Here We Go Again...

Perhaps the full moon can explain the strange goings-on around me this week. Goings-on that have made me raise my eyebrows a few times, smirk just a little in amazement and slightly nod at the oddities. Whatever has caused the out-of-character behaviours, I will now be adding to them by posting on this blog once more - where I was so certain this blog would be in indefinite hiatus for reasons too boring to mention, I've changed my mind. When I spoke out loud to a couple of people about blogging, I realised that I missed rambling on about nothing and that not posting was more stressful to me than posting. Work that one out.

The pathway leading to the creekbed was littered with what seemed to be blueberries.
Lots of them. I wondered who would misplace so many blueberries.

So let me share here my photography project for 2014 --- 52 themed self portraits. I resisted for the first few weeks* until I realised that the photos fitting the themes had been taken by default and using my iPhone **. We are now in Week 12 and have to admit that I am actively participating in this project, and no longer reluctantly. The theme for Week 12 was "The Great Outdoors". Living in the Blue Mountains and surrounded by endless bushland gorges made this week's shot a no-brainer. Time was my only issue so I used the small window of time I had to seek out this quiet creek bed, set up the iPhone on the teensy little tripod I bought online, set the camera app to self timer and get into position without slipping on the mossy rocks. I discovered the interval timer on the app which meant I didn't have to run back and forth to the iPhone - what a win! To edit the shot, I used the Snapseed app and the Camerabag app - both pretty flexible editing tools.

In the midst of this week's chaos, disorder and busyness, "The Great Outdoors" theme was perfectly timed, much needed and much appreciated. Ahhh, feel the serenity!

* Aren't I getting a bit long in the tooth to be taking selfies? Yes, yes I am, and what of it?

** That's really the challenge here I feel, can I take 52 self portraits that won't look like quick grabs you would normally take when out with your girlfriends? Can I make them look "arty"?

Serendipity in Autumn

There has been that crispness to the air this week, that only autumn brings. The sun is still shining but the sting in the cool breeze reminds you it's time to add another layer of clothing and perhaps think about airing the winter doona. Our neighbour has a glorious liquid amber tree that stands as a beacon of reds and golds and rust at the moment, and today while I was doing the mundane task of hanging the washing on the line, I stopped and watched how the breeze was picking off the leaves and sending them whirling, twirling, cascading to the ground (and into the pool...). I did chuckle to myself when I thought of this autumn tree. And then I thought of the iPhone shot I took, was it last year or the year before? The well timed shot showing the leaves being flung from the tree...hmmm... I couldn't quite remember so I continued the task at hand so I could get back inside and away from the chilly air.

Much later when I was checking my emails, a serendipitous moment occurred! For in the bunch of emails was none other than the one I receive from Photojojo, reminding me what I was doing a year ago, in images, thanks to their Time Capsule email. I can't remember when I signed up for it, a while ago now I'm certain. I love getting this email and I have to say that I never remember it's due until I see it in my inbox, then it's usually the first email I open so I can see what I was doing a year ago. So when I opened the Time Capsule, there was the shot! "The Scattering autumn leaves in the warm breeze" shot, taken on the 11th May last year. The tree is looking a little bare this year and the wind was definitely not warm but the dancing leaves were just as beautiful.

Have you signed up to the Photojojo Time Capsule email? If you've got a flickr account, then what are you waiting for?! It's sure to put a smile on your face as you go back in time and view what you were doing this time last year. Especially today when we tend not to print up our images, what better way to revisit your photo archives than with this little time capsule.

And because you can never take enough autumn photos, here's some dreamy samples I shot with the Olympus E-PM1 and a homemade bendy lens:

Oh, and as an aside, to let you know that the Sausage Sizzle and Cake Stall held in Leura this past weekend raised over $800 for Team Blue Magic! Thank you to all our supporters and I hope you enjoyed the cakes, slices and sausage sangers!

Quick, Easy and Healthy Banana Pancakes

A few weeks ago my friend C. told me of a very quick and easy banana pancake recipe and I had all but forgotten about it until this morning when I spied the bananas in the fruit bowl. I don't know if your household is the same, but bananas in my household are either immediately scoffed and you question whether you actually bought them in the first place, or they're completely ignored and then the only thing they're good for is for baking into banana cake/bread/muffins.

Back to the quick, easy and healthy recipe - and this is yummy enough to be served up as an afternoon snack and dare I say it, even dessert!

