First Self-Portrait

Okay, so I was fooling around with my daughter's "camera" this weekend (it's really just a teeny jungle-animal viewfinder) and I caught myself in the mirror and thought, "hey, that's kind of cute & might make a good head shot!".  Which means, of course, I have to get in FRONT of the camera for the first time in a long time...

Well, I got everything all set up and snapped away.  It's a pain the ass to take your own picture.  Maybe there's some way to hook your camera up to your PC so you can see what you're doing while you're posing, but I didn't feel like trying to figure that out at 10:30PM.  So it was setup, snap, run around & check camera, setup again, snap again, run around again, ad nauseum until I got one that I thought might work.

Here's what I ended up with.

Cute, huh?

I wish the little "camera" were angled up a bit more towards my camera, but at this point it was 11PM and I have to get up at 5:30AM. :)

How YOU doin'?

Well.

Hello, gorgeous.

So, anyway, I finally broke down & ordered this vintage Argoflex box camera to try my hand at TtV photography.  If you're not sure what it is, it's when you "digitalize" an older camera by taking a picture with your DSLR through the lens(es) of an old box.  Neat, huh?

Anyway, my new baby arrived tonight and, get this:  it had FILM in it.  620 film.  Not made anymore.  And only one shot had been taken.  It took ALL my willpower not to run right out and blast away the remaining 11 shots (though, I did take 2 of my daughter just to see if the film advanced).  :P 

It also came with 10 flash bulbs - the freaky kind that basically light on fire & blow up in a small scale inside the bulb.  I did NOT come with the flash itself, though, so off to eBay I go!

The very best part for me, though, was the typed letter from 1978 from the previous owner to Argus asking about purchasing accessories. In this day & age, when one can pop online & order whatever you want, it's nearly foreign to me that letter writing was once the standard way to communicate with people.  The cherry on top, though, is the HAND written response from the company at the bottom.  Unbelievable.  Can you imagine Canon or Nikon WRITING you back?  Hell, you'd be hard pressed to even get an email from a real person!  :P

So, keep an eye out (all 3 of you!) for future posts with *hopefully* some pics through this baby!

Callaway Gardens

Frangipani (Plumeria)

Okay, so if you're ever over on the Western border of Georgia (by Alabama, for the directionally-challenged out there), you really should consider stopping by Callaway Gardens for a day.  It costs just under an arm & a leg to get in ($18/adult, $9/child, 5 & under/free), but it's a wonderful way to spend the day.  They have bikes to rent (though I didn't see anything for pulling small children, which is really TOO bad) and miles and miles and miles of trails to ride on.

Pioneer Cabin

The place is HUGE (13,000 acres), home of the world's largest azalea display, an incredible butterfly conservatory, and a magnificent vegetable garden, where PBS' "The Victory Garden" is filmed.  Then, there's random weirdness like ping pong tables and a shuffleboard court, a pioneer log cabin to explore, and a stone chapel.

Their newest recreation is the Tree Top Adventure... this looked like so much fun; I was cursing the fact that my littlest one is only three and the staff at CG would probably frown on my hooking him up & dragging through a ropes course, 30' off the ground.  Well, that and my 5 year old is afraid of heights.  Boooooooooo.  They were both fascinated watching people come down the zip line, though.  That might be my selling point in a few years.

Lake on Golf Course

If you're more into golf, God knows there's plenty of that to be had at Callaway.  Though I haven't touched my clubs since I was about 7 months pregnant with my first born, the course at CG looked really nice.  It was a beautiful day here in GA (sunny, about 70 degrees), so the course was pretty busy, but not annoyingly so.  The course runs between several lakes, so at least you have something lovely to look at while you're waiting for the foursome of 90 year olds in front of you to get on with it.  Oh, and there were beverage carts driving around, too, I saw.  Adult beverage carts.  That certainly makes the waiting more tolerable.

So, anyway, if you're in the area, stop by.  

ACEO / ATCs

So, I decided to try my hand at making some ACEO cards to see how they work and how they are to make.  I must say, it was a lot of fun!  I used Bristol paper for the backing and the acid free, photo-safe adhesive to adhere the photo to the board.  While they're essentially the same thing, ACEOs (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) are usually sold, while ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) are usually traded or exchanged.

by Mary H. Hamilton

If you don't know what they are, the are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards (always 2 ½ x 3 ½ inches) small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC (Artist Trading Card) movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland.  Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth.

by hokata

Some artists have started embellishing with 3-D objects like jewels, beads, and paper accents that stand off the card.  These are particularly interesting and, I think, would look great displayed in a group on the wall.

