Frosted Flakes

Alpha A on the Bell Curve

Shooting from The Hip: Storefront Cat

Oh, the indignity.

Moody Monday: 1/25/10

preserved grasshopper or cricket?

[click to zoom.]

Alpha e

Under the sea.

Shooting from The Hip: 1/20/10

I shot this on a moving train, as the cup revealed itself

from under the seat.

Wonder what Janet has for today...

My Favorite Oxymoron...

... with a twist.

Surveillance 103

Toilet Tank pARTs.

Bat Dude

Found: Small bat dude.

Question: Who is he?

Steal This Card...

it's for when you need to say that you're virtually sorry.

Shooting from The Hip

Moody Monday: Frost

16º

What should we do when the Bendaroos run out?

Journal Excerpt: "So."

from January, 1990

WTF is It? (Journal Entry, 1990)

The first person who can correctly name

what this label was for, wins a FREE tube of Bengay!

Journal Excerpt: Being Psychic in January, 1990

Dear Renee, Plus Shooting From The Hip

Stop and Shop before the big snow storm, 2009.

Sadly, I could not view your cell phone pic, because you have your settings on private. However, your timing is excellent! Since so many folks have expressed excitement over my cell phone pics tips, Janet, of the Famous Fond of Snape and I have decided to join forces to bring you "Shoot From The Hip" wednesdays!!!!

Leave us a comment with a link to your cell phone pics, and join our movement.

Varmints in the Kitchen, Shoo Fly Shoo

[yes, THIS kitchen.]

Thanks Magpie, Pinky, & all the Upstairs Ghosts.

Crow Lady

Last summer, I announced a "win a free logo contest."

I wanted to walk the lucky winner

through making their own logo, but by the time

I got around to selecting someone,

I was so excited, that I decided to design the logo myself.

Katherine of the blog Becoming Crow Lady won me over.

Here's part of her email to me:

"I want a nice label for my herbal products (Crow Lady Herbals.) I have been wondering recently why I chose the name crow lady and i think part of it is the belief that spirit and magic are common, just like the crows we all see every day, instead of something rare and only for the few. I have made herbal products and medicines for many years. I make them as gifts and have never really sold them. I had hoped to be a practicing herbalist years ago; but I had to pay the bills so, instead, I went to nursing school and entered the medical world, becoming a labor and delivery nurse."

There were 3 reasons I chose her:

1) It's rare, that even my paying clients give me such

personal and beautiful descriptions of their businesses.

2) I felt connected to the project, in that my parents had

owned a small cosmetic manufacturing company,

so through osmosis, I know alot about the industry.

3) I still feel EXTREMELY indebted to all of my labor & delivery nurses.

(that's a story for another time.)

As I began, the universe cooperated.

I started to see crows everywhere:

Here is the first round of sketches, in black & white:

This is the kind of response every egomaniacal artist wants,

when they get feedback on their work:

"Oh my gosh I love them!!

I am at work where I quickly printed them illegally and took them to the bathroom to admire them.

Wow, really amazing, Heidi! I only hoped they would be so perfect. Thank you so much for your artistry, sensitivity and skill! And your time, damnit! I feel very honored and thrilled."

Here is the final logo:

Katherine took the logo, applied it to her website,

and also brought it to her local Kinko's,

where she had it printed onto labels & tags.

It brought me such joy to see someone so deserving

get her wish, that I just might have to hold another contest

in the coming months.

Stay tuned!

xoh

Cell Phone Pics

I realized, in reading Jean's New Year's post,

that I've been remiss in posting about the special qualities of

cell phone pics,

not just for graphic design purposes,

but also for surveillence ;-)

In this one, I captured a moment that could have been

snatched at any point in a 60 year span.

My cell was ready, the timing was perfect, and 1 second later

(fishing for my camera) would have dated the pic.

As Bonbon commented, [when I originally posted it

over a year ago,] it has an Edward Hopper quality to it.

A couple of months later, we re-used it for a varmint diorama.

It was a community project, and the diner pic made the perfect backdrop.

Here's another classic, taken at a TGIF's.

The camera would have totally blown my cover on this one.

To make sure the cell phone was still, I balanced it on the table,

framed it perfectly, & looked elsewhere when I clicked.

My advice to anyone interested

in catching great cell phone pics:

Don't be afraid to shoot! Shoot risky, and shoot often.

In a similar example, below,

the lighting was seemingly too dark to shoot without a flash,

but was completely salvageable by playing with

the brightness & contrast in Photoshop, later.

The other thing I'd like to say is that there's

nothing like the pure convenience of emailing your pic

straight to your computer, instead of going through

the motions of hooking it up to the usb, downloading, etc.

I was inspired by this view of my home office,

and again, the lower quality here gave it more mood.

The pic was snapped by phone,

sent up through space, and beamed back down

right into that computer, over there.

I also usually have the cell out & ready

on the train, which enabled me to snap this one:

In these next examples,

the ability to capture a varmental moment is key.

And in these, the natural light at that very moment screamed

PORTRAIT!!!!

So when you see light like this,

don't waste time running for the professional camera.

Who cares if it's not perfectly focused?

In a matter of seconds, the subject might be gone...

Just shoot!