That 70s Post

I spent yesterday (Saturday) evening caring for the wigs I've accumulated over the years, and then I put them onto styrofoam heads. After some boredom, I started playing with the heads by adding some of my many pairs of glasses and other accessories. Figured that each day for 4 or 5 days I could post a photo of one of the heads, but naturally I didn't get to editing yesterday's photo until today.

During the process, I was getting frustrated with how boring the photos were, so I started clicking on random things. One of them was this crazy rainbow gradient map I'd made for a previous photo of the day, and it was such an insane but awesome look that I absolutely HAD to keep it. In fact, I had to use it for today's photo too. Here's the result.

256 and 257 of 365; Sept. 24 and 25; faux-retro wig heads

Today, my first meeting with the Scarlette|Grey Team (Ohio State's fashion organization). Tomorrow, interview at WalMart's photo center. Now, bedtime since it's 2:14 in the morning. Goodnight!

Angles, Angels, and S'more

Last weekend was a blast. Katie and I met in downtown Newark, where there were practically no people but plenty of gorgeous bronze statues and wonderful murals to take their place. I fell in love with this little ghost town, especially once I came across their example of "vandalism".

249/365; Sept. 17; Yes, those are marshmallows.

The next day was just as great, if not better. Katie and I made some fun jewelry for our Indian-inspired shoot, and my car was stuffed with things for all the models to work with. Unfortunately, all but one had to cancel on us, so it just ended up being a 2-hour shoot with an absolutely breathtaking young girl named Katilyn. I'm actually thankful that it just ended up being her, as she was so pretty and sweet that I couldn't stop taking pics of her.

Three edits of one of my favorite shots. BTW, I made the bracelet and hair accessory!

Since she had a time constraint, we weren't going to have time to curl her hair up for the second half of the shoot. Luckily, I happened to have my trusty brown wig with. It matched her hair perfectly! We just blended her hair with the wig and got started. Here's my favorite of that set.

250/365; Sept. 18; Lens flares added for fun. Otherwise, just played with variations and called it a day.

The next three days were spent in Columbus, so here goes.

251/365; Sept. 19; Church windows. I felt like playing with HDR, but then also wanted a film look, so here's the combo.

252/365; Sept. 20; El Jefe, the epitome of man... and his favorite purse?

I couldn't resist capturing this shot of my grandfather. He is so wonderfully comfortable with himself that he can sit there looking all intimidating whilst holding his wife's purse and shopping bag. Better still, his shirt reads "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

253/365; Sept. 21; More playing with HDR.

The 21st was supposed to be my first day of attending Ohio State University, but instead it ended up being the day I withdrew from all my classes :( In any case, I was on campus. The next day (and still today), however, I didn't feel very much like leaving the house, so the next two shots were taken in my living room.

254/365; Sept. 22; Zoom-panned wall decoration.

Can you believe that one's almost completely unedited? AND it was my first shot?! I was taken off guard when I saw that I actually got the shot I wanted right away. It was taken in Monochrome with a yellow filter since the wall's yellow and the sun is a warm green. The apparent vignette was caused by the darkness of the surrounding room and the highlights and shadows were from my flash. All I did to this was use a subtle Unsharp Mask on the face. O.O  For once, I'm finally believing I'm getting better. :)

Finally, we get to today. My grandfather rearranged all the furniture in our living room, and now I sit much further from the lamp I photographed on September 9th. I'm ridiculously exhausted today, so I've barely left the couch. :( Took this while lying down.

255/365; Sept. 23; The Golden Hour Came Late

In other news, Kaytlin and I are planning a bigger, more public shoot for the weekend of October 22nd, so be looking out for those details. Also, I have a job interview for WalMart's PictureMe studio on Tuesday. Hoping for the best. I could use some good luck on the professional side.

Aw, Nuts!

248/365; Sept 16; Peanut in an oddly lit bar

Ohio State still hasn't gotten back to me, and Welcome Week starts on Monday, so I guess I'm not going. :-( Monday was supposed to be the day I went to campus to get my parking permit, locker, transfer credits straightened out, and some fun time during all the WW festivities. Doubly sad.

Oh well! Tomorrow's another day. I've applied at a couple more local photo studios and am hopeful. Also, tomorrow I get to spend the night at my friend Katie's house. We'll hopefully be taking some shots of her gorgeous baby sister dancing, preparing for Sunday's Native-American-inspired shoot, and just being our silly selves, so if I don't post for the next night or two, it's only because I'm busy taking a ton of pictures (or resting from it). :D

Now, just for fun, I'll throw a few of my favorite shots from my shoot with miss Brandy Cruz née Gilbert.

