Category: Photography

Photography

The Occasional Lake

Shelly

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Behind my apartment is a low lying area that tends to flood whenever it rains. Which it has been doing all day. On top of all the snow that is, of course, melting. Our occasional lake has grown quite girthy. The layer of ice beneath the water makes it even more reflective than just plain water.

All this rain and the warmer temperature meant pea soup fog on the way home. That was kind of exciting. Everything was clear until I crossed the bypass and started out Hwy 45. Then, I hit a bank of fog and got a little disoriented. The road is a bit twisty and hilly in spots, which increased the excitement factor. Wheee!

Of course, I had to go outside and take pictures when I got home. The image at right is of trees reflected in the Occasional Lake. I increased the contrast and darkened it a bit in Photoshop, then flipped it upside down and cropped out everything but the trees.

Addendum: Oh my. The ghostly “face” that you (may or may not) see is not real. It’s just an optical illusion called pareidolia.

Photography

Look at the Bones…!

Shelly

I’m running out of old yard sale junk, and will need to buy some real, live stretcher bars soon. But, for now, I have a tacky woodworking project. Not mine, but something I picked up at a flea market. If the writing on the rear panel is to be believed, Pam Wheeling received a B+ for her masterpiece. I feel kind of bad about ruining something someone obviously spent hours creating, but it’s just too dreadful to salvage. It’s screaming out for a new life, I think.

But for now, look at the bones…!

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Jar of Cicada Shells, grey Holga SSFS filter

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Box Turtle Skeleton, grey Holga SSFS filter

I’m happy that I had the presence of mind to put my drafting table right under a (south facing!) window. Aside from providing the cat with a place to bask, the light there is great for taking photos. Flash ruins most pictures, so I really appreciate not having to use it. On cloudy days, all I have to do is open the blinds. On sunny days, like today, there’s plenty of light even with the blinds closed.

Pets, Photography

Sunday Dogblogging with Holga

Shelly

I spent a little bit of time this morning, playing with the filter set I bought. I only had a chance to try a couple of the colored soft focus filters, but already, I can tell that they are going to be lots of fun.

And, as always, Miss Brown is a patient model.

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Yellow Holga SSFS filter (mostly desaturated)

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Red Holga SSFS filter

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Yellow Holga SSFS filter (desaturated)

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Yellow Holga SSFS filter

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Yellow Holga SSFS filter

Photography

I learned something today, Kyle…

Shelly

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My package was, indeed, waiting on my doorstep yesterday when I got home. It contained a Sharan pinhole camera kit and a set of Holga filters for my digital camera. Yay! And, today, my Holga and the two AWOL books arrived.

I’m not a very good model builder. I just don’t have the spacial sense for puzzles. However, the pinhole kit had very thorough, easy to follow instructions with lots of diagrams. It took me about two hours to put it together, which I thought was pretty good, considering I suck a that sort of thing. If you ever buy a pinhole camera kit, I recommend a black Faber-Castell Pitt brush tip pen to darken the raw edges. It works much better than a Sharpie.

I was spectacularly lazy today–seriously, the only things I did besides read and watch teevee were to cook lunch and empty the dishwasher–so I haven’t had a chance to try out any of my new toys. BUT! I did stumble across something cool while I was putting the pinhole camera together. I held the little plastic sheet with the actual pinhole up to one eye, closed my other eye, then looked into the light. Oh my! When you do that, you can actually see the striations in your iris and even the tiny floaters that move across your pupil. It’s very, very cool. And, it works with any pinhole, so poke a tiny hole in a piece of card stock and give it a try. Go on! Do it!

That’s it for today. I promise that there’ll be art tomorrow, even if it kills me.

Photography

Indoor Outdoor Photos

Shelly

A few, final ice photos, taken this afternoon and evening:

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The top two were taken from my patio, and the rest were taken from the 3rd floor of the main campus library, overlooking the parking lot and Jordan Ave. I almost didn’t try to take any of the indoor-outdoor photos, thinking the window glass would muck them up. I’m glad I did, though, because I love the way the architecture frames the images.

Photography

Ice: Epilogue

Shelly

We lost power yesterday afternoon at about 3:00. It was out for just over 24 hours.

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Do you have any idea how cold it can get in 24 hours, with no heat? Yikes! Sleeping last night wasn’t so bad, because Harriet stayed tucked under the covers with me, and she’s a very good hot water bottle. Getting up this morning was kind of awful, though. I was actually looking forward to going to work, where it would be warm, but the university was closed until noon. Hrmf! Come to find out, the library was actually partially open, and I could have gone in and hung out in the cafeteria. Because in addition to no heat, there was no cooking.

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Thankfully, power came back on at about 4pm, or Miss Brown and I would have had to stay in a hotel tonight. It’s still c-c-c-cold in here, even though the heat’s been on for a couple of hours. I’m not sure I’ll ever warm back up again.

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This morning and afternoon, I decided to go out and take pictures. It was gorgeous outside, with all the trees and shrubs looking like crystal-encrusted chandeliers. I figured, since it was as cold outside as inside, I may as well have something to show for freezing my ever-loving butt off.

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The Bosslady waiting for me to come back inside.

Photography

Ice Ice Bay-BEE

Shelly

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The weather folks were threatening snow, snow, and more snow, with a possibility of rain and ice. We got a little bit of snow, but it was mostly rain that froze and turned everything pretty and slippy-slidey. Obviously, I’m taking an ice day.

It could be worse. I just got off the phone with my mom, and up north it’s blizzarding. Ball State is actually closed. I can count on two fingers the number of times the university has closed in the past 25 years. On the first, it was just night classes that were cancelled. The second closing occurred during winter break, when the entire city was shut down for a blizzard-related state of emergency. Classes weren’t in session, so it wasn’t like a real school closing.

It sounds like it’s pretty awful up there, so I guess I should be glad we just got the dreaded wintry mix and not a full scale blizzard. Still, it’s bad enough. The temperature is supposed to drop tonight, and we’re supposed to get more snow on top of all the ice. O ick.

Photography

A Confession

Shelly

I was very, very bad. I tried to behave myself, but I suddenly couldn’t stand it anymore, and I ordered a Holga filter set for digital and 35mm cameras, a pinhole camera, and a Holga camera with colored flash. No, I don’t need a fancified Holga, and I could have made my own pinhole camera, but I probably would have never gotten around to it. Altogether, I think I spent about $100, so it’s not like I really lost my mind or anything. Still, I can’t help but feel like I did something I shouldn’t have.

These are a few of my favorite photos taken with various toy cameras.

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Raspberry Canes in Snow, 8 January 2005

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Frost, Autumn 2004

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Autumn 2004

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Sunrise, Autumn 2004

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Trees in Snow, 8 January 2005