March 17, 2006

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid


Just for the record, I am a UT Volunteers fan, but I don't expect them to go too far in the tournament. My husband is the Carolina fan, and our son, pictured here, claims to be a Duke fan, but was helping his dad out!

March 16, 2006

Today, for your viewing pleasure, three pictures. But only because I didn't want to leave someone out.

I would have posted what I think is going to be my low-key entry, but will wait.



Travis AND Kristiana (who is chewing on my lens cap)

Travis

Kristiana

March 15, 2006

Romance

Trying to get my brain around "low key" photography. I am also wanting to use something besides a person. I thought this was kinda cool. The red gave it a bit of color, and it is back lit with a flashlight. High tech, ya know?

I had to clone out some of the background where the light hit. (Oh yea, it is also a 2 second exposure).

One thing I would like to do with my photography is become more emotive, yet still refine the technical. I think the two together work very well. The downside is that emotive shots make teh photographer vulnerable, and no one likes to feel that way. Hmmm, so it goes.

March 14, 2006

Capturing the Magic Moment

If you see this somewhere else, just move on and pretend you didn't. (IE -- don't vote on it, unless you can be 100% objective about it).

My son, reaching for a lightbulb. Set the camera to bulb mode. Cut the lights off. Son posed, camera fired, manually fired a flash, "painted" the lightbulb to make it brighter, stopped exposure.

Post processing -- Brightness/Contrast adjusted. Converted to greyscale. Colorized it to warm it up a bit. Resized, submitted.

I figure the viewers that "get it" will like it, those that don't won't. :) The point -- As a teacher, there are moments when I can almost see the lightbulb come on. It is indeed almost a magical moment. After struggling to teach a concept to a child that just isn't getting it, then all of a sudden they have the "A-HA" moment, I am almost in tears. It doesn't happen to me often (perhaps because of the quality of my teaching????), but when it does, I wish I could capture it on "film" (or memory card) because it is awesome.

The model is 4 yo travis from Canton. He works for jellybeans. He gets one jellybean for each exposure, then when he gets tired, I double his pay. He got 9 tonight. ;)

Wish this had been advanced editing, and I could have gotten rid of the little light trail on the lightbulb.

March 13, 2006

Flower with raindrops and spiderweb

Wasn't a two second exposure. :) The only chance I had to take pictures today was around 3, and it was simply too bright for a 2" exposure. I tried. I used a ND filter, polarizer, played with aperture, everything.

I am thinking of starting another photo blog called "From the front seat." This may be the first in that series. I am notorious for not getting out of the car to take a picture (actually "as I Lay Dying" from last week would work as well). Sometimes it is because I am lazy, but more often than not it is because I can't -- the kids are in the car, too much traffic, etc. I've gotten some interesting shots from the car.

March 12, 2006

Dory (Dori?), the little fish with the little memory

And I can so relate to her. Last week, after work, the boyfriend of one of my students was following me home to give me an estimate of some work we need done around the house. I KNEW this guy was following me. I had made a conscious effort at 6 or 7 redlights to not drive through them and leave him stranded. Yet, when I got ready to turn into our general neighborhoon area, I thought to myself, "Why is that guy following me????" I felt like such an idiot and immediately thought of the scene in "Finding Nemo" where Dory offers Marlin her help, then "runs" from him because she doesn't know why he is following her.

I so did not want to take a picture today. :( Sad, but true. But, here it is. The wonderful background is a computer image from a screen saver or something. Shot with a 2 second exposure. ;) (DPC's challenge this week is 2" exposure, I think I'll try to make all my PAD's 2 seconds).

March 11, 2006

Jello on a bed of feathers . ..

Originally shot for the speed challenge at dpc. Unfortunately, it called specifically for green jello (and as you can see, this is red). I was going to hue shift it to green, but it just didn't look right. Plus, I didn't really want to look at this picture on my dpc home page all week. Just don't like it that well. ;)

March 10, 2006

Did I Do That?

He was outside playing basketball with his dad. I was in the van with little sister (who took her first steps today!!!!!!) and snapping pictures. Not sure what he did to elicit this response, but I thought it rather humorous.

:)

March 9, 2006

As I Lay Dying

Based on the book by William Faulkner. Not *planning* on using this in the Literary challenge at dpc, but you never know.

