One Sunny Day



Brotherly Love



The weather around here has been crazy. Warm, cold, sunny, rainy so if you blink, it just may change. We had a nice warm sunny day yesterday and I got a chance to do some outdoor photography for a friend's cousin and her kids. They had the sweetest little baby goat with them, so these portraits included the two legged and the four legged family members. I had a lot of fun and elisted everyone's help to hold a white reflector to bring some light up into their faces. It brightened them up. Here are a couple of my favorites. I know the boys wanted a couple for their facebook, so guys, here you go. Remember, comments are always appreciated. You can follow this blog and get notifications when new posts are placed. Thanks for looking. Feel free to email me at Daylilydreamsphotography@gmail to schedule your spring outdoor sessions.



You lookin at me?





Who is that other goat on the sidewalk?



People, Pets & Places

I'm Freddy, King of the Hen House and don't you forget it.!

I am branching out in life. Although I have mainly been a wildlife & nature photographer and have sold a fair bit of my work, I really want to challenge myself to rise to a new level. Of course, that is something we should all challenger ourselves to do. I am happy to say that I will get to go back to RCC this summer and continue my studies. Hooray. So, my mantra has always been "Bringing the Outdoors into your home and office" I am going to begin refining those outdoors shots to "People, Pets & Places" Gotta have something a little bit catchy. I love looking at the photography of my fellow classmates. Kat, of ChinaKat Photography posted this amazing picture of her sister on a reflective surface with a huge Japanese style fan. I want to get there some day. Even though I am pretty comfortable with nature, pets, especially barnyard, cats and dogs have been a lot of fun. The chickens and roosters are a real challenge, especially two extremely mean roosters, Sammy and Freddy (aka Freddy Kreuger). If you look at them wrong, they attack you. My shins and hands have been bloodied and bruised by these two little monsters. But alas, there is one other one, Ethan, who is a little sweetheart (yes, a sweet rooster, now there is a contradiction in terms!). He came to my rescue when Sammy got a little too evil and chased him to the other side of the pen.  So, you may be thinking, why go in there, when you are getting abused by these fowl tempered fowl. Well, there are 7 chickens in there who are also sweet and need to be fed and watered. They also lay eggs which are farm fresh and yummy and they have to be gathered. Every once in a while, I take my camera with me and stand quietly in the corner and if I am lucky, I get a few good shots before Sammy and Freddie go on the offensive!  LOL! Here are a couple from March 25, 2011. Ethan is the little red rooster, Sammy is the black and white, and Freddie, who is the rooster version of a gorilla, is the one who is thumping his chest, aka spreading out is wings to look more opposing. Hope you enjoy the shots.

My Hero, Ethan, chasing away the evil Sammy!

Love the Asheboro Sunsets

I will have to say that this part of the state and county have the nicest sunsets. They occur on a pretty regular basis. The sun sets behind a small hill and when there are just thin cloud cover, the light reflects so nicely. My instructors were right. Dawn and Sunset do have beautiful light. The sunrise comes up over another hill and although it, per se, doesn't look spectacular, you can watch the opposite hills light up as the light moves. That in itself can be pretty magical. I have a friend from Colorado who says their sunsets are even better. I sure do want to go there some day and check them out. They have mountains in that part of their state and I am pretty sure it would be glorious. It is on my bucket list.

I found out that Greyhound has an unlimited ticket program that you buy as one week, two weeks or a month and can ride anywhere as many times as you want. I've never been to the Grand Canyon, or Arches National Park. I would love to take a tent, sleeping bag and my camera backpack and tripod and just go for a month and see these places as well as my dear friends in Colorado and California. I would also go back to Mono Lake and Yosemite. It was around 1984 the last time I went.

