Scott Kelby's 2nd Annual World Wide Photowalk 2009 & Playing with my images

On July 18Th,2009, I and many others around the world became participants of an international Photo walk. Where groups of photographers walked their local streets to shoot together, have fun, and learn new things from one another. You can discover more information about the walk at this site.

I was lucky enough to be a member and participant for the Walk in Delray Beach, FL. In our group we had about 23 that participated that day. Which after the first initial group meet up we broke off into smaller groups to walk the streets down Atlantic Ave. This was such a great experience and I was so proud of myself for even attending such an event. I got to meet some really nice people along the way. As well as, capturing some really great images in the end.

Even though the temperatures were blistering hot(Record Highs), I still enjoyed myself during and after the walk. When I came home and began to edit and revise my shots I realised just how hard the last portion of the walk was going to be.

You see not only was this an international photo walk but they were giving away prizes to the photographers with the images voted the best of the best. We had to pick two at most for the walk to enter into the competition by July 25Th, 2009. The first choice was easy but the second not so much. The first one was only easy because it was a winner from when it was first entered into my view finder, into the Camera's Compact Flash, presented onto the LCD screen, and later exposing itself onto my computer screen in black and white. It was an instant winner and my number one pick for the day based on SOOC (Straight out of Camera) shots. As for the second choice... I'm still not sure, as after I came home to edit and revise I found the more and more I did the harder it was getting for me to choose the right one. I've got it narrowed down to about 4 but from there its getting harder. They are all unique in their own right. So, it's getting down to being really nit picky about which one would be better for the competition in general. And that answer my friends, will have to be further discussed later when I can no longer upload. As I am still in decisive mode.

On a side note, I wanted to discuss an image on here that I did play with but will not be entered into the competition because I feel that the editing was tremendous. But tremendous and well worth the effort of displaying just not the right kind for the contest at hand. I put a lot of work into this one. The original image to me would have been one that was a throw away or mess with later as the focal range wasn't up to par and the composition though it had some interests it wasn't really what I was looking for.

So, by using PSP editing software I went in and played with the different layers trying to displace the in focus grass background which I felt did not belong there. And after playing with it and a mural image(I shot the same day), for hours, added in some coloring and Viola!
The first image is what I came up with after all that work. Which is what I was looking for in the first place. Something mystical and Fantasizing hypnotically. Something that resembled under the water as the mermaid was guarding her shells.

For some strange reason I seemed to be in fantasy land that day as most of my images I came up with have that mystical, fantasy land type feel to them. Has anyone else ever discovered this? That some days you come home to edit your images and find you subconsciously had some sort of theme going on in your head? Or that you come home disappointed that a shot you took didn't turn out as planned or after editing it came out so much better than the original in the first place? I surely have.

If you are curious and would like to see more of what I came up with that day you may have a go at this link.

In all, this experience was one I'll never forget and will definitely do again. :) As I completely enjoyed myself!

Personality Traits - Graphology - The study of the handwritten language

Can you read between the lines,
of what I place upon this paper
with this ball point pen?

As I have come forth with the knowledge,
of what there is to come next.

If you can read between the lines
of what I've placed upon this paper,
with this ball point pen,

Than you too; carry the knowledge of
what there is to come next.

-Kimberly

"Personality Traits"

Thank you Ana
for the inspiration! :D

Graphology by definition is the study of handwriting; Especially as a hidden clue to a person's character, personality, abilities, etc.

It involves studying everything but the words themselves placed on a piece of paper.
How the T's are crossed, I's are dotted, space in between each lettering, the gaps, the curves of each letter placed. It all tells your secrets, personality, and character of who you are as an individual.

Psychology is such an interesting subject. This piece, poem and image, was created after getting inspired by Ana. One of my contacts on Flickr. This piece is to express and be set as a portrait of sorts. Come solve my mystery and try to become your own graphologist and analyze me. :)

What does my writing say about me as a person. Do you believe it to be true?

Go ahead, Analyze yourself. Do you believe it to tell the truth about your personality?

Amazing what your hidden language can tell about yourself isn't it. ;)


Copyright © Kimberly Trundle (CreateNovate/Kimmy0883)

Tied Died Teddy

Tied Died Teddy.
Died Tied Teddy.
Teddy Died Tired.
Teddy Dried Tired.
Teddy Tired and Dried.