I wanted something contrasty and depressing looking, 'cuz that is how the book is.

March 8, 2006

Can I Use a Calculater?

If my students have asked me once, they've asked me a thousand times. (And no, this isn't for the education challenge at dpc. At least I hope not.)

And I thought the computer keyboard was dirty. ugh. FWIW, this calculater stopped working about the time my son, at around age 2, started playing with it. ;)

PaD for February 26. It is no longer on the front page, and I wanted everyone to see it.

March 7, 2006

Sleeping Prince Charming

March 6, 2006

Bianca from Disney's "The Rescuers"

When I was little, I used to have a bunch of 78s (for those young ones, those are the little records) that read a story to you. When you heard Tinkerbell ring her bell, you turned the page. One of my favorites was from "The Rescuers." The two rescuers were mice named Bianca and Bernard (or as Bianca would say, "Bahnahd, dahling.")

This is a Happy Meal toy from a couple of years back.

Not a high art picture, I understand, but I was wanting something new for my profile picture. Since I am married to Bahnahd, I figured I could portray myself as Bianca. ;)

March 5, 2006

Ahhhh, daily dose of Chocolate

Another kind of chocolate mint. These things were awesome!!! Of course, I had to sample a couple of them while shooting. ;)

This is an outtake from teh "Square Crop" challenge. I will also add that this is the one Bernard thought I should enter. Judging from my score right now, he is probably right. :(

March 4, 2006

Waiting to Ride

We decided to take Travis to see a rodeo. We figured he would like the horses and stuff, and he did. His favorite event was the barrell racing. Why? Because that is when the girls rode. The little guy goes absolutely bonkers about girls. ;)

I enjoy people watching at things like rodeos. There were people there in their Wranglers, western shirts, boots and cowboy hats, and the funny thing is, they didn't dress special to come. That's just how they dress. They also knew the words to every single country song that was played. I had on jeans, a black shirt and tennis shoes and a black leather jacket. I looked out of place. BUT, I was comfortable in that environment. Growing up here, and living here all my life, being a little bit redneck/good ole' boy is just a way of life. (I, however, did not know the words to the country songs, and my son was ready to leave. Country is the one kind of music he absolutely does not like to listen to).

This shot was taken from about 75 yards away with my 200. I had it on 1600 ISO so that I could use a decent shutter speed. Looking at it now, I need a bit more contrast in it. When I used the noise reduction, it softened up the focus and the bw a bit.

Oh yea, this gal was a bullrider. They were stretching and getting ready for the event. While they (the other bullriders) didn't completely ostracize her, you could tell she wasn't really part of the group. I suspect largely because she is a she. I, personally, don't understand why anyone (male or female) wants to crawl on a large animal that doesn't want them there, but they seem to enjoy it. For whatever her reasons are, I hope she gets what she wants and enjoys the ride. All 8 seconds of it. ;)

March 3, 2006

Wallpaper

This was the wallpaper on one section of the wall where Bernard and I stayed this weekend. I thought the texture was cool.

March 2, 2006

Jelly Belly jellybeans

March 1, 2006

Two pictures (well one picture pp two different ways).

I liked the color one because it means SPRING IS COMING!!!!!!!! But, I also wanted to play with bw because this just wasn't a really thrilling shot to begin with.

I really wanted to get "under" the flower and get it truly backlit, but I was not dressed appropriately to be lying on the ground. hahaha. So, I held the camera next to the ground, and without looking through the viewfinder, took the shot. This is cropped just a bit.

(And since someone asked, this is 3/1's picture and 2/28's picture is down there V. I've not missed any days, just made a text only entry. :) )


Flower in Black and White

Flower in Color

The month in review

Wow, February is over. AND I have complete two months of a PaD project. (yea me!) That is about 6 weeks longer than I thought I would have made it.

About a week ago, something clicked. I started having ideas of what to shoot, and I started to be able to make it look like I wanted it to. I have struggled for probably the past 18 months just trying to get a decent picture. It was frustrating. (is frustrating). I don't know what the difference is, but I'm not going to fight it. I'm not saying that everything I shoot is a work of fine art, but I am enjoying it again, and that goes a long way. I am also trying to do new things with the camera and post-processing.

My favorites for February? Hmmmmmmm. I guess the 14th and the 24th.

