Phonography #28

Phonography time!  Feel free to link up here with your favorite cell shots from the week.  Care to read more about it?  The link will be open until the end of Friday (EST).  I look forward to seeing your shots!

I'm calling this weeks shots "Hide & Seek". 

 

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Scavenger Hunt

Capture the Sky

When I captured this shot it seemed like much more than getting the pretty blue sky and even more than getting a pretty backdrop to a nice, quiet moment.  I liked the lines crossing and the placement of the birds.  I thought it was sweet how they decided to place themselves.  But because I liked the graphic qualities when taking the image I thought it would be nice to highlight them, to force focus on those details.  So, I used some color.

It's my first time linking up with Kat's Eye View.  Theme-Capture the Sky

Everyday

Here is part of my everyday play with my daughter.  She has taken to imaginary play in such a fun way.  Lately she has wanted to play house.  

Check out Tammy's Bliss and Folly for the Inspired 5.  This week's theme is "Home"

Furry

We love our kitties.  Louise is the naughty one.  It's a good thing she makes up for it with massive amounts of cute.  Notice here (image to the left) that although she is being cute and "relaxed" she still has a really crazy look in her eyes...she could snap at any moment.

Here (to the right) is a more realistic photo of her.

(Frame courtesy of maybemej)

 
Life & Blurred

On an errand the other day I noticed this little gem in the parking lot.  I'll admit, I imagined myself driving it.  But even more, I imagined being able to put it in different locations to shoot. 

I just found out about "Texture Twist", check it out!

I linked up with the weekly Scavenger Hunt where there is always something to inspire, thanks Ashley! Ashley at Ramblings & Photos.  

Yesterday

Tried something new today...an animated gif. I know, they are kind of irritating to watch on a blog...I agree they are a bit distracting. But there's a time and a place for everything and I couldn't pick just one so this seemed like a good solution. I am linking up today with a new link-up for cell phone imagery. Between the two of us Monday is the only day without a phonography link. Hope to see you back here on Tuesday with more shots from your phone!

Sharing March

I thought I would try a different format for the month of March.  This one will fit right into a cd case.  I still may end up putting it up on the fridge though...what do you think?

If you would like a copy to print out for yourself just click here

I like this image for March because although it has some hints of Spring color it still has an end-of-Winter feel.  I am starting to get very excited for Spring.

Happy March!

Back in the swing...

I have ignored my little Etsy shop for a few months and was posting onto Flickr and this blog instead.  But after a sweet and convincing message (I also like to refer to it as "the kick in the ass I have been needing") from the lovely Carrie I have been rejuvinated.  I decided to list something every day and start paying some much needed attention to my shop.  Here are some new items I have listed!

1. Woman in foggy field, 2. Kiawah Island, 3. Unlocking Santana, 4. White Chair

Do you have an etsy shop?  I'd love to check it out!

Thank you

Do you know about Danijela?  Her blog shows off her great creativity and wonderful spirit...you can also see her in the ACoLab.  Danijela recently celebrated a blogging anniversary and shared her festive spirit with parties and goodies.  Yesterday I walked to the mailbox and found a little love in there for me!  I opened the envelope to find 4 beautifully crafted cards!  I love getting letters but even more, I love getting sweet surprise letters!

These cards are so pretty I had to share.  This gesture just reminds me of one of the reasons why I love blogging; I love the connections that form.  It's a really unique sort of friendship.  This ability to make connections with people all around the world has really been inspiring.  Thanks Danijela for making my day, putting a smile on my face, and sending some warm fuzzies my way.

Photo of the Week

New series, "Pages".  This image is called "February 20th".

Phonography #27

Welcome to this week's Phonography.  If you would like to join in please do!  The link will be open until the end of Friday.  If you would like to learn more you can visit the Phonography page.  I look forward to seeing your shots!

My photos for this week are from a beautiful drive home (I was in the passenger seat).  Spring showed itself this last week and almost every night there was a beautiful sunset.  It's so nice to have the weather brighten up a bit.

I did some experimenting with the image below, on the left and came up with the one on the right.  To me it looks like some futuristic building or a very tall computer.  The windshield wiper made for some great lines.

   

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Touch-Up Tuesday

Yesterday while on a walk we passed by an abandoned schoolhouse.  There's something really beautiful about the abandoned building.  It sits, falling apart slowly, being taken over by doves and nature.  But the details of the building remain in bits and pieces throughout the structure.  Yesterday I noticed the details around the roof.

Then, when looking at the image on my screen I imagine it assembled together like an old frame.

