Okay, here it is. You can now follow me on my weight loss journey. I figure if I put this out there I am making myself accountable to everyone that reads my blog. *SIGH* Here is the link:
http://shrinkingwoman.wordpress.com

or scroll down on the right hand column and you will find the link under “FOLLOW ME”.

Let me know if you linkback to me because I would love to swap links with you.

I am a bit bah-hum-bug right now. I don’t even know if I should be sharing all of this as I am feeling quite emotional at this time.   I have not enjoyed the holidays in several years.  The hubster is not a holiday person to begin with.  So for the last 8 years our holiday usually consists of the flurry of putting the tree up and getting it decorated.  This is all grand and I love this part of the holiday.  The hard part? Watching as it sits naked without gifts under it.  This happens because my daughter is a teenager and so gift certificates are a major gift to her.  And he and I do not exchange any gifts, except the letter he will write every few years.  I know there is so much more to Christmas than gifts.  But I would love to have an old fashioned Christmas filled with lots of gifts, the morning of opening gifts and exchanging gifts, a house full of family and friends, a big dinner where you just want to roll over and take a nap afterwards… The things I had as a young child.  I am doing my best to keep things positive right now, focusing on my art instead of the whirlwind around me.  I do not want a pity party.  Believe me, that is the last thing I need.  I am just saying that I am going to try to make this a good of year as possible even if it means just getting the heck out of the house on Christmas in order not to dwell on things.

On a much more positive note,  I am working on a new blog about my weight loss journey and will be starting that on Monday.  So bear with me.

I feel like I am jumping from project to project right now and not really finding what I need to fulfill me.  I have decided however to take a step back from portraiture and focus on my fine art.  I will not be quitting portraiture. If the opportunity comes alone, I will definitely take it.  However, I feel that my heart lies in fine art and that is where my soul is telling me to focus. So prepare to see more art pieces vs. faces.

I have spent the last few days pondering what to do next.  This year has come with many unexpected little treats and I am wondering what direction my world will take me in  next.

At some point I felt I had to shoot stuff that was pretty. Because that was what I was seeing alot of. And then as I began editing alot of my older images for my portfolio, I realized something. I don’t want a label on me. I love nature, I love abandoned buildings, I love many different things. For me, it is about what captures my attention, draws me in. It is not about my art being THIS or THAT. You will certainly find an eclectic variety in my portfolio. Maybe it depends on which personality is out that day? But mostly it depends on how I feel when I capture something and what I would want the world to see of it through my own eyes.

I know 2009 is not over yet but I just had to write this. It has been an amazing year. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined what this year would have brought to me. I have achieved at least two of my dreams this year:
~publication in a book (although it was for my Altered Arts side and not my photography, I will take it LOL and considering it happened in 2007 but I did not know until  THIS YEAR after accidentally picking the book up at Michaels. )
And I just discovered I will be in a 2nd book either later this year or early next for fPOE (Female Photographers of Etsy) So that rocks my world!!!
~corporate sale – I was never expecting this to happen really at this stage in my career. But it did and so I am ecstatic. AAA purchased 18 of my pieces.
~Etsy Front Page – yes thanks to Hannah for her awesome treasury I made the front page of Etsy. I know this happens alot for some people, but it was my first.
~Nominee for Emerging Photographer of the Year… just being chosen as a nominee took my breath away. I swear I could not (and still can’t if I am thinking hard about it) wipe this grin off my face.

On top of all of this, I have met some of the most amazing people, the most amazing friends, and I have been feeling a serene feeling that I never knew was possible.  Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to stop in and comment, give me your feedback, and wish me luck. You will never know how much that means to me.

xoxo

Tia

Another favorite building.  This one always makes me smile. Can you guess why? Okay, its because there are no steps.  I have actually shot this once before with my Jimmy Dean (my Rebel)  but returned while I was in the area today to shoot it with Dolly (50D) so that I was able to blow it up.

