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Category: photography

Me and Bugs

On June 23, 2011

In my basement there are shelves full of paint, stain, tools and scrap building material. There is also one whole shelf dedicated to killing bugs. We recently experienced our annual tiny ant infestation and Wonder Boy headed downstairs to see if we had anything to kill them off. He came back upstairs and just looked at me. “Why do we have so many bottles of spray to kill flying bugs?” I explained that in my opinion flying bugs are the absolute worst so if a poison will kill a flying bug, certainly it will kill a stupid crawling bug. I don’t think my answer satisfied him. One bottle dedicated to killing flying bugs? Sure. But 5?

I have always hated bugs. I freak out about them like a … bad girl stereotype. I scream. I jump and run away. When I was younger and putting dishes into the dishwasher, I saw an ant on my leg and jumped onto the open door of the dishwasher. Obviously it broke. Obviously it was hard to explain to my parents why an ant caused such destruction. Another time I was moving the lawn and got distracted by a spider, probably a daddy-longlegs , and ran the mower over a rock. That led to a broken lawn mower. Again, my parents were not impressed with the bug cause.

It’s all pretty ironic then that in my photography classes, which I am taking to accomplish things on my 100 list, my favorite pictures keep being of bugs. I’ve been inspired by some photos my friend took. (There are no bug pictures on his blog yet, but trust me, he’s taken awesome ones.)

In class on Tuesday I asked the teacher to critique some of my photos, which he’ll do for everyone. I’ve found this to be incredibly helpful. Also, I miss the days of school when you got immediate feedback on things you did. I like to be graded for the quality of my work… I got really positive feedback on the photos I shared (below) but I got fabulous kudos for my bug picture. And I am proud to report that after taking the picture I did not scream, run or kill the bug.

Examining the World

By Kate

On June 11, 2011

In 100 List, classes, photography

This past week I started photography classes. Through a local nature center I’m taking a series of six classes from a professor at a local university. There are only 10 of us in the class and we meet for two hours once a week. I have a really nice camera and feel like I’ve gotten some beautiful shots with it, but I rely too much on luck for those images. My teacher says I should discard the power of luck, but we agree it would be nice if some skill was involved.

The first class was about while balance and lighting. We did cover a few other things but they were review for me. White balance is something I’ve always understood but just adjusted for in Photoshop. One of my good friends was horrified when he learned that I edit every. single. picture. with Photoshop. I have a system and it’s fast to do, but still. If the color balance was any better in the original photo, I’d be a lot better off.

After each class period we will be turning in five to ten of our favorite images and they will be used in a calendar for the nature center. Do you know what that means? My photography could be appearing in two 2012 calendars. Also, by taking the class, I am working at checking another thing off of my 100 list.

Some of my favorites from the first class:

Winner! And Crazy Cat Lady

By Kate

On June 7, 2011

In animals, photography

I entered a photography contest a while back and won! Two photos I entered will be featured in a calendar and I, as my prize, get a free calendar.

The contest was for the Ohio Alleycat Resource and Spay / Neuter Clinic and I entered several photos of cats into the contest. (Only cat pictures were permitted.) Both our sweet Newton and ornery Addy will be Mr. July, which is the month for senior kitties, also known as the month of Old Man Cats.

I am up for a pleasant surprise when I get the calendar because I have no memory of what photo of Addy I entered. But the picture of Newton is my favorite of him. He’s sitting on the stairwell windowsill looking up at me.

You Call them Goals. I call Them Bribes.

By Kate

On May 25, 2011

In photography

A new frozen yogurt place opened up in walking distance to my house. Wonder Boy and I hit it up three time the first week we knew of it. While it’s yogurt and not ice cream, therefore less fattening I rationalize, it’s still not something I should probably be eating three times a week.

And so we have created a bribe. You might refer to it as a goal but I don’t work well that way. I need to be bribed. We’re only a week and a half in but so far the bribe is working. The deal is that if we work out as planned, which is five days a week for me and seven for Wonder Boy, we get yogurt. Last Saturday we filled our dishes to the top and it was delicious. Last night all I wanted to do was go home and sleep, but I dutifully went to the gym because I know the treasure that awaits me.

Asie form yogurt, there are other perks. It’s nearly impossible to do a hard workout five to seven days a week. We volunteer one evening and weekends are always full of social engagements. So often the exercise is a good walk. Sometimes a many hours long walk. These walks are helping us learn our neighborhood better and appreciate beauty that we may have missed otherwise.

That last one is my favorite. It isn’t portraying any typical beauty like a flower or amazing architecture but what it symbolizes is so much better. It’s saying, “Summer is near! That yogurt? You can enjoy while sitting outside for months to come.”

Sometimes Things Just Work Out

By Kate

On May 9, 2011

In gardening, photography

I am supposed to be out of town right now. But things with scheduling blew up so I am still in town and loving it because the garden is going crazy!