Photogrraphic Adventures & Other Stuff

First, I was looking forward to participating in the FMTSO theme, Shoot From The Hip but I was so busy this week that I just completely forgot. I will be looking and commenting on everyone's blogs within the next two days or so.  Second, I feel like the luckiest woman in the world. Personally, I am the happiest I've been in a very long time and I anticipate that things can only get better.  I feel an abundance of love and passion and maybe, just maybe my inspiration is coming back.  I welcome the changes that are taking place in my life and I hope and I pray for the best possible outcome for all who are connected to me.

Thursday was a very busy day but fun too. Not only do I belong to the Nevada Camera Club, but I also belong to another group called Photographic Adventures. The guys that run this group are also members of the NCC and they provide lots of opportunities for fellow photographers, beginner and pro.  They enlisted Gayla and I to help out at an all day event that they were putting on at Techatticup Junction which is a small little ghost town.  The workshop cost $99.00 to attend all day or $50.00 for each workshop.  I got to wear a staff badge and I received the shirt above for helping out.  The event consisted of Lens Baby Representative giving a seminar on the Lens Baby creative lenses and providing all attendees with the opportunity to use the different lenses for a couple of hours.  It was a blast because Gayla and I were allowed to participate in every single event.  I didn't really care for any of my lensbaby photos but I will post one for you to see.

This is with the lensbaby composer lens.  I never really figured out how to use the lens. The sharp point in this picture isn't where I thought my focal point was, but it was still fun.

The next part of the workshop was a model workshop.  We spent a few hours photographing models and learning lighting techniques, etc.  I still don't know what I'm doing but hey, it was a great learning experience and a wonderful opportunity.

During the first model shoot, I learned that one of my all time favorite bands was on location doing a photo shoot for their new album cover.  The band I'm talking about is JOURNEY.  Okay, it isn't the same without Steve Perry but I was still very excited.  I sneaked up the hill and snapped a shot really fast.  I was able to take two picures but neither one of them are great but at least I captured them through my lens.

My first shot of the band. 

My second shot.  Very bad. I was like a little school girl all giddy.

This was the second model.  Her outfit reminded me of Lucille Ball.  Very cute.

This is the first model in a different outfit and different setting.  I actually liked her the best.

I took hundreds of photos but of course, I can't show them all to you.

The event went late into the night also.  That was my favorite part of the program, except that it was so cold and I didn't have a heavy coat and I was miserable but I hung in there.

We had a fire dancer. This girl is part of cirque du solei.

I was mesmerized by her.  Very fascinating to watch. 

Double O's

Painting with light.

We've got a real artist in our group.  LOL

This one looks kind of trippy.

More painting with light.

I think that painted figure is either Gayla or Linda.

We had a blast even though I froze my ass off but hey, if the models can do it so can I.

I have been very busy with camera stuff, business stuff and other stuff.

All I can say is that right now this moment I am very very happy.

I can't even describe how I feel inside because there are no words.

It's just a very good feeling.

MY CUP RUNNETH OVER

I want to jump and shout and let the world know how happy I am.



Love Blossom

I believe I've posted this before, however, here it is again.

Just feeling good today.

I've lost my inspiration.....

I haven't felt inspired in quite a long time.  I used to take my camera with me everywhere and shoot at just about anything that was in front of me, but lately I just haven't been seeing the inspiration even when it's right in front of me.  Every month I scramble for something to enter into the monthy photo competitions that Nevada Camera Club holds.  I used to get so excited and take fresh pictures to enter but the last few months It's been a real drag.  I'm bored and dissatisfied with the pictures in my archives and so the photos that I enter are done so with very little pride and are entered just so I can have something to submit.  Our next competition is this Friday.  We can enter two photos into the regular categories and one photo into the club challenge.  Club challenge is sort of like the Friday My Town Shoot out; it is an assigned theme.  So to make a long story short, last night was the deadline to enter my photos for this coming Friday.  Again, I am so disappointed that I didn't make much of an effort.  I can almost predict exactly what the judges are going to say when they critique each photo.  My first photo entry is in the unclassified category, monochrome division.  Because I added a monochromatic artistic effect in photo shop I know I won't get good reviews.
Following, is the photo I've entered into that category.  I took this picture before I even joined the camera club but I only edited last night.  Our judges are very old school and they kind of frown upon creative effects even though it is allowed.   Most of them prefer nature wildlife photography. But oh well.....
You can click on this photo to see the effects much better.