I also came across the most amazing graffiti I think I have ever seen. I love graffiti of things besides just letters.  I am thinking I want to blow these up and put them on a standout for my hallway or something…

PS. I do not take credit for the fabulous graffiti art, I only take credit for the photography. If I knew who did this, believe me, I would gladly give them credit!!! xoxo

If you are the person who created this and come across it on my website, let me know and I will be happy to give you credit.

View LARGE

I have had a long fascination with this building. When I first moved to OKC I worked down on Stiles and would see this place from I-35 and wonder what it was. Finally, I decided one day to drive over to it and I was in awe. The architecture is just absolutely unbelievable. And the fact that the exterior is still in such great condition just makes it even more gorgeous. Though it has a haunted feel to it, I still could not resist. Or maybe that was what drew me in.

After making several excuses why I should not go over there, namely that it is a rather bad area, I decided today that I needed a day out and caved. I could not get anyone who was available to go last minute, so I went alone but kept a friend on the phone with me. I got several shots in before the creepy guys drove by for a 3rd time and honked at me. No way I was going to take my chances on them getting their hands on my new camera… or me for that matter. LOL

The above image is actually 2 images joined together. Since I don’t have my own wide angle lens yet, I shot from across the street and then joined the two together.

I was able to obtain a bit of information on the building through the awesome peeps over at Abandoned OK.

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“The Walcourt building was built in 1927 by architect Joe Davis and builder Charles G. Beveridge and opened as an apartment building by its original owner, H.E. Musson. The 9,378-square-foot, two-story red brick building was designed in a Jacobethan Revival style of architecture.

In 1982, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic places. At the time, it was described as “architecturally interesting.”

Today, the building’s windows and doors remain boarded up. A sign outside warns against trespassing. Beside the building is a vacant wood-framed house at 141 NE 13th St., which is enclosed along with the Walcourt building by a shared fence.”

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Comments from others on the Abandoned OK site:

~they heard that it was an asylum at one point and of course haunted…

~another person states: The interior is not totally gutted. There is at least one apartment upstairs that is in decent shape. There were 14 units. All of the interior doors are slatted, like shutters. The apartment I saw had a fireplace, wood floors and a bathroom with a built-in floor to ceiling vanity. the building has been vacant for 32 years. The lady that owns it keeps the utilities on and keeps the yard mowed. Unfortunately, this is all that is required from the City to avoid the building being considered dilapidated. It is a real shame.

~There have been numerous people who have tried to make a deal… but alas the owner has no interest in making any deal.

I have said before how much I love just getting out and photographing nature. Well, I also have this little addiction to Urban Exploration.  What is Urban Exploration (aka UrbEx) you might ask? It is the exploration of abandoned buildings. I understand that some UrbEx-ers explore tunnels as well, but I am not really into damp, dark places.  So I will stay above ground, thank you very much.

This being said, I am going through alot of my old photos (dated 2007-2009) from when I was in school and had to edit my photos “their way” and now I am redoing them MY way.  Many of my days during school were spent searching for the perfect house, the perfect building… the perfect whatever.  I don’t even want to know how many miles I put on my car. LOL

The director of the school once referred to my portfolio as the “aftermath of a bombing”.  Yes, my photography contains many abandoned buildings, broken windows, entropy, decay, grunge and “not so pretty” stuff.  But it also tells a story. As I explore these places, I always make up stories in my head about what took place there.  Or I can at least get a mental picture of what the place was like when it was alive with people and laughter. Not everything in the world is pretty, not everything in the world is meant to make you smile.  Sometimes, things are just there to make you think.  And maybe to be a little more grateful for what you have.

