August 15th, 2010

I missed the twisted theme because I had to work all day and lost motivation, so we are skipping to Sunday. And I kind of just disregarded the 'friends' theme. I guess you could stretch this photo meaning to say that these cars are friends to these men. And they suuure were pretty. I just really liked the top picture. And the bottom picture I just added for fun. A lot of the die hard guys that take their cars on tours had little scenes set up like the Betty Boop drive-in diner. The top image actually had a little shadow box set up on an easel that they had made using a miniature version of the same car. That's about all for this one, I just like old cars.

August 13th, 2010

For the fantasy theme I wanted to do a shot with this paper-bag-mask idea that I had. I have made a couple more, and am planning to do a mini-photoshoot with them. I want all the shots to be in black and white with colored masks. I amped up the vibrancy in this shot to increase the fantasy theme. Anyways, I am going to keep playing around with it.

August 11th and 12th, 2010

I decided to combine the hat theme of August 11th, with the black and white theme of August 12th. I didn't want to get redundant, and I also didn't get a good high contrast black and white picture. I had to model for this myself, so excuse my modeling abilities. This was one of the first pictures I took and I really liked the angle, despite the fact that it looks like I am not wearing clothes. (Which I was).

I chose this hat because it is so colorful and unique. And I looove antique hats. Especially with netting. I believe I got this hat at a costume yard sale.

August 10th, 2010

Today's theme was still life, which was a pretty open theme. Last year I didn't go 'back to school shopping' since I was in college we figured it wouldn't really matter. But people don't just dress like slobs in college, *most people*, and so this year I decided I wanted to do some fall shopping. I am just really tired of most of my fall clothes. And I love the prints they have this year! They are bringing back super vintage floral patterns and eclectic jewelry that I love! These are some things I bought that day arranged in a pile. Kind of boring, but since these are my new clothes I like it.

August 9th, 2010

Today's theme was summer. So the gray and rainy weather really helped enhance this. Anyways, with a little photo editing you can hardly even tell, with the exception of the little girl's sweatshirt.

When I first started thinking about this theme I wanted to do something with candid shots of little kids doing summery things -- licking Popsicles or watermelon would have been ideal! There were a few kids over at the park, but these weren't the most interesting pictures. I included the flower shots too because I liked the coloring, even if the depth of field is really wonky in that last shot.

August 7th, 2010

August 6th was 'looking up', and I couldn't get a decent shot. So I decided to save my dignity since my blog attendance is always on thin ice anyways.

Today's theme was benches. I went on a hunt around town for a unique bench, but I liked this one best. ( And I didn't find any unique benches). But it had been rainy off and on today, and I liked how the pinkish outdoor light was reflected off the wet bricks and damp bench-boards. I just increased the temperature of this to give it a sepia feel.

August 5th, 2010

Desserts! When I thought of this theme I looked through a lot of pictures of 'culinary photography', and most of the images I found were soo prettty! But I looked through the fridge and the best I could come up with was ice cream and magic shell. I couldn't even find the maraschino cherries :( Have you guys ever had magic shell? It is very magical. It makes you think you are eating a chocolate bar with your ice cream.

Also, its super liquidy so it just runs out of the bottle so you can really put a ton on your ice cream. A curse and a blessing.

August 4th, 2010

Muuuusic. I could have done a lot more with this theme, but ended up just taking a picture of my lap harp. That song I may add, is the only song I know how to play on the recorder as well, so it really hits home to me (not). I also included a picture of the little boy who got a bath today! He looked so pathetic and weird I had to take a picture! He looks pretty cute now though.

August 3rd, 2010

Today's theme was jewelry so I thought I would try to channel my inner 'wedding photographer' because I have seen a lot of shots similar to this. They are thinking of new ways to photograph wedding rings. I am a little unhappy regarding this lighting, but thats what happens when you use fluorescent lights! >:( I will have to keep trying, I think I could capture the clarity of the stones better with clearer light. And I DID use a tripod for this so don't blame my unsteady hand. ( This is my birthstone ring by the way -- quick guess what stone!)

August 2nd, 2010

The theme for August 2nd is animals. We took a drive down Green Valley Rd. hoping to find some animals close to the fence. I had some lighting issues with some of them-- they always look so much better on the camera screen :( We found this llama first (Or Alpaca?) And I loved its crooked yellow teeth! That was originally going to be my picture of the day, until I saw a baby calf nursing on the way back and stopped the car. It was probably the sweetest thing I have ever seen! I love cows. I took so many pictures of it, and was a little disappointed in uploading them. I am a little dissatisfied with the background coloring. I should play with it a little more. But then I heard a guy yelling from behind me to his neighbor about watching the 'people out on the road that were probably stealing their mail boxes', apparently it is a big problem. And then their dogs started barking, so I walked across to let them know what I was doing. The lady seemed nice, and her dogs were pretty sweet. I was still a little shaken though. I want people to think I was doing something bad!