I've never posted the  photos I'm entering in competition on my blog prior to the competition before but for some reason I felt like it today.  Blah!  

I'm hoping that someone can inspire me or give me some words of advice or feedback.

I personally happen to like this picture but I know it won't do well.

My next photo is of a window display I took while on vacation in Santa Fe.

I added another artistic effect which is fine because it goes into the creative category, but again,

It probably won't do very well.

Next is club challenge; SWEET

No doubt, I was very lazy on this assignment.

I had all kinds of ideas that I wanted to do and I was going to blow this one out of the water.

But I procrastinated.

And I ran out of time so I didn't do what I wanted to do.

Here is my lazy ass photo that I entered.

Shame on me!

I titled it Sweet butter and honey oats bread.

Lazy, Lazy, Lazy..........

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AND SO UNINSPIRED



From Rags To Riches......

Here's Justin hauling our carpet outside to take to the dump.

 I was too embarrassed to show how bad the carpet was.

And look how dirty our walls are.  It's shameful.

We lived with just the cement floor for about two months.

But even that was better than the carpet that was in the house.

Yay, the contractors finally started work on our project.

They remodeled the counter top by shortening it and narrowing it.

It used to be an entertainment center where our TV was. 

We never liked it to begin with and we thought about removing the whole thing to open everything up

but we didn't really want to lose the counter space.

View from the kitchen to our tiny living room.

Sasha checking out goods.  What a mess!

Now, I just need to clean the floor.

I am so happy with the color I chose and very glad that we decided to downsize that counter.

Little by little it's coming along.

It opened up the space quite a bit and everything seems so much cleaner and brighter.

Next time I post pictures about my house it will be with new furniture and a clean floor.

I want all leather furniture and a nice coffee table.

Still looking for something to jump out at me.

FMTSO: Twisted. Contorted. Curly. Spirally.....

Yay, it's Friday.  Today's theme for The Friday My Town Shoot Out is Twisted. Curly. Contorted. Wound Spirally.  I'm not sure who chose this theme but it is pretty cool.

I just wish my pictures went with what I had in my head for posting.

I didn't get out this week to take photos so these come from the archives.

Before I begin I want to say then when I hear the word, Contorted, it makes me think of those people from cirque du solei.  Those people really freak me out.  Yes, it's cool that they can contort their bodies in such a way, and be so flexible but it still freaks me out.  I don't know why.  I'm just saying.

Gnarly twisted trees and coiled cords around the pole.

Okay, it wasn't taken it my town but I did take this photo while on vacation in Santa Fe, NM.

Twisted, braided iron make up the legs on these chairs.

A spiral staircase

A braided, twisted, bent, knotted rope in my town.

That's about all I've got for now.

I bet anything I'll find all sorts of pictures like this when I'm not looking.

To see more amazing twisted pictures CLICK HERE.

A night with Falcon's, Eagles and Hawks

The second Friday of each month is our camera club's program night. We usually have a professional photographer come and speak with credentials such as working for Time/Life magazine, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic, etc.  We are quite lucky that we don't have to pay for these seminars.  Sometimes we have one of our own club members give a seminar in his particular specialty and then there are other speakers of a completely different background that provide great photo opportunities.  Last Friday was such a night.  We had Martin Tyner as our guest speaker and it was incredible.  Martin Tyner is the first man in North America licensed to train a wild golden eagle in the ancient art of falconry.  He is also the founder and CEO of Southwest Wildlife Rescue in Cedar City, Utah and Author of Healer of Angels.  He is a fascinating speaker with funny stories and sad stories as well.  He brought Three birds with him for us to see.  Two falcons and one Eagle.  We were fortunate to be able to snap photos of the birds at the end of the program.  It was a little difficult to get great pictures because our club is a large venue.  We usually have about a hundred people in attendance every meeting and so getting up close and getting really good pictures was quite a challenge but I do have a few to share.  Not the greatest, but it is what it is.

The little guy above gets stressed out around a lot of noise and strange environments so he had to wear this helmut looking contraption to help keep him relaxed.  It's similar to horses having to wear blinders when walking near a paved road.  Martin Tyner makes all his blinders/helmuts himself.  I thought the bird looked quite sporty in his little head cover.

Does he look stressed to you?  Maybe a little nervous.

The Eagle.  He weighs seven pounds.  Quite a big bird.

He loves his owner.  There was a very funny story about this bird.

