Cow Parsley

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Abandoned

Things decay in interesting ways when you leave them out for the elements to change them.

Truck II

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Truck

The town of Concrete, WA has lots of abandoned buildings with peeling paint, rotting wood, moss-covered metal, and old appliances and cars dumped in the back. This was the dirtiest truck I've ever seen.

Shooting Trip

Going out shooting with other photographers can be a lot of fun. It reminded me so much of being in school in Montana. I love how we all get to a place and go off in our own directions shooting our own things.

Here is A with the most clever tripod stand I've ever seen...

Building in the Rain

Today I went on a shooting trip adventure with my two photographer friends L and A. We went to a tiny boondock town called "Concrete, WA". I got a new camera, named "Chubby", and I took him for a long test drive. This is what an abandoned building looks like with rain on the glass...

Crows

This is my new favorite photograph in a long while.

Posts

Scouting

I spent the day scouting for new shooting locations. I found one I particularly liked.

Sign

I made this while waiting to be picked up by the shuttle to take me to get my car from the shop...This is the beginning of a little black and white kick for me.

Cold

Frost on Mrs. Dragonfire's car as we said goodbye this morning. Farewell to girls' weekend! Farewell until you move to Seattle where you belong and it can be girls' weekend every weekend (with the boys too).

Half Price Books

Spent another lovely day in the company of Mrs. Dragon-Fire. She took me to a secret (to me) used book store that does not at all feel like a used bookstore. It's like being in a new bookstore where all the books are under $8 and most of mine were under $3. Fantastic!

Seattle Time

Having a girls' weekend with my friends this weekend, including a good old-fashioned slumber party! We spent the evening drinking wine, girl-talking, and admiring Mrs. Cyclone's view of the city.

She also gets beautiful morning sunrise light - you can see it on Sea and Sky today.

Mushroom (formal)

Mushroom (silly)

Nothing to report on here, just Mushroom.

House (Cameras)

Hello all, this post has nothing to do with the photo above. I am sending out a second request (as my sister might say, I am asking the universe for what I want and the universe will send it to me).

I am in need of more cameras - not the expensive new kind (well, I need that too but I wouldn't ask for the universe to send it to me) - I really need the free/cheap OLD kind. I need the kind that I am using to make my new work. And I need several of them. They look like this girl but come in different brands. Kodak Duaflex, Argus, Beautyflex, Hasselblad, Bronica. It's the kind that you look down onto a piece of glass to take a picture and most likely will have two lenses on the front.

You may have them sitting in boxes, in the garage, in the basement, covered in dust, in the back of a closet you never look in. I have already scoured those spots in my parents house and alas, my ancestors didn't leave me any. The one I have I got from a bin at a street fair for $5. If you have one of these, and you just happen to be reading this post, and you think "Oh, I think we have one of those..." then please consider donating it to the arts (that's me). It's the kind that you look down onto a piece of glass to take a picture.

If you think you'd like to send this unused dust collector off to Seattle for a good cause, then please contact me so I can verify that it's the kind of camera I am looking for. THANKS!

Old News (Books)

Hi All - one thing I am doing new for the new year is I am figuring out what I want, and finding innovative ways to get it.

Right now, what I really want, what I really need, are BOOKS. Good books. Books to read. Books you've read and would recommend to others. Books you are going to take to the used bookstore (no, mom and dad, not you, I've already gone through all those books in the basement). Books that are collecting dust on your shelves. Books that you could get rid of to make more room for more books. Books you loved. Books that you can only part with for a little while because you loved them so much but would be willing to lend to a responsible person (me) for a little while and the promise of a return. Books to borrow and return. Whatever works for you.

I would just really hate to think that I am sitting here dying for books to read while you guys are sitting there thinking "What the hell am I going to do with all these great books I've already read?!?"

You can contact me to send books or work out a deal. You can lend me some when I come over to your houses. You can surprise me. You can think I am completely insane to ask for this and keep your books all to yourself.

THANKS!

Swings

I love this swing and the invented games tacked to the tree. When I was little, my sister and I played non-stop with the next door neighbor who had a rope swing over what we remember as "a giant ravine" (most likely a shallow ditch). We invented all kinds of games and tricks and gave them names - I wish I had written those down somewhere!

