Come One, Come All...

...Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, watch and be amazed!

I was quite literally stunned a couple of days ago to find a real-live Ferris wheel just sitting there all bright and pretty, right next to, of all things, a shopping mall. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me at the moment (indeed, shame on me, I should know better by now), but I did manage to right the wrong earlier this evening. Armed with all necessary things, I returned to immortalize it in all its picturesque beauty. And get a bird's eye view of... the mall parking lot.



Not surprisingly, even parked cars look pretty when viewed from the top of a Ferris wheel.

P.S. As always, click the image to view full size.

Four bottles of the Apocalypse

For some strange inexplicable reason, I've always been fascinated by the grungy, chaotic scenery of urban decay, and this town provides plenty of it, as long as you know where to look. The problem, however, is that you're usually likely to find more than just good photo opportunities in such places, and the expensive camera and dorky look don't do much for one's safety.

Which is why I was beyond delighted earlier this evening to find something along those lines, hiding in plain sight. If anyone has any doubts as to the integrity of the scene, I assure you the empty bottles were there to begin with. I found the entire decor simply too priceless to meddle with it.

So without further ado, I give you Urban Decay... with a twist.



As a side note, I have now officially vandalized the first public place with one of my infamous stickers. I kept it decent enough, though, no harm done.

Jingle bells, Batman smells, Sylvester laid an egg...

Being in much higher spirits than the last time I dropped by, and actually quite jolly, I'll take the opportunity to wish the merriest of Christmases to whomever finds a moment to visit this place on this lovely day.

On the other hand... On any other day, I'd be delighted to be paid a visit, but it is Christmas, and you should have better things to do than to sit at your computer and StumbleUpon anonymous blogs.

Either way, have the jolliest of holidays, however you wish to spend it! Having said that, and if you'll excuse me, I'll now proceed to nibble on yet another gingerbread cookie dipped in wine. Yummy!

Jaded...

Despite finally being on holiday, after two or three weeks where my life just seemed like one giant homework, I'm still finding it a bit hard to enjoy the Christmas cheer that goes with the season. I was in a profoundly jolly "if I were to put in my two weeks' notice tomorrow, would anyone give a rat's behind?" sort of mood earlier today, so I suppose I should be thankful I'm now in that slightly more cheerful state of numbness where you manage to drop a sock into the turtle tank and find it mildly amusing.

Normally, I'd dismiss that sort of thing saying nobody wanted to hear about that, but my turtle glared at me as if wanting to express how deeply un-amusing he found the incident. It was probably at that point that it occurred to me how I still was yet to offer him center stage in my strange little corner of online space. It seemed like a good way to make up for the sock incident and all...



So that would be Mitica, in all his algae-prone, thermometer killing splendor.

In other news, the stickers I was talking about last time I dropped by are printed and all nice and shiny and ready to vandalize buses and park benches all over town.

Critiques and news galore

Once again, I find myself apologizing for having fallen off the face of the Earth. And again, due to homework, exams, and all that. Soon enough I shall begin to sound like a broken record.

But now that I'm back here (eventually), we might as well get down to business. In this week's news... I've been getting some new critique, mainly on the soap-bubble photo and the wire photographer (Note to self: Do start naming your photographs). And sadly, I don't really know what to make of it, considering how mixed the opinions were. Some liked them with great enthusiasm - even amusement, in the case of "the photographer", some found them bland, uninspiring, and downright bad. So either I'm smack in the middle of the fuzzy line between sublime and ridiculous, or one "side of the fence" is biased - "which one?" being the million dollar question here. Which brings us to a bit of a dilemma. Although I can't help but agree with some of the points made (on "soap-bubbles", for instance - too much noise, the bubbles should have been actual bubbles, instead of light trails), I wouldn't go so far as to name either of the two photos "pointless", and they have been named so. But then again, I would be the very definition of "biased" in this situation, so I suppose I'll just have to wait for the scales to tip in one direction or the other.

And now, having concluded this week's equivalent of handing over one's report card to one's parents, I'll proceed to the "In other news" section.
So in other news...

A couple of days ago I received my first actual post comment. Which - being proof that some are kind enough to stop and read for a second, and not just hit the StumbleUpon button again - naturally caused a most childishly giddy reaction in yours truly. Reaction that I will refrain from describing, for the sake of my dignity.

Also in other news, I've been spending the little spare time I've had lately, on designing some stickers to promote this place. Once I've come up with a draft I'm happy with, I'll shamelessly resort to sticking these around town - hopefully, not so shamelessly that it'll be called vandalizing public property. I should find some charitable and morally impeccable soul to drag around with me, just for the occasional reality check. But more on that in next week's "other news".

And last, but simply not least, I have just yesterday received a darling little present that I'm really excited about, in the shape and size of an ant farm. Which can only mean that over the course of the following couple of weeks or so, one will have the opportunity to observe a dorky little person with a big camera around her neck, going around chasing ants and slapping "home-brewed" stickers on ant hills. Twist my arm hard enough and I might even let you know how that turned out.

