Day 123 Golden Pears

I actually photographed these pears on a blue background first then, just for fun, put them on my black background. Yes the pears are painted. For some reason I've always enjoyed painting pears. Only this time I painted the actual pears. I wish I had some gold glitter so I could have added some to the picture. Something to try in the future.

Day 122 Silverware, Apple and Beets

Tomorrow marks the end of the fourth month of taking a picture every day. That is to say I'm one third of the way finished with this project. What have I learned? That I have a lot to learn. The most important thing I've learned is that the kinds of pictures I'm taking are not what I should be doing... however, I'm not quitting the project as I feel it does have it's advantages. For instance I love photographing things on black and using the light I have. I also love my old plexi glass background as I love all the scratches it has acquired over time. I believe it adds texture to the pictures. I took so many pictures of things on black today I couldn't edit. By the time I finish this blog I hope to have at least fifty images of things on black.

Today also marks the third Sunday in a row that I have gone walking with my Pentax 645 taking pictures with black and white film. Most of what I shoot when I'm out are pictures most photographers wouldn't even consider wasting their film on, like all the empty houses and the houses that show signs of human life but no one is around. I am sometimes lucky on my walks and meet people who don't mind having their picture taken. These are the kinds of pictures I should be taking. I plan on a trip down South in September to process film and listen to Dan Winters talk about his work. He has an awesome book out titled "Periodical Portraits"

Since starting this project my best pictures, both of them, were taken on Ninth Street. But I don't have the good spirit you need to go photograph there much anymore. Can't say why exactly. A prostitute yelled at me today. I'm hard of hearing just kept walking.... Then later while waiting for my husband to pick me up, I was sitting on River road which crosses Ninth Street, a guy in a white truck pulled over and told me to get in... I told him I was waiting for my husband and he pulled out fast. It didn't occur to me until later that he thought I was a professional woman. Ass hole... "Get in" .... in his dreams...

Day 121 Party in a Glass, that's right Splash!

I couldn't wait to long to take another splash photo. I wanted to do a better job. I really don't have all the tools required so I just used what I could find. An old wine glass, the kind you find for sale real cheap almost anywhere. Not ideal, because the design doesn't allow for to much transparency. And some plastic jewels I bought a few months ago to photograph at some point. Again not ideal, as the jewels are very light, not easy to make a proper splash. However, I set them up and my husband dropped the jewels for me. We spent about a half hour then called it quits. This is my favorite shot.

Day 120 Eric

While on an evening constitution through the local cemetery with my better half, I noticed many cats lurking about the graves. My husband stopped to talk to a nice couple sitting nearby while I attempted to photograph the cats. My efforts were futile, as the cats were to feral to approach without them high tailing it back into the tress from which they came. It was eerie, the cemetery with all those feral cats sitting on the graves. As the sun slowly set a shadow passed by startling me and a while a chill ran up my spine. By sheer instinct alone I turned quickly and snapped a few pictures. The camera showed no image when I looked, but now at home I find this picture. Strange...

O.K. the guys name is Eric and the bag is filled with cat food. But the picture does look eerie, doesn't it??

Day 119 Steve and Merlot

Earlier in the year I traded photographic services for horse training services. I photographed Steve Bauhr's progress training a mustang mare, Tonopah Ora, who he trained for the Western States Horse Expo mustang challenge competition in June. Steve did a marvelous job and Tonopah Ora found herself a great home.

I bought Merlot as a yearling in 2004. He has not been in a trailer since. He is six years old now, 16.2 hands, and very leery of different people and different situations. The only horse I own that I could not get in a trailer on my own. It didn't take Steve long before he had Merlot going in and backing out of the trailer. I guess Merlot just needed some one who knew what they were doing.

Merlot's a long way off from being trailer trained but at least now he has a good start. All I wanted. On the walk back to Merlot's stall I snapped quite a few pictures. I love so many of them, because of course I love my horse, and the sky was gorgeous, so for today a silhouette of Steve and Merlot.

Day 118 Pickle Splash, edited to add Coffee Splash

I spent the entire day pouring cream into coffee trying to get a certain kind of splash with a drop of cream and even posted the best I could get. Then I perused around flicker to see everyone's splash photographs and they were amazing so of course couldn't be satisfied with my coffee and cream splash. I grabbed the best type of glass we had and found something heavy enough to hopefully make a splash, a dill pickle, and began my new undertaking. I spent only about twenty minutes total, compared to this afternoons six hour episode, to get this shot. You can't really tell it's a dill pickle.

