April Activities and an Online Class

As I look back at the last few weeks, I realize I've hardly touched my camera.  If I have, it's been for my fiber arts activities.  I've knitted a cardigan and finished it back in March.  I'm now focused on knitting warm weather garments.  Mostly sleeveless.

Here's the results:

My hand knitted Ocean Cardi

Knitting the back of my Maremma two tone vest (pewter & garnet colors)

My Rosanna sleeveless tunic (black tweed)

Tomorrow, I start an eight week class using Illustrator.  I've been "teaching" myself for the last year and most recently using it to create brochures, posters, flyers and a magazine ad.  "Google" had been my loyal friend, but now I must take a class to make sure I'm using Illustrator to it's fullest potential.  Also, to make sure I haven't picked up any bad habits like creating huge files sizes.  

I've realized there is never a good time to take a class.  I'm always busy between work and home life. My motto has been "just do it" and make time.  So far, it's been working.  :)

Enjoying the Rest of 2013 and a New Job!

I've been out of pocket for many months.  Summer turned into Fall and I found myself with a new job.  I went from being a Systems Engineer at my old job to an MIS Manager at my new one.  My old job was stagnant.  The contract had ended and I was floating around the company supporting Contracts (boring!) and supporting other contracts by doing some graphics support.

I was biding my time doing what I could do to keep busy.  I could only do so much before I became bored.  Another company was showing interest in my skills and experience....basically, the ability to wear many hats.

After two interviews I finally landed a new job.  I'm now a wearer of many hats just like in my previous job, but more fun and many more challenges!  One of my skills being used is photography!


The first six weeks I wore my graphics support/printing production hat.  I extensively used PhotoShop and had to quickly build on my Illustrator skills and learn new things on the fly.  A great way to learn Illustrator...try and apply.

After Thanksgiving, I had the opportunity to travel to Orlando and provide support for a trade show booth we had.  Then we hit Disney!  We started out at Epcot:

Merry England at Epcot

Character photography moment

Morocco @Epcot

The Japanese drummers @Epcot

Another character photography shot...this time in Mexico

We managed to get to Magic Kingdom in the late afternoon:

The Castle at Magic Kingdom!

I had a great time at Disney.  It was my first time there.  I know, it took me over 50 years to get there. Hey, it was fun to be a kid again!

Time Out at the Beach!

Hubby and I took a break this past weekend.  We packed up the truck and headed to the Eastern shores of Maryland.  When we arrived on Thursday the air temperature was in the 70s.  The sun was hiding behind the rain clouds and it made for a chilly day.  Still...it beats a 100+ degree humidity and heat wave we experienced only a week ago.

Apparently, others thought it would be a great weekend to head to the beach.  Here's a picture from Friday afternoon taken from the pier near the beginning of the boardwalk/beach area:

This next picture was taken early Sunday morning before the clouds rolled in.  This was taken further north near 80th Street.  It was a calm and peaceful stroll along the beach.

Couldn't ask for better beach weather.  More pictures to come....

The Other Hobby...Knitting

My knitting mojo came back at the end of last year.  I've knitted through the end of winter and I'm still going strong into the summer.  One thing I'm doing different this year is to keep one or two projects in my queue.  That means having the pattern and yarn on hand ready to go.  When I've completed a project, I can immediately start another one.  There's no waiting or wondering what I'm going to do next.

I've found a fascination for cotton yarns.  While I enjoy knitting with soft wool, I do find them a bit scratchy against my skin.  So I've been building my cotton yarn stash this year and well...knitting up a storm.

Here's some of the results of my knitting adventure:

A cardigan made from recycled cotton blend yarn:

A lace cape made from the same recycled cotton blend yarn:

Another cardigan made from a cotton blend yarn called Candy in Sour Apple color:

A two-tone vest made from the same Candy yarn:

I started a new knitting project last night.  A colorful tee.  This yarn color is called Sunset.  Appropriately named and such a beautiful yarn to knit with.

My final knitting projects above were taken while they were being "blocked" on the towels.  One weekend I need to setup my portable studio and take pictures of moi modeling each of the garments.