Fun with Friends and Family

I found a cool site at Animoto.com and was able to make a free 30 second video.  I think I like it, so check it out. Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Morrow Mountain State Park

I was up in Albemarle, NC yesterday and was about 6 miles from Morrow Mountain State Park. I am usually rushing to get home and don't take the time to stop and take pictures or go to parks. I usually regret it afterward. Something in me said to take the time to go to the park and I am certainly glad I did! I spoke with a very knowledgeable and friendly park employee named Tony (not sure how she spelled it) on the phone and then stopped in to see her at the information center. She is delightful. She told me about the park and where to go to get nice views and nice pictures. Armed with many pamphlets and a map, I set out. I am not sure why I didn't ask her about the wildlife. We did talk about the geology and I stopped into the small onsite museum for the self-guided tour. I learned quite a bit. The weather was overcast and quite chilly, so I drove down to the waterfront of Lake Tillery and took a couple of shots. On my way down, I encountered a deer that seemed to just walk up to my car to say hello. While driving up to the summit to get some more pictures, I encountered more deer. At one point I parked in the middle of the road because there were 10 deer crossing and stopping to check me out. I thought one was going to hop in for a lift. It was a wonderful opportunity to photograph wildlife up close and personal. One of the park ranger drove by and chuckled as he waved. Apparently, the deer are quite tame and what I experienced was not unusual. However, I was sitting there in awe and apparently my jaw was wide open, which probably looked pretty funny. It was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to get back when the weather is a little better.

It is a testament to God and the perfect creation that He has made. I was fortunate to be able to experience it. Enjoy the pictures!

It's a New Year and It's Snowing....Again

Ok, I have to admit, I like the snow, just as long as it is snow and not ICE! We had a wonderful white Christmas and here it is the 11th of January 2011, or for my followers who like cool dates, 01/11/2011. It started snowing yesterday and we got about 3 inches of fluffy, light, powdery snow. Unfortunately last night it changed over to sleet and freezing rain which made a nasty crust over that lovely powder. Before the ickiness started, I was fortunate to be able to take some pictures of some birds who were out playing in the snow and eating at the feeder. The snow on the pine boughs were pretty too. So, without further delay, I'll post a couple of pictures. The rest can be found on my website at http://www.daylilydreamsphoto.com/. Enjoy!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!



Snow in Greensboro December 26, 2010



We had a White Christmas this year, a BIG White Christmas. This was the first significant Christmas snow since 1942 and it is hitting the record books for this neck of the woods. The nor'easter that brought it is really playing havoc with the rest of the East Coast with blizzard conditions and high winds as well as snow that is measured in feet instead of inches. However, we had just enough to be beautiful but the roads aren't too bad. It is supposed to be in the 50's by next Friday, so I am going to enjoy the snow while it's here. Without further delay, let me post some pictures!



Fluffy Snow and I-85



Just another day on the farm!

I'm farm sitting and because I am on break between semesters, I am enjoying relaxing and taking pictures. Ok, let me rephrase that. After the chores and the work is done, I am relaxing. I got pummelled by two 150 lb goats last time. I will have to say, they are much better behaved this time. I guess they just wanted out of the barn to see the snow. So, I usually go in a couple of times a day to gather eggs, feed the ducks and chickens, check and fill their water, and basically take care of them. I decided that after all of that was done, I would take my camera in and try to get some pictures. There is one rooster who is beautiful, one who likes to peck your shoelaces and one that is a meanie!  The sun was just rising over the hill, and the light was pretty cool. The mean rooster, who is black and white, was so beautiful with the sun shining through his tail feathers. I got a couple of good shots and even one has he was turning to come get me. I will add a couple here and on facebook. As usual, you can always see them on my website, www.daylilydreamsphoto.com. Enjoy and remember, poultry makes a difficult subject, they run around too much and then sneak up on you and attack your shins!

Merry Christmas, Frohe Wienachten, Mele Kalikimaka, Joyeux Noel & Feliz Navidad

This free slideshow design created with Smilebox

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. Be safe and be blessed. Here are all the languages I learned to say Merry Christmas in but I am not sure if I spelled them right. They are English, German, Hawaiian, French and Spanish.  So let me know how the are really spelled. Merry Christmas, Frohe Wienachten, Mele Kalikimaka, Joyeux Noel & Feliz Navidad. I couldn't remember Russian so I went to google translator. Here it is in Cyrillic and then transliterated in our alphabet. С Рождеством, (S Rozhdestvom).

