category: photos
Seeing the world through my viewfinder.
Grandpa Pants
This is especially funny because my Grandpa Cook seriously does wear pants like this.
Rainy Church Rainbow
Seen on Nebraska Ave, en route to downtown Toledo for a Mud Hens game this past Saturday.
Zen Altar with New Bowl
I purchased this bowl on Etsy.com from Bridgeman Studios. Beautiful workmanship, simple design — exactly what I was looking for.
The flowers in the background are clay flowers purchased at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs... but they deserve their own close-up later.
Graffiti Conversation
Seen on William Street during the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, 19 July 2008.
Litres
Working gas pump, currently dispensing diesel, seen in rural Ontario in June 2008.
Hawaii Report #2
Friday was our day to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. When we'd bought our airfare and hotel package, the PCC was listed as one of the possible touristy things we could tack on for an additional price. Since we tend to gravitate toward cultural sorts of things anyway (like Behalt in Amish Country, for instance), we decided to go for it. It wasn't until after everything was bought and paid for that we read online that the PCC is owned and operated by the LDS church, and that the center is more of a theme park than an actual cultural experience.
Even without booze at the luau, though, we still had a great time:
read more...Flickr'd!
The photos we took in Hawaii are now posted in a set on Flickr. If you go through the slideshow, it'll take you about 25 minutes, assuming you don't pause the slideshow and don't skip through.
Next on the agenda: scanning the two photos we bought — one before the Orientation Breakfast (OMG cheesy!) and one before Germaine's Luau (not really cheesy at all). Also, I plan to post some short videos ("moving pictures") to Flickr, as I think some video we took will adhere nicely to that concept. I'm also going to edit together the 100 minutes of video we took into something a little more watchable.
For those of you who have asked if we're planning a party to show off our pictures, here's your Save The Date notice: June 21st, the first day of summer. Start scouring the local Goodwill for your aloha attire!
Happy Birthday To Me
My husband sent birthday flowers to me at work! Aww!
Blast From The Past
This used to be one of our favorite antique / retro stores to frequent, before it went out of business. Now, about eight or nine years later, it is merely an amusing play on words.
Building Dreams at BGSU
I found this juxtaposition amusing. What kind of dreams are they building?
Photo: Walker Texas Retard
Seen on the BGSU campus, 29 March 2008.
Business Trip #2, Wrap-up
The short version: Hotel was what I expected. Training was what I expected, and exactly what I needed. Time spent with co-worker was what I expected, yet not quite, in many ways. Chicago was as cool as I expected, and I expect to go back someday soon.
The detailed version follows....
read more...View From the 12th Floor
Per my mother's request: a view from 12 South Conference Room.
Toledo: City of the Future
Found at Promenade Park on the Maumee River in downtown Toledo.
City of the future... now there's a scary thought. o.O
Christmas Portrait 2007
It's going to be a long time before I take a Christmas family portrait that I don't have any qualms with. I must say, though, that this year's portrait session went more smoothly than any so far.
If you'd like to know more, read on. Otherwise, accept our best wishes for a happy Yuletide.
(By the way, I've posted all six Schnuth family Christmas portraits, 2002 to 2007, in a set on Flickr.)
read more...Maumee River, Toledo
Taken during my first week working downtown, over a lunch break. I hadn't realized how beautiful downtown Toledo could truly be, if you just look in the right places.
The Happy Couple
October 27, 2007
Brio at Polaris, Columbus OH
The Flaming Lips at the Agora Theatre
The Flaming Lips at the Agora Theatre, originally uploaded by dianaschnuth.
The Flaming Lips in Concert
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
This was quite possibly the most fun I've ever had at a concert.
Not only are the Lips an incredible band from a musical and lyrical standpoint, but they put on a great show. The audience participation bits actually don't seem cheesy or silly. —Well, I guess they do seem a little silly, but no one really seems to mind. Who cares, when you're beaming a laser pointer (provided by the Lips) off of a giant mirror, or participating in a "scream-along," or bouncing a giant balloon through the crowd up to the very top of the upper balcony?
You MUST check out the rest of my Flaming Lips photos. They tell some of the story. As for the rest of the story... you really just had to be there.
Best concert EVAR.
