30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 25

Something pink.... I found all kinds of things! Well, they're ALL flowers... so they're just many different kinds of something pink. :-)

Pink hydrangea, my buddies!

Pink hollyhock flower

And then on the pale side of the pink spectrum...

I'm currently flying on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again. But babe, I hate to go. No I don't. Hahahahahahaha! See ya in a week! I'll be tanned, relaxed, possibly weigh a couple pounds more, but totally happy about it.... and I'm sure I'll have lots of cool photos and maybe some fun stories to share!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 24

Challenge: Animal

I could've taken a photo of one or both of my cats. You know this. It would've been so easy. But I chose to do something else.

Night shot of several bunnies.

Wild Rabbits!

They're not that easy to capture because they're always hopping away.

It's difficult to get too creative with photos of wild bunnies when they're just hanging out in your neighborhood, and you don't own a proper DSLR with telephoto lens. 

Anyway, it was fun to look for them!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 23

The challenge for today is "Sun flare," but as per usual, on a day when I need sun (or clouds or sunset) it's not showing it's face. So I was prepared! Because a few days ago, when it was sunny, I took these photos... (KNOWING that I'd need them today. That's called Foresight. I'm good, right?)

Today is all cloud-covered, gray, extremely humid, and will probably rain. It drizzled earlier, but that didn't cool things off at all. It's laundry day, too. Need to get some things cleaned before the trip! I'm bringing a couple of cameras, my sketchbooks, my journaling stuff, and I will come back with all kinds of goodies to share with you! My best friend should be in Barbados right now... can you imagine how awesome that is? My godson is probably in the water, having a blast.... I can imagine it completely. :-) We want to do a group trip next year to Belize, but it depends on if we can coordinate my time share trade with whatever her schedule is... it's always trickier for me to arrange, unfortunately.


I hope you're staying cool, maybe sipping a cold drink with some lime ice cubes, and kicking back in a shady spot with a good book... sounds like a good thing to me.  

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 22

Today's challenge was "hands". However, I don't really like my own hands, and have always been more fascinated by cats' paws when they use them as hands. Mine do so all the time! Beckham uses his to let me know that he wants a treat, or to open doors, or to pull things towards him. Jimmy Boo will use his to grasp my fingers, to pull strands of my hair towards his mouth, and pick up toys to bat around. So here is my submission...


Okay. I've been trying to add my photo all morning. Since I can't, I'll have to just give you a link to it, I suppose. Sorry for the lame work-around, but Blogger isn't cooperating today. (Say it isn't so!)


Oh, wait! I might have another way...

From 30 Day Photography Challenge

Woo hoo!! That way worked! I just had to add the image using HTML code. So, the format is different, since I don't actually KNOW HTML, but hey, I was finally able to post my photo! Yay!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 21

Today's challenge was a faceless self-portrait. I hope that this is as interesting to you as it was for me! I wanted to catch aspects of my personality in the photo, as well as representative objects. So this is what I came up with...

What do you think? Were you expecting to see a cat in the photo? LOL. I wouldn't be surprised. But I felt like the outdoors (especially next to part of my garden) was a big part of me, and the cats aren't allowed outdoors anymore. And that's the only reason I didn't have them represented!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 20 - Pt. 2

Okay, I'm obsessed. I tried to make another heart-shaped bokeh effect, but it didn't work. I guess I need a DSLR with a lens that goes down to a 1.8 F-stop. That's what's suggested by the people who are able to shape their bokeh effects with their own handmade lens hoods.


BUT I got two more pictures where the effect looks nice, and I wanted to share them with you.

It would be a lot more fun at night, when you can go somewhere that the pinpoints of light are multicolored, but these turned out pretty good. I'll keep working on it, and save up for a DSLR. :-)

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 20

I want you all to know: I tried. The challenge for today was to create your own bokeh, and to take a photo with it on your camera. I don't have a DSLR... I have a few digital point and shoot cameras, my Diana Lo-mo camera, and a regular SLR. However, it would take days to post a film photo, and the whole challenge is digital.... but I'll show you what I made, so you'll know that I really, really tried!

My hinky bokeh!

Yes, it looks like a cupcake, but it's my handmade bokeh, in which I used a lot of Japanese craft tape to hold it together. My first heart-shaped hole was way too big...

So I tried to create a tinier hole, but it was hard to make a tiny heart with an X-acto knife. I did it, but I don't think it was small enough...

