Mild Winter 02/09/2012
 
Here in NE OH, winter has been tolerable! Am very much glad about that. We've had anywhere from 2 inches and more at any given point followed by warmth - up to 50 + degrees,  which melts it away. At the same time I think snow gets a bad rap, if the temps didn't get so cold, snow would be a bit enjoyable. 

The first recollection of snow was when we lived in Bandon OR ( i was 2nd grade). We were with my dad on way our way home. The snow was heavy, white and beautiful. Dad stopped several times so that we kids, may peer up into it-it was dizzying & delightful. Its unusual, for the Oregon Coast climate it's normally rainy, cloudy & windy. The next morning there was 4-6 inches in the area. had lots of fun making a snow man and throwing snow balls at each other, so did my dad-he was from the Western PA and this is what he grew up with, I'm sure- he was recollecting what  his life was like before he made the west his home. Love ya Dad, I still can see you in the driver seat of the car that night. It's something that has stayed in my mind, especially when the snow is heavy, white, wet and dizzying!
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Be always at War with your vices,
at peace with your neighbors,
and let each New Year find you
a better person. Benjamin Franklin

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions.  ~Joey Adams

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.  ~Author Unknown 

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.
A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."
~Bill Vaughan~ 

May your 365 days a year be blessed in all things-in all ways with abundance of love, joy, peace, forgiveness,  
By gones-be-By Gone....

Thank you very much for stopping by-God Bless-Happy New Year Cheers, Everyone!


A few fave pics from the last month or two & added a Road slide show 
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All I could think of was East Liverpool in the fog when I woke up. How grand that would be to photograph the buildings through the fog imagining they would be popping out of the midst of it. When arrived at the destination of Chester WV-situated across the Ohio River from East Liverpool-I was hoping to find a decent view. Drove around the streets on the hill looking through and over houses, roof tops, poles and wires. Well, didn't think I was going to find any of all the city. But, okay-I will just work with I could find. There were a few unobstructed partial views-thats okay-Happy with that! Oh wait when I get home, the buildings weren't popping & standing out like I visioned, The fog was thick and could barely tell they were there. So experimented with other options to make it pleasurable. Hope the revisions were suitable! Thank you for looking!
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I planned for a couple days to go to Chester WV to find a location to take a photo of East Liverpool, OH. Drove a few back streets to find a suitable one. Actually there was a few spots but the view was foggy. 

From one of those streets followed a road around a valley and came out in Newell WV. What a nice drive, I enjoyed the tree lined, creek, curvy roads. Sort of an amusement park feel but with better scenery!  Took another side road & found a few abandoned buildings on top-with surrounding fields, What a lovely lovely setting! Have no idea why places like these look they were just up n left when its such an ideal place to live.  For whatever the reason  it made for photo opportunities, quite the excitement for me, to find it. I was tantalyzed & mesmerized by the scene and having become interested in history of general area, it left much to my imagination.

With recently downloading Topaz Labs' trial B&W Effects-I thought I'd try a few filter effects which seemed befitting for the scene.
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The transitional difference of September. The beginning signifies the end of summer and the end  signifies beginning of fall. A subtle & beautfiul transition. You see more fog as result of heat cooling and clashing with the warmth of the earth. Warms nicely in the day, cool-sometimes cold by morning! Even though fall is a beautifiul season, I can't help but think of after all the vibrant color, winter comes way too soon! Hope you enjoy the beginning & end of September.
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A Holga Day~ 09/08/2011
 
Well, I sat down yesterday for 1-1 1/2 hrs writing, checking, editing, a new blog about the day of using this fun lens. I attempted to do a poll and before I  knew it, I mistakenly deleted it - recapturing those words, the mood~gone! Felt it was one the best done so far, :(.  Now that I got that off my chest, It's okay- C/P into an editor! Lesson learned! Here's my smiley face-  :) .

Now onto the sharing! I took a day of shooting the Holga 60mm with the wide angle. My goal was to practice & learn-I did! After lugging tripod and thinking 'wish I didn't have to carry this everywhere', words I read from  this blog  were going around in my mind "I set iso 1600-3200 to help with camera shake"  Ohhhhh-I'm trying it!  Yes! it works, woohoo! So spent first half of time shooting with tripod & the 2nd half hand held, experimented with different iso settings according to the available light and in camera sharpness(adjustable within camera). I'm sooooo enjoying this! Shot colored & in-camera monochrome (b&w's). I put BW's here & will get back to colors in a bit.  Everyone, have a great & blessed day!
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HoLgA~HoLgA 08/26/2011
 
I just happened to win an Ultimate Holga Kit by making a comment on 'When is a Holga not a Holga?'  on DPS-thats short for Digital Photography School, a review made  by Sime who seems to be a pretty cool guy with a pretty good article reviewing the Holga lens made for digital. YaY~now I can do it direct on camera without the film & processing...Nothing wrong with film, I think film is pretty awesome but digital is a personal preference. I've enjoyed the film type photography of lomo & holga since I took interest in (digital) photography~from casual experience of using film I was sometimes quite disappointed.

Anyways~the day arrives, I somehow missed the mailman and had 10 minutes to run to the PO to get my package I'm not waiting til morning, :). I sat there in the lot using keys to make a line down the center and edges of box, felt like a photography fiend, waiting to get a fix,  I just HAD to get that on the camera, ahhhh, now to try it!   Uh OH, I remember the winning comment, I said the 1st thing I would photograph with that lens is an old/historic blg. Now Im feeling guilty....Okay may not be impressive photography, nor did I get it right off, The first shot was  the Masonic Temple next to the PO. It use to be a church. Old? not sure how old.  Then theres a building opposite side that was born late 1800's which is now an Antique Store, All I got was a portion of the stuff outside. Heck, none of them turned out well.

So...okay I'll post in this blog best ones  as I'm learning how to make a satisfactory holga pic and post the really not so good 1st shots in an update. I will be having a Holga page soon.       Thank you kindly for staying long enough to see....:)
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I was mesmerized by this tent of caterpillars. Have never really bothered checking to see what the tent was about-but seeing them around. The tree is maybe 3-4 years old and low to the ground. In my search for something to photograph, I stepped up to investigate. It seemed that the tent had grown quickly from the first time I noticed a day or two before. The morning light was shining on the strands, highlighting them and as I noticed the caterpillars moving around in a different area it looked like they  were going through 'outer space' but only on the beautiful strands of sunlit glowy silk. Some appear 'spacey' while others like 'ewwwww', It was super!!!  A time lapse video included below. More photos here!
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I'm pleased to say I have been invited to photograph the insides of  the old historical buildings of East Liverpool, OH. It was once known as the 'Pottery Capitol of the World' .

Jimmy Alison who works with  East Liverpool Historical Society has taken on the fun task of entering the old buildings to record &  document info for the society. Many of them are left empty, some only are partially used for business, while others are on the block for razing and sadly some are just sitting there degrading away. It was a booming town that the  'boom' has basically moved on up to higher ground for newer developements. On the ELHS Jimmy has linked my photos to the  razing of PNB/Smith Auto Bank and has used a few of my photos on the site, I am just tickled. I'd like to thank Jimmy much for including me on these adventures...Thank you Jimmy!

Heres a few inside photos of  the YMCA building...

More Buildings-

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I came up with a few different shots this month-being it transitional between seasons. It presents a little different perspective out of what I normally shoot-broad & intimate landscape shooter. So my eyes turned to more architecture, shapes, textures & water. Click on pics to see a larger version with caption. To see more for March-click here-UPDATES
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