vollenda's PhotoBlog

A Motley Crew

2008-05-14T22:11:40Z

When I was at the Renaissance Faire, there was filming going on for a television show starring Tommy Lee and Ludacris. It was for Battleground Earth, a new show on Discovery's soon to be launched Planet Green Network . If you watch it, you might get to see some of the people I've posted on my blog. www.lmg-images.com

A Portrait Of A Woman

2008-05-12T22:20:47Z

Through the ages... “I was born to learn, to grow, to expand, to love, to create, to enjoy, to see the beauty in all things including myself... But I was NOT born to be perfect.”~author unknown I'm not sure where the time goes but once again I didn't get to comment much. It may be a couple of days before I catch up. The funeral is tomorrow.

Another Day, Another Daisy

2008-05-11T22:31:50Z

Woo hoo! So what's so exciting about more daisy photos? The fact that I was able to take them this weekend because... I.Knocked.Over.My.Camera. With my 70-180 macro lens on it. Some of the sweetest glass ever there was (which they don't make anymore) and it went over like a tipped cow. Lens first. Can you say heart attack? It happened last week - I had my camera on my tripod and I had just set a tray with the rose's petals on a chair. Spike came snooping over so I picked it up and turned around and the tray hit my camera! I said a little prayer that just the tripod went over and somehow, magically, my camera was floating in mid air. But no. It was on the floor. I dropped the tray and picked up my camera and started checking it out. The lens wasn't cracked. Whew. Everything was fine and functioning!!! The photo gods were smiling on me. :) I gave it an intense workout on Saturday and some on Sunday and it's all good. Woo! D200...a lot of money, 70-180 macro lens...a lot of money, both still working...priceless. :) www.lmg-images.com

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-10T21:43:04Z

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all have a great day. :) P.S. I have been working on my my mom's Mother's Day present so I didn't get a chance to visit your blogs, but I will tomorrow. www.lmg-images.com

TSC - Spikeologist

2008-05-09T19:31:43Z

Thank you all for your comments the past few days. I got some very interesting feedback, a few kick-in-the-pants, and a lot of support. :) I believe in letting things out. Sometimes, that's all I'm trying to do here. I've kept journals off and on throughout my life. I've found that I stop journaling when things are rough. You'd think that would be when I most need it. But my thoughts get jumbled up and I can't write fast enough to get them out. Those are the times when Spike becomes my therapist. I can ramble to him about what's happening and he just listens. Or doesn't. Who knows. But I find it works because: a) he never spills my secrets, b) he doesn't try to fix it or give advice, c) once it's out, I don't have to dwell on it anymore, and d) he's really, really cheap. ;) Plus, I think he knows when I need comfort because he'll curl up beside me and I can pet him without worrying about losing a hand. :) They say that pets help lower an owner's blood pressure. I suppose that's true of Spike. Although last night it got a little high when he decided to push a ceramic potpourri bowl off the kitchen counter! Stripey rotter! “Time spent with cats is never wasted.”~Sigmund Freud www.lmg-images.com

Stars All Seem To Weep

2008-05-08T22:09:39Z

I didn't mean to make everyone sad with yesterday's post. I'm not depressed about it. Really. I am happy being independent and only having to worry about Spike. He's enough! ;) Just sometimes, there are moments when I feel lonely. Who doesn't have them, though. It is part of life. I think I let it out yesterday because I was tired. Photoblog works as self-therapy. Ready for some more? My great uncle passed away after a long and painful battle with cancer this morning (Thursday). It wasn't unexpected but there was still that moment when I first heard my mom's voice and I knew what she was going to say that I was afraid to hear it. It was a selfish thought, of course. Because he was in A LOT of pain and he is at peace now. I did not see him like this, the consensus was that it would be better if only immediate family spent time with him. He was heavily medicated to help with the pain and it seemed better to let him sleep. My mom did visit him though since he was like a brother to her. My mom is an only child and when she was little, my grandparents moved in with my great-grandparents to help take care of my great-grandfather (who was in a wheelchair) and my grandmother's younger brothers. They weren't much older than she was and I think they spoiled her a little even when she was tagging along on their dates and ratting them out when they were in trouble. :) I am glad that my mom and my cousins were able to say good-bye and tell him the things they wanted to say. Not everyone gets to do that. I have left things unsaid before with people who were important to me. "All the things we took for granted The words still live on in my head All the times I took for granted All the words I never said. I think about you in the moonlit night, And the stars all seem to weep. When there's so much love to give, There's never any time for sleep." ~Stars All Seem To Weep, Beth Orton www.lmg-images.com

