Archive for the ‘Photo-Play’ Category

I Might Have Just Taken My Favourite Pic of 2007

Thursday, December 6th, 2007

Untitled - photo
“Untitled”
Taken November 20, 2007 with Canon PowerShot A550

I want
someone
to pay
me to sit
on my
ass and play
on the computer all day…
Well, recently taken, anyway. I’ve had a time-squashing last few weeks, and have yet to get all my pics ’shopped and uploaded. This particular one, of course, should have been posted the evening of the day I took it. I’m not sure what stopped me.

I do know that I had the same set of 30-odd photos open in Photoshop (un-shopped) and inadvertently closed the program. Twice. I think I forgot about them after that.

I want someone to pay me to sit on my ass and play on the computer all day… wait a minute… I think I have that job already. Yeah. I’m just not playing at the stuff I really want to play at. Yet. :-)

Anyway, I need a title for it, and I’m tapped. Suggestions? Please??

Random Song for the Day: “Common People” - William Shatner (featuring Joe Jackson)

A Fascination with Fakery

Sunday, October 21st, 2007

Applefield Sky
“Applefield Sky”
PhotoShopped on October 20, 2007

Even with
her
ass wet
and freezing, Hil
is a trooper.
Portal2theUniverse (AKA “Gateway to the Multiverse”) called me a Prestidigitator a couple of weeks ago. At first I wondered if I should be offended, but his actual opinion of Where the Walls are Soft seems to be somewhat admiring, so I ended up feeling fairly complimented - sort of like when somebody calls me “weird”. If I’m going to cultivate the persona, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when others jump to the conclusion that I really must be so, even when somebody sees through the smokescreen and outs me to the Internet at large.

Prestidigitation (what a groovy-cool word) aside, when I’m taking pictures, I really want the perfect shot from the get-go, and generally only want to open Photoshop to resize the images for my blogs. Sometimes, though, Hilary Federwhore insists on taking the shot exactly as she sees it in her viewfinder, completely ignoring the vision in my mind.

At other times, she will just play the bitch and focus on something behind the very obvious, perfectly-centered object that is my intended focal point, prompting me to swear like the sailor me ol’ Da’ used to be. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“…and speaking of ‘apples’…” (Ha Ha), I saw this HUGE field of them on my Walk-About yesterday, and got some really nice shots. The “field” was the four-foot width of grass, a median of sorts, running the length of Wellington St., and those apples are really tiny, little crab apples that can be encircled with the thumb and forefinger, so the vision in my head was probably a little over-the-top to begin with.

Hil cooperates beautifully when I break all the “how-NOT-to-treat-your-electronics” rules, in that she has survived being dropped into puddles (accidentally), being set down in wet bathtubs (several times now, but still, accidentally), getting caught in recent, sudden torrential rainstorms, and being splashed by passing cars. She refuses to die. Granted, I haven’t drowned her in coffee yet, but that’ll no doubt happen at some point. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Yesterday, to get the POV you see in “Applefield Sky”, I set her down in wet grass. On purpose. Even with her ass wet and freezing, Hil is a trooper, and gamely took the shot, but she was pissed off enough to leave the traffic and buildings in it, and this was the raw result:

Applefield Sky Original 'Apples
“Applefield Sky Original ‘Apples’”
Taken October 20, 2007 with Canon PowerShot A550

Not the vision in my head.

The day before, I had snapped a “Skyscape” picture, as I had told David McMahon I was going to break the flower addiction with a new subject.

Applefield Sky Original 'Sky'
“Applefield Sky Original ‘Sky’”
Taken October 19, 2007 with Canon PowerShot A550

Crap photo if ever I saw one.

So I spent waaaay too much time last night in Photoshop, removing the traffic and buildings from the “apple” shot and superimposing the result over the “skyline” shot, when I was supposed to be doing homework. And waaaay too much time today, writing this post, when I’m supposed to be doing homework and clogging up the vacuum with several sweaters’ worth of cat hair.

But, hey - I am a Prestidigitator. That’s what I do.

Random Song for the Day: “U-Fig” - System of a Down

Half-Blown

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

Half-Blown
“Half-Blown”
Taken June 11, 2006 with HP PhotoSmart R607

I found this pic while digging through archives looking to fill up my new digital photography portfolio site. It’s been slow going, for several reasons: 1) There are huge numbers of photographs, on too many freaking discs, 2) None are categorized except by year, which sucks, ‘cuz I don’t want to see most of them, and 3) There aren’t very many good shots.

Photography had only ever been a hobby for me until I started selling digital cameras, and then began using them. Digital photography opened up a whole new interest when it became affordable for a poor hack like me, and I embraced it for a long time. Then I drowned my camera, and after a while, lost any knack I’d acquired.

When I bought a new and better camera, I was disappointed to discover that I just wasn’t interested anymore. So I’m going back to “hobbying” with it now, for the most part, but since I did find some decent shots, I decided to put up a portfolio site. You never know; I might find that spark again some day.

This particular photograph, when I found it again, just screamed “unemployed” at me. This is about what I feel like, being jobless.

I’ve put resumes in at two new postings (the good kind - temporary, but “useful feeling”), and I’m feeling fairly confident for both. Odd, that.

Now, I have to go search out a picture that screams “You Got the Job!” at me. You know - ‘cuz I’m gonna need one ready.

PS - That freelance web development job came through - I won’t starve for awhile… :-)

Random Song for the Day: “Ruby Sees All” - Cake

What Is It?

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Close-Up
Yes, just here to educate y’all, and have some fun in the process…

I’m having fun playing with my camera again. And this is a really cool thing. The whole picture is at the bottom of the post.

In other news, I applied to another School-Wasn’t-a-Waste job today. The money would be much better than the one I applied to yesterday (which I got a call about today, to ascertain that I’m “qualified” for an interview - so far, so good), but, like the other one, it’s a temporary position. I don’t know how long the placement would last, but I want this job.

I also applied for another “I-Don’t-Really-Wanna-Do-This-But-I-Need-the-Money” position. We won’t talk about that one…

Studying for my exams…? Uh, yeah. I gotta get on that.

Writing…? I have been, yes. More news about finished projects and newly begun projects should soon be posted.

Web-Development, now… That “almost” freelance job (which I still haven’t got the all-clear on, unfortunately, but, I want that job, too!) has jump-started my interest in design and development again, and I’ve been playing with some ideas for my own sites.

With all this stuff going on, I’m not sure I have time to work a job…

Here’s that pic. Nice, eh?

Geode
It’s a Geode.

And I think mine is prettier than any of the ones at Wikipedia.

Random Song for the Day: “Fields of Fire” - Big Country