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The mixed emotion part of it is that I am no longer with them, having withdrawn, with only three weeks left.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!

Family

I had a great 4th of July but missed getting to see my daughter. I'm very proud of her. She is going to Romania to share the Good News with students there. I hope that she will take pictures and share them. She loves to have her picture taken and I love to practice taking her pictures. She doesn't always see the beauty in her pictures that I see. But then again, I prefer to be behind the lens rather than in front of it.

I think that I am a fairly good photographer but my daughter paints her pictures in words. The artistry that she weaves with the subtle nuances of meaning and the words play on my mind like the light plays on the images I capture with with my camera.

So, that is my attempt at a play on words. I think I like cameras better. So, to my daughter, when you read this...we will have to do a book together. I'll take the pictures and you weave your magic alongside them.

Another Day, More to photograph

I want to use my photography to volunteer. This will help me build my skills and networking and it allow me to help others. I just filled out a volunteer application for "Friends of Penny Min Pin Rescue" located @ http://www.rescueminpins.com/2/home.htm I had a Min Pin named Nate-Nate who was in my yard when a former landlord allowed a big pickup to cut through my driveway and yard to get to the back of their property. Nate was on a lead & run to keep him out of the road. The lady ran over and killed my precious little dog. This was in 2001. I found out when I got home from work. I moved as soon as my lease was up. He was a sweet little dog and so cute. So if I can help out this rescue organization, I sure will.

A Rose by any other name

 

I sure do love digital photography.  You don’t have to wait two weeks for your film to be developed.  Instant feedback, I love it.  This rose is one of dozens of photos that I took when my miniature rose finally started blooming.  Although the overall color looks a little off, I do think that the composition is pretty good.  I love to do nature, wildlife, and floral photography but I’m trying to branch out to “people” photography.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009, I had the good fortune to attend the "Passport 2 Success," which was held at the Greensboro Coliseum. It was a great opportunity for pin-pointing areas to work on and find available resources for the job search. I brought home a lot of good information and some great ideas for finding a way to combine photography and education.

I had googled my photography website and discovered Zazzle.com. They are a community of artists who design items to sell in a free storefront. The nice thing is that there is no capital outlay. So I've designed mouse pads, mugs, postcards, posters, stickers, calendars and so much more using my photography and get a small percentage of the sales. I have a link and illustration in the gadget at the bottom of my post. Now is the time to get your 2010 calendar. I am looking forward to photo sessions with people and in addition to framing and matting the photos, I can now offer other merchandise. Heck, I even made first class photo postage.

My main website is www.daylilydreamsphotography.com and there are examples of photography that can be used and printed right there. More to come later.

Getting Started

Hi Everyone! It's June 26th 2009 and I probably should have started posting to this blog before now. A little background first; I used to work for a major financial services company's call center as a customer service agent. It did give me the opportunity to problem-solve and find solutions for the clients. I am no longer working there and have been out of work for several months. As I look for work that combines my education, a MS in Education with a specialty in Post-secondary and Adult Education and my passion, photography; I will continue to take pictures and build my opportunity for my own business. Finding work that combines both would be a perfect world. I know that a perfect world doesn't just happen; one has to make it happen. Perhaps I may just have to pursue them as co-existant but separate pursuits. We will just have to see.