Again, another day where my photo went into a challenge!! Not sure that I should have put it in...but I was just so itchy! The last few challenges have passed me by without any entries, so I wanted to get back in the swing of things.

Well, today's shot went into a challenge....so I'm scrounging for something else to post. My apologies because it's not the greatest shot.

Well, the first picture is my new toy!! Had some gift cards to Best Buy, so I went out there today and bought a Graphire4 graphics tablet. Which will help a LOT with keeping my wrists healthy (especially with all the editing I'm doing lately). I've played with it some tonight....which is how I arrived at the second photo! Really didn't want to do another shot of myself, but I needed a photo to futz with and get used to the Graphire.

Love love love my new toy!!

My sweetie nicely agreed to pose for me before heading of to a University of Illinois basketball game. Go Illini!!

Guess who? Yup! Ok, so I know I've been lax about posting things here the last three days. My deepest apologies! Between work, school, house hunting, any kind of social life, and getting all these pics edited, my life has just been crazy.

So, here are the pics.

Hope to get out tomorrow and this week and do some "me" stuff.

More Emily

Haven't had much time to go out and shoot today as I'm still editing the shots from yesterday! So here's another one:

Emily

This is my friend, Emily. Emily is a DJ here in Champaign-Urbana, IL.....and a pretty dang good one too! She spins weekly at one of the clubs in town and it's always a thrill to go dance to her tracks. Lately she's been working on a lot of her own stuff (in terms of music) and is starting to get more active in the biz. So for some crazy reason she asked ME to take some photos that could be used for promotional pieces! A little intimidating cause she in addition to knowing how to work the turntables, she can shoot a camera with the best of 'em too. We went out for about three hours today and I struggled with poor lighting conditions all over the place (need my own studio!), but in the end I think we came out with some ok stuff. Most of it's certainly a different style, but I think it will project her image well. This first one is a little more "mainstream".



This one I was having fun playing around. I really want to give her some stuff that's as unique and artistic as she is. Of course...if I fail, it's a good thing she has Photoshop too!! ;-)

All in all, a great day though. Filled my card and had tons of fun shooting away! Thanks to Emily for giving me this opportunity and for being willing to be my guineau pig!

Took my husband with me today, and he must be my good luck charm. Maybe he smells better to the animals than I do ;-) We saw several downy woodpeckers, but unfortunately it was too overcast to really get a good photo of them. I snapped off about 20 different shots, but I was really disappointed when I got them home. No good at all.

But I did get this rather goofy looking pic of my hubby :-) He keeps suggesting that we paint his face and hide him in a bush for the Wildlife challenge....I keep refraining from making jokes about "domesticated animals".

Entering the challenges is always a thrill....but there's a simple joy to be found in just looking for ways to meet them.

Still looking......

still not finding.

Still on my hunt for Wildlife. There have been lots of signs.....but no animals so far.

Went out today to try and find some wildlife. Usually, on any given day that I travel down the highway, I can spot a hawk every mile or so. Though, of course, the day I try to search one out....they're all gone.

So instead we get some fungus :-) Thought and thought to see if there was any way I could consider that "wildlife"....

and realized I should just post it here.

Still trying!! Gonna try tomorrow to bring in some lights for the side, see if that helps the smoke stand out a bit.

Tried something I've been curious about for a while now, and found out it was much harder than I expected!! Took forever to figure out the settings and what the best way to do the post processing was....and I still don't think I'm quite there yet. Might do some more experimenting tomorrow.

I think I over NeatImaged this one...but I kinda liked it.

Oh, for those that don't know, this is a photo of smoke. Seen 'em around and liked them, so I thought I'd give it a try.

And David is dope.

Following my Game Board trend ;-)

A free for all

Tonight was one of the most beautiful sunsets I've seen in a long time. Like many people, I'm quite a sucker for a good sunset. Plus, my dad's given me one of his tripods, so I just HAD to make use of it :-)

The result? You will now be bombarded by about 5 different sunset pics....that's the most I could narrow it down to!

