Some holiday pictures

divamum

Been a touch awol - superbusy with performances and then the holidays. But since it's been slow in here, thought I'd share a few pictures from the last couple of weeks. Had fun shooting for myself - been a while since I've done that :lust

In any case, a few bits and pieces from Divaland

Took Mini-D and a friend to see the infamous "Miracle on 34th St" lights in the Hampden area of Baltimore. The lights were started by one family years ago, and now the whole street is on board - it gets more lavish and outrageous every year. It's definitely a study in excess!! (a friend once described it as looking like "Christmas threw up all over the yard" :rofl)

1. Hampden started out a Baltimore blue collar neighbourhood, but was taken over by art students and has now become a kind of trendy, artsy hangout (while still retaining its Bawlmer roots). This store window cracked me up - the snow is IN the window (fake, of course!)



2 This is actually the less decorated side of the street... :giggle



2. The girls hanging out (was actually proud of balancing this lighting w/on-camera flash pretty well - I don't do that much with flash at night, so it was a little bit of guesswork.)



3. Was trying to get some holiday pictures of Mini-D in front of the tree when Somebeardie decided we needed "help". He was actually being a total pest but, being the most affectionate animal EVER, took a time out from peskiness for some kisses from his favorite girl :lust



4. Did get some decent shots of her, but my very favorite is this one. The "Soft focus" effect is easily reproduced by getting a cold, wet nose to investigate the lens just before picture is taken



5. The Cold Wet Nose in question

Bryce Wilson

I LOVE your dog. I just wanna grab him by the face and do my "doggy talk" thing and get doggy kisses. I'm really not weird, just a major dog person.

Like the dog snoot soft focus effect. Kind of reminds me of the look I used to get by stretching a piece of nylon hose over the lens in film days. Looks good on that shot with the warm holiday glow.

jeffreaux2

I like the soft focus effect.....and your comment reminds me that back in the day a cheap soft focus was had by smearing a bit of vasoline on a UV filter. Another trick was to stretch a scrap of pantyhose over the end of the lense and secure with a rubberband....for diffuse softness.

Thanks for sharing.

divamum

Thanks Bryce. He's our 3rd Bearded Collie and an absolute love, even though he's just hit prime doggie adolescence at 9mos and is a real handful at the moment. The collage below shows the high energy of a young, healthy adolescent Beardie (and I have never wished more that we lived on 50 acres than I have recently)!! This too shall pass, although having a 15yo equivalent dog and a 13 yo kid at the same time definitely requires a sense of humour ;D He is possibly the most affectionate animal I have ever known, so it's hard to stay annoyed for long, even when he's being a pain

Kind of fun to play with the 7d's 8fps - you can imagine the speed he was going in that middle shot and, amazingly, he DIDN'T fall over. They're incredibly agile, sure-footed dogs.



Jeff, as soon as I saw that shot I was thinking about the old vaseline and pantyhose tricks - cracked me up! He came up, bumped the lens with his nose right before I shot and it was only on uploading I realised that he'd goobered all over it, but I love the look, especially since somehow her eye stayed sharp - it will be a reminder of "first Christmas with Cooper" someday, which appeals to me as a little bit of family history.

Here's one without the dog slobber :giggle Not quite a frame-filler, because I wanted the hat, but using similar techniques