Photography is Art

Just today at lunch I was talking to my son if I went pro as a photographer, what should I call my business. We continued this conversation at home and I got on the computer to check the status of some of them. The good ones were taken. I am still at Lili’s View. I can’t figure out how to get a logo into that. I will prevail. Another part of the creative process.

For me Art is the act of creating something. Using creativity. No matter the media or surface. Having something to show or share for your efforts if you so choose. Anybody and anyone can be an artist. Crafters, knitters, quilters, painters, writers, bloggers, photographers, sculptors. Just to name a few. Any and all. As long as something is being created. Building a motorcycle can be an art form.

My grandmother loved beautiful things. Not necessarily expensive, but nice to look at. Statues, dishes, art, scarves, jewelry. She had been to Japan after the war as part of the clean-up and she brought home some very nice things. I was exposed to this early on. I was also always into coloring. Even at a young age this was important to me, and staying inside the lines was a big deal (maybe a little OCD about it). In second grade my mom was told I couldn’t get the coloring part of my school work until after I finished the other part of the work because I would take so long on making my coloring so good and perfect. My mom always used to sew, not a lot of my clothes, but things like my costumes. I always remember her making some type of ornaments at Christmas. She also exposed me to needlepoint when that was big. Ever since then I have been a crafter. Usually as a stress releaser. I played the violin for 7 years during school. I was always the more artsy one but no one really fostered it, more like put up with it hoping I would grow out of it (more a sporty family I come from). I couldn’t tell you who any artist’ work is either by looking at their work, except for maybe Monet.

Creating makes me happy. I wish I hadn’t made enough work to enter a craft fair because now I still have almost all of it, due to hardly any selling, and I got bored with that side of creating. I am sure I will get it back some day. And I need to get the rest of the items sold or something to unburden myself of that disaster. I love going to craft fairs and seeing others’ work on their crafty blogs.

Yes, photography is art. Capturing beauty. Capturing moments. Having those memories to share. Print and hang to always see. Photoshop is a whole other avenue of the creating process from taking the picture. Yes, I am an artist.

I mentioned some posts ago about a comment I received that reminded me it is all part of the creating process. Nature, or man, may have created what we want to photograph, but we are the ones taking the camera into it. Just like taking paint to canvas. Then when we get it on the computer and either leave it as is or transform it into something new. I love the things I am learning on Photoshop.

   Thanks to Michelle from Snapshots from Michelle for sharing how to do this through Ashley Sisk, I practiced and practiced and now have another way to create art on Photoshop with a photograph. Something different and not for everyone, but something different.

I have learned how to use textures in Photoshop because someone out there was nice enough to share a step by step video. Here I used Kim Klassen’s Fall In texture (another form of creation) in the background and Gorgeous Tones 3 as an overlay at 65% opacity.

More than anything, I am glad people created actions for Photoshop and that The Coffeeshop Blog taught us how to install them. Here I used Pioneer Woman’s Define and Sharp action and it made the bricks really pop so that you could tell it is from the street (a look both ways sign).

But sometimes just keep the picture as is, maybe a little cropping. And go back to take the same object a second time but with a bigger lens and waiting for the leaves to have changed. (I think I need to go back in a few weeks and see if they are more red.)

I hope that we all learn to find our eye on this journey and that we all see ourselves as artists, at least with a little help from Kat if need be.