Nice Girls Finish Last

2008-05-07T22:21:54Z

Don't wish, don't start Wishing only wounds the heart I wasn't born for the rose and the pearl There's a girl I know He loves her so I'm not that girl"~I'm Not That Girl, Wicked It's not the age of 40 that bothers me. I don't feel old. It's that I'm turning 40 and no man has ever sent me roses. I've never been in love nor has a man ever been in love with me. I thought I was once. He was...indifferent. Except when he needed something. It may have colored my view of love. Morgan informed me in our Caturday Conversation that she has given up hope on me. (I'm telling you, she's 10 1/2 going on 17!) But you know what? I don't really blame her. I'm almost there too. I think a part of me is starting to shrivel up, fade away, shatter. I don't know what to do about that. www.lmg-images.com

Emerald

2008-05-06T20:47:40Z

Confession of a Klutz: I'm addicted to Dancing With The Stars. So is another certain photoblogger (who shall remain nameless). Er, addicted to DWTS, not the klutz part. ;) Here's a hint. Sending you good thoughts! :) For my birthday, I’m treating myself to a night in LA to see Behind the Emerald Curtain and do some photo exploring. Behind the Emerald Curtain is a behind the scenes tour of the show Wicked where you get to see the props and the costumes up close as well as what it is like back stage. Um, you may have noticed that I post photos of feet now and then. Spike's Jig Ruby Slippers A Certain Step It’s not so much the feet as what they are doing (hopefully dancing) or the shoes they are wearing. I actually have an idea for a foot/shoe photo project that I want to do. When I saw Wicked and I saw the boots the characters were wearing, I was wishing for my camera SO badly. I asked if I can take my camera on the tour and they said "yes, they are encouraged" (woo!) so I’m hoping to capture some of that. It won’t be the same without actual feet in them but it should be cool. I can't wait. :) www.lmg-images.com

Sunshower

2008-05-04T23:13:35Z

"But its all right When you're caught in pain And you feel the rain come down Its all right When you find your way Then you see it disappear Its all right Though your garden's grey I know all your graces Someday will flower In the sweet sunshower" ~Sunshower, Chris Cornell 17-36 were pretty grey years for me. Way to long to live in a fog. But things have been looking up since then. I finally got to a good place with my mom, I'll be debt free this summer, and I'm really exploring my artistic side. I have a good life now (despite my grumblings now and then). You could say I was a late bloomer. Better late than never, I guess. :) www.lmg-images.com

A Dash of Dreams, A Pinch of Rejection

2008-05-03T21:54:47Z

In just a little over 2 weeks, I will be turning...4...0. *gasp* Actually, I'm not really having a hard time with it but I will be using those 2 weeks to explore some of the good and the bad about me. A zero year birthday is worthy of some reflection. Feel free to skip the ramblings. I won't mind. :) ************************************************************************* Disclaimer #1 - I am not fishing for compliments. Disclaimer #2 - I don't think I'm "all that and a bag of chips" when it comes to photography. But...and this may sound arrogant...I do know my way around a camera. After more than a dozen years reading everything I can get my hands on about photography, I can say that, technically speaking, I'm confident in what I'm doing. I can use a digital camera or a camera from the 40s/50s and know that I will get the photograph. I know how to "see" light. And if something is in my photos, it's intentional. I know the photography "rules", I just choose to break them sometimes. Having said THAT - being technically proficient does not a photographer make. On any given day, I can look here on photoblog or in a magazine or on photo.net or the Nikonians website and see photos that make me want to hang up my camera. We all go through that, right? But I don't put my camera away. I keep taking photos because it's what I like to do. How I express myself. Still, every time you put your photos out there you risk rejection. And that is REALLY hard. Did I tell you I joined a photo stock agency? I submitted an application to Photoshelter in March and I was accepted. But they don't automatically accept all of your photos. Oh, no. They go through an approval process. Right now, my approval rate for my photos is about 65-66%. Which I find depressing. There are a lot of reasons they reject a photo - they have too much of a subject, it's not what they are looking for, it's not technically correct, etc. Sigh. AND...I also submitted a photo to velonews early last month and it wasn't accepted either. SIGH. At times like that, I think I have no business giving out advice since it doesn't appear to be working for me! But I'll keep taking photos because I Love it and it brings me Joy. And I'll keep trying because I have to Believe that my Dreams will come true. My photos may not be for everyone, but that's okay. They are mine. www.lmg-images.com