Glimpses of us in Iso

I am normally NOT a person that does 'self' photography, but I was stuck inside waiting on a phone call from a doctor's office on rescheduling ...

I wanted to convey an emotion felt by so many isolated people out there. I cannot imagine having to stay indoors and not be able to get out and wander around.

I get antsy if I am not hiking or walking daily. I will pace the house or sit and be grumpy.
Obviously I wouldn't ever do well in solitary confinement.
Even the internet or TV streaming doesn't interest me!

I liked this shot even though it shows off my gloriously aging face which I am finally coming to terms with.
All those lines! I will attribute them to being outdoors all year round. Weather beaten features are handsome on a man, not so on a woman!

Anyway.
Here is a glimpse of our morning routine. Coffee, handwritten journal, sewing machine pushed to the side and laptop all on the table in a jumble. That is, before I cleaned up.

I had set my camera on a timer and then sat down to talk to Rich about what he would like for supper.

I set my little red camera up in front of me and used my smartphone to take shots of Rich without his knowing. He really doesn't like photos of himself. Probably since he refuses to get a haircut and hasn't bothered to trim his facial hair.

I ask a lot and he just ignores it. His hair, his face. Oh well.

But there it is ... that's how we are.

A friend of mine did an amusing photo session with his kids and himself. Placing himself in the same frame over and over again.

I just had to try it while I was sitting around.

I tried to get Charlie in on this but he wouldn't cooperate.

Oh wait!!!

Here is the final. I couldn't help but add this one in.

There I am! Stinky!

Glimpses of life stuck inside a tiny house.

Yes, there is Charlie's dog bone in the photo. I never even thought about removing it!

Have a good day.

You did what?

So I felt like total awful certain crap yesterday. Last night was even worse than I thought it could be.

But before I got to where I decided to do what another blogger suggested, let me tell you what I did to entertain my clogged and fogged brain.

I decided to do some Still Life in the afternoon after taking care of chores most of the morning.



Hubby is still on restrictions from surgery and the weather forecast said that we'd be getting warmer and we'd have rain coming. The mud in the driveway and the lanes were still a bit frozen when I got Rich out of the house and told him to get busy with the skid steer.
Good thing I did! If we'd have waited longer it would have been impossible to get in and out of the Dexter Cattle Winter Lot.

I like carnations. I love buying fresh flowers when I don't have them to bring in from the garden. Recently I've tried other bouquets than just carnations.

Backlighting and soft focus taken in the upstairs spare room with just non direct light coming in the window.

After lunch I watched some videos regarding photography. One can always learn more. This series was regarding lighting and a subject. 
The guy I watched is Mike Browne and he is so enthusiastic about what he does that it actually inspires you to go out and try things. I actually learned quite a bit more about lighting and how to use natural light.

I didn't have a 'model' to try it out on so I used myself. 

Did I ever tell you that I hate myself as a model? My skin is aged and abused. Fine lines and wrinkles work well on a man, but I have both plus many freckles to contend with.

Oh yes, this is me with 'bad hair'. But I took my glasses off and backed into the very short hall way allowing the light to come in diffused and not from the side. It softened the lines on my face. I see that a turtle neck or even perhaps a nice pretty scarf would be in order to hide the old 'turkey' neck!

However after seeing my hair was such a mess, I set things up again, donned a cap and tried some more, this time using a speed lite to bounch off the ceiling just in front of me.

Now this is me. I normally run around in an old sweatshirt and ball cap. That is how I dress for farm life.
And I like how the flash and natural light sort of fade my finely wrinkled skin.  Amazing, I didn't think the 'hand' would look good, but guess what it covered up? That ugly neck!

I actually like this shot. 

So I decided to have a bit more fun. I got Morris involved.

 

I actually like this shot except for the fact my glasses reflect the light coming in from the bedroom window.

Alas, I'll have to figure that out!

He is licking his lips because I used bribery in the form of a dog cookie to have him come upstairs and leave his comfy place on the couch.

Now I have to figure out how to get both him and I in clear focus. I believe I'll have to change the f stop.

It is going to be pleasant today, so perhaps I'll try some shots outside in the fresh air.


And thank you to my blogger friend Lori Skoog for suggesting that I steam my sinuses! Yes it helped!

Well now

It has taken me a few days to get back into the 'swing' of things after my trip to Wausau.

All the snow on the south facing hillsides is gone. There is still snow on the north hillsides. Well, I'd call it ice/snow. It warms during the day and freezes at night.

