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?

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

Losing Track

It's been something like a week now, and I've lost track of what photos were taken on what days (and since there are a TON of them, I'm not going to bother trying to find out), so I'm just going to throw a bunch of photos from this week at you. LOL Sorry guys! Today's photo(s) will not be included in this post because there is still half a chance I will get to go to the beach with my aunt and cousins.

On another note, I'm in Indiana with most of my loved ones. Having a blast despite the pain that comes with it! :D

Laundry day

Waterfight

Me taking a picture of my photographer friend Eric Garrett taking a picture of me.

Samantha reading her birthday card

... plant. lol

The Getaway

Robert making "the family face"

Two adorable little girls I had my first photoshoot of the summer with

My brother about to douse mom with ice water

"WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

That's probably what you guys are asking. Well, I have almost literally gone nowhere, and I am now officially making my return to my 365 Challenge.

I owe you guys 32 photos, but today I will only post a few that I took over the long hiatus. Sandra and I have decided that it would be best to tack the days onto the end of the year instead of posting all of the photos I took or neglected to take since (1) I must definitely say I did NOT take a photo every single one of those days, though I did take one most of them, and (2) I have been extremely sick, and by the time I get well enough to make up for the missed photos, I will have a ridiculous amount of photoshoots to work on.

Let me catch you up a little.

Ursa has finally stopped looking for Roxy and now spends her time calling out to the other dogs on the block.

Daisy, my ironically named orchid, has passed on due to overheating.

I felt better for all of three days. Grandpa hit the shutter release for me because I have managed to lose my remote.

I learned how to draw with Soft Pastels for Drawing in Color class

I expressed myself in collage form for that same class using my photos and song lyrics. (Tears of a Clown and Mad World)

I finished a Drawing project in one class session, basing it off of Monet's style and JMW Turner's painting.

The friend whose maternity photos I took had her baby. Yay!!!

And, finally...

Today, I had a stalker. He watched me that intensely for over 5 minutes. The little creep.

Otherwise, I have attended more doctors' appointments than classes, begun physical therapy, gone through withdrawal from medications, come down with a sinus infection that's currently plaguing me, spent an entire day with my grandfather at the hospital, been told I am a carrier of a blood disorder, and (holy cow, GOOD news) been informed that I am an Honor student. Now I am going to be observed for two different sleep disorders this week. Life is... something. On the plus side, I've begun a tutorial that may very well become a small e-book for you all that explains (as thoroughly as I possibly can) the Photoshop toolkit.

Thank you for hanging in there with me. I pray I don't let you down again. :-(

Faces Contest Votes, Anyone?

I know that I haven't been keeping up with my blog for the past couple of weeks, and I'll explain why and post my photos when I am ready to, but for now, I'd like to cut to the chase.

I have submitted two series entries into the Faces Photo Contest, open to all photographers of any skill level. If you're interested, entries are priced as such:

SINGLE ENTRY: $35 per image
SERIES: $50 per series
STUDENTS: $20 (single OR series)


My Series entry into the Self Portrait Category is:

My Series entry into the Environmental Portrait Category is:

If you like these images, please vote for one of them under the People's Choice section. You are allowed one vote per e-mail address, so if you have multiple addresses, feel free to show some love! I'd truly appreciate it. The direct voting links are as follows:

Self
Photo 1: Moment of Weakness
Photo 2: Camouflage My Sadness
Photo 3: Fool the Public

Environmental
Photo 1: Miss C Takes a Breather
Photo 2: Mr. L Weighs His Options
Photo 3: Miss K Makes An Offer
Photo 4: Mr. D Takes a Gander
Photo 5: Miss S Has a Look


Thank you so much if you do spare a moment of your time to vote for me. :) If not, at least thank you for still following me here.

A Little Retro, A Lot of Makeup

I was in the mood to have a little fun. What can I say? Hopefully someday I'll actually finish editing all the photos I took over Spring Break and I can get to playing with photos like this.

Anyhow, I have officially decided to give you the template tutorial in parts because it's going to take way too long and be way too confusing otherwise. The first part will be posted tomorrow or so. For now, I'm ready to pass out. Goodnight!

I Solemnly Swear...

... to re-edit these photos whenever I actually feel like sitting in front of this computer. :) Until then, understand that this is just a post for the sake of posting, as I should have yesterday but was way too tired to stay up for. lol

Yesterday's snap: My darling doggy, Ursa.

Today was the Art Show I've been frantically preparing for for weeks. It was great, even if I didn't sell any prints. The place was smaller than expected, so there wasn't room for vending. :-( However, I did meet two women with 3 children each who would love to do a shoot with me. Everyone who commented on my work (whether they knew I was the photographer or not, as I was somewhat incognito for awhile) was in love with the photo of the little Wilson boy in the McDonald's Playplace. It really made my day. :D

Know what else made my day? Getting a snazzy new haircut! I decided to go with something out of the ordinary, and the stylist chose the color. These photos don't show it off too well, but mostly because of my editing (or lack thereof). Like I said, I will re-edit everything. Here they are for now, in all their contrasty non-glory.

