More trees

Trees seem to be gaining a bit more prominence in my recent photo image work. I have always loved trees, especially in the fall and winter when they show their strong shapes and structure, but have never done much artwork featuring them as the main subject matter. This seems to be changing of late. I wonder where this direction will take me next? 

Through the leaves

I have a fondness for images with stairs in them--some sort of unconscious symbolism at work in my head, I suspect. Here's one from a late summer shoot, reworked in Photoshop as a monochrome image. 

Echoes of the past

I come across a lot of abandoned buildings and farmsteads in my wanderings around the countryside, and have always felt the need to preserve the images of this part of the prairie heritage. Each of these old structures has a story to tell-----

Raven art

I have a serious case of crow and raven obsession, which manifests itself frequently in my art images. This is a new photomontage I created last week. As with all my photo/computer based images, it is available in a variety of sizes and formats. 

Golden fields

I learned how to do panorama shots earlier this year, and every so often I remember that it's an option and shoot accordingly. This one is made up of seven individual shots. Works really well for images such as this when you want to capture an interesting sky. This was taken just a couple of weeks ago before the snow was really serious. All that nice gold stubble is covered now.

Corvids

Still on corvid watch, more so than ever since I now have a good photo site at a roost not too far from my house, although by definition when they are gathering to roost the light isn't optimal. I have one big lens that has the reach that I need but not the light-gathering ability, and one that is nice and fast but doesn't have the same zoom. This composite is my attempt to convey the impressions I had when something had disturbed the whole field of crows and they were circling and cawing above me for quite some time. It was a strangely unbalancing feeling looking up into the sky at the swirling black bodies hurtling past.

The old homestead

I've been working on creating a body of work for upcoming sales, of which I have two in June (Waterfront at River Landing near Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon on June 9th, and Bazaart in Regina on the grounds of the MacKenzie Art Gallery, June 16th). Some of these are also available at the Black Spruce Gallery in Christopher Lake. 

This is an inkjet transfer image on tumbled marble tile, 6" x 6", one of my Prairie Heritage themed series featuring old buildings photographed around the province. 

Laura Jean

I'm going to have a few pieces in a gallery booth at the local Gardenscapes show later this month, so I decided it was time to work on an idea I've had for a while. I have a lot of nice flower and garden shots, but I'm never happy just leaving images as shot. Seems kind of boring. So I've been trolling the public domain sites for photos of Victorian and Edwardian women to merge with my garden shots. I've got about a half dozen done now, and as usual, for every one I complete ideas for a dozen more come to me. It's pretty much an endless regression.

This shot features Laura Jean Libby and a nice vine-covered wall I shot last fall. It feels almost Steampunk to me--another direction I need to explore. 

Time Flies

This is an image that I generated a while ago, but I had it in non-standard proportions for some reason. I try to go with "industry standard" proportions for my photo-based images as it makes life much easier when it comes to printing, matting and framing. I spent most of a morning last week reworking it to the new proportions and generally fine-tuning, and I like the new version better than the original. 

I never remember to mention this, but all images on this blog (or on my main website www.judywoodartphotography.com) can be ordered as prints in various sizes. Check the pricing area on the website for details. 

Old days

The basic shot here is one I took with available light (what little there was of it) in a shed on an old abandoned farm. I've always liked the composition and the vague and dark atmosphere, but felt it needed a bit more, so I added the heavy horse to provide balance, history and context.