August 1st, 2010

Okay time to start over! I do a little better with themes. The theme of day one is circles. This one is not very creative, but at least I took it early in the day with good lighting.

July 28th, 2010

Pressure washing pressure washing. I like the look of the spray-- it looks like a stormy day! My hair looks brown though. Today was the nine year anniversary of my grandma's passing so we planted some flowers that we had bought for her on the 26th (Her Birthday). Hopefully they will survive in our driveway since our whole deck is completely empty!

July 24th, 2010

Since I haven't taken many pictures this week, I decided to post a whole bunch for this day. I went up to AMHS to take some pictures of the mountain and the moon-- which obviously were not very good, seeing as I didn't post them. But then I turned around and I loved the color of the sky with the color of the foothills. So I played around with color settings and posted a few. Look at that beautiful car in the bottom one! I think it would like it's brakes fixed before it's owner gets in an accident! -- eh dad?

July 19th, 2010

Just thought I would take a picture of my novel of choice, Harry Potter. (An authentic midnight version -- fresh out of the box!) You movie-watchers (Dad) don't know what these Deathly Hallows are yet -- but since they play such a major role in book 7 I thought I would use this chapter as my picture. This is my 4th reread for this book, I have to be around ten reads on books 4, 5, and 6. Not that I am competing or anything, I just feel like I can always reread them, they are nice and long so you tend to forget things. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part one is coming this Nov. and I can't wait! I want to do the IMAX this round. I only have two movie releases left:( I love book 7, even though it's bittersweet; and I can proudly say I have never picked up a twilight book, and hopefully I never will!

July 18th, 2010

Can you tell what I have been doing lately? Working in the yard! We hired a painter for the house, but we are going to be doing the deck and garage. So now we have to move the useless sandbags and everything else within a 2 ft parameter of the house. Any assistance removing a pesky rhododendron?

July 17th, 2010

Got it! Man is it hard to keep track of fluttering butterflies with a long lens. I was more prepared today and ran to get my camera when I saw it. All my shots were clear, I just wish I would have gotten a little closer. The middle shot is slightly blurred because I cropped it in. I wish we had more monarchs around here! And it didn't hurt that the butterfly landed on a nice colorful flower patch!

July 16, 2010

Bees bees bees. They were loving the daisies yesterday. I settled for this after missing an elusive monarch butterfly.

July 15th, 2010

Another step in recreating my autumn porch inspiration (see below), I made a natural grapevine wreath. Lots of dried flowers, wheat, berries, etc. I tried working in some dried cattails but they were too long. I topped it with two sweet little peachy orange birdies. I love it! I was sad I couldn't get a better picture. I will have to take a picture of our porch in the fall and see if it meets my standards. Dried flowers sure do make a mess though...

July 13th, 2010

Garden Angel? Oh pleeeease make our vegetables grow!

July 12th, 2010

In addition to our yard work, we are in the process of picking paint colors because it is about time. I found a complete porch inspiration on another blog -- and am desperate to recreate it. The color of the "inspiration" house is a little darker than Mom wants to go though, so we have compromised on a color. This was about a week ago when I picked out initial colors -- but today we found a yard sale, which was attached to a house with a nice paint color we agreed on. The lady was nice enough to find her bucket and chip us off a blob of it to take to Lowes. Tonight we found another house on R St we like, so we might go over tomorrow and ask for a sample of theirs too so we can see which one we like the best. They are very similar I think. What color is it you ask? You will have to wait and see. Now the real question is pay someone, or do it ourselves?

July 8th, 2010

Okay, okay. I know I am super behind. I've been home alone, 'misplaced' my camera card, and have been unable to upload any pictures. I found it tonight in the couch cushion, so prepare for a wave of mediocre pictures. I have had recent inspiration though, so hang in there for some amazing pictures....hopefully.

Anyways, we have had a pretty calm winter which = a cool summer? The weather FINALLY got nice and warm, so we have been doing yard work yard work yard work.

July 6th, 2010

My running feet. Obviously you can tell where the camera focused, but self timers are tough. I liked this picture anyways and decided it was the strongest compositional, and I liked the subject. I can accept that the feet are blurred since they are in action, and really the ground is the only stationary level of a run anyways. When you are running your surroundings begin to blur; so with all that in mind I will fight for this picture. I will have to try some more with better light. We got to Cascade about 10 minutes too late. And I only ran a quarter of a mile (Nothing), because I think I am starting to bring back my Patellar Tendonitis which I have had off and on in the past, so Mom made me stop. Ice, elevation, and ibuprofen in my future. Does anyone know of any measured dirt running trails? The cement is wreaking havoc on my old joints. 10 years of soccer will do that to ya.