Apparently there's quite a movement these days to collect and display ACEOs.  They're a great way to own several different works of art by various artists and various media types.  Prices range from about $3 to over $20 for an original mini-painting on Etsy.  Get out there and look around; there are some really creative and clever designs.

Swing Pic!!!

I got it!!  I told you I would (see post waaaaaaay down there from Oct. 7)!  :)  It may not be the prettiest, coolest, or funkiest "swing pic" you've ever seen, but I think it's not too bad...  I wish I could have talked my 5 year old into riding these high ones so I could have a picture of HER on said swings, but no dice. 

Photographing Children

Okay, so I know I'm biased, but I think my two little ones are pretty darn cute.  My son is such a ham and my daughter is so used to having a camera stuck in her face she barely even notices anymore until I holler at her to hold still.  I love photographing them.

I do not love trying to photograph them together.

Have you ever tried to photograph two race cars that are going in opposite directions?  Now, imagine if those race cars could shut their eyes or make strange faces.  Randomly with no warning.

That's what it's like trying to take a picture of two little kids together. All the pictures in this post started life as pictures of the two of them, one looking so sweet, the other looking like they're about to sneeze, throw up, or cry; or maybe even do all three at once.

I try not to let those pics throw me for a loop.  All I can say is "thank God for the crop tool in Photoshop". In this pic of my little girl, my son was rolling his eyes and picking his nose.  Yup.  Classy, that one.

Crop.

And then, look at this gorgeous boy!  He was smiling for all he was worth and his whole little face just lit up! My daughter, however, was blurry from rolling the grass, looking the other way and like she'd had one too many doses of children's NyQuil.

Crop. 

Of course, once in a while, it all comes together and you get the perfect happy-family-together pic.  Everyone's smiling, everyone's looking at the camera, everyone's eyes are open and no one's blurry.

When I get one of those, I'll post it.  Until then, I guess I'm stuck with funny faces!

Namaste.

Let's Make a Deal....

Okay, so the utter lack of followers is seriously depressing me now...  C'mon, folks, it's been like 2 whole weeks.  Shouldn't I be up to at least 100 followers?? 

Oh, God, what if I'm not really as funny as my father thinks I am???

Anyway, I'll tell you what; just so that I'm not looking at a completely empty Followers box over there, I'm willing to make a deal.  If you follow me, I'll follow you.  I won't even expect you to read and/or comment on my posts.  But, I do promise to occasionally read and/or comment on yours.

Sound good?  Go on, go click "Follow".  Go ahead.  Right up there.  Up in the upper left hand corner of your screen.  Yup, you got it.  *whew*

See you soon.

GA National Fair Day!!

So, with an anxious heart & butterflies in my stomach (and earplugs in my ears so I didn't have to listen to the movie the kids watched on the way), I set off the GA National Fair in Perry, GA, this morning to see if any of my photographs were deemed worthy of display/awards.

Bear in mind this is my very first photography contest ever and I was super nervous to "put myself out there", as it were, especially in such a HUGE pool. 

Well, just IMAGINE my surprise when I walked around the corner and BAM!, my photograph of my 5 y.o. daughter coming down the dark tunnel slide (called "Courage"), had a shiny red 2nd place ribbon hanging on it!  What!? 

It was such a thrill just to see my works hanging on the wall (all 7 were hung, but I think they must hang all submissions??), but to actually win something was just incredible.  The funny thing is that I almost didn't submit this photo because, honestly, it's not my favourite.  Here's the original:

So, anyway, now I'm an "award winning photographer" and am planning to jack up my rates by 50%.  Tell me, what's 2 times nothing?  Oh, still nothing.  Well, there you go.

Weekend Plan #1 SHOT

Okay, so I woke up to an oil leak under my poor car (which just turned 100,000 miles a few weeks ago).  As such, I wanted to handle it and not drive the hour+ to the air show.  You know... trying to be responsible & all that jazz.  So, forced to stay local, I did what any "photographer" would do; steal their Mom's car & drive around until finding something worthy of picture taking.  Here's what I found.