ETA: Here's the first couple minutes of the show, recorded by Yours Truly:
Samurai Statue, Imperial Palace
I'm overdue for another Japan Trip installment, I know...
In lieu of that, for now, I present this photo of the statue of Kusunoki Masashige, just outside the Imperial Palace grounds in Tokyo.
Laughter
Somehow, I really like this picture. I think the blur adds to the photo, rather than detracting from it.
Imperial Flash Mark XII Test Roll
Part of the fun of buying antique cameras, or even just crappy plastic cameras, is that you never know what kind of results you'll get. Could be the focus is off. Could be some crazy vignetting. Could be that those things add charm. Could be that the images are just crap.
I'm not quite sure with this one. I think I need another test roll...
read more...Drum Corps Cameraphone
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
Taken at the Toledo All-Star Review, 17 June 2006.
(Yes, I just got the film developed...)
Ohayocon7 Retrospective, Part I: Fried Bologna Sandwiches
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
I haven't blogged about the last few cons Aaron and I have attended, mainly because I prefer to save my opinions and narratives for Aaron's podcast. This time, though, there are enough other random, un-anime things that deserve mention that I think I'll go ahead and blog about the weekend. And I will begin at the beginning, with fried bologna sandwiches in Waldo, Ohio...
read more...Christmas Portrait 2006
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
After ten minutes of experimenting on myself, and ten more minutes of throwing a less-than-thrilled husband and cat into the mix, this was the resulting Schnuth Christmas Portrait for 2006. Not quite sure what I think of it, although it is definitely the best of the set. I think it might be an improvement on last year's photo in some ways, although it's still way ahead of what I did in the past.
What follows are notes to myself for next year and general photography rants and wants. If you're down with that, read on...
read more...A Photo Retrospective
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
My drumcorps buddy Paul just started a Flickr account and, like so many new Flickrites, has started scanning and uploading photos from his past.
I had been using my Flickr account for artsy photos I was proud of... but Paul inadvertently made me rethink that decision. So, I've started scanning and uploading old photos of my own, starting in 2002. (I was going to start at the end of college in 2001 and work backwards, but 2002 was still a lot of fun.)
Expect more retrospective photos in the near future!
PS - Kris. I must borrow and scan your photo album with the photos of Aaron's move out of Lake of the Schnuth. Especially the one with the giant long brown couch strapped to the top of the Taurus station wagon. Holy shit, that was priceless.
Cla-Zel Theatre, Bowling Green OH
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
Haven't posted a photo in a while, so I figured I'd post one of the Black Swamp Art Festival pics I just got around to getting developed.
I need to use my Olympus XA more often. Most of the photos on this roll came back out-of-focus, which was *very* disappointing, since it could have been remedied with a steadier hand and more practice at rangefinder focusing.
My New Hair
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
I donated 10 inches of my hair last weekend. I haven't had hair this short in three years, and I'd forgotten how fun it is.
I have a new 'do, and I've helped a cancer-stricken child get a new 'do. It's a win-win situation.
Records For Sale
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
Haven't posted a photo for a while, so here's one from the Old West End Festival back in June.
Honeywell Pentax Test Roll
As promised, photos from the Pentax test roll. Taken 7 May 2006 at Wildwood Metropark.
read more...Voigtländer Test Roll
I purchased a bag full of camera equipment from my friend Kris about a month ago. This bag contained a 1970's-model Pentax camera with three lenses; an electronic flash and other accoutrements; and a Voigtländer Vitrona rangefinder camera, circa 1964.
Beth's Wedding
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
Finally got my pics back from Beth's wedding back in February. I had experimented by loading some black and white film in my Olympus XA... but I forgot my flash. The pictures actually came out extremely well, though — I'll have to post the rest here shortly.
Update, 5/27/06: I scanned in my negatives and posted them to Flickr. You can now view a slideshow of the ten good photos I took at Beth's wedding. When I did my post-processing on the photos (i.e. Photoshop adjustments), I purposely left them a little dark, just to keep the ambiance. I was honestly surprised that so many of these came out — I don't think they would have if I'd been shooting color.
Heathbar's Final Move
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
Aaron, Mark and I helped Kris and Jamie move stuff from Waterville to their house in Maumee on Saturday. See the whole move in my Flickr set "Moving Kris And Jamie."
