On Christian Apologetics, Political Activism, and Cognitive Dissonance - A layperson's view

This post represents a departure from my usual topics, because it deals more with faith and spirituality as they concern political issues in today's world. I have touched on such topics before, just not in this blog. In the 1990's, I experienced a real epiphany when Ben and I enjoyed a tour of the Mennonite museum during a weekend getaway to Shipshewanna, Indiana. I wrote about that experience for my writer's group in an essay called "In Search of the Remnant."

Let me apologize ahead of time for this blog post and ask my readers to please bear with me because it does wander around a bit. I come from a family of geologists and paleontologists, so I tend to back away and take the long view.

I generally date the church's departure from "church-as-I-knew-it" (when I was growing up in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's) to the late 1980's and early 1990's,

Photoshop Actions, Overlays, and Textures for under Twenty-five Dollars

I keep seeing all these wonderful online ads about textures and lately, Photoshop Actions and Overlays that you can purchase and apply to your photographs to turn them into works of art. Due to cookies and other forms of internet magic, these ads keep following me around, teasing me and tempting me! The results shown in these ads look absolutely beautiful and the products seem like they'd be fun to learn. Until I see the price tag, that is. These products may or may not make my photos beautiful, but one thing for sure, they can be prohibitively expensive. So I want some certainty before I buy.

How to Photograph Falling Magnolia Blossoms

I've always loved drifting petals and petal drifts. A couple of years ago I happened to be in Virginia during cherry blossom time. Not only were the cherry trees gorgeous, but their drifting petals filled the air like falling snow. Seriously. I even tried to capture it on video.

So back home in Indiana this spring when the petals on my beautiful magnolia tree started blanketing the ground, I thought I would try to capture their descent. I guess there are many ways you could approach this ... a close up of a single petal in mid-air, a long exposure that would leave a trail of movement or even a multiple exposure showing the descent of a petal. All challenging shots in their own right (at least for me).

"Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon on a Coffee Table 
  at a 2015 Indianapolis Flower and Patio Show exhibit.

As it turns out, a simple, straight-forward approach was enough of a challenge! It's not easy to capture a petal in flight. But let me digress. Back in March I went with a friend to the Indianapolis Flower and Patio show at the state fairgrounds. While I was admiring a particular landscape display, a little book entitled "Steal Like an Artist" lying a coffee table caught my eye. The landscaper told me that his daughter was an artist and that this was her favorite book. Intrigued, I snapped a photo. When I got home, I ordered this book and another entitled "Show Your Work," both in ebook format and both by the same author Austin Kleon. I enjoyed them both, especially the latter. Some concepts I garnered from Austin are that you need to find a group of like-minded people - or let them find you; that online is the best venue for meeting like-minded people these days; and that to be found online you need to establish a long-lived online presence. Last but not least you need to show your work - only work to Austin is not just the final product - but also the process. He says we should be active everyday and share bits and pieces of things we are working on ... So I'm going to share a few lessons learned from some 200 attempts to capture petals in flight. I know, kinda lame, but it is one of the things I've been trying to learn how to do in my photography.

If you're going for stop-action on moving objects, then you need high shutter-speed (burst shooting capability is also nice). So any setting that gives you the highest viable shutter speed (whether you choose a wide-aperture or work in shutter-speed priority) is good. Also, for high shutter-speed you'll need good light - so early to mid-afternoon with its usually problematic high contrast is not necessarily a bad time of day in this case.