The owl pictured above has graced our old ancient oak tree for the past couple of days.
I've seen him/her in the pre dawn hours and then again at sunset.
Last night I was able to take a semi decent shot of the bird.

We are also seeing sunshine! Last night the skies lit up with wonderful golden and orange hues. I didn't have time to run up to the ridge but did take this as the sun set in our hollow.

Today it is supposed to be 62 degrees? That is unheard of in mid February.

February 16th. What a good day.
We saw Dr. Witek from the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center. He pronounced that he felt that he didn't need to see Rich any more. The VA is following up well.

And.
We are about 18 months out from the end of his throat cancer treatment and things are looking pretty good.

So that makes it a great day.

New Year's Day Hike and ON1RAW2017

New Year's morning came in just like any other winter day. Except we hadn't gone out the night before. We aren't the party type any more.

The sun broke out as we finished up the morning chores. Note to self and husband. The new/used skid steer did not impress me. Since hubby can't put the ice picks on both sides of the steel tracks, it doesn't have the traction it should. It made putting out large bales and fodder to the cattle very complicated.

I think New Holland designed their newer skid steers for comfort more than practical use. Well, at least for our place. Going up a steep icy hill with a huge bale is an issue. The old skid steer had no problems with it. I am not impressed.

With all the watering done, I made venison backstrap, eggs, and toast for an early brunch. Then I gathered my super light tripod and Olympus OMD E M5 camera and headed out with the intention of walking to the east end of the valley.

Intentions are sometimes a bit confusing. I got to the creek and changed my mind. I walked west and discovered some beautiful ice formations glistening in the sunlight.
Morris was not with me so I didn't have to keep an eye on him.

This is where Ariel had built a snow fort for Doe, Deer, and Fawn. I moved on and turned back towards the east with every intention of getting to the end of the valley.
However.

I stopped and spent quite a bit of time exploring the frost on the leaves and grasses in the creek bottom. Up on the ridge it was quite warm. In the creek it was much colder.

I then got sidetracked by the sandstone wall. The ice formations were growing.

I used a timed exposure so the snow and ice above the water would reflect... hopefully on the water.
It worked!

Then I thought, how could I take a photo of me doing some things I liked? The Oly had a remote but it has to be plugged into the camera. So I focused on the wall where I thought it would work and set the timer for 12 seconds.
After a few shots, I got what I wanted.

That worked out so well that I thought I'd set up another photo. This time an action shot.
I focused on a spot where I thought my boot would land and then set up the timer again for 12 seconds. I got it in 2 shots.

I edited all of the hike photos in ON1RAW2017. I have ON1 10.5 which is a dynamite program. The newer RAW program is still a bit 'buggy' but I really like it.
My 'concept' here was to look as if I were leaping from one 'world' into another. My thought is this. Go out to nature and leave the boring world of electronics behind and you will see the wonder of the natural world.

Well there you go. A fun concept even more fun trying to create it.


ON1 10.5 is the preferred method also of doing some heavy editing. Which I did in this self portrait from a few weeks ago.

The woods are in me...

Of course I got side tracked in exploring the frost and the creek in just a small area. I had to get back home as the sun was beginning to fade out of the deep valley.

It would soon be chore time again and time to make supper.

However, I managed to take a photo of Pete, the run away Morris Toy for the story I am working on. I managed to take a shot of Fawn for those kids who love to follow The Doe Story and headed back towards home. My fingers and toes were frozen.

So I leave you with a few shots I got on my New Year's Day hike.

Enjoy

Happy New Year.

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.

Not Farm Clothes!

When I went to the Banquet the other night I guess I shocked my old neighbors as they'd never seen me in anything other than farm clothes or my work uniform.

I used to dress up each day for work when I worked as a Chiropractor's Office 'Manager'.  Really I did!
When I began to wear a uniform every day, I stopped thinking about what it was like to dress up.

I called upon my new neighbor though after this shot was taken and she gave me one of those neat fancy scarves I see women wearing now.  It helped cover up the wrinkly old looking neck of mine.

Now you probably can figure out why I don't like self portraits.  I'm just too critical of what I see in the photo.
I ignore my reflection in the mirror except to see if I need to perhaps comb my hair if I am going somewhere.

Normally with my short hair, it is easy to just toss on a cap instead of trying to do something with my unruly hair.

So.
Ta...da!

I certainly hope I did not break any monitors in this viewing!

Well, off to take care of some critters outside...IN my farm clothes!