I like it as a frame.  It's not really my style but it does suit certain imagery.  I think I will put it on my freebie page should anyone want to download a jpeg of it.  If anyone would like a PNG file just comment below and I can email you a copy.

After assembling the frame it needed some punch so I added some hints of color,flattened, and cleaned it up a bit in the corners with the cloning tool.

After the frame was finished I thought it needed an image.  What is more suitable an image than one of the closed school.









I then added the image to the frame, adjusted the saturation and levels, and added a texture from Kim Klassen.

And there you have it-Old Knoxville Elementary.  Below, the before and after.

Miss Match - Answer

This week's theme for Miss Match was "Answer".  Here is what my partner Sara and I created.

Yay, treasure!

I have been trying to be a little more active on my Etsy site lately.  It's been paying off with some pretty new treasuries.

Here are two featuring a photo block of my register keys.

And here is one featuring a new photo to the shop, "The Pond Was All Hers". I like this treasury as it features some of my favorite female photographers as well as some new ones...proud to be a part.

Thanks to all three treasurers for spreading the love!

Bows, Balance, and Love

So the other night as I fell asleep I had a vision of this photograph in which I took a very long exposure while tying a bow on a box.  Is that an odd way to drift to sleep?  Lately, with the baby sleeping less I have had to restructure time on the computer and with projects.  So, I decided instead of the long exposure to do multiple exposures.  You may be saying, "Uh, Anika, way more time involved in multiple exposures..."  To which I would agree.  But I was able to experiment in Photoshop a bit with sandwiching the images.  (I am trying to learn something in Photoshop a bit everyday.  Sometimes that means just fiddling around with an idea or an image.)  I have only done that in camera and I wanted the layering to be more specific.  So, until I have a darkroom again one day, Photoshop is my darkroom.

Lately, I have been cutting out a bit of time on the Internet to work on photos a bit more.  I guess that my word of the year, "Balance", is still on my mind.  It's been a real challenge to juggle the things I want to do and the priorities I want to keep while the baby is asleep.  (It didn't used to be because she slept almost all day!  Now, she sleeps less during naps, wakes up earlier, and goes to sleep later.  Lately, I have been experimenting with just how little sleep I can be happy living off and have cut out almost all my tv viewing...priorities.)  When she is awake she is numero uno but when she is asleep I have an opportunity to get back into things I love to do. This juggling of time and re-setting of priorities has been a bit of a struggle for me.  In the beginning, it was a challenge to switch my mindset from being an independent to a person who cares for another person even before myself.  In the beginning I had to force myself to give up things I had done for years and loved most in the world.  Now, it's not so much forcing and it's made that personal time even more precious. To be honest, noticing that playing with baby IS what I want to be doing has been a really great personal reward in itself.  When I am with her, everything else can wait; and that's okay...good even...just the way it should be.  It has been a new way of thinking though and a new way of living.  It's become easier too... spending time with her and seeing that this shift feels less like  I am giving up things or sacrificing something and feels more like special, precious time.  Motherhood feels  more welcoming and feels like a great identity.  I never imagined mothering anything besides a cat or dog so perhaps that is why this new persona has been such a shift.  Or, more likely, this is probably just what happens when you have a baby.  I do think it's important to maintain a sense of self to be a better mom for her though.  Perhaps that is where the source of this struggle for balance stems from.  But for now, every time I see my daughter do something new, funny, or endearing I forget about everything else.  When I am with her I am happy to be in the moment experiencing something new, new to the both of us.  Whoa, this was just going to be a blog about a bow!  I'll wrap (sorry, had to) things up now...oh, here is another version of the shot that I altered for the 52 of 2011 group on Flickr.  The theme to shoot for this week is "Love".

Phonography #26

Welcome!  It's Tuesday and that means time to post your phone photos.  This shot was taken last night on a Valentine's walk.  It was lovely.  This warmer weather (still quite cold but such a huge difference) makes it nice to get out for a bit and enjoy a nighttime stroll.

There is a link-up below and if you want to know more you can check out the Phonography page.  The link will be up until Friday midnight.  I look forward to seeing your shots!

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Tied Brick

This is an odd thing to come across but it was an unusual still life all set up and ready to shoot...I love when that happens.  Although I didn't shoot this this week I did edit it for the first time making it all new to me.  So this is my POTW and I am also linking up with Paper Heart Camera's Touch-Up Tuesday.  If you want to learn some great tricks about editing photos I highly recommend glancing at the other participants, always inspiring.

Oh! Almost forgot,I also used this image for the Miss Match project this week.  The word prompt was "Tie".  If you would like to see the diptych created you can visit Miss Match here.

