iPhotography

I have a new toy.  

I finally took the plunge and traded in my very, very old flip phone and bought an iPhone4.  And I am obsessed, beyond obsessed, with it.  I thought I had some good reasons for holding off on this upgrade.  My primary reason was that I have a blackberry through work, which - although it is a very, very old model - handled my on-the-go internet needs.  I figured it was silly to spend the money on another smart phone and on a big data plan and all the other costs that would go along with it.  Why bother?    

Now I can't believe I waited so long to get one.  

What finally got me to give in was that my sister (who lives on the far other side of the country from me) got an iPhone4.  I'm a sucker for the Apple and iPhone commercials, especially the "face time" video chatting they show as possible with the iPhone4, and I wanted my sister and I to have our own special moments via this iPhone video chat. 

That, and I've been admiring photos taken with the hipstamatic camera app.  Some friends had previously posted these really cool looking, vintage-feeling shots on facebook, and with some digging, I learned they were taken with hipstamatic.  I knew I had to have it.

And so I quickly went out to the store, upgraded, and it's now been about a week and half with my new toy.  Not only did I get the hipstamatic camera app, I got several other photography apps, like vintage shift, vintage green and vintage red.  I plan on acquiring more, too.  My phone has suddenly become the most convenient but fabulously creative camera in my bag.  

And, in case you are wondering, I still haven't video chatted with my sister, as she's now in Japan on vacation.  But with all the other things my iPhone does, I really haven't minded much.  

(nyc, photographed August 2010)

In the Market For...

I feel like I've been hinting about the photos I took at the Mercado do Bolhao in Oporto, Portugal for some time now.  I definitely mentioned it at least here and here and maybe elsewhere on my blog.  I already posted some when I had a post on sly portraits though I really didn't identify them as market photos.  My personal favorite, sunflowers in black and white, was included in my post on flor. (If you haven't already seen it, click on the link and check it out.  I really like that photograph.)

Now I thought it was finally time to do an actual post on the market itself.  Described as "bustling" and "exuberant", "flamboyant" and "colorful," my friend Laura and I specifically selected it out of our guidebook (thanks Rick Steves) as a place that would likely have great photo opps.  And it did.  Although we caught it on a slow morning, Laura and I wandered down the halls of this old open air market place, stopping at stalls and snapping photos.  It was made for black and white photography.  

I wish I could have bought something from one of the many housewives hawking their goods, but there was no place for flowers and no kitchen for cooking meals on our road trip through Portugal.  But there was always (well, at least at this point in the trip) room on my memory card for more photos.

I also want to thank everyone at Black&White Wednesday, hosted by The Long Road to China, for welcoming me so wholeheartedly!  I shared my first post last week and everyone was so supportive.  Thanks guys!  I'm so happy to be part of this great community.  And if you haven't had a chance yet, go check out the other great blogs that participate now (well, after you scroll down to the bottom of this post at least).  

Also - I'm now on Twitter (though I'm still very, very new to it and just learned what certain things like "RT" mean).  Follow me @CameraGirlK if you like. 

(Oporto market, photographed June 2010)

A Fair Day

I've mentioned my love of the Wisconsin State Fair before (like here, here, and here), so I won't repeat myself again.  You get the picture.  Although I don't want to become a broken record, I still had a few photos left to post from the Lincoln County Fair.  I would have waited to post these photographs, given time for you to want to hear more stories about the fair (do you know that I went every year of my life until I was 22?), but work has been busy.  I had these photos ready in the queue, so that's what will be posted today.

(Lincoln County Fair, photographed July 2010)

Falling Into A Dream

It's not that I'm ready for summer to be over just yet.  Geez, it flew by so quickly as is.  How did it get to be this late in August?  I feel like I need to have more time to go to the beach, eat more ice cream and sit in the park before summer passes us completely by.  No, I'm definitely not ready to let summer go.

