Hair Attitude.

 Hah! Fooled yah!

 

I like wash and wear stuff.

My Selfie while waiting for a to go order at Culvers. 

Hey, I think hair is overrated by the beauty industry. I think men are made to believe that women, all women should have glorious locks of flowing hair. Well, some do! And some don't. Personally, I wear a baseball cap most of the time when doing anything outside.

Over the many many years of life, I've had many do's.

The colors have changed, from dark lustrous hair to some brownish stuff with lots of glistening silvers that really shine when I am in the sunlight.

But in the end, there I am, that person that wanders through the woods with a baseball cap or a winter hat.

My hair is there, it can be a bother, a hinderance, or a royal pain in the tush.

The girl that does my hair knows that I'll go home and put on an old baseball cap and wander out into the woods. 

What was hubby's reaction? I brought him a Mushroom Swiss Burger with fries and a soda. He grabbed the food with delight and then stopped and casually said...

"It looks nice."

Hair? It really doesn't matter to me that much because in the end...I'm the one who always ...

Prefers Hats!

Projects

I have had this idea for a while. This week I stood with Miss Aurora and we talked about everything under the sun and she mentioned the Wonderland book of portraits that are extremely exotic and beautiful. It is done with models and special lighting effects.

In my head I had a vision of doing some self portraits in woodland settings. I'd done some of that last year when I was out and about with Charlie and Bear.

One of my favorites from last year was sledding with a Teddy Bear and Charlie running alongside us. I used a timer on my pointy shooty camera and set it to 7 shots hoping that one shot would deliver the following.

These are not the same type of photos that the artist Kristy Mitchel has done. But the discussion did rekindle some old ideas I had about self portraits.

I went up into my Magic Room [really, it is a spare bedroom where my paints, crafts, and toys are stored] and looked down at the outfit I'd picked out over a year ago. My intentions were to 'dress' up and take a self portrait in the woods. You know a dreamy shot where I looked beautiful and exotic.

Pfft. 
I should know better.
Most people who call themselves a photographer absolutely hate getting in front of the lens. I didn't like it as a kid and liked it less as my face aged. 

What I think I look like in front of a camera...or wished I did:

What I generally look like [in the winter]:

How I feel before coffee in the morning:

And here are two versions I did this morning while having coffee on a knoll overlooking the neighbor's meadow with Bear.
I like the B&W version much better.

I'm not very good at this and it took quite a bit of running back and forth with the timer set. I could use an app on the smarty phone to do it, but I always end up with the damn phone in my hand.

However, this is more me. I'm not gorgeous and dreamy looking. I have a face that has been beat up by the weather and sun. It has amazing wrinkles in it. If I were a man I'd have a gnarly weathered face. 

But see, I am going to be okay with that because really. No amount of makeup will make me look young and dreamy.

So what will my project be? Oh it will change constantly. But I am going to put on the gypsy crazy lady outfit and play dress up. Well, why not? I have to entertain myself.

I won't even try to do those incredible artistic shots. Those were someone else's vision. I want one of my own.

I'm going to work on the Bear and I stuff too. I really like doing things with Bear.

So...

off I go

to do my own thing.

You never know what I will come up with.

Whatever happened to the....

Forest Garden I tried to create?

Well, there were some failures and some successes. None of the flower seeds I purchased for shade came up at all. But then that may not be my fault as I planted them elsewhere and they didn't come up there either. 
I'm on a search for some better seeds for next year.

The Begonias in ground did well, they didn't grow terribly large, but they were the best survivors of the things I did plant. 

The transplant of Comfrey did well also. I took some hostas out to the forest garden and some were nibbled by deer. I expected that but had no other place to put those extra hostas. 

Other successful transplants were vinca and so did the Bugleweed or Ajuga! I may move some more next spring as long as I see it survives winter.

The center area did have grass grow in it! Yippee, I did find out that deer normally do not eat grass as they are browsers. That is why they love gardens so much. Also, this solves the riddle of why the creek has so much beautiful green grass most of the winter and no one ever eats it.

My grumpy tree guy needed some sprucing up. I took out some fake flowers to pretty up my personal Forest Space. After all, I am the only one aside from kids that visit that go there. 

I added flowers here. This is the first thing a person/kid would see walking into the space. The green Alien was left by Briar, one of my young pals.

One of my favorite dragons. I've had this dragon for two years now.

He/she will come in when the weather turns to be part of my indoor decorations.

It is small enough to come inside.

