Self assignments.
Love ’em!
Tlaquepaque our local Sedona Mexican Shopping Village and gathering center, put on a very colorful event in honor of the Day of the Dead AKA Dia de Muertos.
Here’s the first line of explanation from Wikipedia… “Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de Muertos) is a Mexican holiday observed throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died.”
It’s a very colorful event. People dress in costume, actors perform, musicians play, sky dancers fly and artisans display. In short a photographer’s paradise. I met a lovely lady who was costumed as a Catrina which is one of the most popular figures from the celebration. She entranced me so I gave myself the assignment of making her the centerpiece of art based on some of the images I made during my visit.
Pash Galbavy, dressed as a Catrina, as the focus of one of my Dia de Muertos art images…
When I asked Pash if she would mind my making her image she said, “No problem!” then began to move like a model… With good reason! She is an artist in her own right. (learn more about Pash at unmaskit.com and artofpash.com)
Using multiple images from the day and some of my texture files I worked with Adobe Photoshop creating layer after layer utilizing blend modes and masks to combine images in many ways to get to the result you see above.
Look for more ‘self-assignments’ from this ‘busman’s holiday’ at Tlaquepaque in future posts here at Successful Photographer.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – What are you working on to stretch your photography skills??
