El Fin

No, no drama. Just the end. Blogger is a pain to post more than a couple photos to and get them to line up properly. So I've decided to close down this blog and just keep my Photoblog blog. I was duplicating myself between them a little anyway. But I wanted to do one last post. To say thank you to all of you who've read my blog and commented. And for your compliments. :) I appreciate them immensely.

I thought that a good way to end this blog would be to go back to the beginning. To the roots of my photography. Back when I was a wee lass. Ok, maybe not quite that wee. To when I was around 13 or 14. By then, I'd already had my first camera (a Kodak instamatic 110) a few years. In the beginning, I'd used it mostly to take pictures of families and friends. When I was 12, my parents seperated and my dad started taking us on road trips. The top 3 photos in this post are from one of those trips. He rented a motorhome and took my grandparents, my sister, and I through Ariizona and New Mexico for two weeks. To the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Tucson, Albuquerque, and Carlsbad Caverns. Anyway, I think it was these trips that started me on the path to photography as being more than snapshots. Oh sure, I still did plenty of those. But I also tried to capture the beauty of the places we saw. Which wasn't easy with that little 110, let me tell you.


These last two are of my dog Tiny. We got her when I was 7 years old and she was my dog for 19 years. I loved this little dog so much. She definitely helped me thru a lot of turbulent years. Always good for a smile or a laugh. She loved car rides and sunflower seeds and sitting in window sills. The top photo of her was with my 110. I was 13 and she was 6. Yes, that is a Hall & Oates album in the background. And a Trixie Belden book on my bed. She was pretty used to having her picture taken as you can see by her professional pose. :P The last photo I took when I was 17 with the "new" Canon AE-1P that my grandmother bought and I inherited. She was a scrappy little thing, eh?


So that's my blast to the past. 20+ years difference but I guess I haven't really changed much as far as subjects go. I still take photos of the people I love and the landscapes around me. :)

Like I said, I'll still be posting on Photoblog so if you are curious about what I'm up to, you can visit there. Photoblog allows anonymous comments now if you'd like to drop a line or two as well. But if not, thanks again for reading this one. :)

http://vollenda.photoblog.com

Spring Exploration

Spring has sprung. Last weekend, when it was hot and smoggy, I couldn't find anything outside that I wanted to photograph. I'd hit a block. But what a difference a week makes. This weekend, spring was sprouting all over and my camera and I went exploring just a few feet from where I live. And we found a treasure trove of opportunities.

The top photos are more of what I'm comfortable with - flowers in a controlled environment (background, lighting, wind, etc.) But there's something to be said about messy, spontaneous shots in nature. The kind that don't stand still. That you can't force to pose for you. That keep you on your toes, looking up, down, and all around. That force you to be quick but precise. A good stretch. Like Yoga for Photography. The photos below are just a few of the ones I took on Saturday. I was pleasantly surprised at how many photos I "found" and actually liked. Maybe I was just in a more open place to see them.





P.S. The hawk is part of a pair that lives by me and I often see them circling overhead when I'm out and about. This is the first time I had my camera with me. The dog is named Duke and I don't know him. He was out for a stroll with his owner. He was cute and seemed happy to be exploring! Like me. :)

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Happy St. Patrick's Day. :) Today I'm Irish thru my nieces and nephew - Morgan, Madison, & Max Douglas. Hmmm...I guess it doesn't really work that way, does it? Well, anyway, their ancestry is 1/4 Irish, 1/4 German, and 1/2 Mexican. It's why Maddie is light with cute freckles, dark hair, and blue/grey eyes while Morgan has beautiful golden skin, lighter brown hair, and brown eyes. Although, we must also have blue/green eyes in our background somewhere since brown eyes is the dominant gene. Max is somewhere between the two of them.

Definitely, they are exposed to their Mexican heritage more than their others. It's what my sister knows, what I know, what my mom, dad, & grandfather know. Jack, their dad, wants to give them more exposure to the other. They get some of that from their grandma Judy who is an excellent cook and sometimes, on holidays, makes traditional Irish or German meals. While today may seem frivoulous what with the wearing-o-the-green, and pinching, and green beer (but not for them), it does give them a chance to celebrate that side of them. Although, I think the devilish glint in their eyes says it's about the pinching.

