Tag Archives: Susan McAnany

Hermine Inspired Abstract Images

The past few days hurricane Hermine inspired me to experiment with some abstract techniques in the studio. Hurricane Hermine was a huge rain event where I live and capturing a few droplets seemed the perfect way to illustrate some of its effects.

This is a shoot I researched to help get out of the box with my thinking and boost creativity. I was working in studio and here is the general set up. The image consists of a mixture of water and oil in a glass container. This container is situated on plexiglass, elevated around 12 inches with a multi- colored cloth beneath. There are plenty of video tutorials on line demonstrating this technique. Although the technique did have its challenges, some of the results I found to be very inspiring thus the name of this post Hermine inspired.

The biggest challenge was finding a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the moving water. To create the bubbles, the mixture had to agitated by either gentle moving the container or stirring the mixture of water and oil. However, the agitation created movement of the water and oil causing images to be blurred at lower shutter speeds. On the plus side, it forced me to really work with the Shutter/Aperature/ISO matrix to get some good shots. As with many shoots the more images you take the greater the probability of succeeding.

Thanks for reading and I hope the next time you have some crazy weather in your area, you let your creative juices flow and make some art!

Hermine Inspired Images

“Bubbled Over”

hermine inspired abstract art photograph

“Cellular Activity”

Hermine inspired blue abstract art photograph

Check out more of my work at susanmcanany.com.

Red Tomato – Recent Macro Studio Work

Red Tomato is another image from my “On Black” series, which comprises of macro work done in my studio. This image was photographed in my studio using a macro lens, a variety of lights and modifiers and using a photographic technique called image stacking to create the final image. The final image consists of numerous images which were stacked and blended to achieve greater in-focus depth of field. A texture was added to the background. The image will be professionally printed using the giclée method and will last for decades under proper lighting conditions. The print would be a prefect addition to any home or workplace environment. More of my work can be viewed at susanmcanany.com or at my Etsy Store. Thanks for taking a look.

Welcome July

July is the month of much celebration during the summer. The obvious holiday of July 4th and also my birthday occurs during the month of July. I will be away for the first half of the month and plan on bringing back images to share with you. Although I shot this image a few years back, it is one of my favorite flag images. I have a great giclée print available if anyone is interested. You can contact me through my website susanmcanany.com. It is for sale online at my Etsy Store. Thanks for visiting.

More Creative Experiments

Creative experiments are a great way to jump start your ideas and give you a break from routine creative work patterns and flow.

“Leone On Shore”

: Low tide in Madagascar

The last couple of weeks I have had a very out-of-box experience. I had been a little fatigue from working digitally and thought I would stretch myself and try a little analog work, so I enrolled in week and a half art class at the local college of art and design. It was a Mixed Media class taught by Brian Haverlock, who is an outstanding artist and teacher. I took the class with an open mind, hoping I may find new ways to take my work to a different level. Needless to say it was harder than I anticipated, especially since I found my actual painting and crayon skills were at perhaps a kindergarten level and advanced maybe to 3rd grade during the class. However despite my inadequacies in some areas, I did gain valuable lesson in other areas. Here are some of my insights:

Exposure to the work of accomplished artists outside of photograph, such as Max Ernst, Scott Eagle, Joseph Cornell or Brain Haverlock will stimulate ideas and inspiration.

I look at my own art different and for more ways to take even a simplistic image a step further, whether that be with lighting, color, texture and or combining multiple images.

A lot of photography is based in facts and computations so take time to let loose and experiment. I plan to continue trying several methods that were taught to stimulate creativity, like Decalcomania or drawing and cutting with my non dominate hand. Never know what might emerge.

Each exposure to something new helps me craft my vision for my own body of work.

Lastly, a deep appreciation for the undo button.

More of my work can be viewed at www.susanmcanany.com.

Andy Warhol and More

An Andy Warhol exhibit was part of a recent exciting and exhausting trip to St. Louis, Mo, my hometown. There is something about returning to my place of birth and growth as a youngster that tends to ground me and bring me back to how I came to be who I am. This trip I brought my one and only main squeeze with me. We are thinking about relo-ing there, at least on a part time basis, and I wanted him to get a better feel for the city and the surrounding areas. Also, we are beginning a big birthday celebration and wanted to take in a Cubs-Cardinals baseball game. (Cubs won so he was happy.) And then of course we spent considerable time with family, which is a part of the grounding process. I am fortunate I come from a big family and we all get along, despite our differences.

Although I didn’t take any photos while I was there, we did manage to squeeze in a trip to an art museum associated with St. Louis University for a little inspiration. An exhibit of Andy Warhol’s Polaroids were the initially attraction, but in reality the other exhibits were somewhat more impressive. One artist that struck me was, Brother Mel Meyer, a Marianist monk. Now Brother Mel apparently is quite known in St Louis. For 60 years he has been studying and making art in a variety of mediums along with period of teaching in his earlier years. He is known for his watercolors, acrylics and stain glass to name a few mediums, but what really excited me was Brother Mel’s metal sculptures. He incorporates many unique components, shapes and shades of color to create captivating and intriguing works of art. I will have to visit his studio next time in St. Louis. Here is a link to his website.

Visit my website Susan McAnany Photography to view my work.