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Art/Photography is a language of the soul, that expresses meaning and ineffable joy.
Joyous Nature Photo Walk
Joy Krauthammer, guide
&
Ahavat Torah
Japanese Garden
Van Nuys, CA
Van Nuys, CA
Sunday, May 1, 2016
10 am-12 noon
'May Day'
'May Day'
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Japanese Garden, SuihoEn (Garden of Water and Fragrance)
Enjoy the 6.5 acre oasis: lake, streams, herons, egrets, ducks, coots, flowers, blossoming trees, bridges, waterfalls, stone lanterns, pathways, and symbolic tea room.
Cherry, plum, magnolia, willow and bamboo trees, and flowers: azaleas, camellias, wisteria, Indian hawthorn, clivia, iris, lotus, etc.
No tripods. No food. Yes– water, sunhat & sunscreen.
Garden Admission $5. Senior $3. Free Parking.
Early time 10am because Garden guests are limited.
Early time 10am because Garden guests are limited.
6100 Woodley Ave. (E side), between Burbank and Victory, Van Nuys, 91406
West off freeways 405 and north of 101 in the SF Valley.
Optional 'no host' lunch follows nearby at Lake House on golf course.
"Garden is authentic in every detail [and filled with symbolism]. The basic style of the garden is known as Chisen-Kaiyushiki, or “wet garden with promenade”, and is fashioned after those strolling gardens which were built during the 18th and 19th centuries for Japanese feudal lords on their vast estates.” -The Garden
"Ahavat Torah led by our friend, artist, spiritualist, musician Joy Krauthammer
on a guided Joyous Nature Photo Walk, in the magnificent Japanese Garden." - Shoshi, W. co-President
"These Photo Walks that Joy does are fun! - Judy K. co-President
"Toda raba to our friend, poet, musician and artist Joy Krauthammer for a beautiful, friendly, tranquil, and "Joy"ous Nature Photo Walk in the Japanese Garden in Van Nuys. Afterwards we had a delicious and satisfying lunch at the nearby Lake House restaurant." - Shoshi Wilshfort and Judy Kollack.
on a guided Joyous Nature Photo Walk, in the magnificent Japanese Garden." - Shoshi, W. co-President
"These Photo Walks that Joy does are fun! - Judy K. co-President
"Toda raba to our friend, poet, musician and artist Joy Krauthammer for a beautiful, friendly, tranquil, and "Joy"ous Nature Photo Walk in the Japanese Garden in Van Nuys. Afterwards we had a delicious and satisfying lunch at the nearby Lake House restaurant." - Shoshi Wilshfort and Judy Kollack.
Omer Count Day 8, May 1, 2016 ~ Chesed Sh b’Gevurah
How does your Chesed flow? Like water? With what boundaries?
~
Snow Viewing Lantern, gift from Nagoya, LA's Japanese sister city.
Enjoy photos:
http://joys-travels.blogspot.com/2016/02/japanese-garden.html
~ ~ ~
Art/Photography is a language of the soul, that expresses meaning and ineffable joy.
TIPS
JOYous Nature Photo Walk
JOYous Nature Photo Walk
See, Shoot and Share
with Joy Krauthammer
Guidance, Meditation, and Prayer
Connect with the Source of All BlesSings
Dance with your camera.
Dance with your camera.
Be a Tree, roots connected to G*d. Shehecheyanu prayer
To see each flower as coming, emanating from the Holy One, The Source of All BlesSings,
I try to manifest, reveal the expression of G*d’s beauty here on earth.
With well-being, awareness and perception, eye and vision, mind and heart:
Early in the day, and outside-- to the flower, with gratitude I say, “Good morning".
The flower hears me. G*d hears me.
Have conversation, shmooze, look into the Face of G*d. Into others’ eyes.
Separate from crowd, linger and/or go beyond path. Discover what is beyond. (Don’t stay stuck at entrance.)
Be present, conscious, observe, slow down, look, view from different angles, be alert, be silent. Breathe, hold breath. Breathe.
Awareness for obstacles: poison ivy, loose stones, puddles, holes, and snakes.
Be adventuresome, don't be lazy, and don’t be late*. Catch the guide and tour bus. Charge batteries.
Leave nature in good condition, no foot prints.
Leave nature in good condition, no foot prints.
Self Consciousness: *Missed bus in Russia, late in Bali, Tibet.
Hiding & shooting, I’ve been caught and removed by guards, gendarmes and gardeners in: Huntington Library’s Rose Garden, CA, and shooting Generalissimo Francisco Franco, Spain, and vaulting over** a Botanical Garden locked high gate in Texas after closing hours, and then personally escorted out.
**(Studying in Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem in "Art & Architecture of Synagogues" summer course, I learned to vault over fence.)
