Bubbly!

I got an idea for another card for my Etsy site, so I borrowed a champagne flute and started shooting away. I have been moving my card ideas away from edibles, and have shot flowers and balloons. I would like to get back to edibles because, well, I like to eat!  It is always fun to experiment with light in small controlled situations. Flash and lighting situations have always been a challenge for me. It seems like it never works consistently, at least when I am shooting from further distances and filling larger areas.

This is where I started. I set up a "studio" in my apartment, which is really just a white piece of paper taped onto a tall piece of cardboard and draped over my coffee table. It may be a little cramped, but it works for small items. I set up  my Canon 550EX Speedlight (an older model of this)  and fire them remotely using my Speedlight Canon Remote Transmitter. These are fired using the infrared waves sent from the transmitter to the flash.

I couldn't see the bubbly champagne when I just shot the light from the side, so I moved it around to try to capture the bubbles. What fun is champagne without bubbles?

This is what I ended with. I like the lens and light flares and I also like the curve of the paper. I may have some other ones where the glass is more centered in the curve. There are also bubbles! But, I may reshoot this because as I would pick up the glass to pour more champagne in it, my dirty fingers printed up the glass. I didn't think I would be able to tell, but I so can see fingerprints. I tried to photoshop them out, but after awhile it seemed easier to reshoot.  I think I will wear gloves next time!

Holga Blog: Self Portraits

I know I posted about self portraits awhile ago and I had every intention of pursing self portraits with zeal.... but that didn't so much happen. I did take a few, but none with the full intention that I wanted to out into the project. Holga Blog came out with the winners today on their blog: Self Portrait Challenge Winners. My photo was featured in the list, but not as a winner. It is the photo of me in a hammock that I blogged here. Check out the self portrait Flickr group and the blog. The winning photos are quite stunning. I especially enjoy the third place winner, the photo is really fun. It is neat to see what people have done for the challenge and gave me a lot of ideas.

I took these two photos while I was heading to Stratford in the evening. I like them ok, but they aren't really that well thought out and I just took them on a whim. I do like that they are black and white, but I did like most of the photos from this roll. I think because I never shoot b&w and I liked the change. I do drive a lot so, that part of the self portraiture says me. I suppose though that if I had thought them out they would be a lot more self conscious and awkward, and the only place I really felt comfortable photographing myself without feeling dorky was in the car.

I shot this as we were heading back to Wisconsin from Duluth and driving over the bridge into Superior. I didn't realize I was in the photo. I do like this, I just wish I was aware that I was in the photo and had moved the camera down a bit so more of the mirror was included. Oh well. It would have worked for the contest, but I didn't get the film back in time.

Summer light

The weekend is winding down and it was a busy one. So here is a quick post and one photo, my favorite  from the weekend. I shot it at Grand Rapids Music Fest on Friday night.

Two boys were playing catch while their parents hung out at the music fest. I don't think this will run in the paper because they only needed two photos and it isn't specific to the fest. I love the light on a mid-summer's evening, it congers up a lot of memories for me. 

Busy-ness

I have been pretty busy lately and haven't had much time to post. My 365 Project is currently resting for a week, as is the scanner and the Holga. I have been toning and editing wedding photos, making origami cranes for a custom Etsy mobile, printing photos, picking out mattes and searching for frames for two gallery shows, thinking about business cards and working. Yes, life is busy this week. Plus, I have been trying to fit in summer fun like biking, swimming, running, making pesto and sitting outside. So, I suppose things are busy in a good way.

I have been searching around on the web lately for some photo inspiration:


PaperCrave- A collection of beautiful letterpress printed paper goods. I especially love these seed packs!

Business Card Ideas

Funny Video from They Might be Giants. I gave this CD to my nephew for his birthday.



I have been reading the New York Times Magazine.... they had a really interesting article about jousting. Why don't jousters come to Wisconsin? That would make for great photos!

My sis sent me this link of stunning photos: http://www.nickbrandt.com/index.cfm

Hopefully over the weekend I will get some fun photos and a chance to scan some more holgas!

Tim and Jill's Big Lake Wedding :: Duluth Wedding Photography

This past weekend I photographed Tim and Jill's wedding in Duluth. The setting was beautiful and the wedding was super fun. Tons of people were dancing right up to the last song. Thank you for having me shoot your wedding! Congratulations you two!

 We took photos at a park on beautiful Lake Superior. As we were driving there it started to sprinkle, but luckily never rained.

K-i-s-s-i-n-g!

The bride's lovely garden-fresh bouquet and the pocket watch that was a gift from Jill to Tim.

 Seriously, I have never seen a locomotion line so long! I think everyone at the wedding was in the line!

The couple outside the reception at the Radisson Hotel Harborview.

To see more of my wedding photos, please visit my website!

Last weekend...

Last weekend I had a chance to do a little bit of this.....

 

Relaxing in the hammock and reading.