Multiple vantage points work, but I found in looking at some of my 200 photos, that petals show up best either silhouetted against the sky or against something light - or if the petals themselves are gleaming in the sunlight, against something darker. In the wide-open Indiana prairies, petals do not fill the air like drifting snow (unlike Virginia). So wait for a breeze gust or better yet a steady wind.  Aim and focus toward the direction the wind is blowing the petals to have a better chance of catching them. Focusing or metering on the trunk of the tree provided me a fairly nice medium gray tone and adequate depth of field. (I should also mention that the sun was at my back, in the west - and I forget whether I set the camera to spot-meter or to center-weight meter.) Also if you can, position yourself where you can see the top of the tree. Wait to see several blossoms start to descend - and press and hold that button! If you're lucky you'll catch 'em in mid-air. My frustration was that my camera only did three bursts and then lagged in recording them, thereby limiting my ability to keep shooting. Probably using a tripod and remote control would be good - but I need to brush up on those skills. I set the camera to ISO 100 which gives sharp, beautiful detail (but higher ISO's will allow you to work at higher shutter speeds). I think in my best shot I forgot I had set the focus to macro or macro zoom - and that actually lent a nice little exaggeration to the photo. (Or maybe that's just my imagination.) In post-processing, perhaps adding a motion filter to the photo would also help emphasize falling or drifting petals.

Falling and drifting magnolia blossoms - best viewed full screen

Falling and drifting magnolia blossoms - zoomed in

My final thought on this topic, is that this shot was a lot of work for relatively little return (capturing about seven little petals in flight), and is probably more easily and successfully attempted in Virginia during cherry blossom time. ;)

In the meantime, happy shutter-bugging!

JuneBug

May and June

In May and June when the flowers bloom,
and the air is filled with a sweet perfume,
and the petals blow like the drifting snow,
then the neighbors forget their winter woe
and greet one another on a sunset stroll.

from poems.html

Just the Sanest Article Ever - How to Job Hunt After Getting Fired

May is the month I turn sixty-five and go on Medicare. (Yay, real honest-to-goodness health insurance where you pay an affordable fee and in return, they actually do something for you!) Actually I've been retired for almost two years now (due to serious family illnesses requiring my extended presence on the east coast), so, alas Liz Ryan's recent article at Forbes.com How to Job Hunt After Getting Fired comes along a bit late for me (where were you when I needed you, Liz - yeah, I know, probably still in high school, lol). But given that one of my original purposes for starting this blog was to network and connect about work life and job hunting, I just had to pass this helpful article along to those who may still be in the trenches. I thought the author offered an extremely sane and practical approach to what can be a daunting dilemma.

While I was at Forbes, I came across another other good article by Liz, the link to which follows:

Smart Answers to Ten Stupid Interview Questions

Have a great day whether you're on the job or on the job hunt and may the Force be with you!

JuneBug

WOO HOO! I got a Star on YouPIC!

Some time ago, I posted an article about a great new social sharing site for photographers called YouPIC. I responded to their Facebook ad in January and visited their site. They had a spectacular photo featured on their front page and also made some pretty startling claims on that page, to wit:

• "Find high quality inspiration for your photography from millions of photographers"
• "Showcase your best shots and be rewarded with tremendous exposure, awards, and love"
• "Improve your photography dramatically ..."

Just by joining a site and uploading your photos? Even though I was a bit skeptical, I joined this online community, which is free and allows unlimited uploads.

On Armchair Photography and Other Vantage Points

I belong to a community of photographers at a site called YouPIC. Photographers on YouPIC take marvelous photos from all over the world. They rise early, they take their camera (and sometimes other gear) in hand, and they venture forth into the world to find that shot. They find wonderful vantage points and take photos of unbelievably beautiful places. And people. And animals. But I am a retired lady who lives in southern Tippecanoe County near Lafayette, Indiana. Let's face it - I'm more of a point-and-shoot photographer. I take pictures of everyday beauty as I go about my everyday life.

Thinking into this further, I realize that much that catches my eye is from a vantage point that is unattainable to the camera, for instance the driver's seat of a car speeding down the highway. Or at home from behind my screened, locked-against-the-wind (as much as against any intruders), plastic-wrapped window. Somehow when I pull the car over or step out of the house to get the shot, the image is different - because the vantage point has changed.