Needs Advice by Sunday

There is a girl from Indiana who really likes my work and is looking for a photographer for her sister's wedding. I'm definitely interested in shooting this wedding (which will be Sept. 8 of 2012), but because I know by then I will still have little or no wedding experience, I told her I wasn't comfortable doing it alone. Of course, I recommended Sandra right off the bat. I also told her I don't know what I would charge, so I would research during the week and let her know by Sunday. She's such a sweet girl, and besides, I am supposed to shoot a cousin's wedding around the same time anyway, so why not?

Well, I've searched my behind off for answers, and as you can imagine, I've gotten nowhere. Thus far, all I can think of as a compromise is to find her a photographer that wouldn't mind having me as a second-shooter or whose work would be similar enough to mine to satisfy her. Do you have any ideas/advice? Should I just throw out something like a $75-per-hour price and find my own second-shooter to give some of the money to?


Anyhow, yesterday I was supposed to post pics from orientation and, since august 5th's photos are to be lumped with a different day's photos, I would skip to the 6th's. So here are those, barely and carelessly edited because I need to get to bed. Sorry!

Waiting patiently for our first advising session at Ohio State.

Pride.

Evidently it rained a little on the 6th. I had to giggle when I saw this because I'm pretty sure I've already taken a photo very similar... Guess I just really like that, um, porch ornament?

Today, I give you the 7th's photo and two almost completely untouched photos from this evening's photo "adventure". (vignetted and shrunken. oh, the editing. lol)

It may have rained on the 6th, but the 7th was sunny and warm!

Speaking of sunny and warm.

I'm still trying to figure out how he got out there. And how he's dry.

Lastly, I wanted to post that one unedited dandelion pic. This is what happens when you crank up the saturation and contrast settings on your Shooting Mode (in my case, Landscape mode is my chosen "default").

Are your eyes shriveling yet?

Time to hit the hay! I have less than 6 hours to sleep before I head out with my friend Katie to see the Ohio State Reformatory (site of the Shawshank Redemption and numerous other famous films). They don't allow "professional" cameras, so my pics will be lower quality than usual. Still, I CAN'T WAIT! AAAAAAH!!!!!

Goodnight. :)

P.S. Happy birthday, Aunty Julie! I love you more than the sun, the moon, and the chicken wings I always beg you to make.

Dawes, Ortiz, and the E's

Today was an absolutely wonderful day, even if it did end with me sobbing uncontrollably. My friend Kaytlin ( Katie Dawes Photography) and her two friends Emily and Ellen came from over an hour away to do a just-for-fun senior photoshoot.

We started off at the same barn where those awesome vintage cars were (see http://xolexo.blogspot.com/2011_06_12_archive.html), but come to find out, the property was NOT abandoned, and the neighbors were far from friendly. They called the owner and gave him our license numbers, and he was SUPPOSEDLY on his way, but after waiting half an hour to no avail, we left. However, I did leave the man a message with my name, number, and a heartfelt apology for the mistake.

Once we left, we went straight to the Muskingum river for some more photo fun. Here are my favorite shots of the models:

Ellen lying on the mossy ground. She was possibly the most daring model I've ever worked with, and that's really saying something. :) Thank you, Ellen!

Emily sitting on a rock in the river. She, like Cortney (of my church senior shoot), never stopped shocking me with her adorability. :) Thank you, Emily!

I wish I had the time tonight to edit a photo of Katie, but don't worry, you'll see one soon. Don't think you got off that easy, Kaytlin!!! ;D

In case you were wondering, the owner of the property did end up calling me back, and though his voice was so sweet, his words were anything but. I couldn't stop crying for almost two hours after speaking with that bloke due to a cruddy mixture of my already overactive emotions, a lack of antidepressants (ran out yesterday), sleepiness, guilt for my misunderstanding and accidental offense, and overwhelming sadness about the fact that a property so beautiful will go unappreciated. Regardless of how uncalled for his name-calling and harsh words were, I was wrong for assuming the property was abandoned. I have learned a valuable lesson from this day:
     Don't just assume that a burnt down property strewn with rusty old ivy-ridden vehicles that obviously haven't been cared for in years (and, for the record, has not ONE "private property" or "no trespassing" sign) is abandoned. If you're going to shoot somewhere, RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH!

On the bright side, that man did mention a nearby, similarly aged hotel that IS open to the public [while he was calling me an idiot, mind you], so I will definitely be checking into THAT. To every dark cloud...


As for August 3rd's photo, I'm going to leave that for another day because it involves multiple photos and this post is already far too long. Instead, I will give you August 4th's photo, taken by a pier during a break from some random ride. I will probably edit it properly in the future, but for now, I hope you'll enjoy the 2-minute edit. Goodnight!

P.S. Chloe's comment has not gone ignored. I intend to post the unedited version of the dandelion pic in a post with less content.