Off to bed! *muah*

Portfolio and A Ditch

Oh, what a creative title.

My image for yesterday: BW Film Photography Portfolio-- Lines. Click for full size.

I spent 8 hours printing yesterday. Can you believe that?! EIGHT HOURS! That, my friends, is why I was not up to posting by the time I got home. Eight hours left me with a plethora of prints that were not perfect but were very decent, so I'm going to sell them for different prices depending on their quality at the art show on Friday. Yay! However, the above prints turned out perfectly (the scanner wasn't doing a very great job, so just take my word for it LOL), so they shall be my eight portfolio photos. The professor himself chose all but the first and last one, so I'm hoping for an A- or so. Maybe. *nervous mode* I can't believe this is due tomorrow already. ARGH!

Alright, enough of that.

Today's challenge was to take a photo featuring water in some way, so I headed down the street. With all the rain we've had lately, there was bound to be some water, right? Here's my shot in my preferred crop:

However, Sandra liked the flowers better and suggested this crop:

I find this amusing because we had such conflicting tastes when it came to this photo. Believe it or not, I detest flowers. I don't know why, but I do. They're great to photograph sometimes, but I just don't want to look at them very often. I favored the rock and the water on the left side of the photo instead, but figured the flowers would add some contrast and interest. Sandra, on the other hand, could do without the rock and the water and is a big fan of flowers. Most people-- normal people-- probably do.

That brings me to my somewhat photographically irrelevant question for you. What would you prefer: a rock, water, or a flower?

For Sandra

The competition. AKA the result of my practicing blurred water motion. Note to self: 1/10 is not slow enough! Use the tripod.

Frozen

Yet another self-portrait.

I took tons of photos today outside in the freezing rain, but I wasn't satisfied with even one, so I resorted to a selfie. Portraiture is all I want to try lately (and gosh do I need the practice), but I'm lacking subjects. Less than two more weeks until I get my fill of portraiture practice!!! :D I can't WAIT to visit Indiana. Three photo sessions lined up, 2 of them with huge 10+ person families, and hopefully a couple more with Sandra and her daughter Khalila. Photo heaven!

Antiquity

After a long day of studying nothing but the Gothic period and the High Renaissance, I came home thinking about sfumato and chiaroscuro, Leonardo and Michelangelo, pointed arches and sensuous folds. Eventually, I gave in and decided to just take a picture that sort of mimics what I've been seeing all day long. Enjoy. (Please. lol)

Sleepy Sunday

Even my butterfly house is sleepy.

I can't seem to wake up today. It was a perfectly fine day, though. Ran into some technical difficulties, but what's new? I wanted to take some more photos outside, but the weather went nuts and we got some crazy hailstorm mixed with giant, scattered snowflakes and a small amount of rain.

Then, Sandra gave me the idea to try taking a selfie version of her photo and grunge it up using a tutorial she found, but none of the windows in my house were reflecting me no matter what I tried. I wonder if I'm part vampire. ;)

Finally, I gave up and tried photographing some things in my room, but I was dissatisfied with every shot, so I spiced up one of them and a portrait of my grandmother with this tutorial that Sandra linked me to (we were bored today. Can't you tell?). Here are the results.

Lastly, Sandra linked me to this interesting tutorial and I had to try it out, so this is what I got.

Creepy, huh? Well, now that I've scared the bajeezus out of you (or just bored you to death), I bid you goodnight!

When In Doubt

Go for a selfie.

For once, I'm NOT wearing the wig. Anyway, I'm way too tired to tell you about photography class today, so I'll share tomorrow. Goodnight!

Hard-Lit Harlequin

I've felt very blue today. It's been a tough one, especially with all the pain I've been in, but photography has gotten me through the day. If I wasn't taking a hot bath, I was taking photos or reading about photography. There's a silver lining for every dark cloud, right? :-)

Makeup: Black eye pencil.  Textures: Wrinkled paper and warm concrete from OnOne PhotoTools software.

In the Mood

I was in the mood to do more self-portraits today. Don't know why, but it seemed like it would be fun, so here they are.

Haha yeah... I had fun. They were all taken in my bedroom with a ton of lights on and a couple reflectors to help them out. Hope you like them!

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EDIT: Oh hey... the daily challenge was monochrome. Go figure! LOL

Selfie

Oh, how I hate self-portraits. I always want to do them, but then once I do, I hate every photo. Blegh.

Anyhow, you can probably expect to get some macro tomorrow, as Sandra bought me a macro fisheye lens I've been wanting. I'm so excited!!! (For the hundredth time, THANK YOU, SANDRA!)

On top of that, I also learned how to print my negatives today (yay!) and my grandmother found me a Save the Tatas breast cancer shirt, so it's been an awesome day. Now to go fall into bed! :D

Tis the Season to be Silly

Well, I really didn't feel like following today's challenge, SO I decided to be silly and head to the Christmas tree. I'm hoping tomorrow brings me a little more inspiration. Until then, enjoy!