Monday, May 14th, 2018
This week’s theme for the Flickr Macro Monday group is “Low Key.” From this week’s instructions (from Janet Towbin):
This week we will tackle a photography style known as “low key” photography. It is a stylistic technique using reduced lighting (usually from a single source) and a darkened (black) background to produce images characterized by striking contrasts, dark tones and shadows. The mood of low key photos is dramatic and moody. Please note: for this week’s theme your background MUST be extremely dark—if not completely BLACK. (See this gallery of low key macros for reference and a little inspiration and note how dark/black the backgrounds are.)
If you are unfamiliar with low key photography, there are some excellent online resources to help you understand this style of photography. The links appear at the bottom of this post. You will need to review some of them to understand the best way to get this effect. It is best to shoot in manual mode (using a small aperture, fast shutter speed, low ISO–and a tripod) but if your camera is a P&S you can still get some amazing shots in a darkened room with a single, directed light source. Tag your photos in the tags area with “Macro Mondays” and this week’s theme “Low Key.”
The Glue That Binds
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. When I was a kid, it was my favorite holiday because it meant that I could spoil my mom. It was always just me and her, and we were always close. Now that I’m approaching 50 and I have a grown daughter and two teenagers, I appreciate my mom even more. She helps me so much with the kids and allows Curtis and I to get away for couple time. The boys were camping for Boy Scouts this weekend, so I woke up and had coffee with my mom while Anna slept in. Around noon, Jenny came down from Hutto just before the boys got home. I made homemade Chef Boyardee pizzas… something from my own mother’s childhood that she passed on to me… and we had ice cream cake while we opened a few gifts. The big gift this year will be a trip to the beach for me, my mom, and Jenny… to happen sometime in mid-June. It will be nice to have grown-up time with my grown-up girls. Jenny always does a lovely job with Mother’s Day, she and I are going to go to Ulta soon to get me some real makeup (Curtis funded, thank you, honey!). Dominic was super busy this year and didn’t do anything special, but that’s okay… he’s 13 and I’m glad he is busy. He shows me every day how much he cares. Because of Anna’s issues, she doesn’t celebrate Mother’s Day the same way I did. Holidays in general are hard for her but she did really well this year. Anna’s teacher Miss Kathy (her second mom) helped Anna make me a homemade little jar in which to place trinkets. I thought this jar would make the perfect subject for the low key macro theme. I love the baubles glued onto the outside the most. Anna knows that I adore bling. The overabundance of glue is my favorite part… it tells me that Kathy really allowed Anna to make this completely independently and it also makes me a little sad because although Anna is 17, she still uses glue like a little girl would. But that’s what makes her special. While I cuddled Anna to sleep last night, I hugged her tight and thanked her for a lovely day. I told her she will always be my little girl and it’s true… she will.
Nikon D750 | 105mm | f/4.5 | 1/160 | ISO 640
Thanks for looking! And Happy Mother’s Day to all of my fellow moms, especially those who have kiddos like mine. You know who you are. <3