Quick, Easy, Healthy Banana Pancakes

What you'll need:

1 banana, mashed with a fork
1 egg
Sprinkling of cinnamon powder

1 sandwich press
3 egg rings that you've greased with a little bit of butter.

* This is enough for one serving. You can alternate the egg/banana ratio depending on how many bananas your family has left you, and how many people you need to make this for. I waited for the family to head to work, school and uni before making this - sneaky, I know ;)

I really should have cleaned the sandwich press, or at least photoshopped the crumbs away...

Method:

Preheat your sandwich press. Mine doesn't have a temperature control dial so it's either off or on. Place the 3 greased egg rings on the sandwich press. In a small bowl, add the egg to the mashed banana and keep mooshing together until a nice gloopy consistency is created. Sprinkle some cinnamon powder to taste. Pour the mixture into the egg rings and close the lid. It only takes a few minutes to cook, so while you're waiting, you can slice up some seasonal fruit or raid the pantry for nuts. Grab a plate, test the pancakes to make sure they're cooked (I did this by cutting into one of them). Run a butter knife along the edges of the egg ring in order to release the pancake. Stack the pancakes on your plate, add a dollop of ricotta and the seasonal fruit, then finish off with another sprinkling of cinnamon. Sit down and enjoy it!

Delicious breakfast for one. Nom!

Alternatives:

* Omit the ricotta if you don't eat dairy, use a dollop of tahini instead.
* If you prefer your food a little sweeter (note that I didn't add any sweeteners natural or otherwise), then add a squirt of honey or your favourite sweetener to the eggy mixture.
* To turn this into a simple dessert, add a handful of dark chocolate bits to the eggy mixture, then serve the lot with ice cream or sorbet or yoghurt.

There would be countless alternatives to this simple recipe. Best of all, it's quick, you don't need any high falutin' appliances and the resulting dish is delicious, wholesome and versatile. Give me this delicious breakfast to the alternative breakfast that's served up from a cardboard box any day!

Thanks so much C. for the great breakfast tip! xx

How to Watermark your Images

It's about this time of year that I consider updating the watermark I use when I add images to sites such as Flickr. The trouble with this is that I can never seem to remember how I did the previous one... Add to that, I've also been asked by a couple of friends to show them how to add watermarks to their images, so I thought I'd write a step-by-step of how I created this current watermark.

 

1. Choose a font, any font, preferably one you like and that can be a sort of signature for you. No doubt you have hundreds of fonts on your computer, so open up a document, type your name (or whatever text you want to use for your watermark) and have a play with the fonts you already have. If you're not happy you have The Font, then turn to the internet - that's what it's there for! I found this font from dafont and it's called znikomit No24 by gluk. The swirly frame was one I had made and used for a previous project, but you don't need to use a frame for your watermark.

2. I use PS but I'm sure that any photo editing software can be used. (These instructions will be PS oriented.) Open up a new file to a size of 4300 x 2300, set layer to white. But to be honest, the size can be approximate, as you'll re-size the watermark down to size according to each image you watermark.

3. Select the text symbol and then select a text colour. I've chosen #a6a6a6 for mine. Type your name on that layer.

4. Go to your Layers menu and select Blending Options. Because the font I have chosen is quite fine, I've selected Bevel and Emboss as well as Drop Shadow. Depending on the font you choose, you may find this step unnecessary. I have also selected Colour overlay and set it to negative image.

 

You can see the effect of the blending options on a heavier font:

5. I added my swirl frame on a new layer and inversed the colours (it was black, inversed to white) then applied the same blending option as above:

 

At this stage, it's still too 'dainty' and almost invisible on even the plainest of images. This won't be the case if the font you have chosen is bulkier. If you have chosen a dainty font and/or frame, simply duplicate both the text and frame 2 or even 3 times. Practice popping the watermark on one of your images to see if you're happy with the effect. You may find that you don't need to duplicate the blending effect on each duplicated layer, so simply disable the blending option as you see fit.

6. Once you're happy with the watermark, it's time to group all the layers together using the "Create a new Group" option in the Layers palette (red circle). Drag each layer onto the new folder (green circle). You will notice the Blending Mode is now "Pass through". Save this as a .pdf file:

7. Time to grab one of your images and test out your new watermark. Grab your folder, you'll notice I've called mine "ZNIKO grey" and copy that to one of your open images. How you size the watermark, where you position it and how you blend it to your photo will depend on each image and of course your own personal preference:

So now you should be good to go. I hope you've found this How To easy to follow and implement..

