(Not quite) 20 more things.

All right, here are some more items for that random things meme (because I know you're all totally fascinated with me, right?).

6. I first heard about Tivo from Oprah. I'm not a regular Oprah watcher; she always seems so condescending, even to the guests she likes, and when she raved and raved about the new technological miracle that was Tivo I thought to myself, "Whatever. That's for people who don't know how to set their VCRs." But then a few years ago we got DVR capabilities with our cable and now I can't imagine living without it. I feel very bitter when I can't pause or rewind the radio. Or conversations with real people. It's the best thing EVER!

7. I feel the same way (well, almost) about cell phones. Naturally, because I hate the phone, it took me a long time to get on that band wagon. I don't want to answer the phone when I'm home; why would I want all that obnoxious ringing following me around? But as it turns out, my cell phone is very handy. I can text! And easily figure out how much to tip! And take crappy low-res pictures that I don't know how to get out of my phone or send to anyone else! So yeah: I still won't answer my phone for most people (no offense), but I do love it.

8. I suffer from occasional bouts of insomnia, separate and distinct from being kept up all night by babies. Not much good can come of being the only one awake at four o'clock in the morning (or I suppose it could, but I don't tend to use my late night time productively, lol). I once watched hours and hours of MTV's reality show My Super Sweet 16. I am simultaneously horrified and amazed that the producers can find enough filthy rich (or incredibly in debt?), overly indulgent parents to justify seasons and seasons and seasons of this crap. Who are these people who spend half a million dollars on a child's birthday party? I'll tell you who: One of the episodes I saw during my insomnia marathon featured a preacher's family. YEAH. And they bought their newly minted 16yo not one, not two, but three new vehicles (I guess they couldn't decide) for her birthday. A MINISTER, folks! Maybe I have the wrong idea because I come from a faith that uses unpaid lay ministers, but isn't the offering money supposed to go toward the preacher's family's basic needs, building upkeep, etc., and the rest for charitable programs? Not obscenely lavish parties? Dude.

9. I've noticed lately that I say things like "Dude" and "awesome" way too much.

10. I also overuse the acronym LOL. But when I read/write it, I don't spell it out in my head or hear it as "laugh out loud." It sounds like loll, a low chuckle. I use it as quasi-punctuation. I'm worried that I'll say it out loud in a real-life conversation one of these days.

11. I went through an "experimental punctuation" phase in my late teens and early twenties (because I'm a big nerd like that). You know that adage, "you have to know the rules to break the rules" -- I figured I knew them well enough to bend and break them to my artistic will! What began as typographical expressionism in my private journals spilled over into my poetry and other creative writing. My English professors didn't seem to mind; I guess they understood it as brash and avant-garde rather than simply, well, wrong. (And hey, I was consistent and purposeful in my misuse. I did know the rules I was breaking!) The phase was short-lived. I'm not sure I could do it anymore if I tried (because I am no longer 19 and pretentious).

D'oh. That was only six things and now it's time to get Uno ready for school. The rest will have to wait. Stay tuned for more extremely random tidbits! ;-)


~RCH~

Photo-Off Challenge: Retro Chic!

Mary challenged me to photograph retro chic -- and then she was kind enough to model it for me! She curled her hair up lovely, painted on some bright red lips, donned a cute puff-sleeved sweater and print blouse and off we went with our train cases to capture that vintage vibe.

This shot is among my favorites; I love the little curl of her hair in the wind. If you wondered what I might do if I allowed myself to post process the challenge picture, you can find a similar shot (SOOC and tarted up in Photoshop) here.


Exif data

I also really like this photo below, but I'm not sure if it counts. I didn't mess with it in Photoshop, but I did make some alterations to the RAW photo file (the most obvious one is the desaturation; I also played with the tint of the shadows). Is that post processing or acceptable use of my digital dark room? Hmmmm...!


Exif data


And then there was a ghost!

I don't see it -- and maybe she doesn't now that it's not on a teeny, tiny screen -- but when reviewing the pics on my camera's LCD my mom swore she saw the ghostly image of a little girl in this photo. It was taken right outside the abandoned Rio Grande Hotel; the place must have plenty of history. Could something tragic have happened there? Or does the girl simply like to return to a place of happy family vacation memories?

In any case, let me know: Do you see her? I didn't on the small screen, and I still don't now. But perhaps I don't have "the sight" and some of you do! WoooOOOOoooo! :-)



Mary, your next challenge is MANUAL. Dig yours out and read up on how to change the aperture, lol. Or whatever! You can use your presets to evaluate the scene and take test shots, but your final challenge submission must be under your complete control. Manual all the way, baby! I know you can do it. :-* Can't wait to see what you've done!