One evening a couple of weeks ago before sunset - the golden hour - I was quite happily resting in my favorite spot, my old rocker by a tall narrow window in the summer kitchen. I looked out the window at the view and saw my beautiful magnolia tree in bloom, with some of the petals starting to drop. The day had been cloudy but had cleared around sunset and the light was beautiful on the tree and that section of my yard. I spent a half hour or so quite contentedly taking photos of that scene. I opened the window and threw up the screen - the breeze was pleasant, really the first mild spring temperatures we'd had this year. After a while my kitties wandered into the yard and sat on a tree stump and in the grass to enjoy the peacefulness and serenity. So then the subject of my shutter-bugging changed. Afterwards it occurred to me that the reason I had not seen this view before was that we had sadly lost  a big old tree last summer in that section of the yard (ergo, the stump). It had been blocking the view. So these are probably the best shots I've ever gotten of the magnolia tree in the ten years I've been trying from various other vantage points outside!

Armchair Magnolia	Armchair Magnolia
Yard at Sunset from Back Window	Yard at Sunset from Back Window

I think I need to invent a new genre called Armchair Photography - vantage points for the rest of us! :)

Here's a photo I had during another armchair session just this evening during a beautiful golden hour!

And yet another later in the season during the early morning!

Happy shutter-bugging!

The Armchair Photographer (JuneBug)

Introducing Four New Photo Exhibits

Greetings, everyone who happens upon these pages! A few months ago I wrote a blog post introducing readers to my "Scrappy" photo gallery site. Today, I am announcing the website has just gotten its new "spring look" with new feature photos and four new exhibits:

• Workers' Rally at the Statehouse March 2011
• Lafayette Columbian Park
• Tippecanoe County Extension Community Gardens
• Prophetstown State Park

To find out a little bit more about these galleries, read below and, better yet, drop by for a visit!

And a Television Series Called PREY

The cast of Prey (ABC, 1998): Debra Messing, Vincent Ventresca, Larry Drake, Adam Storke, and Frankie Faison

Back seventeen years ago when I was 47 years old, a TV series named PREY came along and it changed my life.

That may sound like a rather odd statement for a supposedly mature human being to make, but it also happens to be true.

It all started innocently enough...

Heads up on a Great New Social Sharing Site for Photographers - Introducing YouPic!

Hi, fellow photography afficionados! As per the title of this blog post, I wanted to alert you to a really, Really (REALLY) great new social sharing site for photographers called YouPic!

screen cap of YouPic website

Really!

What's so great about it? Well ... let's see:

• It's free
• It's unlimited
• It's run by photographers from Sweden. (I think.)
• It's sort of a cross between Facebook and YouTube, so everybody gets a home page and a "feed" page
• I get to see dozens of beautiful and inspiring photographs any time of day or night
• and it's gotten my photographs more of a global audience than ANY OTHER SITE EVER, and that includes my own photography site!

What's not to like?

Well, I could go on and on but to give you a better idea of what it's all about, here's what YouPic says about themselves:

• "YOU Inspired: Find high quality inspiration for your photography from millions of photographers."
• "YOU Admired: Showcase your best shots and be rewarded with tremendous exposure, awards, and love."
• "YOU Improved: Improve your photography dramatically with photography tips from peers and by following your progress"

Wow. What could you possibly have to lose? I know what you're thinking. Is it just hype or is all that really true? Well, ever since I uploaded my first photo (after responding to an ad that appeared on Facebook January 1, 2015), I've gotten 12,486 views, have been liked (favorited) 1,088 times, and have been shared (re-pic'd) 571 times. In only two months time! Plus, I've gotten to see, like, and comment on hundreds of fabulous photos in the categories of nature, landscape, black and white photography, street photography, portraiture, fine art photography, etc. from all over the world, in similar fashion as one would view or comment on Facebook entries. I feel like a world traveler without ever leaving home! :) 

Other participants at the site have been so generous and so kind. It helps, I think, that YouPic uses an award system (and a points system) to encourage people to interact. And the more you interact, the more photographers interact with you. Even as a hobbyist I'm not a great photographer, and I certainly don't have expensive or fancy equipment. But on YouPic really great photographers actually take the time to enjoy my photos! What photographer wouldn't like that? 

