Wednesday, December 29, 2010

happy birthday, camera

My camera is now 2 years old. I purchased it on Boxing Day 2008, althought it didn't arrive until probably actually this same day two years ago haha. Last year I bought it a Canon 50mm f/1.8 II and I've had a lot of fun learning new things with that. This year I thought about it for a while and couldn't think of another lens (in my price range) that would be a useful enough addition to the repertoire, so I started looking into flashes.

This year I finally decided on a Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash. I haven't actually used one before so it's a bit of a weird move for me, but I'm really hoping I learn a lot and benefit from this piece of equipment. Winter is so dark anyways, so generally I go to work in the dark and come home just after the sun has set. It doesn't leave me much options for photography until I get a day off and usually my priorities are to relax a bit or travel to Toronto to visit various lovely people in my life.

To go with it, I grabbed a set of these as well: Sanyo Eneloop NiMH Rechargeable Batteries. I've been in desperate need of some good rechargeables for a long time now. My current ones hold a charge for about 5 hours, if that. I think they were originally purchased in the 90's though, so they've had a long life. I researched a bit and these Sanyo Eneloops seem like they'll be a good purchase. Since I don't have a camera phone, I want to keep my point and shoot Canon A590IS in my purse so I can still use it whenever I see something interesting. They sound like they keep a charge for a really long time even when not being used, so I'm excited to try them out and see how they go.

So yes. Happy birthday, camera! I hope you enjoy the copious amounts of money I spend on you...

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

sneak peak


time, originally uploaded by avalilly.
Here's one of the first shots from my photoshoot with the lovely Abby from friday.

It's a shame I've been so busy, because I just want to come home and work on these! I'll have more up soon though.

Still in love with the location. <3

Friday, November 19, 2010

27/52


au naturel, originally uploaded by avalilly.
27 of 52! I'm getting closer. So slowly, but surely.

Yes, square crop. Not excited about it, but it really was the best way to resolve it. I will probably play with this some more, maybe do a before after for ye all to see what it went through to get to here. It's been suggested to try making the texture wrap around my shoulders, which could be interesting! I'll have to get out my digital paint brush and see what I can do. Textures can only do so much on their own.

I may or may not have scrubbed a few layers of skin off in the shower trying to get the red and the spirit gum off my forehead. I forgot I had spirit gum remover. D'oh.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

make-over

So I gave the blog layout / template a make-over. Let me know what you think!

Before it was just the simple template with plain grey for the background. I apparently haven't changed it since blogger implemented their new design for customization, so I was pleasently surprised at how much easier it is now.

The only thing I'm definitely changing in the near future is the header image. It's not sitting right where it is now, so I'll either tweak that or make a new one entitrely.

Anywho, I feel a lot better about it now. After making my website and tumblr (which will probably get a new look soon too), I felt way too plain. This looks much better, I think.

I've got a photoshoot lined up for tomorrow that I'm really excited about, so hopefully I'll be able to show you photos from that soon!

Have a happy thursday~

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

RMGexposed

Saturday, November 13th was the evening of the RMGexposed event at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. I had been working for the previous twelve hours, so I wasn't very much feeling the spirit of mingling and meeting new people. I just sort of made my way around the exhibition and took some quick photos of the set up and the crowd.

I loved their installation in the lobby. They had these giant balloons strung up and had photographs from their permanent collection randomly projected on to them.




This is my print that I donated for the silent auction after being a selected finalist in the juried competition. I didn't realize the starting bid would be $75, but then I noticed the first bid on mine was $110!! I was so surprised, but it felt pretty awesome! I should inquire to see how much it ended up going for.


Overall, I was quite impressed with the gallery and the turn out. There were SO MANY people who attended. I had no idea such a lovely place existed in downtown Oshawa, but I'm glad I know now. I'll have to go back more often.

Also, this awesome store donated a bunch of furniture for a lounge set up. I believe it was called Brush Strokes. They had some really nice stuff out. I took a photo of this lamp at the reception desk because I aspire to own it someday, I just need to track it down:


How cool is that? It's a cityscape on the metal face of the lamp. If you look at it from above, the shape of the lamp shade is: (). So fun. Definitely going to have to make a trip to that store and hopefully not have to cry about how much I can't afford beautiful things.

