Edited Photos

Every once in a while I decide to have some fun with the minimal editing software that I have, namely Windows Live Photo Gallery, which came with my computer, or Gimp, an open source editing program (I don't really like to spend money). Here are some of the results I end up with:

Snow, snow, snow

Is it still Christmas? This is the longest holiday I've had. We drove downstate for my mom's birthday on the 22nd, got together with my dad's family early on Christmas eve, and then my mom's family that night. We exchanged presents with the folks on Christmas day and then drove 2 1/2 hours across the state and caught a late night get-together at my fiance's Aunts house. Today we had a 6 hour get together at his grandparents house. At the rate we're going it's going to be Christmas until New Years!
It is nice to see family, even if all the to-do wears me out a bit. And of course, I love exchanging gifts. Being poor college kids, we had to be sort of creative this year in flexing our thrifty muscles. For my parents I painted an old jar and stuffed it with candy. We told them they can re-purpose it for just about anything, it works as a vase, or a holder for spare mechanical parts, since my dad is a mechanic. We stuffed stockings with an assortment of cheap junk food, which is the norm for my family, and fruit, which is traditional for Shawn's family. We dropped a little bit of money on each other, I got him a tool kit for around the house and working on his car, and he got me an adorable fox puzzle and some paintbrushes. For my mom's birthday we framed this picture since she loves cardinals:

More Winter Pics

More pictures, less writing. Happy Holidays!

Winter Wonderland Adventure Part 2

Here's part 2 of my winter wonderland adventure! Click here for part 1

As I said last time, I decided to investigate the rustle of noise I had heard ahead of me on the trail. Sure enough, when I got close enough to see, there were brand new deer tracks all across the trail.

Winter Wonderland! Part 1

I found a unique way to celebrate the first "real" snow of the season. Most of you know by now that my "Fish" (Click to read about how mushy and disgustingly adorable we are) works at the county parks and rec. I decided to tag along with him on his early morning trek to work. After dropping him off at the shop, I took the car down to the visitor area and set off on my adventure. The story is posted in two parts of 20 pictures each. Here's part one:

Come adventure!

Not a Daffodil

This is not a Daffodil.

Neither is this one.

That should be all for the flowers series. Thanks for checking it out!
Also, Finals week is totally over! I hope everyone enjoys break as much as I have so far. Shawn and I rented The Sims 3 and stayed up all night playing it for like, two nights in a row. Today I got up at 7:00 with him for work (ouch). I dropped him off at the shop and headed on over to Deerfield. I got to spend two hours taking pictures! Unfortunately it's pretty difficult to get nice lighting on an overcast day >.<' but I did encounter a furry friend! More details with my next post this Wednesday.

Flowers part deux

Purple!!

Friday Flowers

White flowers today, purple tomorrow (maybe)

Landscapes

Two similar landscapes in different lighting.

Gleam

More of those Vine-ish plants. And shiny!

Happy Finals Week!

In honor of finals week, and of finally being DONE with this semester soon, I'm posting every day this week. Also because I have a bunch of extra pics. Mostly from going on shooting sessions and then barely ever posting for the past month. Heh ^.^'

Anywho, hope you like it.

Seeds

What would you wish for?

Overgrown Leaves

What type of plant is this? I'm tempted to just call it Ivy, but I feel like I have friends who know much more about the botanical world than I do.

Pond and Birch trees

Can't decide between these two. So I figured hey, I'm an amateur, I don't have to! I like the color in the second, but I dislike the framing. It seems to me like the picture stops at the treeline. Love the frame in the second one, yet I didn't catch the same color content. So, there you have it. Lesson for the day: watch the lighting.




Choosing between pictures is a lot like making choices in real life. Just like you'll never have that "perfect" picture, you'll always have different choices, and taking one over another will always have its benefits and its losses. Every day I make an active choice to face the normal adversity of day to day life.
I don't think a lot of people know how hard that is for me. I don't think many people know who I used to be, hiding away in my room behind my books and my oversized hooded sweater. Not daring to express my real emotions to even my best friend. Changing all that was hard, heck, even something so insignificant as cutting my hair was a challenge! Not having those long sheets of dirty blonde waves to conceal my face was an act of pure rebellion against my inner nature. Yet for some reason, I did it. Some days I ask myself why I'm pushing myself so hard, why I insist that I change the prefix to my "-troverted", and some days, I don't have an answer, just like some days I can't choose just one picture.

