Foto Fun Friday

C and i made a mask out of paper plates yesterday. today we finalized it with an elastic string. we are crafty animals.

Foto Fun Friday

every once in a while, you see a photo and it just strikes you to the core.this photo of the Black Keys in Lollapalooza by Mat Ellis is one of them. (here for better quality). just looking at it makes me want to be a better photographer. the lighting is just perfect...scratch that...EVERYTHING is perfect about this photo. i wonder what Matt's reaction was when he saw this. i bet it was an amazing feeling. that's the question that's been burning in my mind. what's the reactions of these great photographers when they knew they got the shot. i've never gotten a shot of this epic proportion, but i know the moment i captured exactly what i wanted, i get all giddy inside, like there's a ton of butterflies in my stomach...maybe like discovering that you love a person for the first time...i just want to throw my fists in the air and let out a little scream. yea, like that. maybe it's different for everyone.

how do you react? what inspires you to be better at what you do?

Foto Fun Friday

went to the first night of a 48 hr pottery firing (as mentioned in Coast to Cote) tonight. it sure was chilly, but the wood burning kiln made it nice and warm. love how you can see the fire so well. this kiln burns twice (once on the top, then as the wood turns to ashes it burns again below) and this was the top layer. the kiln is also a smokeless/odorless one, so when we came home, we didn't have to even shower to get the smell off!

Joy, her husband, and co. were all so very nice and i even got to stoke the fire (twice!). i plan on going back again tomorrow night for pot luck and more photographs. by the way, this photograph was taken straight out of the camera!

hope you're having a great night and an even better weekend!

Foto Fun Friday: what's wrong with this picture

after the race, we went over to the Bavarian Inn for a free beer, good music, and some unexpected entertainment.

Foto Fun Friday: cute babies

on Thursday, i got the pleasure to photograph one of the cutest and the happiest of babies. Josie and her parents wanted some family photographs and hail all the way from Pittsburgh. they had me photograph them while visiting some friends in the area.

i was looking for some sort of prop in the shed when my eyes stumbled upon this purple bucket. you know my favorite color is purple so i couldn't pass it up...and i mean, babies in buckets?!? loads of cuteness! Josie's parents were really cool when i told them about the idea, so when we got to the right location, we put her right in. Josie is a natural, but with the help of Natalie, he laughed and smiled from ear to ear! the most spectacular moment happened when Josie stood up for the first time. we all cheered in delight and i was lucky enough to have caught the moment on camera. it was magical!



sorry this post is late. we were without internet for a couple of days and it's been a rather busy/hectic weekend. please forgive me!

the reinstatement of Foto Fun Friday

i don't know if anybody ever enjoyed these, but i figured why not bring it back? if i wanted to bring routine back into my life, why not my blog? right? i mean, Shepherdstown is full of interesting stuff!

for instance, meet Weimer and his pet squirrel. her name is Mighty Mouse. he found her when she was a baby and has since raised her as a pet. Mighty Mouse pretty much goes everywhere with him (ie. hanging out underneath his hat and chilling in his book bag). as i was waiting for dinner one night, Weimer came up to us and asked if we wanted to see her. i couldn't help but seize the opportunity to snap a photograph



i'm off to NJ/NY for the weekend to assist with photographing a wedding. it should be a really great experience and i was told the bride is super crafty! perhaps this wedding is right up my alley!

have a great one!

Foto Fun Friday: better late than never

awesome., originally uploaded by Pretty Little Fings.

i took this photo last week at the Blue Moon, one of my favorite live music spots in town. at first glance i was like "who are these people" then later realized how dense i had been for not recognizing it earlier.

drum set belongs to The Weights, a pretty awesome band from Brooklyn!

ps - HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!!!!

Foto Fun Friday

whoa, didn't i say i was going to try to post a little more...man, i suck at keep my word, huh? i've been busy hanging out with one of my very best friend who is leaving for bootcamp (Air Force) on Monday and this week is just flying by!

anywho, happy Friday. i wanted to post another preview from Liz & Cory's wedding...



this photo was one of my faves from the hour i spent with the groom and his team before the wedding. they are a bunch of goofballs (can you tell?) and i had a blast photographing them, with the help of my assistant, Brian.

on a totally unrelated note...tonight we went to a benefit in Harpers Ferry and met Pearl and the Beard. not only are they super nice (Jeremy can grow a mean beard!), they are super talented. the trio completely blew my mind and have hopped over to the #1 spot on my favorite bands list. my head blew right off when they started playing this medley:



Will Smith lives on!

