PORTFOLIO
MICHELLE MARINA TUROLLA
"The Sweetest Scent" was taken in Niu Valley, where Michelle Turolla says the trees gave off "such a powerful scent that they had my husband, daughter and me just sitting and breathing for half an hour."
Paradise abound
"LET me first say that I'm impressed with the people here," begins new isle resident Michelle Marina Turolla. "They've incorporated their vision of paradise into all their surroundings. There are flowers and trees everywhere - even parking lots have a bit of paradise in them. Anywhere - anywhere - I look, I can find something beautiful to shoot."
Turolla, who moved to Hawaii from Colorado, is a photographer/artist whose creativity is most captivated by flora. She often mixes her photography with painting skills and touches of digital enhancement to transform photographs into intriguing works of art.
"Crush on Yellow" was taken at Sacred Hearts Academy, when the "big yellow trees were in bloom."
Yet there's nothing like a fresh "eye" to best capture the inherent artistry and grace within nature. In fact, it was in one of the aforementioned parking lots that Turolla shot "Curls Upon Curls," a closeup of fern fronds.
"Curls Upon Curls"
"I took that shot in the parking lot of Jameson's Restaurant, and one of the waitresses saw the picture and said, 'Wow! Where did you see that?' And I said, 'Right out there. You must pass it all the time, but betcha didn't see it was there.'"
Turolla's newcomer eye, however, misses nary a thing.
The digitally enhanced "White Hibiscus."
"There's such a diversity of plant life here, it's stunning. I've never seen anything like it," she says. "Even though this is just an island, I could be here years and years and never find everything to photograph. Hawaii is like nature's gold mine for photographers."
Artists and photographers are invited to submit portfolios
of their work. Send photocopied samples to Portfolio,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210,
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813; or e-mail jpeg images to features@starbulletin.com
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