What are your thought on watermarks? Do you use them?  If not, I'd love to hear why. 

 

If you have any questions, drop me a comment.

Happy New Year! Especially to you, Overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude

Happy New Year! And yes, I also wish the overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude a Happy New Year, even if he did almost ruin the start of the year for me and quite a few other people. Against my normally conservative and no-extreme-action disposition, I said yes to going out on a little boat with a few friends on Sydney Harbour for New Year's Eve. Surprisingly, every other person who owns a boat had the exact same idea. Who knew? Aside from the congestion of what must be the Harbour's busiest day, seeing the fireworks from the vantage of the water was really something quite special. So special, I recorded a few clips using my iPhone and edited them and, as you do, popped the finished clip up on youtube:

The atmosphere, the sound, the light spectacular just isn't the same as watching it on the telly even if you do own one of those fancy-dancy tellies. And it's not the same as watching it on the above clip, even if it was shot on an iPhone... Of course at the end of the awesome display - you're not going to believe it - but all the owners of all those boats want to go home or at the very least, be the first one to reach the jetty. And that's where Overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude comes into this story. Aside from making bogan comments to those at the start of the queue for taking too long (!), he then proceeded to "help" those boats tied up and waiting for their trailers to arrive. Unfortunately for us,  the trailer for the boat I was on,was parked a million miles away, but that didn't deter Overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude from untying the boats, moving them forward and then tying them up again. Very helpful. Now, I don't know boat etiquette, but I would imagine that the person who has their trailer first in line at the jetty should be able to get their boat out of the water first no matter where in the boat queue they are. The trouble was, not only had Overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude shifted the boat I was on to the front of the queue, in his overzealousness to help everyone else, he had forgotten to get his trailer which was also parked a million miles away, so off he went to retrieve said trailer. With the only driver of the boat I was on somewhere in the never-ending trailer queue, my friend and I were treated to some pretty colourful language as we were abused for positioning the boat where it was in the way of every boat trying to exit the ramp. The colurful language wasn't anywhere near as pretty as the fireworks either. So, thank you Overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude for being the hero you were in "helping" all those of us who weren't fast enough for your liking. You very nearly dampened my New Year's spirit with your overzealousness and heroism and total carry on. Luckily for you, those fireworks were the best damned fireworks ever!

Happy New Year Everyone! Especially Overzealous White T-Shirt Hero Dude - may 2013 be the year you truly help out those in need because I'm sure that deep down you are a really helpful dude. Just not in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Merry Christmas

I have been protesting for the last few weeks that I'm over Christmas. Christmas hasn't arrived and already I want it to be over. Yet, despite my protestations I find that I'm photographing all manner of Christmas things. Take a look at this week's #Project52. The theme was "On the Shelf", and I chose to arrange a pile of green and red spined books into a sort-of tree. As though that isn't enough, I wrap Christmas lights around the book tree.

Still not enough to stick to one version of the Books-in-the-shape-of-a-tree-arranged-on-a-shelf theme, but I tried similar versions with "Merry Christmas" overlaid on the image and taken with Lensbaby Composer. There are other compositions that are sitting on the hard drive that may never see the light of day.

And then there are shots taken with the iPhone, all with the excuse of testing out new filters and updated apps:

Yet I am still insisting I want this silly season to be over. It's too hyped, too commercial, too in-your-face, too greedy, too rude, too guilt-laden, too over-the-top. While I'm loathing the lead up to The Day, I know that the day itself will be great. It will be simple and relaxed and spent with those I love and cherish and who make me laugh.  They'll take my mind off all the crassness that has become Christmas and instead remind me of the true Christmas spirit. I hope that will also be the case for you.

So that is my Christmas wish for you. I hope you spend the day with those who are dear to you, who make you laugh, who bring out the best in you and you in them. I hope that the crassness that is now Christmas hasn't soured your spirit to the point where it spoils your day. If you're feeling like I do, let's get our narkiness over and done with now, so that we can enjoy the precious time we have with family and friends.

I won't promise anymore blog posts between now and the start of the year, so this is it for 2012. Unless I change my mind, of course. Apologies for not being up to date with the #project52 posts, but they will be caught up in 2013.

