographer who posted about her art. One day she  posted about a new technique she discovered and posted a video she made on how to do it. She then challenged the viewers to create their own lens painting art. Her name is +Janice Sullivan. The art pieces posted above are inspired by her teaching the technique. She calls the technique she taught "macro lens painting". I've went outside of the macro and also used non macro shots to create part of my art.

I've struggled to meet my goals of art creation. I won't go into details of why because I'm not a complainer. Suffice it to say struggles ensue.

Earlier this week I was met with the challenge of creating my goals for the year. I was drawing a blank. I sought advice and suggestions from the cohort of apprentices. They gave some great suggestions. Then this morning in my reading I came across some great advice for goals. Instead of straight up goals to mini-rules to meet goals. So, I created a list of 5 rules that include bits of goals. I find it easier to follow. These 5 rules are very basic that lead up to action in meeting the goals.

My rules are these:

1. Make art - Pick up my camera and snap some shots with an idea in mind of what I want to do with the shots.
2. Write - In the evening when it's quiet open my text editor and start writing. Write of my daily experiences that will turn into a story.
3. Read - In the morning, read daily scripture and devotion. Sometime during the day, pick up a book and read at least a chapter.
4. Eat healthy - At breakfast, eat something healthy, [ex. egg and cheese with some fruit.] At lunch, eat a sandwich with healthy ingredients. At dinner, eat a salad loaded with healthy choices. Drink tea or water throughout the day.
5. Physical activity - Here I struggle big time because of my physical issues. I do my best to move around and not just sit. I stretch every chance I get. It's difficult to do, but, I go up and down the stairs at least three times a day to keep my legs/joints moving.

Now, it's your turn. How about you? Please leave me a comment with a link to your blog and art. I'd love to visit.

Series - Celestial

Inspired by Brooke Shaden's art, Promoting Passion.

When we moved to Southern California I was in awe of how visible the solar system is from where we live. We like to go for night rides [motorcycle rides]. When we get up in the mountains the view becomes even more clear. I've always loved the moon and stars. It wasn't until now that I had a good enough camera to capture them.

Below is the start of a series of the celestial view as I see it. The first image is an artistic take on that exact view when I saw it. The second image was made on the same night. The third image is of the Blood Moon with a dot of Mars peering on from above. And the fourth is the August Super Moon.

I'm still working on these. This is where I am with them at present. I'm hoping to come up with more pieces to create a series of 6 or 9 pieces. I started this series in February this year.

The Poppy Concert

The Congregation

The Heart of Poppy

Be Still My Heart

The Entertainer

Last month we made a trip out to the California Poppy Reserve. It was a windy day. The poppies were giving quite a performance. I used a fast shutter speed so that I could grab them in position. I used macro focus on all of them.

They danced for all the spectators. Leaping about and swirling around. They were entertaining.

2014 Lunar Eclipse

This is a Lunar Eclipse series I made on April 14/15th. Noting the orange glow on the moon. Reports out are calling it a blood moon. There's a bit of controversy surrounding the "blood moon". This article explains what a blood moon is and how it occurs. This video shows what happens as the Earth blocks all direct sunlight from reflecting off the Moon's surface and instead the light passes through the Earth's atmosphere, turning it orange.

All of these have a hazy blur on them, except one. There was a thin layer of cloud cover passing. I set up my tripod on the concrete to make the camera stable. In the last two I captured Mars in the upper right corner. My favorite one is the last one. I used my Sony DSC-RX100M2 camera to make these.

Focal Length: 37.1mm
Exposure: 1/30
F stop Number: f/11
ISO: 100

Focal Length: 37.1mm
Exposure: 1/30
F stop Number: f/11
ISO: 100

Focal Length: 37.1mm
Exposure: 1/4
F stop Number: f/10
ISO: 100

Focal Length: 37.1mm
Exposure: 1/30
F stop Number: f/4.9
ISO: 160

Focal Length: 10.4mm
Exposure: 30s [Long Exposure]
F stop Number: f/3.5
ISO: 100

Focal Length: 10.4mm
Exposure: 5s [Long Exposure]
F stop Number: f/3.5
ISO: 100

Chair || March Photo A DayThis

Not my photo, just borrow for story.

I'm a big fan of the Heidi story made into movie. Yes, I have the DVD in my movie library. In the story Heidi becomes companion and playmate to Klara who was bound to a wheelchair. Very much like the one on the left.

Toward the end of the story Klara surprises her Daddy with the fact that she can now walk because Heidi helped her learn.

I'm reminded of a girl I cared for during my nursing days. She loved Shirley Temple movies. She was wheelchair bound. However, she'll never be able to walk because of her disease.


She was one of my most favorite patients. She always greeted me with a smile and hug. When my name was mentioned and she saw me she got so excited she would bang her head against the back of her chair so hard that if she weren't strapped in she would jump right out of that chair. She was adorable.
It's been a might long time since then. I've lost track of her and her family. I'll never forget her.

This post was inspired by today's theme prompt for #marchphotoaday by #fmsphotoaday for Day 6.

Video Teaser || Fine Art

During one of my online training classes they stressed that having videos for marketing are important. The video here was created with a free account at Animoto. I was allotted 30 seconds to use in the free account.

The images I chose for this video are some of my favorites. Not exhaustive. The sound track is something offered by Animoto.

Tell me what you think in the comments. This is only a teaser video. Eventually, I'll create something with more than 30 seconds that will involve some behind the scenes footage of photo shoots.

Golden Day - Summertime Fun