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Sunday, August 27, 2006

Joe's Family ... MY Family

I collect family members and then keep them even when they are not "technically" part of my family anymore. This week, some of my family came for a visit. My son Joe's uncle Ben, Aunt Lonni and their girls came to stay with us. Ben is the brother of my ex-husband but we are still friends and it seemed perfectly natural that they would come and stay with us while they were in town. Thursday night we had an evening of guitar playing and other merriment with the "family" and a few friends. I got some great facial shots of the guitar players. I was shooting with my Nikon D200.





I wonder if I should explore "band" photography.


Thursday was a busy night. After dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant we stopped for "frozen custard." I had forgotten how much Lonni loves the frozen stuff. I took this picture with her first digital camera, a Canon point and shoot - very nice camera for a point and shoot.





On Saturday Charles and I drove out to the Virginia Arboretum in Boyce, Virginia to check out the gardens and the picture taking possibilities. It was very hot but we saw a few things and decided that we will have to go back in the fall and winter and spring. Here is a shot that I took while we took the driving tour around the arboretum.





Links:

Virginia Arboretum: http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/
Thai Basil: http://www.thaibasilchantilly.com/
Milwaukee Frozen Custard: http://www.milwaukeecustard.com/

Sunday, August 20, 2006

What I see everyday

I work across the street from the National Geographic Society buildings in Washington, D.C. In the area between the buildings, there is a nice pool area with several large boulders. One day I had this idea that it would be cool to take a portrait of someone reflected in one of the boulders. I haven’t found a victim yet so this week I practiced the technique on myself and did a few self portraits. I really like how they came out.





The National Geographic buildings are quite interesting but so is the building that I work in, Sumner Square. It is actually comprised of three buildings, the historic landmark the Sumner School, the former Magruder School and a building connecting them all (with no name).



Links:



Next weekend I'm going to shoot my first maternity photos. I've seen so many great shots of pregant women. I hope that I will do a good job.



See you next week.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

New Camera Adventures

I got a new camera a few weeks ago, the Nikon D200. It is a digital SLR. I haven’t shot film since December 2004 when I got my first DSLR, the Nikon D70. I take lots more pictures and try more things with my digital cameras. I look forward to exploring all the features of the D200.

I had two photography outings planned for this weekend:

Winery Outing:

The first outing was a paint/shoot out yesterday with the Northern Virginia Artists League, NOVAL (see below). We went to a local Loudoun County, Virginia vineyard, Windham Winery. The lighting wasn’t so great for photography but I got a few interesting shots - that I played with in Photoshop. We found a baby bird in a nest among the vines but none of us could get a good shot of it. The owners and staff at the winery were so welcoming to our group. I hope to get back there in the fall to catch some shots of the changing leaves (and for the wine).







I've been playing with logos for my photography business. What do you think of this one?

Visting Grandma:

The second outing was a visit to my 101 year old grandmother today with the hope of taking some pictures of her. Unfortunately she was not in a picture taking mood. I got one interesting shot but I will have to visit her another day.




After visiting my grandma, my parents, niece and nephew came over for lunch. My son and one of his friends also joined us. It was my mom’s birthday yesterday and my parents’ anniversary on Tuesday so we had to CELEBRATE. While my son and his friend moved a desk into my studio, I took some shots of my parents and niece and nephew in the studio. No one is safe from my camera.


I love this shot of my parents.


My niece was pretending to be a super hero – who knows, maybe she is one. I wonder what her super power is???

NOVAL:

I have joined NOVAL, a group of local artists. They are an eclectic group of painters, photographers and graphic artists – including both accomplished artists and newcomers like me. They have been very warm and welcoming. I look forward to a long association with them. I am very excited because Sandi Croan, one of the photographers in the group (now there are 3 – I’m one!!!), has been so helpful and supportive. Her work is incredible. She shoots with the same camera that I do and has shown me a few things. I hope to help Sandi and the other NOVAL artists at their booths at the Virginia Wine Festival at the end of September.

Links:

NOVAL: http://www.novalart.com/
Windham Winery: http://www.windhamwinery.com/
Sandi Croan Photography: http://www.sandicroanphotography.com/
Virginia Wine festival: http://www.virginiawinefestival.org

Thanks for visiting. Come back next week.

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Sharing My Passion For Photography

I am starting this blog, PHOG, to share my passion for photography.

Starting today I will be posting a weekly PHOG sharing my latest photography adventures.

This week I was practicing with my new macro lens.

Next week I will be visiting family in New York. I love to take candid photos capturing the diversity in human expressions. My family is an interesting group and will make a fine addition to the PHOG.

After that, who knows. I have been thinking of taking a series of pictures of American flags in downtown Washington, D.C. Maybe those will make the PHOG.

This weekend we went to visit my in-laws down in Bristol, VA. My father-in-law, Mac, showed me an antique match holder that he had received from his father. I didn't know that such things existed. His "raven" grabbing matches out of a "coffin" had been featured on the cover of a book on match holders (yes, there are books on "everything"). Kinda cool, eh? I had to take a picture - after all I did have a new camera with a new macro lens.



My in-laws live on a nice big lot with lots of trees and interesting objects. I couldn't resist taking a picture of this rustic bird house.



When I told Charles (my husband) about my new macro lens, he made a comment that I would be taking more "flower" pictures. I guess I do take a lot of them. The following images are not "flower" pictures although these "chicks and hens" plants do look very floral, don't they. I played with them in photoshop too.







Please come visit my PHOG next week. Oh, and don't forget to leave me some comments.

- Nadia