But lately I find myself thinking more and more about the fall.  Perhaps it's the "back to school" ads that are popping up on the television.  Maybe it's the jackets and long sleeved shirts that I'm now seeing in the stores (long gone are the bikinis and tank tops).   Could be that my firm said goodbye to our summer associates and is already in full swing of "fall recruiting."  Yes, despite the persistent humidity and continuing sticky days, fall is quickly approaching. 

I love fall though. Pumpkin spice, brightly colored leaves, crispness in the air, hot apple cider, warm mittens and scarves without jackets, sweater weather, football.  Yes, without a doubt, it's my favorite season.  And looking at these photographs makes me (almost) excited to say farewell to summer. 

These photos are from last fall, when one day in late fall my friends and I escaped from the city and rented bikes out in "the country."  Although we were a little late for the changing of the leaves (or leaf-peeping as people call it in New England), it was a gorgeous fall day.  I'm hoping we'll go again this year, but when the autumn leaves are at their best. 

 (around Pawling, NY, photographed November 2009)

Bella in Black & White

When I first started this blog, I posted a few photos of my princess monster Bella.  Although you haven't seen her since (don't want you to think I'm a crazy cat lady), I often take photos of her when trying out different lenses or camera settings.  She's not terribly patient with me or my camera, but she's cute and looks good in print.  And well, let's be honest, she's a captive subject. 

Well, this weekend, I wanted to play more with the external flash I got for my camera.  It's embarrassing to admit, but I've had this external flash for a long time and haven't really used it much.  I've always been a natural light kind of girl.  I tend to hate the built-in flash in my camera and avoid it at all costs.  It just looks too much like a camera flash, which usually is not the look I'm going for.  Blech.  I was afraid that the external flash would disappoint me as well.  But let me tell you.  I learned this weekend that I really love (underscore love) this external flash.  I'm just kicking myself for not using it more before.

So Bella got to pose again.  And Bella, well, she was generally a good subject.  She played with her toy (the mouse) while I played with my toy (the camera).  We were two happy campers.  But every once in a while she reminded me not to interfere too much with her playtime.  The claws literally came out.  Just look at the second to last photo if you don't believe me.  She didn't get the nickname Princess Monster for no reason. 

P.S. This is my first time participating in Black&White Wednesday, hosted by The Long Road to China.  I'm excited to share these black and white photos of Bella.  I've had fun looking at the other blogs that join in and think you should take a look at them, too.

(Bella, photographed August 2010)

You Spin Me Right...

As I mentioned here and here, I love the Wisconsin State Fair.  Cream puffs and deep fried cheese curds and farm animals and pig races... It's always been a family tradition.  Although I couldn't make it to the State Fair this year, my dad did the next best thing he could do - he took me to the Lincoln County Fair while I was in Wisconsin for a family reunion.  

When I was a kid, I used to love going on all the rides at the Fair.  My parents used to buy me the bracelet that would allow me to ride all the rides all day... or until the spinny-dizziness-tipsy-turvy feeling of the rides would make me have to seek more solid footing.  Nowadays, I wouldn't last longer than one ride without losing my cookies, I'm sure.  I enjoy the rides much more now from the ground, with my camera in hand of course.

(Lincoln County Fair, photographed July 2010)

Strike a Pose

As a photographer I consider myself very lucky to have a friend who loves to be a model.  My wonderful friend Katy blogs about style and food on the superfabulous Sugarlaws.  Although she can and sometimes does take photos herself using a tripod and remote control, we often go out into the city and do our own vogue-esque fashion shoots for her blog.  And I can't tell you who loves these afternoons more - me or Katy.  Her husband, on the other hand, thinks the both of us are just nuts.

But it really keeps my creative juices flowing to spend a couple hours roaming around the city with Katy, looking for interesting locations for our shoots and trying out different compositions and framings.  Lately I've found myself studying other fashion blogs for ideas, watching America's Next Top Model marathons on tv for inspiration (they do some very interesting shoots, seriously), and flipping through glossy magazines.  I really like fashion photography.

These are just a sampling of some of the photographs Katy and I have done together.  For more, check out Sugarlaws.

(Katy, photographed in various NYC locales, Summer 2010)