Blast from my Past.

I was looking for a picture from California, in particular for "Love Thursday" over at Shutter Sisters. Looking through my "vacation" photos I found this. Not that it was lost, just that I hadn't looked at them in a while. They made me laugh, brought back good memories so humor me while I reminisce a bit.



November 2002 Stacy and I decided to road trip it to Denver. Memory Makers magazine was looking for writers and had a workshop. I had a car, I had some money, and I had a really good friend. We headed out fairly early one morning.

{I still own this car - it still looks almost exactly like that - only more gravel dust}

Just fyi... Kansas is really really flat. So is a whole bunch of Colorado.

Stacy and I met in High School, freshman year. Typical teenage girl stuff, giggly and dorky. We were meant to be friends. Well, we wrote stupid stories and of course, we were always the main characters. I still had one of these (and I still do, but now i don't know where it is!). I brought it along and we laughed so hard, I thought I'd have to stop the car. I'd share the story if it wasn't so stupid and embarrassing.

We made signs for other drivers - which only got us into trouble and one mild car chase.

When we got tired, we sang along with the radio, and if we didn't know the words, we'd say "quack" instead. It stuck - we still do sometimes.

It should have taken around 11-12 hours. It took us 14.

Look at me, rockin' the workout gear. This was about all I wore for about 4 years. Well, not just this outfit, others like it too. This I'm guessing - about 35 lbs ago. I'm on my way back baby!

We found a scrapbook store on the way, and had this brilliant idea we'd take pictures of them all. Unfortunately, I let Stacy take some pictures and god knows where they are now! (she had a house fire - only some pics were saved).

PS. I kinda miss my hair like this (no bangs)

PPS I still have that shirt. It's packed away until I can wear it again - oh, and I will.

First time we ever saw an Archiver's. We thought it was full of awesome sauce. It's still pretty cool and awesome saucy, but since it's nearly our only choice, it's a good thing we kinda still like it.

And here's Denver at night. We drove up into the mountains - somewhere there are photos of Stacy and I in funny buffalo hats - not sure where they went off to. We stopped on the way down at this rocky overlook - at night. Stacy wigged out and wouldn't walk up it. *I* am the one afraid of heights.

All photos taken with my crappy little 1.3 mega pixel (maybe it was 2.0) point and shoot digital. Which at the time, was OK.

Nice to see my photography skills have improved.

I'm feeling another Thelma and Louise moment coming on. I need to drag Stacy along again - now.. destination? Someplace warm - that's all that matters.

Garden of Gloom - 2 of 31

"It was certainly a depressing place, with a huge, gambrel roof which came down over the upper windows and nearly obscured them. There was a half-moon, and by its light they could see that the garden was a tangle of scraggy, winter vegetation, which had, in some places, almost overgrown the path. It was all very still, very gloomy and very ominous."

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Land of Mist

***

Too scared to take my son's mouse into the corn, so edited it in (badly lol).

I'm kinda foggy.

I've talked about morning fog here before. I tend to sleep late enough that I miss it, and by late enough I mean 8 a.m.

This morning, Gene and Tanner were stirring about, Gene warmed up his van a full 1/2 hour early and it was too much. I gave up and got up right after 7. Gene left at 7:30 and called to tell me the fog was awesome. So, I just slipped on my jeans, grabbed the camera and went.

This is what greeted me. Frost, on top of my car.

Photos are not in order.

A soybean field up the road from me.

Close up of the beans.

You must look at this photo full view. I did not resize it so it might take a min to download. I think this has to be one of the most beautiful photos I've ever taken. I can't stop staring at it.

This is a cropped version of the dew/frost on the dandelion

This is a field as you're going down the highway into town. I always love the view. I'm hoping I can get a pic when the combines are out. Oh how I dream of a wide angle lense when I see this!

Below, two versions of some cows next to a foggy pond.

See how removing the color completely changes the dynamic of the photo?

Random barn:

Random barn looking like it should be in a wizard of oz movie.

Frosty macro of a thorny critter.

Completely unedited version. This photo needed nothing. We love those.

There's a little pond near the road. I hopped out to get pics and heard honking, and saw these fat geese taking a break on the pond. And when I see stuff like this, oh how i long for a long lense. LOL

Same pond, pulled back. Punched up the gold a bit (geese are still there, see them?) Love the creepy branch on the right.

And this is what happens when you start walking through fields and grass in the morning:

So worth it.

Not going to show you all the pics, going to save a few for the crappy/no pic days that I have frequently. Plus I need to be doing other stuff.

Have my website about 3/4 done. Going to try to hammer it out today so I can go live sometime this week. Still details that need worked on. I can't accomplish anything else until its done.. it's AWESOME!

31 days of spook 1/31

Halloween has always been my favorite time of the year, I nearly have as many halloween decorations as I do Christmas.

But moving to the country means no trick-or-treaters. So, I wanted to "celebrate" in some way, so I decided to create a little project.

31 days of spook.

31 self portraits - all eery, all spooky. No cheerleaders or hobos. No, all evil.
(remember it's all in fun!) Pictures will not be taken individually each day, no time for that. Instead, I'll post one per day.

The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends and the other begins?

-- Edgar Allan Poe

Just to confirm that this isn't the Amber/Cole show :p

Editing some photos for my portfolio.

Some older ones of Torrie and Darrell before they were married. I wish I was as good at editing then as I am now (I still have a long way to go), then her pics would have been way more awesome. Sorry Torrie! Let me know if you want a CD of all new edited versions.

This other camera makes ppl look very red, and Darrell tends to have a ruddy complexion anyway. I have the same problem with Gene and Amber. I've found the best way to fix the issue (or at least make it less noticable) is to desaturate the photo by around 20%. Just a tip for you.