Thursday, January 29, 2009
Trinket Scarf, from Amber - A Winter Gathering by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Swish, just over 2 balls
Needles: US2 and US6
Mods: Shorter length, and no beads
I love this scarf so much that I had to make it again. This time the frill factor is at 100%.
I snagged the yarn off eBay for a great price, 3 balls for less than the retail price of 2, and for a discontinued color too! It's only the 3rd time I've ever been on eBay. Hate eBay. I was desperate for this golden color though.
I snagged a rabbit too, convinced him to come out from early modeling retirement. Maybe it was a bad idea. It's hard to say who exhibited more patience during this shoot, me or the rabbit. There were plenty of blurry shots, cat treats, high-pitched baby talk, scratches behind the ear, breaks, more cat treats, and still more disdainful glares from those piercing green eyes.
Forgive me Bunny! But I'm knitting a sweater and socks next, so you're off the hook for awhile.
Filed Under: Completed Projects
Monday, January 26, 2009
Starting out on a new career path is an extremely scary thing. You're not sure if it's all folly, a lapse in rational thinking because you're having an especially bad day at work. You're not sure if you'll have the time, the finances, the energy and courage to follow through. It's too much of a risk. You're already afraid of failing before you've even begun. But before you get mired in having all the right answers to questions that don't yet exist, take the first step and Say it out loud. Your dream, your fantasy, your wish. It's the biggest step. And say it like you mean it. I want! I want I want I want! For sure, just saying it out loud has been the best first step I could have made. You just never know who's out there listening...
A month after I announced out loud to myself and Duck that I wanted to be a photographer, I got my first paying gig.
At this point I still had no clue what kind of photographer I wanted to be. I daydreamed, nightdreamed constantly. Sundara and I had been emailing back and forth during this time, and in the middle of a particularly bad week at work, I blurted out, "I don't want to be a web developer anymore. It's not my true calling. I want to be a photographer." But how, right? How? I heaved a million forlorn sighs.
And who knew what would happen next? Even though I meant it, the remark at that moment was offhand, same as saying, "I need to win the lottery." But I did say it, the right thing at the right time to the right person. To my shock and almost horror, she took me up on it immediately, hired me on the spot to take product photography of her yarns for her new site. The whole arrangement was hammered out in a series of emails that were typed in all caps because I was literally screaming with excitement. By the next week, a box full of glorious yarn arrived at my doorstep, and I was officially a photographer! Paid! With money! To photograph YARN. Which many times I do FOR FUN. To Duck I said, "Pinch me!" To Sundara I said, "Marry me."
Every week for the next several months, a shipment of yarn came to the door. Every week I photographed a dozen or so skeins in the traditional, "full-length" pose with a stark white background, post-processed them, optimized them to 3 sizes, and uploaded them to the site.
I also photographed them in additional poses, and those were included in the site as well. We called these "Glamour Shots." So fun. So so so so so unbelievably fun. A job that doesn't feel like one. Can it always be this way, please?
Sundara had given me "creative license" to photograph the skeins in whatever manner I saw fit. One thing I tried was to give the skeins some personality, if such a thing were possible in a skein. So the skeins below are actually swimsuit models. They're wearing skimpy bikinis, laying belly down on the beach and propped up by the elbows, cleavage spilling out and mouth half opened as they stare into the camera.
These initially made the cut, and then when they were on the site, Sundara was spooked. She was "scared" of them. Ha ha! Too aggressively suggestive for yarn I guess. Rar!! Hahahaha.
When I wasn't busy making p*rn, I let the beautiful colors speak for themselves.
Then came that sad day, that very sad awful day when All Good Things Must End. Sundara's new shopping cart site was crashing left and right at every update, and she had to change the way she sold her yarns. Instead stocking x number of skeins each week, she went to a monthly subscription process. It came down to a set handful of colors and base yarns each month, and with that it no longer made sense logistically to have me photograph her yarns. Sob.
The last shoot I did was for the Sock Collection.
