30 Days of Creativity - Day 25: Positive Negative

Couldn't resist posting this one. I also could not resist posting it almost as is. It came out looking like a direct positive, and that is exactly how the light was outside that night. We've been having some crazy summer weather lately. In fact just this week at 9 p.m. is was light outside with a rainbow in view. (Wish we would have gotten photos of that...)

Although I wish I could have gotten the photo of lightning striking both the Hancock Tower and Sears (Willis) Tower. Check this one out - it is amazing! Glad I was safe at home though for this storm because it was a nasty one.

I find that it isn't very often that a digital image comes out exactly how you think it will. I seem to have better luck with film being more accurate to "real life." Am I the only one this happens to? Maybe it's because I am not an early-adopter with everything. I really enjoy film. It's always a mystery what will come out. Rather than shooting 10 shots of the same thing until it turns out just right you have to be more precise from the beginning.

Off to shoot some more photos. Happy weekend!

30 Days of Creativity - Day 8: Sweet Tooth

My KitchenAid has been lonely. My palette has been craving something sweet. The solution: Cupcakes! I almost made my "go-to" recipe: One Bowl Chocolate Cake, but instead decided to make my cupcakes from a simple yellow cake recipe. The result, you guessed it -- delicious.

Now that it is summer I am eager to try out new dessert recipes. Cakes with ice cream, tarts with fresh fruit...etc. Since we're new to the 'hood we still have to discover all the great farmers' markets and orchards. We are planning to so check me of this over the weekend.

Anyway, a short post from us today. We don't want to delay eating these delights!

Here's the recipe:

Set oven to 375 degrees. Bake 15 minutes or until golden around edges.

Mix:

3/4 c butter

3 eggs

2 1/2 c flour

2 1/2 c baking powder

1/2 t salt

1 3/4 c sugar

1 1/2 t vanilla

1 1/4 c milk (or as I do it: one yogurt and 1/2 c milk)

+ I would have added orange/lemon zest to this if we would have had it at home. Darn!

30 Days of Creativity - Day 7: Billfold

Happy One Week of Creating! It was high time the sewing machine came out for creative uses. I made a bunch of these billfolds (which were on our Etsy shop and more will be posted soon) awhile back.

Under normal circumstances I would not say that I have a "hoarding problem"; although, when it comes to paper, I will admit that I do. I have so much paper that I am no longer sure what to do with it all. (That said, I am open to ideas!).

The idea of making sewn billfolds came to me at a time when I was in the market for a new wallet. That said, I do not like wallets and I never have. I am also not a purse person. I like to carry the bare minimum around with me when I go out. This is how I got the idea to make a paper billfold. My sewn billfolds can only 4-5 cards at a time without overexerting the snap. Perfect for me - I can carry my drivers license, credit cards, insurance information and cash. I like being able to have this with me and use it regularly because it reminds me that I am creative and has proven to be a great conversation starter.

I have revamped my design a bit. I used two different types of paper for this one. The inside is lined with a textured stock paper and for the outer layer I used a silver water-repelling paper. Since I changed up the design a bit, I am going to add a velcro strip instead of a snap. I'm glad I made one today - I needed a new one :).

30 Days of Creativity - Day 6: Flores

For our lack of an outdoor garden, it was necessary to create our own indoor garden. A very easy project - all that you need are paper, scissors and a stapler. I opted for more muted toned paper, but using colorful paper remnants would give that garden some extra punch. I plan to make more of these little fellows throughout the week.

I absolutely love gardens. The closest we have ever come to having a real garden has consisted of filling our window sills with planters. It's been successful thus far, and lucky for us our last couple of apartments have had great natural light and deep window sills.

Our indoor garden update for the day involved our aloe vera plant. I transferred a shoot from our larger aloe plant to a pot today. I am hoping that it continues to grow roots and makes it. [Judging by how burned my shoulders are today from a morning stroll I may be in need of some aloe soon.]

