Gone Fishin'

Well, not quite fishing. I'll be heading off to Utica, IL tomorrow afternoon in preparation for a day of nature photography at Starved Rock State Park on Saturday. I probably won't have much in the way of blogging until Monday. So have a fabulous weekend and enjoy the long weekend if you can!!

(The image is a duck diving for whatever it is that ducks eat in a pool of a waterfall at the Chicago Botanic Gardens)

Females in Focus Spring Fashion Shoot

I had the pleasure of participating in a fashion shoot yesterday with Females in Focus, a group for Chicago area female professional photographers. It was a blast! Our fabulous models were stylin' in their vintage clothing, hair and make up. Which worked out perfectly, since the period movie about Dillinger starring Johnny Depp just happens to be currently filming here in Chicago. We were able to sweet talk ourselves into some restricted areas, and one of our models even managed to get into one of the vintage cars that were there for the filming.

We shot in alleys, El staircases, and in other fun locales. It was a wonderful day, and I really enjoyed getting to shoot with a really lovely group of ladies.

I haven't been able to make my way through all the wonderful images from the day, but here are a few of my favorites so far:

52 Weeks - Week 2

Just playing around with the Canon 24mm f/1.4L I rented in this one. I'm more of a telephoto gal myself, so I've decided I'm going to spend the summer playing with wider lenses. It makes arm's length self portraits so much easier!

Springtime at the Gardens

I met up with a group of photographers from the Chicago Digital Photography Meetup Group on Saturday morning for a shoot at one of my favorite locations, the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I have a membership, and it's not exaggerating to state that once spring hits, I'm there at least once a week, if not more. Actually, even during the winter months, I hit the greenhouses two or three times a month. While I love photographing by myself, and having the chance to just be alone with my thoughts, it's been very rewarding and enjoyable to meet up with other photographers.

We split into smaller groups, and my group focused on macro work. While I was a bit limited, as I didn't bring my tripod, I was able to capture some lovely images of the spring blooms. I also had a lot of fun pushing myself beyond my normal comfort zone.

To begin, a few shots of tulips in the sensory garden (I love the wee little buggy on the first photo):

Next, a close up of some fungus and mold on a bench in the sensory garden:



And finally, the "outside my comfort zone" photograph. This look was achieved by stacking extension tubes on my lens. Because it was a hand-held shot, without tripod, none of it, even the petal tips, are really in focus. But, while it's not "me" at all, I really love the abstract look it created. It draws my attention to the gorgeous colors nature creates:

52 Weeks - Week 1

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've decided to give a self portrait project another go. This time, instead of taking a daily self portrait, I'm going to commit to one a week. I think it will be a much more rewarding experience this time around, and I'm really looking forward to getting back into the self portrait groove.

01/52 - I've had blood drawn twice over the past two weeks. The first time, one tech tried my left and right arm and then a second tech tried my right arm and ended up drawing the blood from my right hand.

The second time around, I warned them I had been a difficult draw (which I never have been in my whole life! I give blood regularly and have never had problems), so they called in the "really good" phlebotomist. She went for my right arm first - you can see the result here. We still had to go for the back of my hand, because we didn't get enough for the test from my arm. At least I have a cool bruise to show for it all!