It has been 3 1/2 years since the last time someone took a portrait of me. I've taken many pictures in that time, and I've been in lots of candids, but I haven't taken a new picture that BLady can put in her hallway with the other family pictures.

That's why I had to take a new one. Well, Megs took the picture. But, I needed a new picture because everyone in the family got an update. And, everyone's pictures were on nice metallic paper.

So, hours before I got on a plane to come back to WI, we loaded up and went into town to take this picture at one of my favorite places. We shot a couple poses, but Megs said this was the one as soon as she saw the preview.

I've ordered the picture from MPix. I really like the metallic paper from there.

Now, I'll look as good as everyone else!

iPhone photo of the week

I meant to post this yesterday. I noticed the star on the ceiling while I was doing my morning situps. Definitely didn't see any light reflecting into my apartment this morning, but the sound of rain was sort of relaxing. 

I'm not going to move my blinds, because I'm pretty sure I would never be able to get everything just right to have the light reflect in that way again. 

Grabbing my iPhone, I laid back down and shot the picture. Then, I went to plug the phone into the computer to download the picture (and also sync my phone). Nothing happened. Not when I pushed the buttons. Not when I unplugged it and pushed all the buttons. Not when I plugged it in to the wall and pushed all the buttons. Not when I pushed all the buttons on the phone in random combinations throughout the day. So, I went to the iPhone store thinking one of two things would happen a) they could give me a new 3G because I had the extended warranty or b) I'd be leaving with a new iPhone 4. I didn't think it could be fixed because it seemed beyond the grave. The sales clerk plugged it in to one of their computers and, lo and behold, it starts to power back up. This phone is on notice - one more bit of refusing to work and it's going to be replaced by the newer model.

iPhone pic of the week

This is me today. Actually, this is me most days. A couple of the folks at my coffee shop know what I ordered when I come in - large skim latte. I used to drink one every day with the three shots of espresso, but I realized that this was probably too much caffeine. So, I try to go without a couple of times a week. Luckily, my coffee habit accounts for 95% of my caffeine intake.

Happy Independence Day

I don't know what you are up to this holiday weekend, but this is where I'm hanging out. Yep, that's the pool at my apartment complex. I took the photo with my iPhone yesterday during my break from my pool-side afternoon siesta. I'm not sure what I did to get the neat effect, though. Maybe I should try to recreate the photo this afternoon. Then, I might be able to tell you what I did. 

Enjoy your barbecue, potato salad, watermelon, beer, ice cream, lemonade, fireworks, etc. For those folks who have off tomorrow, no fair - I'll be at work.

Wreck 'em, Tech

Okay, so I had to google that one - sorry Megs and Whit. And, for all the Bears out there, I'm not changing allegiance. Instead, I'm congratulating Whit on her upcoming attendance to Texas Tech. Thank goodness the Texas schools are still together in the Big 12. There are still more years in the family rivalries. This year, Bears face Raiders on October 9 at the Cotton Bowl during the State Fair.




I'm not sure that I'll be traveling down for this game. And, Whit, if your stuck up in Lubbock, then you'll still be surrounded by family. Above is the poster that I gave Whit for graduation. I hear her dorm will have a big bulletin board, so she'll have plenty of space to hang this.

Have a great time at Tech!

Way back in Texas

I've escaped the pull of the black hole! So, I'm circling back around to all of the things that I've wanted to share with you over the past few weeks. Above is a quick photo story of my trip to Texas. I took pictures on my iPhone of many of the things I did over the weekend. Some events aren't fully represented because, well, I was an active participant.

I'm not going to give you a play by play of the photos, but I will tell you that the calf at the far left is named Buddy, that's my aunt and uncle in the mural next to Buddy and the pies in the picture are rhubarb and squash.

This was a nice trip to Texas, covering many of my favorite things. I enjoyed being back down there and seeing family and friends. It definitely recharged my Texas batteries, and seeing these pictures has topped off that charge. I might even wear my cowboy boots to the picnic later today.

Expect more posts over things that I've done in the past two weeks. Then, I guess I'll have to tackle new projects.