30 Days of Creativity - Day 4: Manual focus lenses on DSLRs

Last night we decided to go for a stroll around Hamlin Park and took our Olympus e510 with an old Olympus OM 50mm f1.8 (the "Made in Japan" one, which is supposedly the sharpest version of this lens). Focusing with a manual focus lens on a modern DSLR can be quite a challenge, especially if, like us, you can only afford the entry level model. Because of the digital sensor size, the mirror on this cameras is smaller and therefore what you see through the viewfinder is smaller. Using a magnifying finder helps a lot.

We love Hamlin Park during the summer and the fact that is so close to where we live. It's fun to see lots of little kids learning how to play baseball with their parents. This park is one of our favorite after work walk destinations.

We've also been taking more pictures with our old cameras, right now there is a roll of film in both our Olympus OM-10 and our Kiev 6C (in this case it's one that is really expired). We also always carry the DSRL with us. You can't beat the instant gratification that digital provides, especially when with film you have to wait at least a couple days to get film developed, and then spend the time scanning it.

Anyways we have a couple of projects going on for this weekend, we want to decorate some vinyl toys, an airplane and maybe we'll brew some dunkelweizen beer, so stay tuned!

30 Days of Creativity - Day 2: Through the viewfinder

We're not going to let the rain slow us down!

We can already tell that this is going to be a fun month. We are looking forward to keeping you updated on our projects and progresses, but are also excited to see what others are doing as well. You can check out the roster of participants here and the Flickr group of some of those taking part in 30Days.

Now on to Day 2: Viewfinder Views.

As we've slowly watched our camera collection grow throughout the years, so has our collection of cameras that have a waist-level viewfinder. These finders are great for focusing and can be a lot of fun when you use other cameras to capture the image through the finder. Our example today is an image shot from our Olympus E-510 through the Kiev 6C finder. Neat result, right? Yeah, we thought so too. [You'll have to visit again sometime soon to see the actual images shot from the Kiev. We can't turn around medium format film as fast as digital files. :))]

the blues.

This photo has some real sentimental pull for me. First off, this was one of the few times I can remember not being afraid of what others were going to think of me when I took this shot. I got right up to the table and to the hostesses to get this shot. I felt like it was the "must take" shot for Beale Street on Memphis. I thought it was a very interesting way of reusing / up-cycling the neck of a guitar.

The real sentimental value in this photo though are the words. BLUES. I recently made a trip to the Twin Cities to visit family. While my grandfather has been gone for a little over a year, I always feel like I am waiting for him to sit down in his chair, pull out his atlas and start talking. He had all sorts of "grandpaisms," and I have to chuckle now when I find myself using some of his phrases. One of the many we were guaranteed to hear on any given visit was "You got the blues." He said it with such a sing-song manner, if you had the blues you couldn't help but to smile. Hence, when I saw this photo, I was reminded of him.

It's a great photo for the week because rainy, overcast weather seems to give so many of us the blues. It sure is amazing just how much a little sunshine can lighten the mood. I hope we will see some of that before the week's end.

Pentax O-ME53

I've been kind of a slacker lately and haven't wrote much on here. While the feminine part of ampm is an unusual female that doesn't like shopping, I do. I'm also a self-defined gearhead (definition #4 ;)), especially with anything camera related.

Our most recent camera gear acquisition was a Pentax O-ME53 magnifier eyecup for our Olympus e510. I found it on ebay for a price I couldn't pass up. The e510 is great, but the original eyecup sucks, especially if you wear glasses. (Which we both do). Also the magnification is nice, keeping in mind that we like to use old manual lenses and the viewfinder of an entry level camera is not best suited for manual focusing.

Despite being a different brand, the eyecup fits the e510 just fine; it may be a little tight, but in case you want to modify it, there are instructions in this dpreview forum thread.

So here are a couple pictures taken in the last two days using the OM 50mm f1.4. I have yet to test it with longer lenses, but thus far I've been getting more pictures in focus with a manual lens than ever before.