So today, I wanted to post photos of the M&Ms and some moments that made me laugh and made my eyes smile. :) You know, it's pretty easy to get a good photo of Morgan or Madison or Max when it's just one of them. It's slightly harder to get a good photo of the girls together because one may blink or look away or stick her tongue out. :P But throw Max into the mix with both of them and it's an adventure! It's not just three times as hard, it's more like 10 times as hard. But I keep trying. And at least we'll always have photos to look back and laugh at. :D

Grapes

Here are some purple tulips I picked up this weekend. I love tulips, as you may know, and I couldn't resist them. They reminded me of grapes. I never used to be a purple person. My favorite color is green. Emerald green. There's something about a lush green that makes me feel calm and happy. But my niece Morgan's favorite color is purple. And she used to pair purple and green together (because she knew it was my favorite). And the color combination grew on me. I began to notice it more and more in nature. Now it's one of my favorite color combinations. :) I argued in favor of it a few weeks ago. How could Mother Nature be wrong?

The first three photos are in natural, outdoor light. The first one is in direct sunlight. The next two are in the shade with my apartment wall creating the blue background. More standard beauty shots. Beautiful, colorful flowers.

The last two photos were an experiment with natural light indoors and an ISO setting of 1600. It created noise and made them grainy. I kind of like the harshness of it. Like it's trying to be tough and gritty. A bad a$$ tulip.

Do You See Me?

Laurie commented on my blog last week with this comment:

"Funny how easy it is to identify a pic that was not taken by you."

It got me thinking. Do my photos have a stamp on them that says it is a "Lisa" photo? Do they have a quality to them that says I took them? I like to think that my landscapes are crisp and colorful. That my floral shots are lush and saturated. That my portrait are thoughtful and real. But what about the other stuff. The things that catch my eye that I don't usually shoot. Can you tell then? Is it the subject? Is it the style?

There are two photographers on photoblog who I think have a "stamp". I can instantly recognize a photo belongs to them. I love their work.

Whibley for his b&w portraits:
One of his portraits
My favorite photo of his
Whibley's photos have great lighting and great expression. His blacks are crisp and the photos have incredible detail. My favorite, "Wrecking Ball", I would hang on my wall in a heartbeat!

And LisetteT for her still lifes:
A "typical" LisetteT photo
One of my favorite LisetteT photos
LisetteT also has great lighting in her photos and wonderful composition. And a touch of whimsy which I really enjoy. Plus, I am learning a little bit of french from her posts and her comments on my blog! :) I have to admit that I've been using babel fish though. Cheating, I know!

Ok, yes, they both sign their photos. But even without their signatures, I would still recognize one of their photos. :) By the way, they are only two of the awesome photographers on Photoblog. I am really inspired by my friends there and what they post and their commitment to photography.

These photos I took at Victoria Gardens a few weeks ago. I thought now would be a good time to post them considering the price of gas these days. Although, since I ride my bike every where and don't own a car, it doesn't affect me! :P Anyway...do you see me in these photos?

Here Comes The Sun

Little darlin' the smiles returning to their faces
Little darlin' it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
And I say it's all right

Oh man, am I ever looking forward to the time change this weekend. Riding home in the sunshine is so much better than riding in the dark. And if I had a choice, I'd much rather ride in the dark in the morning than at night. Less traffic, quieter streets. Actually, I kind of like riding in the dark in the morning. But the commute home is filled with crazies, kamakaze lethal lefties, and tired, irritable drivers. I'd much rather have sunlight when dealing with them. And the added bonus will be that I'll make it home in time to catch some sunsets with my camera. :) Also, I'm solar powered. :P

So...more sunflower photos that I took this past weekend. The top photo is a macro of one of them. The patterns facinated me, all swirly and intricate. Then I had to pull back to get the whole flower. I converted it to b&w and then added the sepia tone to warm it up. For that one, I wanted to focus more on the shape of the flower.