July 5th, 2010

I spent today doing yardwork-- we got our deck all cleaned and redecorated, and weeded a few beds. I scattered some surplus birdseed into this feeder and I "saw" the picture. I actually took a picture that I liked way better than this (better angle), but the bird seed was not in focus. I debated posting it anyways but decided against it.

July 4th, 2010

Happy Birthday America! I decided to post more than one picture for today and yesterday because I had enough pictures to where I couldn't decided what to post, but not enough to post in a full album somewhere else. Mom and I went to the book sale at 8:00 in the library which was packed, but I did find a couple books for my collection. Then we went home and got Murphy and went back to the Fourth of July festival at Les Gove like always. We got some cool glass earrings, and looked at the crafts and walked around. I wanted to photography the 'balloon arches' they always have, but they just had balloon clumps this year. We checked out the new "Discovery Park" which is supposed to be a sensory playground-- really cool. I think I will go back there for some pictures in the next couple of days. And I want to wait until its rainy so I can go there and play on it too! :) Afterwards we ate some BBQ food, and then I went with Sopha and his brother up to the Muckelshoots to get some last minute-marked-down fireworks. I have never been in there before ON July 4th, and it was nuts. The air was completely masked with gun powder, litter was everywhere, and at one point we all simultaneously got something in our eyes. While we were waiting to turn into the lot we were watching fireworks out the window, and a huge mortar came right towards the car and hit all the windows. I thought it was sad how many parents brought their little babies there, and I even saw a dog. But it was a fourth of July experience I suppose, and we got to see a lot of really cool fireworks!

July 3rd, 2010

Today I went hiking in Skykomish with Sopha and his brother and sister. It was sunny in auburn supposedly, but rainy in Skykomish. It was still a pretty hike though, and a nice path that led to Barclay Lake. Close to the lake on our way there, I happened to glance to the side; and my gaze fell directly on a giant banana slug. It was so fast that I already past it though, so I kept walking, but not as happily. We ate cheese, pepperoni, wheat thins, and granola bars; but then we had to go back: Back to the slug. So on the way back I was completely freaked, and walked on Sopha's heels the entire time, forcing myself to just look at his shoes, and then we he spotted the same disgusting banana slug he picked me up and carried me about five feet. By then i had freaked myself out so much I was starting to cry. It was pretty traumatic! But we made it out and that was the only slug I saw, I guess it would have been fitting to take a picture of it, but how do you edit a picture of something you can't stand to look at? Afterwards we ate yummy sandwiches at a little deli and then headed to Eagle Falls, which is the bottom two pics. That night I tried my hand at firework photography. I will have to keep trying, but atleast I know what to do now, and I got the hang of my cord remote. It was pretty smoky though! But not too chilly.

July 1st, 2010

Yeah I didn't start this month out with a bang. I hate using the flash, but I let my light disappear, and this subject was just sitting in front of me. This is a Murphy mess. We have to clean up after him every night because he loves to play and chew. That rope toy should be all together, but he almost immediately tugged it apart. I am surprised that this tennis ball still has the felt on it, because that is usually the first thing to go, and there are also splinters from a big stick he brought in earlier. I took the stick away, but he saw where I put it and cried so much I gave it back. We take sticks away once he starts eating them, but this one he just chewed on. Anyways I just thought I would document this mess. It would have been nice to edit this in someway, but I need my Lightroom!!!

June 30th, 2010

Purple. How much more literal could I get? You can get some pretty cool shots of crayons though; which I did not, but I thought I would try. (I included the tiny thumbnail to show that I did some other angles besides the large version). There were some other compositions that I liked but my Lightroom decided to expire tonight, and Photoshop is so much more work :( It was a million times harder making a legitimate vignette in Photoshop-- and can you even tell its there? This was the first purple thing i thought of, or violet as the crayons say. (note: I arranged the "violet" to be in the center purposely). I am not sure whether crayons these days are saying 'purple' or not. I HATE when people say red-purple, or blue-purple. That sounds stupid, so if that is what YOU do, you should stop. Red-Violet rolls off the tongue much better. Once you get into the art world though, you find 'Ultramarine Violet' and 'Manganese Violet' instead, but that is a different can of worms.

June 29th, 2010

'The Faces of Auburn' -- recognize anyone? I don't. I didn't really know what to take a picture of today and I have thought this mural in downtown Auburn was cool, so I went down to get a shot. You can't really get a good shot of something painted like this, so it is mostly just show and tell. Aren't they cool? Adds a little something to the run down part of Auburn. Today's theme was actually "words", which I used a few days ago because I mixed them up; so I took a picture of the Cavanaugh Hardware sign. Poor Cavanaugh's. I thought it looked like a sad store front in comparison with the past.