Photo of the Day: Swap & Save

Not much to say today about the photo. It's been a busy day.

I planned to take some new shots, but didn't get to do so. That being the case, old picture for today, from Akon 2010's lolita swap meet. Fitting 12+ lolitas into a single bed hotel room in the middle of a summer convention was not very comfortable. Very hot.

I snagged a seat on the window-seat-cum-air-conditioning-unit and snapped photos throughout, though!

I should have something more "daily" tomorrow. My younger brother will be arriving for his visit!

Photo of the Day: Shotgun Christmas

click above for full-size on flickr

Starting Christmas off with a bang!
The photos over the next few weeks probably won't have much to do with lolita, if at all. My family is in the middle of the holiday fever, and we're preparing for a visit from my older brother with his wife and son. My younger brother is also traveling home, and bringing a roommate along for the trip. Chances are, they'll be the subjects of my photos until a bit after the new year.

Sources of Inspiration: Photographers

Photographer: Viona ielegems
Website: http://www.viona-art.com/
Specialties: Portraiture (fairy tales, fantasy, alternative fashion)

Photo of the Day: Traveling Back in Time

Not even a ridiculous alice bow can make this book a fun read.

For this photo, I tried to get a ridiculous old-photo vibe going on with the image in terms of color, focus and all that good stuff. I think perhaps I went a bit overboard, but I'll go with it for now, because it actually suits the topic of the ramble I'm in the mood to write. I've been mulling over this a while now, and it's time to get it out of my head and into the keys.

I have a really bad habit of tearing myself up when I'm down. When I was in college, I used to joke with my friends that that was the only thing about me that would get up when I was down.

A lot of people respond to stress and pressure that way, by beating themselves up over what they can't fix rather than trying to fix what they can. They become pessimistic, reactionary. Lately, I'm trying to be more positive and avoid the pitfalls inherent in my my present situation. Unfortunately, I have more time to think than I'm used to, and keeping busy non-stop can be exhausting.

Photo of the Day: Eye of the Photographer

The other day, I was lamenting the fact that I don't have anyone who really is willing to let me photograph them. My family has an aversion to having cameras pointed at their faces which is almost as strong as my own, and my friends are in the middle of finals, work, and familial responsibilities.

Because of this, I've been reduced to attempting (really bad) self-portraits and photographing things around me, which (while often very nice) doesn't always fit my mood.

Photos (!!!) of the day: Gone Out

Gotta get out before you can get anywhere.

Like I said I would yesterday, I've taken photos of my daily walk. I headed down the bayou like normal, but got closer to the water than usual (I was trying to get a photo of a bird that was fishing). Unfortunately, I didn't go as far today as I normally do, because I got a little bit side-tracked.

The photos today will be a bit larger than normal, since some of them are so much fun.

Photo of the Day: Go for a Stroll?

These feet were made for walking.

I didn't actually go for a walk all dressed up or anything, but I am doing more of the whole hoofin' it thing lately. I think tomorrow's Photo of the Day will be more reflective of that fact.

This one, well. I was getting ready to go to the post office. Not really within walking distance.

Sources of Inspiration: Music

Photography and lolita both require a heavy dollop of creativity just as a matter of course. I find a lot of inspiration from many different sources, but I'm incredibly fond of having music going in the background when I'm working on things. It makes the time pass more quickly, and gets the juices flowing.

The only time I'm not listening to music is when I'm talking to someone, because that's just rude.

I recently rearranged my furniture in order to plug an old, broken laptop into my stereo. It makes things really convenient, as I can turn on Pandora and let it run without having to get up to change CDs the way that I used to. Since I'm also fond of a wide variety of genres, Pandora is a great option for finding new music to listen to. I'm sure that most of the internet is aware of its existence already, but if you don't have an account with Pandora and are looking for some new tunes, I highly recommend their service.

In this entry, I'm going to talk a bit about music I like to listen to when I'm working!

Photo of the Day: Cheeeeeeese!

I gave this one the title it has because of that CHEESY background! Yay, Photoshop!

So today, I mucked around with my new tripod a bit. I've really come to realize the last few weeks how much I miss having ready-made models. My friends back in university were always game to play dress-up for me (or dress down, as the occasion called) and let me put them in front of the lens. My friends here are a lot busier, and much more spread out. Not only that, but it's much harder to get well-cropped, self-snapped portraits than it is outfit snaps (even with a spiffy new tripod).

Guess I'll have to keep practicing, practicing, practicing.

Photo of the Day: Now Where Was I?

These signs are really common in my area. Every drainage ditch/bayou has at least four.

Today really has nothing to do with lolita, except to explain why I don't wear it very often. Today, I'm going to tell you a little bit about where I live!

To warn you, this post is not for the faint of heart: I live in Houston, Texas. This is going to be a bit of a word-vomit. I won't be sad if you skip it.

Photo of the Day: Waiting

Lisa and Mary in Hermann Park, June 7th 2009

This post is going to be a bit on the personal side for once, because I don't have much to say about today's photo. I took it well over a year ago, and am no longer in touch with the friends I had model for me. I do still like the shot, though.

Photo of the Day: To the Convention! (Not the Gun Show)

It's should come as no surprise that lolitas are just as varied in their tastes in hobbies as
they are in their tastes in clothes.

Once upon a time, I went to a convention called Anime St. Louis. It was a small affair in 2009, with no more than 2,000 guests the whole weekend. I took photos, I helped friends run a lolita fashion panel, and I cosplayed. On the second day of the convention, the day we had our panel, it was half raining, half snowing all day. The parking lot of the convention center was packed in the morning when we arrived, and a giant line snaked around the building.

Photo of the Day: We're All Just Tourists

Lolitas are often more interesting to tourists than the exhibits that they originally came to see.

Digital Photography: Watermarks

A watermark is a recognizable image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations in the paper.

- Wikipedia, Watermark

Though the original meaning of "watermark" has changed, its general purpose through time has remained the same. It a type of visual citation, which identifies the source of what you are looking at. In the case of paper, it tells you the mill the paper came from, and frequently tells you the type of paper and fiber content as well.

In the case of photography, watermarks work a little bit differently.

Because digital photography has grown in recent years in leaps and bounds, many photographers feel a need to protect their intellectual property by watermarking their images. These watermarks identify the image as having come from them, and prevents (to a degree) other people from using the images.