sidewalk tourism: more magnolias

more magnolias...

sidewalk tourism: magnolias...

The magnolias had a decent run this year. Usually they bloom and then it immediately snows...

Enjoy your spring!

sidewalk tourism: spring magnolia

The temperatures finally warmed up! So I'm declaring it officially spring... that means it's sidewalk tourism time. No more winter blues. No more cabin fever. No more funk.

Hopefully your flowers are blooming : )

the pageantry of bad photos

If I was more ironic,  then, well, I'd be more ironic... or I might be content with these things because their flaws are an expression of character or something.

I wanted one of those macro shots of a magnolia petal on the ground, but well, it was windy and I was standing at the end of some stranger's driveway essentially photographing leaf litter, and well, that's always weird... I seem to have missed my shot. The cement is in focus though - I mean that little part at the top.

 Over-lit... I mean the "dirt" looks good, but then there's the other 90% of the picture.

 You would think I took this photo on Mars — based on the red glow. Nope, just my camera's aperture not agreeing with my lighting.

 This is certainly not glamorous, but it usually does the trick: natural light.

 ...except, of course, I was interrupting the construction.

...and then there's the wind. Yes, thanks, wind.

 This would have been the previous shot.

 I'm bringing back bad lighting, and 1980's Sears catalog floral bedding selection patterns...

...if I try it indoors I can make it look even worse.
It's a white card and a white envelope - no attempts at photography thus far have provided satisfactory results.

 The inane things that have nothing to do with the actual task at hand are always infinitely more entertaining - look, its lichen or moss or something!

Oh, yes, yes I did. I got a nice shot of some nice green lichen right after it rained, and it's got that macro blur on it... Of course, this isn't a picture of a greeting card, so, its not terribly useful, but at least it was a decent shot. Perhaps its time to put the camera down for a bit and wait for the answer to come to me like the solution to a mystery on House or something. Damn, I'm going to miss that show when its final season ends. And, yes, I had a little school girl crush on Chase...

I sat down and caught up on "The Big C" yesterday afternoon. Somehow since the season premiere I managed to miss an episode. It's a well performed & well written show, I recommend giving it a try.
And maybe later this week I'll muster up the ability to take some usable photos. Maybe.

Anyway, I thank you for enduring the pageantry of bad photos, I actually have a lot more, but, well, I think you get the point...

the cold, the bad, & the ugly...

Remember the last post about the magnolias? Yeah, well, they got their 2 days of blooming and then it was over... the cold front came in, so the thing is one "spectacular mess" now:

However, this week I finished a project I've been working on for a few weeks now, so in order to get some things set up I needed to take some photos of some of my creations... as it turns out, I have taken a lot of crappy product shots. And I have found that the easiest way to get photos that require the least effort and editing is to take them outside in atmospheric light. So, I put on my gloves...

And just because there's a formula or a routine for something doesn't mean they're all spectacular shots... As it turns out, I make things that are difficult to photograph...

 Yes, those are worms. Well, polymer clay worms. What? You're a little grossed out? Ah. Don't be.  That's nature's garbage disposal system right there.  Well, that and less than stellar photos.

Anyway, I make weird things. And you know, we've been to this well before. So, I was standing in Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago in the aisle with all the "wood" stuff, and I picked up these little plaques and laughed and thought "I could make something weird with these." So, I picked through them and bought the 8 that looked good and square.

I had to think about how I was going to execute this project, since I have a tendency to be a little messy.  So I decided the plaques needed to be stained first.  Now, I had also bought these wooden discs a couple weeks prior. They're basically the same thing I use for brooches, except round.  And I'm pretty sure I bought them to use for brooches, but this whole wormhole idea big-footed that.

 So, while my stain was setting, I made my worms.  And then, while finally watching "The Rum Diary" on my first new television in fifteen years - I spackled and primed my wood pieces and added the worms... of course, then I had to wait for that to dry — which is when a week's worth of watercolors began.

Once the spackle was dry, then I added the dirt — which is essentially a combination of acrylic paint with glue and tea grounds, a couple more layers of tea grounds, and an overcoat of a mixture of paint, glue, water, and gloss varnish... and then that has to dry.  And then I sanded the edges of my plaques and gave them another coat of stain... and then painted all the backs white... and then gave the plaques a coat of gloss varnish. So, I still need to take some pictures of them, but, essentially, they're finally done.

