10/05/2013: Backdrop setback

Posted on October 5, 2013 by marey mercy

OK well, grr. I got my backdrop in yesterday along with the lavender sheer curtains, but I was feeling pretty lazy after getting home from work, so I didn’t tear into the boxes until about 1:30 PM on Saturday (I had to get my nails done in the morning – priorities!). On the one hand, the backdrop looks great, and I like the mottled color although it veers slightly towards tie-dye, and I think it will make a great background for jump shots. The material is very thin, which might be a problem if one is hanging it over a rod, but since I pin it to a white wall the thinness isn’t a problem. I have a few issues, though, that are slowing me down for taking photos:

This is a terrible photo taken with my phone. The actual color is very taupe-y. And yes, my little studio is messy. That’s how studios are supposed to be.

First of all, holy shit that’s a lot of fabric. I could have easily gone down a size with no problems. Good to know moving forward that I can buy other backdrops for less money, but quite honestly this sucker is so big I’m a bit overwhelmed right now. Look at all those wrinkles that need steaming out! And I really do want to steam them – I didn’t spend $60 on this thing just to end up Photoshopping out a bunch of wrinkles, that would defeat the purpose. But it’s just SO MUCH MATERIAL.

Also, for the first time I finally have enough fabric to make the backdrop reach all the way to the ceiling, but I don’t have a stepstool high enough to reach it, which bothers me. The top of my photos always have that strip of white I either have to crop out or fill in (sometimes when I lift my hands up they reach into the white area) and again – i didn’t buy this thing in order to have to do a bunch of backdrop editing. But try as I might I cannot reach high enough and I practically killed myself to get it up this high.

And thirdly – and I think this is the real reason I’m feeling a bit defeated right now – it is hot as hell here today. My little office/studio has two walls which are completely made up of windows, and with the huge tree that used to provide shade to this room having been removed from our front yard last year because it was dead, this room is the hottest in the house when it’s hot outside. Seriously, you can walk into this room from the hallway and feel the temperature rise by ten degrees. And while for the most part I just deal with it, it is freaking October fifth, and I am sick to shit of hot weather. Not only is it hot today (near 90) it is humid as hell, because a cool front is slated to blow through some tonight and bring with it a lot of rain. This is the heat wave before the cool, so to speak, and you can feel the steamy tension in the air; it’s affecting my mood and making me impatient and cranky.

After struggling just to get this backdrop pinned to the wall and maneuvering all the fabric around (not to mention I haven’t even opened the package containing the window sheers yet) and already sweating like a dog just doing that, plus realizing I now have to STEAM all this crap, and with the room being at its hottest point right now since it’s about 2:30 in the afternoon, I am just thinking screw taking photos today. My plan was to set up and shoot this afternoon, then spend the evening editing shots and go do my weekly grocery store trip tomorrow, but I think I’m going to amend that plan and go do the grocery shopping now. Then I can come back home, get everything put away, and work on steaming all this crap out when it’s a little cooler. I can also try to find a stepstool that’s a three-step one instead of the two-stepper I’m using currently. Tonight I can just take my time getting the wrinkles steamed out and hopefully not pass out from heat exhaustion while I do that, and then take photos tomorrow earlier in the day. I do need lots of time to process photos after a shoot, though, because I get so obsessed with doing that, which is why I prefer to shoot on Saturdays so I have more weekend time to edit. But, if I pull off this backdrop thing right, I won’t be spending as much time editing the background of my shots anyway.

So, this is my new plan for Saturday. Hopefully I’ll have some shots to share with my next post!

Spelling coutns

Posted on October 4, 2013 by marey mercy

I’ve had a busy week, so I’m putting up this fake post today based on a sign I saw while driving home yesterday. Will write more over the weekend, I promise:

Texas, where even the street signs are homophobic.

Here’s goodly gear

Posted on September 21, 2013 by marey mercy

OK, I know that quote from Romeo and Juliet doesn’t quite mean what I intend it to mean, but once I got the idea of sharing some recently discovered “gear” for photos here, I couldn’t get it out of my head. I used to teach the play to ninth graders, so quotes from it pop into my mind and try to apply to situations in my life that aren’t really appropriate all the time, so I just go with it. And now all sorts of internet searchers are going to come across this post about foam wigs from Target because they’re searching for that phrase and wonder what the hell is going on. Anyway.