I believe it's in the book so if you want to hear about it you'll just have to get a copy here.  You'll also learn more about Martin and the his Wildlife Rescue Center.  It's quite fascinating and I'm not even into birds.



FMTSO: Frame It!

It's Friday My Town Shoot Out

This week's theme is Frame It.

My poor little baby seeking attention.  She doesn't look so good.

But much better than she did two weeks ago.  More on that in a later post.

I believe this was inside the Bellagio. 

Picture was taken January 21 on a camera club scavenger hunt.

My favorite model, Gail.  I took this the day we had lunch at the brothel.

Leaving the wild horses behind.  I think this one wanted to come with us.

These dogs got wheeled around in a buggy during a shopping spree at Cowboy Christmas.

I thought it was cute so I asked the lady if I could take a picture.  I think there were about five dogs in there.

Near Cedar City, Utah on Kolob Road.

Arizona old Route 66 (Two Gun Road)

Well tha tha that's all folks.

Frame it here.

 



Daily Quote Worth Sharing

I subscribe to a service that sends daily quotes.

In honor of the upcoming Valentine's day, I thought this would be a good one to share.

Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you' re just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky he is to have YOU... The one who turns to his friends and says, thats her...  ~Unknown

I hope all of you have a partner who makes you feel special every day.



FMTSO: Collections

I love the Friday My Town Shoot Outs.  Each week's themes motivate me to keep on shooting.  This week is all about collections.  The goal is to showcase things that we (I) collect.  This really is an easy one for me because I do have a couple of collections that I am very passionate about.  Oh and at the end of this post I'm going to sneak in a photo from last week's theme, the letter "F" since I missed it due to an emotional week regarding my dog.  Maybe more on that later but for now life is good again.

I consider myself a letter writer.  I love writing letters, sending post cards, etc.

Because I love it so much, I am also very passionate about collecting vintage post cards, old letters, diaries, photos, etc of people I've never met.  It is fascinating to read about their lives and about what was going on in society at the time the letters were written.  It is a much better history lesson than what's inside text book.

These are real people leaving their imprint for future generations to discover.

We get to learn about what life was really like from the individual's perspective.

Normally, I only buy vintage postcards that are already postmarked and written on, however,

if I really, really like one that hasn't been used then I will splurge but not often.  I prefer the ones that have some personal history on them, the handwriting, the news, etc.

This is a teenager's diary from 1921.

I love the simplicity of her writing.

The following is one of my favorite entries in the diary.  It reads:

 

July 15-  Walked to row with Marie in P. M. and found out some interesting news.  Carl has written to her.  She said he wrote a real lovefied letter.  The old scamp.  I'm sure glad I don't think anything of him.  I've learned a lesson too.  Don't put any dependence in what a boy says.  Gee, I'm glad I'm old and experienced so that I can advise other poor innocent girls to never love a masher.  Ha Ha.  He told Marie that mamma wouldn't allow me to go with the boys and he didn't see why cause I was just crazy over the boys.  He said I got a letter from a boy once and mamma just reared.   My but he's well posted on my affairs.  Let's forget it.

Isn' that just the cutest thing you've ever read?  I was always crazy for the boys too.  Haha.

 

This is a leather photo album I bought at an antique store.

You can tell that the people in the photos are quite wealthy.

They are fascinating to me.  Once I acutally tried to find records on the woman who used to own this book.

The girl who owned this photo album is pictured in the group photo on the right.

She is the third person from the left.  I have studied the pictures intently imagining who these people were.

They must have been someone well known in their community.

Fascinating travel photos.

I also collect piggy banks, money jars, and alumunum banks.

The money banks pictured above have funny sayings all around the can.

I've posted about these money jars before.

I collect coins I find on the ground.  I'm not embarrassed to pick up a penny.  One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Every coin or dollar bill I find on the street, in the dirt, in parking lots, etc goes into this jar.

Not bad for being observant.  This is money that people throw away or lose. 

Every time I pick up a coin I always say out loud,  "I'm a money magnet" in hopes of attracting more.

So not only do I collect found money and money banks I also collect.......

I collect and save all my fifty cent pieces.

I save and collect gold and silver dollars

State Quarters.

That's about the end of my collection. 

I used to collect hearts but I kind of got out of that. 

If you'd like to see more collections please detour here 

Now...... For the letter F.

I only have one photo to display and I'm sure you will like it.

Fondue, the chocolate kind.

I hope you don't have a sweet tooth.