Pick a Pic

As I mentioned, back on Monday I was interviewed for an upcoming article in The Great Smokies Review, an on-line journal.  They also wanted a picture of me to accompany the article.

Now, given my choice, I'd probably as soon go to the dentist as to have my picture taken. Even when I was young and reasonably attractive, I still dreaded the photographer. 

But I'm always having to produce a photo of myself when I go to a conference or a book festival or for various publicity related reasons -- there was even a picture of me inside the back cover of my last book -- a picture I paid a professional photographer what seemed like an awful lot of money for -- and didn't actually like very much. 

Plus that picture is five or six years old. Time has marched on.

So when Elizabeth Lutyens who edits the journal said that her partner would be there to take some pictures of me -- and that he is a professional photographer who used to work for LIFE,  well, I knew this was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Michael Mauney spent well over an hour trying to get a decent picture of me. He was so nice and so patient that the whole thing was actually kinda fun.

At one point Michael asked me how I'd like to look in the pictures.

"Like Sophia Loren -- forty years ago," I told him.

"So would she," he snorted.

Michael's a terrific photographer but not a magician. The pictures look like Vicki, all 67 years of me.  I'm pleased with them. 

One of these four I like best just as a composition; another I think makes me look the best.

And I'd be interested in your opinions.

A Moment in Time . . .

Yesterday morning, as I was perusing  the New York Times online (a free service for which I am endlessly grateful,) I saw an announcement for A Moment in Time  accompanied by one of those wonderful shots of  a blue and cloud-covered Earth from space.  It said:

 

Attention: everyone with a camera, amateur or pro. Please join us on Sunday, May 2, at 15:00 (U.T.C./G.M.T.), as thousands of photographers simultaneously record “A Moment in Time.” The idea is to create an international mosaic, an astonishingly varied gallery of images that are cemented together by the common element of time.

How could I resist? I just had to wait till eleven -- not my favorite time of day for taking pictures, especially on a day as sunny as yesterday was.

I scoped out a few possibilities around the house -- sundial, clothes on line (Move underwear out of shot,) door in bedroom, garden gate.  And at a few minutes before eleven I dashed out to the sundial to begin.

Between 10:58 and 11:02 I took about a dozen pictures -- there was also a dandelion seed head, a poplar tree, an iris, and our little falling down cabin across the way. These last three I've posted here were my favorites (the background on the sundial was too blah to suit me.)

Which would you have chosen? I vacillated between the three but finally picked my favorite and posted it to the NYT.

I'll be looking forward to seeing the whole project when it's done!

Castle me, Please

Chess pices?

Garden decoration?

Planters?

Your guess is as good as mine...but I really like them!!!

taken with my iPhone at Market Street.

Caged Angel

Artistic vision?

Religious statement?

Taken with my iPhone at Market Street.

Transmogrifications

A slow exposure and a shaky hand have turned my amateurish painting into something kind of unearthly and far better than anything I could have done if I'd been trying. I see it and think 'book cover!'
 

It began with the deer skull one of Ethan's dogs found on the mountain.  I used it as a subject for a painting which, of course, didn't turn out nearly as well as I'd hoped. Amateurish, as I said.

But I love what the camera's done with it!

It's the same principle that make me fonder and fonder of old foggy mirrors as I age -- happy to be seeing through a glass darkly.

Inflate your sac to show you love me.

Today's photos are from my mom,
who recently returned from a trip to Hawaii with her husband.

She's an amazing photographer, among other things.

I can't wait to share her whale shots with you next week.

But, for now,
Here are some pictures she took of a male African Grey-Crowned Crane
in Kula Botanical Garden in Maui.

This bird has a seriously awesome "do."

My hair frequently looks like this, actually.

These are the only cranes that can roost in trees,

because of a long hind toe that can grasp branches.

I want a long hind toe that can grasp things.
That's awesome.

The Grey Crowned Crane has a breeding display involving dancing, bowing, and jumping.
It also makes a honking sound quite different from the trumpeting of other crane species.

It has a booming call which involves inflation of the red gular sac.

I don't know about you, but nothing quite says "I love you" like the inflation of the red gular sac.



What are you waiting for?
Grab a camera & a critter!
Join the Camera Critters weekend meme!

One title can say it all.

I love taking pictures of my boys' Lego creations...and the scenes that are playing out.
Apparently the boys have an on-going war...and battle stations...and home bases.

As I was going through my photos, I found this one...and it totally cracked me up.

Taking a page out of this blogger's book, I think this photo needs a caption.


And don't forget about the UpTake photo contest.
A chance to win $250!

Is it still Christmas?

It seems like I've been running behind constantly this holiday season.

Here's the photo that went into our Christmas card...
that I plan on mailing out today...or Monday...

Grab a camera & a critter, and join Camera Critters!

Driving Under the Influence

Head's up, I'm going to post several times today.
You just never know what I might end up throwing at ya.
You've been forewarned.



I sometimes whip out my camera while I'm driving.
It's not smart.

But I can't resist.

So here are some of my photos of driving under the influence of the photo bug.

Annie in the front seat.

She usually has her head stuck out a window.

but sometimes my driving makes her nervous.

I was yielding here when I saw a cute grove of trees.

What kind of trees, I have no idea.

Anybody speak tree?

I think that's a telephone pole...but right now it's sending a different kind of message.

Do you ever snap photos while driving or am I the only weirdo one?