Don't forget to tweet.

Don't forget to follow me on twitter:  http://twitter.com/C35Lawmedic 
and also "Like" my facebook page
 http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daylily-Dreams-Photography/103577386667?ref=sgm .

A Beautiful Day in the Country

It is a beautiful day in the country as the fall color is peaking, the roosters are crowing (and attacking my shins), the hens are laying eggs (nothing like farm fresh eggs) and the dogs are cuddled up by my feet. I'm house sitting and as usual, working hard and enjoying the country life.  I entered a photo poster and a poem in a career day contest at school. The poem won, hooray. It was about overcoming adversity.  The photo poster was about living your dream. It didn't place in the top three because it didn't really talk about career week so to speak. The original photo is by a classmate Donna R. who took a picture of an instructor's window. I took the photo, cropped it, created a reflection, text, reflection of the text in photoshop. So, I am going to post it here but of course since I didn't take the original photo, I had to include Donna, who inspired me to create the finished product. I will have to say that I am proud of my photoshop (elements) skills.  Guess I haven't forgotten everything. Thanks Donna for being an inspiration to me and to others!

Warm and Beautiful

It never ceases to amaze me how the weather can change in just a day. Yesterday is case in point where those Carolina blue skies and warm temperatures beckoned me outside with my camera. On a whim, I decided to make a day trip up to Hanging Rock State Park. It was only 35 miles away and heck, I used to commute 50 miles each way to school at RCC.  I stopped at a mom and pop store in Walnut Cove. I believe the name was Whitleys or Whittens, so I will have to stop the next time.  Anyway, the young lady working there was so nice and confirmed that I was heading the right way. She even jotted directions to get to the lower cascades waterfalls. I bought a couple of apples that were so delicious.  I didn't make it to the actual hanging rock but instead hiked to three of the four water falls.  I will have to save the upper cascades and the hanging rock for the next time. The staff at the visitor's center was great too. I am going to post one of the waterfall pictures that I took.  I didn't have a neutral density filter with me but it was late afternoon and in shade so I just played  with the aperture priority and increased the f-stop until I got what I wanted with regards to misting the water. I might not be in the actual photography program at RCC until next summer but I do continue to be a student of photography and hope to continually learn and improve. Really, even as a graduate and professional photographer, are we not all students, trying to learn and improve our craft as we move along in our journey?

Brrr, Baby It's Cold Outside!

Despite the suddenly frigid temperatures, I still had a wonderful day of hiking at the Environmental Center in Jamestown, NC off of Penny Rd and on the Fall Foilage Tour on the pontoon boat at High Point City Lake Park. The tourguide also happens to be the Park Supervisor and a fellow UNCW alumi and was quite knowledgeable.  We saw several Great Blue Herons, some nice Fall color, a beaver dam (which I also saw on the hike) and even a Kingfisher. I didn't know that they were so small. I stayed around the park and shot some more pictures and then drove to the Sheets gas station for a large hot chocolate. Yummm!

Another Day at the Park

I spent a good deal of Thursday at the High Point City Lake Park, where I had the good fortune to meet to of the park employees. Shawn, who like me loves nature photography, enjoys taking pictures during his lunch break. He graciously showed me some of his work, which is located at http://shawnrmcentee.smugmug.com/. Wow, it is some phenomenal photography, and work like that is something I aspire to do. Gary was the other employee who gave me some great information about the environmental center off of Penny Rd. He also told me about the fall foilage tour, which I was fortunate enough to get a seat in. I found out it is on the pontoon boat and goes all around the lake. There may still be some seats left on the 2pm tour, which is Saturday, November 6th, so call (336) 883- 3498 to see. At $4 for a 45 minute boat tour, it is less than the cost of a movie, to get up close and personal with nature. Bring your camera and I hope to see you there.