Eyesores

FINALLY, tonight will be the last night I post a photo of my class artwork. Tomorrow I will be spending the day with a photographer friend and a few people she's bringing along, so it should be a fun day! The next day, I have orientation for Ohio State. If I don't post that day, it will only be because I am exhausted. lol

Alright, so today's photo... yeeeah, I'm not really going to explain it since the explanation's in the pic. Enjoy!

As for August 2, I was still not feeling well that day, so I took another pic in the yard. Unfortunately, I'm not as pleased with it as the one I posted yesterday. I liked it unedited, but it was freakishly vibrant and hard on the eyes for anyone who's not [insane? tasteless? blind?] me. Since it was so bright, I decided to completely go the opposite route and try a somewhat vintage look on it.

You decide. Do you hate it, love it, or feel nothing at all?

What a Day!

Was sick on the first, so I just took a picture from my yard. I actually really like it for some reason. 

Today, for the first time in my life, I spoke to a man who (up until today) I was fairly certain was my biological father. He was surprisingly cooperative, very nice, and fun to talk to. Even if he doesn't turn out to be my father, I'm very happy to have gotten to know him a bit. :) I'm also unbelievably grateful that speaking to him helped me get some HONEST information about my paternity. Can't wait to find out the truth so that perhaps I'll have some warning about my future health.

But that's not what you're here for, so let's get to it. Today's art pic is an in-class practice that my professor had [the three of] us [who actually attended] do in order to get used to shading. It's fairly difficult to see on here because I'm pretty light-handed and not used to shading, but I think you'll manage. Darkened it a tad overall to help.

Unrelated

Actually, I lie. We are related.
This is half of a really big drawing of my cousins Gabriella and Juliana that I never finished. The pictured half is Juliana. I made the mistake of starting the coloring with her, but then when I finished her eyes, they creeped me out and I couldn't finish the drawing.

Sorry about what looks like grain. It's actually on a textured paper, and that texture was relentless. Grr.

What IS unrelated is July 31st's photo. I evidently did not leave the house that day, so my pic is just an uninspired snapshot of Grandma's fake flowers.

Feeling Statuesque

Since my photo for the 30th was of lawn statues, I figured today's classwork photograph would be of a DRAWING I made of a statue. Why not? We have a theme [or something].

July 30th's photo:

I seem to have a thing for grunging up lawn statue pics. And can you tell what my favorite texture is? lol

Today's (August 24) photo:

And now, seeing as it is 2:38 AM, I am going to sleep!

Almost Psychic

First off, here's my photo for today (August 23, 2011): one of my art assignments, as promised.

In-class practice assignment and midterm: Texture and Still Life

Now, I find it rather funny that my photo for July 29th-- two days before I found out I was accepted at Ohio State and would need to photograph all my class work-- was of one of my in-class sketches that the professor had me mat. Coincidentally, it was one of the few pieces I forgot to take to my room for photographing. LOL

Unfortunately, I must have had something in particular in mind when I took the photograph at the odd angle I did, and I definitely can't remember what that something was, so I just dumped a texture on it and ran some random action. Here is the 29th's photo.

Whatever it is, it's definitely NOT going into my Ohio State files. I'll have to re-photograph that drawing, but I'm glad that I was reminded! Gotta love being accidentally psychic. ;D Goodnight.

So Here's the Deal

Since I haven't posted in almost a month, yet I've taken my photos every day and have barely edited any, this is what I'm going to do. For the next however-many-days-it's-been-since-my-last-post, I'm going to post my photo of the day along with a day or so from last month. They'll be in order unless there is a reason why I put different days together.

I hope this will work for you all. I just can't sit here and edit something like 40 blog pics when I have almost 100 pictures from paid photoshoots to finish-- and I DEFINITELY don't want to bombard you (and my terrible internet) with that many pictures at one time.

I've been extremely busy for the past month. It seems like I've spent the entire time doing some kind of work on the household's 3 laptops, running to the post office, making runs to Columbus with Grandpa, cleaning/organizing, or some strange combination of the four. On the one weekend I took a break, I did nothing but play brain games to keep my mind strong but myself relaxed. My friends keep e-mailing and facebooking me asking where I've been. It's so sad. Haha

ANYWAY! On to the photos.

July 28:
My best friend in the whole wide world's birthday. Don't remember what the heck I did that day, but I remember seeing this flower and thinking it was in bloom awfully late. I'm no expert on flowers-- in fact, I don't even know what this flower is called--, but I know my cousin had some in her back yard in early July, and they were almost dead when I saw them last. So I felt the need to get a picture of nature's little anomaly.

Today, August 22:
Part of the reason I've been so busy lately is that I've been getting things together for my orientation at Ohio State University. By the way, I WAS ACCEPTED AT OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY! WOOOO!!!! It was my first choice college, but in high school, I was rejected.
Now, I have been accepted into the pre-Visual Communication Design program. Unfortunately, almost every art credit I've earned at Ohio University (note: Ohio U is NOT Ohio State U) was not able to be transferred to OSU, so I have to provide syllabi and photos of everything I've done in those classes. Decided that since orientation is on the 29th, I will take a few photos of those projects each day and post one until I'm finished. Here's the first.

