Sunday II

This is another photograph of Sunday.

Sunday I

This is a photograph of Sunday.

Wine

After a long hard day of baking, I relaxed with a delicious glass of red wine. I am still going to be working on the domestic photo thing so bear with me. I MUST learn it. I MUST.

Measuring Cups

In all the cooking equipment buying frenzy (still working off those wedding gift cards - oh yeah!) I just had to get myself a little treat - a pretty little set of blue measuring cups. They are not really practical for baking, but they sure will make pretty photographs of baking - which is more what I am after!

Yellow Bowl

This is a start...

Yellow

More baking today. This is a photograph of yellow eggs in a yellow mixing bowl. While J and I both try to improve on cooking and baking different things, I am trying to improve on photographing food and other domestic scenes. Some people out there do really, really, beautiful "domestic" photography that makes me very envious. I have to try and try and try...something must hit eventually.

Mush

Late at night, I couldn't sleep. When Mush is being a bad cat, to "punish" him we put him in the bathroom for a few minutes to chill out. It's like time out, for cats. Anyways, he normally curls up in the sink and goes to sleep. I came in and photographed him because I have nothing else to do at 3 AM. More pics on flickr.

Beach

Here's another shot from the beach. I was scouting this for a maternity "belly" shot but then later I completely forgot about it. No one else will like this shot but I like it very much.

Scouting

I have a photoshoot next week at the beach. I don't usually do outdoor photoshoots but I am working on a new portfolio. I went today to scout out the location and see where the sun will be, what the light will look like, and find good spots for photos. While on the beach, I snapped this.

Rooftop

Nothing to do with this photo

Some other interesting things that happened this week (that have nothing to do with this photo) are:

- We had to, for the first time since moving here, finally shut the windows because it's getting a bit too chilly.
- J started playing guitar again.
- I completely, inexplicably, lost a sandwich somewhere?! in the house?! the car?! How do you lose a sandwich? We will find it when the flies show up, I guess.
- J made the best pancakes I have ever had this morning.
- We are making a roast tonight that I expect to be delicious.

Also, I have to share this weird dream I had (NOW this is starting to be a real blog):

I dreamt that our new upstairs neighbors threw a big party (to which we were not invited) and only told us 1 hour before it was happening and then were like “Oh, btw, we may need to borrow some stuff and/or use some of your space.” Before I knew it, a bunch of strangers were pouring into my house from upstairs to look in all our rooms and rummage through my personal stuff. They acted like we were the servants for the party and kept demanding weird things like a specific type of pen (asked for in French). They also put wet things down on all my wood tables and got food everywhere. I kept trying to hang up a PRIVATE sign but I would come back, it would be gone, and they would be rifling through my toiletries. The entire time I was dealing with this, J was on the phone with a credit card company trying to get a new credit card.

Now what does that mean?

I am sure I will think of some other stuff as soon as I walk away from my computer...

Cloud Diptych

More clouds for you. The days that are gray are really gray. A stratus nebulosa opacus totalus takes over and won't leave. But the days that are sunny have the best variety of beautiful clouds I have ever seen. I can't stop looking up!

Food Cartoons II

Trapezoidal pizza, oh yeah.

Food Cartoons I

Yay! Another cartoon! I know you were wondering, "What happened to the cartoons?" Well, the answer is that they take a surprisingly long time to make! It would be a full-time hobby to make a cartoon every day and I already have enough hobbies.

Anyways, food photography is SOOOO hard. "What's so hard? You just make some food and then take a picture of it." Well, yeah, that's easy. But GOOD food photography is really really hard. That's why food photographers are specialists. So, for the purposes of reporting our various food adventures, I will leave the photographs to J and Crappy D. They certainly have the "You just make some food and then take a picture of it." thing covered.

My embarrassingly bad photos will stay hidden forever until I die and someone goes through my archive (because I will be famous, duh) and a sudden report comes out "World-Renown Famous Rich Photographer surprisingly bad at photos of food".

So, you get cartoons about the food we make. Enjoy!

