Photojojos #87-88-89-90

Nancy is back from Seattle with four photojojos to catch us up this week. I've been holding four, in order, from last week's visit to Ulta.

Here they are, paired with Nancy's:

#87: Laura's Lipstick; Nancy's Exit Gate

#88: Laura's Hair Brush; Nancy's Coffee Store Sign

#89: Laura's Nail Polish Tries; Nancy's Dancing Neon

#90: Nancy's Coffee; Laura's Nail Polish

On My Own

I'm in a holding pattern with the photo projects, so I'm just taking photos and posting them on my own. Here's one from my front yard yesterday.

I didn't think my new roses would be blooming in January, when they should be dormant, but I have several new buds. Here's a fully developed one, opening up. I did do a Lightroom preset on this to knock back the color. The rose is actually a deep dark pink, with a white but I think it looks good with this 70s film treatment.

No Photojojos For A Few Days

My photojojo buddy Nancy is out of town, so we will resume the photojojo challenge when she returns later this week. In the meantime, I'll post a few more of my photos from the trip to the cosmetics store.

Here's a good one of a mannequin.

Not a Photojojo

I was out shopping today - actually waiting on my daughter who was shopping. I usually can keep myself busy and occupied with my little iPhone camera. I took a bunch of photos in the Ulta cosmetics store.

This pair of photos is not as weird as it looks. There was a display with photos of these truly beautiful women (models). The only problem was that the paper used for the photos was slightly wrinkled so that when taken from an steep angle from above which accentuated the wrinkling, it exaggerated the facial features of these two models.

Photojojo #86 - Cats

For Photojojo #86, Nancy's cat from the vet's office is paired with Laura's mannequin from the Ulta store in Foster City.

Photojojo #85 - Obscura

Here is today's photojojo. We're in the home stretch to finish this project - going to 100 within the next two weeks.

Nancy's special paper is paired up with some concrete graffiti I saw on the street today in San Francisco.

I went to see Ovo (Cirque du Soleil) with my sister and niece, and my daughter. I've seen three of these performances over the past four years: Corteo, Kooza, and now Ovo.

I loved Corteo - it was a funeral procession combined with an acrobatic circus. Funny, sweet and sad all at the same time. Kooza was okay - it didn't have as much of a theme holding it together as I would have liked. Still, the costumes and music, and the acrobatics, were wonderful to watch all on their own.

Ovo was so so beautiful. The Kiwi dance, the moths/butterflies, and an amazing acrobatic piece where performers bounced from these cushion/spring pads on the stage up to a wall and back down. They looked like geckos.

The ladybug and the fly were so wonderful and the smattering of French gibberish was so so funny and special. I was so wowed by the beauty and loveliness that I cried.

See it if you get the opportunity.

Photojojo #84 - Rust

Today's dominant color in the photojojo, #84, is rust. Nancy's scary face is paired with my photo of some ironworks art spied on a drive out to the Princeton Harbor area.

There was a fantastic art walk there a few months ago and I think where I took this photo is the same place that was doing welding demonstrations. The big piece in this photo looks to me like a lemon juicer on steroids.

Happy Friday!

Photojojo #83 - Blue Boy

Today's photojojo title was taken after that very famous work of art, Blue Boy. I think my grandmother had a reproduction of it hanging in her house. We would visit there every summer for a few weeks - my brother, sister and me. Nancy's blue texture on the left goes with the piece of tinsel I saw on a chair in a conference room this morning. Looks like someone was thrown a baby shower.

I remember the red dirt (Paradise), swimming in the Feather River before they built the Oroville Dam, and chasing around in the hot summer sun. We would eat peaches from my grandfather's precious fruit trees - they seemed like they were the size of small basketballs - and feed the chinchillas every morning. My job was to wash all the water bottles once a week. Grandma had two beds in a closet with bi-fold doors that were where my sister and I slept. The mattresses were foam and it was comfortable enough.

We were forced to take a nap every day right after lunch - from 12:30 to 1 pm, when my grandparents had their naps. I never could sleep then. What I would give for a situation where daily naps were required now. How civilized!

Anyway, the Blue Boy and the Pink Girl were hanging in a hallway or maybe my grandmother's bedroom, I think. I looked at them a lot over those summers, inspired to be an artist someday.

