Blog Archives

Semper fi

2/22/2020

My role as “meet and greet” photographer is pretty simple: show up ready to shoot, photograph the groupings and anonymously you leave.

Last evening’s shoot was different. I enter the library, Gen. James Mattis’ and my eyes connect, he reaches out his arm to shake my hand, I say “thank you for your service General, SEMPER FI” at which point his handshake became wildly enthusiastic, and his smile could not have been greater. After the photo shoot, one of the guests asked me if I were a Marine. I replied my husband was a Seabee, having served two tours in Vietnam, and it was he who said if I had the opportunity to speak with Gen. Mattis I should offer the Marine Corp motto, coined in 1883, “Semper fi” which means “always remain faithful to the mission”.

Mattis opened by honoring the veterans in the audience, including one from WWII: “generation after generation you have carried our flag in your hearts and the patriot's fire in your belly, a fire that keeps alive our experiment that we call America.” He stressed the importance of learning history, and if there were mandatory reading materials for an incoming President of the United States it would include the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America, The Bill of Rights and 1776, by David McCullough. “This country was not granted to us; a lot of blood and sweat went into its formation.”

Semper fi oorah

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Self Portrait in an Orchid

2/14/2020

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The macro view of flowers has helped me come to terms with my life’s experience, and nature’s disappearing wild spaces, and excitement of the unknown.

Macro photography, is like putting on super-magnifying eyeglasses, so we can view what we could otherwise not see. Catching the light just right, and finding the precise viewpoint, the flower becomes space, revealing relationships in our mind’s eye.

A photograph can be many things. My self portrait in an orchid speaks to me in it’s silence and grace, a reality hidden in a world of shapes and spaces.

0031 | Self Portrait in Gold | Pigment print on Watercolor Paper with Hand Applied Gold Emulsion

0032 | White Orchid on Silver | Pigment print on Watercolor Paper with Hand Applied Gold Emulsion

Example of this work on view at our gallery wall in the inviting showroom at Island Interiors at Ocean Reef.

8 Barracuda Lane
Key Largo, FL 33037

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Pastel Dawn

2/7/2020

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The camera you have in your hand is the best one. You never know what is going to unfold before your eyes.

If I had known the grey pre-dawn mist would reveal this spectacular show, I would have had my Hasselblad camera. None-the-less the camera on hand was my Nikon, however the choice of lenses was limited to a 55 mm macro and a telephoto… Not your typical landscape choice.

I picked the 55, and the first seven exposures of my panorama were magic. Though not sure how a macro lens would work, I processed, stitched and was rewarded with this shot.

Looking at the image, it has a special quality that only the “pre-digital” 55 macro lens could provide. Sharp detail, yet painterly, with soft pastel hues.

Check out at my new “Little Salt Photography by Carol Ellis” wall at Island Interiors. This 54” panoramic canvas entitled “Pastel Dawn”, as well as examples of a wide range of my previous work is on display Monday ~ Friday.

at Island Interiors, 8 Barracuda Lane, Ocean Reef.

@islandinteriorsatoceanreef

http://www.islandinteriors.net/

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Semper fi

Self Portrait in an Orchid

Pastel Dawn

CAROL ELLIS

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