The Call: Backyard Battles — Cheryl This is Jack and his friend Ryan. They are usually on opposing sides, but once in awhile they put on a unified front.

The Response: Blue with Cold — Cheryl This was a tough image to finalize. I played with temperature, clarity, tint, saturation. The multiple exposure sometimes throws me for a loop. I look at my images and like what I see, but start to doubt. “Nobody else will get it,” I think. “This is not what […]

The Response: Lensbaby Leaves — Cheryl Today, I decided I would say, “yes” to my Lensbaby (which, of course, implies that I stopped saying “no”). The winter landscape can be rather monotonous, and attaching the Composer Pro with Sweet 35 optic seemed like a good way to shake things up a bit.

The Response: Close Enough to Touch — Cheryl A month or two ago, I bought an extension tube for my camera. The reviewers on Amazon recommended a protective filter to go along with the tube, since it lets you get so near your subject, your lens might end up with a scratch or two. I […]

The Call: Mid-day Dinosaur — Cheryl Nearly every photographic discussion on light that I’ve been privy to has included an admonishment about shooting in harsh mid-day sunlight. I understand the reasoning behind this, but the artist needs to listen to the rules that apply to a specific work, not generalizations about good and bad art. […]

Second Call: October Leaves — Cheryl Autumn Attire It’s October: Keep your ghouls, ghosts and goblins; They don’t frighten me. Save your black, And just let me be. It’s October: That Halloween foolishness Is a distraction. Can’t you see The real attraction? It’s October: The best costumes are not seen Outside your front door. Just […]

First Call: Autumn Leaves — Cheryl I chose Depth as this week’s Call, because I’m desperately trying to find some in my work. When you know you can spend a mere five minutes underwater, though, you don’t put on the diving suit, strap on the air tank and head down 30 meters. I know it’s […]

The Call: Fortune Cookie Truism — Jessica Beauty is the gift of God. — Aristotle Wrapped in Ice — Cheryl If you have to drive anywhere in freezing rain, it’s difficult to find much about it that’s positive. Seen through the lens of a camera, though, frozen rain becomes beautiful, shiny gift wrap.

The Call: Sunshine in Autumn — Cheryl November Night by Adelaide Crapsey Listen … With faint dry sound, Likes steps of passing ghosts, The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees And fall. The Response: Thin Edge — Jessica l(a le af fa ll s) one l iness — e.e. cummings

The Call: On the Run — Cheryl Very often photographers strive for perfect stillness in a shot. Sometimes, though, movement makes it better. The Response: Raking & Bagging — Jessica The movement of the seasons happens without any help from us. If my kids had their way, though, there would be no Fall. Raking and […]

The Call: Book Learning — Jessica It is one of the paradoxes of life that the more you read and learn the more you realize how little you know. Which, in my case, prompts me to order more books from Amazon. Response: Beauty in Death — Cheryl Equating death with beauty seems paradoxical, but in […]

The Call: Pear with Flower — Jessica It was my intention to photograph this pear. And the two others I bought on Monday at the grocery store. I spent more minutes than normal picking through the selection trying to find a few that were as blemish free as possible. You know, photo ready and all. […]