The Wallet Defender 1.0 (Patent Pending)

Today, I give you a contraption.. dass right folks, I built something.  I didn't mean to.  I meant to give all my hard earned money to B&H Photo and Video, (the best photo equipment store in the world) but after loading up my virtual shopping cart reality set in.  What reality you ask?  The reality that I am a poor graduate student and don't actually have money to spend on new photo grip currently.

Well, what's a girl to do?  

So, I got out the black duck tape, scissors, exacto knife, scotch tape, a stack of white paper, tracing paper and a 12x12 box my mom mailed me goodies in.  T'was time to get crafty! Like a madwoman I dove in elbow deep and started building my contraption.  I now proudly present to you the "Wallet Defender 1.0 TM", a highly sophisticated and technologically wondrous contraption made of the highest quality material!

The box's interior is lined with white paper to help ensure white reflective light and no absorption.  On the back of the box I cut out a hole to just fit the speed light and lined the hole with duck tape to ensure the cardboard wouldn't wear out too quickly.  I then fabricated a duck tape handle that slides over the back of the speed light to keep the box from falling off.  Since I also don't have anymore light stands (I sold my lighting kit a few weeks ago) I fashioned the whole thing onto my tripod and am using my SC-17 TTL sync cord extension to attach the speed light to my camera.  I am playing around with just using my on camera flash as a commander for the speed light but am having difficulty with the speed light sensor seeing the signal.  I attempted some aluminum rig to help it catch the signal but so far no luck.  So for now I will have to continue to shoot tethered.

Of course the whole thing needed to perform and since I was fresh out of victims I forced my helpless dog into doing my bidding.  Afterall, he HAD to do what I told him, muahahahahaha!

Anyways.

He was a very good boy for me.  Luckily for him he did well enough to be granted a stay for 24 hours more hours.

Yes, Gismo is ADORABLE!
No you can't rent him out as a model, we've
got an exclusive contract!

Wanna build your own? Comments, questions, concerns? Ask me now. Also, Patent Pending! (ha)

Eeeek!

Even I am not exempt from my own photography once in a while. Another combination of photography, editing and illustration make for a new style I've been exploring. Editing on this one was about 5 hours, with a lot of that spent on the shirt. Enjoy my crazy face! Cheers!

Rollover for Before/After!

The Little Things

Sometimes it's in the little things.  I often notice them, but struggle to capture them the way my mind sees.

This is one of those attempts.

I have sooooo many photos, thousands really, of all sorts of things.  You'll never see them, you won't even see one percent.  Why?  Because I usually decide on a particular photo from a day's worth of shooting that I feel best represents everything that I was going for at the time.  Does this mean that all the other photos are garbage?  Not necessarily. After all, I usually trash the ones I find overly craptastic.  So, yesterday I decided to start digging through my external hard drives and showcase photos now and again that initially never made the cut.  This idea actually kicked off yesterday when I posted this photo.

Cheers!

Like this? Go out and shoot your own!

CFM

CFM or Cold Foggy Morning.  That's when this photo was taken. In the heart of a very cold winter.  I got up at 6am to go swimming and brought my camera along on my walk to the pool.  This photo captures perfectly the miserable weather I was dealing with.

Don't steal my stuff!

Crazy Eyes

Another image I finally got done with in Photoshop. I think I put in about 5 hours.  Roll over image to see a before and after!  I think I should call this one crazy eyes.  What do you think?

Cheers Y'all!
Linda

Impromptu Mini Shoot

Just a quick post to share a impromptu shoot with you/   I set up a little 1 light mini shoot in my very small hallway, I was literally shooting from the toilet in my bathroom!  I'm trying something a little more stylized, a little more edgy and rough. What do you think, any thoughts? Oh and FYI, I learned some new code to be able to do rollover images. So when you "roll" your mouse over the image below it will change between after and before! Nifty eh?

Cheers,
Linda

Here's a before and after, if you have any questions feel free to ask me!