With that said, it was a cold dreary day at the park but I had a great time walking around and taking pictures. I think I was one of only about 4 people other than the employees who was enjoying the park despite the weather. I had a couple that I think might rate being put on the blog. Here they are.

Love that Fall color!

I love this time of year. The stifling heat of summer is finally waning and the bone chilling cold of winter has not yet arrived. 

That transitional period is just bursting with color and I have been fortunate enought to catch a glimpse through the eye of my camera. It seems like a magical time and the setting sun peeks through to give the scenes the kiss of evening fire.

New shots at City Lake Park

I had the opportunity to go out to High Point's City Lake Park. I enjoyed taking pictures of nature and wildlife. There was this tiny 2 inch turtle sunning himself on the park. Thank goodness for telephoto lenses. There was a rotting tree stump on the bank. At the base sat this multilevel fungus. It had some beetles living in and under it so I guess it is a bug condo. Take a look at the pictures. You can see the larger versions at my website, www.daylilydreamsphoto.com.

A new month and new photos

Hi Everyone,

Well, it is a new month, August 2010 and it is with mixed emotions that I see the RCC photography class that I began with, complete their first year. I am so very happy for my fellow classmates and friends because I know what they had to go through to get there. Summer session is akin to hell week that the Navy Seals go through to weed people out. Ok, not that bad but pretty darn close. It is quite an accomplishment that they have gone through.

The mixed emotion part of it is that I am no longer with them, having withdrawn, with only three weeks left. Suddenly homeless and now living in a shelter, I, at the time, knew that it was going to be nearly impossible to deal with basic needs of living and at the same time, the creative and academic deadlines that were pending. Maslow knew what he was talking about when he said that you can't be fulfilled unless you have those basic needs taken care of.

Lest anyone really think I have given up on my photography...reconsider. I still have my syllabi and plan on doing the work that I would have done had I still been there. So, in essence, it will be one huge independent study without the tuition bills. Speaking of bills, I am selling my photo art both on my website and by special consultation. So if you are looking for gifts, artwork, or anything that has to do with photos, go to www.daylilydreamsphoto.com and check out the photos there. There are several categories to choose from and I can do individual selections and custom creations. You can buy directly on the website or email me and let me give you quotes for a personalized order.

I have explored the area in High Point, NC and found the High Point City Lake Park which is actually in Jamestown, NC. If you drive around and away from the docks and fishing areas, there are actually some peaceful places. I will post two such views that you can see on the website.

Welcome to my new blog

Hi everyone,

For those of you who have been following my old blog, welcome to the new one. I might as well have my Daylily Dreams Photography blog associated with my daylilydreamsphotography@gmail.com address. I am going to begin to blog regularly, add a couple of pictures here and there and network like crazy. Quite simply put, I need to start selling pictures and picking up freelance work. So, if you will, please get the word out. The Daylily Dreams Photography is back and will be new and improved.

Lisa

Take me out to the Ballpark

Just thought I would post one of the photo's I shot for class at our first Baseball lab.  I need to go shoot some more pictures and as soon as I get a toothache taken care of I think that taking pictures will be more pleasant. So, this sport shooting is fun.  I like baseball and football, except when I catch the ball with my face instead of my hands.  Anyway here are a couple of shots I made.  One is from baseball and the other is from class football.

Sunsets and Moonbeams

I love the sunsets in Asheboro.  You never quite know what to expect but they can be pretty brilliant.  I want to get some good sunsets and/or sunrises with the sun shining off of the water.  I would enjoy a full or new moon shining over the Deep River or some nice lake.  I saw the perfect picture as I was commuting over the bridge heading to Burlington.  I didn't stop and take the picture and have regretted it ever since.  Live and learn!

This is a picture that I took with my digital to illustrate the word "broken" or "damaged".  I am not sure if lightening struck it or it was just split by winds but it was the result of some storms that had come through the previous week.  The mushroom on the right was a result of getting down to ground level in order to get the shroom from a different point of view.  I took both of these during the fall 2009 semester at RCC.