Thank you for sticking with me! I know I've been a bad blogger. :(

Puportrait Time!

Today, we let Ursa out in the front yard for the first time since she got hurt. She absolutely loved it up there. After awhile, though, none of us could see her from the doorway, so I went to check on her and maybe snap some action shots, but got a rather strange surprise. She was... in a bush?

Yes, in a bush. Evidently, Grandpa had poured some water in there a few hours beforehand, so it was nice and cool when Ursa decided to hang out there. We had a heck of a time getting her back inside. Grandpa had to pick her 70 pound self up! LOL Anyway, it was a good opportunity for me to get some shots of her! :)

Woo and Woe

Woo:

This morning, I learned that another of my photos is a finalist in a Photographer's Forum contest and therefore will be published. I'm just as excited about it as I was last time, as this time the photo was even more personal. I'll find out by Aug. 15th whether or not it made it any further.

The Finalist

Woe:

I have some of the most sociopathic best friends on the planet. How about a "congratulations" or something? Of course, I'm probably being oversensitive because that is what I do. I don't know. It would just be nice to think for a moment that my closest friends gave a damn.


What You're Here For:

Completely coincidentally, I had planned to do a self-portrait today since it's been so long. There was a tutorial in Rangefinder Magazine on doing a model's makeup to accentuate the shadows and highlights in her face, so I tried it out. It definitely didn't turn out flawless, but I tried my best. Cosmetology was never my strong suit. LOL

Shadow of the Day

Yesterday, I was bored, so I decided to try opposite lighting on a flower in our home that is mysteriously thriving. (It was just a big green half-eaten stem outside, so grandpa brought it in to save it from the deer, and now it's blooming.) First, I shot it with the foyer light on in the background, then I turned on my Promaster flash.

Today, I was strictly in a silhouette mood, but didn't want to go back outside, so again I made use of the foyer light and some *cough* fake *cough* plants. Here's my shot for the day.

Prettyful Things

Thursday's post did not include Thursday's actual photo since I was going to visit Sandra's that evening. Of COURSE I took photos there! It was fun playing around, even if we did get eaten by mosquitoes in the process. :D

Friday, July 1:
It was a lazy day, and I didn't feel like working with my Nikon, so I just grabbed the Sony Cybershot and attempted to take pictures in the living room. Crappy idea that led to crappy photos, but honestly I just didn't care. It was such a "meh" day.

Geometry

Saturday, July 2:
Photoshoot early in the morning with the Bow Knows Best people again. It was a lot of fun, even if the children begged to differ. :) They were so adorable!

Again, I am not posting today's photo right now. I'd like to see where today takes me.

Insert Interesting Title Here

Yep, that's about how I feel today. ^  Thought I'd post the photos from the past 5 days, but not today's since the day has yet to start.

Saturday, June 25:
Just as I thought, the photoshoot was cancelled. No, not cancelled. She just never bothered to contact me at all even though I saw her the night before. I was extremely angry, especially considering she had been the one rushing me. Needless to say, I will not be agreeing to any more shoots with that girl. Instead, I just took a snapshot of one of the bearded dragons in Renee's bedroom.

Sunday, June 26th:
Took a nice, relaxing photo of a bottle in the living room. Was supposed to meet up with a bunch of friends at the bar that night, but barely anyone bothered to show up, so I just enjoyed my time with the few friends that came. They were so sweet to have bothered coming out on a Sunday night. Love them to death. :)

Monday, June 27th:
Camera didn't want to work for me so I spent some time cleaning it out as best I could. When I get back home to Ohio, I will send it to be properly cleaned right away. In the meantime, I did manage to catch one okayish shot. Dang moth scared the mess out of me. Flew right in my face! hahaha

Tuesday, June 28th:
Had my second photoshoot with Tremont Turner, and we had a blast! Ran around Broadway (the same street the City Methodist church is just off of) taking photos by old burnt down homes, abandoned buildings, and alleys. Here is one of my favorite shots for the day.

Wednesday, June 29th:
My first big flop of a photoshoot. I had checked my batteries the night before, and all three said 2 out of three bars, so I didn't bother to charge them any more. I mean, 2/3 battery life in 3 batteries should have been plenty! But no. When I was checking the lighting in the park we were supposed to shoot at, the battery life of all three shot down to one bar immediately. :( However, the client had also forgotten most of her products, so we just photographed what was there and are rescheduling for a morning instead for better lighting and weather. :)

Bow Knows Best custom bows, flip-flops, and tutus in all sizes or colors. Check them out here!