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.

The Town Attraction

The country's only Y-Bridge, Zanesville, OH

Also known as the most confusing bridge to drive on, especially if you're going left. I thought I'd retry photographing this bridge with my 200 mm lens, but it was far too cold and windy, so I took this one quickly and ran back to the car. LOL

Aaah, I took THIS one at home, where it was wind-free and warm despite the snow that covered the land overnight. Hopefully tomorrow will be a brighter day. I'd like to spend another hour or so outside taking photos. It's so relaxing, don't you think? :-)

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!

Feeling Outdoorsy

Since I'm feeling outdoorsy (hence the title ;D), I thought I would share with you my favorite photo of the thousands (possibly millions!) that I've taken in the past year. Technically, it's sub-par, but I am still very proud of it. It's my number one portfolio piece thus far. I'd really appreciate any feedback -- positive or negative, of course! I love learning and improving -- you all would give me about it.

As for today, I took a few more photos on my back porch, but this time I gave them the attention they deserved. Hopefully you'll like them, but if not, you can tell me that too. :-) I just wanted to go outside. It was so nice and bright.

Playing Ostrich

Snow Day

Today, I took a 2-hour walk in the snow. It was a great time. I even got to meet one of my neighbors! Sad to say I've lived here for 2 years now and have only met a couple of neighbors because they made us come to a barbecue. LOL

Withered plants in front of my neighbor's house.

Prints, Edits, and Stripes

I took this photo a few days ago with my awesome new  High-Def  Panoramic Fisheye Lens (for the millionth time, THANK YOU SANDRA! *hug*) and somehow completely forgot about it. Came across it today while cleaning out a card and couldn't leave it behind. Hope it was worth it. :)

Now, today's challenge was to feature stripes somehow, so here are my photos for the day.

Wind chime from my bedroom window, using my 55-200 mm lens.

My poor, abused guitar by my other bedroom window. Today was all about daylight!

Finally, I will show you my terrible school prints, starting with the most overexposed: my dog, Ursa.

I've got a LOT of learning to do. Maybe next week will be better! *fingers crossed*

Fore!

The Daily Shoot challenge was to take a photo from a low point of view. I was feeling all over the map so my photos are completely different. First up, we have... the blinds. Yes, the blinds. I get bored.

I was lying on my sofa playing with the settings on my camera when I shot this for the heck of it. I know it's really strange, but I like it for some odd reason.

Next, we have the bird. The cardinal, to be exact.

Definitely not a prize-winning creative masterpiece, but the reason I am posting this one is because it was almost completely unedited. I added a vignette and used the Unsharp Mask, but that was all. The contrast, the color, the framing, everything is right out of the camera. I've finally learned how to tweak my shooting mode settings so that there's more contrast and sharper edges without having to use the not-so-great Retouch Menu. I love learning things! Thank you, Manual.

Also, I spent hours today printing some of my negatives from the Minolta x-700. For the record, I am AWFUL at printing. One particular picture took me more than 9 tries just to get the contrast I wanted. What a waste of expensive Ilford paper!!! Luckily, we were able to get some more, but I have a feeling these boxes are going to go quickly. -sigh- Hopefully I can scan some of my decent prints and post them here for you guys to see my progress. :-)

Anyhow, enough rambling. Have a good night!

Remember Me

Poor little guy.

Today was pretty uneventful. My grandfather and I did change the bed in my room, though, and now it's only a matter of time before I have the photo-friendly area I've been wanting. Can't wait to start shooting in there. It's definitely the best-lit room in the house. You can see that lawn gnome from my east window! lol

Anyway, enough with the gab. Bedtime! Have a great day, my friends. :-)

A Moment of Whimsy

Oh the things I find when I'm rushing to Photography class.

Speaking of class, today I learned how to develop film. It was so exciting! Next week, we'll make our very first black and white prints. :D

Meanwhile, I finally got around to editing a few more photos from the Wilson shoot and here are a couple for your viewing pleasure (I hope. lol) The darlings M and M.

Infrared

Sorry for the later-than-usual post. My internet cut off and I've been trying to fix it for hours. Obviously a slow success lol.

Anyhow, I took tons of photos today (or, you know, yesterday technically). In fact, I took an entire roll of film within an hour for my class assignment. It was a lot of fun, and I'm hoping to show you my actual TDS challenge photo (liquid or a liquid container) when I learn to develop it on Thursday. Yay!

However, today is obviously not Thursday, so in place of the liquid photo, I'm going to show you what I learned to do this morning: lock an exposure on the subject in order to get rid of that silhouette effect.

But there's obviously something strange about this photo, isn't there? That's because for the first time ever, I decided to try out the OnOne PhotoTools infrared filter. I really love the result. Expect more BW-IR photos in the future! :D

What a Day

Today was definitely one to remember. We let our dog out to play in the snow and what did she find? Well, first the neighbor's dog. Then the neighbor's twin toddlers. Thanks to her, I had the good fortune of photographing their very first time playing in the snow.

As if that wasn't great enough, I also had a photoshoot with my grandpa's friend's toddlers today at a McDonald's playplace. There were a ton of adorable children there just begging (literally) to have their picture taken as I waited for the "clients".

This one actually directed me in taking this photo. Model in the making?

When at last the clients arrived, I got to photograph their GORGEOUS little boys (who, funnily enough, were black and white, much like my color choice today). They were a blast to work with. I definitely needed a nap once I got home! LOL

I couldn't have asked for a better day. Now to go get some sleep!

Why So Serious?

How was your day? Mine was great. My friend Renee is visiting for the week! I decided to photograph her today. The challenge was to illustrate coldness, but I didn't exactly go for that. On the other hand, it actually sort of works despite the warming filter I used. What do you think?

On another note, Sandra has requested that I revisit my cruddy image from a couple of days ago, so I used all her suggestions about it and this is what I came out with:

I do like the edit better-- the texture is a metal one I downloaded years ago-- but I'm still none too thrilled with this photo. I guess I'll have to try again someday!

Inspiration was a no-show

:( Sorry. I spent today cleaning and sleeping my pain away. Wasn't doing a very good job on my photography. Maybe tomorrow?

The view from my window.

Heavenly Peeeeace

Merry Christmas, y'all! I hope it was a great one. :)

Today's challenge was to illustrate peace and harmony (or just plain peace and quiet!) so I went outside once it began to snow. Here's my shot.

And a few more for the road. :)

Mother Nature loves you.

Still Tired, But More Inspired!

I'm posting now in case I don't get to it later since I'm going out with some friends tonight. It doesn't apply to today's challenge (Make a photograph of something metal or metallic today with an emphasis on how light interacts with the surface.) but I'm hoping to actually do today's challenge as well. If so, this post will be edited. :)


Anyhow, on to the photo!

Used RAW's split toning to make the blue cast and added the stroke (the pinline frame) as an afterthought. I hope it's satisfactory.