Tortillas

I eat a lot of tortillas.

Hazel Behind Bars

Hazel was playing with me through the bars of a stair railing.

Lines

I just really liked all the criss-crossing lines here.

Leaves, Grass, Fence

Early morning light obliquely striking dead leaves, grass, and a fence.

Frosted Scooter

The way the sun was hitting the frost on this scooter and making it sparkle caught my eye.

Broken Shower

Our shower has been out of action for a week and a half or so. Right now all we're waiting on is a new handle for the faucet. (And yes, the shower needs to be cleaned, but the worst part was under the handle, so that's not our fault!)

Pan Zoom

I experimented a bit with various intentional camera movements combined with a slow shutter speed, inspired by a recent essay/blog post by a professional who was exploring it as a way to try something new. After trying a few different movements, I discovered that if I combined a pan and a zoom, I could get part of the image to hold relatively still while exaggerating the blur in other areas. This was one of the results.

If you want to see some cool (and much more professional) examples of deliberate camera motion, check out this essay.

Hazel the Scholar

Hazel was having fun trying on her dad's backpack (empty, of course).

Vanity

I noticed the other day when I came in from the cold that when my glasses fogged up, I was getting fun, colorful halos around bright lights. I wanted to recreate that for a picture, so I chilled a 9x13 glass pan in the fridge for a while, pulled it out and gently fogged it up with my breath, and then shot through it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get halos, but I did play around a bit with the distortion caused by the curved glass where the bottom of the pan meets the sides.

Sunset Tree 2

I loved the colors of this sunset, and the tree made a nice foil.

Around Here

One of my new roommates is learning Spanish.

Cleat

Remember the pedals on my new bike? This is the cleat that goes with them, allowing me to clip into the pedals and pedal more efficiently. I hear that many people fall over a few times when they first start using clipless pedals, because they forget to clip out until they're already stopped (and falling over), but so far I've avoided any ignominious incidents.

Helmet

I just got a new helmet; my old one had a poor fit, and it also makes the air roar past my ears when I ride fast. This one fits much better, but I'll have to wait to test it at high speed until I get a chance to go for a good long ride.

April Meservy

Tonight I went and saw April Meservy perform again, along with several other talented artists. (Here she's being accompanied by violinist April Moriarty.) She writes her own music, and not only is her writing good, so is her singing and playing. I was glad I got to hear her again!

Moonlit Tree

Tree silhouetted against a moonlit sky, with the branches showing blurring due to a strong wind during the long (two-minute) exposure. The brighter patch in the upper left is from the moon shining through the clouds, just out of the frame.

New Music

I'm pretty excited to listen to these albums that I picked up at last night's concert by Fictionist. (They're awesome, and if you get the chance to go to one of their concerts, do it.)

Burned Window

I walked by the Tabernacle this afternoon. From the outside you could almost pretend it's still okay...except for things like this.

Midnight Sun

I decided I really love fog. When it's deliciously thick like this, it's like stepping into another world: everything looks wondrously different. Ordinary things can surprise you.

Like this. Who knew a gas station could look like this?

The moral of the story, I think, is that I'm glad I was awake and outside at 3 a.m. to take these photos.

People

A sign inside of Muse Music, where I saw April Meservy (and others) perform.

Lightroom

After chillylint let me play with Lightroom, I decided I was quite the fan. Though I really need to put in some more time to get this batch of photos finished.

Size

I was given this awesome shirt a while back by my friend chillygator, but just didn't wear it often enough. I offered it to Michelle and she fell in love with it. She wore it today and was very pleased—she got lots of comments!

No Flooding

New management seems to have figured out what old management didn't, even after two winters in a row with frozen pipes—namely, the pipes will freeze unless you do something preventative. The biggest help was the heater they put in the laundry room (people leaving doors open wasn't actually the problem—the single-digit temperatures were).

Headphones

I really like my headphones.

After the Snow

I was walking by this tree with the same car parked under it as before, but with very different weather. I thought the difference in season could provide an interesting contrast.

Marble

A marble rolling pin, one of my Christmas gifts. I look forward to using it...I may have to make a pie or something soon.

Nota bene: this was not allowed in my carry-on luggage. This would be the third cooking-related item that TSA found suspicious, though the first that I agree could actually harm someone. (The first two were a garlic press and a mortar and pestle.)

Wheels

Detail of a cement-pumping truck at a construction site near where I live. This truck takes cement from a cement truck and then pumps it through a tube in a very long, flexible arm, so that the cement can be poured in places otherwise inaccessible to large vehicles.

iCan

Someone in my office has a sense of humor.

Communal

Sign outside a local restaurant. I liked the design and the lighting.

Clipless

Close-up of a pedal of my new bike. I actually took this for reference when examining pedals and shoes at a local bike store, in case I couldn't figure out what kind I had. (There are several types of clipless pedals.) This is an SPD pedal.

Blowing Fire

I love the crazy people who live in my apartment complex. Especially when they let me get pictures of them blowing fire.

(In this picture, the girl on the left is holding a cooking torch (mine), and the guy is blowing out corn starch he'd been holding in his mouth. In later experiments we found out that powdered sugar works even better, although it's a little messier because it caramelizes/burns on the torch. The sequence of photos along the bottom shows the action at 1/5-second intervals.)

Clean Counter

I did a lot of dish washing today. I actually volunteered, because I derive satisfaction from a clean kitchen. Even if it's not mine.