My Camera

Saturday

The Challenge

Recently, a blogger that I follow, Discovering Photography, asked if anyone had any advice on photographing random people, strangers. I didn't have any advice, but stated that I was trying to get up the nerve to do it myself. So I "dared" him to take at least one photo of a random stranger and to post it to his site by tomorrow, March 8th, and I would do the same. These are a result of that dare.

This gentleman was working in the computer lab at school. I liked the white cinder block wall behind him for a backdrop, his furrowed brow and the way he was wearing his Detroit Lions hat. Maybe his deeply, furrowed brow was due to the terrible season the Lions had this last year... heck, this last decade! Anyway, I did ask his permission so he wouldn't think I was crazy, but I think he thought I was anyway.

This one was taken from across a large room, where I was just one of a hundred people, so not very noticeable. I was wishing she would sit up a bit straighter, but alas... she slouched like this the entire time I was there.

Thursday

Holga Tree

This photo was inspired by my friend, Amy, who is a talented photographer herself. She takes "real" photos with "real" film. Haha! She just purchased a new Holga camera, which is one of my favorite effects to fake digitally. I love the drama!

Man's Original Virtue

“Disobedience is man's original virtue.
It is through disobedience that progress has been made,
through disobedience and through rebellion.”
~Oscar Wilde

Gate outside the Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Tuesday

Rain, Rain

Okay, okay, I know. Enough with the berries already, but this time they have water drops off of them!

I Will Be More Creative

I went to the Creative Crawl in Grand Rapids, Michigan last week. This is where Graphic Design and Advertising studios hold open houses for people to come in, see their facilities and view some of their work. It was incredibly inspiring. I wish I could have taken a zillion pictures, but that wasn't what I was there for. I did snap a pic of this chalkboard... I had to! This is placed above an old school desk in the front entry of Extra Credit Projects, a design firm that really impressed me with their fun, creative, witty and intelligent atmosphere and designs.

Here's where you can contact them, if you so desire:
Extra Credit Projects
www.extracreditprojects.com
560 5th St. NW, Suite 302
Grand Rapids, MI, 49504
phone: 616-454-2955

Iced

Sunday

I'm Readin'.

"Hey, Ab! What are you doing?"
"I'm readin'!"

Thursday

A bit of a stretch

I'm so ready for the snow to melt that I find my eyes lingering longingly anywhere there is a sign of melting.

In order to constantly be creating, I set myself little challenges. One challenge is to find the beauty in our surroundings always and I try to accomplish this by taking at least one new photo while waiting for my daughter's bus each week. This is fairly challenging because we live in one of those large apartment complexes where everything is landscaped and lined up in neat little rows. It might be nice, but it's not exactly inspiring. So this is from last week. It's maybe a bit of a stretch, but it's the only one I felt was outside of the proverbial box.

Zzoooommm!!!

This shot was taken with the camera set to auto-focus. It came out zoomy (that's a technical term, I'm sure) but slightly focused on his face. So I exaggerated the zoominess (again with the technical terms) and messed with the color a bit. I think it's a really cool picture.

Tuesday

Change is not Merely Necessary

“Change is not merely necessary to life, it is life.”
~Alvin Toffler

The Sun Has Got it's Hat On!

The sun has got it's hat on,
Hip, hip, hip, hip hooray!
The sun has got it's hat on
and it's coming out to play!

That's the song Ab asked me to sing when she saw the sunrise from her bedroom window. "Should I take a picture?" I asked.

Once I saw a little bird...

... come hop, hop, hop.
And I said, "Little bird, won't you stop, stop, stop?"

As we were waiting for the bus in this morning's frigid cold, these little birds and the blue sky behind them reminded us that Spring is on it's way!

Bubblegum

Saturday

Sunrise in early February

Different stages of the same sunrise with a few different effects.

Friday

Art Reminds

“Life beats down and crushes the soul
and art
reminds you that you have one.”
~Stella Adler

Most of the snow has melted and I realize that soon these naked trees I love to photograph will soon be covered with leaves again. This mostly thrills me, but also makes me a little bit sad. I love these photos.

Tuesday

Jonny Lang: Part 1

We went to see Jonny Lang and his brilliant band play at the end of last month. I've been a fan for many years, but never had the opportunity to go see him live. My husband bought me tickets to the show and a night out of town sans children! It was great!

If you've never had the opportunity to see Jonny play live, GO SEE HIM! It was a fabulous show. Not only is Jonny a phenomenal musician and singer, but his band is amazing as well. You will not be disappointed!