Alternatively, you can browse my "moving" tag, or view all photos I took on Saturday 6 May 2006.
Forty Pounds Ago
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
As a reference, this is what I looked like when I was 40 pounds heavier. Amy, Aaron and I were going to the Dayton Air Show back in 2003.
I hunted down this photo because I'm thinking that I want to cut my hair and donate it again, and was wondering if I wanted to go with the standard bob again. I think it was cute, but man, I can't get over my hugely round face.
Weeds I'd Be Happy To Grow
As I've mentioned in my weekly diet updates, I like to take a half-hour to 45-minute walk every day during my lunch hour. There's a short path through a small wooded area in the middle of the business park, and I've walked it almost every day for... gee, probably seven or eight months now. I feel like my day is incomplete without my walk through the woods.
Since this is the first year I've walked the path in the early spring, I'm seeing all kinds of new wildflowers and plants I never noticed before. They all just melded together into a fantastic wooded greenness. Now, though, after walking in the winter and seeing everything bare, the new growth is really catching my eye. Especially flowers and things with splashes of color or unusual shape.
Now, I figure that if these plants are growing in the woods with no help from Man, they must be native to the NW Ohio area and able to thrive on their own in a shady environment. That's pretty much a definition of my back yard: shady and neglected. :-) If I could identify these plants, and could procure seeds or seedlings (I'd rather not remove them from the walking path), I could very likely grow quite the kick-ass wildflower bed along one of our hedge walls. Assuming Aaron wouldn't nix the idea due to his allergies.
I wish I could do a reverse Google Image search: plug in an image and have it search for images like it, or a definition of what I photographed. But alas (and alack), the only thing I can do is take pictures of the pretties and post them for my good readers to help me identify.
For pretty pictures of weeds wildflowers, read on...
Seedling Update
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
The seedlings are just over two weeks old, and they're starting to show me what they're made of. The catnip (above) is growing like mad, and I'm seriously contemplating planting it in a container, rather than in my soon-to-be herb garden. If I actually plant it in the ground, I expect that it will run rampant and destroy all growing things in its path.
The parsley is finally coming up, the sweet basil is growing tall and stately, and the lemon basil is about on a par with the parsley.
I've managed to kill four out of six hollyhocks, thanks to us being out of town during an apparently crucial watering weekend. (Who knew?) One had already died from damping-off, and three others just died of thirst. My two remaining hollyhocks are about 2-3" tall and not very strong. One already needs staked, which can't be good. I'm hoping they'll grow out of it (so to speak).
Growing Things
This weekend, I drug Aaron out with me to purchase some planting supplies — most notably, a seed starting kit. I'd purchased several packets of seeds last year, and decided that this is the year I start my own plants from seed.
I ended up starting five plants each of hollyhocks, lemon basil, sweet basil, parsley, and catnip. Well, each peat pellet pot has two or three seeds in it, but they'll be thinned to one per pot, so we'll just say it's five plants apiece.
I've never done this before, so I had no idea how peat pellets worked. It is SO COOL. They start out as little flat discs. You water them with warm water, and poof! They become little miniature biodegradable pots! How cool is that?
And what's cooler? My hollyhocks and my basil are already starting to germinate, after only two days. There are little, pale green stems curling up out of the soil. I opened up the lid of my mini-greenhouse, and it smells like those bean sprouts we planted in first grade. *squee*
So, what's my diabolical plan? Well, I'm planning to plant the hollyhocks close to the fence that borders the neighbors. This will hopefully act as a bit of a privacy screen, as I understand that hollyhocks can grow pretty tall. Beside the hollyhocks, farther away from the fence, I'm hoping to plant one or two of the potted Rose of Sharon bushes/twigs I've been trying not to kill for the past two years. I'm hoping to manage this in a way that doesn't complicate Aaron's lawn-mowing mojo.
In the NE corner of the backyard, I'm planning to plant a little herb garden, with my basil and catnip and parsley and maybe some store-bought plants. There's a decent little patch of sunshine by the fence and the gate, so hopefully I can nestle a little corner of herbalicious goodness there — and, again, not complicate Aaron's lawn-mowing mojo. I'm hoping that my strategy will reduce the amount of edging for me to neglect.
