Here’s wishing all a happy and safe Memorial Day.
For me, this day will include taking a moment to remember those who have served in the military. This includes my dad, who was a veteran of the Korean War, and is buried at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe.
Photos taken at the Merchant Marine cemetery at Fort Stanton, NM.
Photos by Karen Fayeth
I believe we have a rogue deer in my part of the world.
How, might you ask, would I know that?
Because, I am a woman of New Mexico, daughter of a hunter and champion poo identifier.
That, my friends, is a healthy, well-fed ruminant.
So normally this wouldn’t bother me, but this little deposit, made Saturday evening, is located less than a foot from my home.
True, I live pretty much in the suburbs, but it’s not THAT suburban. We do have some open land a couple miles away from us, but it’s pretty tight housing and people where I’m at.
Here in California, we are SO anti the mountain lion, one gets spotted at a fair distance and the *freak* out happens. Quickly it’s captured and relocated or killed.
See, if we hadn’t killed all the mountain lions, those stick-legged animals wouldn’t be leaving their leavings in my front yard!
That’s the circle of life, people!
I’d be more than happy to help Bambi the Yard Visitor make his or her way onto my dinner plate, but noooo, California can’t have *that*.
Bambi is cute and doesn’t have sharp paws, so he gets to stick around, ruining fences, gardens and causing havoc but the feline meat eaters get ostracized.
*sigh*
(Note to my readers: oh yes I DID just post a poo photo on my blog! If the award winning Pioneer Woman can do it, well, so can I!)
Technologically speaking, I seem to be regressing.
Been using my high end Canon camera with all the whizz bang features and fancy lenses for a while.
And then I go and buy some cheapie plastic cameras and start having fun with 35mm film again.
This weekend I went one step farther back to luddite-ville. I went to Cyanotype. Known to the real world as Sunlight Prints.
Billed as a toy for kids, I’m having a heck of a lot of fun. I bought a kit off a sale table at Barnes & Noble a while back and used up (and ruined most of) the paper. Then I bought a paper refill at a toy store and kept trying. My technique is improving.
The whole thing is a chemical process kicked off by ultraviolet light from the sun.
So you get this light blue piece of paper with the right stuff chemical on it, compose your arrangement of items (in the shade), expose to the sun, then rinse it off with water and voila!
This is the same stuff that original blueprints were made from.
I guess Cyanotype isn’t so out of style, though, because in one of the buildings where I work, they have a huge art installation of sunlight prints on slabs of wood showing a variety of ferns. It’s gorgeous! Maybe I should peddle my prints for a buck to the powers that be at work, eh? *grin*
Anyhow, here I am, rocking it 1842 style! With a little help from a blooming rose bush in my front yard and a sunny April Saturday afternoon.
(These scans don’t do the Prussian blue any sort of justice. Also, where you see a double image, that’s because the wind was blowing my compositions around….)
If you’ve been dropping by my little corner of the interwebs for a while, then you know I’m kind of into photography.
Not gonna lie and say I’m a good photographer. I have a pretty decent eye and pretty poor technical skills, but I’m learning.
My whole life, though, I’ve always loved junky cameras. Cheapo fun cams that take fun photos.
I have owned, at one time or another, pretty much everything that Polaroid has done. In fact, I believe the first camera I ever owned was an instamatic, a Christmas present, and I *loved* it.
I’ve owned the iZone (two of them, actually) that made tiny photos, the Joy Cam that made medium sized photos and everything in between.
I also love disposables. If I attend a wedding, I’ll totally find a way to grab the disposables off the table and take weird photos for the bride and groom. My special present, I guess.
But then…a couple years ago, I invested in real camera equipment and lenses. Been having a blast with them, too.
Earlier this week, while perusing the “recommended for you” section on Amazon, I became introduced to the next generation of fun cameras.
Lomography is what they call the photos taken with cameras made by Lomographische AG, an Austrian company.
These little beauties aren’t new…the cheapie cameras have been around a long time, I’m just finally climbing on board.
These are cheaply made and intentionally so. They have light leaks and other issues which gives each camera its own individual imprint. They are frightfully old fashioned, taking 35mm film and a working knowledge of how to load and use a camera.
And I *love* these cameras. I got three different kinds, but have only really gotten the chance to experiment with the one they call the “Action Sampler“.
This guy has four different lenses that fire in succession giving four images on one frame of film. All done mechanically, no electronics on the camera, not even a flash.
So. Much. Fun.
Here are a few samples so you get an idea what I’m up to:
Yanno, I’m really ticked at the economy. Sure, I have a good job and a paycheck, but I’m finding that saving a few more of my shekels is a grand idea.
“Cash is King!” or so shouts all of the financial hacks who think they know better. Those same ones who told us all to invest in real estate.
Bah!
The problem with this financial austerity is that there are still lovely things in the retail world that entice me. Sing to me. Make me want to break out my paid off credit card and charge, baby, charge!
The latest little gem that’s got my eye is this:
(click photo for specs)
This is Polaroid’s latest entre into the world of photography.
It’s called a PoGo and is a digital camera. But it also has built in an inkless photo printer so you can instantly print photos of your choosing, when you want.
Now…this baby is only 5.0 megapixels, so it’s not wowing the photographic world.
But I love me a Polaroid camera. And by love, I mean LOVE. I had one as a kid. I own several now.
I was a *fool* for Polaroid’s I-zone that made these teeny sticky photos. I carried that thing everywhere.
I have tiny photos ALL over my journals from around the early 2000’s.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my high end camera and the gloriousness of the photos I can take. The depth of detail is amazing.
That said, I want the PoGo bad, because it’s FUN and *boop*, there’s a photo print.
Want!
Here’s the ouchie part.
It’s not available until March and I think will have a price point of $200.
I feel like two hundy is a little high for a Polaroid, but maybe if I’m very good and save my pennies, by this summer I can be shooting and printing and generally giggling over my new Polaroid cam.
My folks taught me that if you want a big ticket item, you gotta work a little for it.
So ok. Back to work. I get paid this week. After rent, end of month bills and credit card payments, there won’t be much left. But maybe I can put away a few.
Damn, I’m so fiscally conservative it makes my teeth hurt.
When really, I just want to be like Animal from The Muppet Show.
“CAM-ER-A!!! CAM-ER-A!!!! ME WANT!!!”
