A Day in the Life...
This post was supposed to be written quite a while ago when the whole "Occupy Oakland" thing was still going on, but as I have siad I was going through a transitional phase and didn't get time to post it. I just had a really cool day and finally remembered to bring my camera along for the ride, and I got some neat pictures!
You ever have one of those days when everything just kinda feels right and works out? This day was one of those days. It was a Saturday and I got up nice and early, did my usual morning routine except for the fact that my hair turned out unusually nice for a change. Must have been because it was dry and warm out (my hair goes all poofy when it's wet outside), and it probably helped that I was relatively awake when I did it. I was feeling pretty good so I decided to try my hand at putting on some makeup, including eyeliner, which usually makes me look like a retarded raccoon. But today was a good day! So I took pictures to document the fact that I am not a complete derp when it comes to getting purdied-up. I'm glad I did too because my feather extensions came out a couple days later, after an impressive 4 months. I've been thinking about getting some and learning to put them in myself so I can do them for friends too. Anywho...
I decided to walk to the Lakeshore Farmer's Market, which is one of the best in town, instead of driving there like a lazy bum. And I'm glad I did too, because I would have been sitting in traffic forever as a huge crowd of protesters marched on all the banks and made them close for the day. I can't say I really followed the whole "Occupy" movement, but I did agree with some things here and there, though in general I feel the whole thing was just a gobbledygook of angry hipsters with nothing better to do. But for the people who were really trying to change things, it was a good try. And hey, they convinced me to close my bank account and join a credit union. Occupy: 1, The Man: 0.
After scoping out the crowd of pretty people forming drum circles and deciding not to join in, I wandered by the newly revamped Kwik Way Drive-In and they were having a car show and I had a look around. My decidedly rockabilly look of the day garnered some attention, so I shyly decided to bugger off to the market and pick up breakfast.
After picking up what I needed I started to walk home when I saw the tightrope walkers that are in the park from time to time. This guy in the superhero costume (aka his undies) was coming back from the protest and asked if they would teach him. I had a great time watching this...
I love people, they are so interesting. But I'd had enough excitement for one morning so I returned home and put on the new Django Reinhardt record Dennis had just bought us and sat down to a breakfast of a ham and cheese croissant from the market, fresh orange juice, and a pink lady apple with Nutella. You really can't have a better morning than that.
And check out that awesome fabric covered in a mod transistor radio print that I made into a tablecloth! Oh yes, such a good day. I've had quite a few more like that which will be elaborated on very soon. Hope you all are having a wonderful day!
Your pictures always look so nice. Clearly you know your stuff but do you have any advice about a point and shoot camera that would take half way decent pictures? I know nothing about cameras so I can't get anything too fancy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
ReplyDeleteOh man, you should know not to get me started on photography advice... I'll try to keep this concise lol. I used to have a fantastic little Olympus camera, an FE 300, and I used it to death. It was about $169.00 back in the day and it was a great deal. I did all the photos in my 365 self portrait set on flickr, here's the link so you can look at the pictures it took: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theslugandlettuce101/sets/72157604170951019/
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they don't make those anymore but it looks like they have some comparable models on their website called the V Series. But honestly every brand has pretty good cameras, and they're all basically the same. Googling the camera I have now, a Canon Rebel XS, which I think to be pretty high end, I find it's old hat. I bought it for nearly 700 dollars last year and now it's down to 250, made obsolete by the new models. I'd just settle on a budget and take a look on Amazon.
No matter what company you decide to go with, there's really only two things you want to look for when buying a camera these days: high ISO and low aperture. A high ISO helps you take good pictures in low light and a low aperture setting gives you a greater depth of field, makes everything look good (ha!). Get the highest and lowest you can in your price range and you'll be good to go! Megapixels don't mean anything anymore since every camera is able to utilize way more than any computer display will show or printer will print.
The other side of taking good photos is having a simple editing program you can use to tweak them a bit. I use Picasa, which is free from google. I usually just up the saturation, highlights, and shadows. That's all it takes. Sometimes I add some flash fill or sharpen a bit, but if your camera is good and you have a steady hand you shouldn't need to even do those. My camera has an auto-stabilizer which I never use, I just stand firmly and hold my breath when I hit the shutter.
Okay that could have been shorter, but I hope that helps!
Thank You! So you would think the flipping internet would have some decent advice for that kind of stuff, but I had a hell of a time finding any info that made sense. I was making my purchases based on megapixels so I am glad you brought that up. We should be getting our refund soon and I really want a nice new camera :) Thanks again!
ReplyDeletepretty...pretty.... photos of you :) good hair day !... m
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