exposed

I really loved this barn. The texture of the wood is fascinating, but I also liked how clear the field was around it. The way I shot this and the processing sort of made it look like cross processed slide film.

This was taken in Erbie, Arkansas.

what friends do

I've always carried a camera around with me and have forever been the queen of people's display pictures on myspace and facebook. However, about a year ago when I got into photography "for real" my friends scattered as if I was shooting bullets from my camera. It generally takes some begging and pleading to get someone to step in front of the lens these days. Tillie has been kind enough to let me practice twice! This makes my third real attempt at portraits. I think I'm improving.

I have to say I'm grateful to her. I never really have much advice on how she should pose, and I spend a lot of time fussing about light and focus. She's a pretty good friend for tolerating it!

Here's was my best of Tillie the last time she let me practice.

it's a small world

I headed up to Wye Mountain to take a few shots of the daffodils. I was excited to take a few shots of them with the lensbaby, since I just got a macro attachment for it. I think for a manual focus lens I got a few decent shots. I certainly have to practice with it a bit more though.

when in venice

Here's another shot from the Winter Festival at Wildwood Park in West Little Rock, Arkansas. They set up tents or used pavilions to represent different regions of the world. This was the Venice area. I wish more of the lantern bags had been lit.

what remains

I have a thing for ghost signs. I've always liked advertisement of yesteryear and modern day. It's just interesting to see the way things are marketed to us. This is from Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

all you need

The Love Bench on Main Street in Downtown Little Rock, Arkansas is a pretty popular thing to photograph. I don't really know what I think about it. It always feels a little sad to me. Maybe because I've never seen anyone sit on it, it's on a relatively slow street, and it's blue. I guess sometimes love is a lonely thing. I decided to "girl up" the shot by turning it into a polaroid.

fandomania!!1!!!11!

I have a love/hate relationship with social media. I also have a Flickr and blog for my photos. I've seen a ton of fan pages on Facebook, so I thought I'd get one of those, too. How I'll keep them all up-to-date is beyond me. However, if you like wacky status updates and maybe more pictures head on over to Facebook and become a fan of...me. Eeeks, that sounds so weird. At the very least I can update that from my phone, so there might be some more on-the-fly updates. I'm sure the world wants to know when I break gear or freeze my tripod shut. Right?

return to legoland

There's a series I do that I call "urban legos." It's basically skyline abstracts. I want to do more of these, but finding good locations isn't super easy. This is part of the Little Rock skyline.

milestones in neon

This is the Palace Hotel and Bathhouse of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It was built in 1901 and has interesting architecture such as the windows being set in the foundation. It can also boost that it was the site of the first neon sign West of the Mississippi River.

blinded by the music

Here's an experiment with lensflare. I really like it, but I never really seem to get what I want when I try it. This was shot in Little Rock, Arkansas.

staying focused

Ward and I went to Camp Robinson (near Mayflower, Arkansas) to take some pictures. Ward was interested in getting shots of the golden winter grass. I was apparently fixated on macro shots. I got very few shots of anything else.

Here's a shot of Ward where I bokeh'ed him out. For some reason this was really amusing to me at the time.

wayback machine

This time of year is interesting for me. This marks the start of my second year in photography. I'll also be 100% honest and say it's the same anniversary for my love of nature. I was hiking before this, and I really liked it, but it was still something I forced myself to do. I saw it more as exercise than a way to enjoy the world around me. Anymore, I just want to be outside.

I offered to help a friend of mine learn to use his camera. He suggested we go to Petit Jean. I thought that was a good spot, because it was my first waterfall adventure too. It was interesting to pull out my shots of Cedar Falls from last Spring and see how much my photography has changed.

Here's one of my shots from last year:

it's a way to make a living

I thought this was really underexposed, but I decided to scan it and try to save it anyway. It ended up making it even creepier. This was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I visited the two for a few hours one day back in December. I hope I get to go back soon. It's such an amazing town!

urban haze

Here's another shot from the lensbaby taken in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas. This was taken from the top of one of the parking decks.

doppelganger

I went to the Winter Festival at Wildwood Park in West Little Rock, Arkansas. I figured there'd be pictures in it, which is basically why I attend anything anymore. The festival was okay. It was mostly set up for kids/families. I wandered around for a while not really seeing much to photograph. I did enjoy some beer, nachos, and moon pies though. I finally spotted a guy sitting in front of a light trying to eat. I really loved the shadow.

keep it moving

Cedar Falls is one of those places I learned a lot of things about my camera. It was the site of my first waterfall photography, and I went back three or four times. It was nice to go back, because I hadn't been since last Spring. Cedar Falls always amazes me. It's 95 feet tall and even when there isn't much water the force is incredible. Cedar Falls is located in the Petit Jean State Park near Morrilton, Arkansas.

going my way?

I know pictures of railroad tracks are really cliche, but I do love taking pictures there. This is a shot with a Lensbaby. I'm borrowing it for a bit, and I really do love it. It's fun to play around with the focus. I am trying to retrain myself and only use it where it'd make or break a shot. This is the type of lens I'd want to use for everything. This was taken in Bigelow, Arkansas.

fAITH

This is on Highway 60 in Perry County, Arkansas. When I spot stuff like this, I just have to stop.