February 28, 2006

The cross at Lake Junaluska, NC

This picture tells alot about me on a couple of different levels.

I am a Christian, so the cross has obvious implications for me.

Also, though, I grew up about a mile from Lake Junaluska. I spent many a summer day there, riding my bike, swimming, and just hanging out. Later, I worked at the lake in a bookstore. This particular spot looks out over the lake and has a small amphitheater under the cross. Many, many, many times I have gone there just to sit and reflect on my life. I've worked through many a crisis at that point. Maybe it is being a Christian and sitting "under" the cross that helped; I don't know. I don't get there much anymore, even though I am not far from it, I just don't seem to have time.

The mountain in the background is Eagle's Nest. There are five mountain peaks around the lake, and if I were looking at a map, I could possibly remember the other four, but not right now. All five were sacred to the Cherokee Indians who roamed this area, and whose reservation is just over that peak.

February 27, 2006

Baby Shoes

(Wow, where has the month gone?????)

Two of the most important people in my life are under 4 feet tall. One of them currently wears these shoes (and will probably walk in the next 3 to 4 weeks) and the other one had a pair very similar to them.

You've seen their pictures (and will undoubtedly see more), and to try to describe them would take a lot more space than you are willing to read. (Maybe I should devote a whole week to each of them, like soni did with her kids. That was cool).

So, in looking at these baby shoes, I am reminded, once again, how quickly they grow up. I remember bringing Travis home from the hospital and being so totally overwhelmed at this little baby boy completely dependent on ME. That was scary. Then, three years later, bringing home the little girl. I was less nervous, this time, but still in awe of them.

At one point, my ob/gyn had a posters on the ceilings (ladies, I am sure you can figure out why. Guys, ask your lady). One of them said, "Babies show that God still has hope for the world."

Sometimes I read the news, or see stuff, and wonder what have I done by bringing two more little innocents into this world (until Kristi gets mad, then she can flat out bite~~)? But, I know that I can commit to raising them the best I know how, and teaching them how to be "successful" (not necessarily by the world's standards).

My children are definitely loved.

<3

February 26, 2006

This was my painting with light entry. I really liked it, and it scored over a 6 (barely). I have a notion to do a whole series of these with our various instruments, then put them together in one big ole poster thing. :)

February 25, 2006

Junior Mints

I love these things. I was going to do something like this for the "comfort challenge" at dpc, but decided not to because 1) there will probably be 50 eleven shots of chocolate (understandably so), 2) I had to clone a bunch of stuff out cuz I was lazy in my set up, and 3) I have a painting with light shot that is way too cool! (I think. I might actually score a 5)

Back to the subject. I think many people like or dislike stuff based on their childhood/young adult experiences. I know I do. One of the reasons I like Jr. Mints so well is probably because my daddy would buy a big ole' box of them when he would take us to the movies. I always enjoyed that time. Our movie theater was an old fashioned type theater that had one screen, and one movie would show at 7, one at 11 and a matinee. Nothing like the mega-plexes now that go 24-7 with a gazillion movies. Life was simpler then.

My daddy was an interesting man. He was always very quiet, preferring to listen rather than talk. When he did say something, it was wise to be quiet and listen, because it was probably important. Oddly, both my sister and I married guys with that same trait and my little sister is dating a guy like that. Maybe it is just so we can talk more. :) He was also an avid outdoorsman and absolutely hated winter time because it kept him in. At one point, he had broken his leg (long story), and the dr. had ordered him to stay off of it. Mom missed him one day and found him outside in a chair working on the water lines of the house. Growing up, if a big snowstorm was predicted, he would load us up and head to Florida. No lie. I remember, more than once, checking out of school on Friday, going to Disney World on Saturday, Sea World on Sunday, and back at school on Monday.

On June 1, 1999 my dad suffered a massive heart attack. Attempts to revive him were successful, but he had been "out" for almost 20 minutes. As a result, his brain swelled and caused irreversable damage. He was in a chronic-vegatative/semi-comatose state for 2 1/2 years after that. My mom kept him at home and took care of him 24/7 despite the fact that she had never had any medical training. To those of us that knew Daddy, we could tell when he was "alert" and when he wasn't. We could tell when he was aggravated and when he was trying to communicate with us. It wasn't easy, and I know that many would say it was unfair of us to "keep him alive" (he had a feeding tube, very similar to the Terry Schiavo case last year), but I know that for our family, those 2 1/2 years brought us (including Daddy) closer together than we would have ever been without that trial.