300

Some of you know about my decision to take a photograph, every day, no matter what, EVERY DAY, even if it's not a good photograph or taken with my point and shoot or crappy D, even if I have the flu! Well, I started this 300 days ago and getting to the 300 point is a big accomplishment. The hardest part was from 200-300.

Now, a lot of them SUCK. But, there are many, many, many more that I love dearly and they would never exist at all if the rule didn't keep me going. I am definitely going to get to 365 and then I will have to decide if I want to relax the rules a little bit but right now, I felt like celebrating that I made it this far.

For the big occasion, I wanted to create something really special and different and this is it. I have been trying to teach myself compositing (using more than one photograph to make a piece of art). This photo contains more than 20 different layers - but again - the rules mandate that everything that went into this photo had to be shot on the same day. So, every layer in here - every word, every shadow, is from a photograph I shot TODAY.

This was inspired by a new favorite poem of mine by Billy Collins from "The Trouble with Poetry", called "The Flying Notebook":

With its spiraling metal body
and white pages for wings
my notebook flies over my bed while I sleep –

a bird full of quotations and tiny images
who loves the night’s dark rooms
glad now to be free of my scrutiny and my pen point.

Tomorrow, it will go with me
into the streets where I may stop to look
at my reflection in a store window,

and later I may break a piece of bread
at a corner table in a restaurant
then scribble something down.

But tonight it flies around me in circles
sailing through a column of moonlight,
then beating its paper wings even more,

once swooping so low
as to ripple the surface of a lake
in a dream in which I happen to be drowning.

Opposites

This week, I wanted to assign myself the challenge of creating a modern, edgy portrait of J and I. We do not have any "real" portraits of the two of us together (sorry J, holding Crappy D at arms' length doesn't cut it). And, this was what I was in the mood to create this week. J is dressed up in his latest and greatest (purchased by moi, on Wednesday) and if you can't tell, I am sharpening my mohawk!

I think for my 30th birthday I may commission a fine art portrait of the two of us.

Clouds II

The other great thing is that the sky is always changing. The last photo and this were taken 39:24 apart.

The Clouds Part

I love that many times, if I am running low on fuel for the photo-a-day project, I can open my door, point my camera at the sky and get a nice photograph. It's not always the most exciting thing but it satisfies the requirement.

I haven't been really inspired lately and I have hated every thing that's come out of my camera for the last month. (Well, almost everything). I am in a rut, or a drought, or shooter's block, or something.


p.s. I did climb the rock wall on Monday night. It was about 2.5 hours of safety instruction and 5 minutes of climbing the wall. I was on the easiest climb, which was FAR easier than climbing the ladder on the silo, so it wasn't that challenging. It's too expensive and complicated to become a big hobby or workout for me. I like that running shoes are my most complicated piece of workout equipment.

Cat

Our local gourmet pet store, which I love and support because it's a woman-owned small business, has two store cats that live in the store and socialize with customers. I keep forgetting that the store is closed on Mondays (I have made a special trip the last TWO Mondays!) but at least today there was the store cat posing in the window with his fake companions.

J

I can't really account for what we did on the weekend, and not in a good way (if there is a good way for not remembering your entire weekend). So, to amuse you, here is a picture of J.

It's Baking Time!

Here's another little montage to show how difficult it is to start baking (or do anything for that matter) with Mushroom around. But, he is good company and he is so flippin' cute.

Urban J

The neighborhood we went to today was a little bit more "urban" or "gritty" than where we live...but I mean that in a nice way. I made J go pose for me looking appropriately urban in his gritty "Michigan Physics" shirt. If you want to see a bigger version: click here.

Climbing

So, you may or may not have noticed that in the last few months I have taken an interest in some local kid-sized climbing walls. We are talking about small-scale climbing walls at a local playground and the Oregon state fair. They are fun and a great workout. But, today at the REI, J INSISTED on signing me up for a Women's Climbing Class on Monday night. So, 48 hours from now, I will be scaling THIS wall...which is a lot bigger and death-inducing than the two varieties I have tried so far. But seriously though, I am looking forward to giving it a try in a women-only environment (it doesn't matter how not-vain you are...it's human nature to wonder about how bad your butt looks strapped into a harness and 50 feet up in the air with a giant wedgie).

