Amy Shumway
My blogs
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Industry | Arts |
| Location | United States |
| Introduction | Thank You for visiting this blog. Website: www.amy-shumway.pixels.com |
| Interests | About my process: my process is simple- I grow most of my subjects/flowers from seed (mostly perennials) and plant them permanently in my ever-growing backyard garden. I make my own fertilizer from worm castings, wood ash ( from our yearly chopping/burning of maple and oak trees in our backyard - we live in the middle of the woods) banana peels, coffee grounds, comfrey leaves and garlic. This mix/nutrients ensures that my models stay in good shape for the camera. My camera is basic - A Canon Powershot SX410 IS - for a reason- it forces me to use the best time of day for the right sunlight/lighting to capture an image instead of artificially creating the right light with technology. It also allows me to get the best angles because it is very small, about 3" x 2" - this enables me to get on the ground, on my back, on my knees, behind plants and under plants, in order to capture the best angles- if I had a larger, more fancy camera I couldn't achieve those unique angles. Occasionally, I will toss the flowers in an arrangement in our backyard in ground pool and start taking photos with the water as the backround. I never use a tripod- I find the image loses it's connection for the viewer. My gift/goal is to be able to share a direct connection to nature- from human to nature- not from a metal tripod to nature - if I can't be still enough from my own self-control (something I learned from riding and training horses) to connect with the plant, then I can't call myself an artist- this is simply my personal philosophy as it relates to my style of artistic expression. I believe the result shows a uniquely genuine connection with nature in this often technology-flooded modern world. Once I capture the composition in the best angle and lighting possible, I then use digital tools to artistically enhance the image. The results vary from a a final image that could be interpreted as realistic, a watercolor or oil painting, and illustration, or abstract, etc. |