Happy Holidays and All That

DSC_1161, originally uploaded by jake orr.

I admit to a bit of egotism on this one. Let's just get that out of the way. I mean, how often do I get to be in my own pictures? Not often enough if you ask me.

My most excellent family is really the subject of this photo though. And pretty great they are. The holidays are a convenient excuse for us to get together, eat yum yums, and generally entertain one another. This year my Aunt Carol had the lovely idea of doing a family portrait; I'd say it's been a good 10 years at least since we've actually done one of these things.

Seeing as yours truly likes taking pictures and I just happened to have the required equipment I volunteered my services for the event. Getting everyone in there required some tricksies. I used my little wireless remote which was cheap like borsch and is quite the handy little devil. It's not the kind of thing I use very often so every time it takes a little experimenting to get right. It does require line of sight so that's why you can see it in these pictures.

Hold on, something just occurred to me. If I had been really quick off the draw I could have used the remote in conjunction with the timer. That way I could have held my arm up to use the remote then, while the timer guy was counting down, I could have calmly lowered my freaking arm to get the remote out of the picture. Ah well, live and learn. Next time maybe I'll remember this little revelation. You know, if I'm lucky.

Roxy

DSC_0473, originally uploaded by jake orr.

This is my cat.

See my cat.

My cat is fat.

Yeah, she's a heffer. It's especially amusing when she lays on my mom's glass table (seen here) because her girth spreads itself out quite extraordinarily. She's a cute one. You know, if you like that kind of thing.

As a side note I will be homeless as of January 31, 2009. If you want to live with me please let me know. Also if you know of other people who would like to live with me point me their way. Thanks, I like you guys.

Great Tidings

DSC_0959, originally uploaded by jake orr.

Camera: Nikon D80
Exposure: 15 sec (15)
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO Speed: 100

Beautiful Effect: Complete Accident.

At the risk of sounding like an overused advertising gimmick, I wanted to talk about these accidental pictures that you occasionally get. The surprise photos that just look amazing.

I stumbled over this one while I was taking flash photos at our Habitat Christmas party. At one point I forgot to turn the flash on and the camera, adjusting for the low light, slowed down the shutter speed for me. It was one of those: push the shutter button, wait, wait...realize what happened, and lower the camera. The shutter finally closed and this appealing image popped up on the display. I turned the flash back on and went about my picture taking ways. When I uploaded the images to my computer and started the editing process I was pleasantly surprised by this shot that looked even better at full size.

This is just one of the many parts of photography that I find rewarding and, you know, fun. I'm not sure if you know what I mean or if this is anything more than just another pretty picture to you, but it's one of the simple little things in photography, in life, that just puts a smile on my face. I hope it can do the same for you.

Shedding Some Light

DSC_0873, originally uploaded by jake orr.

This past Tuesday featured a return of Spoken Word Open Mics at The Well (the campus bar). The event gave me a perfect opportunity to try out my new external flash. Which was amazing. Having some real lighting (other than the body flash) was a treat and I had a lot of fun experimenting with it. It's definitely going to be a learning process and things are just going to get better from here. Keep your eyes open for more flashy photographs coming your way!

Snow!

DSC_0734, originally uploaded by jake orr.

Well it's finally happened. I'm late on a blog posting. What is this, number 5? I guess it had to happen sooner or later. Better sooner than later, I always say. I don't always say that. Now I'm lying too. Oh dear. We're off to a bad start today.

I went sledding this weekend! It was my friend Alix Berrington's birthday weekend and a bunch of my friendskis were up at Idabel Lake Resort for the weekend. I made it up there for a day and we made that day count!

My favorite part of the whold adventure was the sledding we got in. It may have been a little early in the season for it (read:rocks), but tons of fun was had nonetheless. I really don't make enough time for sledding. I don't think most people do, actually. Next time you have a free afternoon give me a call. We'll go sledding.

(Or we'll go slacklining. Christina and I had a late-season slacklining day yesterday and it was great! As long as you dress warm on top, your bare feet really start to get used to the cold!)