Anyway... this was a small bokeh, for my Canon PowerShot, which is NOT a DSLR, by the way.... but it's my one digital camera that had a lens that protruded from the body, so that I could put the bokeh on it. Wish it had worked! Anyway, I found a way to make a vignette! So that's kind of cool, right? :-)


Post Edit: I just looked at other people's photos, and found that they were doing daylight bokey effects without the use of the shaped bokeh. I misunderstood the project, ha ha! But I went ahead and tried to take some photos.... I think one was sort of successful. You need to have pinpoints of light in the background for the effect to be really good, and I barely had that.

If you click on either image, you'll see that the points of light in the background have turned into a geometric shape. That's the best type of bokeh effect. But it's hard to do with a point and shoot! I used the macro setting and I used the aperture priority setting, with the aperature opened to the largest size (smallest number) to get that effect.

Image Source

What I was trying to do was this: 

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 19

For today's challenge, which was "something orange," I took a few shots last night. I included the sunset, since it wasn't around on Day 12, and because it was orange at the bottom. Also, I liked it because the cloud looked like a big shark or fish!

Today we're going back to Lowe's to get another barrel, more soil, and finish up our herb garden. They're all just sitting along the back walkway. I'm also probably going to finish up making some felt bean bags for Kyle's backyard toss game. He has the part that's a frame with a hole that you compete to toss your bean bags through, but no bean bags. Here's what they look like:

I need to make three more of each color for the game. I used to do a lot of crafts with felt, like make little animals with patterns from an old Japanese craft book by Ondori. That's where I learned how to do the lockstitch, and develop my love of felt crafts. I'm hoping I can find this old book of mine... it's in California still, and buried amongst other boxes. I've got my fingers crossed! An old copy of it is around $40. Buying it new online could cost around $300!! It's out of print and very sought after. Crazy, right?


I hope you're all having a great, summery weekend! The fireflies were out last night, just sparkling the lawns with their whimsical light. I love fireflies!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 18

MY SHOES!

I love shoes.

I love flip flops.

I love sandals.

I love boots.

Why?

I haven't a clue.

But I do love shoes.

Here are more shoes... ha ha. Yikes. Do I reveal too much?

These aren't even all my shoes. There's another row above and two below, and all my boots in my closet, which don't fit on the rack. I might have a problem.

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 16

Today's challenge was super fun, but I had to wait until dark to do what I wanted... The challenge was "Long Exposure," and because I had some sparklers left over from Memorial Day, I wanted to use them. It was so much fun!!!

The first one I'm not even going to show you because it was ridiculously bad. But here, above, is the second one, which is K and I running around like crazy... lol.

This next one is us moving about a little less randomly. I think it's the prettiest picture we did.

The third is me writing out my initials. However, I would like to add that I did one before this, and my "S" was backwards! So I did it again, and that's what you see above.

Then K did one, and he even managed to stay inside the frame of the camera! I like that you can see him in each position.... In mine, I moved so fast that the letters just appear to be floating on their own, right? 


It was a lot of fun, and I think we're planning to go and do some more... ha ha! I know our neighbors were peeking out their darkened windows, wondering what the hell we could be up to! 

Today was a very full and productive day... I got my temporary PA license (woo hoo!) and we started a vegetable garden in a whiskey barrel! Pictures to come! I hope you had a good day, too!


xox

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 14

The challenge for today was to photograph EYES. Now, it would be simple enough, you'd think... but it wasn't! I didn't want to photograph MY eyes. I wanted to photograph some truly amazing cat eyes... but they like to turn their heads at the last minute, or blink, or ignore you entirely. So it was indeed a challenge!

Jimmy Boo's eyes are really beautiful. There's a photo of him I took a year ago that I call "The Universe in His Eyes..." because it looks like the galaxy is in them. Check it out...

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 13

This was a really fun challenge... "me and thirteen things." I decided to do it as a photo collage, and have 12 things around me, and me holding one thing. This thing happens to be a cat, Jimmy Boo. He's the only cat who'll let me hold him, so he got the honor!

