Midland, Michigan Senior Portrait Photographer | Eve Tuft Photography

Category: Nature

  • Rainy Day Macro

    Rainy Day Macro

    Man, it’s been so rainy here lately! I haven’t checked, but I’d swear that we’ve had record-breaking amounts of rain these past two weeks. There have been so many days when our percentage for rain has been small, and then we’ll get a downpour for a solid half hour. It’s been crazy. And it’s been wonderful.

    Summer rainstorms are my favorite. Ever. I love rainy days, and I love them even more when it’s warm enough outside to play in the rain with your bare feet. My husband and I lived in Iowa for five years (three of our children were born there!), and the rainstorms there were out of this world. They were phenomenal. Like, there was a flash of lightning every second for a number of hours straight. I don’t mind being away from tornadoes 😉 , but I do miss the storms there. The storms we’ve had here these past two weeks have reminded me of them, and I have loved it so much. Even if the lightning wakes my kids up from sleeping.

    Another reason why I love rainy days is…wait for it…I LOVE to take pictures after the rain of the tiny beads of water clinging to our plants. I LOVE it. Cue my cheap macro extension tubes. One day I hope to get an actual macro lens, but these work great for my needs. I’m sure I look pretty ridiculous to any neighbors who may be watching. Just imagine me, crouching down, inspecting every little detail. I don’t even care though when I can get images like these.

    Water drop hanging from a leaf | Michigan photographerWater drop in the middle of a plant taken on a rainy day | Midland, MI photographerWater drop in the middle of a plant taken on a rainy day | Midland, MI photographer

  • Freelensed Rose Garden

    Freelensed Rose Garden

    The rose garden at Dow Gardens is one of my favorite places to take pictures in the whole city of Midland. It’s therapeutic for me to do so. The light there is the best just as the sun is setting, and there is always such an array of roses just waiting for me to capture them. On this particular day I was feeling a bit on edge and moody, so it was especially soothing for me to go there and just breathe.

    The sun wasn’t out when we were there, but I think that it was better that way. Like, my mood matched up with the day’s mood, and even the way I edited the pictures were more moody than I usually do. Since the sun wasn’t out and it was overcast, I knew that I wanted to freelens. Freelensing is when you take the lens off of the camera body and shoot through it like that with the lens in your hand. You slightly tilt the lens to place the small slice of focus at different points, all while holding it as closely to the sensor as possible. Rose gardens are the perfect subject to freelens.

    It’s funny because while I was there taking pictures, I remembered that I had gone there last year at almost the exact same time and did the same thing. Maybe the end of August calls for some moodiness. Maybe it’s because summer is coming to an end, and the longer days are quickly waning. Perhaps I should make this an annual tradition. 🙂 At any rate, it was good for my soul, and I’m so glad I can count on that rose garden to brighten my day, even if it’s only figuratively.

    Moody pink roses outside on an overcast dayColorful roses at Dow Gardens in Michigan Colorful roses at Dow Gardens in Michigan A single red rose in a garden that's freelensed | Eve Tuft Photography

  • Midland in Bloom

    Midland in Bloom

    When everything around you is in bloom, you can’t but feel the anticipation of something beautiful about to happen. That’s what spring does every year for me. It’s like all winter long we’ve been waiting. And waiting. And WAITING. And then FINALLY it’s spring, and it’s like the whole earth feels the need to celebrate its long-time coming.  I also LOVE the longer days that come with the beginning of spring and that golden hour is now even later. It’s like the whole world is just starting to wake up from a deep sleep.

    Once the flowers around town start to bloom, I feel like my photography does as well. As though the fire to shoot has been silenced from the cold. I ache to get outside again, feel the warmth of the sun, and get my photography on. And so I do. 😀

    On this afternoon at Dow Gardens, the husband, kids and I had ourselves a great time. We had to leave to get the kids in bed earlier than I wanted to, so I just BARELY missed golden hour, but I had so much fun shooting outside in beautiful light that it really didn’t matter. I loved shooting the blossoms on trees, getting daffodils in beautiful, warm light, and capturing the first blooms of tulips. They really are my favorite flower.

    Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerPink bloom on a tree in spring | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerPink bloom on a tree in spring | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerWhite and yellow daffodils in pretty light | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerThree colorful tulips outside | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographerWhite and yellow daffodils in back light at Dow Gardens | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographer

  • Springtime: A Long Time Comin’

    Springtime: A Long Time Comin’

    Ahh, springtime is here again. Is it just me, or does it seem like it took a REALLY, REALLY long time to get here??? I used to live in Iowa for five years, and I thought the winter there was long. Imagine my surprise when I moved to Michigan and found out that we have an extra month of winter here! Oh, boy. It can be rough.

    This week was one of the first times all year I was able to get to Dow Gardens. I did go once when there were butterflies, but there weren’t any flowers in bloom at that time. What I really wanted to capture this day was the flowers, particularly the  tulips. I LOVE tulips. Adore them! I think it’s because they remind me of when I was younger. At the home where I grew up were planted some tulips in the front yard. And every spring they would pop up, as though to signal the beginning of springtime. It really is a glorious season of the year.

    For those of you who are wondering, the first two images on this post were taken with a Lensbaby. Lensbaby is a company that makes some wicked-cool lenses that have different effects on your pictures. The lens I used for these is called an Edge 50. You can tilt the lens to have the slice of focus wherever you want it. I don’t use this lens super often, but whenever I do I love the effect I get.

    Well, Midland, I think it’s safe to say that we’re officially and FINALLY out of winter. Welcome, spring. We’re all so glad you’re here.

    Springtime with a field of tulips at Dow Gardens. | Midland, Michigan PhotographerSpringtime with a field of tulips at Dow Gardens. | Midland, Michigan PhotographerA tree with white blossoms in spring at Dow Gardens. | Midland, Michigan PhotographerRed and orange tulips during springtime | Midland, Michigan Photographer

  • Daisies for the Bathroom

    Daisies for the Bathroom

    “Daisies are the friendliest flower.” Anyone here a fan of the movie, ‘You’ve Got Mail’? Confession: It was my most favorite movie ever for the longest time. It’s one of those movies I could watch over and over again; one of those movies that make you feel better when you’re feeling down. I think Meg Ryan is the cutest in that movie, and the chemistry she has with Tom Hanks is amazing.

    Anyways.

    Once we moved into our home here in Michigan back in 2014 I hung up new frames and filled them with pictures I took here. I thought they were pretty awesome. 😉 I’ve left those pictures hanging up in the powder room downstairs and in the master bathroom upstairs for four years! I finally got not lazy and decided to change them out when we also updated our bathroom decor.  We decided on turquoise, and I love the new change! It used to be burgundy, so this light blue color makes things feel so much lighter in general.

    Since our new decor had some blue in it, I thought daisies would be the perfect compliment to have in there. I LOVE daisies. Love them. The really are friendly, and it seems like there are a million and one ways to photograph them. After I took a bunch of shots and edited them, these were the ones I decided to use to make a collage. And I have to say, I couldn’t be happier with the way they came together to add to everything. I guess that’s just another perk of being a photographer – you get to use your pictures in your home decor. 😀

    Macro shot of white daisies against a blue background | Midland, Michigan PhotographerMacro shot of a white daisy against a blue background | Midland, Michigan Photographer
    Macro shot of a white daisy against a blue background | Midland, Michigan PhotographerMacro shot of a white daisy against a blue background | Midland, Michigan PhotographerMacro shot of a white daisy against a blue background | Midland, Michigan Photographer