Ice Columns

Converted to grayscale.

Thinking about...

...taking better portraits and macros. How on earth do you do a decent self portrait? It's good practice documentary-wise. I guess I have a lot of work to do. Thank goodness for hobbies.

Anniversary

We probably should have gotten married in a candy store!

(This x-ray shows I am, indeed, made up of toys.)

Thankful for...

my happy family and neighborhood. We had a nice holiday in Iowa. No photos, really. My shoulder is still screwed up and I'm not supposed to be lifting it, but I'm working it out like mad. This morning was perfect weather, sunny, cold, bright blue skies, fresh snow. Nothing's better, being so far from summer!

I just love the red berries on my tree that keep the little birds fed. Winter eye candy. I love the little trees we planted over summer and my neighbor's fence shadows, too.

Third from left kinda looks like a squirrel?

Four eyes are better than two

especially when you go lo-fi! Here's my Lomo Supersampler that I've rediscovered since my Canon CMOS is dirty. I even found a Flickr group to join! To use it, you load a slow speed film (might have to trim it a bit to get a good fit), get out on a sunny day (hence the slow speed film), hold it at waist level (optional), focus on a moving subject and pull the ripcord. Ta da!

Here we have half a spider's vision, multiple viewpoints, and super contrasty effects. And what photographer doesn't need a NOW button??? I picked up a few different formats of these cameras a few years before Marshall Field's closed. They had a pile of them in the old basement super discount area. My fave is this pretty pearlescent version.

Caught up?

Halloween
Cinderella had a big night out and then dropped a few teeth the next day!




CSO plays Mahler and Mozart
Phenomenal. We did a lot of walking around and here's some of what we saw while Obama dined down the street.




Now I'm caught up (?)... except for the thousand other pictures and events. Hmm.

Rosy Day, Thank You

It's not often I get flowers. I never considered myself a flower kinda person. But these are exceptional, aren't they? The texture and aroma are divine. Even a six year-old knows this.

Here's a pinhole (about 10.5 seconds, ASA 400, natural light at noon).

And 50mm lens (with extender) exposure at about 3 seconds.


And now the fun. This is the "Alfred Hitchcock Push". He did this for a dizzying effect in his films. You focus on what you want, then after releasing the shutter, slowly pull the camera back while pushing the focus ring a bit, too. About 6 seconds here, tripod mounted, 50mm w/extender again.

Farm-y Fall Fest Weekends

We've been busy with a fall farm fests. We finally got lost in a corn maze one day. Another day we also took the Daisies to Susanna Farms for a hayride, farm education, and pumpkin decorating (all for 5 bones). The home made beer at the party the night before was festive, too.

These are with Ben's camera (a little overexposed, so what!).

First Frost, October 4

From frost to dew...

I'm in way over my head.

I now have over 10 disks of photos from the past 2 weeks. Yikes. There' s just too much to edit out and re-shoot. I have some ideas that aren't working the way I want them too. It's how I learn - whoopee!

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod at the LP Zoo

I spent a lot of time near this sculpture as a kid. I mean, a lot. The poem was written by Eugene Field in the 1880s, I think.





And here's what my kid thinks of it...

Fun

New Blog

Hello, I've started a new blog of photos from my grandmother's travels. After she passed away, I inherited a large box of "junk". There are hundreds of pictures I will archive. Here are a few goodies. Unfortunately there aren't many good ones, quality-wise, but the subject matter sure is fascinating! She inspired me to travel, too. And in some cases the only way I was able to identify the photo's location was by personal experience.

La Mason de Francisco et Jacinta, Fatima 1981


Mexico 1976


Jerusalem 1980