So, has my photography improved as they claim it will? Well, only time will tell, but I truly believe my photos will improve. For one thing, I can read what people say about their individual process, see what brands and types of cameras they use, and also see what camera settings they use to achieve a particular effect. Besides, I think it just helps to look lots of good photos from fellow enthusiasts - Other people's photos help you see the world in new ways, see things you've never noticed, and perhaps give more thought to how you want to fill your frame before you press the button.

Anyway ... you can tune into your favorite news channel and get all the bad news going on in the world. Or you can join YouPic and see all the beautiful photos coming in from all over the world. The choice is yours, but I think you know which one I'd recommend! Warning, though - just like bad news, beauty can be addictive!

:)

JuneBug

P.S. Here's a link to my YouPic home page. Come on over and have a look! Better yet, come on over and join us! Again, what do you have to lose?  (except possibly some time well-spent?) :)

Experimenting with Turning Photos into Digital Watercolor Paintings

Junebug's watercolor rendition, derived from various methods. See original photo taken in 2003 at the Attica Potawatomi Festival Parade - "Sunshine Queen"

If you google the phrase "how-to turn photo into watercolor tutorial" you'll get about 1,700,000 million results (as of this writing). To date I have only tried out four or five of these (see list below), so this little post by no means represents a comprehensive survey of the literature. ;) But if (like me) you genuinely want to know more about this topic, you have to start somewhere.

I started years ago by simply applying Photoshop's filters to not-so-optimal photos just to play with the software or to experiment with preserving a beautiful memory. But I felt I could do better if I only knew more ...

Introducing Three New Photo Exhibits

Greetings, everyone who happens upon these pages! A few months ago I wrote a blog post introducing readers to my "Scrappy" photo gallery site which has been in existence (under various titles) since the mid-2000's. This year I have added three new exhibits featuring Lafayette Columbian Park, the Tippecanoe County Extension Community Gardens, and Prophetstown State Park. To find out a little bit more about these galleries, read below and, better yet, drop by for a visit!

Introducing My "Scrappy" Photography Site

Greetings!  I am a semi-retired programmer/analyst and instructional designer who loves to dabble in photography and poetry and of late, scrapbooking - both paper-based and digital. For many years my husband Benny had a furniture refinishing business called Second Looks (http://www.secondlooks.biz) and I put up a photography site http://www.photography.secondlooks.biz to complement his business site by offering free wall-paper.

Doctors, Lawyers, and Indian Chiefs

So today it finally occurred to me that since I started this blog around 2006 in part to talk about my interest in scrap-booking and photography, I should introduce my photography site on this blog -sometimes it takes me a while to see the obvious!

But first a little about my photographic journey.

How to Monetize Your Job Interviews ;)

I started this blog back in 2005-2006 to share and swap ideas about the job hunt and work life, among other topics, but I rarely post on job-related topics these days (actually I rarely post at all these days, but when I do, it's not about work). This is probably because I'm now officially retired. That doesn't mean that I won't need to supplement my retirement income at some point in these tough economic times. I have worked alongside many a retiree in my career who decided to return to the workplace. But for now ... I'm just retired and enjoying it. I particularly don't miss the angst of the job hunt and the interview process because I tired of the some of the "nonsense" and even hypocrisy of it. But that's probably a topic for another post, which may or may never get written.  So am I the only one who finds interviewing and job hunting frustrating? Probably not. For those of you who may feel similarly, take heart or at least have a chuckle at this little anecdote about a job interview I had in back in 2009 that has taken on a life of its own.