One of the rules of UrbEx is “always leave the place as you found it”… meaning you cannot take anything physical with you. I have always followed this rule about the physical part. But I cannot help but take an emotional part along with me. For this reason, I have decided to create the “Homestead Series”.  Sometimes there are homes that are too wrecked to enter or the outside tells a story all its own.  I do hope you enjoy these. This is just the beginning of the series.  I am sure it will continue as long as I am able to get out and take the pictures.

xoxo

PS. If you are interested in more UrbEx, you might want to check out these guys over at abadonedok.com.  They have been to LOTS of awesome places in OK.

I awoke this morning to several emails through my portfolio account and wondered what was going on… So I browsed on over there to read them and discovered that they were congratulating me on being a finalist in the Photo Focus Emerging Photographer of the Year Award.  I am in total shock. I entered the contest on a whim thinking there was no possible way I could be selected.  And then I see this?  WOW!  I am so excited to be featured with such fabulous photographers.

Edit: 10:12pm I did not realize what Scott had posted on the blog about me until I went back in to show the blog to my husband. Here are Scotts unbelievable and kind words.  I am almost in tears!!!

There are a few drawbacks to having a kid who does internet school vs. public school. I don’t get the “alone time” that I used to get. But it does allow us to get creative.
The nice thing about having a kid who is home schooled is that when I want to go out and shoot with her, we can do so. Todays’ lesson consisted of:

History (Route 66)
Photography (searching for places to shoot future clients)
Driving (heaven help me on this part!!!)

Yes, somehow we got all 3 of those rolled into one. We left the house around 8:30 and drove down towards Route 66. Somehow I always manage to miss I-35 going all the way through and end up on I-44 then have to track over. Thank goodness we had Gladys Pointus Somewhere (GPS) with us. I got back on track and then let Emily take the wheel once we hit Route 66. We enjoyed a bit of history down the route, shot some pictures (I have trained her well… she only shoots in manual now), and of course her favorite part, DRIVING lessons. Hmm… my jaw still hurts from clenching while she was driving 65 mph. Yikes!

Don’t worry. She still had to come home and do all of her regular lessons as well. I am a mean teacher/principal. LOL

All in all we had a good time. I found a couple of great locales. Look for the above shot in a future client session. I showed the client the house I found and she is sooo excited. I cannot wait. I played with HDR for it too. What do you think? Sort of Halloweenish???

Awhile back I received a phone call from a client asking me if I could photographer her and her horses for a Christmas card.  I was quite honest with her and told her that I had not had alot of experience around horses and had not ridden a horse in several years.  She was quite kind and still excited to have me as she liked my “style”.  So, here I go trotting off to (no pun intended… well, maybe a little) Mustang and the beautiful pastures where these four legged critters are boarded.  I arrived to find 5 large horses and 2 miniatures.  OMG!  I was in awe.  Each one of them had their own little personality and wanted to do their own thing.  How in the world was I ever going to get them all to look at the camera?  Ah, yes… treats.  YUM YUM!  My assistant shook the container and acted like a mad man while all of the horses perked up their ears and looked over at her.  WOO HOO!  Success.

NOT!!! It was not quite that easy, to be honest.  The poor girl that was handling the horses for the owner while I did the nieces pictures got slammed in the nose by one of the horses. OUCH! I thought for sure her nose was  broken but she insisted we continue and she continued to take care of the horses.  Then we finally get them all wrangled (look at me talkin’ like an Okie) and tried shot after shot. This was take 10 of the session just trying to get all of the horses to look all at once. This image was the work of my assistants magic at getting the horses to look and my magic of making it look like

1)they were all in the same picture

2)at the same time

3)looking at the camera and pointing there ears up

all at the same time.  Talk about a test.  Phew!  But I survived it.  And now I know that I am capable of anything.  Well… just about anything.  hehe

Here are the more relaxed shots, taken of Tonda’s niece.  She was an absolute doll.  These were also her “10th birthday” shots and the brown horse she is posing with is 4th in the country right now for some award.  But that is “Coco” and she was her birthday present.  I told Tonda that I wanted her to be MY AUNT.    What a day!