Perfectly imperfect

In my studio, besides my Nikon D750 and a collection of perfectly marvelous lenses, you can find now 2 (!!) plastic Holgas. What makes them stand out, is not their smaller size but the aqua color tape that goes around them, making sure the back cover will not fall off accidentally..... WHY?? (asks my husband who gave up understanding why his crazy wife will touch these "things").

Why indeed? Because with all the convenience of digital, I want to experience shooting with film, being careful about each frame, as each frame has a cost. Because I want to see how an image captured on film looks like, without the "wisdom" of the modern sensors. But the real reason is, I court the imperfect and the unexpected. Light leaks, blurs, fingerprints of the moment and the process. This is why, with very uncertain hands, I loaded my first roll of film into a funny plastic camera and went out to explore. First images.  

At Barnes & Nobles

Salt, pepper and sun by Amy Kanka Valadarsky

Mirror, mirror on the wall .....

The kiss - A passion fruit flower reflected 

There are times when different things just come together. Yesterday was one of these times.

Recently I started to understand I am drawn to reflections. It's the perfect meeting point between reality and imagination. 

A few weeks ago, I decided to give an online fine photography class a try. In one of the lessons the teacher introduced the Photoshop mirroring effect and we were supposed to experiment with it. For some reason, I did not find this effect very appealing, in most cases it created a trivial and unnatural look which I don't really like. But I still had an assignment to do ....

After being stuck for a few days on looking for right subjects for a mirroring image, yesterday, when coming home from my morning walk with the dog I noticed a passion fruit flower on the fence. To photograph it partly and then see what I can do with mirroring? Actually, why not to try shooting it with an actual mirror? This is after all a passion fruit, and passion does call for 2, right?

Before even taking a shower, I grabbed a mirror and the camera and for 2 hours had fun shooting the flower on a mirror in different ways. But the real fun began when I started processing the images. Trying to convey the different aspects of passion through the images. Creating romanticized versions - almost like a kiss, where the real flower maintains a wisp of color just enough to convey it is the leading partner.

Creating pure sensual feels in black and white images, with subtle different processing for the flower and its reflection.

And finally, letting the reflection take over and getting a life of itself courtesy of Photoshop liquify tool.  

A passion story in 3 pictures: the kiss (above), sensuality and play below.

Sensuality - touching, reaching for one another.

Now we are having fun - the reflection gets a life of its own