"I'm So Excited, I Just Can't Hide It" Post

Visited Miss B's blog, Besotted Brand blog yesterday and was delighted by her photo of an old cemetery in Georgia where she recently traveled. It reminded me of all the month-long trips taken each summer by car as a child. My younger brother loved old cemeteries, so whenever we saw a really interesting old one, we stopped and investigated.

Photo Source (Besotted Brand Blog)

There was something that fascinated him about them. Personally, I found them terrifically peaceful and calming. Walking into one, it felt like you had entered a patch of space where time stood still. All cares, worries and such fell away. All that was left was peace.

I've visited many cemeteries here and in other countries during my travels in life and I never felt any distress, fear or discomfort from the inhabitants residing there. Maybe a twinge of sadness on occasion, but that was it. Even in the wistfully crumbling ones where trees had turned to skeletons and Spanish moss drifted down , waving silently in a soft breeze. There was always a special peace.

In our travels we found mausoleums (sometimes unlocked), sarcophagi and old, open cement vaults used to house the coffin, empty and laying in the grass above ground. Did the family move the interred to a new grave site? Was the grave looted? So many ideas for fertile little imaginations to dwell on. Endless possibilities.

Yes, as usual, I veered off course (and in the very first sentence of this post, yikes...oh well, back to my original reason for this post).

Photo Source

Had to share this news! Miss B. is offering the Souvenir Foto Class again and I signed up! So excited! Been into photography since grade school and have six film cameras (SLR, twin lens reflex, rangefinder and Polaroids) plus two digital point and shoots. Used to be the yearbook and newspaper photographer in high school and almost majored in photography in college.

Problem is, the gap between using a film camera and digital camera has me stymied. I really (wish, wish, wish) want a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) but can't afford it. Especially 'cuz I'd want a wide angle lens and a macro on top of the standard lens.

Also I haven't done any styling or art direction (my jobs in a former life) for ages so I'm hoping to be refreshed by this class. She offered it once before however I only found out about it the day before it started and it was full. As you can see from my so-so photos on this blog I need some inspiration.

After reading Andrea Paulin's experience over the five week class on her blog Under a Blue Moon, I really hoped it would be offered again. And it is! Yay! Starts April 1 and I'm really looking forward to it. You can find more info at the Besotted Brand blog right here.

Digitizing the Past

Mom, Gram and me

Over the last year, I've really wanted to post some "old" non-digital photos but since I don't have a scanner and don't want to spend the money buying one right now, I've been stymied, as well as annoyed and frustrated. Especially in light of the recent stories I've been writing about my parents. Suddenly, it hit me...what about Kinko's? (Though I guess it's now called FedEx office services.)

Regardless, I called the branch that's about a mile from my rental and voila! Problem solved! There are three ways to process them into digital format. The first, cheapest and easiest is a kiosk in the store. For about $5.00 one can scan up to 99 photos! Since I have photo software, I can then just adjust each as I need.

They can't digitize slides or negatives, but at least it's a start! Now I just have to round them all up since I want to get my money's worth, lol!

I know...all of you probably already are aware of this. Once again, I'm late to the digital party in life. Oh well, I'm still excited about it!

Just the other day, I found several cd's with assorted images on them. Most I had, but one contained some images of old photos I'd scanned about seven years ago. I love surprises like that! 

Last of 2011 Post

A late New Year's Eve Post. Gotta love L.A. No matter where you are on the Eve, you get to hear gun shots and fire crackers through the night. Makes Blue stark-raving crazy to the point that he barks at anything, even things I can't hear and I can't find his short leash to keep him close and calm him. He just stands about ten feet from the front door with "radar ears" tuning in to any sound he doesn't approve of...patrolling so to speak. The poor golden retriever across the street has been left alone in his front yard and is having a barking fit as well.

This has been the loudest, most explosive sounding NYE in the five years I've lived at this rental. People must be really happy that 2011 is over, lol!

This evening I enjoyed the holiday treat I've been looking forward to, "cannibal sandwiches" which are simply ground sirloin (not much is needed) spread on Jewish rye made by Orowheat. No, it's not rye from a "real" bakery or deli, (this is the "homogenized" version) but this dish is all about recreating the taste memories of holidays past. They're sprinkled with grey Celtic sea salt and topped with thinly sliced red onions piled high. I let the half sandwiches sit about ten minutes so the salt can begin dissolving and then feast. So good!

I would have taken a photo to share, but somehow raw ground beef is not that photogenic despite what the national beef association may think. So no photo. As I think I've mentioned, I've eaten very little red meat in the last year due to the skyrocketing prices, so it actually tasted a bit different than my memory. Hmmm.... Maybe next year, I'll go to an actual butcher vs. local grocery. Anyway, it was still a treat!

In the lull between pops, bangs and cracks I opened the back door to let Blue out and noticed a classic vintage-looking crescent moon with a "face". So lovely and magical! Would've taken a photo of it, but my SLR isn't digital and my point and shoot, even with setting changes just doesn't record night images very well.

I'll close now, before the clock strikes twelve and wish you the best year ahead. May all your dreams come true and then some! I'll leave you with this little video. Enjoy!

Hint of Autumn Post

There are those here in Southern California, who say they can't see the seasons. This little chickie can't be counted among them, because I see the seasons most distinctly. Like right now, today just screams autumn is well on it's way.

The light is different...less intense and moving south. The temperatures (knock on wood) are gentler. The deciduous trees like the liquid ambers are starting to show a bit of color. This could all change in a blink, but there it is, the season of fall is almost upon us. Of course there's always the possibility of an "Indian Summer" surprising us but that can happen no matter where you live.

