My Boy

I had an impromptu date with my pup today. I was struck with an idea while I was walking a client this morning and it made me want to bring my boy back to that park with my camera. I knew he would love the foot deep sea of leaves on the ground.

And sure enough he was a mad man. He barely stayed still for two seconds. But I managed to capture some good shots as he darted around the leaf garden.

He was a good sport. He always is. He was clueless to what I was doing the most of the time. Everything else was more interesting than me. That's fine. Find out Monday the real reason I was at that park. 

I can't tell you but I was too excited about it not to post a little hint to it.. lol. I'm weird. I know. I have to go to work. Till tomorrow...

London Fog

Have you ever tried on a London Fog raincoat? One of those long lush vintage ones with the rich thick fabric and the heavy buttons? I have always wanted one. I found one once at St Vinny's but it was too small so I had to leave it for the next special bargain searcher who happened to be a bit smaller than I. But those coats are the image of fall in the Northwest to me. This morning I couldn't get those raincoats out of my head as I navigated my way through the fog. The little bit of cars that were out at 6am were disappearing before my eyes as they got only yards ahead of me. It was strangely comforting, like being in your own private cloud that hid you from the rest of the world.

Kitsap Fog. Doesn't sound as luxurious, but still has its mystic. And perhaps an underlining dangerous vibe... just because of the area. Makes for alluring pictures though.

The leaves caught my eye too. They have been for some time now but I've just been too distracted and lost in space to stop and really look. I've only been giving them passing glances and fleeting thoughts of how pretty a picture that would make then going on my busy way. So today I took a few snap shots. It's a wonder how something so lifeless and cold can hold so much fiery passion before it decomposes and becomes one with the earth again.

Then  saw something that made me laugh out loud like a kid at 7am as I was wandering aimlessly around my neighborhood. Oh the joys of being a tortured youth... someone's parents out there are just thrilled at how popular their child must be.

Gone are the days of throwing the nerd's shoes up a power line... this generation puts Razor's in trees. 

I'm Tentatively Stepping Back In The Ring

Sup?
Anybody still there?

Well I am still milling around for those that have wondered. I don't have anything substantial to show you. Although I can direct you to some great photography I have at least had my hand in. But lately my life has consisted of walking 2 to 3 hours a day being led aimlessly around the county by furry four legged friends then crashing on my friend's couch to hold her house down while her little one's sleep and she keeps our roads safe. I've managed to sneak in my creative ventures though. Here and there.. when I have the mental capacity to. And hopefully with this little push in the artistic direction that my amazing Mr. Prez has given me (by means of relinquishing his laptop to me) I'll slowly settle back into my old habits here of sharing my artistic triumphs and failures with the world.
I wish I had pictures to show you, but, sadly... my one means of documenting my random works of art has been ruined. My beloved ipod touch bit the dust a few weeks ago. And with it went all of my ideas, pictures, saved links to projects I wanted to try my hand at, and my precious precious Instagram family. How I miss them... But I'm recovering. I've decided to jump back into Blogging and see if that helps sooth the pain of my missed instant gratification.

So stay tuned. I've found my camera. And somehow my motivation for the time being...  

Down With The Sickness

I miss my Tody! He's been sick with the flu for the past few days. So the last time I saw him was our underwater adventures. But I'll see him Sunday on his Birthday. Here are some pictures he's been taking!

Did You Know This Case Might Be Waterproof?

So Tody got a new camera case for his birthday. It has incredible amounts of potential, but we have yet to tap into that. It's an underwater case. And for those people who need things spelled out clearly for them it has waterproof printing on and in it like 57 times. Just in case you couldn't figure that one out. We found that a little redundant. The look of the case is interesting. I want to do a shoot of Tody shooting with his camera in that case. It just looks so exaggerated and funny. We couldn't figure out where to test it. Neither of us frequent any public pools in the area, and although Spring is showing her face the water in the Sound is still way too cold for a quick dip to test out the case. Short of lowering the camera on a rope with the intervalometer shooting continuously my big fish tank seemed like the only option right now. Jaws is a good model for me when I feel the urge to shoot something different.

 
 


Our biggest issue... the camera refused to sink. Tody had to hold it down so we couldn't leave it in there to shoot continuously. We tried a few things I have randomly strewn about my apartment to put in the bottom of the bag to weigh it down, but they were sad efforts. Nothing was heavy enough and if it was it definitely wasn't the right shape to fit in there and not scratch the camera. So back to brainstorming for new shoot ideas. Tody and I have come up with a few good ones for underwater, and just some great ideas that would lend well to having that protective layer. Tody is excited about making an underwater lightbox.