Moonbeams

Ok, I am officially on Spring Break., well sort of.  I have worked in the darkroom printing from negatives and then mounting the subsequent prints to catch up and turn in a couple assignments.  I got out of there around 10 pm each night.  I am tired but the people that were working on projects at school tonight were so funny.  I never enjoyed being exhausted so much. LOL  So, last post I promised that pictures of my "War of the Worlds" zooming moon shot would be posted.  Here they are.  Actually I am going to include some pictures I took on Saturday, before the Tornados hit the area.

Complementary Please

Today, we turn in our complementary colors assignment.  This was fun because I was able to capture my own plant as the "green_magenta", a ladder at school as the "red_cyan" and although this is a little iffy on the yellow, a fake tanzanite ring for the (photographic) "blue_yellow" but still a good attempt at using macro spacing rings.  I also went out and played with the bulb setting with the moon last night.  Got bored with the same old shots, so I started zooming in and out while the shutter was open.  Looks like a "War of the Worlds" scene.  Pictures will follow.

Quack Quack Cluck Cluck

My friend got some ducklings and chicks at the local tractor supply.  She lets them take a swim in the evenings (the ducks) and the chicks run around the bathroom floor.  I got to take some pictures and she has  graciously allowed me to post some pictures.  The ducks dive and swim under water and it is hilarious.  If anyone has seen the movie "the water horse," the ducks look just like it when they swim underwater.  She has a brownish vinyl on the bathroom floor and the chicks thing it is dirt so the scratch at the floor and try to peck it and take "dirt baths".  This is priceless.  Take a look at these cool pictures.

The lightbulb is finally coming on!

Hah, Hah, Hah....I have to laugh when I look at some of my previous posts.  It is funny how your perspective changes as time goes by.  Been taking lots of pictures, both film and digital.  We just started learning large format.....coooolll.  It was fun, tedious, nice and slow and bizarre to see the image upside down.  I think I like it.  Of course this was only my first two sheets of film, so lets see what I am saying when I get it out of deep tank processing. LOL.

I got my own Bronica medium format camera.  It is nice to have the same camera for each assignment.  The consistency really helps.  I plan on continuing to shoot film after school.  I work on the 35 mm film too.
I am also enjoying the portrait and object lighting class.  I was lamenting over the awfulness of my lighting at Christmas and Thanks giving.  Now, I have more of a clue, so I will try again next holiday, if my family will tolerate it.  It is bound to look better.  I love shooting for portfolio because we get to have a little more creative freedom.  Most of our assignments are pretty technical like shooting the "sphere I & II" projects and the digital color assignments, although we do have some creative freedom within the parameters.  I liked the Analogous assignment because I did a photo safari around campus and found the lovely tree against the carolina blue (cyan) sky.  It is so zen and I like zen. I also had fun with some lizards that live in the rocks around a koi pond outside our building.

What is my problem with portraits?

I know that I'm a beginner and have a lot of learning ahead of me. But for some reason I just can't seem to get a tack sharp picture of my family. One or two came out including this one of my niece. I take lots of picture, needless to say, a lot of them are bad. I took my "portrait studio" stuff to my family at Thanksgiving. Things were clear but the lighting was just plain icky! Shooting in RAW helps but when you blow out a picture, no amount of post-processing is going to help. Hey, but what can I say, it is a learning experience. I now know how to better use those lights. The problem is that my family doesn't have much patience for my practice, with the exception of my youngest sister, her daughter and my son.

We learn basic portrait and object lighting next sememster.....hooray. I went back at Christmas...Happy Birthday Jesus...and tried again sans the "studio in the box" and my lighting and composition were pretty good but I was trying to hand-hold a 5D with a 75-300 IS USM and just wasn't getting it. I used the bar top with my elbows to steady myself, which helped a little. I used the flash that I had to get for school and put it down to 50% power and aimed it to bounce off of the ceiling. I got it to work pretty well, but you may be thinking, why didn't I just use a tripod. I had it and it was in the car and I was being lazy....yes, I admit it....lazy. Christmas day dawned with a hard icy cold rain and I just didn't want to go out to the car, which was parked on the road because the driveway at my Dad's house was covered in iced over snow slush. I tend to be a bit clutsy and was afraid I was going to take a nose dive on the pavement.