Even sadder still is that I had to ship all the yarns back. No I did not get to keep them! (Although I did swipe a few on the way out, heh.) By now I had I think almost 100 skeins of her yarn, mostly in Sock. With a tear-stained face I gathered them together for one last hurrah.
Just recently I printed some of these group photos, as a way to test out a few printing vendors.
Sundara Yarns are worthy as "fine art" prints, no?
You never know how your first break might come about, who might turn out to be your biggest supporter. Put yourself out there, and someone just might take you up on it. When I told family of this gig, they were very confused. They were like, Yarn? All this so people can buy yarn? What? Who is she? Sun-dar-a? What kind of name is that? Dyes yarn full-time, really? How did you meet? And they get more fascinated still when I say that we have never met (yet!).
Being given a chance by a stranger could only be possible with the crazy phenomenom that is blogging. Specifically KNIT blogging. The knitting community amazes me.
So that's how I got started on photography. It was the best gig ever. Thank you, Sundara. Thank you very, very much. :)
Filed Under: Life | Pet Photography
Friday, January 23, 2009
The exact moment I decided I wanted to get really serious with photography was back in Apri/May 2008 while at my parent's house in Atl. I was helping them prepare their move to Beijing. At one point I was strolling through the internet and stumbled upon this wedding photographer's blog. Her photos just blew me away. I had kind of been stalking her blog a long time ago when it was in another incarnation, before all this. It seems her whole foray into photography was fairly recent, and the fact that someone had the ability to recognize that natural talent within them and turn it into a new career path was just, wow. Wow kapow! I was both inspired and envious at the same time. And even a little...sad? Is that the word? Sad for me and my lack of foresight/ambition/courage that I never saw it in myself to do the same. It never occurred to me that photography could be more than a hobby. I loved to do it, but never thought to push myself to take it to the next level.
Right after reading every single post and drooling over every single photo, I called up Duck and said, I want to be serious. I want to become a photographer. I had to say it out loud so that the universe would take note and keep me to my word. Because sometimes, I'm really flakey. But this made sense. I wasn't afraid.
I was however, puzzled. Now what? How does one start? What kind of photographer do I want to be? How do I set myself apart? I knew I did NOT want to do weddings. We could cross that off the list. So what then? I needed a niche. But I had no clue.
I was going to think really hard about it though. I was going to read books, play with my camera more, gain more technical knowledge, all the while thinking about what my niche could be so that when the time came, I'd be that much more prepared.
But in the meantime, I'm going outside to take portraits of my dog Mocha...
I love these photos. They make me laugh. The answer was in right in front of me but my again, my mind and my eyes were closed.
They make me a little misty-eyed too. Here she is, enjoying what would be her last spring under the southern sun. Don't worry, Mocha is doing well, but poor girl. She's had a rough 6 months. She's too old for this.
Here is the very overdue update:
My parents left for China in May. Most airlines do not allow pets in cargo from May until September, so there was no way she could go with them then. A family friend had agreed to take Mocha in until September, and they had a trial run with her when my parents went away for a weekend. They left her in the backyard, and frantic as she was to get home, she dug a hole under their fence and escaped. Somehow Mocha ended up at her vet's - probably a neighbor found her and used her collar tags to drop her off - but at the end of a single day my parents friends decided they could not host Mocha.
Having no other alternative, my mom boarded her at petsmart, confined to a little room and taken out only once a day. So sad! I cried. I wanted to take her in Boston but the cats, however sweet they may be with humans, would have eaten her for breakfast, then pooped her out and covered her in litter. I called every weekend to make sure she hadn't died of a broken heart. She was there for over a month until another friend of a friend (very complicated) heard of Mocha's sad little orphaned story and took pity. She had 2 dogs of her own and was willing to host Mocha for a much smaller monthly stipend than petsmart. Mocha was signed out and was able to live in a comfortable home again. So that worked out great...
...until Mocha, after 6 weeks, turned on the other dogs. I am 100% sure this stemmed out of jealousy for the human. Obviously she got comfortable, became attached, and another animal competing for the beloved human's attention had to leave. Except Mocha forgot that she was the guest! This woman tried her best to control the situation, but when it became clear that Mocha had become the house bully, she had no choice. OH MOCHA.