Daddy passed away, quietly in his sleep, early on the morning of January 3, 2002. Interestingly enough, it was the first snow of the winter. That was about like him. :) Eight days later, I would give birth to my first born son. THAT, my friends, was an emotional week, but speaks of the cycle of life.

February 24, 2006

With this Ring

I had originally planned to "tell" about me in an organized, logical fashion. BUT, as life would have it, that ain't happenin' this time around. I guess in one sense, it's almost more logical this way -- my life is kinda haphazard a lot of times too.

Anyway. If you were to meet me in person, you would know that any conversation won't go far without some mention of my husband or kids. Tonight, the picture represents my husband and marriage. (If you want to see his PaD, click on the "nards656" link over there ------>)

Bernard and I started dating in December 1993. I was a college senior, and he was, well "grown-up." :) About six months earlier, I had gone to a funeral to make a guy's girlfriend mad (yea, real mature, eh what?), and the place was packed. As many southern funerals go, there was local quartet singing. I won't say it was love at first sight, but I do remember standing in the very back of the church, seeing Bernard, and thinking, "Hey, there is a potential." (Yea, real mature again.) My next thought, though, and I kid you not, was "But he is only about 16." I was 22; might be a stretch there . ..

After the funeral, we were hanging out talking, because that is what good southern people do after funerals, and a woman that I have known practically all my life comes up and says she wants to introduce me to her nephew. Oh, Lord.

Then, she walks up with the "16" year old. Is she crazy???? Nope, he just looks almost 10 years younger than what he really is. We met. Good. On with our lives.

SIX months later, he calls. The rest is history. Well, except for 3 days earlier in our "courtship" when I decided "maybe not."

We were married on May 10, 1997. He is my best friend and my confidant. Things aren't always perfect, but I am committed to him and the life we have chosen to live together. When I look at friends around me, I know that Bernard is a true blessing from God.

:)

February 23

A Horse

Not the shot I wanted to get today, but it was there, so I took it. One of my sister's 17 horses. Nothing metaphorical/autobiographical about this one. :) Just a picture for today.

February 22, 2006

I was thinking the other day about how I would describe myself to someone meeting me for the first time; someone with no knowledge about who or what I am. It got kinda complicated. I have never fit into any one "mold."

To the redneck, I probably look high class. To the high class, I look redneck.

To the non-intellectual, I come across as smart. To the true genius, I am an idiot. :)

I listen to country, comtemporary Christian, pop, classical, "oldies" (which now seems to include the 70s and 80s -- when did that happen?), and even bluegrass occasionally.

I like 5 star dining, and I like McDonalds. There's nothing like a good 4X4 to take to the Monster Truck show, but then, that Jag would be great to take to the ballet as well.

I'm a former public school teacher (now at the Community College level) who wholeheartedly supports homeschooling.

I seem to be made up of opposing forces, so I decided to use my photography to help me (and anyone that reads this) understand me better.

So, today's picture is a Bible. The first and foremost important thing in my life is my relationship with Christ. {Please note, I did NOT say "religion."} The Bible (just one tool in my walk with Him) is how I get to know God/Christ better. It's stories comfort, encourage, convict, and direct me. The passages between these two covers has given me answers to some of life's most troublesome questions. It has made me cry. It has made me laugh. When life is swirling around me in a sewersome current, I can trust the Bible to give me the words I need to hear.

So, today's PaD is my Bible -- my guidebook for life.

February 21, 2006

Travis, age 4

He was playing with one of our laundry bag things . ..

February 20, 2006

Kristi

Sorta handheld 4 second exposure. The tripod wouldn't fit where I needed it, so I had to use it like a monopod.

February 19, 2006

CDs. An outtake from dpc's 1980s challenge. I saved over the original, so was afraid to submit. Like, duh.

February 18, 2006

My Backyard

Nope the picture isn't crooked. This is the hill behind our house. I swear, we should start a Christmas tree farm.

This image is straight from the camera, just resized.