'Til next time~

30th annual juried art exhibition

As promised, here are some photos from the group show I was recently a part of at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington. The show ran from October 17 - November 7, 2010. I didn't take any photos at the opening reception as it was a bit crowded, so I just went back on another day when there were less people around to take these. 
Room #1:
Room #2:

I was very excited to find out that the jury had selected my piece to be a part of the show. Then I found out they awarded it with the VAC Award of Encouragement! So much love.

I'm very happy to have been a part of it.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

can anyone recommend me some new camera gear?

My dslr is going to be 2 years old on Dec. 26. Last year I bought it a 50mm lens to keep it company. I was thinking maybe a new friend might be nice.

Unlike last year, I’m really not sure what I want to try though. I was thinking of looking around for maybe a nice flash, since lighting equipment seems a bit frivolous at this point considering I don’t have a definite space I shoot in. The Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flash seems pretty radtacular, albeit a slight bit pricey for my poor ass…

Aside from my 18-55mm and 50mm I’ve only tried a couple 70-200mm lenses and I don't feel that I’d need them for my own work. I only use them for action/sports photography at work and it’s not really my thing personal work wise.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated! I’d put them on my christmas list, but I know it’s not something the fam would go for, and I like to work towards/make my own big purchases myself. Plus it’ll give me something to research! =D

Thanks pals~

26/52


apprehensive, originally uploaded by avalilly.
So 26 of 52 is the half way mark. Considering I started this on the first week of 2010... lol.

The moral of the story is, if you have a scheduled plan of sorts, stick to it. I missed one week because of my final finals of university and felt like I failed... and then I didn't take another self portrait until a month later. So it's definitely gotten casual. That's okay. I'll probably still keep going either 'til I get to 52 or until the end of the year just to see how much I did do.

I think I just don't like having to do things, so I enjoy it a lot more when I'm just taking photos because I want to. I do like the challenge though.

I'll try harder, I promise.

Monday, November 1, 2010

e-newspaper

Random thing, but my cousin was in town briefly while travelling with her new job and so I met up with her. She is travelling with a couple of people across Canada to teach artistic robot making in schools. They got me to take a photo of them in front of their crazy robot beaver bus and now it's in the Milton news... online?

http://www.insidehalton.com/community/milton/article/894826

That's the article there.

So I guess I have a news photo credit to my name. Something like that! Sounds like a fun adventure.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

25/52


warmer climate, originally uploaded by avalilly.
Alexander McQueen designed a gorgeous monarch butterfly inspired dress for inclusion in his 2011 spring/summer collection. When I say inspired by, I mean it's entirely comprised of monarch butterfly wing patterns. It's awesome.

Thus, I had this terrible urge to own feather monarch butterflies. They're a little more cooperative than the real kind. I've actually been meaning to find some for various other reasons as well, but I guess that was just a good kick to go out and get them. It's strange how reminders show up like that.

They'll be a fun prop to play with for now until I get around to making something out of them.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

more news!

I guess I've had some good luck with galleries this week! I was just notified that I'm a selected finalist in the RMGexposed juried photo competition. I will be donating a print of this photo for their silent auction:


I'm not normal, originally uploaded by avalilly.
I don't think there is going to be an extended exhibition of the finalists work, but my print will be there on the evening of November 13th, 2010 at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery if you're interested in joining the festivities. There is a ticket purchase to get in, all proceeds going to benefit gallery educational and public programming.

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

news!

I recently entered a couple pieces into the 30th Annual Juried Exhibition at my local gallery. I found out yesterday that one of my pieces was chosen to be a part of the show! They chose Knitwit:


knitwit, originally uploaded by avalilly.
I'm really excited. I get to exhibit with a group of varied artists that I haven't met before (well, maybe some I've met)! It's nice, because most of the shows I've been a part of have been basically with a good number of classmates from university, so this is a nice step towards getting my work more exposure.

