Where's Wendy? Shooting A Casual Beach Wedding!

© Spellbound Images by Wendy - All Rights Reserved

“Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

~Henry David Thoreau~

In my attempt to keep up with everything going on in my life I thought it best to also catch up on my blog... As you all know school is one of my top priorities right now... it comes first after my family and my photography. So needless to say I don't have much time for anything else.

This past Thursday I did a casual beach wedding for a couple that came from the UK. They had no idea that there would be a professional photographer at their very informal gathering on Clearwater Beach. I was a gift from a sister and a friend. So needless to say, when I walked through the door with a camera over my left shoulder and another in my right hand things got a bit emotional.

It was actually a horrible day to do a beach wedding... it was cold, and gray, and the chance of rain could have come about at any second. Thankfully it held off until the ceremony was finished and we made our way back to the beach house. With a brief reception of wine, and cake... it was done and over with. I spent just an hour photographing a lovely family and their friends. I did my editing that night and had their images ready by the next morning. It was a pretty easy edit with the exception of pumping up the sky a bit to remove some of the gray.


Tomorrow I have another beach wedding with a reception at the Grand Bilagio here in Clearwater... I'll share that one with you as soon as I have a free moment. In the mean time it's back to studying!

Love, Laughs, and Photographs,
Wendy

P.S. Stay tuned for my blog on the new Dali Museum, and my brand new website!

All images captured with the Olympus E500 on Lexar digital media.

Where’s Wendy? The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art!!

Photo captured at The Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free — Michelangelo

Taking two art classes this semester has me intrigued, and excited, as well as exhausted, and overwhelmed at times. Learning about the Masters is a great way to learn lighting, composition, and perspective. I find myself looking at pieces by Higher Renaissance Greats and dreaming that I could have lived to see those days. From paintings, to sculpture, to architecture, it seems that everything was beautiful during that era. Now I know that life was probably much harder, and the rules were different back then, but it seems that everything was surrounded with beautiful art.

One of the requirements for my “Understanding Art” class was to visit a museum and do an essay on my most favorite work, and my least favorite work, that included pictures and a picture of myself showing that I was actually at the museum. In this essay I was to use Feldman’s Method of Critical Analysis on both my favorite and least favorite. I pulled it off with a grade of 92%, and a comment that wasn’t well accepted by my professor.

The Leepa-Rattner Museum has some interesting pieces of Artwork, including a reproduction of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, which is accompanied by an audio presentation. Although I love the work of the old masters and find them very inspiring, I find that the more modern art doesn’t really move me. Some of the sculptures just don’t make sense and some of the paintings are just not as esthetically pleasing as the works by the greats such as Michelangelo, or Donatello. The museum itself opened in January of 2002, and is located on the Tarpon Springs Campus of St. Petersburg College. It houses a 6,000-piece collection of works by Abraham Rattner, Allen Leepa, and Esther Gentle (Rattner's second wife). Some of the work was well done, such as the sketches, and one particular portrait that Rattner did of his wife. Most of the paintings seemed to be inspired by Picasso, and if you have seen any work done by this artist you certainly have to be a fan to appreciate it. By taking these art classes I have at least learned a little about this artist and what motivated and inspired him to create the pieces that he has.

The Leepa-Rattner Museum is laid out well and is very pleasing to meander through. It has a nice area for young students as well as work displayed by digital artists (my favorite section). The museum also offers mini workshops for adults, and story hour for children. What a great way to gain some knowledge about art right here in our community. Even if you are not a fan of modern art the Leepa-Rattner Museum is a great place to learn about the artists, the collections, and fine art. If you would like to visit the Leepa-Rattner Museum you can check out their website for information on hours and fees.

Love, Laughs, and Photographs,
Wendy

All images captured with the Olympus E500 on Lexar digital media with the permission of The Leepa-Rattner Museum.

Where's Wendy? On the Roof Top!

© Spellbound Images by Wendy - All Rights Reserved

A former client came to me last week and asked if I would do a shot of downtown Clearwater for him to use on his upcoming website. A skyline type of shot with streets and buildings that depicted the lifestyle of downtown. So... we headed for Clearwater, and hit every major street corner, and some not so major, to see what the best angle would be to get a good shot. Well, needless to say there wasn't one... with the array of buildings in Clearwater, some short, some tall, some VERY tall, it just wasn't happening. As we looked around and tried some different angles, I decided the best way to do this shot was to get up high. I could have shot from the top of the causeway bridge going over to the beach, but I've done that shot before and although it captures some of the city... I didn't think it would give me enough content for my client.

I decided to try a shot from the corner of Cleveland and Ft. Harrison... I pulled out the tripod, set the camera and waited for passerby's so I could try to capture the image without too much obstruction that I might have to remove later in post editing. As soon as I was set, and ready to grab a shot, I noticed a friend of mine coming down Cleveland Street to my left. We said our “Hi's” and she proceed to pitch me on an Art's Festival that was happening the first weekend in February, that she would like me to participate in. After all was said about that subject and I agreed it was a good idea, I told her about the shot I was trying to get at the moment. Sylvia is the local painter in town and the owner of Dewall's Painting Company, so she knows a lot of people with VERY tall buildings! She mentioned the building she was working on and said she could probably get me up to the roof! Perfect! She made a few phone calls and viola! A few days later and I'm walking around on a roof top 11 stories off the ground!

Now... anyone who knows me well, also knows how afraid of heights I am... so for me to get up there was a bit freaky, but very exciting at the same time! Not only was I going to get the shot I was looking for, but I was going to get some other cool images as well! I spent about 30 "light-headed" minutes on the roof, and captured every angle I could of downtown Clearwater. When we got back to the parking lot we were saying our good byes to Sylvia (she and her crew were working on the back side of the building), I mentioned how cool it would be to come back sometime and get some night shots. She got on her phone and hooked me up right then and there! A few hours later I was back on the roof in the pitch dark (with only city lights illuminating the scene), it was perfect! Again.... I shot all angles of downtown, and came up with some pretty nice stuff!

So, in closing I would like to remind you... sometimes it's not only what you know... it's who you know!


Love, Laughs, and Photographs,
Wendy



All images captured with the Olympus E500 on Lexar digital media.