Random Things

I’ve taken a lot of random little images and done some messing around with photo editing, but none of the pictures are part of any coherent series, so I haven’t posted any. I decided that if I liked them, other people might also, so here you go:

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They are all totally different and I love them.  :)

Festivities!

So, now that the holiday festivities are behind me (and I’m up with a bit of insomnia), I decided to post some of the pictures I took at the last party I attended.

Since I’m me, I spent bits of time wandering around the place taking photos of mundane items at odd angles. Every time I got asked what I was doing I just showed the questioner the last couple shots and the typical response was “that’s a really cool picture!” I’m hoping they weren’t just placating me (quick, back away from the weirdo taking pictures of the ceiling!). 

Here are some of my favorites…

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Yes, the first one is actually a picture of the ceiling (with a decorative medallion that cool, who can blame me?).

I’m going to go back to bed and hope to be unconscious soon. Wish me luck!

Day Off

Since I had today off work, I was feeling quite lazy. I needed some motivation to get out of the house, and my camera provided it. 

I spent a little bit of the afternoon wandering around a local park, looking for interesting images.

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I am happy with the images I took, especially considering that it was a spur of the moment trip and it started raining 20 minutes after I left the park.

I still have a lot to learn about my new camera, but I am already out of “auto” mode almost all the time. It is a fun learning process.  :)

Holiday Happiness

I love the holiday season. It is a time to gather with friends and family, decorate with lights and beautifully colorful things, exchange gifts and eat great food. 

This year, some of the gifts my husband and I are giving for Christmas are handmade. It was a long, exhausting but rewarding process. Unfortunately, since they have yet to be given, I can’t post photos of them.

So, I’m posting this instead.

This is my wrapping station, mid-process. I stopped for a second to grab my camera between gifts.

Beautiful Objects

Although I wouldn’t normally wander around a store with my fancy looking camera, casually taking photos of objects for sale, I made an exception Friday because a great little boutique was having a fundraiser for my agency.  I wanted to get some pictures for our website, but when I walked in my inner photographer started jumping up and down.  I ended up wandering around the store for an hour (It is only about 400 square feet), taking dozens of photos and picked up a few Christmas gifts.

Here are my favorite “art” shots. 

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And for those of you on my Christmas list… none of the things I purchased are pictured here. :P

Lunchtime mini-project

Since it gets dark before 5 PM this time of year, I brought my camera bag to work with me determined to go on a photography walk during my lunch break. 

Naturally, I am in the middle of working on something that has a 5 PM deadline, so I’m a little too busy to go wandering around outside for an hour.  I figured I would have to skip it and try another day.

As I heated up my microwave meal in the office kitchen, I noticed the way the light was hitting my spoon on the glass table. 

I ran to my office and grabbed my camera.  Then, once I inhaled my lunch I plugged the camera into the computer and spent about 5 minutes playing with my favorite free online photo editor. {picnik.com}

Ta Da!

I totally love it!  Not bad for an impromptu 15 minute endeavor, huh?

Oh, Tannenbaum!

I love all excuses for celebration. The food, decorations and togetherness that comes with holidays always delights me, whether it be Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years…. you get the point.

Decorating and cooking for others are two things that bring me a lot of joy, so I’m in the “zone” this time of year. 

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree.  It may be artificial, but I get terribly excited anyway.

Now that I have my fantastic new camera, I decided to set up the tripod and get some nice photos of some of our ornaments.

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The only missing elements are photos of my Star Wars ornament collection. Unfortunately, those symbols of my ultimate geekiness are packed away somewhere in storage right now. This year there will be no x-wing fighter to protect the tree…

I’m back!

So, my two and a half month hiatus was largely due to my sheer frustration with my camera. The project stopped being a creative outlet and became a chore, peppered with irritation and disappointment. Every time I took a photo and then realized my camera had ruined it, I was even more discouraged.

But now, everything is different!

Thanks to my hubby and my dad, I got the camera I have wanted for a LONG time! My birthday/Christmas (yes, I’m a December kid) gift is a Canon Rebel T3 with the EFS 18-55 mm lens. This is one of the most exciting things ever!

I am still mostly using the auto modes, since I have only had it two days. I took a bunch of cat photos (duh) and then I also went to the park yesterday to try it out. There was a holiday plant sale and the petting zoo was open, so I had plenty of great subject matter.

Enjoy!

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I can’t wait to get back into the groove, even though I don’t think I will be maintaining the “daily photo” format. My fantastic new piece of equipment is a lot less portable, which means I will need to plan my shoots a bit more carefully and now that it gets dark before 5 PM, I have a lot less options.

This is just sooo exciting!!!!!

"I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying."

9/29/11 Photo Project

Yesterday was my wonderful husband’s birthday and I didn’t get around to taking/posting a photo. 

Tonight I was stumped about what to shoot photos of and not feeling well, so I tried a couple shots that didn’t end up working as well as I would have liked.

My final choice was suggested by my husband, who has good artist’s instincts, and I’m happy with how it came out.

My only regret with this photo, is that due to the issue I’m having with my camera it isn’t usable at a larger size.

The flecks that appear on my images seem to be getting worse and long exposures with dark spaces bring them out. I have cleaned the lens every way I know how, to no avail. Which tells me the problem is in the body of the camera. I can’t afford to take it somewhere and pay a lot of money for someone to dismantle and clean it. 

For now I will have to make do with what I have.