Sunshine Pictures

Here are some pictures to make you feel better about how freaking cold it's been.







This last one is of my favorite place on campus. It's so beautiful, and I take a picture of it about every week. I hope you enjoyed the pictures! I won't be posting on my regular schedule for all of November, but still check back about once a week, I'll have something.

Turn and Face the Strange

It's a good season for some change, this is an interesting path we're heading down.

Breathe

I can't handle this pace. I don't even want to try anymore, it's tearing me to pieces. 

I can't hide behind this facade of "everything is ok" and it's starting to show. It shows in my friendships, in my involvements on campus, at my job. I cannot pretend any longer. It makes me sick. 

This is my plea to the world: Slow down. Please.

Breathe.

Life is being lived all around you.
Listen to the city. Look at the sky. Taste the cool air.
Do you know what Autumn smells like? Find out. Go outside and breathe.

This is my plea to the world: Slow down. Please.

Or at least allow me to.

Focus

It's hard to look at your life when it's so completely out of focus. It's even harder to see where you're going when your camera is stuck down in the weeds. Thankfully I travel with company that will pick me up when I fall, hold me when I hurt, and guide me when I go cross-eyed.

<3 you all.

Mid-September Leaves

Just some quick camera-phone shots I took recently. The yellow/brown/blue really caught my eye today, and the red tree still looks like it's on fire. Enjoy!

Journey to self discovery

Not the picture I meant to pick, but somehow this is the one that got moved into the "post" folder. I've been on a bit of a path of self discovery for, oh about the past year and half I'd say. Thanks to my friends the trip has been going a lot more smoothly lately than it was at the start. This picture was (coincidentally?) taken just before I reached the town I was driving to. Maybe thats symbolic in some way. We all change throughout our lives, and, from what I've heard, the journey to understanding oneself doesn't really ever end, but hey, maybe I'm coming up to a check point or something. Which is good cause I ran out of snacks a few months ago and man do I have to pee.

Precipitation

It rained. Finally.

P.S. Going down to one post a week after this one. Probably around mid-week (Wednesdays)

Fracas

I hope it rains tomorrow. That'll cool things off. It's hot here.

Rainbow

This is an enhanced photo I took of a rainbow after a summer storm. Check out the original photo here. I'm really becoming fond of digital photo editing, especially when I get something that looks drastically different from the original piece.

My cat leads an interesting life

This is Kitsa, she is incredibly photogenic. I took this picture of her upstairs at my parents house, just shortly after getting my camera three years ago. This has probably been one of the easier pictures for me to edit, since the background was so strikingly white to begin with. Take a peek at the original picture to compare.

That's it for today! I might do another before and after on Wednesday (since I recently re-discovered a few that were hiding!) hope you enjoy it!

My Journey

You can change, if you want to. I know you can, because I have.

Shiny Things and Silhouettes

Not much to say today, just some pretty pictures.

All Things Green

I feel an almost constant need to be surrounded by nature. It can be hard, living on the third floor of a big apartment complex in the middle of a college town, to find real, abundant nature around here. Thankfully, campus has some kind of incredible landscaping crew and of course, there is always the escape back down to the lakeside neighborhood I grew up in. These pictures are a small sample of the hundreds of pictures I have taken of plants, grass, trees, and almost anything green.

The next two in particular remind me of my childhood, they are strikingly similar to the first attempt I ever made at an "artistic" photograph. I was working on the photography badge for girl scouts. The assignment was to take a picture from an unusual angle, so I decided to see what the world must look like to ants. I got down on the ground and snapped a photo with my disposable camera. And here I am, some 10 years later, doing just about the same thing:

Glad to know I haven't changed too much.

