I'm freezing. Not doing much but laying about and reading and watching TV and drinking tea today.

I did manage to take one picture.

anyone want to send me plane tickets somewhere warm?

This goes out to StevenWolf, who inspired me to take pictures of what's here instead of always waiting till I take that great photo excursion I never quite get around to.

Glass bowl with bubbles
Glass Bowl with food coloring
Glass Bowl with Oil and Vinegar

 I have not been around for a while- I started school again and have been painting this semester. I really missed photography though, and so tonight challenged myself to take some interesting pictures of my basement.

I have a love hate relationship with my basement- I love it because it's interesting to explore. I hate it because if I look too long, I convince myself that my house is just about to fall down.

Basement #1 Basement #2 Basement #3 Basement #4 Basement #5

I got home a bit ago to find this right outside my front door. Apparently there's a hostage situation down the street. Have not heard anything else yet. The news people are still just standing around.

We were driving around and it got really dark, and I remembered I still had not changed my headlight. Since I already had a warning about this (oops) and already had the lightbulb, I pulled over to put it in before continuing.

Well, my husband put in the bulb while I shot this lightning. Actually, took a video and then a still, and my camera takes bad videos. Hence the bad quality of the photo.

But still, pretty cool. I love lightning.

A picture of a strange plant and my eye heavily manipulated in Photoshop (I wish my eyes were that color).

I bought a Macro Coupler a while ago- it's really hard to focus, and you need a lot of light, but it's still pretty neat. Especially for an $8 piece of plastic (it was good I already had the lenses to use with it)

Here's some shots so far, I'm still getting the hang of it.

Bone
Cement
Cubic Zirconia
Dandilion
Dandilion 2
Nickel
Diamond

So I took my new car out for a drive yesterday- wanted to hit some dirt roads since my old car didn't handle them well. And what did I come across? A cemetery. I seem drawn to them.

Color Infrared Landscape
B&W Infrared Landscape
Color Infrared Cemetary
B&W Infrared Cemetary
A comparison Infrared vs non... it's weird how my shirt turned white. (my husband took these)
Lens Flare
Scenic Spot
Ghost in color
Ghost in B&W

I accidently left the speed set at 1600, which made for exposures of only about 2 seconds. oi.

Imagine shopping for your meat and coming across this. Rather disturbing.

I don't even know what one does with a pigs head (except maybe use it in a really gross practical joke?)

I had planned to take a photo trip today but it's 100 degrees out and, well, I'm a wuss. Maybe tomorrow.

Instead I am spending the day matting and framing some photos I intend to give away as gifts and enter in the state fair.

Here are some studio shots I did of my sister when she was pregnant that I am finally getting around to framing...

Pregnancy Pic 1 Pregnancy Pic 2 Pregnancy Pic 3 Pregnancy Pic 4 Pregnancy Pic 5

I have a bunch of others with a neutral backdrop, but the backlit ones were the ones I liked the best. And the last is just one I like.

I need to learn to title photos better. Anyway, this shot is an old one, done by sandwiching negatives.
Cat in Window

Don't have much to say today so here's the picture.

This weekend I bought a new used car- a Subaru Outback. I look forward to taking many roadtrips to take pics in the near future. No longer will I fear dirt roads! I've been without a car for a couple of months, and while taking pics close to home is fun, I'm looking forward to getting out in the country.

In the meantime, a couple of pics from my yard...

Peony with ant Used the lens that came with the digital rebel with a magnifying filter (5x)
Purple Iris Same lens/filter combo. I can't afford a macro lens just yet (been saving for that car!) but the magnifying filter gives passable results.

I spotted this gator at the local children's zoo. He/she was posing quite nicely with this flower- but the background was originally boring concrete. So, I took another shot and added it in as the background. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Does it look "photoshopped" at all to you?

I got my new infrared filter and headed (where else?) to the graveyard. I know, I know, how cliche. But it is quite a nice place to take infrared shots.

I love the infrared, but all of these shots required exposures of 20 seconds or more... which makes it kind of impractical for a lot of subjects. But it beats infrared film, which I found VERY difficult. Someday, I'd like a modified Digital Rebel. Yeah, right!

B&W Infrared Statue
Color Infrared Statue
Infrared Cemetary.