Themes: Trees, leaves, flowers, bark, insects, animals, humans, rocks, water, paths, gates, fences, mountains, clouds, moon, sunrise, sunset, color.
COMPOSITION. Framing. 4 finger frame. Shoot Vertical Portrait and Horizontal Landscape. Brace camera.
Horizon. Keep level, unless you want horizon skewed. Lower or raise. Use unusual perspective.
Frame. Shoot through overhanging branches, through windows. Use tunnels, arches or doorways.
Placement of main subject. Fill frame with subject. Include? Exclude?
Macro. Move into subject. Zoom. Don’t rely on Zoom.
Get close to be near to what is fascinating and inviting.
See subject in their relationship to others, and their environment. Various angles. No photo bombing. Energy of day.
For scale, use humans, animals and flowers. (Shoot a lone flower in the field, and feel its importance.)
Balance of relationships, harmonious, peaceful, equal weight. Center symmetry.
Rule of Thirds. Subject. Use, and position of 3x3 grid of horizontal and vertical lines.
Rule of Odds. Odd numbered composition subjects are more appealing to the eye than even.
Leading lines. To connect elements to each other, to journey visually, lead viewer's eye.
Sense of depth - diagonal vs straight vs. horizontal lines vs. converging. Use river and path lines in nature.
Pattern repetition, emphasize, break pattern with contrast. Create dynamic tension.
Negative Space. In image, discover shape outside subject form, the area between and around objects.
Simplify or exaggerate. Shutter speed, aperature, exposure, scale, forced perspective.
Sense of depth - diagonal vs straight vs. horizontal lines vs. converging. Use river and path lines in nature.
Pattern repetition, emphasize, break pattern with contrast. Create dynamic tension.
Negative Space. In image, discover shape outside subject form, the area between and around objects.
Simplify or exaggerate. Shutter speed, aperature, exposure, scale, forced perspective.
Perspective. Move camera and/or body. Move camera to change height: Standing at eye, and other levels.
Body positions. Change to not only look down on the subject/flower, but to look into it, up to it.
Shoot object from behind, under and sideways, and even only partially to capture the essence.
Bend down, kneel, crouch low, lie down, look up and closely into that flower or into sky to shoot.
Have camera so low or so high to gain height, you can’t even see into the viewer.
Vision. Turn self around to see the other direction, and what’s behind you.
What’s in back of subject/object?
Depth of field (DOF) for background, foreground, sense of perspective.
Focus. Blur the background or foreground, so center of interest is what you focus on. Set mood.
SUBJECT ELEMENTS. What characteristics appeal to you?
FOCUS on details: What is the shape, form, color (b/w) contrasts, texture, size, texture, smell, uniqueness?
Animals. Capture. Focus on eyes and head turned in your direction.
Find good specimen with what you desire, i.e. color, etc.
Limit, minimal may be best.
What new buds are opening, full, or dying?
Adjacent subjects (animals, buds and leaves) add interest.
See little bugs, and macro capture them too.
Touch and feel carefully and gently the subject--leaves, stem, moss, petals, bark, stone.
The flower, grass can touch you too. What is tree saying?
Attributes, soul. What is: quiet, funny, loving, colorful, meaningful, tiny, big, interacting, expressive?
Is there: beauty, joy, surprise, scary, loving, sound, silence, movement?
Backgrounds/foregrounds. Avoid distractions. Distant backgrounds are good.
Check backgrounds. No trees and poles growing out of people’s heads.
Wait for non subjects to pass. Avoid moving objects unless you want movement.
Rearrange space with freedom to change.
Rearrange space with freedom to change.
Delete. In shot or post processing. Remove what you don’t want in picture. Eliminate distractions.
Pick out, weed out dead flora, trash, feet, heads, and other unwanted debris.
Ask, 'Will this add to or take away from the image?’
Ask, 'Will this add to or take away from the image?’
LIGHT. Natural. Where is light coming from? Difference in time of day.
Good before sunrise for color, before sunset with softer Golden Hour, and virbrant after sunset.
Overcast and cloudy are good to diffuse light. Mist for mystery.
Overcast and cloudy are good to diffuse light. Mist for mystery.
Use directional lighting. Move so that sun is at an angle to you, not only behind you.
How is light interacting with subject and scene? See Silhouettes against the light.
Flash to fill in shadows. Shade has even exposure.
Shadows. Visible showing what? Create shadows purposefully.
May be positive and enhance, or may detract.
Reflections. Seen in water, puddles, pool, raindrops, mirrors, windows, or objects.
Weather. Shoot in the sun, in the rain. Protect camera.
See in the raindrop or dew, colors reflecting the plant and surroundings.
Rules. Break them. Be patient. Meditate. Have Gratitude.
Express your passion, creativity and joy.
Wabi Sabi. Find beauty in imperfections.