Another first

It's my first shot of the moon. Driving back from errands with my husband and my parents, the moon started to rise--probably as large as I'd ever seen it! I silently willed my dad to drive quickly so I could get to their house in time to pull out the camera and tripod. Finally got home, pulled the gear together, ran out to the front yard, and snapped some shots. It's the first time I've taken shots of the moon with this camera, so there was quite a bit of experimenting with settings, and possibly even more of me cursing while I desperately tried to remember advice on settings I'd seen in the forums (much to no avail).

And then.....there was editing. Dang. It is HARD to edit the moon...especially to get it to look like it does in the sky. Used a 75-300mm lens, bulb mode, and tripod to take the shot. Did some levels, contrast, and color balance work in post processing, as well as a crop and some sharpening.

Definitely a technique I'll have to practice at more-both with taking the shot and with Photoshop. But, all in all, I liked it. Reminds me of the giant poster I had of Neil Armstrong on the moon which hung up in my room as a child.

Today we have a yellow abstract, because most of the day was spent getting ready for a weekend trip and driving!

I was hoping that I wouldn't have a picture to put here today...was hoping instead that I'd have something to enter in a challenge. But, as it is, there is a feather here.

Not much to say about it really. Found it on the ground downtown.

That, and I like feathers :-)

A house!

Hurray for houses!!

*apologizes* I'll back up a moment.

Today my husband and I got pre-approved for a home mortgage. We met with a realtor about two weeks ago and met with the bank today. So, the looking can officially start!! We're very excited about this, needless to say. So it inspired my PAD for today. It'll be quite a ride, I'm sure...trying to find a house that we BOTH love, getting ready to move out of our apartment--just all of it. But, at the end, we'll have our very own home :-) A place to call ours!

And...I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's at least one extra room that could be used as a studio ;-) Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Early Bird

Went downtown today to try and take some shots for the Singled Out challenge. And then I said to myself, "Self--it's the middle of the afternoon on a workday/schoolday, it's raining, and it's cold outside. Did you really? expect a lot of people wandering around downtown?"

*shakes head* Gonna have to try that again I guess.

But, I did manage to find some cute little birds and so I entertained myself with them for a while. Chased them all around a bank parking lot, narrowly avoiding cars. It was fun :-) Perhaps next time I get the chance to shoot some birds, they'll actually be some more interesting ones--a little more color maybe.

All the way from England!

My good friend, Matt, is back in the States for a month!! He's recently been in England, working overseas. Matt is one of those guys that always knows how to make me smile and is just a joy to be around. So, naturally, I forced him to pose for my PAD :-)

*WARNING* This is by -no means- a serious photo :-) Much like Fat Free Ice Cream is not really ice cream.

We've been hanging out and having fun for most of the evening, and Matt, who is quite used to being on stage, developed some shyness. Hence the National Geographic pose with my lovely old quilt as a veil :-)

Went for a tritone here in the spirit of somewhat keeping with my January theme.

I must admit...photo was not my first priority today. It's been months since I've seen my dear friend and I'm not ashamed to say that goofing off was more important to me today! ;-)

Threads

Another bit of practice with stock photography, though I don't know if I'll end up submitting it or not. But, there's some history that made me think of the idea. When I was a little girl, I spent a fair amount of time with my mom, who taught me how to sew. We worked on clothes for dolls, quilts, halloween costumes....and, as I got older--even prom dresses. It was always time that I really enjoyed spending with my mom--something for just us girls. It meant a lot to me then. I felt so grown up, learning to use the sewing machine.

I hope that someday it's a skill that I can pass on down to my future children :-)

Take stock in practice

Been trying my hand at some stock photography in the last few months. Now that I have my DLSR, I'm starting to feel the itch for new lenses!! :-) Everybody told me I would--and it looks like they're right! It makes sense to me that one of the better ways to fund my photography addiction might be with my photography. After all, if I can't make enough to contribute even slightly to the hobby...perhaps I don't need to go out and spend a fortune buying equipment ;-)

At any rate, I was practicing some stock stuff today. Been trying to get myself in that frame of mind, which I find rather difficult. I'm not used to taking a simple image of every day items. I really kinda prefer the more "artsy" stuff. But, of course, if you want to sell a product, it has to be what the market wants!