Happy Day to You

House Hunting Part 1

For the last 6 months or so we have been looking at moving.  We love our house, LOVE it.  But for the last while...okay, since the baby arrived, things have been feeling a little cramped.  So, house hunting.  At first we would go around 2-3 times a week filled with excitement.   That waned after the first few weeks.  We would see 3-4 listings, come home at dark, make dinner, put the baby to bed...  it got to be too much. We burnt out.  Plus, the houses we visited just weren't what we were looking for.  So we quit for awhile and have started to look once again.  To be honest, as time goes on and we see less listings available we do widen our search, lower our expectations, and well, frankly it's just not as exciting anymore.  But I do like looking at houses.  Each one really does have its own feel, an energy.  The other day it dawned on me that I like going to these houses to take photos.  The worse the house is the more photos I end up taking.  There are some weird houses out there.  I love it.
 
Here, this is what I am talking about:
The other day we went to see this house.  The description read something about being on more than two acres, that it was two stories with space on the third floor to turn into another room, blahblahblah.

We arrived and saw this.  However... 

...this is more how I felt when seeing the house. 

Mind you, it could have been the drive over to the house.  In the twenty minutes it took to get there I could hear banjos playing in my head, imagine me telling my friends that "yes, it is like living in the country, hehe, no, I don't know why he's sharpening his knife on the porch.  Oh, the shotgun?  Hehe, it must just be for looks?" But then in the same moment I reminded myself to stay open-minded.  If this house was great I was going to love this drive!  More photo ops for sure and it'll be nice to make friends with neighbors who churn their own butter.  

So, open minded.  We step onto the porch and ignore the holes eaten away on the banister.  (Quick fix-up if the house is great!  What are carpenters for?!)  We ignore the dirty hand prints on the front door.  Yes, to me that's kinda creepy but it is a foreclosure and perhaps it wasn't even the old tenants who lived here.  Oh!  I forgot to mention that when I read the fact sheet for the house I noticed that there have been 4 different owners in 6 years time.  Perhaps this should have been a red flag?  When we enter the house it's dark and really cold.  I zip up my daughters coat for fear that she may catch something.  It's creepy but I still tell myself that with a fresh coat of paint and some better lighting I could fix it up and go further into the house.  It gets worse.  It's filthy and falling apart.  Blech.  So I turn to our realtor.  We like her.  We can be ourselves and we discuss the houses openly.  She's nice and honest and very positive.  So I ask her, "Hey Mary, I was noticing on the fact sheet that the first three owners all lived here less than a year...  that's gotta be ghosts right?"  and I smile.  She laughs and looks around the house and says that she can't think of another reason why that would be. 

Something I have noticed on our many house adventures - there are some oddly placed mirrors in many of the houses.  But in even more we see they are just lying against a wall somewhere.  Again, great for a photo op but if I wanted to sell a house I would at least take it out of the room...or clean it.  I guess my priorities are different.  Oh, and while I am on the topic, cleaning the carpet would be a great touch...or maybe even just passing a vacuum across it.  I know, crazy talk.

She then points out that the floors in one room aren't looking too good.  There are strange stains seeping into the wood.  I imply under my breath that that's where the bodies were hidden and leave the room.  I hear Mary laugh and then laugh nervously (probably less because of ghosts and more because of how inappropriate my joke was.  But as I said, it's good to have a realtor, or anyone really, that we can be ourselves around)  The house gets creepier and creepier and I wonder why we look further.  What's up with these stains?  Do you see the darker stain under the splatter of white?  Ew.

Still wondering why we haven't left yet?  Bingo, great photo op.  I want to get a better shot but don't want to stand in the closet because it was gross.   So, this was it...whoever wrote the description should get a raise.  It lured us in like the suckers we are. 

Picking the Lock

Okay, really sorry for that pun...couldn't help myself.

I just wanted to share a couple of treasuries I am a part of.  I just started back up with my Etsy store for the first time in months.  This month is my one year anniversary so it was a good reminder to start paying it some love again.  There are some great items on these...already found a few items I would like to come home with me!



And one with my peacock photo...

Something new...

I added a triptych to my Monochrome series.  I love this series because to every yin I create yang.  I framed each panel separately.  I quite like the simplicity of it...  It makes the simple mood of that moment come back to me.  I think I am going to add the framed edition to my Etsy shop...I am celebrating my one year in Etsy this month and think I may celebrate with a give away soon, stay tuned.

     

Although I framed the panels separately here is the yang to the above, assembled it in Photoshop.

PS-thanks to everyone who was so sweet to me the other day.  It took longer than I thought it would to pick myself back up but people like you really brought a bright spot to me that day, you are awesome and I appreciate you.