So back to boarding school she went, there for another three whole months before my parents finally were able to come back and fly her out to Beijing. And she survived the flight, from Atl to DC to Beijing, without a drop of water or a bite of food. When my mom went to find her at the airport, the containers of water and food remained unopened in the crate, bowls empty. OoooooOOoooo I get so mad thinking about it.
The reunion with my mom was probably absolute heaven. City-dwelling dog, living high on the 26th floor, finally by mom's side. Except that it only lasted only about a month! My parents had to come back unexpectedly to the States for more visa BS (long story) which will keep them here for another 2 months. That's where we are right now. Moch taken to another dog hotel, this one for pets of ex-pats specifically. Apparently they're very good, she gets free reign of the office, the owner of the boutique takes Mocha home with her at nights, and she even has a photo album on facebook. They called her a "young lady." I don't like looking at it though because it makes me want to cry some more. The last time I saw her she was in my mother's garden, eyes squinting in the warm sun, sniffing roses. Now she's in suffocating, smoggy Beijing, where pantless toddlers run amok, bouncing from one foster home to the next. POOR OLD GIRL.
But when my parents go back next month, they'll be moving into a big house with a nice yard, so things can only look up for our brave little poodle.
Really though, she wants nothing more than your foot to rest her chin on. Oh I miss her!
Filed Under: Life | Pet Photography
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Today, I need no champagne to feel bubbly. I am so fizzy and filled with giddy goodness that I don't know what to do with myself. I am so tee hee hee and a hoo hoo hoo!
And as an added bonus to an already great day, I improved my photo retouching workflow by a factor of a million. Celebraaaaation. So now instead of spending literally ALL DAY to process a couple hundred photos, I've got it down to about an hour or so. Let's say two. I'd like to get it down to one hour at most, which would include the post-processing of selected raw files, optimizing them for the 1. blog (including watermark) 2. the client proofing section and 3. the portfolio site, all of which need to be re-cropped to different aspect ratios, and resized to different dimensions. This is what's kind of making things clunky for me right now, having to re-crop and resize the same photo 3 different ways.
Today's featured pet is Ms. Kitty, the proud owner of Grumperina and Husband.
One thing that I've found a little challenging when shooting cats is their natural inclination to do absolutely nothing. Veebs is especially great at doing nothing, especially when you want him doing something. One of my favorite poses well-known to all cats is the "loaf" pose, where they tuck all their limbs underneath their bodies, front legs and paws curled over the chest so they look like they're sitting on their own flotation devices, tail wrapped closely around the side. Push them out into open water and they're ready to set sail!
But however much I like it, there is really only so long one can continue taking photos of the loaf pose. All angles can quickly be covered when the cat's not moving. Thus, the cat must be engaged, whether she likes it or not. Usually they don't, but the cat must move. The cat. Must. Play.
Or not.
Pretty please? Pretty please with a mouse on top?
Yessss....yessss! You know what to do, Kitty, you know what to do!
Such a very very VERY BAD MOUSE!
So on any other day it might have been nap time, but today for a little while we were able to make it play time...
And the shoot ended with a pretty pose.
I had a ton of fun on this shoot; there were some bust-out laughing moments as we tried to get a sometimes apathetic Kitty to participate. So thank you Kitty!
Filed Under: Pet Photography
Monday, January 19, 2009
I love ya, tomorrow. You're only a daaaaay aaaaaa-waaaaaaaay....
Filed Under: Life
Friday, January 09, 2009
Dudes. Thank you so much for all the input on the logo. I do love the first, original logo too. I think it's so great that just about everyone picked that one. Not only does it affirm what I already know I like, it also confirms that you CAN tell what's been done by a pro vs one done by a me, even though the logo is so, so simple. It's obvious yet indescribable.
