Sunday, January 31, 2010

self portrait come a whole bunch of other things!

There are so many things i want to write ... so many influences behind these images ... but right now I'm not sure how to explain them & i figure the longer i spend doing that the less chance i have of posting these on the internet for the world to see. let's just say i had some ideas in my head & went from there. They're not perfect but for my first try I'm pretty darn (yes i said darn) happy!


Tuesday, January 26, 2010

in the theme of nicole & her homemade treats ... oh & 2/100 as well

A fellow member of my Homefront Team on Etsy, wonderful chef ( i just bought her Caramel & Belgium Chocolate Covered Apple with sprinkles 4 pack & all round kick ass women ... Nicole ... runs a wonderful blog full of tasty treats & recipes. & i love her recipes & finds (not to mention the photos that go with) so here following in her giant foot steps i have created by 2/100 (for the 100 photo project) & i have a delicious recipe to go with.

take 2 frozen waffles ... place in toaster ... toast until golden brown ... whilst the waffles are being toasted get out your choice of ice cream (i prefer french vanilla or vanilla bean) ... place the first waffle on the plate ... put your ice cream on top of this waffle ... & then add the second waffle to the top to complete the sandwich ... cover with as much syrup as you feel necessary ... eat whilst hot!

Go Fish Go

So moving completely away from photography i want to tell you all about another venture of mine ... back when my husband deployed last year, in a drunken conversation with a friend he said he could train me to run a marathon & the dumb ass that i am i said yes! So i started running & ran my first half marathon in May of last year & it was a wonderful experience.

Well one of my running buddies through this all wanted to run a marathon too (she's way More hard core than me) & so at the end of last year, knowing she was PCS'ing in the summer we made a deal to run our first marathon together. With this in mind we set out to choose our marathon & the lucky winner was .... (drum roll please) ... Vienna In April. Yes that means we have 3 months to get to the point where we can run 26.2 miles without dying!

So the Go Fish Go part i hear you asking ... just to put a little extra pressure on ourselves we will be running for the Fisher House Foundation. Aaaaaah i hear you say ... the name is not quite as obscure (though it is obscure but that's the way we like it) as it seems. The Fisher House Foundation provides lodging facilities for members of the military, veterans & their families close to Military hospitals around the world.

So this won't be the last blog about "go fish go", there will be giveaways involved & any way we can think up to raise money for this i will be blogging about. If you have any ideas, or suggestions please let me know & of course check out the blog. We will have a button up on the blog later today to donate towards it & we will be keeping you updated on everything that goes on. I appreciate all your support, luck & if someone has a sure fire plan for surviving this please let me know!

Monday, January 25, 2010

sometimes you get it just right ...

Sometimes the "client" can be completely uncooperative ... & sometimes the photo isn't exactly what the parents wanted ... but in your eyes the planets alined, the gods were on your side & you got it just right!

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

i've finally found a camera bag i could love ...
3 of my favourite things in one ... a book about photographing horses by a wonderful photographer: White Horses - From the Literal to the Sublime ...
a waffle sandwich with ice cream in the middle & syrup ...
the sun light streaming in the window in the morning ...
a wonderful start to a new year!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

my weekend ... part three, a step back in history

Our drive home from Salzburg started out in snow & quickly turned to rain which put me in a grumpy mood. We were driving past Dachau on our way home & i wanted to stop but well rain doesn't make a sight seeing experience ... saying that i knew this wasn't exactly going to be a "sight-seeing" experience. Dachau is a place i have wanted to see for a while, & especially to photograph. I had this preconceived idea of producing a series of black & whites, grainy, emotional & well the sun shone & all my ideas went out the window.
The first thing you notice about Dachau is that it's smack bang wallop (that's a technical term by the way) in the middle of a residential area. I understand it probably wasn't there before but it's strange all the same.
We entered the camp through the "welcome" gate ... it's a sobering experience. The gate takes you from the "normal" back in history. It takes you to a time you could never image yourself & whilst i imagined a series of images conveying the emotions i felt, the quiet & the horror of what happened here the sun shone bright in the sky & the snow crisp & white caused it to bounce around all over the place. & the camp itself ... well it was simple & plain no bells & whistles but the exact opposite of what you see in your head.
We walked through the bunk rooms, saw the museum & learnt more about the history. I took photos of the things i was seeing not quite believing that what happened here happened in a place so empty & void of anything. This may not make sense but when you think of hell this isn't what you see. This was far from a 5 star hotel but in places it felt more like a wildeness camp.
There is one thing that stands out as you take in all that is Dachau ... the quiet. It's an erie quiet that comes from no nature sounds. It's the quiet of a place that has seen all the bad in life & still holds the emotional scars. It's the quiet of a place that will never be at peace with itself, it's lonely & still & has nothing left to offer the world but a learning experience. All you can do is walk away from Dachau hoping you never see let alone experience something similar to this in your life time.
So in my images the only thing i felt i could do was keep the feel through the series the same, the colours, my style & work with what i had to produce a set that i hope showed some of what Dachau was about.
& i plan to return to Dachau another day & produce the series of work i see in my mind. The moment we left Dachau the sun disappeared & the heavens opened & it rained the rest of the journey home.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

my weekend ... part deux (that's two in french if you didn't catch part one)