Merry Christmas and may 2013 be peaceful and joyful and fun. ♥

The Goodreads App

The regular visitors to my blog may have noticed that I no longer have the "what I'm reading" widget to the side of the blog. That's because I've discovered this great app called Goodreads. It appears to be a networking site for booklovers. You can find your friends, see what they're reading - or what they've read. You can rate and write reviews on books you've already read, add books to a wishlist for future reading, find all sorts of books based on what your friends, and strangers, have recommended. I'm sure there's a lot more you can do on there, but I love the fact that I can use the app on the computer and the iPad and keep track of books I've read and have yet to enjoy. I've recently been listening to some podcasts that mention various novels, and I've found it handy to locate them on Goodreads and add them to my list of "to read". And that's much smarter than any widget on the side of a blog.  If you haven't already joined, and you feel so inclined, then feel free to add me to your list. If joining these sorts of sites just ain't your thang, then feel free to add your favourite book in the comments below.

The above card is also available as a postcard, matted, framed and canvas print.

Note: This post is my opinion only and has not been sponsored by Goodreads, or anyone else for that matter.

Week 37 ~ Sensual

I did say I had an exciting announcement to make, but this post isn't it. This post is going to be super short because I have things occupying my mind at the moment and it's too difficult to concentrate on much else. Plus, it's a great excuse to use for this post because I really wasn't looking forward to this particular brief ~ sensual ~ blergh, what even is 'sensual'? When you're on the wrong side of forty and the media only shows you twenty-somethings (and even younger) as the 'model' for womanhood, you do start to feel inadequate, invisible, and well and truly past it. So that every time I thought about this brief during the week, I would wince and roll my eyes and spit out "stupid senshool brief, what the hell am I going to shoot for it"... So this was the result - lensbaby, lots of blur, cropping of the face, dark and B&W. I'm simply too old, too tired, and way too worried about other things to really care. Blergh!

Week 36 ~ Movement

Whoever said "to kill two birds with one stone" needs a serious smack in the head because they've obviously never applied this to a photography project. Ridiculous saying that when applied to said photography project, leaves you feeling uber-frustrated and ready to pack in the whole thing. If I remember rightly, I was trying to combine the theme of the Project 52 ~ movement ~ with the sub 12 (a friendly and talented bunch of photographers over on flickr) brief of "little people". These little people are HO gauge people used by railway enthusiasts to populate the mini towns they create in their lounge rooms or garages. I mean, it would be silly to go to all the trouble to build a miniature railway setting complete with town and surrounding countryside, and not have little people to populate them. It wouldn't be normal at all, and be a bit zombie apocalype-like to not include these 2cm high humans in the settings. And yes, you read correctly, they are 2cm or so in height, if you don't believe me, then check here, here and here to see the wide variety of little characters you can buy from your favourite hobby store.

I tried to create a scene what showed both the little person and movement and I can tell you it was a most frustrating day. So much so, that when I saw the Canon Photo5 briefs this year included a "little people" brief, well I'll keep it polite and say that I simply exclaimed "oh fiddlesticks". Needless to say, I enjoy what little sanity I have and so submitted the above image to the Photo5 brief. Click here if you would like to see all my submissions for this year's Photo5.

Speaking of sanity or lack thereof, stay tuned to this blog, for an exciting and most ridiculous announcement shall be made in the coming days.

Week 30 ~ Something Funny

 

Indeed. Something funny is definitely going on in the reality TV and modelling world. Why, you ask? Well, it seems that no one, but no one is willing to give the talented and gorgeous Ivana B. Downwright-Glamma a chance. She has sent out millions and millions of copies of her head shots to ALL of the agencies and to ALL of the reality TV production houses around the world (yes; yes she has...) and has not received one single reply. No. Not one. And I think you can see from her portrait shots I've included here, each image is a winner. To be honest, I don't understand it. I've seen a smattering of reality TV. I've seen the adverts for the Kardashians, for Jersey Shore, for that Essex mob and I've even seen tweets about The Shire, and Ivana B. can offer so much more. Viewing tastes have changed, they are less sophisticated than they once were. Perhaps that is the problem. Perhaps Ivana B.'s days of being in the spotlight were over before they even began. Not all is lost though, she is still a favourite at the Doomsbury Retirement Home for the Photogenically Challenged where she gives up her time sharing hair and make-up techniques with those who lack the skills and finesse that she so clearly has by the bucket-load. *

* Ummm...none of this is one little bit true.

