Monthly Archives: February 2012

February 29th: A day at the beach

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Happy Leap Year Day!

Isaac and I went up to Lincoln Park (insert joke here) today!

While it was cloudy, I think I was still able to get some good photos.

And as an added bonus, there was an awesome swing-thing, that would likely be able to project a small child a good 40 feet!

The swing of doom

And the photo of the day (I’ll be posting a few more after a bit):

Isaac versus Tree

The original

I’ve been enjoying playing around with Photoshop lately. Trying different things, testing different methods…

I liked the SOOC version of this picture, but I applied a lomo effect after using the smart brush tool, and I like it even more.

The only problem I’m facing is having multiple copies of the same photos with only slightly different changes. I can’t decide which I like the best, so I end up keeping 3 or 4 versions! I know, I should just buckle down and force myself to pick one version I like best, or maybe two, the original and a B&W. Anyone else having this problem, and if so, how do you deal with it?

Sweet Shot Day

February 28th: I took a little walk…

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I took a walk to the post office today, to mail off a couple of packages and other things (what else does one do at the post office?). It’s really quite nice to have the post office so close, it’s probably only about a fourth of a mile to walk over there.

It would be closer, but I would have to hop a fence with circular barbed wire, do I live in a prison?!….a slightly shorter walk is not enough to motivate me to tangle with that kind of fence!

Anyway…

On the return trip I noticed this tree, with all the leaves still attached. The wind was blowing through the dried leaves, it sounded so cool! I wish I could have taken a photo of the sound for you to hear.

Dry leaves

and more

Tree in B&W

And, as an added bonus, this tree has a heart!

Tree heart

Oh? What’s that you say? 100 followers?

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I made it to 100 followers today, folks! Welcome to those of you just joining my little blog. I’m so happy you’re here!

And, as promised, I want to offer a gift, as a way of saying thank you for following me!

Here’s how it’s going to work: go to my Facebook page, here, and comment on my contest post (you’ll see it there). Every follower is eligible, whether you follow me here, or if you ‘like’ my Facebook page, just be sure to leave a comment to enter your name in! On Friday, March 2nd, I will randomly chose one winner! The winner gets to choose between a dozen homemade whole wheat bagels (made by me, see this post) or a set of five photo note cards (my photography)!

On to the photos! Today’s photo doubles as an example of what you could win if I pick your name!

A bagel is a terrific thing to eat/ photo note cards

In other news, today felt like Christmas to me! I’m not even joking. Our mail carrier is the cause, and not entirely in a good way.

I returned an actual Christmas gift I got from my sister (Alexis), that happened to a duplicate, and so I had myself a little Amazon credit. I finally decided to spend it on a wireless shutter release remote and a set of filters. I can’t express how awesome that remote is. It is the coolest thing I’ve spent $15 on in a long time! Yay! I can’t wait to start putting it to use by taking more natural looking photos of Isaac and I (as well as stealth photos of other people…).

The filters will be a good addition also, I’m excited to try them outside on a bright day by a lake! :) Thanks Alexis, for these awesome new toys!

Anyway, so where does the mail carrier fall into this story? Well, here at Emerald Heights, they have a policy where if you get a package that’s too big for your mailbox, the mail carrier leaves it with the main office, and they put a notice slip in your mail box. Well, my mail carrier didn’t. The only reason I knew it was over there was because I could check the delivery status on Amazon.com.

So,  I went over to pick up my one package from the office this morning, and, surprise! I had THREE waiting for me! Why? Because the aforementioned mail carrier didn’t leave me a notice in my mailbox two other times in the past week! I had a Valentine’s package from my sister (again, Thanks Alexis! Yum yum yum!) and a package from a mysterious source….it’s the lens mug look-a-like on my wishlist page. So funny! And very realistic! Thanks mystery person! :D

It snowed!

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They said it would, I doubted them, but it really did. For most of the morning, actually. And Isaac said it wouldn’t be as wintry here as in Spokane…hmm.

I didn’t end up doing a lot today, but I did go out and take a few snow photos!