Poor Dreadful Tied Died Teddy.

- Kimberly Trundle

To view more of my work; Visit me on Flickr, Etsy, and Facebook. Links below. (Just copy and paste)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberlytrundle/

http://www.createNovate.etsy.com

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Kimberly-Trundle-Kimberlys-Creative-Innovative-PhotographycreateNovate/93272590282

Copyright © Kimberly Trundle (CreateNovate)

Photogram study continued

Well I believe I have discovered and accomplished what I was looking for folks. After the study last time, I pulled out my old scanner and decided to do some experiments with it and try to get as close as I could to a photogram using digital equipment and softwares.

After much delay, I came about something that I find more intriguing about scanners verses making a photogram in the darkroom. In the darkroom you tend to get the shape and/or outline of an object on a black background which is hard to do with just a scanner. But I cracked the code and found out a way to come close to a photogram in a dark room but also achieving more details in the process, from a scanner versus a darkroom photogram.

I wasn't just trying to go after a close to traditional photogram that I could acheive in the darkroom. There was a method I used back in college that I wanted to explore some more. That process was taking a photogram and exposing an image on top to form a whole new realm and world. Making things pop.
I knew there had to be a way to approach such an image in digital format and there is! :)

I won't be going into much detail as to how I approached this image but you do need to know how to use a scanner, shadow box, and post processing softwares to create such an image and to be all around creative.

After the first image (up top) was produced on my scanner using a "shadow box" technique. I went into PSP9 software and played with layers and paint to place the other image on top. This is what came about.



I definitely acheived what I was going after and much more.

Digital Photogram - Study

Ok so today while working on my latest project I came up with this wild idea. Since most of my education and experience is in black and white darkroom development; I wondered if anyone ever tried or came close to trying to make photograms using digital equipment.

When I googled "Digital photograms" the first name to pop up was Harold Davis. Although his work is astounding and remarkable it wasn't exactly what I was going for. However, it did give me some insight as to what route to take when attempting my style and technique of approaching a classical photogram in a darkroom with a twist using digital softwares and equipments to acheive it.

This image is just one study that I came up with from a scanned image I already had available that I digitally transformed before hand just to try the technique out. So far I like what I started with. So, there shall be more studies to come.

More of an explaination of how I came about such a technique will be discussed in further blogs.

This is more like a sample and a "sketch in a sketch book", if you may, to remind me to do a further study.



Copyright © Kimberly Trundle (CreateNovate)

Etsy and Become my #1 fan on facebook :D

Ok I really need to get on myself and write on this thing. It's just so hard when you are busy creating and have nine million over websites and affiliations to attend to but I'll try my best to keep up on my blog here.

Anywho, I am writing this blog to let others know that may not know and happen to stop in on my blog that I am officially a part of the Etsy community. Please come by and check me out at createNovate.etsy.com and perhaps invest in a one of a kind piece made by me.

I also wanted to inform you that if you are on facebook to come look me up. I have a fan page for those that are interested in keeping in touch and being informed about all the things going on such as any special events, shows, shoots, etc. that come up. It's a place you can definitely go to find out what I've been up to.

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?compose&id=93272590282#/pages/Kimberly-Trundle-Kimberlys-Creative-Innovative-PhotographycreateNovate/93272590282?ref=nf

And how to keep in contact. If all else fails you can always email me at trundle_kim@hotmail.com or check me out on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberlytrundle/

Off to creating. :D

Black & White Techniques in the darkroom

Wow, OK I have abandoned my posts here in blog world. Well not for long. As an avid viewer on flickr, always checking out my contacts and groups posts I try to read every one's descriptions below their images because usually there is a reason why they wrote such a description.
Today I stumbled upon a fellow contact's image asking for help on how to create such a black and white image. Well since I recently was asked by someone locally to teach them about photography too, I thought why not! Maybe I should write a blog about my techniques and skills I learned through my nine years of experience in Black and White Darkroom development.

So here they are.

My advice to any individual using a darkroom for black and white photography is this. Printing is just about the same thing as capturing an image in your camera onto that negative. It's all about the light sensitivity as well as the chemical process. That goes to say it all starts from the moment you shoot, to developing your negative, to processing your final print.

