Jan
21
Face Rubbers Morn & Pumpkin
Happy Caturday, friends. =)
I hope your weekend is a good one.
Jan
16
Belated Birthday Lunch & How To Replicate Film
On Saturday we visited Tom’s mom and her husband for a little belated birthday gathering, and she spoiled us with some fabulous vegan food and deserts (cinnamon infused cherry cobbler, oh my gosh) and we spent all day talking about life and visiting. (We always spend several hours over there talking before realizing that it’s been as long as it has.) And aside from spilling water on my desk and spending fifteen minutes airing out my wallet, keyboard, and random papers with a hair dryer- my Sunday was fairly uneventful, but in a good way. It left me feeling rested and excited to start the work week! I hope yours was just as delightful.
On a different note, many of you have been emailing me asking me if it’s possible to “truly replicate” the look of film using the Reminisce action set, and so I thought I would process these photos to kind of show you the potential. Whether your film habit is too expensive, conflicts with your vegan values, or you just want to experiment- it’s definitely possible. While every type of film is different, and there are lots of different types of looks you may want to accomplish, it is possible to get fairly close to so many using what is provided in the set. I tried to keep it simple for this example and used only “Sage” (the “Reminisce” layer was between 80-100 opacity for each photo), sometimes with “Reminisce” added on top. After that I dropped this handy film style dust & particles layer [download full res] on top (set it to screen, 50-80% opacity) and voilà, film craving satisfied. Enjoy!
Jan
12
August Flashback
I think it’s probably natural to feel a little “lost” after completing two year long projects in a row. I find myself thinking, and almost in a panic, “Oh my gosh, I should be taking photos of something, but what!” And then I realize, there are no prompts, I don’t have to do any self portraits, I can just relax and take photos of whatever I want. Yes, perfect, this is relaxing and just what I need. But then I think it might not be so bad if I started a 52 weeks project. WHAT IS MY PROBLEM? Projects are fantastic. They help us get out of our comfort zones, they give us inspiration and motivation and we meet cool new people and take photos we never would have taken otherwise. But I’ve overloaded myself with projects the last few years that I promised myself this year I would take it easy(ier). So even though right now I feel like I have no direction, and during the time of the day I spent mulling over ideas and taking a shot for two years I simply wander around with my camera feeling helpless, I’m going to roll with it. Because it will pass, and it won’t be so scary after a while.
“Far” August 6th (Day 218)
“Macro” August 7th (Day 219)
This isn’t a macro shot. It isn’t even shot with my macro lens, but it’s not every day you get a chance to photograph a salt water aquarium so we’re going to roll with it.
“Soft” August 8th (Day 220)
“Clean” August 9th (Day 221)
“Key” August 10th (Day 222)
Do you see those rubber bands hanging on the key ring? Those were for when I went running. Until this month I was strapping my iPhone to the treadmill with a rubber band or two so it would stay put while I ran, and so I left the rubber bands with the gym key so I wouldn’t forget. For my birthday this year I was given an iPod nano, which clips to my clothes, and I no longer need to MacGyver my iPhone to the treadmill. But when I look back on this photo in a few years after I’ve forgotten, I will laugh at the two/three years I spent collecting rubber bands from every asparagus bundle we brought home from the grocery store, forgetting them and only realizing once already in the gym and coming all the way back to get some, having them snap mid run- all just so I could listen to some music while I ran.
“Stretch” August 11th (Day 223)
Usually I can’t handle spicy foods at all and as Tom made this chili we both thought there was no way I’d manage. “Mild” doesn’t mean squat. Okay, maybe mild means, “Sara’s mouth will explode and everyone else will wear confused looks on their faces, take another bite and conclude it’s not really spicy at all.” Because that’s usually what happens.
Except that I used to love chili dogs when I was younger. (Probably a result of being a Sonic the Hedgehog kid. I can’t believe I just admitted that.) So even now I will stretch my tolerance for spice a little bit as long as it’s in chili. And this chili was perfection.
“Stripes” August 12th (Day 224)
“Silence” August 13th (Day 225)
“Silence, peasant. You will provide me with a cushion.”
Sometimes I like to imagine what Morn and Pumpkin might be saying to each other.
“Night” August 14th (Day 226)
“Beautiful” August 15th (Day 227)
Jan
09
Friends For Christmas
You know that saying about time and having fun? Well, it’s definitely true. Two weeks ago when my sister and friends came to visit it really felt like they were here for two days instead of five. We got each other games for Christmas and I believe we tried every single one (OK- we didn’t get to Killer Bunnies or Riley’s Glee board game) and even some we played twice! My favorites of the bunch were Munchkin, Pandemic, and Mansions of Madness (which will have a post all it’s own). It’s so easy to get caught up in technology these days and forget that a world exists beyond our phones or computers, so it was really nice to play a game that didn’t involve a screen other than a paper one. (D&D reference, for the win!) Of course we took some time to play some good old fashioned Dungeons & Dragons. It the first time in a long time I wasn’t the DM so I got to play and have my character do ridiculous things and really have fun with it. (My sister and I played characters with a relationship similar to Shawn and Gus in the TV comedy show Psych, if you watch that.) And yes, in that last picture Pumpkin AND Atlas are sitting on her lap while we play. Cat lady runs in our blood.
Recent Comments