Photojojo #82 - Exotic Flavors

Photojojo #82 is bamboo by Nancy and chocolates at Eva's by Laura.

Photojojo #81 - Reading Material

Today's photojojo - #81 - is a shot by Nancy of a book in the leaves, combined with blurred on-coming headlights by Laura.

Photojojo #80 - Winter Kale Gears Up

It's that time of year when Kale is in abundance, both as something to eat and as garden eye candy. These beauties were spotted outside some shops on a rainy day in Fairhaven Washington. The gear, Nancy's, is of origin unknown.

Post 500 - Lime Green is My 2010 Color

I know - lime green is so 2008 or 2009 - but I've just discovered it and love it! I got a lime green case for my iPhone a couple of months ago, then my choice of colors for my new 2010 Keel's Simple Diary by Taschen was lime green.

This is my 500th post on my blog. Still looking for more followers but it helps to post every day and it will make a nice book at some point too. My blog - slurped into a book by Blurb.

So, here's a pile of lime green as a refreshing, crisp way to start the new year.

Goes well with tangerine, another good color.

Maybe These Are Photojojos, Maybe Not

I spent another few days up in Bellingham over the longish New Year weekend. I find so much inspiring to photograph up there. It seems the combination of Canada, the light (or dreary not-light), the sea harbor aspects and the fact that it is an older area (lots of overhead power lines, old buildings etc.) make it very inspirational for me.

Though I do not consider myself a photographer, I am starting to develop a better eye for composition and choice of subjects. I realized that I've shot almost 7,500 photos on my Canon 40D now. I've had it for about 18 months. I know that number of photos is squat compared to many professional photographers who shoot that many in about a week, but not being "pro," I come from that somewhat scarce place of film photography mentality - limited shots (24 or 36 to the roll). I'm convinced that is one big reason I never got too far with film - the limit of 24 or 36 just paralyzed me.

So, I still forget that my limit is much higher based on the size of the card. I tend to shoot quickly when I see something that seems worthy, but if I have the time, I frame it, and think carefully before shooting. This may stem from the laziness of going through too many photos, post shoot, and my inability to throw things away. Ironic that now that I am nearly limit-less in my shots, I'm so much more careful with what I choose to shoot. Well, there is a balance in there somewhere.

Whatever the reason(s), I feel more confident and am happy to see some better shots coming out of my partnership with my camera. Happy New Year and here's to me getting at least one really good shot every week.

Photojojo #79 - Winding Down Like a Black Panther

I'm sad to announce that Nancy and I will be going to Photojojo #100, then stopping this photo challenge. Nancy has started another photo challenge, 4Women365 Days, for 2010. We'll finish this challenge up with Photojojo #100, then switching all our energies over to that effort. I may continue to do a 2x photojojo challenge with someone else, if interested. I like the side by sideness of this approach.

So, for the next 20 days or so, they'll both be up and running, and my challenge will be to use two distinct photos daily - one for each challenge. You can find 4Women365Days here, but don't forget about this blog and this photochallenge.

Photojojo #78 - Barbie Rings in the New Year

Barbie (Nancy) pairs up with some 2009 Christmas holiday decorations in downtown Bellingham (Laura). Time to put away the party dress and take down the snowflake decorations. Bah humbug!

Photojojo #77 - Happy New Year!

This is the Photojojo for 01-01-10, but I had scant internet service over the weekend, so I'm just posting it now.

Nancy's Feliz 2010 from the NYEve dinner they attended is paired up with my shot from along Guide Meridian Road between Lynden WA and the Aldergrove Canadian border crossing.

We went up to White Spot for a New Year's Day lunch with my aunt and uncle. The weather was dreary, but I put on my Diana lens and got some dreamy dreary shots.

Photojojo #76 - Go For a Walk in 2010

Tonight is New Year's Eve. Tomorrow will be a new decade - full of new hope for better times. One of the best things I did while off from working this year was walk more. Scamperin' Nancy was helping me get in shape by walking every nearly every morning. And these were not easy walks. Some of them were up steep hills and by the time I got back to work in October, I was starting to be able to go up the hills without feeling like I was going to pass out.

Today's photojojo is a picture of the fogged in hills in Hayfork (Nancy) paired with some colorful walking shoes taken at Sea-Tac airport during my layover between Seattle and Bellingham.