Each item holds meaning for me, whether it's in the object itself, which are some childhood keepsakes, or what they represent to me, or the fact that they were a gift from someone special. Starting with the Fox, and going clockwise:


Fox: I bought him at a flea market in Santa Cruz, where I used to live.
Seashell: Given to me by my Godson, Max. It was his favorite shell.
Bird: Bought at the Rose Bowl with my sister, on a trip to L.A.
Elephant: A wooden stamp my sister got me when she was in India.
Owl: Keith & I got him & his friends in New Orleans on our way out east.
Silver flower spoon: Keith surprised me with this vintage treasure.
Eiffel Tower: I finally got to go there last year... after a lifetime of longing.
Lion Key: The Key to the Garden of Oz. From my sister.
Stone Heart: Given to me by my close friend, Debbie.
Lion Stamp: Given to me by my father. It has our family crest (Durfey) on the side of it.
Acorn: My love of nature wrapped up in one little, adorable package.
Nest: Found in my old yard, partially pulled down by a cat, which I put back together.
Center: Me and Jimmy Boo Jones.


Almost everything, including the key which grants access to one of the coolest gardens in L.A., tie back to my love of nature, animals and Life in general. The Eiffel Tower is  representative of fulfilling a dream. I'm holding one of the three things in this apartment that I'd take with me in case of fire, however. All the other things are wonderful, but they are just things. The life in my arms and the other two characters I live with mean more to me than any object ever could.

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 12

I know I'm behind... I was waiting to see if there was a sunset yesterday, and there wasn't. It rained, in fact. Pretty much most of the day. When it wasn't raining, it was drizzling. But I kept hoping!


So I have a sunset picture that I took here in Bethlehem before, which I'll use. It was really recently, too, so I don't feel too bad. It was during the challenge, but it wasn't a photo I took FOR the challenge at the time... little did I know... ;-)

Challenge for day 12: Sunset. It was a few days ago, but hey, there wasn't one last night, and everyone loves to see a beautiful sunset, right?

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 11

Happy Saturday, Lovely People! It's the start of summer, officially, for this household! School's OUT for SUMMER!

There are no blue skies today, unfortunately. We had a crazy thunderstorm last night, and it's still really gray today. At least the heat has abated a bit, which is a relief! It's warm, but it's not hot. Later today, we're going over to Kyle's to help with his gardening, which I'm looking forward to because I haven't gardened in FOREVER. 

Anyway, on to the challenge! Today's was for "something blue".... so this is what I came up with:

Keith's baby blue ukelele. Which, looks more aqua when seen through the hipstamatic lens, using the hipsta film. So I tried another kind and tried to get a bit more blue...

Not quite. Less blue. So I gave up on the uke, and went with the new, beautiful handmade necklace from Kristina Klarin that just came in!

The picture STILL didn't look blue, so I went ahead and took it with the regular iPhone camera, not using an app.... and though I didn't like the photo that much, the beads look like the right color. :-)

I don't know if you've ever seen her blog, KristinaKlarin, but she has a lot of lovely color palettes, photos, and color inspirations... I also love seeing her indoor garden! So much fun! I hope your summer is starting off well! Mine definitely is. :-)

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 9 & 10

Yesterday I was out and about most of the day, and didn't get a chance to post the day's photography challenge. It was "Someone you love." 

The sweetest guy I know! I have so many people that I love, but they're all family, and the friends I have are all pretty far away to be able to take any photos of them. Come to think of it, my family is all far away, too. So it was an easy choice to make, though I would've taken his photo, anyway. 


Challenge subject for day 10 is a "childhood memory"... I'm not sure what was intended for this one. I have old photos of childhood memories... but if I were to take a photo of something that reminded me of a childhood memory, then it's this...

  
When I was young, I used to be fascinated with hydrangeas. I especially loved the ones that would grow a huge ball of flowers, about the size of my head. I would pat them on their "heads" and have conversations with them, making them into my playmates. I moved around a lot in my first few years of life because my dad was in the air force. Our family moved to a few different countries, and a few different states in the US. I made friends in unlikely places. :-) I loved hydrangeas because they were always friendly, and had a clean, if not flowery, smell to them. When I see hydrangeas now, I think, "Hello, Friend!" and I pat them on their heads. It's nice to have friends wherever you go....


