Finally a Project to do

 

It has been a while since I was motivated to do a book. Now I don't do this for profit. I am doing it for my own personal reasons.

I could have picked Shutterfly to do this, but I am already well versed in the Blurb book layout and how to work with text and photos along with overlays.

Blurb is pricey, but allows a more creative work. Also, I can download the Booksmart program and work on it without being on line. My very first book I did back in 2007 featured my dog Morris and his toys. It was a book for the grand kids.

With our extremely slow internet connection, it took hours to upload a tiny book. But it was worth it to see the grands enjoy their own personal adventure with Morris and his toys.

A friend at Flickr named Nikki, urged me to do a photo book on nature. She sent emails and she made phone calls. But I'll never forget the call I got in late 2008. She said, "Val I'm in trouble. I've been diagnosed with cancer for the 4th time. My mule Dyna will need a home." My husband drove to Wyoming in June of 2009 to meet Nikki's sister and bring Dyna the crazy mule to our farm to live in retirement.

Nikki's request was on my mind and I embarked on a photo journey. She passed away in April so she never got to see what her constant urging had spawned.

I spent from March to November documenting and photographing every wildflower and plant I could find within walking distance of my house. Morris and Badger my mule, accompanied me. It truly was a labor of love. The Enchanted Forest.

In 2011, I decided to do something similar in documenting and photographing the winter in our area. I called it The Sleeping Forest. I discovered that the forest does NOT sleep in the winter. 

I'm glad I did those books, I look back fondly now and page through them recalling those days of walking through the forest. I recall the note taking and fun I had pursuing the wildflowers and plants. I learned so much about the land that surrounds me. The only thing it did, was make me more curious than ever.

Another Flickr friend has been nagging me all through this Pandemic. "Val, make a book of your photos. Do something with them!" I became friends with BJ through Flickr also. She and I talk to each other every Sunday afternoon. Our ranges of subjects are always all over the place. 

One of the great influences for this book is the poet Mary Oliver. Her poetry and prose have been  constant companion through this last year.

Sometimes,
walking for hours through the woods,
I don't know what I am looking for,
maybe for something 
shy and beautiful to come
frisking out of the undergrowth.

~~Mary Oliver
1945-1985: Poem for the Anniversary

I'm not exactly sure how it will all turn out. But I feel it is a good direction for me right now.
A project.

How to build a stick house for a Fairy Garden

The weather turned down right dangerous with air temps at -18F and who knows what the wind chills were. I bundled up, did the chores and made sure all the equine had plenty of hay and heated water.
Since I had to be outside for a length of time, I dressed for it.
I actually was comfortable doing the chores and hauling hay in the large sled.
Going for a hike was out of the question, if I slipped or started to get cold, I'd be too far from help.

I decided that I'd collect some of the sticks I'd gathered while hiking with Charlie and Sven the other day [when it was mild] and 'create' a new Squirrel House.

I decided to use my cell phone and then write on the photos as I went through each step so here it is:

This is an old sour cream container that I cut a window in. Since it is a squirrel 'house' he/she can climb in and out easily right?
I painted the container black first so that if there were gaps, the sour cream lettering wouldn't show through.

The gorilla two sided tape is weather proof and will hold up to 15 lbs or so the package says. It is so much easier to use the tape and then put the sticks on than trying to glue them in place.

I was fascinated that I could break chunks of bark with lichen on it and press it onto the tape in the gaps ... seems it will stay? Time will tell.

I used hot glue and more scraps to fill in some of the other gaps that didn't have tape on it.

I was going to make a fancy top with some clay or something else but I decided just to go into my scraps area and grab some old bark I'd found laying in the woods. I used Gorilla Tape to hold down a layer of scraps. Hot glue works best on a porous surface so I glued more scraps on top of that to make a roof.

There. But I still had some a few more touches to add.

I think the Squirrel likes the little shack.

I rather like these little projects. This will be fun to put in a section of the new mini flower garden I'll do this spring. I may have to think of something to make the stick house heavier so it will stay put.

