A Non-Cover Post

by | May 5, 2012 | ,

Look! I’m posting about something that isn’t book cover related! I’m taking a break from covers, well for the weekend 😛 I was really bored today, refused to ‘work’, it was raining outside, and I didn’t want to clean.  So I got my camera out, ran outside through the rain to pick a few flowers that are in bloom (left the camera in the house), and thought I’d play with my macro lens.

My husband bought me a macro lens flash for Christmas the year before last. It takes AAA, and EVERY time I go to try it, I didn’t have any batteries! So it’s been sitting in my camera bag for what? A year and a half now? Well today I had batteries!

I set up a small backdrop, dug out the tripod, swapped to the macro lens,  hooked up the never used flash and started shooting. This flash thing is pretty cool. I was able to play with lighting on a small scale. It’s a lower end flash. Not one that actually attaches to the lens, but instead is on a bendable arm. (Found one on Amazon.) The bendable arm is pretty neat because I can move it around and change the lighting directions, not just center it with the lens.

Everything I shot today, I shot in black and white, was just the mood I was in I guess. I have been looking at a lot of older work from photographers such as Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston, so I suppose you could say that was influencing me a bit.

The shots are all as is….as in NO PHOTOSHOP! Shocking isn’t it??? The only correction between camera and computer was file size, and slapping my name in the corner. I had to force myself not to adjust the contrast, or crop, or tint, or high light, or open the curves, or add layers of texture and dodge and burn, and and…oh sorry..was getting away from myself there a bit.

Anyways…here’s some eye candy for your Saturday evening. Though I imagine most people have better things to do on a Saturday night, unlike me.

Azalea Blossoms

Bleeding Hearts

Peony

Covers: “The Kult” & “Killers” by Shaun Jeffrey

by | Apr 28, 2012 | ,

I was recently contacted by Shaun Jeffrey about remaking his covers for his Prosper Snow Novels. He was looking for something that said “psychological thriller” instead of out right horror or Gothic, but he also wanted it obvious that the two books were part of the same series. After a couple shots at it, and a little bit of tweaking here and there, this is what we came up with:

The Kult Blurb: People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.

Out of misguided loyalty, police officer Prosper Snow is goaded into helping his friends perform a copycat killing, but when the real killer comes after him, it’s not only his life on the line, but his family’s too. Now if he goes to his colleagues for help, he risks being arrested for murder. If he doesn’t, he risks being killed.

Killers Blurb: Murder makes monsters of people. Prosper Snow knows that better than most. Now he’s back on the trail of another serial killer, only this time there’s far more to the case than meets the eye. Thwarted at every turn, Prosper unwittingly uncovers a human experiment more monstrous than anything he could ever imagine. Now the only way to crack the case is to work from the inside and join a shadowy government agency that operates outside the law. Only he might be too late as the experiment has spiralled out of control.

Cover: “Death by Cupcake” by Melanie Ray

by | Apr 19, 2012 | ,

I just finished up the cover for book two in Melanie Ray’s  Lost Secret Series, “Death by Cupcake”  which will be available in a couple months on eBook.

You just got to love images with hippie hero’s and bloody pastries! I can’t wait to work on book three! (Neither can my kids since they get to eat the pastries after the shoot lol)

Facebook Timeline Cover for the series up to date:

Cover: “Coke with a Twist” by A.W. Hartoin

by | Apr 18, 2012 | ,

The latest in cover designs was done for author A.W. Hartoin and her short story, an introduction to her upcoming Mercy Watts series, “Coke with a Twist“

Look for it coming soon to eBook!

BLURB:

“Marilyn Monroe look-a-like, Mercy Watts, has her share of problems, despite her fabulous face.  Her father’s a private investigator and when he ropes her into one of his cases, Mercy can’t contain her curiosity.  Two college students have confessed to the brutal rape of a young woman, but reason they had the opportunity, remains a mystery.  The case will take her from a dive bar to sorority row to the gutter.  But Mercy will solve the case, if she can survive it.”

And of course, the matching Facebook Timeline Cover Image:

Cover: “Following Yonder Star” by Ehud Gershom

by | Apr 10, 2012 | ,

The latest cover was designed for Ehud Gershom’s upcoming novel “Following Yonder Star: The Untold Trials of the Three Kings”. We all know the 3 kings followed the star to Bethlehem when Jesus was born, but we don’t know what may have transpired on their journey. Ehud Gershom’s fictional novel tells their story. How they met, what transpired and what happened to them afterwards.