By the way, we had a CRAZY storm last night! The winds blew our back screen door open, beyond where it's supposed to go, past the metal awning above the back porch, and threw me outside, where I almost blew into the neighbor's yard!!!! Keith yanked me back in, and had to struggle with pulling the door closed, because it was on the other side of the awning's overhang... what a mess! The door is busted now, and I broke a fingernail! Damn!
My sister was scared that I'd be blown into Oz, and that the wicked witches of the east would get me, hahahahaha... she doesn't know, I AM a wicked witch of the east! Hee hee hee hee heeeeee!!!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 8

And so today, I reveal one of my bad habits... I have a few, though nothing really dramatic. I'm addicted to the TV show, Bones. I enjoy gambling when I'm in Vegas, though I'm not all that excited about going to the casino here in town, so I guess it's not THAT bad of a habit.


What I chose to take a picture of, though, is something that also cools me down in this heat. It's one of the few things that do, aside from the a/c, which I try to use judiciously.


And with that, here you go: 

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 7

Fruit! Yum!

I took lots of photos with my phone... still haven't found my real camera! I happened to have just gone to the grocery store yesterday, and so I had a couple fruits to choose from. I didn't actually choose. I photographed 2/3 of the types of fruit I bought!

I subsequently ate the bowl of blueberries, of course. They were all ready to go, and so juicy. Mmmm.... and I love grapefruit! They've been especially sweet lately. I like to cut them up the way Anthony Bourdain does... cutting off the rind with a knife, and then cutting the flesh away from the center where the seeds & bitterness are. In the end, you have jewel-like sections of delicious grapefruit! Summer is just the best time for fruit, isn't it? What's YOUR favorite fruit?? I love strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mulberries, grapefruit, watermelon, kiwi... okay, I basically love all fruit. :-)

Don't forget to check out White Peach Photography and all the linkups on there!!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 6

Today's challenge was to take a photo from a "low angle". I didn't much care for the ones that I took... but I seem to have lost my standard digital camera, and so have had to make do with my iPhone. It's good for some things, but not everything.

So... what do you think? I don't know. The first photo, I was practically on the ground with my camera, and those trees are enormous, yet the angle didn't really help the low perspective too much. The second photo I took at dinner last night, surreptitiously, ha ha, and was actually trying to get the bowl in focus. Anyway, I'll post one more that I took yesterday, trying for a good perspective shot...

You can't really tell, but these trees are huge. Seriously. So I was hoping for something a bit more dramatic... I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else did! Especially Mary, from White Peach Photography!

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 3

CLOUDS

I went out for a walk, and finding none, decided to recite one of e.e. cummings' poems for you.

the

  sky

    was

can dy lu

minous

     edible

spry

   pinks shy

lemons

greens  coo  l choc

olate

s.

un  der,

a lo

co

mo

 tive    s   pout

                ing

                  vi

                  o

                  lets

and here are the photos I took (two years ago in the Bahamas) to go with the poem.

If that isn't an edible color palette, I don't know what is...

As for what I photographed when I was out and about, looking for clouds in Bethlehem, here is what I took:

As you can see... a bright blue cloudless sky. It's very windy out, and therefore, no clouds. Funny enough, it's been cloudy every day before this, for weeks. Figures.

If you'd like to link up to my blog for today's photo challenge, put your post link below! 

30 Day Photography Challenge: Day 2

First, I want to thank you for commenting on yesterday's photo... you guys are so sweet to me! I still can't post any comments on my own blog posts, or on many blogs... which is a bit frustrating. It's been going on for a long time! 


Second, here is the next photo for the daily challenge: What you wore today. (Of course, the photo was from yesterday, as I've been doing them all one day prior to when I need to post them, so I can post them earlier in the day.

I took this with my iPhone, using the Hipstamatic app, which gives you the Lo-mo feel, and indeed, the Lo-mo offset, as well. I thought I was centered on my clothes, but it was off by a little bit. I like the bright, washed-out look, as it was a very hot day yesterday, and had this sort of feel to it when you walked outside! But as you can't see my African copper bead necklaces, I did another photo, using my iPhone camera without an app.

I bought the copper beaded necklaces at the Farmer's Market in Silver Lake, when I still lived there. I like them a lot. They feel really cool on my neck when I first put them on, but warm up to my body temperature quickly. I can only wear them when my hair is up, though, because otherwise they'll tangle in my hair, and pull it out. Ouch!


Today is ramping up to be another hot day! I'll be studying, inside, and keeping cool with icy drinks, cold fresh pineapple and frozen grapes! How are YOU going to be keeping cool?


Also, if you want to link your blog's photo challenge post, link away! I've got the linky tool below...