Category: Personal

Stuff I Love: Crazy Weather

We were supposed to get all manner of crazy wind and lots of rain last night, but the "storm" was little more than a blip in the area and some areas did see serious weather.  But sometimes we do get awesome, crazy weather.  It's a relatively rare event here in mild-weather Washington, D.C., so I have to cherish it then.  I'm sure if I lived in tornado alley or blizzard-friendly Chicago, I'd be well sick of thunderstorms, hail and nasty weather.  And I'm not unaware that harsh weather brings a lot of suffering to a lot of people every year. That said, I do love watching thunderstorms.  Here are a few images from the past to illustrate my point.  Crazy front that moved through the region this summer: crazy weather in washington dc thunderstorm front in arlington, va big storm over washington monument And here's one from my trip to Chicago, also this summer.  This storm was all over the news and shortly after I took this photo, the tornado sirens went off!  I'd never heard tornado sirens before - it was very exciting.  My buzz kill of a best friend made me go down into the basement, though, so as to avoid injury and such.  I suppose it was for the best. lightning in chicago near millennium park
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by Amber Categories: Stuff I LoveTags: , , , ,

Tuesday on the Web

This past Saturday, I was a model instead of being the photographer.  I could be all coy and say it's not something I enjoy, but that's a lie.  I take too many self-portraits to even pull off the suggestion that I don't like being in front of the lens.  It was just a quick promo shoot for Burke & Herbert Bank's 2011 calendar.  I submitted a photo and it got honorable mention!  I'm not big on landscapes and such (the majority of photos chosen), so this was a pretty cool little accolade.  It would have been awesome to get my own month, but I take my small victories where I can get them. After the very quick snap, I headed back to my car and possibly freaked out a lady photographing this mannequin.  The street was pretty empty and she was standing right in front of this store.  I just stood there and waited for her to move.  It was a bit awkward.

On the Web

Each Tuesday, I post a roundup of the best stuff I saw on the internet that week.  Enjoy! Scale of the Universe This link is amazing.  You must click on it. Guest Blog Wednesday with Jasmine Star Lots of people have lots of opinions about J* (as I've frequently seen her abbreviated in photography forums).  I, for one, think she's amazing.  Every time she gives away important business info like her ideal wedding timeline, my ears perk up. Create a Home Inventory with Amazon Mobile App via Lifehacker A nifty tool for taking on a home inventory.  George and I haven't got much that's worth anything so we've been sloooow to get on a home inventory.  Any little time-saving tip is helpful for tasks you feel only vaguely guilty about not accomplishing. Goodwill's Online Auction Site - look for camera gear PetaPixel reminds us that Goodwill has an auction site too, and they have camera gear.  I didn't find anything that was worth buying but you might!  I'll be back in the future. Deliberately uninformed, relentlessly so [a rant] I don't remember exactly who referred me to Seth Godin, who writes insightful, short blog posts on things like marketing, but he is a fascinating, intelligent guy. You may think you're not interested in marketing, but you will be interested in what Seth has to say. For instance, from this rant: "The thing is, watching TV has its benefits. It excuses you from the responsibility of having an informed opinion about things that matter. It gives you shallow opinions or false 'facts' that you can easily parrot to others that watch what you watch. It rarely unsettles our carefully self-induced calm and isolation from the world." Android App: Check Sunrise and Sunset Times with Sundroid For those of us chasing the "golden hour", this is a very useful app. You'll have to forgive me if I start referencing Android apps on here - I just got a new droid and it's pretty sweet. mannequin in Old Town
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by Amber Categories: On the Web

Weeds

One of the things I love about photography is its ability to turn something ugly into something beautiful.  Better said, perhaps, is that photography can isolate beauty in a subject.  I don't remember who said it or if I'm even paraphrasing correctly, but some photographer said that there is always a spectacular photo within 20 steps - you just have to find it.  I love that an image of something that might be considered ugly can become "art".  This is most obvious in photographs of "urban decay" (we photographers love this stuff) but also something as simple as weeds. And, as always, it's all about the light.  In the right light, anything is beautiful, even simple weeds growing out of the sidewalk.  I would be remiss in posting these images without referencing A Scenic World.  I might have eventually gotten around to understanding the concept of shooting the one flower that is lit up against a shadowy background, but I certainly started paying attention to scenes like this after reading her website.  A simple enough concept, but one that I feel a lot of people miss (I used to).  She seems to have stepped off the blogging bandwagon for a while now, but go back and look through her Lightroom tutorials (totally portable to Photoshop).  This lady is really good. And now, weeds: Oh and there was to be no CityZen for us - what with their lack of a la carte options and tasting menu starting at $80.  Instead, we hit up Jaleo (super-tasty Spanish tapas) and had one of those awesome romantic-out-of-nowhere, life-is-wonderful nights.  I love the bejesus out of my husband.  I really couldn't ask for a better person to spend my life with.  What the heck, here's one of him with his hair down - literally.  He always gels it up but I like when he looks natural.  Only thing better is when he takes out the contacts and puts on his glasses.  This is from the first night we spent at the hotel.
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by Amber Categories: LifeTags: , ,