February 17, 2006

Karma's Constellation

If you look really closely, you can see some red and blue pixels. This is a 30 second exposure of the back of my lens cap. It was done as an experiment (to see if there were any dead/hot pixels), but before I could take and actual picture, my son decides he is sick and my time is *poof.* So, this was my PaD. :/

February 16, 2006

So close, yet so far.

Using my macro ring thingys again. Hand held, so it was a touch underexposed (duh, no big surprise there).

In PSP, I adjusted white balance, levels and contrast. Then, because I was shooting at ISO 200, I swiped it through Neat Image to get rid of the noise.

February 15, 2006

Color My World

February 14, 2006

(2 pictures today. I was going to enter the one of my little boy in dpc's HEART challenge -- calling it Lonely Heart, but I figured that was too much of a stretch.


A bird, taken from really far away

Lonely Hearts

February 13, 2006

The things we fear.

When I was little, my older brother and sister used to tell me all kinds of scary things about basements. We didn't have one, so of course I believed every word of it. (And that is just one of many mean things they did to me). I was especially terrified of my aunt and uncle's basement, though I'm not sure why. I have outgrown this fear, to a large degree, though I won't go down these steps without the light on!

The other fear is stairs. I absolutely hate them. I'm not phobic in that I avoid them, I am just really really cautious and slow. And if there is a handrail, yep, I'm holding on for dear life. (Incidentally, the handrail here is cloned out -- helped the symmetry a bit).

Kind of an odd subject just before Valentine's Day, eh what? ;)

February 12, 2006

I think we need to clean our keyboard. 8-)

February 11, 2006

Guitar Man

The sequel to February 3rd's "Piano Man." :)

February 10, 2006

Juxtaposition

February 9, 2006

I <3 nards656!

(he is my husband, in case you didn't know!) Sometimes, I just like to think about him. :)

January 8, 2006

From the Ground, Up

The land around our house is extremely wet. I don't know if it is a series of underground springs, or just one big honking one. While neighbors redrill wells, ours keeps on pumping away.

The down side is that every winter, it gets cold and the water just under the ground freezes and pushes up. (The brown things are little bitty dirt clods). Then, they melt, and we have nice loose topsoil. Unfortunately, it is usually on a hill so that means erosion when the rains come. Interesting cycle.

Back to the picture. Taken with my +4, +2, and +1 rings almost "blindly" because of the angle I was having to shoot and I couldn't see through the viewfinder.

The area represented is probably one to two inches wide.

January 7, 2006

Blue Ridge Paper Company, Canton NC

My husband has a much, much better shot of the plant. His is all nice and colorful (not to mention he has a bigger zoom). Taken with my 70 (?) - 200 lens.

February 6, 2006

Shoe without a Foot

Background -- I was rapidly developing a migraine headache and simply wanted to go to bed. Looking around, I noticed this shoe and my first thought was "Why is Travis lying there?" Then, I realized there was no foot in the shoe (which is a good thing). Just one of those weird moments that make you startle. ;)

But hey, I got my picture and didn't have to skip a day, headache or not.

January 5, 2006

Kristi is turning ONE!

As per the Valentine family tradition, the birthday girl gets her own birthday cake. She was hesitant at first, but then got the hang of it fairly quickly. Oddly enough, despite the amount of cake on her face and hands (this was actually towards the end of her adventure), she had none on her clothes. Except around the sleeves.

Her birthday is actually Wednesday, so I will probably post her again!

February 4, 2006

Hair Ribbon

Playing around with some abstract stuff (none of which I liked) but thought this one might work in my PaD.

February 3, 2006

Ain't He Cute!

This is my husband (nard656) playing the piano (which he does beautifully) at the Adult High School/GED graduation at the community college where I work.

I underexposed it quite a bit (I am soooooo good at that), but looking at it now, I think I still have some work to do on the colors. They look a bit strange to me.

February 2, 2006

Emotive Rubber Bands

Started out trying to do something for dpc's "Abstract" challenge. These are my rubber bands again. I wanted to go with a more emotional type shot.


Rubber bands aren't emotional. ;)

And this shot will NOT be entered into the challenge.

February 1, 2006

The Cow

IF I had a theme for Feb., I was thinking about Black and White. Surely this fits. HAHAHAHA

This beast was so not happy with me. Shot with my bigger lens (I can't even remember the numbers right now, how lame is that?).