A Most Prolific Blogger

Now that's what I consider I am - A Most Prolific Blogger. Except that it isn't actually true. In my imagination it is though. I have all these wonderful blogging ideas that pop into my head at the most inopportune times and I never seem to get a chance to write them down. Then of course, when I do have some spare time, do you think I can remember all those grand posts that I had mentally drafted? No. I can't even remember the witty titles I give them. I guess it's a good thing that I don't get a chance to write all those mental posts out, as you'd be here so often reading the hundreds of posts (well, maybe not hundreds, but there would be lots and lots more than you see here...)that you would never get anything else done. And then you'd have to feed your family those baked beans on toast you tell them they love so much. Again. So, really, it's a good thing that I do curb my posting here, because it was my intention all along to save you time.

However, while you're here, let's catch up on the past couple of weeks of my photo project. Week 28 was Pattern and Week 29 was The Colour Green. I had a specific sort of pattern in mind, and again time was limited; and the sort of tree fern with lush new growth that I was looking for, was nowhere to be seen. So, the image below was all I could manage to find that looked remotely lush and pattern-like.

My usual choice of shallow depth of field in a way enhances the pattern of the leaves on either side of that tiny frond. It's not a shot I can tick off my list, but that's ok too.You don't want to tick too many off a list - goodness knows what happens when you get to the end of a list!

And then we have the lovely Miss E, being ever so patient with the finicky sunlight and clumsy, yet excitable, photographer. Dressed in Op-Shop green shirt bought for the occasion for the sum of $4.00, it was just the green I had envisaged to compliment her gorgeous red locks and green eyes.

Our afternoons are still so short at this time of year, and this is attempt no.2 to capture the image I could see in my mind. Attempt no. 1 is here, and it has a very different feel to it even though it was perhaps only half an hour later, on the previous day. If you follow the link, you'll see the lighting details for both portraits.

This week is Week 30 and the theme is "Something Funny". The shots are done and the dozens of posts, along with their witty titles, have been mentally written and the project due date is tomorrow. I have a big weekend planned, so I hope to write a quick post again before too long.

New Beginnings

There's something in the air at the moment, as everywhere I turn, there's change of some sort going on. Some of the changes are minor, others not. Some are game changes, others not. Some are simply part of life and living and some are even exciting and squeal worthy.

This morning, Red Bubble, the website where I sell my photographic prints,  had a major site change. My day, being what it was, I didn't get to spend much time browsing there, but my initial thinking is that I quite like the new look. I've just noticed that my avatar makes me look as though I'm peering out of a porthole, and you can just see that Nutella jar I'm about to tuck into - so that is quite cool! I like the serif and slightly larger font - but that may be an age thing. Or maybe my computer suddenly has larger font...

I've also recently upgraded my camera, and this is one of the images from my first session out with it. More changes; getting used to where features are located; learning the new features.  The steep learning curve begins again. The first and last images from my beloved 50D, were of flowers. I was determined to change that pattern, and start with something a little more adventurous than flowers! (See what I did there - I forced a change upon my comfortable routine...nothing like jumping right out of the comfort zone.) Moody, misty landscape shots in the Blue Mountains National Park seemed a little more adventurous.

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we start from.
T.S. Eliot

So now, if you'll excuse me, what I need is a good night's sleep so that I can awaken tomorrow and embrace the changes that simply keep coming my way.

How to Add the "No Pin" Code to Blogger Site

I've been feeling more and more uncomfortable about the whole Pinterest thing and not only have I removed all the pins from my Pinterest account (except for one), I have also revoked my sharing permissions on Flickr and now on Blogger. This really is such a shame, as I really like the concept of being about to catalogue images and snippets into various categories for further reference purposes, but not at the risk of serious copyright breach. So, if you're feeling uncomfortable with Pinterest's TOS, then you can add a piece of code to your Blogger site that prevents others from pinning your images without your permission.

 This is how:

1. Go to Template > Edit HTML

2. Select "Proceed"

3. Tick "Expand Widget Templates"

4. Now look for the following piece of code < /head > (actual code won't have a space between symbols and letters)

5. Paste in the following code just before the < arrow in the code:

< meta content='nopin' name='pinterest'/ > (remove the space between the < and > keys)

6. Select "Preview" to make sure it's not broken then "Save".

Now if someone tried to pin an image from your Blogger site, the following message shows:

This site doesn't allow pinning to Pinterest. Please contact the owner with any questions. Thanks for visiting!

While this is only a bandaid solution, I hope that Pinterest will look at their very unclear, unfair and contradictory TOS.

Update: It appears that Pinterest have updated their TOS but they are still to alter their TOS enough to answer the copyright concerns of many.