As much as I'm tempted to go buy myself a nice climbing rose, I know I should hold off. I've already just about killed one rosebush from neglect; I don't need to continue my murderous rampage of flora until I can take care of what I've already planted. Plus, goodness knows how much I'll be able to take care of any of this once we pop out a kid. I can't help but assume that infant care and gardening are not particularly compatible.
But that's not for some time yet. For now, I'll be content in watching my baby plants germinate and make condensation inside their little greenhouse.
Wanted: Men Who Like To Sing
...They didn't mention that the men needed to sing *well*.
Taken in Sylvania OH by 
sheryls, while we were walking off our J&G's pizza and gyros.
View From The Hornline
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
Taken at the February 19th rehearsal of the Lakeshoremen Drum & Bugle Corps.
Happy Birthday, Carrie (er, Carolyn)!
Carrie and I were best friends in Middle School. We sat next to each other in the first day of Choir in seventh grade, completely by chance, and ended up as friends. We were both awkward adolescents in our own ways, rejected by the majority of our classmates, and that fact was probably our biggest bond. I was a new kid at the school that year, too, and shy to boot, so finding friends wasn't easy for me.
As with all friendships at that age, we had our ins and outs. Carrie had a very peculiar sense of humor, and if you didn't know better, you might think that her jibes and insults were really meant. She liked to call me "Tech," because I always used long, technical words, and she often poked fun at me for my long strides and fast walk. At dances, the term "wallflower" somehow morphed into "Wall Idiot," her endearing term for my tendency to never actually dance, and especially not with boys.
She also never failed to badger me during the two months between her birthday and mine. Her mantra would be, "Ha, ha — I'm older than you!" (If you know how old I am, you can already see where this is going.)
During the summer after 8th grade, Mom separated from my stepdad, Tom, and so ended my stint in the North Central Local School District. Carrie (who opted to go by her full given name of Carolyn in high school) and I still stayed friends, visiting one another during the summers between school years. Even into college, I would borrow Mom's car and drive from Medina to Creston to visit during breaks, especially summer.
We started to lose track of one another later in my college years, especially as she became involved with her then-boyfriend, now-husband Jeff. Still, though, we made sure to keep in touch somewhat, always making sure that we knew how to reach one another, should the occasion arise.
Not long ago — well, over a year now, I guess — I received baby photos from Carolyn's mom, Candy. Shortly thereafter, I received an invitation to attend a baby shower for Carolyn. Of course, I Mapquested the directions to Carolyn's house in West Bumfuck, Ohio, and drove the two and a half hours out to see her and her new son, armed with a soft and fuzzy teddy bear.
The coolest thing about the visit, besides seeing Carolyn's new son, was hearing her call me her best friend again. It's like that, isn't it? Once best friends, always best friends, even if you have other best friends in the interim. Sure, we hadn't seen one another in probably four years, but I still have the right half of our "Best Friends" necklace from circa 1988. :-)
Tomorrow, I believe, Carolyn turns 30. I have a card all ready to send to her. My inscription?
"Ha, ha! You're older than me!"
I've been waiting over 15 years to say that. Now I just need to unearth her mailing address...
Update, 10:35pm: Found it. Had to clean (well, sort) my entire desk area, but I found the baby shower invitation. Carolyn's address is now in my Palm Contacts, synched to my iPod, so I won't lose it again. :-P
Happy Valentine's Day
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
I was running late this morning, and hadn't even considered what day it was.
Until I saw the white carnations sitting on my purse. ^_^
I have the best honey-muffin in the world! :-D Happy Valentine's Day... even if it is a Hallmark Holiday.
Portrait By Aaron
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
I had just shown my husband Aaron how to use the D50 in Auto mode. This was Aaron's very first picture with the new camera.
He is no longer scared of the D50, and now thinks the camera is tres cool.
Yawn
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
It's been a while since I posted a cute Mei photo... so here you go.
I do have a question for anyone who uses Flickr and blogs their photos: What are your feelings on blogging your photos directly from Flickr versus uploading separate versions to your own webspace?
I'm hesitant to use Flickr as my main photo repository, just because I've had bad experiences with storing my files online and having them go poof (ahem, Angelfire). Although it's not like I won't keep copies of my own... but it's easier to archive a website when the photos live the same place as everything else.
