Michelle Wrighton Fine Art and Photography

I can’t help myself, I take thousands of photographs of everything around me, both for reference material for my artwork and because my camera is just another medium to create art.  I don’t always have time to go through all my photos and select my favorites to display, but the other day I realized that my photography galleries were very outdated and thought I had better add some new ones.  This is just a few of the new additions, the rest rest can be seen in the Landscape and Animal& Wildlife Photography Galleries.  These photos were all taken within a short distance of my home, except the Tawny Frogmouth which was found a little further south.  Enjoy!

Harvest Landscape © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Sunset Silhouette © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Long Shadows © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Dark Sky © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Up Close and Personal - Tawny Frogmouth © 2010 Michelle Wrighton | South West Photography

Willy Wagtails (Rhipidura leucophry) are the largest and most well known of Australia’s fantails. Found throughout mainland Australia, the wagtail name for these striking black and white birds stems from the constant sideways ‘wagging’ of their tails. I found this little Willy on the banks of the Blackwood River near my home and couldn’t resist turning him into a work of art.

Willy Wagtail - Bird Painting by Michelle Wrighton

Art prints and gifts featuring this cute Willy Wagtail Painting are available for sale in the following places;

Art By Michelle Etsy shop – signed and custom prints options for sale

Redbubble Art Shop Gift cards, matted, laminated, canvas and framed art prints for sale

Zazzle Art Shop Posters, ornaments, t-shirts, bags, posters, coffee mugs, canvas prints magnets, shoes, photo cards for sale

Kookaburra Australian Bird painting by Michelle Wrighton

Greeting cards, laminated, matted, canvas and framed prints of “Kookaburra” can be purchased from my Redbubble shop:

Sometimes life just gets a little bit too stressful, and the best way to deal with it is a few hours in the country re-connecting with nature and the beautiful land that we live in.  Yesterday was one of those days, and what a joy to just take a few hours and enjoy the sunshine and the beauty of our South West.  I rarely go anywhere interesting without my camera in hand, so I do have a few of my favourite shots to share with you all:)

I’m very happy with these for several reasons, firstly every single shot was taken in full manual, and while I have always been pleased with the 50D’s output in the other creative settings that I normally use with changing light/movement situations, I can honestly say that nothing beats pure manual for getting the best images!  Secondly, and this is a biggie for me, I was shooting with the beast (70-200mm 2.8L), but every shot was hand held – the monopod didn’t go on the camera once!  This is truly amazing (to me anyway) as after my first attempt at shooting handheld with the beast when I first got the 50D was a disaster, it was so heavy it made my wrists hurt and every photo had severe camera shake and I never thought I would be able to use it handheld.

Purple Flowers at Harvey ©2009 South West Photography

Rustic Farm Building ©2009 South West Photography

One Tree Hill Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

"panoRAMa" Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Boyup Brook Farmland in July ©2009 South West Photography

Scarlet Breasted Robin Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

"Bird on a Wire" Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Donnybrook to Boyup Brook Landscape © 2009 South West Photography

Scarlet Robin, Boyup Brook © 2009 South West Photography

"Flight" Birdwatching in Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Blackwood River, Boyup Brook ©2009 South West Photography

Boyup Brook at Dusk © South West Photography

Little Lamb backlit by the Sun ©2009 South West Photography

The Golden Hour ©South West Photography

I have to say that I was really pleased with the last two – the little lamb was shot through a ringlock fence and I wasn’t sure if my settings where correct for the lens to blur out the wire strands, but obviously they were (yay for me).  I had to jump out of the car, over a muddy ditch and up a hill to say hi to three very friendly horses that came over to the fence when I called them.  It was the golden hour and the light from the sinking sun behind them was just magnificent while this big bay gelding happily posed for me to practice my silhouette shots:) In the full size, his chin whiskers look like threads of pure gold.

Ok, I think thats more than a few photos (I know, I just can’t help myself)…although I do have heaps more that I will add at some stage when I get time to process them.  I’d love to know which of the photos is your favourite and why, so please feel free to leave me a comment:)

Cheers

Michelle

South West Photography