Why I love Chicago

Chicago is my home town and I love every bit of it, although I am currently a suburbanite most of my life and child hood memories are in and of the city.  And living in the suburbs has not stopped me from venturing to the city every chance I can get.  I love Chicago because it is such a wonderful mix of new and old, cuisines, cultures and pure excitement.  With that said it should be easy to understand that when it comes to taking pictures and creating my pieces that architecture is hands down my favorite subject matter.  And Chicago being one of my favorite cities to shoot.  From the straight lines of the skyscrapers, the black spear that was once called the Sears Tower, the warm stone of the Wrigley Building to the curves of "Cloudscape," affectionately called the "Bean" there are many wonders to shoot in this great city.  If you have never been to Chicago, then I strongly suggest that you put it on your list of places to go, trust me you will not be disappointed.  With that said the fine art photo that I just completed is a shot of the Wrigley Building and it is titled "Wrigley in Clouds."  I hope you enjoy it and remember that you can see this along with my other pieces at www.simonehester.com.

Wrigley In Clouds (c) 2010

Hawaii Revisted

I had the wonderful opportunity to vacation in Hawaii in 2007 and will be blessed to go back there next year.  This beautiful vacation spot is a true mecca for photographers and it is where my true desire to take photographs was born, I was smitten and my career began.  I have several photos of Hawaii archived from my visit and I have worked on a couple to create my "creative photographs."  Today I revisited my archive and created another art piece to add to my collection.  I am looking forward to my travels to this majestic island state next year, especially after learning more about my camera and photography in general.  Below is the piece that I completed today which I call "Hawaii Five O."

To view this piece along with my other artwork you can go to the following locations.... www.simonehester.com   www.facebook.com/simonehestercreativephotography or www.flickr.com/photos/shcreativephoto all sites allow you to leave comments and at my personal site I have all of my creative fine art photography available for purchase!

Flower Pickings

I had mentioned in a previous post that I would conquer a series a floral pictures.  I had taken the originals of each of the flowers about two years ago.  I wasn't certain what I would do with the shots and had them in my archives until a creative thread sprouted.  What I decided was to create a series of perfect square creations and then focus on a key part of the flower.  Meaning that a portion of the flower lies outside of the photo.  Flowers are a favorite of mine because I love to garden and here are the final products....

 AQUILLIGIA (c) 2009

 ASIATIC LILY (c) 2009

 CELOSIA (c) 2009

 FOXGLOVE (c) 2009

 GAZANIA (c) 2009

 LANTANA (c) 2009

 ORANGE HIBISCUS (c) 2009

 PEONY (c) 2009

PINK HIBISCUS (c) 2009

Abstract Art

One of the best things about Photoshop is that it allows me to take my photography to new realms of creativity.  As an artist I love to create and love to play with colors.  My favorite thing to shoot by far has to be architecture.  I love the shape of things from old to new, rusty to shiny.  I take lots of pictures and archive them to create new photographs through Photoshop at a later date.  Some ideas come quickly regarding certain photos and some take time.  The following picture is an example of that.  This is a shot that I captured about two and a half years ago downtown Chicago in Millennium Park.

I loved the shot because of how the buildings come through the grid of the outside theater.  The theater itself is a phenomenal piece of architecture and both the buildings and the theater are true examples of new architecture.  So when I played with this photo in Photoshop I wanted to create something modern and more abstract, something that you won't see everyday.  And the new photo follows....

"PUZZLE IN CHICAGO" (c) 2008 (photograph; edited in 2010)

Red Tailed Hawk...

There has been a red-tailed hawk residing in my backyard and lurking about for a while.  He's as elusive of a bird as he is a hunter and I have tried on several occasions to get a good shot of him... well a couple of days ago I was fortunate to finally get my magic shot!

My lovely neighborhood hawk was in the process of chasing down a squirrel (who was desperately trying to avoid him).  He was circling the squirrel down in one of the large trees in my back yard.  I wasn't prepared to see a kill, and thank goodness he didn't catch the squirrel, but thank goodness again I was able to get a shot of him.  My opportunity came when he grew frustrated in his game of cat and mouse and flew down directly at me and landed on this former goal net that lies in the common space around the other town homes that I live amongst. 

Looking forward to meeting him again soon!

Right in the Back Yard...

A true sign that Spring is around the corner, is to take look at the wildlife around you.  I am fortunate to live nearby a forest preserve and I have my fair share of both the furry and feathery creatures that visit my backyard.  Not to mention, my share of insects.  My house is a mecca for wolf spiders. Regarding my insect friends, they rarely are still enough for me to run and get my camera.  Butterflies and bees are the easiest because they are so involved in getting their share of nectar. 

A couple of days ago, I was lucky to get a shot of a woolly bear caterpillar.  This particular species is called the banded woolly bear caterpillar and will eventually turn into a Isabella Tiger Moth (which has a gorgeous yellow-orange wing color).  Here is my raw shot... and I will tweak it just a little for the final product... and will post in one of my upcoming blogs.

See you soon!

Unexpected

Taking pictures of odds and ends are essential in what I do creatively.... I never know when I'll have the opportunity to utilize the photo.  Sometimes, I am commissioned to do graphic work or some other design and then I can dip into my archives and use a picture that I have captured. Or I an idea pops into my head and then I create... create... create!  I run a screensaver on my computers that shows all of my pics that I have taken.  So while I am exercising or cooking, I glance at all my photos that pop up during the screensaver.  It's funny because I get inspired a lot that way. 

To make a long story short.... I took a picture of a doorknob...

 I could use this sometime, because of the age, gold tones, and wear that it had endured.  After seeing it streaming through my screensaver... I created two pictures named after two famous orbs that light our skies by day and night...

First, there's "Solar Flare." To pay homage to the magnificent sun....

This picture will best be detailed on a canvas print to highlight the texture added to the photo.  The second picture is called "Moons Abyss" paying tribute to that beautiful ball that lights our night sky... the moon....

Can you believe it, all from a picture of doorknob.  Check back soon, I am working on a new series of floral prints!