Ehud sent me his mock-up print cover, and the stock he used, and I got to admit, it was pretty dang good. Made me a bit nervous. But went ahead and chopped up the stock image, laying it out in a manor more suited to the 3 kings, played with the color and textures and this is what we came up with. (He plans on adding the text to the back at a later time)

And of course, with the plan to use facebook as a marketing tool, the timeline cover:

And as soon as the book is out, I will link to it. It will be available for print and eBook!

Gone

by | Apr 3, 2012 | ,

I spent Sunday afternoon driving around, exploring, looking for that perfect picture to capture with my camera.  I haven’t been out since last fall, and I didn’t know where to go. So I just hopped in the car and drove. I wanted to rejuvenate my love for photographing old run down abandoned houses, or that barn up on the hill, so I headed north, out into to a more rural setting.

I drove for hours, only stopping twice to take one or two pictures! What’s wrong with me? I drove by several abandoned houses, falling down buildings, probably hundreds of barns. Have I lost my edge? Is photography not doing it for me anymore? All I could think about was how much gas I was wasting! It’s sad really.

Before I headed out, I was skimming through some of my past images. To me, I feel like I have lost something in the past couple years. Originally I blamed it on the loss of my old tablet PC. I started out with an older Toshiba Satellite Tablet laptop, with which I could just flip the screen over, and use the stylus right on the screen. I LOVED that comp. Not to mention what I saw on the screen was EXACTLY what the print looked like. This new laptop makes everything much lighter, and no matter how much I play with the display settings, it doesn’t help.

When my tablet PC kicked the bucket one last time, I stopped playing with images for quite a while. I stopped taking pictures, I stopped making abstracts, and photomanipulations? No way! But gradually I got used to using the mouse again (lefty using a right handed mouse here!), and gradually I started working my way back into my creative outlet. Looking around my blog now days, you see I’ve been doing mostly photomanipulated book covers, and recently I purchased a Wacom tablet, still trying to grasp what I had with my tablet pc. (Though I tend to go for the mouse more still lol) And with that attempted grasp, I was looking to grab onto my older style in photography/editing.

Which brings me to my original point of this post. Some days you just get sidetracked…..

After driving around for about 4hrs, I stop and get something to eat (driving makes you hungry!), sit down, pull out my map to figure out where I’m going next. Because this aimless driving, wasn’t getting me anywhere. And then I had a thought. Why don’t I go revisit some of the places I photographed before? I mean, 4-5 yrs have passed, they might be even more dilapidated! So I pack up, head an hour west, all excited that I KNOW WHERE TO GO!

To this day, my favorite image in my portfolio is “Abandoned” It just speaks to me on sooo many levels. I weave my way through all these back country roads, spitting up rocks as I fly down the dirt roads, my destination for once completely clear to me. As I start to pass the adjoining apple orchard, I slow, eyes peeled, music blaring on the radio, fingers tapping with the rhythm,  sitting forward in my seat leaning over the steering wheel, so excited. The clearing approaches, I pass by an old trailer, then a massive stack of apple crates, then more orchard. Wait, more orchard? I throw it in reverse. Stop in front of that pile of apple crates. Note the shrubbery surrounding them is familure, then notice the cement foundation they are stack upon. My heart sinks. It’s gone! Gone!

I’m not sure how long I sat there staring at these stacks of apple crates, but it was a while. I reached for the camera at one point, intending to “document” the loss, but couldn’t bring myself to actually take the picture. It seems so silly to be upset about the loss. It was a falling down, abandoned house, no “historical” importance, a safety hazard! But still, I felt the loss so deeply. I can’t explain it.

I suck it up, thankful I found it when I did 4 yrs ago to take that amazing picture, then decided to revisit a few more spots in the area that are prominent in my portfolio.  (There were quite a few in this area) I head down the road to where I took “Quiet Barn”. I slow as I come up to it, very familure with it’s exact location, since when I lived out there I drove by it almost daily.

Nothing! Nothing but and open field! You’d think after the house, I’d somewhat expect it. But this barn was still in use last time I drove by it!

I keep going, now looking for places I photographed, desperately needing to know if they are still there.

GONE.

GONE.

GONE.

GONE.

I stopped looking, and just went home. It just goes to show, you never know how long something will still be there.