I am a bad person

I must be. How often can you hear a normal, decent person say they single-handedly reduced to silence a highly frequented forum thread of one hundred and forty-six pages, with one post? I should take note and refrain from having my critique requests unleash further death and destruction upon the world.

Then again, at times, I briefly think to myself that maybe my photos were so inspiring, that everyone was too much in awe basking in their glow, to actually reply. Because I'm confident, like that.

No matter, the show must go on. (I feel I've said that somewhere before. Either that, or I'm suffering from deja-vu syndrome, which sounds so glamorous, I couldn't help but see a silver lining in it all.)

Fearful as I may be of the consequences, I dare present to you my latest weapon of mass forum destruction...



As you may suspect, this was also taken sometime this summer, and I hate my then self with a vengeance for being in a warm sunny place, with glorious mountains to gaze upon and not a care in the world. I also hate my future self for being not just cold, but at the very least snowed upon.

However, it has come to my attention that I am beginning to make less and less sense, which can only be a clear indication of the fact that I am now too sleepy to be coherent. I shall now bid you good night, before I start quoting limericks in a shakespearean tongue.

Facing my Nemesis

I'll start by saying that I've always had somewhat of a phobia of taking portraits, mostly because I was never quite sure what to do with my subject, and I suppose on some level, because I'm also not much of a people person.

But then again, my grandpappy used to say - or someone else's, I forget - that one should try everything at least once. And I, being the good granddaughter that I am, now find myself facing what has turned out to be my greatest fear as far as photography is concerned.

The result...



Should one find oneself wondering about the nature of the funny looking light streaks - wonder no more, they are soap bubbles. And no, I am not five years old. I dare you to claim otherwise.

Milestones, statistics and critiques, oh my!

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and what a fine morning it is! The sun is shining gleefully in the sky, birds are singing perched up in the trees, and the joyful presence of unique visitor number one hundred was bestowed last night upon my humble little corner of the Internet. Joy to the world, I have an audience! Gosh, I suppose I'd better watch what I say from now on.

And we now return to our regularly scheduled program. Today's happens to include critique report for Sunrise. It was generally well liked, mostly due to the colors and the framing, and basically the only thing people seemed to find wrong with it (or at least would comment on) was its lack of sharpness. And now the more I look at it, the more I tend to agree.

Someone once told me - and I'm starting to think this is the best photography advice I've ever received - that the final result is all that counts. No one cares if I had to do a somersault or stand on my head to take a particular photo and nobody is going to cut me any slack if it's still a bad photo.

So far from it that I'm saying this as an excuse rather than a simple explanation, but no, I didn't have a tripod and it was also a little too chilly for comfort. It's actually quite a funny story - I did technically own one, only it was a present and I wasn't going to receive it until a couple of days later. C'est la vie... There's always the next photo.

Anyway, despite the generally positive critique, none of those who commented were overly vocal about it, which confirms my original suspicion that my Sunrise falls within the category of "close, but no cigar". I suppose that's a critique in itself and a very constructive one at that.

Back to school

Remember when I told you about my epiphany that maybe I could figure out just what makes a good photograph tick, if only I'd start by taking a good long look at each gear? No? Well it may have been something along those lines.

Whatever the case may be, my lesson for today deals with texture. Case in study - small waves on seawater...



As with all others that are going to take their place in this category, this is a photo with no point or meaning whatsoever, but that I found appropriate for the subject in discussion and good for future reference. I suppose what I found attractive about it in the first place when I decided to point my camera, was the elaborate play of light being reflected and refracted over and over, making for an almost psychedelic and surreal look when taken from context. But that was just me.

Having concluded our lesson for today, I'll end with a "class dismissed" I'm sure you're all looking forward to.

The triumphant return...

...Exactly how triumphant we shall see after the exam results are posted.

Yes, my darling audience (do I have such a thing?), I return humble and apologetic after having gone A.W.O.L. for the past few days, due to circumstances beyond my control. Homework and exams, to be precise. Not that I would right now be in the clear, but I reserve myself the luxury of not working on Friday evening.

Have I brought any goodies, you ask? Hard to say, considering my camera is more or less in a state of hibernation these days, but fear not, I shall make up for it yet. In the meantime, I allow myself another moment to reminisce about my lovely lovely vacation this summer. And after all, what better defines a novice photographer's portfolio than the mandatory cliche sunrise/sunset?



Consider this my two cents on the matter, and accept my sincerest apologies. It won't happen again.

Photography 101

I've decided to start a series of so-called studies - photographs that aren't intended as complete works in themselves, but rather bitesized bits of research into isolated aspects of photography. As such, these should be viewed as no more than simple exercises with a distinct objective.

And my self-assigned homework for today is going to be...

...drumroll...

