The first roll from the P-Sharan...

I finally had a day to take my new P-Sharan out for a test drive. It was sunny, it was relatively warm (not that cold would have stopped me now), and I was *not* sick in bed, and I had plenty of people to look after my daughter. And I have to say the first roll was a total success. Nearly all the images that I remember taking were exposed relatively well and were just what I'd expect from a pinhole camera.... Blurry! Seriously, I was very happy with the first results. It's loaded with a roll of black and white film now and I'm going to try the cool filters it came with (soft focus & vignetted edges). Expect more from this lovely camera...

Sold!

Yes, these two lovelies are sold. A few weeks ago, someone e-mailed me asking if I would sell prints of two images she saw on Flickr as a gift for someone for Christmas. Sure! Then I realized one of them was a Polaroid 600 that needed to be enlarged to 8x8. Yikes. Well, to my surprise, it turned out quite nice after the professional scan. She is buying these for a friend in Maryland who has fond memories of spending time at Colonial Beach. They will be mailed off tomorrow! Isn't Flickr is great!

Another Camera Adventure...

Well, I've finished the P-Sharan in about 3 hours. I was hoping to take it out for a spin tomorrow, but it seems that the rain may be here and the camera is mostly cardboard. Oh well, I guess I can wait a few more days, since it took me 12 days to get it all together. Isn't she beautiful?

P-Sharan SQ-35

Oh my... It's been awhile...

Well, my husband just couldn't wait until my actual birthday (Dec 6) to give me my birthday present. His excuse? I wouldn't be able to enjoy it on my birthday since we are having a birthday party for my daughter (also born on Dec 6) on Saturday and our neighborhood progressive dinner is Saturday night. Yeah, he just couldn't wait that long. It was good, believe me. He bought me the P-Sharan pinhole camera, but this is the square format one with a soft focus filter. It is SO cool. Now, I just have to put it together.... Stay tuned for the building of "Shar".

About the Weather...

Weather is a funny thing. Just a few days ago it was a wonderfully sunny (yet wet from previous rains) and relatively warm (70 degrees) day. It ended with threats of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes (which never happened), but gave me this beauty. Now just 3 days later, there was ice on the back deck and there has been wind and snow flurries. There is something lovely about gray clouds that bring snow, however...

Storms and Tornadoes, Oh My...

All day had been one of those dark and rainy days. But, then there were these beautiful snippets of bright warm sun. Very warm for a mid-November day. Then there was the threat of severe storms and tornadoes... And I had an (almost) five year old to get to a "very important" birthday party. Well, we braved the threat and on the way, I captured this beauty from the car...

Fall...

Well, fall was here and now is nearly over. Our trees in the yard seemed to be quite uninspiring this year. But, as I explored a little further, I noticed this tiny fire red maple in the woody area of our yard.

Driving Rain...

Well, I have arrived home from lovely (and warm) St. Pete Beach, Florida safe and sound. The drive was long and very boring. I am notorious (at least to my family) for my car sickness and my inability to sleep in a car. I am rarely ever a passenger and I NEVER ride in the back seat of any vehicle (unless I have an unobstructed view of the windshield). But, a 13 hour ride does mean down time. So, to entertain myself, I just took long exposures through the rainy windshield of the car. And from about 100 shots, I actually liked one.

Hello from Florida!

Well, my husband and I made a 15 hour drive in our tiny Honda Civic Hybrid from King George, VA to lovely St Pete Beach, FL yesterday. Not a vacation. Well a working vacation. OK. We have started a software business and have come down here for the IACA training conference as a vendor. So, as I sit here behind the booth while my husband works his magic, I blog. While I haven't been able to really go out shooting, we did arrive yesterday right before sunset. And, as if nature new I needed something after a sleepless night of driving, she threw in a few storms over the setting sun and the Gulf of Mexico.

Like Mother, Like Daughter...

About a year ago, my husband, daughter Alexis (then just nearly 4), and I went to a local produce stand for some pumpkins, flowers, and other lovely things that one can find only from rural road side stands. I was carrying my Holga around quite often then and Alexis always wanted to do what Mommy was doing. She had spotted this huge bright yellow mixing part of a cement truck near the produce stand and wanted to take a picture of it. So, when we stopped, I let her have the Holga and she walked over and took a picture. When it was finally developed, my husband and I were amazed at the picture she had taken. It was an instant favorite of ours. Anyway, when the FCCA had a Call for Entry for a national juried exhibition, "Child's Eye View", I knew I had to enter it. Well... I did. And it did. Got accepted I mean. The opening is on November 7, 2008 in Fredericksburg, VA.