Yes that’s right, I did say foam wigs from Target. The other day, an internet friend posted a link to these Halloween wigs by Chris March for Target and as soon as I saw them, I knew I had to have one, specifically this one:

Shut up if you don’t think this has my name on it.

Most of these fabulous foam wigs are not for sale online,and none of the ones I was interested in were, so after work yesterday I rushed over to the nearby SuperTarget to see if I could snag one. Alas, here is what greeted me when I reached the Halloween area of the store:

Too early seen unknown, and known too late!

So many bald mannequin heads, so few colorful foam wigs left! And notice – not one in pink. The salesperson scanned the sticker for that one, and it showed that there were none left anywhere in my area. Bummer. So, to compensate for not getting the one I really wanted, I bought two runners-up (yes, this is how my mind works when it comes to shopping):

Yes it’s fabulous, but too literal. I can’t do anything other than Medusa with it, really.

More my style, but flat; I like the roundness and dimensionality of the pink afro best.

Anyway, I have everyone I know on a nation-wide search for that pink one, so if you see it in your area, pick it up! It’s only twenty bucks and I will gladly pay for shipping, although shipping this thing is gonna be a beast because it’s huge, it’s foam, and it doesn’t fold. My two were shoved into a HUGE bag that I was able to carry out of the store (someone in the checkout line thought they were pool toys, LOL).

Hoping to get some shots done with Medusa today, but we’ll see. Lots of errands to run first.

Gah!-roceries

Posted on September 14, 2013 by marey mercy

Well Saturday was both the most awesome and the most disappointing grocery store trip ever.

First of all, I noticed as I pulled into the parking lot that it was exceptionally crowded. It was 1 PM on a Saturday, true, but I’ve been at this Kroger plenty of times during that part of the day and never seen quite as much traffic as I saw this time. Then I noticed this:

And I knew something was up.

The entrance to the store was all decked out in football regalia, which is not unusual for any day in Texas this time of year.

There’s a hint in that placard, if you can read it. My photos were particular crappy this time out.

Now, generally, this is how I approach all things football:

In fact, I know so little about my city’s own team that I actually thought this guy was one of our players, based on the simple fact that there was a lot of football stuff around, he was a rather big dude, and a few people in fan jerseys were talking to him – but I guess I was wrong.

Can you see what the little guy is holding? YEP.

Whatever was going on involved a pretty long line, which snaked around and inconveniently blocked the aisles of toiletries:

Notice that woman in the red shirt & khaki pants guarding the line? She’s one of many who ruined what could have been the most awesome grocery day ever.

In case you haven’t guessed yet, the team’s cheerleaders were at my grocery store today to sign copies of their calendar for fans. Cheerleaders! In tight sparkly silver shorts! And silver go-go boots! With super-long stick-straight hair extensions and awesome spray tans! SCORE! How could my attempts to take entertaining, super-cheesy grocery store photos get any better than this? I swear all these photos are so blurry because I was trembling with joy at the opportunities I briefly envisioned. That is until the FIRST Kroger employee eyed me suspiciously while I whipped out my cell phone. Hm, I thought, that’s unusual. Usually no one thinks twice about a woman on her phone in the grocery store.

Then of course I noticed all the guards and cops and the over-abundance of store employees gathered about, trying to prevent anyone from taking photos of the cheerleaders for free. Damn! Try as I might, and as stealthily as I tried to wander the aisles, looking for some crack or crevice in their makeshift staging area that wasn’t guarded by an eagle-eyed individual, this is the ONLY shot I could get of them without buying a calendar and standing in line, and yeah, it’s pretty disappointing:

Don’t think I didn’t seriously consider buying one.

I tried to circle around a bit and get something better, but they were totally onto me. I eventually started to feel like a pervert so I went about my business, completely uninterested in taking any other photos for the rest of the day. When you miss the opportunity to get pics of grown women dressed in cheerleader gear in front of the baby wipes aisle, well, nothing is really gonna get you over that level of disappointment but time. I’m not over it yet, but I’m getting there.

