Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog space!  

It's been in the works for awhile, so, I am so happy to be able to say, "welcome!"

  You'll notice a few new things here.  There's a new "About" page which is more reflective of my photography journey, where I'm headed with it and what life is like these days.

There are also some page links at the top that are "coming soon" that I'm excited to share with you as well.  They are still in the works, but if you read through those I'm guessing you'll be able to figure out my new photography adventure. :)

All the content from the old blog is here, it's just a new blog address, a new look, and a new season!  You can follow me in a variety of ways (links on the right sidebar).  Also,  KWPix.com and KristinaWoodPhotography.com both take you right here to this blog.

Whew!  That's a lot of business.

 Since I'm welcoming you here to my new blog space, I thought I'd share a little project I made to welcome guests to my home.  My front porch is completely shaded and surrounded by large bushes (which eventually need to go!), but for now, I just wanted a little something to make the space a bit friendlier.   

I gathered some plants that do well in shaded conditions, a wooded circle and long stick from bushes I had trimmed in the backyard.

 I potted the plants in a large pot.

Then, I spray painted the wooden sign white, wrote "welcome" and doodled on it with a black sharpie.

I stuck the sign to the stick with some masking tape.  I really should have used gorilla glue, but I didn't have any on hand, and I was in a hurry.

It still looks a little plain to me, but I was in the mood to get it done rather than make it amazing.

There it is, a simple "Welcome" pot for my bushy front door.

As always, I welcome your comments. It's nice to know you stopped by and makes the blog feel more like a conversation :)  My hope is to publish new posts a few times a week.  See you soon!

on living creatively

"Artists who seek perfection in everything are those who cannot attain it in anything."

-Eugene Delacroix

I love the essence of that quote.  I think he is calling us to be free.  Freedom from guilt of using our gifts, freedom to try and fail, freedom to entertain new ideas we feel are too silly or lavish, freedom to take time for ourselves, freedom to splurge a little.

I have been reading a great creative-recovery classic by Julia Cameron called, "The Artist's Way: a Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity." It has been expanding my mind as a creative being and clearing the way to become more playful and authentic in my creative pursuits.  Creativity leads to spirituality.  And, spirituality leads to creativity.  I love this quote from the book, "Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source.  As we move toward our dreams, we move toward our divinity."

I never feel more alive than when I am letting creativity flow through me.  Maybe it is taking a pencil to my sketchbook, a watercolor brush to the page.  Chopping an array of colorful vegetables for a salad, planting seeds in the garden.  Searching for a piece of music and creating some fun choreography.  Noticing something I haven't seen before like water drops in my herbs or details in a flower bud.  There is something about just noticing the world around me that allows me to connect to the creative part of my soul.

I am learning to listen and be in touch with my creative side, the playful side that longs for beauty and meaning and life.  

It's a new journey, full of unknowns, but I like the journey I'm on.

sparklers: painting with light {photo tips}

Happy Independence Day!

Hooray for the 4th of July!

Watermelon, parades and sparklers.

These are the things I love about this day.

And, of course, capturing fireworks.

Here are some favorite photos from our last 4th of July in Orlando.

It's hard to believe we've been in Colorado for nearly a year!

There are many ways and settings to capture fireworks.

I like to start with an ISO of 200, and play with my settings based on available light.

For these shots, my goal was to capture the light painted by sparklers.

I mounted my camera on a tripod, and since it was pitch black, I left the shutter open for 2sec. 

I asked my kids to make various shapes in the air with their sparklers, tracing them over and over again, as if they were painting with light in mid-air.

Voila!

Shapes of light!

f/5, 2s, ISO 200 

f/8, 2s, ISO 200

In the shot above, I'm focusing on Mr. Z who is standing still making circles with his sparkler, while one of my girls ran through the shot, creating a stream of slightly unfocused light.

f/5, 2s, ISO 200

This took several takes to get the spacing just right.  Plus, we had quite a few backwards "S's" until we figured out how to do mirror image letters :)

f/5, 2s, ISO 200

Tips:

mount camera on tripod

shoot in manual mode and focus on the light

experiment with moving into and out of the frame

play with speed of movement (slow movements result in brighter lines)

HappyPainting!