My mind is racing with interesting ideas for wet photography! Leave us a comment if you have an idea you want us to try.

Sketch

is how I have been feeling lately. Sketchy... not fully right. But I've managed to get quite a lot accomplished in the past week or so. I paid some bills, and got new supplies. Tody and I have been hard at work experimenting with shirt making. Some went well while more are interesting works in progress. He's been so patiently photographing everything I ask him to, even if the wait for getting the pictures online can get long. But we are finally current on all my finished pieces being documented. That includes my new ones I have yet to post. I've been playing with ink lately instead of painting. It's a lot more kid friendly, so the boys don't feel the need to make a mess everywhere with my expensive supplies. But I have discovered the joy of paint pens, so we'll see where that takes us.

I've also been hard at work on the blog for Our Sunflower Gallery! It's still a work in progress. I have a lot to do with it before I'm truly happy with is as a good website for our art. I'm also going to be manning our Twitter account and perhaps updating the Facebook too. Next month is creeping up quickly and everything seems to be falling together quite nicely. Forms are being filled out, insurance was gotten, venues are being booked, art should be getting framed... it's getting down to the hard stuff now.

So naturally I have been hard at work. I'm stressing a bit about my framing. I'm low on funds and resources but I have a growing collection of pieces that are not sellable if they aren't completely finished with a nice frame. But my output is still going strong. I'm gathering advise on how I should price, I was even going to post about pricing tips on the gallery blog. I feel it would be helpful. But I have a lot to do before I can start doing silly stuff like that.

I thought I would share some doodles I have been collecting over the years. I have just started photographing all my journals and drawings from before college and while I was going, because I'm curious about what I am still attracted to and interested in. I find these pictures are a good source of ideas for new projects or techniques. I am still drawing the same things even years later, I just have slightly different ideas.

Can't Keep Up

I feel like my to do list is getting out of control. Thank goodness for weekends off. I have to finish a painting today. Which... I think I can do that. As long as I get back to that as soon as I post this.

I just felt I needed to check in. I have fun light painting pictures to show you. Tody came over yesterday after work and we messed around in my living room and kitchen.

There was dancing...

And light fighting... 

And then I danced some more...

It was fun. I got a cheap new tripod for my camera since I can do a lot more with it. I just need to get some rechargeable batteries now, since the hack drains normal AAs.  I went a little crazy at Vinny's actually... I got a coffeemaker, a tripod, a few coloring books for the boys and a bunch of puzzles. And a bike helmet. All was needed... kinda. But at least I do my shopping at thrifts stores. 

Check tomorrow for new art!

4 Days

A lot can happen in 4 days. Although hundreds of sets of 4 days have gone by before with the same shit happening over and over again, these past 4 days have been different.

So hopefully I'm on a better path now, and I can really start concentrating on what I'm doing.  Or should be doing, I guess. I hope everyone had a good President's Day. Katie couldn't have put it better on her blog that day... That is exactly how I spent my day.

And every day since has been a little more interesting. I'm working on different things, and I'm finally getting used to my new schedule. I'm not feeling sick anymore. And I'm managing to not go crazy with my new extra cash. But I think my best news is thanks to Tody. He hacked my camera!! My Canon PowerShot A1000 IS is now pretty much an EOS Rebel. I can shoot in RAW, take long exposure, and change all my lens and timer settings. I'm still exploring all the weird setting's the hack has given me. But it's awesome! It completely changes how my macro pictures look.

And I took these pictures, with my camera!

I'm pretty excited about it. Tody did his camera too, but since he already has a pretty awesome camera his new settings are a lot cooler. He pretty much made my camera into his, and his into something way cooler. So keep an eye out for more interesting pictures. I have a lot of testing to do with this baby. I need to find it's limits. I had finally started using this camera to its fullest with the program on it. Now I need to see how far this new program will let me go. 

Better Late Than Never

I know I have been majorly AWOL lately. I've been busy with a lot of nothing it feels like.

But I'm here now. So I thought I would make it up to you with a lot of pictures.

I was wandering around my apartment with my camera when the aquarium caught my eye. I have myself a beautifully lit captive model right here in my living room... 

 Three in fact. Although one of them would not hold still.

I finally managed to get a good shot of him.

I don't know why I never thought of this before. 

Once I got bored of the fish I realized the aquarium its self is actually really interesting. 

You'd never know this was some mundane fish tank. I wonder what else I have in my apartment that needs to be photographed with my macro setting. 

PS I have a new painting up on my Art Page, check it out.