My Neighborhood Rocks! (Part 45)

While on my raccoon hunt, I spied this in the neighbors yard. I love clothes hanging on a line - it's beautiful and poetic and almost always very photogenic. But, there's something about peering over a neighbors fence with a big camera to take pictures of their undergarments that feels a little illicit. When we were in Bermuda, I saw the best clothes line but I was too afraid to photograph it (that was a long time ago!). Since then, I haven't been able to forget that picture in my mind. This time, what I really liked was the pantyhose - I have never seen pantyhose hung on a line before. Also, I like the idea of it being nice enough to go out and hang clothes on a line while there is snow on the ground.

Raccoon Adventure! (Part III)

This particular raccoon was either very confused or he was playing twister.

Raccoon Adventure! (Part II)

The next day I walked all around the block tracking their ridiculously cute footprints in the snow. It was the shortest walk I've ever taken (distance wise) but I was out there forever because there was something great to photograph about every 6 inches. I loved wondering what the raccoons had been up to and imagining them running around outside of our house.

Raccoon adventure! (Part I)

Last night, we got a freakish snow storm that came out of nowhere! We were driving home and it started to snow miniature-hail! Very quickly the roads were icy and slippery and I didn't know if I was going to make it up our BIG hill and not hit any parked cars. Once we were safe inside though, I kept going out to look at the snow as it fell and I discovered that the raccoons who live at the bus stop had been out on a little adventure.

J's Closet

J needed some new clothes for work and this time, after 7.5 years, he finally let go of "the rules" a bit and let me pick out stuff he would never consider wearing before. So, shopping was a bit more fun than usual! He needed so many nice work clothes, that I packed away all of my old nice work clothes to make room for his in the closet. This is a big step up in the world! He looks so good! He had more than 3 shirts and 2 pairs of pants!

Peanuts

"Hey Mom, thanks so much for the lovely new dishes. I love them! They were very well packed and arrived safe and sound!" ~M

"Hey Grandma, thanks for the packing peanuts. I love them! I spent the afternoon spreading them around the floor just like you must have intended. Thanks again!" ~Mushroom

"New" Old Work Going Up

Hi All -

I have decided to finally get around to posting up the beginnings of the photo-a-day project. It began in late November 2006 and this blog began around April 2007 so I have some catching up to do! I will spare you some of the unnecessarily bad shots that I took as I struggled to get rolling with a photo-a-day. But, I hope you will enjoy looking at old work and catching back up to the new. I will try to post a few a day until they are all up. Probably the easiest way to find the most recently posted old work is to click on the [go back in time] button at the top of the page. It will take you to the latest thing that I've posted from the old files. Make sense? Give me some feedback to let me know if this is worth all my time in posting or not, ok? Thanks!

- Grumblehog

400 things to worry about

It has been suggested that when I get overwhelmed with worries, I should quickly scribble my thoughts down on paper so I can "let them go". No one said I couldn't do it with a glass of wine!

Here's to 400 more photos-a-day to worry about!

2090

For an example of the kind of work that is inspiring me right now, here is a photograph of my Uncle Ray - taken in 1926, 6 miles from Jamestown. That was 82 years ago. What family photos will people want to see in 2090?

Post Processing III

Currently, I am interested in taking an image as far as I can take it - maybe even pushing it until it is just a bit TOO far.

For this one, I overlayed another photograph filled with texture and to me the result looks as if you took the previous picture, printed it, carried around in your wallet or a locket for 50 years, and found it in a box of old photos.

Many, many times my mom and dad and sister and I have sifted through old albums and boxes of photos and seen images just like this one of parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We've oooed and ahhhed over pictures of my grandfather from the 30's - "How old is grandpa here? Where was this taken? Look at his suit! Look at his hat! He was so handsome!"

Today, I was in the mood to create something like that now. I wanted a photograph of J, at 30, dressed up (for him), on a special occasion, taken outdoors (like most old photographs due to the need for light), beloved, classic, iconic. Maybe no one else in the world will see it this way but I DO. I imagine someone pulling this out of a shoebox in 2068 and and asking about it, bringing this day back to life, just like I felt it this morning.