The show is at the Visual Arts Centre of Clarington and it opens on October 17, 2010 with the reception from 2-4pm and it runs until November 7, 2010.

Please stop in if you're in the area! :)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

24/52


condolences, originally uploaded by avalilly.
That's me again, hanging out on the ceiling. I'm having fun with these. They are incredibly time consuming, what with getting the furniture to stick to the ceiling and all, but it's worth it in the end.

I may have to print these out soon and see how they look when they're all tangible. I guess with being digital and all, it's hard to tell if my computer screen is hiding anything I may have missed. Sooo many pixels.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

scratch board fun


knitwit, originally uploaded by avalilly.
So I found a book of illustrations by Virgil Finlay that reminded me how much I enjoyed playing with scratch board back in high school. I thought I'd give it another try and see what I could accomplish with it.

If it isn't hard to tell, this took a very long time. Scratch board is basically a thick paper (usually white) covered in china clay and india ink, which you scratch away to make the image. I use a tool with a tip like these:

I will be selling prints of this, probably in an edition of 50. My test print at the original size of 8.5" x 11" didn't yield enough detail, so I'll probably make them at 11"x14" instead. I just need to find the best place in which to sell them online and also how much to price them after printing costs.

Once that's figured out I'll throw a link up on here, if you happen to be a prospective buyer!

Friday, September 17, 2010

website

Hello all,

So I've been looking to make somewhat of a portfolio website for a while now. I took a new media course in my second year of university that gave me a decent grasp of html, xhtml, and css... but not enough to feel comfortable coding an entire site or having someone else code it for me. I wanted to be able to update it easily whenever I wanted. I ended up coming across this one called 4ormat that's pretty nicely set up. It's still in beta, so it's a bit buggy in the user interface, but from what I can tell, the website is fine.

http://lauracrowell.4ormat.com/

I don't have my own domain name yet, but once I figure out how to do that, I think I can drop the 4ormat from my url. I've got 9 more invites to the site, if you happen to be interested in trying it out just let me know and I'll send you over an invite code.

Anyways, please let me know what you think. There's still a lot more content I'd like to put on it eventually, but I have to wait until they up the image caps. Everyone's on the basic plan until the beta is finished I think.

That's all for now. :)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

23/52


the colour noir, originally uploaded by avalilly.

Bit of an impromptu shot this week. While working on the website in the dining room, I noticed the lovely light/shadow combination on the floor happening from the blinds. I figured, why not try and use it somehow. It's probably the fastest shoot I've ever done. The above image is from near the end of the set and the below image is actually the first one I took.


here, originally uploaded by avalilly.
It's more of an outtake, but I kinda like it. The hair spilling through the frame is probably the reason. Sometimes it pays off to be spontainious with these things. I'm still horribly behind in this project, but this made me feel a little better about it. It's definitely more of a "52 portraits done whenever I felt like it sometime in 2010" thing.
Also, my cat parked on my stomach and lay there judging me for the entirety of this shoot.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

tumblr

I started a tumblr account: http://avalilly.tumblr.com/

Not terribly sure why... actually, it was mostly to participate in a photojojo pic of the day contest. It sort of required Tumblr usage, but then I decided it's kinda fun to use too since a lot of my flickr contacts use it quite regularly. I'll still use this blog, ofcourse, but I'll have other stuff on there too if you're interested or have an account of your own.

I'd love to add a nice black and white vintage pattern like that to the background of it, but at the moment my CSS knowledge is failing me. I guess I'll have to break out the ol' HTML/CSS book from my new media class years ago.

Also, I am finally on the way to having a nice portfolio website made up. I don't want to link to it just yet because I want to sort out the content a bit more first. It's partially live, so if you're a clever web stalker you may be able to sneak a peak at it, but for now it's secrettt! It's shaping up nicely though, so I'm quite excited for it!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

22/52


up, originally uploaded by avalilly.
This is the lovely overgrown garden I mentioned in the previous post that I found while on a bike ride. It looks like this on both sides of the sidewalk. It's fantastic. I'd like to shoot here again sometime, as I didn't try as much as I could have while I was there. The air was so incredibly humid it felt like I was swimming through it. It's uncomfortably difficult to want to shoot photos while MELTING and having the entire world stick to you.