***For those of you who are still interested in my calendar, I have about 9 left so act now!***

***Clicking the Paypal button will take you to the calendar checkout!***

2012 and the End of the World

Hello all, I hope everyone had a nice holiday and New Year and that you guys are settling in to 2012 nicely! Did you know this is the year?!  You know.. the one where the Mayan calendar ends and nothing happens thus the world?! So, what to do with my remaining time? I was thinking and I thought, heck I should do something nifty! So, I am setting some goals, both personal and professional. I'd rather not call them resolutions because I wouldn't take them seriously.. besides the only resolution I need to speak off relates to my images! So without further a due, here are my goals for 2012:

Professional Goals:

* Publish! - This is the year! I need to start tying a bow on this PhD thing so I need to crank out at least one paper this year.

* Solve the Young's Modulus riddle - What?? I know.. I know... it's this thingy problem I've been knocking my skull cap on the last year. It's PhD related stuff and I'm getting tired of it. I want a breakup if it's not going to work out!

* Calendar Production - I will start the production cycle of my yearly calendar earlier this year in order to avoid the printing issues surrounding color management I have been encountering the last few years.

* Advertising - I need my name out there more. It's nice that my family supports me and that I get a few clients here and there, but I would really like to see an increase in business. I am an absolutely horrible self promoter. I am usually of the mindset that my work isn't good enough and so I don't put it out there. (see video below) Well, I need to loosen up on that this year.

Personal Goals

* Invest Invest Invest - This year I will start my retirement account. I have been putting it off for years and each year I feel worse for it.  My lack of understanding about investing money wisely and with whom has kept me from proceeding.  I am going to try be happy with not knowing everything and take the plunge... at least I will have started!  

* Student Loans - I have about 10k of outstanding loans from having to move cross country several times and I am going to pay it off $100 at a time each month.  I want to be debt free before I graduate.

* Studio Shoots - For those of you who are familiar with my photography you know that my photography is largely done outdoors in nature because, well.. I love nature!  Having said that, I have secretly been shooting quite a bit of studio work the last few years and would like to do more.  All I need are models that are willing to experiment on a few ideas with me.

* Compositing work - I have also secretly been working on several large composite pieces and I think maybe I need to start sharing those with the world.  So this year I will make it a goal to present at least one.

* Stay in shape - I have worked very hard over the last 2 years since my last back surgery to lose weight and stay in shape for the health of my back.  I will continue to work hard at keeping my back fit.

There it is! My goals for 2012.  Not a long list that is unmanageable, but instead something realistic! I will leave you with an image of my recent bird trip to the coast of South Carolina.

Great White Egret. Murrel's Inlet, SC
If you steal this a badger will eat your soul!

Calendars Calendars Calendars!!!

Well, the calendars are in and look great! There were more then a few of you who were interested, so get them while they are hot!

The cost of the calendar and shipping to your address is $18 and can be paid to me through Paypal using my email address: graduatelinda@hotmail.com
If you prefer another method of payment please email me and let me know your preference.  Cheers all!!

It's here! 2012 Calendar!

Sure, it has been more then a few months since I last added to this blog but now this!  The 2012 calendar is now available to all of you that are interested.  Email me at graduatelinda@hotmail.com if you are interested in purchasing one or if you want to be one of the lucky folks to get a FREE one!  Cheers and may all your 2012 wishes come true, the world will probably not end.

Linda

Afternoon Trip to the Quarry

Well, I sort of escaped work a little earlier than usual yesterday to visit a nearby quarry.  This quarry, called the Bellwood Quarry, has recently also served as a backdrop for the movie, "The Furious Five," and a TV series called "The Walking Dead".  I've wanted to visit it for a while so yesterday one of my fellow graduate students lab slaves showed me how to get there and off we went.  There was a little questionable fence skirting going on, but I finally got to see the place.  The water really is this blue, science rules!  I have to go on record and say that it was quite possibly hotter than the sun itself, with no breeze and no shade. I was drenched by the time I got back to my car and the nausea and headaches I had all night confirmed that I should not have been out there getting heat exhaustion! (and yes, I brought water..)

Cheers,
Linda

View of the quarry and water from halfway down the quarry road.

Road leading to bottom of the quarry.