Groceries! Part whatever.

Posted on September 8, 2013 by marey mercy

I’ve captured a few interesting shots here and there lately, so it’s time to share. I’m gonna save my fave for last, but let’s start with this one, found in the cheap wine section:

That pretty much sums up the attitude of people who buy box wine. YEP.

I’ve been wanting to capture this little mixed message for several trips now, but located as it is at the front doors to the store, and given the fact that I never remember about it until I’m on my way out and my phone is already stored away, it’s been a hard one to catch. But on a recent quick trip where I was just picking up a few things I remembered to leave my phone out, and although the shot’s a little blurred I think you can still make out the quandary this might put a shopper in if she or he is too literal-minded:

I’m not sure what to do here.

I passed by these pastel-colored booze bottles on the way to the checkout line one day (didn’t pay attention to what sort of booze they contain) and couldn’t resist a quick snap. On its own the picture wasn’t worth much so I gave it the Pixlr treatment:

What happens to your vision if you drink too many of these.

This is one of my favorite iPhone captures of recent memory. This little heart post-it was stuck to the parking lot concrete right behind some dude who was getting out of his car when I stopped to take the photo; he looked at me like I was bonkers, but he did keep his feet out of the shot.

When searching for art in the everyday, be sure to look down on occasion.

Old photos

Posted on August 21, 2013 by marey mercy

I wrote a whole post for this morning, but at the last minute I didn’t want to publish it – so instead I submit these old photos without much comment, mainly because I am running late and need to get ready for my day.

My mother, her mother, her grandmother, and her great-grandmother

My grandmother and my great-aunt

My grandfather and my mother – at the top of this photo my grandmother wrote: “My Two Loves.”

Barbecue and birthdays

Posted on August 12, 2013 by marey mercy

Today is my husband’s birthday, so yesterday he decided he wanted some brisket to celebrate. I know, we’re real wild ones over here. Anyway, our favorite local restaurant is closed Mondays for reasons we don’t understand, so on a whim we decided to try out this old rustic hole in the wall up the street that I’d never even noticed, but my husband said was known to have good grub.

I didn’t even think about taking photos until we were almost on our way out the door (they closed at 7 PM and it was 6:35 when we got there, so we got it to go – you can tell you live in the sticks when all the restaurants have weird, inconvenient hours) so I only took a few, but this little shop had a lot of character, and the food was really good, so I can see going back soon to get more. Pictures, I mean, not food. But I would probably get more food too.

I took these in a rush, because my husband was hungry and in a hurry to get back home so we could eat.

I wish all those signs weren’t so shiny.

I hear for every bag of Tom’s chips you buy they give a bag to a hungry cat in the back alley.

Pretty much the entire dining area.

The “parking lot.” No, that is not our vehicle.

Old new house

Posted on July 28, 2013 by marey mercy

My sister-in-law recently built a house on her property and this trip was my first time to see it. She is one of those people who puts a great deal of thought into every nook and cranny of a house, and this one is stuffed with unusual details. All the doors were purchased at antique shops, the wood floors are salvaged from old warehouses, the beams in the ceiling were taken from an old tobacco factory, and even the wooden railing around the porch was stripped from an old house and discovered in an antique store somewhere in the hill country. She has a bar area in the kitchen that was salvaged from an old soda fountain shop and an antique claw-foot tub in the master bath. It boggles my mind the amount of effort it must take to construct a home and incorporate so many unique touches, but she has always been one to care deeply about such things and invest loads of time into personalizing her living spaces.

I wandered about our first day here snapping away with my iPhone, but I don’t know if I took the sort of photos that unify the house as a whole. I was really distracted by the little details, so what I ended up with are bits and pieces of the house that I found photogenic and/or cool. Unfortunately, the wifi out here is horribly slow, and I don’t have the patience it would take to sit through uploading the photos. I’ll upload them in tomorrow’s post after I get back home, but here’s one pic of the lovely screened-in porch that I managed to get uploaded. The railing is the salvaged wood from an old house I mentioned earlier.

Errands!