Foto Fun Friday...it's back!

not that fun i know...but i love the way we both look like giants! my friend, Vincenzo, and i went on a photo shooting adventure the other day and got some beautiful shots with lots of glowing yellow sun setting light.

hope your Friday was wonderful.

Foto Fun Friday: what inspires you?

WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

my friend, Vincenzo, is on a quest to find out what inspires artists from all over. he's made a video for the The Olympus Pen Proposal. here's a snippet of what the project is all about:

"Olympus wants to know: What you would do if you had the amazing new Olympus PEN® E-PL1 portable camera featuring professional digital single lens reflex (DSLR) image quality, point-and-shoot simplicity and high-definition (HD) video, along with $5,000 to bring your creative vision to life? The PEN your story challenge starts right now, so it's time to find out.

Your "vision" can be anything that you could produce with the high-quality PEN and $5,000 budget. Whether your dream is to direct a short film with HD video, produce a fashion spread of pro-quality still images, chronicle an adventure or to create an amazing photomontage, you can submit your video proposal to www.youtube.com/getolympus and enter to win the PEN, the funds to make your project reality and a crack at the grand prize."

watch his video and vote 'Like' on Youtube.



i think it's such a powerful video. honestly, i got choked up a bit after watching it because i felt like he and i share the same drive and passion for photography! this project is a great idea (and right up my alley mind you! i would love to do something like this!) and i wish him the very best of luck! please watch the video and vote vote vote! there's only two days left!

GOOD LUCK, VINCENZO!

Foto Fun Friday: i love kitteh kats!

my friend Leah's cat (and her mom's cats) just had a litter (or two). there are a whole bunch of kewt kittehs looking for new homes (if you're interested, email me!). since i LOVE kittens, i scheduled a little date with her for a visit. honestly, i thought that maybe i could talk J into letting have another kitten if i took a whole bunch of cute photos and pleaded my case...failed.

i took a good bit of photos (including an idea i had in my head that involved Leah, but that's another post, i think), and i caught some mid yawn. like this one...


i couldn't resist putting a caption on it. it's little paw was on an empty Cheetos bag and i just had to go there...i'm thinking about submitting in to LOLcats.

and if you like kittens as much as i do, then i know you will enjoy these as well...




and as always, there are more here. have a great Friday!

Foto Fun Friday!

as i mentioned in the Coast to Cote post, i had a photoshoot in Frederick over the weekend. towards the end of the shoot, i was looking to do something different. i saw a couple of guys resting on a bench with their bmx bikes and came up with an idea. i walked up them and asked if they wouldn't mind doing tricks in the background while i took some photographs of my model in the foreground. they didn't seem to mind and so i asked if there was a spot were we could go so no one would get in trouble...cause most of the time skateboarding and bmx-ing is illegal in public places...they walked us over to Carroll Creek. it took as a couple of tries (i had to count out loud), and i'm pretty happy with the shots. my only wish would have been that they were all in the air at the same time. maybe i could catch these guys another day and we'll try it again! next time i'll bring my fish eye!





ps - have i told you i really enjoy taking photos of bmx-ers and skateboarders?

Foto Fun Friday

this week's photo is a preview of a photoshoot i had last Saturday. if you remember, i had a photoshoot with Natalie for her website before. this second time around, she brought the whole family! and although the spot light was on her adorable Labradoodle, i couldn't help but get shots of the whole family. i love love LOVE this shot.



today i helped out at a preschool that i used to work for (where my love of photography blossomed & where my buddy goes to school). every year before Mother's Day, they hold a Mother's Day Tea party (pretty hats and all!) and i was there to help capture the moments, get portraits of moms and kids, and to take the class photo. it brought back good memories and reminded me of why i love taking photos of people/kids.

i hope you all had a wonderful Friday! i must go get ready for work! tonight i'm going to bake some muffins for a bake sale that benefits the children's department at the Shepherdstown library; they are having an amazing used book sale tomorrow (you will find me there for sure!), so stop by if you're around. oh! and did i mention that i'm running in a 5K tomorrow morning as well? i will be participating (i say that because i might be walking at times) in the Run by the River 5K with some good friends...who talked me into it. yeah, i'm nervous (even though i play soccer, i am not in the best shape), but it's for a good cause and i love helping out (um, and it's in town!). so come cheer for me!

ok, i really have to get going now. wish me luck tomorrow!