However, I think the weather realized it's now September (WHAT!) and has cooled off substantially since then. I hope these flowers stick around. I'm not really sure what they are... coreopsis maybe? I've only seen yellow ones before. There were so many different colours!

I need to get myself a good photo buddy. I think it would make me much less timid to do outdoor shoots. Not sure if being known as that girl who runs around by herself with camera equipment all over town is a good thing!

Hope everyone is enjoying what's left of summer!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

21/52


Finally got motivated to try another upsidedown, life on the ceiling, crazy editing fun times photo. Oddly enough, because I really wanted to go outside and take photos by this house I discovered on a bike ride the other day, but didn't leave the house to do so. I'm super hoping they don't change their garden anytime soon, because I'm going away for the weekend and would like to take photos there once I'm back and ready to!

Anywho... this photo. It is probably not finished. I think I'll tinker around with it some more until I feel like it's arty enough for my taste. I am excited to keep this going though. There's not much summer left and I must enjoy as much of it as I possibly can and shoot as many photos (to catch up!) before it disappears. Just because.

I do enjoy fall, I just also enjoy bare legs and summer dresses.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

bananassassin / bananassassination


bananassassin, originally uploaded by avalilly.


bananassassination, originally uploaded by avalilly.
Been slowly but surely getting older photos up onto my flickr account. This was done entirely because I was incredibly in love with the ivy wall on one of the buildings at my university. The only thing I had in mind that day was a bananassassination attempt. Thanks to the lovely Katie for playing along. <3
 
The gorgeous colours of fall are something I definitely start looking forward to around this time of year. Unfortunatley it also makes me a little anxious, because then I think of all things I still want to do that I haven't done yet this summer while the weather is still warm enough! Ahh!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

pantalone family

Over the civic weekend, I was given the wonderful opportunity of photographing the children of the Pantalone family. Caryne, the oldest of the kids, is a friend of mine that I met through Jameson about a year ago! She is a lovely person and everyone in her family is just like her; loud, fun, generous, and crazy! So many Pants! Anyways, it was an awesome weekend. I got to stay with them and tour around Ottawa and it was all just a really great time in a beautiful city. We shot their photos at the Ottawa Arboretum in the Experimental Farm. I'm still not really sure what that's all about, but the location was absolutely gorgeous. So many different types of trees - and they're HUGE!

the pants

littlest pants

happy pants

cheesy pants

the first pants

laughing pants

brother pants

jumping pants

model pants

all the pants

The jumping photo was a lot of fun to try. It's kind of crazy how fit everyone in Ottawa seems to be. We had to stop every 30 seconds or so to let a crowd of bikers pass through. It seems like everyone in Ottawa bikes. I wish I could do that here, but it's so hilly that I get tired out just from a 10 minute ride in any which direction!

Anywho, it was a pleasure to photograph the kids of this family. We got so many good choices it was hard to narrow it down. I will definitly have to try and make it back to Ottawa again sometime. So many beautiful places to see. <3

Friday, August 6, 2010

abigail prebble-taylor

Last week I had the lovely opportunity to work with Abby to do her new headshots. She is an absolute dream in front of the camera. Usually I have to give a bit of direction until the person is comfortable and understands what they're doing, what's working, what isn't, etc. She just did everything without me having to ask. It was so cool, made my job absolutely effortless. I just had to stand there and click the shutter.
 

abigail prebble-taylor, originally uploaded by avalilly.

abigail prebble-taylor, originally uploaded by avalilly.

abigail prebble-taylor, originally uploaded by avalilly.

abigail prebble-taylor, originally uploaded by avalilly.


abigail prebble-taylor, originally uploaded by avalilly.

Last one's not very headshot-y, but I liked it none the less.

These were a lot of fun to shoot. We were down at the creek area and just above the valley is a park that the town happened to be holding their weekly Concert in the Park series. So, we had live jazz playing the whole time we were shooting. It was awesome!