Posted on July 20, 2013 by marey mercy

I made a trip to Party City Friday to pick up a mask and a fake mustache or two for photoshoots (don’t ask), but I was also thinking it would be a great place to snap iPhone photos. I could not have been more wrong. It was way too practical and organized to generate any sort of interesting photo opportunities, which I should have expected of a place frequented by harried parents trying to plan last-minute festivities for huge groups of exuberant children on the cheap and in a big damn hurry. Except this one, which came out kinda cool:

This being a typical strip center for my area, it had the usual stores – PetSmart, WalMart, Party City, Marshalls, Best Buy, Famous Footwear…you get the idea. So of course, they also had an Ulta, which turned out to be no more photogenic than the PC. They always have way too many salespeople in that store lurking about, forcefully offering assistance and preventing any real picture-taking time. Or maybe they just do that to me. Come to think of it, most of the pics I shot today are quite blurry because I felt I was being watched everywhere I went. It must have been obvious to everyone that I wasn’t hanging around to spend money. Gotta brush up on my stealthy pic-snapping skills. Or maybe just bathe.

Lips on sticks. Someone’s getting way too literal.

I sauntered into the store next door without really looking up at the sign to see what it was – turns out it was a Pier 1, which I admit I thought had gone out of business (I avoid strip centers like this to the utmost of my ability). I knew what it was, however, as soon as I opened the door because of the overpowering Yankee Candle smell and the abundance of throw pillows scattered onto every available surface.

This reminded me of a joke: Why are fish so smart? Because they don’t buy shit like this.

Honestly, I would rather gouge out my eyes with over-priced black lacquer Pier 1 chopsticks than spend time in a shop like this. My interest in decorating anything is so far below zero it’s almost antagonistic. I just don’t understand why most of the items in these places exist, or how and when people decide they need these things. For example, I encountered these party dishes that had every dish’s purpose labeled in chalky cursive script right on the plate. I don’t get who sees this and thinks oh, I just have to have that. It’s kind of insulting, when you think about it, plus you’re buying plates that are going to order you around when really it should work the other way. I’d end up rebelling against those party dishes. I’d use them in all sorts of degrading ways for which they were not intended, just to show them who’s boss. The tray that says “a smattering of olives,” (yes one of them said smattering) would end up being a dustpan, and it would damn well like it, too, or else I’d put it in the dishwasher which I assume is exactly where one is NOT allowed to put such a fussy item, in spite of it’s being a dish and all. And I’d correct the lack of capitalization too.

See what I mean? Antagonistic.

I’d hang this one on my front door, just because

Sorry I don’t have more to say, or if what I said here sounds lame. My carpal tunnel (or whatever it is I have) is killing me tonight – too much time clicking my mouse editing pics – and I can barely type at this point. Did I mention I am turning 44 this month?

Signing off for now, yours always & etc.,

A Chunk of Cheese

Driving Home

Posted on July 16, 2013 by marey mercy

This is the back entrance to my neighborhood. I’ve always loved this old twisty road. Years ago some local politician ran on a platform that involved re-constructing all these old roads with their hairpin curves to make them straighter and therefore safer for school buses and people on bikes. It was an utter failure. Hell, I think even school bus drivers and bicyclers were against it. To this day, when the weekend weather is nice, this road is swarming with bikers from all the neighborhoods nearby.

Two summers ago, when the drought here was at its worst, a woman’s head and one leg were found in the creek that runs through this area. A couple had killed the woman in North Carolina and driven to this neighborhood with her body in a cooler. They stayed with some relatives along this road, and during that time they cut her body up and dumped it in the creek. For about a year after that, anytime you drove by the area that she was found it would be covered in flowers, signs, and other memorials for the dead woman.

If this little video doesn’t make you motion sick, then nothing will. I am not good at filming with my iPhone while driving, but I did my best. And the fabulous song is from a children’s album recorded in the late 1950’s called “Space Songs” by Tom Glazer and Dottie Evans, and it is awesome. They Might Be Giants recorded one of the songs, “Why Does the Sun Shine?” in the 90’s. I am fairly certain, however, that conservative Republicans banned this album at some point in the past 20 years due to its pro-science, anti-Jesus bias (and yes, the song skips).