I am going to be a photojournalism major so I need to figure out how to get people in focus! Ok, more to come later.

Oh gosh, I haven't posted

So, this is supposed to be a blog of my journey from photography hobbyist to photography professional via the program at Randolph Community College. Let me say that I have, in fact, survived my first semester. Yes, survived is right but it has been more than survived...I would have to include grown, transformed, and refined my photography.

A little background...I have a BA and a MS degree, so school, or at least academics, have been relatively easy, sure hard work, but academically and grade-wise, I have been successful, mostly A's with one B between the two degrees. However, I was not prepared for the rigors of this particular program.

There is a reason this program has a national reputation. It is tough. My first grade was an "F"...OMG...that just doesn't happen to me...and needless to say, I was devastated. The instructors have decades of experience in their areas of expertise. I always thought I was a good photographer...but much like boot camp, I had a lot of bad habits to UN-LEARN! So they break you down and then teach you how to do things the right way. One great thing that they do is still teach film photography and processing. I can now process black & white film and print from the ensuing negatives. Is my processing perfect...no, I still have trouble rolling film and end up with little crescent moons on the ends...my fellow students know what I mean. Are my prints perfect, no...but they are getting better and I have a better "eye" for what a good and what a crappy print is.

Another thing that I have discovered is that some of my instructors are willing to go above and beyond to offer advice, constructive criticism, and time and it has nothing to do with my grade. The instructor that gave me the lowest grade is the first one I go to for advice. The bar has been set high and I plan on meeting it and exceeding it.

OK, so I cried a lot of tears this semester and have had to really change (it is a work in progress) the way I look at grades. The good news, one A, one B & one C. Any other time and this would have been horrendous but I am thrilled with these grades because I really had to work my butt off to get them and most importantly, my work has improved and the level of my finished product that I will turn in is much pickier.

Well, next semester, is going to be even tougher, but I suspect even more rewarding. I promise to post more often with the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. I have been taking pictures on my digital camera like crazy during the Christmas break, so check out http://www.daylilydreamsphoto.com/ and see what I've been up to. Hopefully see things improve as I learn more.

Thanks!

Lisa

Here I am, one step closer.

 I like flowers!  I think it is pretty obvious.  Every time I go out and take pictures, there is usually a flower or some other point of nature involved.  I am beginning to take people pictures.  It’s fun, especially the kids in my neighborhood.  They really ham it up and the parents appreciate a free print.  I am getting better but now I have the opportunity to really learn how to take pictures.  I was accepted into the Commercial Photography Program at Randolph Community College in Asheboro, NC.  It’s a phenomenal program with a great reputation. 

Their standards are high and I am going to have to rise to them.  I take good pictures but I want to take exceptional pictures and I am going to have to work harder than I ever have to get there.  It will be worth the effort.  I worked for years in jobs that I thought I might like but really just hated going to work.  Photography is my Zen Garden, my yoga and my peaceful place.  I can’t imagine what it will be like being paid to follow your dream and passion.

The biggest obstacle I face right now is financial.  My home, internet and cell phone have all been cut off.  I am trying to find work or work study.  At least I have food.  And through the kindness and generosity of staff and students, I have been able to get some of the supplies.  I still have to get a light-meter, tripod, T-square, more film and developing paper and another flash.  My flash doesn’t meet the standards.

I wish I had something really valuable or unique that I could list on EBay to raise money for tuition, fees, books and supplies.  Basically I would need it to go viral.  I do have a lead on two grants that I am applying for.  They won’t meet my immediate needs but they will help next semester.  Class starts in a couple of minutes, so I have to go.  Wish me luck!