Congratulations on your very first show my lovely Alexis!

You see...

My holga is my best friend... whining child or not.

Negative Space

The Center for Fine Art Photography has a Call for Entry for an upcoming show with the theme Negative Space. I will be entering 3 pieces, including Two Poles, Colonial Beach Pier After Ernesto, and my hope for glory, Bridge with Train taken with my Pinhole Blender...

I need another camera...

like I need another hole in my head. I have finally admitted that I am addicted to collecting cameras. My husband long ago figured that out. Even my 4 year old makes cameras out of paper, pipe cleaners, and legos for me. I guess it's just hard for me to admit. Anyway, I'm contemplating buying a Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim point and shoot plastic camera. I found out about this camera on flickr, of course. Yet, another addiction. While perusing my contacts photos I came across quite an amazing photograph by MyStillLife. Now that I've seen what the Ultra Wide can do, I need one for myself. *dripping with sarcasm* Because, as we have all heard before, "You must have a great camera to take such great pictures." I'm off to eBay...

For the Love of Film....

Sometimes I wonder why I shoot anything but my Holga. Sometimes, I will go many months before finishing a 12 frame roll. What's up with that? I can knock off nearly 100 images in the digital camera before an hour is up! The ONLY nice thing about taking so long to get the roll developed is that I completely forget what is on the roll. Mostly, I am VERY happy with the images that come back developed. And every time I open the box, unroll the film, and press it against the van window to see what I've got, I'm overjoyed. Then I vow to make more images with the Holga. I get 3-4 frames in and... then it goes into the abyss for another couple of months, waiting for its turn in the sun. Ah well...

Long lost trip to DC

I made a trip to DC quite a few weeks ago with the hubby & daughter. Reminder to self... Never take daughter downtown after bad night sleep. We were there for almost an entire hour! Seriously, I think the travel time in & out were longer than the time spent in town. So, my pictures were SERIOUSLY lacking even though it was a PERFECT sky that day. Many clouds and cool shadow & light play. Ah well. I did get a nice pinhole shot of the Washington Monument.

Dedication

I'm sure I've mentioned this before (and I'm sure I'll mention this many times more from now), but there is this amazing painter, Steven Walker I met while working at the FCCA. After admiring (and drooling over) his work for nearly a year, I finally acquired not 1, but 2 pieces of his work. Now that I'm writing this, I feel like I need to post an image of those 2 pieces, but I'll save that for another post. Right now I dedicate this "big sky" to him...

Vacation

This was the last big "hoo-rah" before school starts in September. My daughter and I made a whirlwind tour of the grandparents (my husband's and mine) this past week. With all the sleeping I've been doing (the joy of having doting grandparents), I have hardly time to check my email! I did get out today to enjoy the rural scenes in Parsonsburg, MD with the moody skies and all. Lovely!

The Apple Harvest

Well I've harvested the apples from the famous apple tree today. It may be a bit early for them, but the black spots were steadily growing on some of them. And I really wanted to taste one!! They were tart, but I suppose if I wanted sweet apples, I would not have planted a Granny Smith. My daughter and I ate 4 of them, but, of course, they were pretty small. There are 3 left on the counter and I'm sure they will be gone tomorrow. Check out the slideshow of the apples from itty bitty, to this...

Death of the Countryside

Well, the McMansions are coming. There is this beautiful farm (I believe it was called the Springfield farm) on the way to Fredericksburg from King George that was sold to a developer (the one, I believe, who owns most of F'burg now). It's been sold now for a couple of years. I knew it was happening when the cows disappeared from the hillside. But, this is the first sign of construction, I've seen. The corn has been nearly cleared from the field and the roads are beginning to appear. When the developments come, it truly is the death of the country....

Those tall trees...

I was out in this beautiful unusually cool August day (76 degrees!!) making some images with the digital pinhole. Funny, how you go out with an idea and end up coming back with something completely different than you started with. I started playing with panning the camera up while looking at the many pine and tulip trees (two very tall types of trees) in our back yard. I like the vertical-ness (hmm... maybe I should have held the camera vertical!) of the image that wasn't planned...

Yellow Flowers and Rocks

Took a walk down the pond at the end of our street. Didn't have a long lens to capture the beautiful lilies floating in it, but I did get this nice image of the yellow poppies (?) someone planted in the rocks. I took this with the Nikon Coolpix s600 macro feature. Love that thing!