The begonias happened to be the big success story. The orange cosmos did flower but the plants are pretty wimpy. These however looked great in the cracks of the large rock formation.

This is my spot with a stump for an adult beverage or a hot chocolate. The wooden chair has generally been part of my Christmas Decorations so I'll bring that in and wash it up before the snow flies.

Meanwhile...

time for a chat...

Tiny Bear makes a Predator Hellhound sit up 

and beg for a cookie.

Dude, what kind of cool helmet is that?

I stole mine from a Star Wars Action guy.

Buck says to Doe. 

You know, sometimes I'm not so sure I 

feel truly safe out in these woods!

Yes, these things happen when I have to sit all day and wait for a med delivery for hubby. I can't go far from the house. I can hear Tom's UPS truck on the ridge. He usually is late. I think we are near the end of his route. 

Dislike Self Portraits and what not.

This shot I did 'In Camera'. I didn't know that you could take two shots and merge them. Really? Wow!

The snow was on March 1st of this year. The other shot was a self timed shot of me looking out the window. Uninspiring I know, but it was a rather uninspired day.

A year ago I decided to try a type of photography that I knew I would never like at all. Still Life.
However that seems to be really quite fun.

I find myself looking constantly for new 'things' to add into my shots.

Tea Time:

or...old sewing drawer and dried flowers.

Or antlers and pearls...

However I've decided to expand into a bit more people photography. The rub is that there are not a lot of  'models' or people for me to try out the tricks of the trade on.

Hubby has been pretty good about it, but not always a willing participant.

But he hasn't gotten 'owly' about it when I point the camera at him.

His face is a lot more interesting than mine is.

Of course this was after a haircut.

Yes, I actually smiled and had to work for quite a while experimenting with the available light to get a shot that didn't show off my 'mature' skin too badly.
It isn't easy to set up a tripod and use a remote to take your own photo.

I can live with this photo. But I am getting a bit more comfortable in front of the lens.

I'm hoping  to expand on my models.

Before my haircut...

I have been following some tutorials on lighting. Oddly enough there are no photography tutorials that specifically address photographing a person that is mature in age. One photographer Mike Browne does address this issue, but mostly uses younger people in many of his shots.

I found that natural indirect light works best, direct sunlight is really not very nice to my fine wrinkles and crow's feet.

Mature men have great faces. I have to laugh at that. Older women are not really discussed at all!

I leave you with this shot. Hubby giving me the wink and nod...

Pictures of self.

I dislike taking a shot of myself and I dislike the camera aimed at me.

My father loved the camera lens from both sides. But dad always took a great photo.

I however see age creeping up on my face in harsh lines and freckles. I guess that is what surprised me the most. Those lines.

Friends of mine that are interested in having some fun in photography and I have formed a group where we share photos each week. Each week one person picks a theme and we eagerly try that theme out.

While working on some methods of light reflection today I thought I'd try out our new theme.
Self Portrait.
Not a selfie.

Ohhhhh nooo! Eeek gads! Cover my head up! Can I use Val-Barbie as my body double?

She is much better looking and she even has a Morris just her size! She never minds the camera pointed in her direction!

Me? Not so much. I did this one against the new bright white wall in the kitchen. But my ugly t-shirt was hanging out.

A bit more glamorous I think. Yes the hat suits me, and I wear it as often as I can.

Even if I get strange looks while shopping.

I'm not going to hide the fact that I have ... wrinkles and lines. I look in the mirror and can't deny it any more.

Probably all those years of abusing my face by not putting on creams, yet hiking in the extreme cold, gardening with a baseball cap and no sun screen. Being out doors and mistreating my face.
Well I didn't worry much about it to tell you the truth.

And now I am stuck with this face.

I am finding that it does make for an interesting 'self' study though.

Moody. No glasses and bounced lights off the ceiling in the spare room.
Cracked textures added to make it look a bit abandoned.

Harsh black and white.

Then I got very creative. How far could I go with my own 'self portrait'?
How far do I dare go?

So I went very far....

The photo is interesting and I took a lot of liberty with my edits.

Original:

All of these photos were taken in RAW Nikon files and processed in ON1RAW2017 pre-release.

I'm pretty impressed with this program and love it...hands down it is easy to just do a straight forward process, or you can get as complicated as you want.

After today I don't think I'll be as uncomfortable in front of the lens.
I think as long as I am taking the shot!

My Still Life for today:

I'll be selecting this one for some cards I'll send out.
Backround glitter was provided by cardboard covered in tin foil ... slightly crumpled.