Post Processing II

This, on the other hand, would be something a bit closer to what I would prefer to show on my blog or print for myself. It's the next level for me - getting the image to be closer to the artistic vision - the way I see it in my head. There are all kinds of things that go into how I may imagine a final image should look including mood, ambition, influences, and emotions.

What I have done here (mostly changing the tone of the photo and adding a vignette) gets the image closer to having the vintage first-day-of-school look to it that I am going for. I know the pictures my parents took of me in the 80s, standing in the driveway with my little knee socks and backpack on, have this more muted color palette, had a tendency to vignette, and are slightly on the "soft" side. So, that's what I am trying to get closer to here. All those emotions go into making the final product of an image for me.

J's First Day at Work / Post-Processing/ Artistic Vision

Many of you have recently been asking me about the post-processing I do. For those of you who may not know what post-processing is, it's all the work that I do to an image on the computer once it comes out of my camera. Since this is not really a "bloggy" blog I won't go into a treatise here but I did want to show you an example. Pay attention, because you probably won't see this again!


Today was J's first day of work at his new job in Seattle! Yay! So, I made him pose first-day-of-school-style for me this morning.

On the left:
How the digital image looks RAW - straight out of the camera with absolutely nothing done to it.

On the right (about 5 seconds of work):
Here is how I would post-process it to be just a nice looking snapshot (you know, not artsy at all so it's parent friendly).



Can't see the difference??? Well, it may be your screen. Not all computer screens show things in the same way and the changes here may be too subtle for yours to pick up on. (Also, if you are completely convinced that all my photos look like crap and you're not sure why I choose such ugly colors - that may be your screen too).

But, you'll see that I:
1) Warmed it up a bit on the right. I made it look a little "sunnier" if you will - not so much like Seattle in January.
2) I darkened the blacks slightly (his pants, shoes, and hair).
3) I added a little more contrast (look at the shingles on the right and the fence on the left).
4) I added a little more saturation (look at his blue shirt and the green trees in the top left corner)

Ornaments

I packed away the tree today. Why is that always so much less fun than putting the tree up? Anyways, I felt very Martha Stewartesque because I so neatly wrapped the ornaments in different layers of tissue paper instead of throwing them into the box like usual. I guess that's easier when you only have one small box to deal with.

Mushroom

Mushroom is just exhausted by all the commotion of us returning home.

For more work, allow me to direct your attention to Sea and Sky - both photos by me today.

Eyes

Portrait by plane window light.

Julia's Window

Last day on the farm. It's always a little sad to leave. But, there's talk of a West Coast New Years for 2009 and I'd love to be posting pics of that here a year from now.

Landscape

Ok, ok, *phew*. Just to bring the blog back to it's normal blog-like state, here's a soothing landscape from the farm on a very, very, cold day.

If you're enjoying this blog in reverse chronological order, enjoy the peacefulness of this scene before going back into 4 year old romper madness! :)

Embarrassing!

Normally, I would never put such an unflattering picture of myself on the blog! But, then again, I don't normally put on a purple tutu. We played dress up and danced "on the beach". Brian, feeding the baby cows across the street, must have gotten quite an amusing show through the big picture window. You only do these crazy things for someone you love, right???

Sleeping

While Julia was posing for me, she had the idea that I should take her photo with her eyes closed "so that it would look like I am sleeping". She was very excited about seeing the results on the back of my camera too!

"Lemme see, lemme see!"

Playing

Spent most of January 2 relaxing and playing with the little one. She wanted to play legos (I have to admit, not one of my favorite things to play) so we built a village with towers, a flower garden, a dog, a wagon, and grampa's suitcase (no idea!?).

Dairy

There are lots of beautiful and interesting things all about the farm...even though some are hiding in dark dusty places.

New Years Day

I am starting to consider it a good omen when I take a photo on January 1st that I really love. It worked pretty well for last year and I have a good feeling about this one too. This old blue dresser out in the snow just called to me. We took a lovely, cold, walk around the farm to kick off 2008.

Favorite Photo of Me

This is officially my favorite photo of ME. This is what happens when you try to guess when the self-timer on a camera might be about to click!


**Photo courtesy of Gords