Snow covered grass

A dashed hope for spring

Tree moss

More tree moss

Also, I haven’t gotten much feedback on the whole bagel versus note card question, so I will let the winner choose. Once I hit 100 followers, everyone who wants to enter into the drawing can comment on a post (I’ll let you know when this is going to happen) and I’ll randomly chose the winner from the people who post!

If you’d rather see my blog posts on your Facebook news feed, you can ‘like’ my page! Check it out here!

Stay tuned!

Follow me, my children…

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So, I have been at this for a little over a month now, and I have 92 people -between email alerts and facebook- following my blog. This is amazing! Thank you for following me!

I was thinking, maybe since the monumentus one hundredth follower is imminent, I should offer some sort of a drawing when that time rolls around! When I started this blog I thought I would be offering you equal parts food and photography adventures, and while there have been some of both, I have been using it far more for a place to showcase my photography.

That being said, I now want to hear from you. If you were to win, which would you rather receive as a prize; a set of 5 note cards with my photos on them, or a dozen homemade whole wheat bagels?

Today Isaac and I took Ashley and Stan up to the Smith Tower! It’s a great view of the city, that offers a different perspective to the Space Needle.

Can you see the Space Needle?

 

*edit* I just added this photo to the Photo Friday challenge, found here! Check it out, add your own! :)

I think I owe you two…

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So here are a few to make it up to you!

My old friends Katie and Ashley, along with our new friend Stan, are here visiting and today we went and did all the usual touristy things; EMP, Space Needle (though we didn’t go up, we’re going to check out Smith Tower on Saturday), Pike Street Market, the gum wall (Yum!) the Fremont Troll, and the like.

Isaac and I have been to these spots already, but its fun to go with people who haven’t seen this stuff yet :) Yay for friends!

Paying for the goods

As I work on these and my photos of Katie I will be posting more, so stay tuned!

Side note: Don’t do fiber shots! They’re dangerous! (This is for you, Ashley! :D )

Tah-Dah! I made it!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the last day’s challenge photo of my very first ever month long photo challenge.

My self-portrait.

Me

It’s a bit brighter than I’d like it to be, but other than that, I think it turned out pretty well. Actually, surprisingly, I like a few of this day’s results.

I also liked this one, though it didn’t feel right to use it for my challenge photo since I’m not facing the camera.

Me again

However, I am still looking forward to my wireless shutter release remote that is coming to me in the mail as we speak. I hope to get more natural looking photos with yours truly in them.

And so, my 30 day challenge comes to an end.It was fun, and really good on a couple days to have that guidance to work from.

From now until March 1st, I will be taking pictures of whatever I want. Stay tuned.

Strolling through the rainforest

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Like I said in my last post, Isaac and I hiked along the Newport Hills Trail yesterday afternoon.

It’s so pretty in places like this, it reminds me of a rainforest with all the green, and all the fungus.

There's a fungus amungus!

There's a little bit of new fungus growing, hidden under some of the older stuff

 

I love moss

Little bridge

Leaf

 

 

 

I see the world in Black and White

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Well, I tried to see in black and white today!

Isaac and I were back up in Bellevue today for the Humane Society training. There was an hour in between (which turned into two hours when the first session finished early, I digress…) our “animal handling” training (I put a leash on a chihuahua, exciting stuff)  and my “pet publicist” training.

So, we went looking for a place where I could possibly get a black and white shot in for the day! We found a trail system called Newport Hills, and Isaac wanted to see where it came out, so off we went! We got about 1.2 miles in (the sign told me so) when it came time for us to turn back or I’d miss my training.

Isaac on a bridge

 

Also, I think as this 30 day challenge comes to a close, instead of taking on two separate challenges (month-long challenge and 365 challenge) I’m going to combine the two and offer you, the reader, just one photo a day. Or more, if I have good ones to offer. I love taking photos, and it’s been super helpful to have a daily guide to get my creativity in motion, but I will start applying those photos to my 365 project.

That being said, since I started my blog/photo challenge/learning process in the middle of January, I’ve been a bit off on the monthly prompts. Tomorrow, is my last photo for this 30 day challenge, a ‘self-portrait,” and so once I’ve finished with that I won’t be starting a new one until March 1st. I’ll just be taking photos of whatever strikes my fancy.

Whew, I feel like I’m babbling.