Now sometimes the problem lies with the first initial thing shooting. You could have over or under exposed your negative when you pressed the button to take the shot. (don't worry this can be fixed sometimes later on in processing.)It can also have happened while developing the negative. Maybe you developed to long. Forgot to use the stop bath or in most cases you didn't fix it long enough. Which is easier to go back to then most realise. I have forgotten the times exactly but usually on the box it will tell you the brand of film's development time, stop, and fixer time. I usually try to find a happy medium to start with. Like for example: If it tells you to develop within 5-10 minutes I usually will do about 7 or 8 for good measure. Same goes for the others. Now a good sure sign you developed long enough is if when you go to dump the developer is it purple? If it is then you are on the right track. If not you need to agitate a little more and longer. As for fixer you usually can't tell unless you pull it out and look at it. That's why I usually go through the whole process rinse the fixer and then pull it out to look at it. You can always stick it back in the tank and fix it again.

Now when your negatives are finally done and dry it's time to print.
The best advice I can give anyone when it comes to making a great quality black and white in the darkroom is ALWAYS make a TEST STRIP!!So many fellow peers and students never do this and go straight to printing and waste all kinds of papers because it doesn't turn out right. Depending on the negative itself I usually stick with a stop on the enlarger to about a medium to low light setting and work from there. You can always boost the light if needed. Take a piece of cardboard (sometimes inside the black bag with your paper comes this thicker piece of white or black cardboard in it as well. Do not throw it away!) This is a great essential tool for test printing and other things like dodging and burning. I still have a stack of these things with my old negatives in binders upon binders. You are probably asking me. OK, what is a test strip? how big of a piece do I need? and how long should I expose it?
There really is no right or wrong answer to this and I think this is why most skip this part.

I used to always do a contact sheet first so I knew which images would be easier to print out first and which ones were going to drive me nuts, then go from there. As I got more experience I just went straight to the test strips and worked from there. Whether you realise it or not both test strips and contact sheets can tell you a lot about the images light sensitivity. After you do both or one of the two you will learn more and be able to pick out how much light will be needed to use just by glancing through it on a light table or looking up above through it under the fluorescent ceiling lights outside the darkroom. Making it easier to know about what light setting and time will be needed for each frame.
Now back to the test strips. Like I said there really is no right or wrong answer to how long you should expose it for nor the size of the test strip. This really is based on you and your preferences. I will tell you this though. Make sure the strip is big enough to read (about an inch to 2 inch thick and maximum of 10 inches in length.)and I usually try to place it on the main focal point of the image. I used to do my test prints in 2 second sometimes three seconds intervals. This way it was easier for me to read after I developed, stoped, fixed, and rinsed the strip.I could go outside of the darkroom take a look and tell OK it's between 9 and 12 seconds. Most of the time I would take an estimated guess from there but you could definitely do another test strip from 9 -12 seconds and figure it out that way.
When you do a test strip I always wrote on the back the seconds I used and what the right exposure was as well as the number fstop on the enlarger telling me how much light I was letting through the image to expose it. That way if I needed to come back to it and make another print I had it handy and didn't have to go through test printing again.
If you find the test strip is still not in the right amount of contrast you want. You may need a red filter for the enlarger. But that's if and only if you tried the enlargers highest or in some cases lowest fstop setting. There are so many who use the filter way too much. Usually if you need to use the filter in most cases it is because like I said before the initial problem was in the shooting. You probably under exposed the image. Especially if you try letting as much light in as possible and it still isn't turning out. It's over exposed if it's on the lowest setting and is still too bright therefore the image gets too dark to fast.
In that case you can try using the filters to save the images off of that negative but try to remember for next time when you shot before what fstop, ISO, and shutter speed you used previously so you can play with it and figure out what works out better for that type of shot and light setting.

Now there are other tricks of the trade like playing with the ISO,development time, using filters on the lens of your camera, etc. but I find it is for the more advanced when you already know the
basics and know how of developing. Once you get the basics up top. Contact me and I can teach you my more advanced techniques that I developed on my own. :)

Hope this helps anyone out there looking for advice to use while in the darkroom developing those beautiful black and white images. If you would like to share your images with me I'd be more than happy to take a look and give my advice. You can reach me through here under comments or look me up in flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/people/kimberlytrundle/. If all else fails feel free to email me at any time at trundle_kim@hotmail.com. :)

Kimmy