And a note about this post on J's blog. J wasn't nearly forceful enough in his condemnation of this parental D-bag. First off, as you can see above, we saw two little kids scaling this 60 foot wall like freaking pros (or monkeys, or pro monkeys). Kids weigh less, are used to climbing for play, and have fewer hang-ups about things than we do. Second of all, who tells their kids they CAN'T accomplish something?!? Isn't that parenting 101? "You can do anything you want to, blah blah blah..." This guy's daughter very excitedly asked "Could I do it Dad?" and he says without hesitation "No. Definitely Not." 1) She would probably have shown her old man up like no nobody's business and 2) At the very least you could say "Well, if you're interested we can find you a class so you can learn to do it. It's hard but it would be a good challenge for you and you can practice and do it!" I don't normally criticize people's bad parenting because I know I know nothing and whatnot but this was just blatant.

REI

Dude, this is the entrance to the REI store. I mean, that's just crazy awesome. They even have a mini-mountain bike trail so that you can test out a bike before you buy it. J didn't even want to go TO the REI store even though it was right around the corner from our composting class so don't let him pretend to take credit for going there (see J's blog). Anyways, it's a cool store. It makes me want to spend thousands of dollars and also go camping.

Flower

Feel free to just let me know when you are getting sick and tired of this "macro flower" thing. It's kind of required by law though so I keep taking 'em. I can't seem to stop.

I should have pics of the pizza joint and the beer but they didn't come out so good so you get a flower.

Rainbow

We went on a late-night walk tonight to get to a pizza place that's in a part of the neighborhood we never go to. There's a little college campus down at the bottom of the hill (on the north side) and the pizza place caters to the "kids". On the way there, it was "Seattle weather" (which is rain that you either don't feel or doesn't make you wet) and I got to see this very faint but lovely rainbow.

The Book

Jason's book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice, has arrived so this is going to be my typical view for a while I imagine. I decided that if I want to spend any time with my husband this fall and winter, I better learn to enjoy baking with him.

Cloud Break II

I am already learning to appreciate cloud breaks, and it's not officially even fall (or winter) yet. Even if I just notice that the sun is shining and I step out to the front step to take a picture of the beautiful, fleeting, blue sky it's a special little moment.

X-Ray

Day three of montaging, or compositing, perhaps. I know these photos aren't for everyone (some of you will think I've gone mad, and I know my mother won't like them) but at the moment they are the best way to express myself. It feels like I am in a million places at once, not in a good way, and these photographs are my way to express that visually.

Tonight, something that's been good for me for most of a year came to an end, in a way. Something that I have really cared about let me down and it made me realize that it's time to move on. This is another revenge photo - a response to very powerful emotions that I was feeling at the moment.

I don't feel that I have a really good outlet for my photographs at the moment. This blog hasn't turned out exactly how I planned and I am not sure if it can be changed to become what I need. I might try to redesign but I don't know that it's going to work.

Rough Day

So, I guess you shouldn't shoot angry, or photoshop angry...but lately when I get really pissed - the thing I want to do is grab my camera. It's the photographic equivalent of punching your pillow, I guess.

Today, I just lost it. We tried to throw a BBQ. And while it was a little last minute, I will admit, it should not have turned out to be the complete and utter failure that it was. We invited about 10 people, all the people we know in Seattle, and due to various circumstances...ONE person came over. ONE. We bought $60 worth of food and I spent ALL DAY cleaning the apartment and preparing food so it just turned out to be totally sad that I did all that work for no reason.

The icing on the cake was that I have picked up some red sun flowers from Trader Joe's (a wonderful $3 splurge) that looked so pretty in a vase on our counter. All day when I looked at them, they made me happy because they brightened up our apartment and were representative of the special occasion coming up. When the whole thing fell apart, they seemed to be mocking me. I was so hurt and pissed that I took my anger out by shooting those flowers and making them into a new image. It felt cathartic.

