Lost in the Valley Photography: Blog

Official Lensbaby Ambassador!

(Lost in the Valley Photography) — Tue, 28 Mar 2023 19:27:57 GMT

Spring Violets

Spring Violets to officially announce my Lensbaby Ambassadorship! Taken with the Sweet 35 optic!

It's official! I am a Lensbaby lens ambassador! This is such a lovely thing! I bought my first Lensbaby back in 2012. It was the Sweet 35 optic with composer pro. It was so delightful to get photographs full of beautiful bokeh! Over the years, I've ended up with a collection of Lensbaby lenses! Each one is unique in its own way! Here's a quick blog post with a little rundown of what each lens can do!

Iris in Spring Rain. Taken with the Sweet 35.

The sweet 35 has a sweet spot of sharp focus surrounded by artful blur. This special lens is fitted to the composer pro II, which allows for you to be able to tilt and move the sweet spot around. This photo of the iris flower was taken with added macro filters, which were screwed onto the front of the lens. I almost always use macro filters with my Sweet 35 & I love them! These macro filters are stackable to get in as close as you'd like!

Gothic Windows. Taken with the Edge 80.

The Edge 80 creates a slice of sharpness that's surrounded by silky blur. This is my favorite Lensbaby for architecture shots! Much like the Sweet 35, this lens optic also sits in the composer pro & can be tilted & moved to change where the slice of focus goes!

Center of Attention. Taken with the Twist 60.

The Twist 60 is one of my garden go to's! It's focus is center weighted & it surrounds your subjects with THE most dreamy swirling bokeh!! Excellent portrait lens as well!!

Dahlias and Antlers. Taken with the Velvet 56.

Now I'm getting to the Velvet series!! There is the Velvet 56 (56mm), Velvet 85 (85mm), & the Velvet 28 (28mm)! I own all three of these awesome lenses & will do another blog post with a comparison of the three once my landscape isn't covered in snow anymore! ;-) In a nutshell, these lovely lenses create an ethereal smooth bokeh that will make your brain tingle!! When stopped down, photos are pretty sharp, but when wide open they create a lovely glowing affect! These lenses remind me most of what the lenses of the turn of the century were like during the pictorialist movement. And as someone who absolutely is smitten with pictorialism, I am in love with these lenses!! Another bonus to these lenses is their macro ability! From landscapes to flowers, the possibilities are endless!

Abandoned Farms: Part 2. Taken with the Velvet 56.

In this shot, I had it set to f/2.8 & you can see how painterly & ethereal of a landscape these lenses can create!!

Dahlia Delight! Taken with the Velvet 56. Look at how close you can get!

Check out all Lensbably has to offer here: Lenses & use code "WChevalier" at checkout to get 10% off of your purchase!! Should you have any questions about Lensbaby, feel free to leave a comment!!

March 2022

(Lost in the Valley Photography) — Thu, 03 Mar 2022 18:50:34 GMT

Spring Fern No.5

Welcome March!! Anyone else excited that spring will officially begin in 17 days? Well, I am ecstatic!! Now, being in the Adirondacks means that I'm not out of the winter woods yet, but we're getting close! I've been jealous of everyone on Insta who is ahead of us! They've been posting beautiful photos of lush green landscapes & colorful spring flowers. All I've got to take pictures of is snow! BUT! I have been digging deep in my archives to find photos of past springs to post. I'll be posting all the eye candy over on my @betweentheblossoms Instagram account! Follow along if you need some color in your life!

Dreamy Blossoms

I've freshened up the website's front page to reflect the changing of the seasons & decked it out with spring inspiration! I can almost feel the warm air and smell the apple blossoms! :-) In news from the farm, seed starting has officially begun! I've worked the past couple of days to get the early stuff started & have enjoyed every minute of being in the greenhouse! This is the beginning of the busy season! Before I know it I'll be transplanting seedlings & preparing the fields for planting!

Waking Up

Spring looks just as good in black & white! For those of you who like things less colorful, follow along on my @lostinthevalleyphoto Insta account! I'll be sticking to the monochromatic color scheme until this year's spring arrives and consumes my soul with fresh color!

Country Orchard No.2

Well, it's back to the greenhouse for me this afternoon. I look forward to "playing" in the dirt! Got any spring projects you're looking forward to? Post them in the comments! Until next time, Cheers!

In the Bleak End of Winter

(Lost in the Valley Photography) — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 21:06:11 GMT

Nest & Keys Still Life 1

Nests & Keys Still Life 1

It's that time of year when I seem to grow weary of the winter. My camera has sat in its drying cabinet for weeks & the landscape is bleak. It's no wonder that I'm lacking inspiration! Here in the Adirondacks, February's weather has been all over the place. It's been in the 50's one day & then back down below 0 the next with many days in the teens in between. This creates ice. Lots and lots of ice! It's very difficult to get out for walks with the dogs, never mind trying to hold the camera without falling! Those precious few warm days that have snuck in have given me the itch to get out and shoot. Soon enough there will be an abundance of green & dreamy spring flowers to photograph. In the meantime, I can still feel the pull of my camera from its dark resting place. So what to do when the landscape is weird & not particularly safe to walk in? Still life!

Nest & Keys Still Life 2 Nests & Keys Still Life 2

In the past, I had always turned to still life during the winter months. This year's long stretches of cold meant that the studio was a little too brisk for me to want to linger. Now with the occasional warm day, I finally feel motivated! I had the idea that I wanted to use nests & keys & I also wanted to do it using three different Lensbaby lenses. Now, I have to admit, these did not come out as I had envisioned them. I look at them as practice for when I can finally get back out there in the wilds. It's amazing to me how a few weeks away from the camera has caused me to feel a bit 'rusty'. It reminded me that it's important to keep at it, even if you're not blown away with what you've created. And that's okay! Who knows what accidental masterpiece you might create while you're practicing! And I do believe that by practicing you can gain inspiration for the future.