When growing up in Wisconsin, it was a very real expectation. How else could the universe further torment a high school full of teenage girls already forced into the ugliest navy blue wool gaberdine uniform ever imagined? Today, I still hate the color blue, yes, hate...that's the evil color emblazoned in my teenage mind...forever.

Envision a classroom full of 30 girls (in various stages of discovering deodorant) after gym class and you have a pretty good picture of torment. Despite the image of young women "properly" attired with peter-pan shirt collars, short little wool bolero vests, and a skirt with a pleat right over one's stomach, which just highlighted one's baby fat (thank you so much uniform selection committee), the stench overwhelmed the image. Add to that the disaster visited upon all those pert and teased little hair-dos held in place with lacquer spray, after an hour of sweat in the sun for gym class, and you have a bunch of sad looking little dishrags.

We won't even go near the subject of the gym romper uniform...just thinking of it makes me close my eyes, and shake my head while cringing.... Yeah, it was that bad. And they were red! What were they thinking...sticking red outfits on Nordic blondes who had ruddy cheeks even before exercise?

But (as usual) I digress...the seasons is the subject I was on. As I said, the seasons are very clear to me and the one I'm seeing today is so far quite pleasant.

On a totally different topic, in my strolls through the blogosphere (is that even a word?) I ran across a contest on babble for the top food blogs. Now I'm not a big fan of "mom" blogs since I really don't relate to all the talk of babies and toddlers. But food is food, so this caught my eye.

Found my way there via Snippets of Thyme which is a food blog (for the most part) with wonderful photography, like this post with the swans...gorgeous! Really, go check out her photos of the swans right now but then come back. Anyhow, I thought I'd share this with you since it lists 100 food blogs and who can't use a new recipe now and then?

Oh, and I found this recipe for Grilled Tuna and Cheese Sandwiches which looks delicious! Planning to make this real soon! Just need some sandwich bread. Yeah, my thoughts of a Paleo or gluten-free diet get side-tracked real easy!

Really Easy

Just the other day I commented on someone's blog who was having a lot of problems with Blogger and spacing, that I (knock on wood) had been quite lucky. Twice with spacing between paragraphs and once with captions causing photos to move and paragraphs vanish. Does Blogger have a secret bug that allows it to monitor comments about it? If they're the least bit negative, it then launches an attack of problems on that blog. Just kidding (I hope). But it came to mind since the next time I went to do something in Blogger (yesterday), I was greeted with a very slow and uncooperative program.

The above has nothing to do with what I wanted to let you know about today, it was just one of those random thoughts that float into one's brain. A while back I shared with you a site that showed how to construct a light box for photographing smallish things, like you'd use on Etsy. Well, over at Under a Blue Moon, Andrea Paulin listed a site in her Friday Favorites. This is just as inexpensive and maybe even easier. It's written by a professional photographer in NYC. Having worked as an art director in advertising for 18 years in LA, I know all the things that the photographer uses in product shots and he's taken all the elements needed, making a super easy "how to" including pictures.

Friday Favorites from Andrea Paulin's blog "Under a Blue Moon"

While you're visiting Andrea's blog, be sure to go back and check other Friday Favorites...love the reds and neutrals in this one! And I just checked in on her blog today and though she normally doesn't post on Saturdays, she showed off the cutest Easter treats for her nieces and nephews! They're just adorable and so easy! Very vintage looking too!

Thanks Andrea, for letting me use your images and links! I hope everyone will check out your blog. Well, I'm off now, time to hard-boil some eggs. No, probably won't color them, but I love hard-boiled eggs (heck, I love eggs of any sort, much to the dismay of my cholesterol numbers) and Easter's a perfect excuse! Happy Bunny Day!!

Just a Quick Post

You've all endured my comments on how I need to work on my food photography through several posts by now and I'm happy to say that I found a solution! It's over at The Merlin Menu blog. This blog has lots of tasty recipes and info on pressure cooking. Ron details how he built his light box for just a few dollars. He also lists the source where he originally found the info on how to make it which is this entry on the Strobist blog.

Guess what I'll be playing with this week! It looks so easy. By the way, the Strobist blog has lots of info on photography if you need some pointers.

Palm Trees and Clouds

Haven't posted for a few days because the weather and I can't seem to get in sync or should I say the sun and I can't. I have several things I want to show you but after trying with indoor lighting, I have to say I really DO need to read my camera manual so I can use the less automatic settings. So for the moment they'll have to be taken outdoors.

I've been into photography since I was little. Back in high school I was both the school newspaper and year book photographer. In an all girl school it was arty not geeky. Since everyone had to wear those gawd-awful uniforms (today's uniforms are glamorous by comparison) it kind of leveled the playing field in clique vs. what today would be geeky. Being the school's photographer had a sort of prestige to it that just made you kinda special. You could be walking around school during study hall without a pass and no on said anything, 'cause you're out taking pics for the year book or going to develop film in the darkroom! It put you on a different level than the non-photo geeks.

My, that was a little tangent wasn't it?! My point being:  I continued to love photography and study it all through college to the point I became allergic (contact dermatitis of the hands) to the fixative in the dark room senior year. So I know all about F-stops and ASA's but that's totally "old school". I have to convert that knowledge into the language of the digital beast. I know my camera can do the same thing my film SLR camera can (minus the luxury of SLR) but all the little icons make me nuts!! Anyone else feel that way? It's very frustrating. Kind of like learning an new language, which may be easier. LOL! Ok, maybe not.

Anyhow, I will be posting some pics soon I promise, but in the interim how about a nice sky?

"Palm trees waving and blowing clouds"