How to Bring Out the Story in your Casual Photos with Photoshop Filters

I've been wanting to attempt an article for the scrap-booker or casual photographer (folks like me, in other words) to share how I get the most story-telling "bang" out of my casual photos. If, on your quest toward becoming the expert photographer who always takes the perfect picture, you're like me and can't afford really high-end camera equipment with larger sensors, or if you just don't quite have the on-the-spot photography skills to meet the demands of every memorable moment you encounter, you may end up with a lot of bad, so-so average, and merely "okay" photos. (I'm not saying, by the way, that becoming a better photographer is a bad ambition). In fact sometimes even your really good photos may not quite reflect the image you stored in your mind's eye when you pressed that camera button; and if you're like me, you're always seeking ways to make your photos look even better. But good, bad, or ugly, the photos you've already taken are your reminders of the memorable events or scenes of beauty from your life. They're too good to throw away, yet somehow they remain pale, distant cousins of the actual experience - and you desperately want to breathe life back into them. So what I want to discuss in this article are ways I've found in Photoshop CS5 to change my so-so images into the image I hoped I would get when I pressed the button on the camera. These techniques may also apply to Photoshop Elements and Light Room.

Aunt Firma a Sculptor too?

Wow, another year has passed since I've posted to this blog. And once again, it's my Aunt Firma Phillips who brings me back. This time an artist from Lexington, Kentucky contacted me about a piece she had recently purchased. She writes:

"Hi! I found a piece of art by Firma Phillips today and found your email on your blog. The piece is actually a sculpture and differs from her landscape paintings. I have attached a picture of it. The signature on it matches the ones on the paintings I've seen online. Can you give me any further information about her? I live in Lexington KY and was curious about where she was located as well. Thanks in advance!"

Here are the pictures Jennifer has provided (click on the thumbnails to see a larger version):
Wow, that's a new one, Jennifer! Thanks for sharing it! Aunt Firma painted on many different surfaces - iron skillets, saws, jugs, her kitchen counter, her chairs ... but I never saw a sculpture before (thanks for giving me permission to share it on the blog!) There is quite a bit of history about Aunt Firma at this blog if you're able to find it. You can search by her name or the term "Artist" or "Painter." Here's an account from my cousin-by-marriage (once removed) Richard Nichol: More History on Firma. And here's a link to a story I wrote about her a long time ago, called Her Last Picture. I hope that helps if you haven't already seen them. Once in a while her paintings are sold on eBAY.

GPTJADJWN

GPTJADJWN

Stories from the Farm - Joys of Gardening

I've been out east for six of the past ten months, due to family illness. You can imagine what shape my flower beds are in!

Checking In

Wow, so much time has passed since my last post! I've had good intentions, but as they say, life keeps getting in the way and truth be known, social media like Facebook has somewhat replaced blogging.

Taking inventory of why I started this blog (job-hunting and hobbies), I reflect that I am now headed toward full time retirement (whether I can afford it or not) and loving it! I drew my first social security check last July. I have also worked about a year and a half as a part-time database editor for a start-up company named Schoolhouse Partners which publishes both print and online editions of grant opportunities. It has proved to be very interesting work - sort of a virtual opportunity to travel and immerse oneself through writing in different granting organizations in various areas of the country and the world, not to mention the great experience it's provided me in technical writing. Schoolhouse Partner's production office was initially located in a scenic prairie in Purdue Research Park. I enjoyed spotting various types of wildflowers, insects, and other wildlife through the seasons as I took my noon walk around the little lake across the street. Then when the weather got too cold, there was an exercise room with treadmills in front of big picture windows right around the corner and down the hall! However, last February we were given the opportunity to set up a home office and work for the company from home - which I also enjoyed immensely.

My coworkers and I were put in touch with Schoolhouse Partners through the Aging Workforce Initiative, a wonderfully worthwhile demonstration grant operated by our local WorkOne. The grant provided training and internship opportunities as well as various other services to job-seekers age 55 and older. Sadly, the grant's funding was cut in 2012. 

Now as I head toward retirement, I look forward to spending more time on hobbies and interests including learning CSS technologies and graphic-arts skills such as photo restoration (with an eye both toward volunteering and toward earning some extra income in my retirement years). I also want to get more involved in digital and physical scrap-booking, photography, writing, cooking, gardening, and walking with Ben to name a few things - and to just enjoy this old Indiana farmhouse Ben and I are so fortunate to live in with our cats, dog, chickens, and mules in this rural community of good friends and neighbors. :) One of my poems was featured in Lafayette CitiBus's Words on the Go in June - and in the past four years I've had two sweepstakes and one reserve placement in the photography display at the Tippecanoe County 4H Fair Home Show so I guess I'm off to a good start.