Sky Pictures

Todays theme is one of my favorites, pictures of the sky, the clouds, and the sun. I don't have much to say, as I've been in bed all day with a headache (minor migraine even?) so I'll just post the pictures for you all to enjoy! And I will enjoy going back to sleep ^.^

Concerning Fishes

 Four years ago, a very important person walked into my life and turned my world upside down...

 Things have been set right side up since then of course, but I do not believe I will ever be the same, and I owe you my gratitude:

 You have been my friend, my (not so secret) crush, my one true love, and now, you are my family.

I cannot give any other person the credit for the things you have taught me. Simply by being in my life you have inspired me to love. You have shown me how to listen, and encouraged me to seek adventure. You have awoken my creativity and nurtured the child that I buried deep inside me years ago.

 You have brought out the best in me, and dared tempt the worst in me, and yet none of it has been too much for you. You have seen me through my worst period of sickness, and almost singlehandedly nursed me back to health. You have loved me through carefree days and through catastrophe. 

 You have been there for me. Every day, any day, whenever I needed you. You have been a friend, to cry to or to talk for hours. You have been a lover to hold me when I am weak. You have been my partner in everything; supporting me, encouraging me and loving me in exactly the ways I need it.

And you deserve some damn recognition for that.

 So, thank you. I cannot express how much you have given me, or the sheer number of things I have discovered within myself because of you. All I can say is thank you.

And that I never understood why people told me that you only truly love once. 

Until I met you.

Night Photography

As limited as I am with my beginners style camera (I use a Nikon Coolpix L11), I do love trying out new photographic atmospheres. The surreal look nighttime and streetlights give a picture really grabs my interest. These are a few of my favorites, with varied light levels and shadow effects.

[[Edit: I use both my Nikon camera and my Samsung camera phone, why am I clarifying? Because the following pictures were taken with the Samsung, not the Nikon.]]

Summer Festivities

I really love fairs and carnivals, so when my parents mentioned that there was one in town, I was excited to go along with them. There's something really incredible about the way those rides light up at night. I managed to get a couple shots of the ferris wheel and the carousel, which happen to be my favorites.

Lakefest

Summer is a time to relax, to get together with friends and family. It's a time to have some fun partying, go out to the beach or even on the lake, barbecue some great meals, play outside, and, of course, blow things up.

From Amber's Photoblog

Secret Places

I have this "thing" with hiding spots. I always have. I got poison ivy as a child from all the "exploring" I did in my backyard, and of course, ivy hides in the best spots. Even as a grown-up, which is a title I reluctantly admit to, I still yearn to find those "Secret Places" where one can peek into (or out of) a hidden world.

From Amber's Photoblog

From Amber's Photoblog

Spokes

From Amber's Photoblog

I really value my bike a lot. I got it as a "back to school" gift from my grandparents, and it turned out to be incredibly handy. It's my escape, my access to the world around me. My way to avoid paying for parking. It also provides some cool photo opportunities! These are a few of my favorites.

Garden Scene

From Amber's Photoblog

This picture was taken at what is probably my favorite place on earth; my Aunts house. She has a few acres of land blooming with wild grass, trees, and wildflowers (like these daisies, they grow everywhere!). Looking at this picture reminds me of the Zen atmosphere of that place.

In (completely) other news, I'm blogging from my recently purchased Dell Netbook. I must say it's a trial, as new computers and software rarely work the way we expect them to, but I'm warming up to the cute little thing. Especially now that I've added a Linux partition.

(Shiny!)

From Amber's Photoblog

Bonus Post!

Mostly because I want to thank the people that have been giving me good feedback, and partly because I made my first photography related investment today, I give you, bonus post!

From Amber's Photoblog

My brand new toy! It's a whopping 8 gig storage device, that means I can keep about 4000 pictures on it. It's not huge, but it's definitely enough for me right now.

From Amber's Photoblog

This shot above is one of the "mistake" blurred pictures that I took, but looking back on it, I really like the focus on the background, especially the detail on the paper. You can almost read my scrawled notes about where my pictures are located on the internet.