Plus, Flickr doesn't offer thumbnails in the size I prefer, and they don't support categories. I'd have to edit my entries, anyway, by uploading my own thumbnail to my server and adding a category. I'm thinking it's more trouble than it's worth... but I also don't know why the heck I have a Flickr photostream if not to share and blog my photos.
Thoughts?
Ohayocon6
I can't seem to think of a witty introduction, so I guess I'll just give you a link to my Ohayocon 2006 photos.
I've found one photo of Aaron and me posted online so far. I'm sure there will be more eventually, though.
Aaron and I recorded a con report in the car on the way home from Columbus on Sunday. The audio didn't turn out quite as well as Aaron had hoped, being that we didn't take into account the sensitivity of his mics and the acoustics of the car. Still, though, if you haven't already, check out our Ohayocon report on the Weekly Anime Review Podcast, scheduled for release this Thursday.
Inflatable Snowman
[also available on flickr]
I was coming home from my 45 minutes of photographing Christmas lights in the 'hood, and I had just about given up. An occupant of the first house I had photographed had come to the door, ostensibly wondering what a honkey with a camera and a tripod was doing in the dark in front of their house. That kicked up my normal photography paranoia an extra notch, and really threw me off for the rest of my shoot.
Anyway, as I said, I was coming home after not having gotten very many good shots. I almost turned the camera off, but decided that I would leave it on until I got back to my house (another block away). Almost as soon as I said that to myself, I saw this wonderful inflatable snowman and his tree-friend.
This turned out to be the best shot of the evening.
Portraits of Christmas Past
Since Aaron and I moved in together and bought ourselves our very own plastic prelit Christmas tree, I decided to initiate a new tradition: Christmas family portraits. This year, with the arrival of the new Nikon D50 digital SLR (read: fancy camera), I decided it might be fun to look at the photos of our Christmases so far.
It's interesting to see how we've changed, and how my craft has improved over the years.
I do have to mention, though, that one thing remains constant. After witnessing my mother trying to pose the two of us for portraits way back in '97, I know that the basis of getting a good portrait with Aaron is making sure he is comfortable. Mom can pose portraits well — she worked for Olan Mills for 10 years or so, and continues to work in a portrait studio — but Aaron's back doesn't deal well with the kinds of sitting and twisting she requests sometimes. Make sure Aaron's comfy, then fit me and the cat in the picture, and everything's on it's way to being good. :-)
My Grandparents, May 2003
As promised, a photo of my grandparents at my wedding. I think they look pretty damn good for being 70-whatever years old.
Aaron and I, on the other hand, were 50 pounds overweight. Yeesh. Too bad the wedding photos had to be the "before" pictures.
Christmas Ornament Self-Portrait
[Posted on Flickr by dianaschnuth].
So, I finally succumbed to the Flickr thing. Actually, I didn't succumb — I think it was Yahoo that automatically signed me up for a free Flickr account somehow
I'm not thinking I'll be posting very many pics to Flickr, or posting photos to my blog this way, as I can't set the category to "photo" from Flickr itself, and I can't post photos in my preferred 480-pixel width.
Still, though, it's a cool function. If I decide to start an honest-to-god photoblog someday, this might be a quick and dirty way to accomplish that.
Brownie Bullet Test Roll
This should be a familiar sight by now, as I take this photo as one of my basic test shots with every camera, it seems.
After some online research, I discovered that the going price for developing and printing 127 film is about $15. With this in mind, I opted to order a proof sheet from Main Photo, instead of individual prints, just to save a couple bucks. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me that this would totally eliminate any chance the lab had of adjusting the tonality of individual frames (that is, making sure all the different pictures came out right).
So, I now have a particularly dark proof sheet, all but the above picture, and three negative strips that won't fit into my scanner. However, I did some experimenting with the scanner, and discovered that scanning black and white negs in reflective mode isn't a complete loss:
Although I don't think my scanner has a very professional... what's it called? Delta-V? It's been a long time since VCT 208 or whatever it was. Anyway, I don't think my scanner is terribly good at capturing the differences in grays, especially when scanning transparencies in reflective mode, but it's a decent enough scan to help evaluate the camera, I think.
Basically, if I'm planning to do some shooting outdoors, in sunshine, and decide to go all artsy, maybe I'll get some more 127 film and bring the Brownie as a backup. Apart from that... I'm not in love with it. Maybe I'll change my mind if I get some reprints made of a few of the images on this roll, or if I try taking some snowy winter pics and get real prints made.