Ducks at Purdue Research Park

Blue Heron and Canadian Geese at Purdue Research Park

Baby Barn Swallows Perched on Sign at Purdue Research Park

The 2020 Workplace

I love this time of year. I know, crazy, isn't it? Even with the seasonal hardships and the mid-winter blahs, it's a time when everything outside is resting, a time when the nights are long, a time to reflect and make plans, a time to dream. And as the days grow longer, I find myself already in mid-February Valentine's Day and I have not yet posted my first blog article for 2011!

Anyway, check out this article: Ten Ways the 2020 Workplace Will Work for You.

I love visionaries. In the immortal words of John Lennon, let it be.

Peace,

JuneBug

Moving on to Illustrator

Changing over from Photoshop to Illustrator in my computer graphics class midway through the semester was a bit of an adjustment for me. I had just come off the cookbook exercises and the poster ad project, both of which had been very immersive experiences with Photoshop. The abruptness of the switch coupled with the fact that my online technical writing course started October 19 and ran through December 19 kind of cramped my style or at least stalled my momentum in my graphics class. When I started Illustrator, I guess I felt like a fish out of water. I was lost for a while even though I was not unfamiliar with vector graphics. In fact I had used vector graphics tools before I had used raster graphic tools in my computer career. In the late 80's through the 90's I used MacDraw and Word and Excel Drawing tools to do charts and system documentation. I knew about grouping and rotating and drawing shapes. Only when digital cameras came along and I started "developing" my photos in Photoshop (and more recently in Lightroom) - did I develop basic familiarity with bitmap graphics tools - and then only to develop photos.

So, even though I'd used (sometimes intensely) basic vector graphic tools first, I found Illustrator to be challenging. Of course it helped that some of the commands from Photoshop carried over to Illustrator. Two of our projects in Illustrator were to design a super-hero logo and a cd jacket for a band of our choice. I chose Sailor Moon as my super hero and combined two images to make it look like she was sitting on a moon (sort of like Betty Boop actually).

For my band, I chose Monkey Puzzle, a postmodern "rockapella" type group out of Bloomington, Indiana. I had heard them perform as the lead-in group for another singer at Lafayette's Long Center in the 90's. I don't know if they are still actively performing, but at the time I was so impressed, I bought both their CD's on the spot.

The CD cover project in particular was an excellent project to challenge me and help me to focus. I had to do a lot of research to find images and inspirations that fell within my ability to actually do something with them in Illustrator. Unfortunately, the approach suggested by our instructor - that of coming up with two drawings at the start - just didn't work for me. That was too top down - at least for this assignment. Instead I needed to search for bits and pieces, and try different things with them, and in the end was fortunate to put something together that worked. My instructor offered lots of helpful guidance to get my muse going. I also pulled the group's CDs out of my library and listened to all their music. I think that helped.

In the end, here's what I came up with:




I have to give credit to 6 wonderful resources I found on the web which served as my inspirations:

• the Biffy Cyro Puzzle Album Cover
• the wonderful family tree drawing (for which alas I can no longer locate the website)
• the yellow sky image
• the labyrinth graphic
• the gemfonts failed font
• the hanoded photography fancy rainforest font

Also, apologies to Monkey Puzzle for changing the name of their CD to one of my favorite songs on it.

Reflecting back on the semester, I am still struck by the strong psychomotor component involved in learning how to use Photoshop and Illustrator. Never has that been so apparent in my other computer classes - but then again, while art and programming both involve design, the root of art lies in actually being able to take a pen, pencil, brush, or some artistic tool and render something amazing. So why should that be any different just because the process now takes place on a computer?

JuneBug