Knitting is a great stress-reliever.  It's portable.  I keep my current knitting project in my messenger bag.  Ready to go at a moment's notice.

Birthday Art!

I quietly celebrated a birthday earlier this week while Hubby was out of town on a business trip.  It's hard to get excited about birthdays especially when they land on a work day.  After work, I spent my evening perusing knitting patterns and then ordering yarn...gift/treat for myself.  I ended up knitting and watching chick flicks and enjoyed my quality time.

Hubby came home the next day and patiently waited for me to get home from work.  He presented me with a small box that was in the fridge.  Hmmmmm...something edible?!  Of course!

He found a shop that specializes in hand painted chocolates:  Le Chocoholique in Columbus.

I'm saving the chocolate goodies to enjoy over the weekend.

A good friend of mine and a fellow photographer, sent me something in the mail.  When I opened the box, this beautiful tin appeared:

A huge tin!  

Three popcorn flavors and they're all mine!  :)

I think there's a theme to my birthdays....  Yes, I'm a yarn junkie and a foodie!

Happy 4th!

Hubby was asking me when do the fireworks start?  I told him around 9:15 or so.  I was busy knitting and pretty much content to stay inside.  Hubby disappeared and came back, dressed to go outside.  Are you going somewhere I asked?  Let's go see the fireworks!  I dropped what I was doing and quickly gathered my camera and tripod.

Hubby drove (5 minutes away) to nearest parking lot which was packed with locals and everyone had the same idea.  I was the only with a DSLR and tripod and I quickly setup my equipment.  Crack!  Boom!  The fireworks started:

 I set my camera to Shutter mode and 3 seconds.  I set my 24-120mm f/4 lens to manual and infinity.  I watched for the bursts to see where I needed to zoom in and just snapped away.

There is a trick to capturing fireworks shots.  I've learned to listen for the launch.  Since I had my lens open for 3 seconds I knew I would be capturing the bursts at different stages

A May Wedding...as a Guest

I had an opportunity to attend a wedding as a guest.  It was a neat feeling to be a guest.  A different prospective.  I brought my camera and flash with me to take some candid shots of the beautiful event.

I arrived early to take some outside pictures of the church.

The bride's gown was beautiful!

Here she is being "fanned" by her bridesmaids....

Taking a slow walk down the creaky old stairs....

I happened to be standing on the top landing and she looked up briefly...

Rolling out the rice paper...

As a photographer, I'm always on the look out for a good position or spot to take pictures from.  I have a height disadvantage so being around lots of people always poses a challenge for me as I try to avoid the "back of the head" shots.  

I asked if there were any issues with "flash" photography inside the church.  I was told it was up to the pastor.  I noticed many other guests with their DSLRs.  So I observed what others were doing before I started snapping away.  I figured I wouldn't be the first one to get scolded.  

This church had a rear upper balcony.  A fantastic location where I remained perched during the whole ceremony.  

The foot washings...

The wedding ceremony pictures were all taken from the balcony.  A creative perspective.  I used my flash with the flash head in the front position and thought the pictures came out beautifully.

I really enjoyed using my 24-120mm f/4 lens.  I think it did a great job capturing the special moments.

I did have a sore back after the wedding.  I used the balcony railing as my support (tripod) and so I was standing and leaning forward during the whole ceremony.  I must remember to take quick body stretches in between shots.  Yeah it really stinks to be getting old....

A Wedding Shoot in April

I had an opportunity to shoot a wedding at the end of April.  I used my Nikkor 24-120mm f/4 lens and received wonderful results.  While I zoomed in and out throughout the ceremony and reception, I kept my aperture at f/4.  That is one of the nice features about this lens.

Here are the results of my wedding shoot:

I brought my Nikkor 85mm lens with me and it ended up staying in my bag the whole time.  That's how well my 24-120mm lens performed.

Part of my wedding process is designing and printing my own CDs and DVDs which is part of the wedding package.  I have an Epson Artisan printer that is my workhorse.  I can print my CDs/DVDs and photos on this printer.  It's been a lifesaver for me.

In case some of you are wondering I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and photographing weddings on the side.

Next up...a wedding in May.  This time I'm the guest!  :-)