Fragments

Also known as: Self Portrait in the Belly of a Sparkly Pig

That will be the name of my memoir someday when I am a famous artist.

Went to meet two friends for a happy hour today, which was a lovely distraction, but as soon as they were gone my malaise came back. On the way to meet them, I passed by one of the many pigs on display around Seattle, this one like a disco ball. This seems to sum up how I am feeling at the moment and I quite like this photograph.

Malbec

Yesterday, we stumbled upon a little Malbec blend at our tiny little local store, Ken's. I was in the mood for a splurge ($10 splurge) and Malbec is hard to find and one of my favorites.

Today was not the best day. Not the worst day either, but could stand to be improved by slowly enjoying a nice wine over the next 5 hours or so. I have been a bit down since coming home from NY and nothing seems to be doing the trick for cheering me up. Any ideas? A visit from someone, perhaps?

The wine is Carlos Basso - Dos Fincas - 2005 Cab/Malbec from Argentina.

Cloud Break

This is what a "cloud break" looks like. It was mostly gray all day but there were moments when the clouds would break through and the sun would shine brightly on a small patch of land. Sometimes, you are lucky enough to be in one of these patches in which case, you stop what you are doing and sit in the sun to appreciate its warmth. Sometimes, you see one across the city and say "Oh look, lucky people in [insert neighborhood] are getting sunshine!" I mean, I am only pretending to know that this is the case based on my ONE WEEK of fallish weather here. I may be completely jaded by the time January rolls around.

Untitled

I took this photograph today in the style of one of my friends - as a tribute to her. This isn't my typical shot, although it may become so after a fall with misty raindrops on everything!

Apparently, while we were away, fall came to Seattle. The weather has been totally different since we returned than it was all summer. It's been gray in the mornings when we wake up, with fog too, but then usually it burns off later in the afternoon. It is cool in the evenings now. While we were out walking yesterday, we heard a guy complaining that it was "F$&%ing COLD!". We both agreed that it was NO WHERE NEAR F-word deserving cold (Hello, Boston!) and that the most vehement thing we could say about it would be "Oh, goodness, it's a little chilly." or, "My, perhaps I should wear a light jacket."

Black Cat

The walk, as the light was failing this evening, was a lovely reminder that there are photographs waiting everywhere. I love the way his back is turned on me.

The Sun

After the bread baking, we went on a walk around the neighborhood. There is a little chill in the air, fall is definitely arriving, and I was pleased to be able to wear my fall boots again.

I like this photograph (and the next one) because they remind me so much of a project I did in photoschool a little more than one year ago. We had to do a photostory for a magazine, and I chose "The Sun" which some of you may know. This photo would fit right in with that work so it tugs on my heartstrings a little bit.

Bread II

J put the bread up in the windowsill to cool. That seemed like such an erstwhile thing to do.

Bread

J made a new bread again today. I have actually managed to make it look a lot better than it is. It wasn't bad, just too sweet and not hearty like I prefer. You'll get to see a couple more photos of it because it was rather pretty.

Saturday

Lazy Saturday in our household. We took a long walk to our favorite coffee shop in the morning. We saw an afternoon matinee of 3:10 to Yuma (great western, if you like those kinds of movies). We cooked dinner and shared some wine and sat up late talking about music.

Mush

Another day that I didn't feel like shooting but the rule keeps me going, thankfully. Ms. D came over to watch what we thought was going to be a chick flick. J landed and came home to join us for a little while. But, none of us could ignore how cute Mush was being.

The Front Window

Today I food poisoned myself by eating something that was left in the fridge from before our trip because I was too lazy to go grocery shopping. So, since I didn't feel much like shooting, you get a picture of my front window.