This was a first attempt at the "Medical" category. Realized only *after* I uploaded the pics to my computer that I'd had the ISO set WAY too high! So there's been some NeatImage done to this shot. Other than that, just your very basic adjustments: Levels, Contrast, Crop, Resize. If anyone has any tips on what might make this stand out more to a potential buyer, I'm hoping to do a reshoot tomorrow! Lighting is a particular problem for me, as I don't have any of that equipment and have to make due with the lights around the apartment.

Thanks a bunch!

I'm in the field of Early Childhood Education, and it's so much fun to be around kids! There's a part of me that feels like I can really be myself around them--be the 5 year old that's hidden behind "responsible adult activties." It's amazing to me to see all of the new experiences of young children happen on a day-to-day basis. I love watching them try at something for the first time and the smiles on their faces when they finally succeed.

So, this picture represents my inner child, I guess :-) I wanted to do something that was reminiscent of a children's book illustration...or perhaps even a child's drawing. For this photo, I used the Colored Pencil filter as well as the Paint Daubs filter for a little added colored area.

I know it's not a very "realistic" photo...but it reminds me of that book "Corduroy."

My first

Well, it's my first self-portrait! I had wanted to get outside today and take some photos, but it's been nothing but cloudy, overcast, and grey here in Illinois. So I decided to take a brief stroll into the land of self-portraits. Probably not something I'm going to do a lot, as I HATE pictures of me....likely one of the reasons I enjoy taking pictures of other people!

The unedited shots didn't come out quite like I wanted, so I've gone with something of a digital art filter. Was wishing that I had the Draganizer plug in for Photoshop :-) But I used what I had. Tiny bits of saturation, gaussian blur, diffuse glow, levels, USM...all that good stuff.

So..not really one that you frame at your parent's house....but for a dreaded self-portrait....

Well, at least it's done!

*and before midnight too!! :-)*

EDIT-Just realized I hadn't downsized the photo...eek! Sorry bout that. All better now

Martini Anyone?

So I sat down tonight to think about my photography and made a martini.....

Set it down for a minute....only to see my two cats drinking from it!!!

And...well, I guess one of them had a little too much ;-)



Tee hee! Ok, first things first--this is NOT a real martini! I don't want you people thinking I get my pets drunk :-) It was WATER and I garauntee that no animals were harmed in the shooting of these photos :-)

Also, it's my first attempt at a triptych! I really was gonna just do the martini glass, but wasn't thrilled with the lighting I was getting. While messing around with the settings on my camera, the cats came up and started drinking out of my glass. Initially though about chasing them away, but then it was just too cute :-) So, now I have a little storyboard! Tucker is the tabby and Conner is the white one. And yes, Conner really DID knock over the glass at the end of the shoot...that just made me giggle.

Abstracts

Well, another day spent running around like a chicken, only to suddenly find that it's 10:00 at night and I STILL have to take my photos! Therefore, we have some abstracts....but at least it's a two for one day....



And another one, which is the same photo as above, but distorted into something that I find rather lovely :-) But one of these days I'll need Konador to teach me some of his abstract tricks!

Red, red wine

A glass of red wine had during dinner with friends tonight :-) As the New Year progresses I have endeavored to make sure that all of my friends know how much they mean to me and how supportive they have been. Every week we have dinner with a couple of friends and we usually share a bottle of wine, lots of laughs, and memories of all kinds over the last few years.

In terms of the photo, I like the colors mostly. The composition leaves something to be desired, looking at it now. But I'd rather drink some more than do a re-shoot ;-) I've learned tonight that glassware (much like metal!) is harder to shoot than one would think. Most especially after you've touched it or taken a sip from the edge and left smudges on it. Darn near impossible to clone smudges too!! It was a quick edit tonight as there are fun times ahead. So--in retrospect--things I would change about the photo: composition...to centered. And the smudges/lighting reflections....just nothing to do about that tonight.

Lonesome Dove

Since Thanksgiving I've been enjoying the use of a 70-300mm Minolta lens, on loan to me from a relative. It's a film lens, but it works pretty well with my digital body and I've loved being able to get some closer shots of birds and the like. Originally there had been about 4 doves hanging out, but this guy was the only one who wasn't camera shy :-)