What can be done with a bit of frozen water

I'm printing a short series off some old negs for my portfolio and to practice printmaking. The prints are actually a bit less contrasty than these scans, but cheap scanner + cheap photo editing software = so-so scans. Must get PhotoShop... and a better scanner/printer. According to the work study at the lab, I make great prints - and she's jealous. =) I love playing in the darkroom. I can, and do, spend hours at a time in there. It's interesting to me that so many of the students detest printing. They're a lot of the same students who complain about having to shoot film. I think it all stems from being raised on instant results from digital cameras. Sad, so much can be done on film and in a darkroom.

First Assignment

Our first assignment was to fool our camera meter and be able to correct it - white on white, black on black, backlit. This was my first print. I'm pretty happy with it. The assignment is due Thursday... we were told tonight it's pushed back to next Tuesday. *sigh* I'll be amazed if we actually get through all the assignments this quarter. I hate when teachers cater to the slackers. =(

Just Playin' 'Round

Lensbaby 2.0 - what a wonder. =) Yeah, yeah, the uses are somewhat limited, but it's just so much fun to play with! And oh my, how I love my new camera! It seriously makes me want to go back in time and retake all the photos I've taken in the past few years. *sigh* Geez, when will the brainiacs figure out time travel?! And why the heck did it take me so long to get a decent digital?!?

Not sure when I'll be able to make it back to DC again, but I am thinking seriously of heading up to Alaska for the ice carving competition in the Spring (well, it'll be Spring here). I've been printing ice sculpture photos I shot years ago and it's making me want to go back. Should be able to do some aurora shots as well so it'd be worth spending the first week of March in frigid Fairbanks, I think. I mentioned it to an old friend who also lived up there years back and may end up with some company. Could be fun... or frustrating. I don't know. I might wait for summer and hit Denali and Valdez and perhaps Kenai. Or I could put my nose to the grindstone and sock away enough cash to go twice... haha Decisions, decisions.

Weekend continued...

This was my photo haul from the weekend. =) Plus the tripod and a few other things that came with it. Had to spend time this weekend shooting my film assignment so not as much time to play with all this as I'd like, but I'll get there. Details can be seen here if you're curious. =)

Oh, I have to share an amusing story from my shopping trip Saturday too. People are funny... and sometimes apparently think they're shopping in the comfort of their own homes. haha

So, I went to this store that was having a great sale on sweaters. I picked up several sweaters and headed into a dressing room. Sale started today so it was busy. At this store, there are maybe half a dozen dressing rooms and one of those was out of order (I don't even want to know why) so I pick the one with the door hanging open and no one inside or hovering in the common area outside. As usual there's discarded clothing on the bench and things on the hooks since a lot of people don't take unwanted items back out of the rooms - pretty standard issue for any dressing room that has no one keeping track of the # of items going in/out. A few minutes later an irate woman is banging on my door wanting in to get her stuff. Remember, no one was anywhere near this room when I went in. I'm thinking she left something hanging in there that she wanted to buy. Turns out she left her clothes (the ones she wore in apparently) on the bench in this dressing room and asked didn't I see her clothes?! Sure, there's a pile there but that's normal for a dressing room - I'll add, there was also another pile that was not hers on that bench. What about her shoes?!? No, they were shoved completely under the bench against the wall and since I didn't squat down to look under the bench for some crazy woman's abandoned shoes, I didn't see her stupid shoes... haha She had apparently walked out to hang things she didn't want back up on the sales floor and left her clothes/shoes in a completely unoccupied dressing room. WHO DOES THAT?! And how was I supposed to know she was still using the room when it looked just like every other dressing room I've ever been in? Some people. At least she didn't leave her purse in there under her pile of clothes. She was using a few brain cells at least. hahaha Wait, the funniest part was after she left, a woman in the room next to mine wanted to go pick up another size of something she'd tried on and told her friend to stay there and not let anyone steal her room! I seriously almost lost it... as if I'd purposely picked a room full of someone's personal belongings. hahaha Some people.

Catching Up

It's been an interesting couple weeks. I've dealt with one sick cat (on a Sunday when only the pricey vets are open) and twice-daily doses of antibiotics. You know the cat's feeling better when he runs at the sight of that pink bottle. =)

We've gone through developing our film and printing contact sheets and finally printed full size prints in class. Had out first quiz - which the teacher threw out because so many people bombed it. Seriously, this is basic photography, it's not brain surgery. *sigh* I wish they'd kick it up a notch so we could learn more than the very basics in this class.

And, at long last, I am now the proud (and very happy) owner of a DSLR. I bought a Canon 20D - along with 5 lenses, tons of filters, a 5-way reflective disk, some misc accessories and even a really good tripod and head - off a guy selling his possessions to support his family while starting a new business. It's not the newest model, but I got all that for less than it would have cost for a new one with two lenses and nothing else. I can always upgrade the body later. I'm happy. =) Now I just have to learn to use it properly...

A friend is visiting from Alaska this week. OK, technically she's visiting her parents, but I'll get to see her too, so there. =) And I may be getting a visit from an old friend from the east coast too. It's good to be somewhere people like to visit for a change. I don't have to always go see them now!

So nothing too exciting. I haven't been knitting at all. I've barely been cooking. I'm slipping on my domestic duties. =)

Freedom for Kitties!

My cats have always been indoor only since I never had a safe place for them to enjoy the outdoors. Last year, we finally moved into a place with a yard so I put in a fence for the dogs and the cats have been great about staying in the yard too! I've been letting the furballs out all summer as long as I was home and it was nice weather. The temps cooled off a few weeks ago and the doors closed to keep the heat in - the kitties were not happy. This was my inexpensive solution. Less than $25 total for the door (eBay), wood (cheap scraps lumber from Lowe's) and carpet for the plank to the ground outside (remnants). The cats are thrilled (even going out in the rain!), I'm happy, and the dogs can't get out when I'm not home to let them in and out - much to the relief of the meter reader I'm sure. =) Purrrfect. =^..^= And a much less expensive option than the premade window mount cat doors ($130)!