My opinion as of this moment, though, is that the Brownie Bullet is merely a neat and functional art-deco knick-knack I got for super-cheap at the thrift store.
Nikon D50 Test "Roll"
In which Mei seems to say, "My GOD, woman. You've been taking my picture for two hours. Give it a rest!"
read more...Autumn Leaves
Autumn, Eppstein Park, Maumee OH.
Youmacon 2005: Photos
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the moment you've all been waiting for: Youmacon 2005 photos!
For a list of other Youmacon photos, check out the Youmacon website. For other pics of our costumes, check out Fan's View (click "next page" to see Aaron's pic), Fiery Panda Studios (again, click "Next Image" to see Aaron), and Tastetheneedle's gallery on Cosplay.com, among others.
Listen to Aaron's and my con report on the Weekly Anime Review Podcast next week!
Maiden Voyages of the Argoflex & the Brownie
My turnaround time from Dwayne's Photo was much better this time around: 8 days total. Verra nice.
So, the maiden voyage of the Argoflex 75 was back at the end of September — around the 26th or so. I loaded it up and took it to work in my purse, and took a test roll of the path I like to walk during my lunch break. Same old photos, nothing overly original (which, IMO, is good for testing a new-to-me camera, as I know what the images "should" look like).
I noticed that there was some fogging and light leaks, although that could be from the 120 film spooling up on a 620 spool. The two spools have different diameters, so the paper backing and the film itself don't quite meet up correctly at the end, leaving a bulged and loosely-wound roll of film after exposure.
I also noticed a desaturation of color — as this didn't happen with my Holga pics, and I used the very same film type, I'm deducing that it's related to the Argoflex's lens. I'm actually OK with the saturation level, though, as it adds a certain mood and character to the prints. (Some of the brighter photos are of almost "normal" saturation, though, so it could even be a combination of the lens and the lighting conditions.)
I think I may also have smudged the lens once or twice, as the few out-of-focus spots on the images aren't always in the same place. ;-) I forgot that I'd taken some long exposures with the "time" feature — looks like the wind was blowing the tree around during the five-second exposure of my street (right).
After seeing the results of the test roll, I think the Argoflex will get a decent amount of use. More so than the Holga, possibly, since the Argoflex is smaller and less bulky, and doesn't cramp my style when I carry it.
The Brownie Bullet's maiden voyage didn't go nearly as well. The vintage 127 film I bought off of eBay was pretty much only good for display purposes, as 50-year-old masking tape tends to come loose, resulting in a resounding CRACK when the paper backing pries loose from the film within the camera. So, no vintage-looking 127 photos of the annual Apple Butter Festival, and no Brownie test roll. Yet.
The good news is that J & C Photography sells brand new 127 film (and several otherwise discontinued sizes), so I ordered myself a roll of 127 and a roll of 620 for the Argoflex. I've found a couple of places that seem to process 127 film, so we'll see how this goes.
Bob Mould: Detroit 10-1-2005
Here's my first attempt at a homegrown MySQL photo album: 10 photos from the Bob concert last weekend.
Fantastic show. Bob started out with three songs from his early-90's band Sugar, which I'm fairly sure gave Aaron and me simultaneous geekgasms. The entire gamut of Bob's solo career, Sugar, and Husker Du were all represented in the setlist, which almost made up for my missing Sugar in concert by a few years.
Aaron's better at concert reviews than I am, so maybe he'll post something more in-depth in the comments. Until then, suffice to say that this was the best concert I've been to in a very long time. I hadn't seen Bob for fucking years, and this show was extraordinary. Awesome.
Archway
Eppstein Park, Maumee OH - 19 September 2005
Bench
Bench, Eppstein Park, Maumee OH - 19 Sept 2005
New Camera Self-Portrait
I picked up this little four-panel camera at Savers for 99¢ a few weeks back. This was one of the test shots I took over my lunch break, while walking in a local park. I'm impressed with the focal length, as this shot was taken at arm's-length, a distance that makes most of my cameras cringe in blurry horror.
After only a moment of research this evening, I think I may actually have an honest-to-god Lomo ActionSampler. All the details of this unlabeled thrift-store find look exactly like the cameras on the lomography website.
