Fritallaria

Dusted off my macro lens - even though I was tempted to play with the Lensbaby some more ;)

Love the way nature made a checkerboard on these. I don't know any other flower that looks even remotely like them!



And with a retro(ish) feel to them...

Lemonade out of lemons

January simply is not a good month in Seattle for shooting macros outdoors. IF (and that's a big if) it stops raining enough to want to go outside, there is still the waterlogged ground to contend with, especially if you want to shoot these little guys which grow to a height of about 4". The flower itself is about 3/4 of an inch. Since the stem is so slender, if you get the slightest breeze they move out of the frame!

Snowdrops are one of the first bulbs to bloom - hence the "snow" in their name), and are such a welcome sight in the dead of winter.

So, what's a girl to do? Well, if you're me, you go to the nursery and buy a pot of them for $4 and shoot them in your warm, dry, non-windy office ;) Now granted, the background isn't as interesting as shooting them outdoors....but it's better than nothing!

Lensbaby with +4 macro filter and F4 aperture ring. ISO 400, SS 1/100, hand held.

One of Mom's teacups

My Mom had quite a teacup collection....and it meant a lot to her. Cups given to her by her Aunts, her Mother in Law, and other friends and relatives. Old cups, newer cups.....all kinds of tea cups :) For a long time they were displayed in her kitchen, but when she moved over the summer, I put them on the wall directly above her desk. She loved having them there, front and center, and commented on them often.

Now I have them, and to be honest, I don't know what to do with them. I have 4 of them in our small china "cabinet" and the rest are boxed in the garage for now. I'm really not a teacup sort of girl, but they are a difficult thing to consider re-homing since they held a significant place in her heart.

Anyhow, just played with the Lensbaby (yes again) on this dark and gloomy January day. Tried to "fool" the world into feeling bright and spring-like with this image.

Window light. F 2.0, ISO 800, SS 1/60. Handheld.

Combining three of my favorite things...

Snow Day - check
Beading - check
Photography (with the Lensbaby) - check

It's a good day :)

Many of you have seen these Wrapped Cord Bracelets all over the internet. Some of them sell for upwards of $200 and more. When I saw the directions, I knew they could'nt be that hard to make, so I headed over to my local bead shop and picked up some inexpensive supplies for my first try. I used 6mm Red Creek Jasper, 1.5mm waxed cotton cord, size D beading thread, and an inexpensive pewter button.

You can find great directions at the Fusion Beads website - which happens to be my local bead shop: FUSION BEADS. Just look under "Beading Techniques."

I had hoped to make it a 5 wrap, but ended up a little shy of beads so it wraps 4 times. Very easy to make, a little time consuming but a relaxing activity that doesn't take much thought. I can't wait to find some amazing buttons for closures, and some new beads for my next one!

And of course since the Lensbaby is still new(ish) to me, I had to use it for shooting the photos :)



and because it wouldn't be a post without me macroing something:



And so you can see what it kind of looks like when it's just hanging around:

Headshot out-takes

As promised, a few of the out-takes from Colin's session. I have a few more gems, but since these images could follow him around online in perpetuity, my better judgement got the best of me. So....they'll stay safely on my hard drive. Since I didn't want to take the time to edit them they're just in a quick B&W.

If you'll notice, I do have him trained well. NEVER take your eyes of the camera, no matter what ;)

Hope they give you a chuckle!

Annoying the cat

I wanted to see just HOW sharp the Lensbaby can be if I get the tilt and focus just right, and what better subject than our uncooperative cat. Usually I can't get any eye contact at ALL from her, so I consider this very fortunate.

The result. WHEN I get the tilt and focus right, the sharpness is pretty darned good! All shot with the 2.8 aperture ring (due to it being such a dark day). I'm looking forward to some brighter days so I can try out some of the other aperture rings.

Meet S'mores :) The best cat ever. She's pretty much half dog.....so lovable, but still independent like a cat should be. She's 10 years old (60 in human years) and spends the winter months basically relaxing indoors. Come warmer, drier weather she heads outdoors and acts like a kitten again!

This first one was shot at 1600ISO....I always forget that unlike the olden days, cameras now handle higher ISOs so much better, so it's a pleasant surprise when I shoot at 800 and above.



She loves perching on the windowsill of the office. From the second floor it gives her a birds eye view of our block:



Didn't get both eyes in focus :( but I still like this one for some reason.

The headshot Gods were not working with us....

....however, we persevered!

Some of you may have been reading this blog since way back when. Can you believe that it's now almost time for Colin to graduate college? He needs headshots for his NYC showcase, and to get him going until he finds an agent who might want them done differently.

We had been planning to do them for months, and they were planned for the day after he got home for break last month since he had oral surgery scheduled for a few days after that.

Unfortunately, the morning after he got home he woke up with an eye infection! Which by the way he is still dealing with after 3 doctor visits and almost 4 weeks later (boo hiss).

So, they got postponed until he was able to pop his contacts in for an hour or so and not have major issues. He didn't want them done with his glasses on.

Of course, during that 12 day period of not being able to take his headshots the weather was dry, and really quite nice for outdoor shots (which he prefers).

Two days before he left to go back to Michigan it was "do or die." And raining. Sometimes heavily, sometimes off and on. GRRRRRR. We tried going out to Pioneer Square, the oldest area of Seattle with lovely old buildings....but the rain was just too much, so back to the house we went.

Colin was clear that he didn't want studio lighting, so we took these in the garage with natural light.

Now, I know that sounds like a lot of "qualifying" but honestly. I just want to remember what a fiasco this was.

To top everything off, as a result of the surgery, he had large greenish yellow bruises below each cheek, and also stitches in his gums which we were visible when he smiled. I had to edit both out, and removing the color of those bruises without turning the cheeks white was quit a task!

So anyhow, I don't know which he'll choose, the faculty will help him with it. He will likely end up with 4 to use depending in what he's going in for. A "legit" (non-smiling) with facial hair, a "commercial" (smiling) with facial hair....as well as one of each without facial hair. Below are my favorites. I've got some fun out-takes too which I'll post (much to Colin's chagrin) another day :)









And it stopped raining long enough for me to shoot a couple of 3/4 shots for me. That smile is infectious!

Just workin' on finding the sweet spot

Yes, I know these are pretty static...but for right now I'm just focusing (he he) on learning how to manipulate the "sweet spot" on this lens.

Love how completely different these two owls are. The Mickey one I got a few years ago, he lives in my office. The second I got as a tree decoration this year, but he may stay out in the office as well. Although......dusting those feathers could be a major pain.

Both taken with the F2.8 disc in the lensbaby and with the +4 filter.

Got a new toy :)

I've rented this, debated it, went back and forth on it, and then Brett gave it to me (along with the macro filters...of course).



Woo hoo.....!

I finally got a chance to play with it a bit today. I'm keeping the tree up for another day or two just so I can practice on some of the ornaments.

Our Scottish Santa (to commemorate our trip to Edinburgh this year) with the +4 macro filter:



And this cute guy with no filters:



For those unfamiliar with what a Lensbaby is, it's a lens with a ball and socket mechanism, similar to (but much less expensive than) a tilt-shift lens. It allows for very selective focus, and lots of creativity! It's a challenge to learn (along with having to manually focus), but I am so excited to have something new to play with :) Thanks Brett!