Canoeing in the marsh

Exploring through inlets until we were forced back to the shore for more eating and hammock-ing by the swarms of horse flies. I was surprised that no large spiders fell into the canoe, which is a fear for me when going under low branches.

But at least we got to see lots of lily pads, which I have been wanting to take pictures of for awhile.

But I didn't quite get the right shot

Still not quite right. Oh well, there will be more summer weekends to try.

I am off for the next five days and am heading up to Duluth this weekend to shoot Tim and Jill's wedding. Should be a fun wedding in a beautiful setting!

A Little Break

I need a break! I have been working to color correct some photos and it is frustrating! Magenta and cyans are not my bag. Here are some photos of breaks. These are a few older photos that I found from pre-Marshfield and job times. 

This is in Iowa at RAGBRAI. The summer after I graduated, I rode for two days and took photos for The Daily Iowan, my college paper. I rode and took pictures, but since I was split between two things, I didn't do either one especially well. The guy on the unicycle, who was from Iowa State, would put on a show every for the bikers and the host towns. 

I think I took this photo in Washington, Iowa while I was an intern for the The Gazette in Cedar Rapids. This man was playing Spanish guitar during a fest, where Chris Dodd would appear (he was late and that was the reason I was there). Anyway while I waited, I ate good Mexican food and listened to the guitar player, so it was time well spent.

This was another photo I took while working at The Gazette. I was covering a math competition for middle schoolers. It was between tests and these two boys were playing some role playing card game. I like this photo because they are really excited about their game, and the boy on the left is wearing a math shirt. 

As you can see I might be digging around in my archives. I have been trying to organize.... trying and found some older photos that I liked and forgot about.

Some Summer Holgas

I scanned some summer Holgas yesterday. Have a happy weekend!

Driving to Iowa. This is a slow shutter speed at dusk.

My nephew scootin' on his scooter in my hometown during the Fourth of July.

Canoeing on the Cedar River in Iowa, our annual canoe trip.

Iowa landscape

Iowa landscape

2010 Confluence of Art Biennial

Exciting news! Two of my photographs got accepted to the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center's 2010 Confluence of Art Biennial. This is a juried exhibit, the first I have ever entered! It was a goal of mine this year to have work in a gallery, so I sent submissions to a few different galleries in the area and region.  Here is the Regional Arts Center website. The exhibit runs August 16- October 8.

This is a photograph of an Island at the Apostle Island National Lakeshore near Bayfield, Wisconsin. We have gone kayaking up there for the past two years. It is really beautiful, and no bugs! I believe this is Otter Island, but I am not sure. It was when we were kayaking to Oak Island for our final night.

This is a photo from this winter. It is a double exposure with slow motion blur. Dan and I were ice fishing and I think he was walking back from checking our tip-ups. I think we caught at least a dozen fish that day! It was my second time ice fishing.

Origami Mobile

Obviously, I take a lot of photos. But sometimes I like to make things.... and then take photos of them! While I was off between working a split shift, I worked of an Origami Mobile for my Etsy site. I usually put photos and cards on the site, but I also make baby mobiles. I started when I made one for my nephew and since been getting requests for them for other nephews and friends. They are fun to make and are a great baby shower gift!

 This is the one I made this weekend. You can find it here on my Etsy site. 

A detail shot of the wire. I was using sterling silver wire, but I couldn't find a strength that would hold up the mobile and that was still affordable. The gauge that I would purchase would be 22g, but it was over $4/foot, which adds up. I switched now to a thicker gauge, but not sterling silver. 

 A detail of the beads that I string between the cranes. I choose the beads based on the color of the mobile. 

This is a custom order that I did. 

Oh and if you don't know what Etsy.com is, here's the deal: It is a website where you can purchase handmade crafts. The stuff is really unique and you can search for what you want by color or location. For example, if you are really into buying local and keeping your money in the community, you can search for crafters in your area. We recently did a feature for the Marshfield News-Herald (where I work for my real job) on local Etsy artists Pretty {much} Art. They do graphic prints and printed accessories for the home or you! Their stuff is super-cute; I have been waiting for the perfect person so I can gift them their coasters!

I buy a lot of gifts on Etsy. It is so much more personal to give someone something that was hand-crafted and you know that they won't already have something similar. I get so sick of items that are mass-produced, are totally not unique and fall apart as soon as you use them.  It is also nice to purchase something that you know is perfect for the person you are giving it to. It makes shopping enjoyable and kind of like a treasure hunt.

My Etsy Site: www.lschmitt.etsy.com

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July! This is my favorite holiday, but unfortunately this year I have to work. Normally I head to Iowa to celebrate in "America's Hometown", which is my hometown's slogan, but this year I had to put my hours in. I did make it home briefly to hang out with my nephews and family.

We shucked corn on the back steps. This isn't Iowa corn, I think it is from California. Sad. Iowa sweet corn won't be ready until the end of July or beginning of August.

I am off to photograph festivities. Have a safe and fun holiday!