Spring pictures

A couple of weeks ago, I got to spend time with a friend from work and his family taking pictures in the arboretum. This friend bid on the photo session in a silent auction at our work anniversary party, and proceeds from this event went to Second Harvest Food Bank. Thank you for supporting the food bank and for letting me take pictures.

Here is one of my favorite pictures.

It took me a couple of nights to go through and edit all of the photos. It's been staying so light up here, and I prefer editing photos when it is dark, so I couldn't get started until about 9 p.m.

I realized that I need to work on taking pictures in bright light. I had several photos that were too dark because of the sunlight. But, I will say that I am thankful for digital when it comes to baby pictures. It seems most babies want to look down, so most of my pictures were of the top of his head.

Brats and iPhone Photo of the Week

Happy Memorial Day! I hope that everyone had a chance to relax and enjoy the freedom that so many have fought to protect.

I made my contribution to the World's Largest Brat Fest today. Other than that, the weekend was full of sun and relaxation.

The iPhone photo of the week is actually the picture of the capitol and State Street. I went the farmers' market Saturday morning. Let's see, I got some flowers, bread, scones, rhubarb and lettuce.

With the rhubarb, I made made my first rhubarb and strawberry pie. I used the recipe from the back of the tapioca box. This is one case where you should measure. I didn't; well, I did, but then I poured what was left in the box into the bowl as well. I ended up with a yummy rhubarb-strawberry-gel pie.

iPhone photo of the week

I spent a good portion of this past week in Norfolk, VA for work. Wednesday afternoon, I had the chance to enjoy the weather, which had finally turned nice. When we got to VA, it was rainy and cooler than WI. This picture comes from the park near Nauticus and the USS Wisconsin, the battleship which fired the first shot in the Gulf war, according to one of my traveling companions. I also verified that here, if you want to know about the Wisconsin.

Thank you, Camera Bag, for the fisheye effect. The effect helped the sailing ship stand out from the building behind it.

Senior pictures

This is my cousin - isn't she cute? She is graduating from high school one month from today. I took these pictures back during my vacation at Christmas. It was so cold and windy, but you can only tell looking at her by the red nose. There were a couple of pictures with red fingers, too.

I'm so glad that I got to take these senior pictures. I took her brother's senior pictures, too, back before I moved to WI. It did take a bit of planning and standing out on a cold December day to get the pictures, but it was worth it.

To W - have a great last month of high school. Enjoy your summer, and good luck with everything. Love you and see you in a month!

iPhone photo of the week

I met these ducks and turtles in Northpark Mall in Dallas this weekend while shopping with Megs and BLady. That's right, I got to spend most of the last week in Dallas culminating in a weekend with the family sans little brother.

The ducks and turtles live in a fountain in the family area of Northpark, which is probably the best mall I've ever been to. In addition to live critters, there is real art - an Andy Warhol painting, sculptures, photographs. The mall itself is pretty austere - wide walkways with white bricks and a lot of natural light.

Northpark is also home to one of my favorite shops - Paper Source! Although I left with store without any new purchases, I am brimming with new ideas.

iPhone photo of the week

This week's photo comes from my office. Oddly enough, I haven't been spending all of my time sitting there lately. Most of the time has been spent running from one meeting room to another, and I'm about to embark on another meeting day with little chance of getting to enjoy my new art work.

I made this drawing when I spent my weekend in the country. It's based off a picture my friend had in her house, and I used colored pencils to complete the drawing. I especially like the background, which I created using about five different colored pencils - sky blue, periwinkle, purple, royal blue, robin's egg blue.

On the iPhone camera: I could've used more light. I didn't do anything to this picture to edit it, and it could use a little lightening. This could be because I never turn on my overhead lights but my window faces north, so I only get filtered sunlight.

iPhone photo of the week

This weekend, I house sat for some friends who live "out in the country." My time was divided between hiking and walks with their dog Jake, napping and reading magazines and a book. I also had to keep an eye on the chickens. I took this picture while, Jake, the chickens and I enjoyed the sunny hilltop.

iPhone photo of the week

Yummy. French toast with berries and whipped cream was on the menu for breakfast, thanks to Jenny Craig. I've been going to Jenny Craig for about a year and half now. Not only has it helped me lose weight, but it makes grocery shopping simple and food prep very easy. All I had to do was microwave the french toast, cut up some strawberries, and add a dollop of lite Cool Whip to have this yummy looking breakfast.