Fantastic!
Fireworks
Fireworks at Community Homecoming Park, Holland OH: July 4, 2005
Waiting for Fireworks
Community Homecoming Park, Holland OH - 2 July 2005
Downtown Millersburg At Sunset
As seen from a park bench by the Holmes County Courthouse, 10 August 2005
Closed
Checking out the comics: Ann Arbor MI, 23 July 2005
This Is Drum Corps
Duane Jones teaches the Lakeshoremen a drill move, 9 July 2005, DeKalb IL.
Nature Photo Op
When I came home from work today, Aaron told me that he'd been startled by a THUMP on the air conditioner installed in the dining room window earlier that afternoon. Apparently, he'd looked out the window to see a not-quite-baby bird—say, an adolescent bird—sitting on top of the air conditioner, outside. It looked right at him, and wasn't afraid. (Maybe not old enough to be afraid of people yet. It'll learn.)
Anyway, his first instinct was to get the cat. :-D Instead, he decided to get the camera and snap a digital pic of the birdie. Unfortunately, by the time he got back, the birdie was facing away from the window, and instead of turning back for its photo op, it flew away / jumped off.
Fast forward to this evening. Aaron was gone to work. I didn't feel like doing anything on the computer (for once), and decided to go outside in the back yard and enjoy the brisk breeze from the impending rainstorm. And what did I see but—you guessed it—an adolescent bird sitting on the grass right by the back door, not five feet from the aforementioned air conditioner.
Time for me to run inside and get the camera.
When I came back out, the bird was still there, hungrily opening its beak and chirping at me. I snapped some not-so-good photos of it, getting mighty close—within a foot or so, if not closer, judging from the horrendous focus on some of the pics (even using the macro setting! I need a fancier digital camera).
With the photo op over, I sat back on my haunches and wondered what kind of food I could drop into a little birdie's mouth. It looked mighty hungry, and although its mother was seeming to answer it from the nest several trees over, she certainly wasn't coming to rescue him or anything. I don't know if the little guy could even take off from the ground yet.
I, like every other good Girl Scout, know not to pick up baby birds. Still, though, I'm really expecting to find that little baby bird still sitting in the yard tomorrow, much worse off than it is today. *sigh*
Damn that Prime Directive, anyway.
Holga Roll #1
True to my word, I didn't capture any amazing photos with my first roll of Holga film. I did manage to puzzle out 1.) how to load the bastard thing, and 2.) how to guesstimate the focus (and I thank the Lomo for prior help with that).
It also appears that the camera is, at least for now, free of major light leaks. That may change as time goes on, and the camera receives more abuse. :-) It's also apparent from the photo above that the center of the image is indeed crisper than the edges, and that there is a noticeable amount of vignetting around the corners. I did use the flash, though, which might have added to the effect.
Overall, I think I'm pleased with my Holga.
Now I need to go ship off my three rolls of Lomo film and my one roll of Holga film from the 4th of July.
Lachesis
One afternoon in early September 1999, shortly after we moved back into Kohl Hall for our third year as roommates, Amy and I discovered this interloper living just outside our window. We named her Lachesis, after one of the Fates (Clotho, the weaver; Lachesis, who measured the cloth; and Atropos, who cut the thread — rightfully, she should have been Clotho, but Lachesis just sounded cooler).
We and Lachesis lived in harmony for at least a week, until one morning she and her web had vanished. Amy and I maintain that she must have been power-washed off of our windowsill.
The Lomo Is Fixed
The Lomo appears to be working at specifications once more. The post-op test roll came out A-OK, if a touch boring.
In other photo news, the Holga has arrived and is now loaded with film. I'll burn through this first roll quickly and post the results when I get them processed.
Dead Pine Tree
Taken on Saturday, June 4, on our way to Cleveland for my step-brother Philip's graduation.
Things to note:
- How is there one singular dead pine tree in the midst of a line of perfectly healthy ones? That was what drew me to this urban vista in the first place.
- Doesn't MCO's new logo look kind of like the Republic's crest from Star Wars?
- How and why have I started taking great pictures of my freaking middle finger? God's sake... out of the 21 exposures that came out before my Lomo had its little shutter crisis that day, my finger is prominently displayed in four. WTF?
Holga Me