valentine's day Have a Peaceful Labor Day Weekend!
valentine's day One of my favorite photos from our vacation to San Diego...the Dovecote in the Children's Zoo at the San Diego Zoo.valentine's day New York Social Diary: James Bleecker
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I am always so excited and happy when good things happen for good people. And even more so when they are people I care a lot about. Recently, my good friend James Bleecker (married to my cousin Jenny) had a feature about his work, home and family in the New York Social Diary. You may remember couple of posts about James HERE and HERE.
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There is a wonderful interview and loads of pictures of every nook and cranny of their lovely apartment in New York. Perhaps the most striking thing about it is the use of James' beautiful art photos throughout the home.
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So, hop on over HERE to see the whole thing. I love looking at homes that show off the talents of those who live there. Personal and unique.
And to see more of James' work, please visit his website HERE.
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(I think that's my Dad in the photo with the three children on Jenny's vanity table! He is the one with the pageboy haircut on the left.)
Photos courtesy of New York Social Diary
valentine's day Photography Follow-up, and New Blogger Post Editor
valentine's day valentine's day Blogging: Taking Photos
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My Birthday Flowers
I take alot of pictures for my little blog. Some turn out. Many don't. Some make me think," Did I really take this picture?! It almost looks sort of professional or something!". Sometimes I even think I have a new career ahead of me: "Stylist, photographer extraordinaire". Sometimes......then reality sets in and I realize, mostly, it is luck. Yes, I think I can compose a pretty good shot. But I have no special camera (just a point and shoot, Casio EXILIM), no special lighting . I have learned quite a bit about how to "get by" from reading other blogs out there. And I sometimes tweek a photo with Picasa.
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Roses in the Evening
But sometimes, a photo just turns out all on it's own. And it makes me feel pretty good. Not only because I, and my little camera made this image, but because I will have a record of something I saw that was beautiful to me and was fleeting.
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Vegetables from Napa
I said that photos turn out sometimes because of luck. But perhaps that is wrong to say. It is not really luck to recognize that something is worth recording, and to compose that "something" into an image that is clear, balanced and interesting. I think that comes with practice, and learning to adjust our mind's eye to the way the camera can capture a scene.
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Flowers on Bench from Aspen Hollow
There are many bloggers out there that have mastered this quite well. A couple of bloggers who have amazing skills are Leah Phinney from A Day that is Dessert, and Isa from The World According to Isa. I have learned just by looking at their photos. If you visit and look through their posts, you will see what I mean.
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Lake Tahoe Sunset
So....I have some questions for you. Have you taken photos that you think turned out exceptionally well? Did you learn on your own, or take a class? Do you take many of your own photos for your blog, if you have a blog? Do you have any tips that make for a great picture? I'd love to see your masterpieces and share with everyone if you would like to send them.
valentine's day On The Move... Again
Lesson #1
Learn to Deal
Sure you can bitch and moan, get really pissed, yell at your husband, etc. etc. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter, you nor he can change it.. 2 sayings that are very common in our household... "It is what it is" and "The needs of the military supersede your own needs"
No truer statements in my book. But it isn't all bad... I might bitch about it, but its doable and it is what you make of it...
Well with all that being said, WE'RE MOVING ON TUESDAY! We close on our house a week from today. And this girl could not move without sending out a moving announcement and the moving announcement has to have a picture of our children (aka our dogs).
The announcements are going in the mail tonight... So for those of you that will be getting one... this is a taste of what's come. Don't spill the beans to anyone else.
The names and addresses have been changed to protect the innocent...i.e. ME.
(Milo is gonna drive, Charlie is gonna hold the map...cross your fingers we get there!)
Thank you to Nina for all help and special thanks to Mrs. Newlywed for helping me be creative and witty, when it felt very hard to come by.
Nina is very easy to work with and does a fabulous job, so if you're in the market for a holiday card, moving announcement, etc... check her out.
Disclaimer: I was not compensated for the shout out!!
Photo by Oeil Photography
valentine's day Blog Connections and the Art of Nathalie Rattner
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I wrote a blog about the Sacramento Antique Faire not too long ago (here), and included a series of images showing collections of things like the watches in the photo above. The Faire is a treasure trove of photo opportunities. A few weeks later, I received a note from a Nathalie Rattner who had been introduced to my blog through her father. As I read further, I was happily surprised to learn that Nathalie had attached what appeared to be a a black and white version of my photo. It was lovely and I thought to myself, I really should print out my photo and have it framed in black and white.
Obviously, by the time I opened the second attachment, I realized I had not been very thorough in my reading of Nathalie's note! This was not a photo at all, but a photo realistic drawing!
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The second drawing made things crystal clear. Nathalie is a phenomenally talented artist. This was one of those moments when I ask myself, how does someone DO this?!?! It is SO accurate. I was just amazed. The second piece she sent helped visually explain the process.