Nest & Keys Still Life 3 Nests and Keys Still Life 3

The first photo was taken with the Lensbaby Edge 80 using the pull out macro function that it has. Of the three photos, this one is my favorite. The second photo was taken with the Lensbaby Sweet 35. I added two close up filters ( one x2 and the other x4). Using the close up filters on the sweet 35 for spring flowers and ferns is one of my favorite ways of using this lens & this still life has got me excited for spring to return! The third photo was taken with the Lensababy Twist 60. This lens has that special swirling bokeh that I absolutely adore for portraits and flowers. This little "practice" session with the camera was good for me. And although there is still a few more weeks of winter to go, I am reminded that practice will keep my spirits up & motivate me to plan some shoots for when the weather does finally break. What's keeping your inspiration going in the end of winter blahs? Leave a comment!

Until next time!

Cheers!

February 2022

(Lost in the Valley Photography) — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 19:41:21 GMT

Snowy Roads No.1Landscape photography of the sun streaming through a tree covered landscape on a back New England road after a fresh snow.
Photographs are professionally printed on photo paper with a "Lustre" (semi-gloss) finish. For more information, please see my Shop Policies. Thank you for visiting my store today!

Snowy Roads No.1

It's February!! Woo!! Anyone else as excited as I am? Although we've still got a whole lot of cold ahead of us here in the Adirondacks, we're one month closer to spring! I can't wait to see the bloodroot poking up from the chilly soil- a sure sign that we've turned a corner & that winter is behind us! But enough spring dreaming for now! February will find me continuing to hunker down with the wood stove, planning out this year's garden for the farm, & trying to fine tune the studio to maximize space. The current state of the studio is chaos! I've started to rearrange things & try to decide what I should keep & what I can say goodbye to. It's hard to part with things sometimes, especially if they've been in your life for a long time. It's really quite a daunting task! Soon, I will need to get back to work on sewing for the farmer's markets, so the space needs to be in tip top shape!

To chase the winter blues away, I've started to go on short drives with my dogs & camera, hoping to see something worthy of getting the camera out! Sometimes we don't find anything, but the change of scenery is good for the soul. This month I'm gravitating towards the Canon 100-400mm lens. It's perfect for our little drives, because I can grab a landscape shot or get a close up!

This week's tasks include three rolls of black and white film waiting for me to develop them. Film is like magic, I swear! The thrill of waiting to see if anything that you've taken pictures of has really come out cannot be compared in any way to the instant satisfaction of digital. Although I love both mediums, film is just more fun! And you just can't recreate the beautiful look of film, no matter how hard you try.

Now, time for me to get back to work! I do hope you are all staying safe and warm out there! What are you looking forward to the most when spring finally arrives? What's inspiring you this winter? Leave a comment! Until next time, CHEERS!

Bloodroot in the Rain No.1A delicate bloodroot flower is kissed with a spring rain in this black and white nature photograph.
Photographs are professionally printed on photo paper with a "Lustre" (semi-gloss) finish. For more information, please see my Shop Policies. Thank you for visiting my store today!

Bloodroot in Rain No.1 (for a little spring dreaming:-)

January 2022 Update

(Lost in the Valley Photography) — Sat, 15 Jan 2022 15:52:34 GMT

Snowy DaysBlack and white photography of 19th century barns weathering a snowstorm in the Adirondacks. The snow, seemingly suspended in the air, gives the photograph a painterly look.

"Snowy Days"

Greetings and Happy New Year!

A fresh start! I'm taking the changing of the new year & using it to shift my focus. Since 2008, I've been running an Etsy shop to sell my photography & only using this website as a portfolio. After years of frustration with Etsy, I've decided to place my energy & attention here. I'll still keep my Etsy shop open, but I'll be downsizing it quite a bit & using it to promote my handmade photo bags & aprons. They are a huge hit at the Lake Placid & Saranac Lake markets! Check them out here: Bags & Aprons. Someday, perhaps, I'll even get them listed here & be done with Etsy altogether!

Winter in the Adirondacks is in full swing with stretches of below 0 temps & brutal winds. A perfect time to sit at the computer & get stuff done! I am uploading new photos weekly, working my way through captions/keywords, & making prints available for sale. Every week I get a little more done, so I do hope you'll continue to stop by & see what's new!

Other goals for the year include entering more juried shows, getting back to cyanotype printing, & getting behind the camera more! I will also try to do a monthly blog post to talk about progress, photography, & maybe even a little about the farm that I run in the summer.

I hope this post finds you all well in these difficult times. Have any fun projects that you're working on? I'd love to hear about them in the comments!

Until next time, CHEERS!

Just checking in with a New Post!

(Lost in the Valley Photography) — Sat, 20 Jan 2018 18:18:18 GMT

Glorious SpringLandscape photography featuring an old weathered ice house and sweet pink apple blossoms on a Adirondack farm one dreamy spring day.
Photographs are professionally printed on photo paper with a "Lustre" (semi-gloss) finish. For more information, please see my Shop Policies. Thank you for visiting my store today!

I haven't posted here on the blog in ages! I was using WordPress for most of my posts, but now I'm trying to condense and make life easier by bringing it all to one place! So, nothing mind-blowing to say here, yet! Enjoy this lovely photo of spring! I know we could all use a little color right about now!