On a personal note, I did 311 blog posts this year, which falls short of my goal of one per day. However, it is far better than my 2008 tally of 147 posts.

Happy New Year everyone. Here's to a prosperous new year for us all, spiritually, emotionally and financially.

Photojojo#75 - Corn Flakes for World Peace

Today's photojojo is seemingly one photo, but it didn't start that way. Nancy's peace sign with some melting snow was collaged with my corn flakes bowl and because of the dark background in the cereal bowl photo, it looks like the peace sign was right there above it all along.

Ironically, I was kicking mysel for having cropped my shot very short on top - right at the top of the bowl. When I put the image with Nancy's, it extended that black area, and automatically created a better, more balanced image.

What a perfect merge!

Photojojo#74

Too tired to write captions/explanations about this. Nancy's nozzles and Laura's Bloomie mannequins.

Photojojo #73

Photojojo#72 - Countdown to 500 Posts

Today's posting for the 72nd Photojojo is also No. 10 in the countdown to my 500th post on this art blog. Nancy is surrounded by lots of cold weather; I snapped this photo by accident in my car steering wheel the other day.

I'm just taking mine in order, matching up with Nancy's as I get them from her. I should hit 500 this week. Maybe by New Year's Eve.

Photojojo #71 - Birds on Ice

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not fond of birds in art. I feel like it is an overused theme, and yet, that means I also know I need to confront it. So, I'm taking the opportunity to get photos of birds (real or not), buy books of birds and just explore them in general. Claire and I "visited" with them outside Starbucks the other day and I told her about how much I am afraid of Hitchcock's The Birds.

My birds are pairs with Nancy's photography of the ice up in Hayfork. It must really be cold up there.

Merry Christmas Photojojo #70

Today is Boxing Day. Yesterday, I had the photos for the 'jojo (#70!), but was too busy and then too tired to get it posted on it's rightful day of 12/25/09. So, here it is a day late and a dollar short. I call it icy joy.

Photojojo #69 - Merry Christmas Eve

Tonight's Photojojo #69 is presented on the eve of Christmas 2009. This tree is out the window of Nancy's place in Hayfork. My photo of lamps and figurines was taken in Pier 1 Imports today while doing some last minute Christmas shopping.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I'm ready for 2010!

Photojojo #68

Today's Photojojo #68 is a frosty leaf by Nancy up in Hayfork and a lone boot in the bushes near work by Laura.

Christmas Eve

It was a beautiful day today driving between warm and sunny Half Moon Bay and the East Bay, where I went to visit with family near Mt. Diablo.

I took my camera and put on the dreamy Diana lens and got these photos of the hills around Mt. Diablo.

I like the effects I get with this lens.

Not a Photojojo

It's a couple of days before Christmas and I went to a restaurant to meet a friend to deliver the xmas boxes I made for her. I looked over my shoulder and saw this geocaching box on the counter. Do you know about geocaching? It's a cool activity I was introduced to several years ago.

I think it may have been invented by the companies that make GPS units. You use a GPS and the Geocaching.com website to locate these geocache boxes. When you find them, kind of an adult treasure hunt, you open the box to find all sorts of goodies. You can leave a goodie and take one.

Here's a little guy that I could have taken if I'd had something to leave.


Now with the advent of really good GPS features on the iPhone, you can of course find a geocaching app. I'm going to download one soon and start geocaching with my friends. I will be on a quest for little plastic animals that I'm starting to collect in the bowl in my front hallway.

Sometimes (usually) there are little notebooks in the box that you can use to leave a little note about your experience. I like this one: I think Monty is tiring of dating Lillie, or the restaurant, or both.

Photojojo #67

Today's Photojojo is No. 67. I'm not sure where Nancy took the candy counter photo; it is paired with my picture of leaves on the stairs of the parking structure.

Bah Humbug - Ho Ho Ho! Photojojo #66

It always happens right around this time of year - I am reminded of how much I hate Christmas.

To be fair, I don't really hate Christmas. I actually love the day of - seeing all my kids, going later to see the rest of my family. But the run up - in the few days preceding it - I find exhausting to the point of squelching all the fun out of it. I always manage to get through Christmas, and then on Boxing Day there is an inevitable relief/let down, wondering if my kids are happy with everything or disappointed like I always seemed to be growing up. I know - I project this onto them. I'm a work in progress on this.