Foto Fun Friday: cat lady

i have been quite the cat lady lately, obsessing over whether or not CJ will be sleeping next to me and wanting to pet him all the time. trust me, it hasn't always been like this. CJ and i have a love/hate relationship. we didn't like each other for the longest time! he used to bite and scratch me so we would generally stay away from each other. now things have changed, and i don't know if it has anything to do with us moving to a new place or what, but he has just been a sweet heart (of course Remy is still my baby girl!).

since he's been more affectionate, i've been obsessed with photographing him...mostly cause he hates being photographed. i caught him all sprawled out on our bed the other night (this cat loves to spread out!), so i couldn't help myself. and of course, since CJ has been getting all of the attention, Remy is more neurotic than ever. she just can't let him be in the lime light.

Coast to Cote: Week 16

looks like our unofficial theme of week 16 were windows...



Pang: April showers bring May flowers...that has never been more true. It has rained cats and dogs for the past two days. We were even on a tornado watch on Sunday! We were at a cook out and most people migrated to the basement for safety. Anywho, rainy days are especially hard when it comes to babysitting. Nothing dampens your plans more, especially if there is no TV/movie involved. My poor little buddy was dying to be outdoors (although it doesn't look it in the photograph, it was pouring) and just sat there staring, looking super sorry. Poor thing.

Lacey: Im pretty much convinced now that the only way to learn a langauge is to live in a place where the language is spoken. I really really love it here in France and I have yet to get over the novelty that everything is written in French and all you hear on the street (for the most part) is French. I am going to miss this place so much - so I have been taking more pictures of everyday mundane things - just to have them to look back at one day.

Foto Fun Friday: Need vs. Want

dilemma, originally uploaded by recovering lazyholic.

although today's post is not exactly a photograph, i still want to post it. i stumbled upon this gem and it just tickled me because this is usually my dilemma in the morning...and the waffle (with syrup) prevails.

there's a whole series from the Austin (i think) artist, Erin. she writes:

"when i was 8 i wanted a puppy
when i was 10 i wanted parachute pants
when i was 12 i wanted an ogilvie perm
when i was 14 i wanted a boy named robbie
when i was 16 i wanted a car
when i was in my 20s i wanted to make bad choices
now i want everything
i only need enough to survive"

i love all of it, mostly because i can relate to them all...especially the one about the green thumb (because i have a black thumb).

check them all out here and check her blog out here!

have a nice Friday!

Foto Fun Friday: Bon Appetit

Bon Appetit, originally uploaded by Angie Naron.

i saw this photograph a couple of days ago (then Meaghan left me a link too) and it absolutely made me smile. i hope it does the same for you!

...i wonder how long it took just to put all of those little googly eyes on the cheerios...

Foto Fun Friday: Toilet Party

sorry this is a little late. yesterday i worked a double and came home exhausted. then some how i proceeded to stay up all night drooling over my next lens/external flash purchase (for an upcoming wedding). after talking to J, i've decided i'm not going to settle, i'm going to save big and get the lens of my dreams...but first i need to master the flash, since i mostly work with natural light

um, anyway, too much rambling...here's today's (yesterday's) photo:



yup, those are toilets, just hanging out in a down the street from our place. my friend Brian and i took a quick peek into an old barn and found someone's secret stash of toilets. i wonder if it's a hoarding thing? guess i will never know.

Foto Fun Friday: Devil Eggs

in the past few days, i've been working on plush Easter eggs. i thought it would be a great idea for Easter gifts, but alas, i was bested.

after my third attempt (today), i am finally giving up. third attempt? you might ask. why yes! but i'm so embarrassed by my first egg that i'm not even going to show you. last night i made a second attempt, and the egg came out looking more like chicken nuggets. J mentioned that i should use tie-dyed fabric, so it would look more like an Easter egg, and i ended up using purple tie-dyed fleece i had in stock. the result was less than satisfactory...for me at least.



yea, it's really cute and it can actually stand up on it's own (which the other two didn't), but i don't know if it looks 'eggy' enough. hmpf!

adding to my frustration, i broke my favorite vintage saucer while i was making this thing! i might have to send it to The Broken Plate Pendant Co. now...but actually, that's a good thing. hehe. so to make the best of a frustrating situation, i posed the DEVIL EGGS with my broken saucer for a little Foto Fun Friday photograph...



darn these eggs! they look so happy while being so mischievous!

Foto Fun Friday: a public service announcement

WARNING: this is what happens when you don't brush your teeth!



this was taken last week during a field trip to a farm. i think it would make a great poster to encourage kids (and maybe adults too) to brush their teeth!!! i told my buddy that this is what happens if you stopped brushing your teeth and he has been really good at reminding me about about it ever since!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!