Back to the Lensbaby

I had a friend out to the country today for a visit with her daughter. She's also a photographer in the Fredericksburg, VA area. So, while she was out here I showed her some of my cool toys, including the Lensbaby 3G. She loved it SO much, she left with the intention of buying one for herself. So, since it was on the camera, I decided to take some shots this evening. I've been taking SO many pictures of pretty flowers, I decided it was time for a change...

I need a cleaning person...

When I graduated college, I had my own place (rented apartments & owned a townhouse) for 7 years (until I got married). I had very clean, neat places. Then I got a dog (Dinah), then a boyfriend (now husband) with 2 dogs (Bubba and Danielle), then another dog (Rusty), then another dog (Jack), then a HUGE house, then another dog (Buckers, yes 6 dogs now), then a daughter (Alexis), then slowly 5 dogs, 4 dogs, 3 dogs, 2 dogs, 1 dog, and lastly 2 dogs (now Dinah & Moose). It is tough being the only neat freak in the house. I've spent the last 3 days cleaning, neatening, and otherwise trying to control this mess I've got growing around me. I'm tired...

On the Road Again

Living out in the country has it's benefits. Quiet (no car traffic), DARK nights full of stars and the sounds of crickets. No homeowner associations saying your flowers aren't pruned correctly. Au Natural, baby. Neighbors I can't see!! But, then again, to get ANYWHERE we need to drive 30 minutes. So, I see a lot on my trips between King George and Fredericksburg. I see lots of corn, soybeans, barns, corn, soybeans, barns, old Virginia Renaissance Faire (I need to get in there and make some pictures), corn and soybeans. But, the one thing I look forward to EVERY time I make this trip is this one particular barn that I have photographed many, many times. I actually stop once in awhile, too. And I have a flickr set dedicated to it. Here is the "fly by" version I snapped today.

A present from the squirrels...

I suppose I should go out and thank the squirrels for our wonderful garden this year. Not only did we have sunflowers popping up all over the yard, but we have discovered that they have also planted us a pumpkin vine. And since we have quite a woody/brushy property, it went unnoticed for quite a while. While out throwing a ball for my dog, Moose, I saw a bright yellow-orange flower in the brushy part of the back yard. I went out to inspect it and sure enough, a flower, on a HUGE vine. The leaves are larger than a small child's head (at least my small child's head). So, I headed in for the cameras and came out with this...

Snapped on the Pinhole...

Well, after playing "macro" with my compact point & shoot camera for quite a few days, I decided to snap on the NO DUST digital pinhole bodycap from Pinhole Resource on to my D70s. So, the past few days have been full of blurry flowers and mushrooms instead of crystal clear ones. Ha, ha... I'm having fun and that is all that matters. Here is the blurry picture of the day!!

Huge Mushrooms

I have these mushrooms that grow in my yard. They are really big mushrooms measuring over 9" across (yes, I measured them). I even make my husband mow around them (he thinks I'm crazy). I got down on the ground with the ants (maybe I am crazy) and took some pictures of them with the Coolpix macro feature. I'm hoping for a "faerie ring" soon!

I'm home

Just back from a nice relaxing week at my parents' house. They live way out in the country just 10 minutes from town! :) Seriously... It's quiet (you hear cows mooing a mile away), pitch dark at night (real stars to be seen!) and I can get to a good coffee shop in just 10 minutes. Oh, and I get free babysitting and don't have to get out of bed until noon!

Took this from the road... waaaay out in the country.

Ah... The Beauty...

My father has again purchased a Harley Davidson. He's had "quite a few" according to Mom... But, I got to go with him to the dealership to pick it up today and while I was waiting, I snapped a few with my Lensbaby 3G of some of the show bikes. This is one of my favorites and it is when they brought his bike out from the back.

The Apple Tree

I have been documenting the first appearance of apples on a tree that I planted nearly 6 years ago. I have 7 that have survived. The tree is nicely "netted" to prevent the many birds & squirrels out here in the country from tasting them. I just hope I get to take one bite of these beautiful things. Here is a slideshow of their progress.

Casablanca Lily

If you ever checkout my flickr stream, you will see a lot of these lilies. They are blooming all over the garden. Finally, a year when the voles and the boring beetles have not destroyed them all. We only lost 2 this year. The picture of the day...

Ok, 1 year anniversary?

Yeah, it's been nearly 1 year since my last post! Yikes? Why is it that this is so hard. Is it because I'm a visual person not a verbal person. Ha, ha. Ask my husband. I think he would disagree about the verbal part. Ah, well. My goal is to maybe write at least once a week? Maybe write about each picture I post to flickr because shit, I'm there all the time? It's late (12:09 am) and I need to be up at 6 am because that's when the girl (daughter) gets up. Here is the pic of the day!