First, I must admit, I've decided that I'm completely addicted to old, beat up windows.  I never knew that about myself 'til I got a good camera.

 

Then, there's Peggy.  What a beauty, huh??  It took all my strength not to hot-wire her and take off into the sunset.  Gorgeous.

I don't know what the rope was used for, but it made for a pretty picture.  Bear in mind, this was taken from outside, through the barred window.

Then, there was this little shack thing.  OMG, what a perfect "country" photo op.  It had this great one teal shutter.  The other might have been the same colour on the outside, but I was sticking to my "photograph, don't touch" policy so I don't really know.  

 

So, fellow photogs, let this be a lesson to you.  Just because you can't go where you planned to go, don't let it keep you from going where you were meant to go.

Weekend Photo Ops

So, not that it matters to you, but I have a very busy weekend planned hopefully crammed full of great photo ops.  First, tomorrow morning, I'm off to The Great Georgia Air Show where I'll be hoping to catch some shots of an F18 Super Hornet and the A-10 Thunderbolt II East Demonstration Team.  It should be a great site for people-watching, too.  I'm going with the Griffin Photography Guild; you can check out our Flickr pool here.

Saturday night is open, but I'm sure I'll be busy using it to edit & upload a bunch of GREAT shots.  :)

Sunday, I'm up  & off to the GA National Fair with my 2 ankle-biters, I mean, sweet children, weather permitting.  As it stands now, they're predicting 40% chance of rain, but we'll see.  "They" are frequently wrong.  If we DO get there, I'm truly hoping to capture my version of the following, seriously overdone swing shot:


Photo by April Bauknight

Please note that I put this pic in as an example because I actually think this is one of the coolest of these types of pics I've seen.  Dreamy.

Anyway, with those shots and the inevitable other fair shots (riding-the-beat-up-pony, cotton candy stuck in hair, ice cream falling on ground, feeding the nearly dead goat, crying face when it's time to go home, etc.), my portfolio should grow by leaps & bounds in just a few hours.  Oh, and I actually entered some pictures in the photography contest there, but there some of my earlier shots so I'm not holding my breath.  But you can.

So, get out there, fellow photogs, and bulk up your portfolio a bit.

Fall 2011 Colors. Seriously?

Okay, so, unbeknownst to me Pantone apparently releases new seasonal colours that are trendy every few months or so.  And apparently these charts drive sales.  Apparently.  That is, of course, if you're feeling pretentious enough to actually put them in your listings.  Brace yourself, here it is.



But, wait!  It gets better!  There are DESCRIPTIONS!  Of the colours!  As if you couldn't tell that bamboo is "yellow with a subtle green undertone", there are narratives to help you out! Ready?

Bamboo – a surprising fall hue that brings a warm, exotic flavor to the season. Like a filtered sunset on the waning days of fall, Bamboo is a standout yellow with a subtle green undertone.

Emberglow – a traditional autumnal tone that emanates the warmth of a glowing fire – the perfect panacea to the crisp air of fall.

Honeysuckle – a playful, reddish pink works with any other color in the palette… Flirtatious and festive, Honeysuckle produces a healthy glow

Cedar – a versatile, mid-tone neutral green that evokes the freshness of a cool mist in a dark forest

Deep Teal – a strong, blue-toned green, suggesting ocean depths and the color of the sky as daylight descends into darkness.

Orchid Hush – a unique tone of gray with complex orchid undertones, blends well with any other color in the palette.

Can you stand it?  Don't you want to just rush out RIGHT NOW and update all your listings???  As an experiment, I added 2 of the colors to one of my listings to see if it garners any more views than the rest of the items in my shop.  I'm not holding my breath.

A Treasury!

I just got notification that my Pitchforks photograph was featured in an "Autumn Fever" treasury on Etsy!

Blogging..

Okay, so I'm *obviously* new to blogging in general. Everyone keeps telling me that it's THE ONLY WAY to get your name out there, to be SEEN, to be HEARD. Goodness, though, it's a tedious process. :) I just want to show you my photography. I just want you to be moved by something you see here. You don't care about what I have to say. I don't care that you don't care about what I have to say.

Feelin' Halloweeny

So, I got out and took some lovely shots this weekend in anticipation of the Halloween season! Let me know what you think.

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