Tag Archives: Photography

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Posted on March 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

I’ve mentioned many times before that I’m fond of making and giving handmade gifts to friends and family on special occasions such as Christmas, birthdays, mother’s day, etc.

The handmade gift does double duty.  One, it’s more personal than something mass produced and store bought, and two, it’s perfect when you’re broke…as most artists are!

My mother’s birthday was last week and I decided to take my usual route and make her gift.  I decided on a piece of digital art.  A photo manipulation.  I scoured my photographic archive for a particular shot I wanted to use and went to town in Photoshop.  I wanted it to look like something out of a fantasy novel (I’m a geek, I know).

And here’s the result.

Fantasy Gate (Teal)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Art, Digital Art, Photography, Photoshop

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Finally, Some Snowshoeing!

Posted on March 10, 2014 | Leave a comment

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while might remember me mentioning something about snowshoeing back in…wow…2009.  It’s kind of hard to believe it’s been that long.  But, it has.  Over the past few years, there hasn’t been enough snow in my portion of Maine to make snowshoeing worth while (it’s actually difficult to snowshoe when there isn’t enough snow).  But recently, there was quite a bit of snow on the trails I tend to frequent.  And finally, I got to use my snowshoes for the third time since I bought them back in ‘08!

I went to one of my trusted standby trails, the Petit Manan Wildlife Refuge.  It’s a four mile round trip trail (and surprisingly I’m not in agony from the trek like I was the first time I ever tried my snowshoes on that trail).  It was nice and sunny when I started out, but not even a quarter of the way into the trail, it started snowing like a son of a *insert expletive here*….  But, I trudged on hoping the flurried wouldn’t turn into a squall (Eskimos aren‘t the only ones with several words for snow!).

Like usual, I had my camera with me and took some shots along my trek.  Here’s one of the better shots for everyone to enjoy.

Winter on the Birch Point Trail

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Nature, Photography, Snowshoeing

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State Shaped Rock

Posted on March 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

A while ago, I wrote a post about photographing things in nature that resembled letters (remember the seashell shaped like the letter “B”?).  It’s rather addicting and I nearly made it through the entire alphabet before other projects diverted my attention.

Every once in a while, I like to go back to the idea of looking for things in nature that resemble other shapes.  Recently, I was on the lookout for something that was shaped like my home state, Maine.

And here it is…

Maine Shaped rockSta

 

 
I would recommend trying this sometime.  It can be done with your state or even country.  I’d be interested to see other people’s results.

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Nature, Photography

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DIY Photography Equipment

Posted on February 24, 2014 | Leave a comment

Unless you come from a well off family or unless you have stellar luck breaking into the business, you probably have your eye on a lot of cool photography studio lighting equipment but don’t have the funds to acquire them. I know your pain well.

But there’s a solution! There’s always a solution.

DIY!

Need a snoot but don’t want to shell out the moolah for a name brand one? Make it yourself.

Need a light table but can’t afford the shiny professional one you’ve been drooling over in a catalog or online? Make it yourself.

You can easily find DIY photography projects online, but recently, I received an issue of Popular Photography magazine in which there was an article entitled “DIY Photo Studio”. This article had several pieces of photography lighting equipment that you can make yourself for a fraction of the cost you would have to shell out for a professional version, including a salad bowl light dish, a snoot made from straws and a Pringles can, a simple snoot made from foam, a light saber (no, not the Star Wars kind!), and even a light table made from a cardboard box and a piece of glass! These DIY tools are great to help you start off until you can afford those professional versions.

You can find the article and detailed directions for each piece, here.  I actually think I might try that light table…

Happy crafting Photo friends!

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Gadgets, Photography

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Gettin’ Cozy…

Posted on February 17, 2014 | Leave a comment

Over the past few weeks it’s been extremely cold in my little corner of the world (my fellow Mainer’s know what I’m talking about).  With alternating snow storms and sun overshadowed by a constant cold, my cats (like me) did whatever they could to keep warm.  The heat from the furnace didn’t seem to be enough for two of my cats and they decided to cozy up in a patch of sunlight.

Gettin' Cozy

Now, these two cuddle all the time, so this is nothing new.  I just thought it was cute!

Anyway, stay warm, folks.  And if you can‘t stay warm on your own, take a page from my cats’ book and cozy up to someone!

Until next time…

[^_^]

~A.M.

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Posted in Cats, Photography

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