An Ode to my 35mm

I fell in love with photography in high school
(and maybe perhaps before that)
when I took my first photography class.
I loved it.

A few years later I took a college photography class as well,
and as I was cleaning out a box today, I found some photos from those days.

I didn't have a digital camera in high school.
I had my trusty old Olympus 35mm that my mom gave me,
along with her passion for photography.

I decided to scan the photos I took in 1996, 12 years ago, to share with you guys.
These were taken on film, hand developed by me in an actual dark room.
Did you know we had to go into a tiny, blacked-out closet
to take the flim out of the camera and roll it onto a special canister?
It was hard to do it properly in the dark, let me tell you.
Then you had to measure chemicals and time how long to leave things.
You put your negatives onto contact sheets...I'll show you.

Ooops, this isn't a photo.

This is one of my artistic attempts are NOT drawing a stick person.
My boys are always laughing at my pathetic stick figure people,
so I decided to go all plump and freaky.
Remy insists he can't color unless I color with him.
So this is what I produced the other day.

And I found that I could mess with my drawings when I uploaded them to Picnik.

See, I inverted the colors on this picture. Isn't that cool? Why can't I DRAW like that.

Ok, sorry for that detour, onto the real photography.

Here we had contact sheets we just exposed to light...with feathers on them.
So, it's not a photo as much as a dark room exercise.
Made for a cool effect.

Here's an example of my contact sheet of negatives.
From this sheet we would use little magnifying glasses to inspect the pictures
and decide which ones to enlarge.

Here's a better close up of my contact sheet.
I can't believe how long ago this feels like.
Ancient history.

Then I would enlarge and print out photos...all in the dark room.

Here are some I enlarged and still had in my photography binder that I just found.

There was something so magical and fun about taking photos
and developing them in the dark room.
I miss those days.

But, now photography is a lot easier, with computers and editing software.

I'll never forget my 35mm though.

I just couldn't resist.

The longest post in the day of my life.

Or did I mean the longest day in my life post? Or both? You be the judge. My day started off like this...


Yep, the big green monster (my ten year old Land Rover) has fallen apart on me again. If you want to read a much more entertaining story of my car troubles, read my previous post "I don't speak car." Anyway, yesterday's trouble began when I was in the car taking my boys to school. We only made it one block from our house.

Then I spent all day at my part time nanny job, where I spent eight hours taking care of these little adorable hooligans.

I get off work the same time the boys are finished with school for the day, so we had a brief hour to hurry home (or, have someone give us a ride home) where my mom had left HER car for me to drive temporarily. We then had to gather all the baseball gear in the bat bags and head out to baseball games.

Both boys had games last night. Remy's was first. Here he is in the outfield...I don't think this position is called "baseball ready." hehe I think his eyes need to be open and his glove out in front of his body...and in a ready crouched position...

Then he was up to bat. Here he is "on deck", practice swinging while he waits his turn. Good batter form. His right elbow is up, he's looking where he swinging and he has a good stance.

Now he's up at the plate..and this is NOT a good batter's stance. Elbow's down...and he's not looking at the pitcher!!
Despite that, he made it to first base. Whew. I can now breathe again and unbite my lips. Unbite, I'm not sure that's a real word...you get the point.
He makes it to second base...wait a minute, this is not good "baseball ready" form again!
Ok, there we go, much better. Good stance, he's alert and ready to run home.
The next batter hits the ball, CRACK, and Remy's off....running to home base. He'd kill me if he knew I shared this photo. His facial expression is priceless...

And, yes, he made it home!! SCORE, Remy!! My picture of this was too blurry, so can't share. Then, we all piled back in the car and headed to a different baseball field for my older son's game. Remy's games are a quick affair...less than an hour long. Donny's on the other hand are an hour and forty-five minutes long! So, while I'm really into them, and really enjoying them...I sometimes get distracted by the sky...and it was just about sunset and I saw some really amazing clouds. Lots of whispy things going on...
Then the sun started going down (ok, wrong terminology, I know, the Earth rotates, so the sun doesn't really go down...we're moving away from the sun, but you know what I mean)...and the clouds look darker. Very moody looking.
See, there's the sun going down...moving away...shoot, we're the ones moving away, it doesn't move at all.
Then, wowser, some pretty soft colors show up! I don't know how that happens...well, ok, scientifically I learned how, but it's still amazingly pretty...

and then bam...the magic really happens. Look at that dramitic lighting! As you can see from the power lines or telephone lines, I'm kind of far away...

So, here's a close up....wow, huh?! AMAZING lighting. I'm loving it (and watching Donny's baseball game, of course, how could you imagine otherwise?!)
It was a close game, but our team won! It was super exciting. They're getting really good at this age, lots of double and triple plays, amazing team work. Really fun games, despite all my cloud pictures, I promise!! And, here's Donny right after the game for the team pow-wow. He's flushed, he tired, he's exhilerated, ,all at the same time.
And, then we make it home and the little munchkin, who played nonstop on a playscape with other kids during his older brother's game, crashed in my bed...with sweet Annie!


Adorable, aren't they?

And, please, voting is still going on through the end of today (Saturday), so if you have time (and more than one computer to vote from!) stop by Darcy's blog Graphically Designing and vote for me!! It's super easy, takes less than 30 seconds! And, you should check out her work. She has designed some awesome websites, and I'd love for her to do mine!