You can see:
- The dresser I bought on the street for $100 at a street fair and made J and Gordon carry home for me
- The little school chair I bought at goodwill in 2001 that's spattered with paint
- The table that I made from a slab of marble that has been in my parent's garage, unused, for about 30 years.
- A wooden bowl we got for a wedding present
- A wooden hand I bought at a yard sale the first few days we moved to Seattle
- A tripod lamp from Target
- A green bench I bought with my mom at an antique store in Massachusettes
- The telephone from my grandmother's house
- A little stone bird and a blue vase I got in Montana
- A glass vase I bought in Austin, TX
- An orchid, not blooming, I bought a few months ago when guests were coming over
- A jade plant (my favorite plant) I have had for several years
- Three stone pears from my dear friend - one of the best gifts I've ever gotten
- The peace lily my mom sent to me in Montana when I was homesick
- The view out my front window

Mushroom

Most of you know by now about my photo-a-day rule. I have to take a photo, every day, before midnight, no matter what. It doesn't have to be a good photo. It can be with Crappy D. But, I have to do it.

Days like today, stuck on a plane, can make that difficult. I am starting a new tradition. The day I arrive home from a trip is official "Cat Photo Day". Doesn't Mush look happy to see me?

Exhausted

It's 9:06 PM and we are both completely exhausted. He has been working like crazy, even while we have travelled. We are both completely sick of his job. I haven't taken a photograph all day so this is it. We made the tough decision that instead of returning home to Seattle with me, J will return to work with his client in Chicago.

Walking Stick

At night, we spotted this little guy, a "walking stick" (or stick insect) outside on the deck. I captured him because I wanted J to get a chance to see one - they are pretty hard to find because they are so well camouflaged. This is only the 2nd or third one I have seen in my life. He scampered quickly up and down my arms but J was able to snap a few photos. They don't really convey how these little guys really look exactly like a stick of wood.

Mr. Toad

After all the excitement of the farm visit, we headed down to my parent's place for a visit. I love visiting in the summer when the woods are completely leafed-out and you feel like you're in another world. When my mom and I went out to start the grill, we discovered two super cute tiny toads (about the size of a quarter) living in the grill cover. I got to catch and hold them, feel their sticky feet, and take a couple of toad portraits. I also got to help a little box turtle cross the road.

I Couldn't Resist

This photo sort of breaks my unwritten blog rules. But, I couldn't resist! I mean, this is such a great outfit - cowboy boots and shorts. And isn't this how every 4 year old wants to wrap up a night of watching cow surgery past their bedtime?

Cow Surgery IV

The end, it's over. The vet is collecting her things - her black medical case and a bucket. You can see the zippered-up incision on the cow's side. It was a really beautiful job of sewing.

Cow Surgery III

Nearing the end, before the final incision is closed...

Cow Surgery II

Here, Brian and the Vet prep the cow for the surgery. The vet cleaned her side with iodine and gave her shots of anesthetic.

Cow Surgery I

Late at night, on the farm, after many years, we finally get to see our friend at his work. He was called to the barn for an emergency - a sick cow in need of surgery to save her life. He invited us to come and watch the surgery.

This photo shows the cow before the surgery, in the cow "operating room". This photo is was actually taken after the surgery was over so that you can see the cow has survived and looks fine. I was very proud of myself that I was in no way grossed out or disturbed - I photographed the entire surgery from start to finish. The cow is given local anesthetic and stays awake through the entire process. The surgery consists of the vet cutting a whole in the cow's side, reaching her arm into the cow up to the armpit, grabbing the stomach that has wandered over to the wrong side of the cows body, pulling it back into position, sewing it to the cow's side so it can't go wandering again, and then closing the incision.

A note about cow surgery:
There are explicit, graphic, photos that I will post to flickr shortly if anyone is interested. I won't show anything gross here so click forward without worry!

A note about the photographs:
Cow surgeries take place in a barn. The barn is dark. The barn is darker at night. There are a few very bright bare lightbulbs and work lamps hanging in a dark room. This is a very tricky lighting situation. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself. Also, barns are messy and designed to be functional - not necessarily photogenic. I cannot move things like gates made of iron bars that are in the way of my shot. This was also my first cow surgery so I am fairly pleased with the results. Are they the greatest photographs ever? No. Could someone else have photographed the cow surgery better? Yes. Am I making a living shooting cow surgeries? No. J, are you satisfied with this disclaimer about how not great my cow surgery photos are?