~RCH~

Happy Corporate Love-Themed Merchandising Day

I took some Valentine's Day photos of the girls last week. Dos eagerly participated; Uno took a few group shots and then declined to have anything more to do with me or my camera or even my fun heart-shaped props; Tres kept trying to escape.

*Sigh.*







Ah, well. I'll keep 'em. They (and DH, who also often refuses to be photographed) are the loves of my life.


~RCH~

Photo-Off Challenge: FAIL!

My challenge was to visually interpret this:

The night was clear and frosty, all ebony of shadow and silver of snowy slope; big stars were shining over the silent fields; here and there the dark pointed firs stood up with snow powdering their branches and the wind whistling through them.

-Anne Shirley, Anne of Green Gables

And I was so excited! I live in a rural area with lots of lovely fields and farms and meadows, with sky that's deep and wide and speckled with stars.... I had the end result of my photo in mind as soon as I read the quote above. It was going to be gorgeous. I did extensive location scouting; in the end I had about six places in mind: Expansive fields out away from town; flat fields; sloping fields; fields ending in a line of trees; some with street lights, some without.

I should get hazard pay for this assignment: At one point during the selection process I turned off the highway onto an unplowed country road to turn around -- the snow didn't seem all that deep -- but I only got my front two wheels into it before I realized I was in trouble. I put the floor mats under the tires for traction, dug snow out from behind the wheels with my bare hands, then hopped back in and tried to reverse ... but no luck. Apparently the Honda Odyssey is not meant for off-roading in the off season. (Who knew?) Our adventure (I say our because of course the girls were with me, lol) ended ~20 minutes later when a truck full of elderly hunters stopped to help. Three old men in camo jumpsuits and orange vests kindly gave us a shove and we were on the road again.

All that craziness aside, the biggest challenge for this assignment turned out to be the weather: It's been cloudy most days and every single night since last Wednesday. *Sigh!* But I did the best I could. Last night I trekked out with my camera, tripod, and remote shutter release and stood around in the cold trying to get a decent shot. I bumped the ISO as far as it would go (1600 in my camera's case) for maximum sensitivity (but also some noise/grain) and used my smallest (right? the highest number?) aperture (f/16) to get the star shaped streetlights.

It isn't the picture I had in mind when I first received the challenge, and I don't think it really reflects the quote at all, but on its own I guess it's not that bad. I hope.

In any case, I reserve the right to revisit this assignment at a later date. :-)


exif data

Mary, for your next challenge I want to see some complimentary colors! Can't wait to see what you come up with! :-)


~RCH~

Tag! I'm it!

I actually have quite a bit of meme catching up to do! A couple days ago awesome photographer Cabe tagged me with the Rule of 6s. I am supposed to:

1. Go to my documents/pictures.
2. Go to my 6th file folder.
3. Go to my 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.
6. Shouldn't there be a 6th rule?



This is an early outtake of one of my favorite sister-themed photo shoots. Uno was four years old (where does the time go?) and not super cooperative that day; as individual shots go, I got a lot better ones of (2.5yo) Dos. That's usually the way it goes, though which girl is good and which girl isn't switches off. I still haven't gotten a sister pic that I love of all three girls.

All right. I hereby tag: Anna Jo, Becca, Beckle the Freckle, Eliza, Uno Kidney, and Nicole. :-)

I'm also overdue on the 25 Random Things meme that flew around on Facebook last week. I think everyone's already done it, so I won't bother tagging anyone (unless you're not on "Facboo," or you are but you're a slacker like me -- in which case, go ahead whenever you're ready).

All right. 25 Random Things About Me:

1. I am a fan of Diet Dr. Pepper and other zero-calorie food and beverages, but I am completely mystified by how it works. Aren't calories like the essence of food on an atomic level? Or something?

2. Another thing I wonder about: Pride Trucking. Their semis are purple with rainbow lettering. I don't mean to offend anyone by this question, but, um, is there a fleet of gay truckers out riding around in the macho world of over-the-road freight? It seems like hiring based on sexual preference would violate equal opportunity laws (plus I worry they would they get beat up at truck stops). On the other hand, Convenant appears to hire only (mostly?) Christian drivers, so.... Go figure.

3. The reason I have noticed and can ponder on such fascinating questions as number two is that I love road trips. When I get old I'd love to live in an RV and see the country (DH would rather gouge his eyes out with a spoon, though, so that's unlikely to happen).

4. Once when traveling from Texas to Illinois (one of the very few road trips I've been on with DH, and only because we were too poor to fly), we stopped at a (very Southern Gothic looking) gas station in Palestine, Arkansas. Instead of postcards, the store had a rotating display of evangelical pamphlets -- things like, "DEATH!! It Comes For Everyone!" with awesome drawings of the Grim Reaper and scriptures and threats in random capital letters. On the back of each tract was the sinner's prayer and an address for their ministry if I wanted to write in for more information. I try to be respectful of other people's beliefs (or non belief), as I'd like the same respect in return, but I'm also a big fan of religious kitsch (like my Jesus Saves piggy bank; thanks again, Beckle!). So I grabbed a handful, although I have no intention of ever becoming the fundamentalist evangelical flavor of Christian, and still have one hanging on my refrigerator.