Looking at it a day later my coffee splash was way better, I should have left it. I'm really not a good editor. I think I'm going to add my coffee splash to this post and anyone can make up their own mind which is better. In any case I plan on making more splashes. I have to at least get as good at making splashes as all those smucks who have pictures on flicker.

Day 117 Dancing Light Reading Glasses

I had planed on going for a walk for tonight's picture, but I was sitting around the house bored when I noticed the light coming through the blinds. I set my black plexi glass background into the light and put my husbands reading glasses on it. I photographed the glasses from almost every angle acquiring for myself a cornucopia of reading glasses compositions. I chose this picture because it was the light that drew me and it is the light that makes this picture.

I had been feeling pretty bad lately. I've been feeling like my pictures aren't what they ought to be, to coin a phrase, but I am excited about tonight's picture. I just love the rainbow of colors and how the light seems to dance on the surface even though the picture is a still.

Day 116 Dead Dog

I parked my jeep grabbed my camera and prepared to photograph Ninth Street. As I started to cross the street I found this bloody mess in the middle of the road. I began taking pictures as well as I could in between the packs of cars rushing by. A few of them looking back as if to say "What's she doing taking pictures of a dead dog".

I don't recall a single time in my jaunts to Ninth Street where I haven't seen stray dogs wandering around. I often try to photograph them but they run away or I get a better shot of something else. Not to long after photographing this dog, who must have belonged to someone as it's collar is near by, I spotted a small tan chihuahua mix strutting along the curb as if he owned the street. I tried to grab a shot of him but he was much to fast. I watched as he darted across Ninth Street almost getting hit by a car, and then shooed off by a street person he scampered down an adjoining street.

Day 115 Feet don't fail me now

I took an awesome picture of my feet when I was in Junior college and haven't photographed them since. Their older now and far less attractive, that's if you can call feet attractive. The thing I like about my feet, is that no matter how fat I get, my feet always look slim when I strain them. Go ahead laugh, but some people do have fat feet. Nothing wrong with that. Just saying my feet don't look fat when I strain them.

Day 114 Crystal and Arrow

I was again attempting to photograph the cigarette packages on top of the fence on Ninth Street, when Anthony, Crystal and Arrow happened by. As they passed Anthony turned around and said, "Hey your the woman who was taking pictures". He remembered me from sometime in March. I had photographed him and his new puppy Diamond, a chow mix. I asked him how Diamond was doing and he said she's mean now so she just stays in the motel. But he was walking Arrow, a dog that everyone who stays at the hotel takes care of. He had told me about Arrow when we last met. Back then I took several pictures of him and Diamond in black and white film, but have yet to pick a picture I like. He told me the girl he was with was named Crystal, but she doesn't talk much he said. She hung around while we carried on a conversation but never said a word.

Day 113 Blu

I set up a single light in my living room and tried without success to get the PG&E guy to let me take his picture. He declined and I persisted, he declined and I persisted, until finally I let him leave the house without taking his picture. He was afraid he could lose his job. OK a reasonable excuse and a legitimate concern.

Not to be defeated and determined to photograph someone in front of the black background in my living room with my one light, I walked across the street. Blu just arrived to visit his friends and his friends, my neighbors, convinced him to model for me. He removed his glasses and stood where I asked and turned his head in any direction. I took quite a few pictures, enough to learn, I need to learn a lot about lighting. I do like this picture of him and don't even mind the light glare. I should though, a true professional would not be satisfied with it.

Day 112 Diane

The last Thursday of the month art walk was tonight. I have two macro images in the show at the Photographers Gallery, so of course went to the opening. I noticed a sharp beam of light entering the gallery and began taking pictures. Diane, a photographer friend of mine who works at the gallery, began modeling for me. I chose this picture because I love the play of both hands on her chest and I also love all the undistinguishable chaos in the background and I also love how you can see her wonderful personality.

Day 111 Eggs in black and white

I'm shooting exclusively in black and white today so a post of a picture I took earlier this year.

I enjoyed a nice breakfast with a friend and her girlfriend. My friend ordered poached eggs. This is something I've often ordered before, only I never had them served to me looking the way her order did. They looked like a couple of testicles. I took a few pictures and made a few jokes, before she told me "Hey I have to eat these"

Day 110 Eggs

Eggs, the stuff of which dreams are made of. I had a dream I should photograph a couple of raw eggs and their shells. So I did.