Wabi Sabi. Find beauty in imperfections.
YOUR ARTISTIC VISION
What inspires you? What is your vision? Your passion? Your meaning? What is your message?
What is the intention of shooting the subject (flower, animal, tree, rock)?
Why are you taking this picture? What do you notice that you want others to see?
Pretty, evocative, moments, a story, instructional. Conveys drama, mystery, emotion and mood.
Elements. What attracts you? Identify those elements, their characteristics, and why you like them.
How do you perceive? How can you be more observant?
How do you feel seeing and shooting? Create an image of that feeling. Share feeling image.
Identify Audience. Self, family, friends, organizations, photo groups, blogs, FB, press, gallery?
Feel challenged. Create Art.
Have fun and joy in how you see and feel, and record the world in photographs.
Take time to do what makes your soul happy.
The photographer artist reveals their self in the photo.
Art/Photography is a language of the soul– that expresses meaning and ineffable joy.
The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.
"I walk. I look. I see. I stop. I photograph." - Leon Levinstein
"It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” - Henry David Thoreau (1851)
“The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.” - Marcel Proust
"I see Your Face in All Nature that I photograph." - Joy Krauthammer, MBA, Artist of Light (2012)
“Blessed are those who are in awe and walk in the ways of wonder." - Psalm 128:1 Shir ha Ma’alot” - A song of ascents
BlesSings to see, shoot, and share,
Joy Krauthammer
Excerpt from Creative Soul Featured Interview by Joy Krauthammer:
"In photography, I'm concerned about communicating visually, and gratitude, and safety, risks, legality, morality, courage, comfort zones, caring, consciousness, honoring, respect, staying away from stress-filled scenes, spontaneity, capturing an image, memories, recording moments, telling a story, conveying a mood, new ideas, themes, subject, characteristics, composition, negative space, perspetive, height, width, distance, depth, light, flares, reflection, shadows, clarity, color, texture, shapes, curves, lines, symmetry, patterns, movement, humor, and emotions.
"For photo post-processing, my 'creative process' mostly in isolation, includes much, and with joy of challenge, success and fun: In PhotoShop I use 'tools'. With brushes, I may paint over my photos. I use rotations, straightening, curving, subtleties, relationships, size, angle, perspectives, and with layers, masks, alpha, filters, fonts, text, gradients, adjustments, effects, softening, defining, exposure, contrast, colors, saturations, highlights, shadows, opacity, vignettes, borders, retouching, dodging, burning, transforming to the fraction of an inch with cropping, and then choose resolution. Finally for the specific audience, I add watermark, captions, Torah quotes, explanations, and I size to share for web or print."
JOYous Nature Photo Walk ~ See, Shoot, and Share joy.52F@gmail.com
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''I will awake the dawn...’' - King David (Shulchan Aruch)
“Sheyeha Hu Meorer HaShachar.”
~
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Photographing ~ My Devotion
Early each morning before dawn, joyouslyI again begin my day in wonder, like a child,
at the edge of the cliff, closest to the horizon and the rising sun.
For an hour today, from 5:30am,
with camera in my hands, I am blown over again and again
by the powerful gusts of wind cleaning the sky
and distant mountains,
and I smile
in the radiance of G*d’s colorful surprises.
May your day be bright.
Love and blesSings,
Joy Krauthammer ©
~
As I wait quietly for SUNRISE, and with Ineffable Natural Beauty, and G*d, The Source of All BlesSings
I HAVE
Faith, Anticipation, Patience, Meditation, Gratitude, Reverence, Surprise, Awe, Amazement, Excitement, Newness, Glory, Exhilaration, Glee, Joy, Delight, AbunDance, Fulfillment, Wonderment, At OneMent, Peace, Stillness, Silence, Connection, Prayer, BlesSings,
And, I try to capture Dawn.
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I was so enthralled with morning while waiting for the sun to rise that I thought I would break out of my skin. Truly. My body couldn’t contain my pure joy, delight in the Beloved’s painting of the sky; It was beyond the beyond. The Mystery, and my astonishment, glee and wonder. Even twilight's blue was insane in its hue.
I was so enthralled with morning while waiting for the sun to rise that I thought I would break out of my skin. Truly. My body couldn’t contain my pure joy, delight in the Beloved’s painting of the sky; It was beyond the beyond. The Mystery, and my astonishment, glee and wonder. Even twilight's blue was insane in its hue.
Jan. 17, 2016
OMG, You are so awesome. Enraptured, my smile is stretched across my face.
Jan. 19, 2016
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“The primary talent of an artist is his ability to step
away from the externalities of the thing and, disregarding its outer form,
gaze into its innerness and perceive its essence, and to be able to convey this in his painting
(photography). This is how an artist can serve his Creator.” -
The Rebbe
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BlesSings, JOY