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I was lucky to begin a bit of a correspondence with Nathalie, and she sent me more images of her work. She specializes in photo realistic work, and has become quite well known for her Sports series.
These are some of her portraits:
Nathalie says of this image, "this is a drawing based on a vintage photograph in which I have combined my painting technique with the application of some copper foil."
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Nathalie says, "This image is from a commission of an individuals grandchild. This image was done using my painted charcoal and graphite technique."
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This piece of the Ziegfeld Follies girls is breathtaking to me. The way Nathalie captures light and shadow is perfection.
Nathalie says, "This is an image of the Ziegfeld follies in which I have combined a charcoal wash technique with pastel wash technique. I technique that I've recently developed."
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Nathalie sent me the finished project of my pocket watch photo and asked if she could enter it in an art competition in Boston. I was very honored that she chose my image to show off her fine work. I said "YES" of course!
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I asked Nathalie a little about herself:
"I was born and raised in Calgary Canada where I studies dance and attended a performing arts high school. After graduation I moved to Vancouver and later to L.A. to pursue my dance career where I was represented by McDonald Selznick. I am a largely self taught artist and have always been attracted to portraiture and began by doing oil paintings of native Americans based on the photographs of Edward Curtis. This series was well received and collected by people in Montana and Boston and several interior designers. This success encouraged me to continue and over the past several years I have developed a technique which is that based on “painting” with shaved graphite and charcoal which allows me to achieve a hyper-realistic or extended photograph quality. My goal is to bring life to photograph images and to bring the personal qualities of the subject to the viewers attention . A three part work based on multiple images of my Dad presented as a film strip where each drawing was placed in a cell of the film strip won a drawing competition in Boston and this led to a meeting with John ……Liffmann who encouraged me to do images of the greats of baseball. This series has met with great success and have been bought by baseball collectors and fans around the world and has found a place in some sports museums. I have also received commissions to do images of personal heroes, family members and a wide range of subject matter. My work is currently sold through ebay, sports auctions (legendaryauctions.com), through John Liffmann liffmann00@comcast.net or I can be contacted directly at nrattner@shaw.ca"
Nathalie was honored with the cover and a feature story about her Sports Figure work in January in Sports Collectors Digest:
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valentine's day Sexy Time...
- Post a pic (only IF you dare)
- Pass it on to 5 lovely bloggers
valentine's day As promised... Charlie Loving...
Charlie is an American Bulldog and is almost 2 years old. Mr. Jetplane asked me if we could get him less than a week after he proposed.
I never wanted a big dog, but how can a girl say no after she's been proposed to...
valentine's day Charlie is about 100lbs and is pretty sure that he is a lap dog. He is convinced that he and Milo are the same size.
valentine's day Charlie loves his daddy, Mr. Jetplane, more than anything in the whole world. And nothing makes him happier than playing with his dad.
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valentine's day He is quite a handful but I have grown to love that big ol goofy dog.
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valentine's day Hope this post could brighten your weekend alittle bit.... Hope you all have enjoyed the Jetplanes family photo shoot pics. Once again,they are all from Oeil Photography.valentine's day Pug Friday... Milo Milo Milo
And keep voting for your favorite pug.... The voting ends May 10th... Keep Voting...
For those that wanted to know... The dress is from Old Navy, yellow bag from JCrew, and shoes are Nicole Miller bought from DSW about 4 years ago.
Get ready for some Charlie loving next...
XOXO
valentine's day Jetplane Loving Round 1
These lovely photos were taken by Michelle at Oeil Photography
We have been lucky enough to work with her on our engagement pics as well as my boudoir pics. She is a fellow mil wife and currently stationed in Jacksonville, FL. She travels back and forth to Pcola for shoots, so if you're in the Pcola and/or Jacksonville area, check her out, you won't be disappointed. She will travel for weddings.
valentine's day This first section of pictures are mainly of the Jetplanes. Mr. Jetplane thinks we have enough pictures of yourselves, I think we can NEVER have too many pictures of us.
valentine's day All the pics were taken on NAS Pcola. Since we are getting ready to move to NC later this summer, I wanted to pics taken here.
Yes, we had a family shoot with our doggies, Milo and Charlie. We don't have any real kids yet, and these lil (or big) guys mean the world to us.
valentine's day The purpose of the pictures were for memories, but also these pictures will be used for most 2009-10 cards, Mother's Day gifts, etc. We'll need moving announcements, Christmas cards, and V-day for next year. (which maybe Ms. Nina can help me again with???)
Yeah here's my shout out to JCrew with my bright yellow bag.
valentine's day Hope you've enjoy Round 1 of the Jetplane Loving.... stay tuned for more...