The stick houses are a lot of fun to make and cost nothing as I can gather the materials needed when I take a walk.
This was a great little day project to do while the temperatures outside kept me safely indoors.

One of the reasons I liked this project is that it did not have to be perfect. Too many 'Fairy Houses' look perfect. If a person was to do this with a child, it could be just like this.
I think it is still cute in its very non perfect way.

Besides, if a squirrel were to make this?
Well, have you ever seen a squirrel nest?

I rest my case!

B&W Photography Project

The Google+ group I belong to has us going out to collect a series of photos and combine them in something like a triptych.  
You don't have to stick to 3 shots, it can be as many as you want.

I like to stick to three as it is easier in a way for me.

The processing should be equivalent in the photos.  Meaning they should be the same in B&W.

What?
B&W can be different?

Sure it can.  You can add effects that give it a sepia look, or a grainy look, or choose different processing techniques.
This occurs in 'your' computer lab and not in the dark room anymore.  
I like experimenting with different looks.

The above shots were all done in color and that morning I took a walk after a very heavy fog had lifted and was entranced by the dewdrops on the oats.
Of course I was sure that I brought the wrong camera lens with me.  A kit zoom lens that I'd bought years ago.

But I thought I could make the shots work.  I was happy that I did.
These were shot in jpeg and then processed in PaintShopPro.  I have an aversion to Adobe pushing me to use their products on line for a fee.  I used Topaz BW Effects 2 to 'develop' the shots into B&W with Silver Paper Toning.

Side note, I'd like to try the NIK collection, but feel I can achieve much the same effects with Topaz Software which I've had for years.

I'd secretly like to have ALL plugins and programs, but then I'd constantly be wondering what to use!

My next series is supposed to be something current, or something I go out with purpose to find and shoot as a series.

Well being a 'creative' type I usually have trouble when I am told what to do in a creative sense.
So I thought I'd work on photos of a pea blossom from the garden.

They were so beautiful to photograph!

And then I got distracted...

Of course that wasn't the only thing I found beautiful.  
There was a tomato blossom that caught my eye.

Oh ... and then I went riding and took my cheap plastic pink camera.

And I found the lane and the sky amazing from the view point of sitting in the saddle.

Oh wait.
I drove to town that morning and had my old Nikon D40 with me.
I stopped along the side of the road twice to take photos of the fields and sky.

It was amazing.

Then I just had to get a shot of the road that just ends in the sky...or appears to.

So without thinking I think I may have found my 'series' anyway.

The dark contrast in this last series was achieved by using the 'color filter' in Topaz B&W Effects.  The color filter really can assist with getting a look you might want to achieve.

I'm not sure, but I think it is a toss up between the photos in the country lane or the photos of the skies with the road as the middle shot.
Now I know the road is not consistent with a theme, unless the theme that guides it is all about the cloud and sky.

Well that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Should I? Or Shouldn't I? I should!

It has been more than a year since my last 'photo book' project.  I enjoyed doing 'The Sleeping Forest' quite a bit.
Now I am looking forward to a new project.

I'm not sure what the subject should be or have a clear idea of what I'd like to do...
but I am slowly getting some ideas.

Today I will recieve a new tripod.  I've been searching and searching ever since I used my brother's nice tripod in Virginia this past month.
I decided to get one that can be very versital and can be packed around easily. 
Good for macros,
Good for landscapes,
Good for traveling in a back pack or in carry on luggage.

I came up with this from a company called Dolica.

The column can be reversed and  the legs will lay flat so I could take photos like this one... of a fungi no larger than a dime...

Or I can shoot in really low light with my Fuji P&S with a super macro and not worry about blurred shots...

I'll be able to 'shoot' waterfalls in our creek and get that wonderful blurred motion...

So part of my new project will be to scout out a spot ... probably along the creek and mark it.  I would like to take shots from the same exact position in different times of the year, or season and see how things change.

I think I may do my next project on 'The Creek' as it plays such a huge role in the lifeblood of the surrounding forest.

No doubt Morris will also be a big part of this project, after all he is my camera assistant.

He has been for years!