Then, by the 27th or so, it's time to think about birthdays and getting ready for all that, then I'm really ready for a little vacation. This year, I'm going to Bellingham WA to chill. It will probably be cold there. I'll be ready for a nice little plane ride and some time away from my own environment. Then, after a few days there, I'll be ready to come home and start the new year.

This year was a bitch in many ways - mainly with the global economic implosion. I hope next year is better, but there is really no guarantee it will be.

Here's Photojojo #66 - some holiday lights on the left (Laura) and packages all wrapped and ready to go (Nancy).

Is There Life Beyond Photojojo?

Yes - I'm still doing art besides Photojojo. I've been quite busy, actually, with all kinds of other non-photographic art and art related activities.

For example, this weekend, I moved all my art related supplies (painting inventory, new canvases and frames) plus some household stuff that was cluttering up my garage, er studio, into a new and wonderful little fence hugger shed I just bought. I was installed in my back yard on Thursday, and by today, Sunday, I had it fully in use. See all about it here.

Here's a picture of the little darlin' in the yard. It's 6x12' and I was able to get lots of boxes of various papers and mementos into it, plus a lot of other stuff. So, now everything is here onsite and I'm happier than a clam.

I also did a commissioned art project over the weekend. A friend of mine is giving jewelry to her family as gifts for Christmas. She wanted an art box to enclose each gift, so I did these boxes which have her mother's photo on them. There are eight in all - seven smaller and one larger for the client. I hope she likes them!


I've also been planning my next print effort. I'm thinking about see saws, my childhood and quilts. I did a pro-form of the piece I want to start with. The photos of the man, collaged on as would be the case in the final piece, are just placeholders. What is significant about them is that there are two different photos of the same person. The placeholder images I used were from carte de visites, a predecessor to our modern day business card in the mid-1800s. These carte de visites were signficant in that the photographers of the day, using what were then recent technological developments (ha ha, no pun intended) were able to get eight exposures of the sitting client onto one piece of photo paper. There was something about the camera that took two exposures at one time and a way to move the negative over so that they got another two slightly different posed shots.

Anyway, I am working with these ideas and hope to have more time over the holiday break to explore more.

My studio was transformed today by getting a lot of important clutter out to the Shed. Now there is room to walk around my press. It was functionally okay in its prior location, with one side up against the back of a shelving unit. But it seems important to be able to walk around it and interact with it when printing. So, now it can breathe and so can I. Honestly, if I had my way, I would have a 2,000 square foot studio co-located with my house with all matching and covered storage so that I could label and then stow away all my art-making supplies.

This is the next best arrangement. Nearly all of the garage is dedicated to art, except for the ironing board, and some cleaning supplies stored near the door from the house out.

Photojojos #63, 64 and 65

We're all busy getting ready for the holiday - shopping, cleaning, cooking. Taking photos hasn't been at the top of the list, at least not getting them into Photojojo format. That's taken a bit of a back seat to the other demands on our time.

Nancy and I are starting to put out feelers for a venue where we can have a Photojojo Challenge show. Stay tuned for more on that soon. Here are a slug of three, today.

Photojojo#63 is Friday fishwrap - the paper (Nancy) and tuna cans (Laura).

Photojojo#64 is the holiday colors by Nancy with some cookies for Marisa (Laura).


Photojojo#65 catches us up with sidewalk scribbles (Nancy) and dangerous morning mushrooms after the rain (Laura).

Photojojo#62

I have never seen 109 santas all at one time - have you? They were out in force at work today, caroling through the buildings and spreading holiday cheer. Nancy's photo of the day's news is a good fit.

Up Over Photojojo #60 With These Three

We're catching up. Nancy has a new little Lumix camera that I hope she used to take these three photos that allow us to publish Photojojos #59, 60 and 61.

Photojojo#59 is some beautiful tomatoes by Nancy, even though it is mid-December. These go with the kids walking to school in the tule fog by me.

Photojojo#60 is Riley at the vet (Nancy) and a mailbox at the post office (me). I dreaded going there to send a package because I might experience the package mailing crush, but I was the only one in the place at 6 pm on a Monday night. Yay!

Photojojo#61 catches us up. Nancy's photo of the dog bone diagram goes with my Tow Away zone markings on the curb.

Now, back to holiday shopping on-line.