One down, one to go

I knew going into this weekend that I'd get to have two totally new experiences. Mom & Dad got me a 70-300mm Nikkor telephoto lens for my D80, and I'd get to try out my large format film camera.

We got here in TN just after midnight, so when Dad pulled out the large format to explain everything, I was half asleep. The telephoto hadn't come in yet. I slept in until about 10 the next morning, and tried out the telephoto once it arrived in the mail. The picture above was taken with it. It's not super great because I was so eager to try it out I didn't use my tripod, but I think it's a really good start.

We were busy all day today so I didn't get to try the large format. We're heading back to SC late tomorrow, so I'll get to try it sometime tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I'm setting up my account with RedBubble. I think I'm going to move from Imagekind to that, but it's going to take a while.

I'll keep you posted...

Backlog part one

I've almost cleared out my backlog just in time for us to travel to Tennessee this weekend (so I can build up another mass of 500+ pictures to sort though).



I've uploaded almost all the abandoned house/farm pictures from my Kingstree, SC folder. Up next will be all the nature pics, then I can move on to the Valentine's Day folder.

Outside of that, I've been busy doing laundry. Life can resume somewhat because my big presentation is over. You can read about it on the Music Library's blog. This was also my first presentation done on the PowerBook, so I wanted to say thanks to Mom and Dad. Also, thanks to my husband, Ian, for picking up the VGA adapter on the way back from a video shoot.

Now if only I can figure out what's up with the dubbing studio computer (sigh, I really am developing a hatred for PCs), the top tape deck, and get caught up on all my reference email questions, I'll be able to attend all the meetings I have this week and next!

But enough about the library!

Did you hear?


We might have a snowpocalypse2.0 in Columbia. I am SO ready for summer. I want to bike up and down Hunting Island and go camping. Or maybe go biking while camping on Hunting Island. Either would make me happy.

Heart and Soul Photo Contest

Just when I say in my previous entry that I'm too busy to blog, life handed me a great big piece of pound cake (not literally of course, because if I had pound cake I'd be somewhere besides the computer eating it, but that's about the best sounding thing I could think of at the moment).

I just got notice that I am not a finalist for the Orton Family Foundation's Heart & Soul Photo contest in which I entered, BUT...

The judges liked my entry photos so well that I'm getting a special recognition prize (TBA), AND...

(Gosh this is starting to look like one of those political proclamations, isn't it?)

I was the only person from South Carolina and/or Tennessee represented in the finalists/special recognition winners!

If you're curious, I entered a handful of the pictures from Ridgeway, South Carolina. I just adore that little town.


So there's a happy spot to light up my two extremely busy weeks.

I did upload a few more pictures from my massive backlog to flickr tonight. I need to add my watermark to my Valentine's Day pictures and get them up & out.

Thanks for your patience with me!
xoxox

So busy!

Sorry it's been nearly a week since the last post. I've been so busy with life, yet I feel I'm not getting terribly much accomplished.

I do have news to report, so I thought I'd pop in and update you all.

First, (and most exciting, if I do say so myself) I am soon to be the owner of a large format camera! YIPPEE! The only questionable thing is if my Dad will actually turn it over to me to use. I think he's having too much fun experimenting with it himself.

Second, I'm also about to get a telephoto lens for the Nikon, which will absolutely be life changing for me, especially with how much I like to photograph birds and wildlife.

Third, this weekend we had fabulous weather here in South Carolina, so Ian and I took the opportunity to get out to Hunting Island State Park. We wanted to have our annual Valentine's Day shark tooth hunting smackdown over Valentine's weekend, but the weather didn't cooperate. So we did it this weekend, and of course I retained my title as supreme shark tooth finder...as if it were even in question! I'll try to post pics of all 25 teeth I found soon. For now, you'll have to settle with looking at this red bellied woodpecker that was causing a ruckus right behind me on the beach. Thank goodness I'm too chicken to take the Nikon to the beach- we took our little point & shoot Sony H9 which has a telephoto lens.


Fourth, Ian has been nearly booked solid with his yellowpages.com and free turnhere videos. It's a good time for Conway Multimedia right now. He's even convinced me to do a video shoot (that is, let him do a video shoot about my photography). I need to fix up my imagekind a great deal (sigh, yet another thing I've fallen behind on) before shooting, but I hope to get it done by the end of the month.

Fifth and finally, this time of year is just insane for me professionally. I think I have a meeting somewhere on campus everyday for the next two weeks, so don't expect much from me (at least when it comes to posting new photos) for a few, unless someone comes out with Flickr Schedulr for mac.

Anywho, that's all for now. I need to write a blog post for the library and finish up preparing my presentation for 275 music undergrads on Wednesday.
xoxox,
akc

Snowpocalypse in Columbia, SC

This is definitely the 2nd most snow I've ever been in. We had four inches as of 8 PM Eastern 2/12/2010.

Rather than lug my big camera out, I did a few shots off our balcony. We took the point & shoot out and it did just fine.

Fresh Batch

I put up a fresh batch of pictures on my imagekind for sale. I know the economy is horrendous, and imagekind's price markups can be slightly insane. If you like my photography but can't afford to buy, how about you donate $1 to my paypal? Even $1 helps buy gas to get out for photo shoots!

Thanks for looking!

Good news!

One of my photos was selected for inclusion in the 10th edition of the Schmap Guide to Chattanooga, TN!


Here's hoping this year sees two more publications than last!

Strange

If you've flipped through my flickr photostream, you'd know that my interests and tastes have changed frequently. I guess as I change, the types of photography I'm decent at change, too. I started out doing a lot of nature photography, and I got a lot of comments from flickr users.

I did a whole mess of Civil War reenactment photography, and flickr folks loved it!

I did a good bit of photographing old, abandoned places, and got a lot of feedback from that too.

But I went back to nature photography due to the winter storms. I've noticed that those pictures haven't gotten half the hits or comments, and I'm just now realizing why. Why bother looking at something half the country can go outside and see themselves? Not everyone can attend a Civil War reenactment; not everyone can have the luxury of driving through Ridgeway, South Carolina. I think as long as I can capture and present something unique and uncommon, I'll be doing just fine.

Ideas

I love it that when I can't sleep, I'm inundated with ideas for photo shoots. Trouble is, seems like it's becoming increasingly difficult to make these photo shoots happen. I liken my brain to a jar of marbles where each marble is a great idea I just can't seem to make happen for various reasons (but mostly due to money!).