5. Uno received nail polish for her birthday from one of her classmates. She has just offered me a "pedigram" for my fingers. I declined.

Eh, I'm needed elsewhere so I'll have to finish this up later. At least that'll guarantee more posts, lol! I'm so blog lazy lately. :-P Stay tuned for 20 more random facts about me!


~RCH~

Photo-Off Challenge: Backlight

My challenge for this week was backlighting. I had wanted to experiment with sun flares (I learned how to make them either round and blobby or spikey and star shaped, depending on the aperture) but the sun decided not to come out this week. Grrrrr. So instead I played around inside with diffused window light and household lamps.

I tried a few different subjects (mostly household knickknacks), and settled on this as my favorite. The first shot is Mary on plain white poster board (with a custom white balance set for a nice soft, soothing color). The light is behind her and to the side.... I wasn't sure if that counted as backlight, though, so for the second shot I stuck the lamp directly behind her with a piece of opaque plastic in between.


Nikon D70 - 85mm prime lens; 1/1000 at f/1.8; ISO 200


Nikon D70 - 85mm prime lens; 1/1000 at f/1.8; ISO 200

Isn't she lovely? Clearly I have holy envy, lol.

Mary, your challenge for next week -- which, if you got the same weather we did in the last few days, should give you ample subject matter -- is FROZEN. Have fun! :-)


~RCH~

Talking points

I recently came across a list I made of words that Uno could say at 15-1/2 months (the same age Tres is now). For comparison, here is Tres's list, with non-standard but consistent pronunciations in parentheses:

Mama
Dada
baby
hi
bye
night-night
all done (ahduh)
go go team (gogotee!)
diaper (biper)
more
book (buh)

Not too shabby for 15mo, right? Yeeeaaah. Now let's look at Uno's list, as recorded on April 25, 2004:

ADJECTIVES
Bad
Cold (Coe)
Cute (Cue)
Gross (Gwoe)
Hot
Owie (Awwie)
Yucky

NOUNS
Baby (Babah)
Back
Ball (Baa)
Bathroom (Bawoo)
Blanket (Bakie)
Book
Breakfast (Bafa)
Bunny (Buhyah; Bay)
Cat (Mow)
Cheese
Clothes (Coe)
Cracker (Caca)
Cup
Diaper
Dog (Oof-oof)
Duck (Guk; Cack-Cack)
Ear (Aw, pointing to ear)
Eye (Aw, pointing to eye)
Hair (Haa)
Hat (Hot)
Head (Heh)
Hippo (Happo)
Juice
Magazine (Maga)
Milk
Moon (Moo)
Night (Ny)
Nose (No)
Pants (Pass)
Pictures (Picka)
Plate (Pay)
Poop
Prayer (Peh)
Shoe
Shirt (Sh*t)
Sock (Cock)
Spoon (Poo)
Toes (Toessytoe -- for "tootsie toes," my word)
Window (Endo)

PROPER NAMES
Billy (Bee)
Bobby (Baa)
Camilla (Milka)
Dada
Eliza (Paa)
Esther (Essa)
Mama
Mary (Meh; Mehmeh)
Meghan (Maga)
Mimi
Paul (Paa)

VERBS
Don't (Doe)
Go
Help (Hap)
Open (Opa)
Pray (Pay)
Stop it (Topit)
Talk
Walk

PHRASES / MISC
Fell down (Fa dow)
Here you go (A-go!)
Help you (Hapoo -- really she means "help me" when she says this)
Hi, you!
No
Out


Poor Dos doesn't even have a list, so I have no idea how her verbal abilities compare (though she has a big vocabulary for her age now). Looking this over, I'm simultaneously amazed at what I figured at the time was Uno's normal language development and disappointed that Tres isn't getting the same attention (or something) to develop her skills. I don't worry that she's behind or anything -- but SHEESH. What a contrast.

My mom says that subsequent babies often speak later or less than their older siblings because they have plenty of people to do the talking for them -- but her own family doesn't bear that out: I was a #3 and the most verbally precocious of the bunch; #8, the baby, came in a close second; we both spoke in elaborate and clearly enunciated sentences before our second birthdays.

I'm sure Tres will catch up. With (humble) me for a mom and such a Chatty Cathy for a dad, how could she not? ;-) It's just crazy to see how different the girls are. (Or at least these two, since I don't recall how well Dos talked at this age.)


~RCH~