The two bottom photos are similar yet different. The one above was taken late Saturday afternoon on my balcony in the shade. The light is even and even though it's in the shade it still feels light and airy. More open. Cool. The one on the left was taken early Sunday morning inside my apartment with the sunlight streaming thru my slider to highlight the flower. I chose a black background to make the flower pop. Since the lighting is low and from the side, it acted more like a spotlight, adding shadows and warming up the petals. It's more intimate, I think. It could just be my imagination. I have an active one. :) Overall, I think my tendancy is to go for the dramatic lighting. At least with flowers and landscapes. Some portraits. Drama is good. As long as it's in my photos and not in my life.

Mirrors

I picked up some sunflowers this weekend. $4 for four of them. It was a bargain I couldn't pass up. I photographed them on Saturday afternoon with my 70-300 VR lens and then again on Sunday morning with my Macro and the light streaming thru the slider. Hours of entertainment for $4? Definitely money well spent. :)

I've always found sunflowers challenging to photograph because of the inherent contrast between the light petals and the dark center. I bracketed the hell out of these shots even with the D200 being digital. Dark vs. light. Which is most important? I guess it depends on the photo. I tried to balance the two so there was still detail in both.

These two sets are almost mirrors of each other. Almost. Because of course, one is in color and the other is in black and white. So, they aren't exactly mirror images of each other.

But really, can a mirror ever reflect the true version? Like ourselves...does it show us who we truly are? Don't we all see a slightly skewed version of what others see us for? We all look thru "mirrors" that are distorted by our thoughts and ideals and perceptions? Is one view better than the other? Or just different? As long as no one's looking at me reflected in a fun house mirror that makes my backside look big, I'll be okay with it. But if you want to use one that gives me really long legs, that would be better. :)

Max's Buzz Cut

Where has my little Max gone? My sister emailed me a pic of him with his new haircut! All of his curls are gone and he doesn't look like a baby anymore. *sniff* There's just 8 weeks difference between these two shots and he's changed so much. Well, maybe not that much but it seems like he's gone from being a baby to a toddler in the blink of the eye. Which really sucks considering they live in AZ and I live in CA. He doesn't even like to talk on the phone yet! (He usually hangs up on me or puts me on hold.) What's an Tia to do? I think I'm going to visit at the end of the month so at least I'll get in a little M&M fix. :)

I really do have to talk to my sister about her choice of backgrounds though!

Not One Word

You know what I need to learn? That sometimes, the thing you want to say, doesn't need to be said. Or shouldn't be said. Or isn't meant to be said out loud when someone else can hear you. Or even written, for that matter. Especially written.

Sometimes, it's better to just not say a word. Not one word...



Maddie (top) & Morgan (bottom) giving great examples of their ability to speak volumes without saying a word. :)

Time Machines

I collect Time Machines. Okay, they're cameras. But they're like time machines. Cameras take photos and photos take you on a journey to the past in the blink of an eye! My sister was in town this weekend for a family party and we were looking at old photos and laughing. Mostly at our hair and clothes. But it brought back a lot of good memories. :)

Most of my older cameras are Kodak cameras. I really like the cameras from the art deco period. They have a beauty all their own. Don't get me wrong, I love my Nikon. But it doesn't have the intricate, folding parts that the older ones had. My oldest one is the top photo from around 1900 or so. You can see it's no bigger than the tinkerbell ornament. You know, they were sold for $1 when they first came out.

It really isn't about the "owning" of them. I like the idea of having a camera that has been places and taken photos of things I'll never know. What adventures have they been on? How many smiles did they generate? How many memories were saved because of them? I feel like they deserve a good retirement home after all their work.

They don't all work, but that's okay. I still like to fold and unfold them, look thru their viewfinders, click their buttons.



My Yashicamat 124G TLR (twin lens reflex) camera still works. It was made in the 60s & 70s. The top lid opens and you look down thru the viewfinder (which is reversed) to take the picture. Makes me look at things in a whole new way. It has a quirk in that it doesn't always advance the first frame until it's been exposed twice. But it still takes sharp, colorful photos. The bottom photo is a photo I took outside of Bryce Camera with it. You know, when my "new" 35mm didn't work because it was like 30 degrees outside and the battery went kaput, the Yashica performed like an old trooper.