A Study In Tone



This photo came to be as a result of sheer boredom and a bad white balance setting, but as a novice, I have made peace with the thought that for now, I'm more likely to do something right by mistake than by intention. This only seemed to confirm the prospect. At any rate, I happened to be somewhat fond of this photo and I figured I'd make the best of it - excessive as it may be, the blue sets a bit of a nostalgic tone that I find rather pleasing. And I have to say I was quite proud of my camera for the distinctiveness of each fiber composing the rope in the close-up part of the photo. But then again, what do I know?

I would (very politely) ask for some feedback from my readers, but as of yet I'm not even sure Google has indexed my humble little corner of the web. For all I know, I could be talking to myself here.

But no matter, the show must go on...
So tune in next week, for a study in texture (or whatever else I may find interesting at the time).

P.S. I keep forgetting to mention this - if you want to, you can click the photo to view it in full size.

Dusting myself off

For the first time since I've decided to post my work up for critique, this morning (or rather last night) I received some very constructive and "to the point" feedback. Since I have a tendency to forget good advice and keep doing things my own wrong way, I'll include it here for future reference. The critique, by the way, was in regards to "The Street", which I posted a little while ago - the one in black and white.

Note to self:

Dear Catalina,

Next time you decide to bump up the contrast to insane levels and discover the "masterpiece" looks good, do make sure your monitor is calibrated - the same goes for color balance. Next piece of advice - everybody becomes annoyed when you stop every 2 minutes to get "just the right shot". That's not going to change, so you might as well have something to show for it - try several angles and frames, wider, tighter, portrait, landscape, so on and so forth.

Best wishes,
Catalina

P.S. Next time you drop by, do remember to add thumbnails for the photos.

You would think I'd be able to figure out things like these on my own. Apparently, I need to be taken by the hand and given the nickle tour over and over until I get it right. C'est la vie...

Oh, and Catalina, honey... water the damn plant once a year, will you?

The Photographer

About time or not, I've decided to try my luck with colors this time. Once again, Photoshop stepped forward as my knight in shining pixels. I still get the distinct feeling that so far I've only been exploring the proverbial tip of the iceberg in terms of its capabilities, but I am working on it.

So without further ado, I give you... The Photographer.



Alright, so I have to admit the idea wasn't entirely mine - inspiration came from Bent Objects. I've been meaning to do something like this for quite a while and since I happened to stumble upon a suitable length of wire (or two), I thought I'd take the opportunity and put it to good use.

As a side note, in case you're wondering - with two certified engineers and one in the making living under one roof, it's not unusual to find things like wire, electric fuses and multimeters lying around the house. Good to know...

What do we have here?

I hadn't initially planned on having this type of posts, but just this once I couldn't resist.

This morning I stumbled upon the online gallery of Michal Chelbin. To my shame, I had never heard of this artist before, but I find his work truly inspiring. I just thought I'd share.

From the top, with feeling

And hello again.

I thought I'd start with - what else - the beginning.
And in the beginning there was... the camera. In my case, and my humble uneducated opinion - a darling little toysie with smarts, named the Olympus SP-560UZ, perfect for the semi-beginner with high aspirations. Or as I have affectionately dubbed it - Wallie. Needless to say, the debate around the name was beautifully surreal.

That having been said, I now give you my first attempt at urban photography...


A little crowded, a little amateur, a little clumsy in postwork. And I hereby dub it "the starting point". The original photo was taken this summer, somewhere in Rethymno, Crete.

I happen to be quite fond of this genre and I suspect there's going to be some hefty amount of further experimentation for me in this area. Then again, I'm in that stage where I feel the need to experiment with pretty much anything, so Lord knows what will catch my eye next.

As a side-note on the postwork, I should say I've worked with Photoshop for some time now, but never with more advanced photo retouching, so I was in for quite a revelation upon discovering its versatility. I know it's immensely tempting at first and I expect to rely heavily on postediting for quite some time, but I am doing my best to move on to a stage where my photos won't need that much tinkering with to just be decent.

So there you have it. I'll be back with more, but sadly, right now I have homework to do. Cheers!

Welcome to my humble abode...

I suppose introductions are in order.

I've never been a big fan of shaking hands and forgetting the name five seconds later, but how can I resist the quirkiness of introducing myself to a practically empty room? So by all means, let us proceed.

I'll start with the part where I let you know that you don't actually need to call me Ishmael, or anything else for that matter. I'll settle for being the nameless goldfish that entertains you from inside his fishbowl. Come say hello every once in a while and feel free to tap on the glass.

As for what tricks I know to keep you amused... I has a camera and I like me some purdy pictures. All for your dissecting pleasure. I'll even let you shoot them down - it's fashionable and you might win a teddy bear.

And let us not forget - there's always the lovely little side show of random, occasional rants and ramblings. As the poet said - one does not suffer from insanity, one enjoys every minute of it. But I'll let you be the judges of that. And I'm getting ahead of myself, no less.

So, mesdames et messieurs, I bid thee good evening...