Anyway, this frigid weekend part of my photography plans were to change up the pictures for my "bad apples." This is an old shot... Yeah, so basically, I changed the background.

 

This bad apple is one of my favorites, since they look like they're having a little conversation.

So, the entire photo shoot usually takes place on the back porch.  Either I put a 13X19 inch print out of one of my photos down on the porch steps or I set up a drawing board with the print out across the arms of one of the chairs. Product photography is rarely glamorous.

Anyway, the magnolia is right there next to the porch, so when I was done shooting the worm-work, I took some shots of the magnolia and it's big mess of petals...

 Ironically, real live worms were hard at work.  Of course, since it was cold out, as soon as I picked up the thing they were hiding under, they squirmed their way back to shelter.  Nature is funny like that.

And then it rained. Rain & cold are real impediments to getting photos done and out of the way, so then the project had to move indoors, where between 2 camera let's just say there are less than stellar results...

So, maybe today it won't be too cold or rainy and I can get my shots done. Maybe.

Outside: magnolia

Magnolia, oh magnolia, you dear dear bush...

magnolia fantasia

magnolia cascade

magnolia skies

intricate magnolia

As I have mentioned before, here in Michigan when the magnolia finally blooms it then usually immediately snows. So, the bushes look fabulous for about a day, and then they are covered with snow and turn all brown and sad looking... and then all the petals fall off in a spectacular mess.

Well, we had 80˚F weather here for a week in March, so, I got my time with the magnolias.  It is a balmy 53˚F presently as I type this.  It rained during the night and the forecast predicts more rain. So, there-yah-go — we had our brief week of spring, and now it's back to weather as usual.

brief almost connected to the post musical interlude: Grateful Dead "Sugar Magnolia"

I was never a Dead-Head, per se, but "American Beauty" is an album that I happen to own. I'm one of those people who usually buys an album for one or 2 songs, and then eventually ends up listening to the entire thing, and well, I become fond of all the songs.  And "American Beauty" was one of those albums that followed that pattern. I'm pretty sure I probably bought it solely for "Sugar Magnolia." But I became quite fond of "Ripple," "Till the Morning Comes," and "Operator." But actually it was "Box of Rain" that I became completely smitten with. (Oh, and I'm pretty sure everyone has heard "Truckin" and "Friend of the Devil," unless, like, you live under a rock or were born after 1990)

Anyway, I could put "Box of Rain" on repeat for hours, I love that song. So, you know, buy the album, you'll eventually find all the good songs.

Anyway, as it is every year with the magnolias:

"Such a long long time to be gone

And a short time to be there."

—Robert Hunter

Enjoy your weekend!

Outside: magnolia

Spring has been a little strange this year. According to the calendar it began on 20 March 2011... well, it sure hasn't felt like it. It felt more like winter-lite. At least it did until this week, when the temperature seems to have risen. So, the magnolia had an interesting season of blooms. I mean about 3 weeks ago there was a day where the buds were covered in snow for 24 hours...

And now the blooming season is drawing to a close, so the petals are dropping... I suppose it's like confetti.

Outside: magnolia

As many of you know — we had some severe weather here in the United States this past week, including tornadoes in the Southern States. Well, I live in Michigan, so we just had rain, rain, more rain, and finally one giant thunderstorm that overflowed every river, stream, lake, and farm field or low area. I was at work listening to the rain pound on the metal roof when it happened... and then drove home on those country highways punctuating farm fields that looked like they were full of chocolate milk. Weather is not to be taken lightly.

Anyway, it finally stopped raining — just in time for the art walk. It was nice to finally participate in that event without rain.

In the mean time, the magnolias around these parts have been ready to bloom. That always seems to happen right when we're having inclement weather. Magnolias just have the weirdest timing. They're such pretty bushes, but it always seems to be gloomy out when they bloom, so, there was some photoshopping that took place with these photos... to make them seem less somber.

They are actually all other people's magnolias, since ours has yet to open. Hopefully it doesn't snow tomorrow or something equally wacky like that.