Dream Big

I'm watching the Oscars right now. I love to watch the winners of all the categories, but especially the smaller ones - animated short, documentary, etc. It's a good reminder that dreams can come true. You have to dream big, you know. Actually, I think it's impossible to dream small. I think by it's very essence, a dream has to be big. And if dreaming big means you may fall down a time or two, then so be it. One of my favorite proverbs is "Fall down seven times, stand up eight."

It's the fear of the fall that keeps us from trying new things. Maybe it's because you're afraid that one of those times, you won't be able to stand up again. But you do. You always do. It may take a while, it may not be easy, but it happens. In the back of my mind I know that. Which is why I stretch and try new things (ironman, bike commuting, photography techniques, not hiding how I feel).

None of it has been easy but I feel I'm better off for having tried. I did have to learn to stretch mysef and sometimes fly without a safety net. And I was/am very lucky that I have rock solid support from my family and my friends. I should also mention that when I really needed something, someone would show up with it. Seriously. Out of the blue. Like magic. I'm lucky that way. I don't know why. So I try. Besides, if I fail (which I have big time), I'm still further than I was when I started. And that can't be a bad thing.

So...I learned a new technique from a fellow photoblogger this week. It's called the Orton Effect. It's actually been around for a long time and you can do the effect with slide film but I'd never heard of it. It's easier to do digitally and I tried it on a few of my photos. It's supposed to infuse a dream like quality into the shot. Not unlike some of the photos I used to take with the soft focus filters but different somehow.

The books and the round rocks are from last weekend at the mall. The columns are from my AZ trip. And the jagged rocks are from The Getty a few years ago. The bottom photo is what the round rocks look like without the effect. I'm going a little overboard with it which is something I do with new things. I'll probably use it sparingly in the future. But for now it's fun to see how the photos turn out.

Beat of a Different Drummer

When I was growing up, I longed for musical talent. I was in the chorus in grade school but in the 5th grade, they very kindly told me that I wasn't quite what they were looking for. I was crushed.

You see, musical talent runs in my family. Various family members can play all sorts of instruments and sing beautifully. My cousin, Tim, is a tenor who can make you cry. I'm pretty sure my niece, Morgan, has the gift. What I did get is a love for music. Most kinds, really. Except maybe rap. And I can tolerate country music, if I must.

Even though I don't have the voice of an angel, I still sing. There are 3 times when I feel it's safe for me to sing: when I'm with my nieces and nephew, when I'm vacuuming, and when I'm on my bike. Often, I'll hear music coming from a car and start singing along with it. Sometimes, I'll sing favorite songs - Nina Simone, Sheryl Crow, The Cure's Love Cats. Yesterday, to my horror and for some unknown yet tortorous reason, I was humming the Chicken Dance as I rode to work. No, I wasn't drunk. It just popped into my head and I couldn't get it out!

There are a few pieces of music that I can feel. I don't just hear it with my ears. Like Gershwin's Summertime or Ravel's Bolero. If I'm having trouble sleeping, my go to music is Smetna's The Moldau. The two instruments I "feel" the most are the sax and the drum. It's the tension they create, I think. This past weekend, the TAIKOPROJECT was playing at the Lewis Family Playhouse (named for the family that I work for). You may have seen their work in a Mitsubishi commercial. Or you can check out this video. I didn't get a chance to see it but when I was at Victoria Gardens (an outdoor mall with a cultural center that holds the playhouse), there was a small festival with drum circles, origami tables, writing tables, food, and performances by these drummers. I had a great time listening to them and a great time trying to capture the performance with my camera. Not easy, let me tell you. Trying to anticpate what they would do, where they would be, capturing their expressions...fun, but challenging.

What was interesting was when I turned my camera to the crowd. They were held spellbound by the drums, even the youngest ones. I thought, how cool that would be to be able to share your music with someone and see their apprecition. I think that's what I'm trying to do with my photos. I'm just following a different drummer.