i-n-d-e-p-e-n-d-e-n-t

Happy Independence Day!!

when in rural georgia

I met up with Evan Leavitt when I was in Georgia. It was pretty awesome, because he was able to show me a lot of places I was familiar with through his photography. I was still doing a self-portrait series during the trip and asked Evan to be in the shot. Some of my favorite self-portraits were ones that included someone else.

Here was one with Zack and Caden at Hawksbill Crag.


Here's one with many of my co-workers.

ha!

Who doesn't love laughter?

push-ups

I don't do a lot of portraits. People aren't really all that keen on having their picture taken. I have learned people are more than willing to offer up their kids though. The risk here? Kids don't cooperate! I was up for the challenge and planned for two kid sessions the same weekend.

This was the first time I felt like photography was "work".

celebrity treatment

I don't really know how to take portraits. It isn't easy to transition from landscapes to people. It's hard for me to tell a person how to pose or to get them to smile differently. Also the lighting and stuff tends to be a bit different, because you are worrying about how it makes a person look, etc.

My friend and co-worker, Raney, hesitantly agreed to let me practice on him. He happens to be attractive yet camera shy. I found it was easier to just tell him stories and wait for him to let his guard down and snap a few shots. He was a pretty good sport about standing around in the cold while I fretted over the sunlight and fiddled with camera settings.

We drew enough attention to ourselves that people started to think Raney was famous. Someone even asked him for an autograph!

**I edited this again, so I'm pushing it to the top of my blog.

believe in AC000000

Being a fan of any team in any sport means you get to start over with each season opener - unless you are a Cubs fan! No one forgets those 101 years without a World Series win. It doesn't stop Cubs fans from believing this will be the year. We believe. We believe!

As for the title of this shot let me post another picture and explanation. Eamus Catuli roughly means "Let's go Cubs." So the numbers AC0063100. (During the 2009 season) Okay these are the Chicago Cubs stats that everyone that follows baseball knows, whether they love or hate the Cubs. AC = "Year of the Cubs." 00 = number of years since Division Championship. 63 = number of years since National League Championship. 100 = very long years since winning the World Series. They actually had to add a digit for the 2009 season... This is actually outside of the field as is maintained by a private company. The sign for 2010 reads: AC0164101. oy vey!!



Here's hoping next year will read AC000000. However, here's a fun fact: Since teams can now reach the playoffs as a wildcard it is possible the Cubs could have a sign that reads AC020000 or something. I seriously hope when the Cubs win again they get the Division title too...

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.

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.

whatcha got cookin'?

Here's another one from my self-portrait series. I've actually had this idea for a while, I just never did it. It was made easier once I got a remote for the camera.

nature's bling

I'm doing a weekly self-portrait on Flickr. I'm not really sure it's for me. I sort of take a neural view of shots of myself. I figured it would test my skills and creativity level though. I just try to ignore that I'm the primary subject.

For week four, I decided I wanted to try out intentional lens flare. Lucky for me the day I had planned to shoot this ended up being an oppressively sunny day. I headed out to Pinnacle Mountain State Park and hiked one of my favorite trails - Rocky Valley Trail.

fiery revolution

Here's a shot of Eleanor Friedberger who is the lead singer for the Fiery Furnaces. This shot was taken at the Revolution Music Room in Little Rock, Arkansas. I've had a few people tell me it's an excellent place for music photography. Mostly because the place is small and laid back and also let's you take cameras in!

let it snow

Well folks, I type this in the midst of a record breaking cold year. Here in Arkansas temperatures below freezing are almost unheard of. We've had many, many days under freezing. I guess that's great news for the bug population next year though. We've even had some snow, though Little Rock has seen very little of that.

It's a widely known fact I'm a bad driver. I don't test my skills when it starts to snow (or mostly ice). We had a bit of snowfall last week, and I wanted to capture it. Here's a self portrait I took in my backyard to celebrate the snow. It was only a dusting here, but up North they got a bit more snow to enjoy.

games people play

Title reference.

Sometimes you just capture a shot that sums up an event, mood, or person so well. That's what I love about photography, when you can capture something like that. This was 100% candid.

Here's another shot from that night when we were at the Arkansas State Capitol waiting for the fireworks show.

strike zone

An awesome thing about photography other than learning and slowly getting better is the stuff I see and do having it as a motivator. I wanted to go to the Air Force Base to get some shots of planes. I talked my dad into bowling mostly because it's fun, but also because I had some shots in mind. My dad used to be in a bowling league when I was a kid, and I have tons of happy memories tagging along with my parents on bowling night. I'd hang out in the arcade with the other kids. This is that same bowling alley, and that's my dad bowling. The place is nearly the exact same except for updated scoring systems and the fact that the arcade isn't there anymore.

Oh yeah, today is my dad's birthday!!

american pride

Drunk photography at it's finest. This is a pretty old shot. I was hanging out in the River Market with my friends.

objects in mirror are dorkier than they appear

Taken: July 26, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D plus Canon EF-S 18-55mm
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 34 mm
ISO Speed: 400

I should be headed home from Chicago today, so this is probably similar to what the day will be like. This was taken on a trip I made with my parents to Blytheville, Arkansas. For me the side mirror sums up a road trip so well. You can see what is ahead, but keep all that's behind in mind as well.

it's black! it's white!

Taken: July 14, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D plus Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 161 mm
ISO Speed: 640

I thought this guy was in the River Market dressed as Michael Jackson just to get attention after MJ's death. However, after doing some research apparently this guy has been doing this for years. What I found most interesting was he was a mime that liked to talk, especially to the ladies. He stopped a few, and even tried to motion me over when he spotted me. I noticed he took his gloves off when he was talking. I guess that's how a mime goes off duty??

28 years and 28 faces of windy

Taken: August 12, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D plus Canon EF-S 18-55mm

Today is my birthday. I did the above silly self-portrait collage to celebrate. It really is hard to make 28 different faces!

sixth sense

Taken: July 17, 2009
Camera: Canon EOS 40D plus Canon EF-S 18-55mm
Exposure: 1 sec - Actually it's three blended images at 1 sec each making this a total of 3 sec.
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 37 mm
ISO Speed: 400

As I mentioned above this is actually three imagines blended together using Photoshop. It took me a while to get the editing down on this. It was really hard to get a natural looking sky color. This was taken on Big Dam Bridge which connected Little Rock and North Little Rock over the Arkansas River.

scuba girl

Taken: June 6, 2002
Camera: Sony Cybershot
Exposure: 1/1000 sec
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 5 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Here's a blast from the past, because sometimes I like to show where I started. I shot this with my very first digital camera. It was a point and shoot Sony Cybershot. I loved this camera, and I started taking a lot more pictures with it. I never expanded past portraits with it though.