I know I was totally over thinking it. I do a lot of that these days. I don't know up from down, black from white. Everything just rolls under the general category of: Is It Good?! Dunno! The brain is all fog. I got my first paycheck a few months ago, and after the excitement of seeing "FOC Studio" on the check passed, I wanted to tear it to shreds because I was sure the customer actually hated my prints and wished she had never hired me. All of these junior high school emotional theatrics is exhausting and highly annoying, especially to Duck who has to talk me down from a ledge over other day. A very small ledge though, maybe only about yea-high, but a scary ledge nonetheless.
For now I'll cut myself some slack since this is all brand-new to me, and soon enough I'll be able to navigate my way through it. I know I will. Although there are many unseen roadblocks coming, nothing was ever a bigger roadblock than not knowing my true passion in life. So really, I'm already a million steps ahead. It feels SO. GOOD.
Anyway. Here are some photos I took today of Veebs as I was waiting for lunch to heat up. Veebs was hanging out on the butcher block (which I hate but what can you do, cats always get their way), I bent down to scratch my ankle and when I looked up, the sun was in my eyes. I slowly stood up until Veeb's head blocked the sun, and his ears became pointy little silhouettes, outlined in gold. And then I knew what time it was. It was lens flare time!
I call this "VanBuren Cat, Superstar"
This one is "Sunrise Over Ayers Rock"
If God were a cat, this is what we would see if we tried to look Him in the face (apologies for the sacrilege).
Now my eyes really hurt.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Filed Under: Pet Photography
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
In my real job, I'm a web developer/programmer (though very lite on the programming these days. Thank god). When it comes to getting my portfolio site up and running, people assume that I would want - and would like - to build it on my own. And the truth is, Ugh. It takes a lot of time, and time is money which am I more than willing to spend in order to have more time. Also, I kind of dislike my real job. Why would I do it without getting paid?
As it is, I spent months just researching what and which to buy. There is vast array of "website boutiques" that specialize in supplying online galleries for photographers - whether as ready-made templates, customizable templates, or from scratch. The kicker for me is that most of these sites are rendered in Flash. Flash and me go way back. We are arch enemies, for many reasons. Reason #1 is that they usually interfere with usability, because they're too busy being hypersexualized. I don't have a second to waste waiting for your stupid animation to load. Time is money, remember? And why must there always be a jukebox? Why?
Alas, I cannot avoid the flash. But I do find a template that has an html version along with the flash version, so I am appeased. Luckily the flash part is not obnoxious or difficult to navigate. In any case I'm glad there's a choice. Now that that small drama has been settled, I'm coming up against the next point of indecision.
I'm using a version of the logos my graphic artist friend designed for me several months ago. There is no horizontal room to have the cat image and text on one line, given the layout of the site, so I rearranged it some. Here it is as it appears on the temporary About page.
I like having the background of the site all white, and I really like that the cat is in negative space. But is it silly to have a logo that says "fat orange cat" while you have a fat white cat? I really don't want to reverse the colors - have an orange background, orange, cat, white text - as I think it would be too much.
So here's another option:
There's the orange cat.
Or this option maybe. It's more of a call-out, extra emphasis on the orange cat.
I do like the white font.
Opinions?
Decisions, decisions. If I've learned anything so far, it's that this path to business success is totally riddled with potholes of indecisions.
Filed Under: Pet Photography
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Pattern: Trinket scarf by Kim Hargreaves, from the book Amber
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Hurricane, 2 balls
Needles: US2 and US6
This scarf has been on my radar ever since it first appeared on KH's site as a kit (single pattern and yarn sold together) - ruching I love you!! - but I never went for it because it was so expensive. It has now been published as part of her winter collection in the book Amber. I started immediately as soon as I had the book and the yarn in my little hands.
It's been a long while since I've worked with KSH and I was shocked at how much the price had increased. The pattern calls for 3 skeins and I dunno, maybe I was in a budget-y mood that day in the yarn store, but I really was not about to drop $45 for mohair materials, no matter how badly I loved the scarf. So I bought 2 balls instead, which worked out fine because I didn't want my scarf so long anyways.
It also didn't work out fine because as the sloppiest knitter in the world, I didn't leave enough yardage to complete the frills. They are not at maximum ruffled capacity.
Still looks good though. Thanks Veebs!
Filed Under: Completed Projects
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