Now, the iPhone alone  didn't make the food look this yummy. I used the Camera Bag app for iPhone to apply a Helga effect to the picture. This is one of my favorite iPhone photo apps to play with because you can change the look of the picture by scrolling through the possible views. It recreates the look of different cameras and film. 


When I searched for a link to include above for more information about the app, I found that it is also available for desktops. I am going to have to think about getting this for quick photo editing.

iPhone photo of the week

Spring has come to WI! It really has, and I've seen it. Here, the young buds are set against the bright clear blue sky that was gray just an hour before.

Now for a critique of the iPhone camera for taking pictures. I tried to focus on the closest bud. Several shots did not capture the look I was going for. This is the closest one. The size of the screen also makes it hard to tell what you've captured exactly until you get it back to a computer. Reminds me a tiny bit of taking film pictures. It was (is?) exciting to see what you had captured after the moment had passed. I often found myself looking at a stack of pictures or negatives wondering what I was trying to accomplish with the picture. 

Photo Collage

Back in December, I visited the Etsy Dallas Jingle Bash and purchased some awesome letterpress letter cards spelling out our last name.  I didn't really think about where I was going to put them, so when I got them home, I tried holding them up around our apartment.  They never seemed quite right anywhere, but ended up on the wall in the corner behind our TV. They were looking really strange to me back there and it finally got on my nerves enough that I decided to a photo collage around the letters.


I'm all about cheapness, and thrifting at Goodwill led me to some fantastic frames for only a buck or two.





After clorox-wiping all of the Goodwill frames, I started arranging the frames around the paper templates I'd made of the letters already on the wall (pardon the puppy, she got curious).





Then, I made paper templates of all the frames and hung those on the wall with the letters to make sure it looked okay from across the room.





I don't have any pictures of the actual painting, but I hauled all the goodwill frames out to the top deck of the parking garage at my apartment complex (oh, how I wish I had a house with a yard) and spray painted them all black while my neighbors looked at me like I was crazy.





Ta-Da!

iPhone photo of the week

Travel. I do it fairly often. I'm at the beginning of a series of trips. This picture shows two of my companions for the next couple of weeks.

iPhone photo of the week

Do you carry a camera with you everywhere you go? I used to. In fact, I bought a new point-and-shoot camera a couple of years ago just for that purpose. It is small, perfect to fit in all but the tiniest of purses.


But, then I got my iPhone. Now, my little Canon, gets left at home quite often. From talking with folks, I don't think I'm alone in this. My cousin lamented that there will be a couple years of her daughter's life that are only documented in 2 megapixel iPhone photo glory, sans flash and, sometimes, a steady hand.


If the iPhone is good enough to capture my cousin's little cutie, then perhaps it can even be elevated to an art? There are a number of iPhone apps out there that can do some pretty neat things with a photo.


And, so is born a new feature for the table - the iPhone photo of the week. I'll take up the challenge to take some beautiful or quirky or just interesting photos with the iPhone camera.


Week 1

Foggy bit of country

Flat Stanley

I have a visitor this weekend. Flat Stanley came all the way from Texas to spend a week with me. To show him a good time, I took him walking around on Sunday afternoon. We got to see frozen lakes, a street band, bicyclists and tons of folks enjoying the nice weather. Then, we went and had blue moon ice cream.

Flat Stanley’s visit to WI is part of a school project for my cousin. I’d’ve much rather had my cousin to visit me, but he didn’t fit in the envelope. Still, it was fun to compose interesting photos that had Stanley in them to prove that he’s been here. I took around 200 trying to get the perfect set to show off the town.

The thin light didn’t help a whole lot, but at least it was somewhat sunny. I prefer shooting natural light, and Stanley’s laminated exterior didn’t allow for the use of flash.

This picture above was taken with no flash, next to the windows but after the sun had started to sink. I took the picture into photoshop and upped the contrast and tweaked the saturation. I really like how the ice cream looks so blue and just starting to melt.