So it's time for part deux ... on Thursday as predicted! Oh & it also happens to be day two (we'll skip over the night part of day one) & so after a highly expensive hotel breakfast we headed over the bridge to "ye old town" of Salzburg. Which is all kinds of pretty. Lots of little cobbled streets & funny shops not to mention some amazing architecture. On the downside it has that whole tourist thing going on which destroys some of the illusion that you create in your mind when visiting a city such as Salzburg.
Don't get me wrong the city is stunning but as with everywhere full of crowds you never get to appreciate it quite the way you would should you be getting the opportunity to explore it yourself.
We visited the museum of modern art (it came highly recommended ... we found it over priced & a waste of time except for the gorgeous view from the top) ... the castle ... & wandered around the city. & yes as you can see there were photos & some wonderful architecture & detail you don't find in newer cities.
Lunch was had at a typical Austrian/German style tavern ...
& followed by more of that wandering i talked about before. oh & i should probably bring up the whole Mozart thing since he is Salzburg's most famous export ...
So that pretty much sums up our dead ... no one died ... i got to visit a new country & the alps were definitely something else, if nothing they are worth a couple of hours of your time.
& here's where i say "stay tuned" for part three ... that is the drive home! now i know you're all kinds of excited & trying so hard to contain your excitement!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

my weekend ... part one

So this past weekend me & the hubby had the opportunity to escape from it all for a few days ... & of course the camera came along! We were heading down to Salzburg, a city in Austria about 5 hours south east of where we live, right on the border. Part one ... (that would be this part) is the journey down there & day one of our 3 day trip *trust me you will see a pattern emerge).

We left out home to grey & snow at some silly hour of Friday morning ... & didn't forget a thing. We were about 45 minutes late leaving but i hold the hubby responsible for that (nothing to do with my inability to get out of bed).

The journey down was uneventful ... we survived without permanent injury to each other & only one "photographic" break as i bugged the hubby until he would pull over & let me photograph the wonderful frost on the trees. It was gorgeous but sadly a German toilet stop is not the place to be wondering around with thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Plus it was all kinds of snow & i had no gloves. But the stop was worth it (well i think so).

From here we headed down to Konigsee, the highest lake in Germany & somewhere i have been wanting to visit ever since i saw some friends photos. Here we found a whole lot more cold, not a whole lot was open & the mist rising over the mountains ... but i persevered & managed to knock out a few more photos (acceptable i would say ... hehehe) & we made plans to head back in the spring/summer time when the weather is a little more compliant!

& from here it was on to Salzburg ... stay tuned for part deux (that's two for french in case you wondered) which i plan on writing tomorrow so lets assume it will appear Thursday!

Monday, January 18, 2010

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

Invictus ... a wonderful story i would recommend to anyone ...
my friends who listen, & help me to smile at the times when i need to smile the most ...
getting away from it all with my husband, seeing somewhere new & experiencing everything it has to offer ...
having the ability to create a memory that generations to come with experience ...
not having to tick a box to be granted my freedom!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

photoshop fun ...

So tonight has been spent on my computer ... deep in the world of photoshop having fun! yes fun, a word i never thought I'd use in relation to photoshop but I'm having a wonderful time experimenting with colour & feel & photographs!

So step back a bit ... a wonderful photographer, Jen Kiaba wrote this blog about photoshop actions, something she loves to do. & so i asked her about this & check out the link she gave me to another equally wonderful blog the coffee shop. Now my knowledge of photoshop is limited, i need step my step, simple things simple mind instructions when it comes to anything computer related & here is a blog that will provide me with both the knowledge & the actions to create a certain "feel" in an image. I'm a little blown away.

So here i took the plunge. I have a number of images at any one time open in photoshop. They're photos where i love the composition, the subject matter & other aspects to the photo but there's something missing. It just doesn't feel right. So i play with them every so often, see what works & what doesn't & sometimes i create something that i love. Today with the help of said actions i created images that i love.

I spent 2009 discovering so much about me & my photography & we're only just into 2010 & already i feel like it could be a good year for me. So thank you to Jen & the coffee shop & i hope you like the results as much as i do!

1/100

I have never been good at "still life's" ... i photograph things as i find them instead of creating an image. So when i came across the "100 project" it sounded like a wonderful idea. 100 still life's in a year & for me personally much more feasible than the 365 project. It's forcing me to think a little, use what's available & create an image from nothing.

So here's number 1!

Monday, January 11, 2010

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

playing fetch (yes she will chase after it & bring it back) with my kitty ...
being blogged about by the wonderful gorgeous fabulous andrea ...
fish finger sandwiches ...
caramel & belgium chocolate covered apples with sprinkles (please give me a reason to buy these) ...
knowing that i have the weekend off work & get to head to austria with my (occasionally) wonderful husband!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

fabulous find ...

So there i am looking at the etsy front page & i come across an interview with the wonderful interview with Jayne of Like Kittysville Mod Beds. I laughed, why because she's funny ... no seriously funny. & honest & i like honest. & well maybe with a little of the crazy cat lady inside of her, kind of like i would be if well Kevin didn't get in the way. (But there will be a day many years from now when i will live in my house, wearing only my wedding dress surrounded by cats & kids will make bets on who can knock on the door ... yes i strive to be the crazy cat lady).


So anyways Jayne makes beds ... but not just any kind of bed, gorgeous funky cat beds that i so want but know that my cats would never sleep in. Why because there's nothing wrong with this fabulous (yes i said fabulous) beds just that my cats are awkward pains in the behind & on the basis that i paid good money for these would have way more fun using them as scratching posts.
So anyways i felt the need to write about her wonderful little shop because simple I'm happy to find someone else out there who's possible a little obsessed with their cats like me!
Like Kittyville Mod Beds

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Friday, January 8, 2010

Monday, January 4, 2010

it's the simple things in life that make me happy ...

the gift of being able to actually breath out of my nose ... i last a whole 2 minutes before it gets blocked up again, stupid cold ...
gorgeous, simple & contemporary jewelry discovered on etsy (lime green modern ... i'm in love) ...
the constant inspiration i'm finding in this blog (check out her etsy shop for stunning photography as well) ...
reading ... anything, anytime & anywhere ...
the start of a new year, a new beginning, new adventures, new dreams & finally a "better late than never" calender!