Click, click - Photo class #3

So the folks in my photography class don't hate me. Instead they wanted to be partnered with me. :-)

But I'll get back to that in a minute. Class didn't start off well Saturday morning. Michael, our instructor, was just talking about photography in general when he made this statement: "Why do we all want to become photographers? For our children of course! We want to be able to take pictures of our children to make memories for them. Because a child is the greatest gift a man and woman can give to each other. We all have children, right?"

Everyone in the class smiled and nodded except for me. I'm like, "No, I don't have children."

Michael looks at me funny and says, "Well, are you ever going to have children?"

I told him that's none of his business. I'm beyond pissed off at this point. I'm SO SICK of constantly being told that because I don't have a child I'm basically worthless and why am I even married, then? I can't tell you how often I've run into this over the past 15 years. Becoming a good photographer has NOTHING to do with being a parent. Just because I don't have a kid doesn't mean that I don't make memories. I was two seconds from grabbing my stuff and walking out the door. And here Michael and I had been getting along so good from the very first class. Then he pulls this bullshit.

I then said my children are furry and have four feet and they're the ones that I photograph. That got a laugh out of my classmates, but not so much Michael. He continued on with our lesson, and what we were going to be working on that morning and I could tell he was uncomfortable looking in my direction.

So anyway, I decided to stay, because I paid $90.00 for this class and I wasn't going to throw it down the drain. Michael said that we needed to partner up and did we want to choose or should he just pick for us? As he's saying this, Mary, the first gal I met on the first day of class is stepping sideways, inching her way toward me. Next thing I know, she grabs my arm and says, "I've got my partner!" LOL! It was hysterical!

What we were to do for the next 45 minutes was to take pictures of each other, using the morning sunlight coming in through the cafeteria windows. Luckily it was a really sunny day! We were to experiment with light and shadow, taking both close up pics and long shots, and also using the translucent, reflective and opaque screens we were provided to create different effects.

As we split up Mary says to me, "You're the photographer first, because I know you're really comfortable with the camera." :-) As the two of us were walking toward our spot along the windows Michael came up to me and put his arm around my shoulder. He said, "I offended you, and I'm sorry. I had no right to pry like that and I could tell I made you uncomfortable." I told him yes, that he did and not everyone has children. Doesn't mean that I don't want to be a photographer. He said that I was absolutely right and it was wrong of him to go on and on about children. He asked if I wanted him to make an apology in front of the class. I really should've made him do it, but I told him no, that his apology to me was enough.

That out of the way, Mary and I got to work. Even though she wanted me to photograph first, I really should've been the model first instead. Mary was really stiff and awkward in her posing and didn't want to smile. I was directing her as best I could, but I was really afraid I wasn't going to get many good shots. Michael was going from group to group, checking out our pictures as we were working. He came over to me and flipped through the pics I'd taken so far. He pointed out several he liked and said to me, "You really have an eye for this."

Mary and I switched a couple minutes later and I started doing a bunch of different poses and smiling and she's like, "Wow, you're good!" [shrug] I'm just as comfortable in front of the camera as behind it!

Our homework assignment at the end of class was to choose our four best pics and have them ready for class on Tuesday. We need to be able to defend our choices, why we lit our subject the way we did. The second part of our homework was to photograph someone else and bring two pics on Tuesday as well. Lucky for me, my best buddy charityflint was coming over that afternoon! So I had my second subject. :-) Charity and I (and John) went to the forest preserve and I got several good pics of her.

Here are the final pics I chose. This first one of Mary here is my absolute favorite. I just love the way the shadow fell directly across her eyes.




And this one of Charity came out lovely, too. Her red jacket against the background of snow really made her pop.




Here are the rest of the pics I chose. Click on the thumbnails to see them full size.






So wish me luck on Tuesday. I'm really curious as to which pics of me that Mary chose. :-)

I've been here HOW long??

Today's my 10th anniversary at work and my boss and co-workers literally just scared the crap out of me. :-)

You know how you can sense that someone is standing behind you? I'm sitting at my desk, typing away, when I get that feeling. I look over my shoulder and ALL of my co-workers are standing there, along with my boss.

"Surprise!" they yelled, scaring the crap out of me. They were throwing me a party! My boss presented me with a certificate for my years of service, along with a $500.00 Visa gift card from the company. I also get a cash bonus on my check this week. Sweet!

All of a sudden people started bringing out food (where they'd been hiding it I have no idea!) and the next thing I know we're having a party. :-) Everyone came up and congratulated me on staying at this nut-house for 10 years. *g*

My three best friends are also taking me out to lunch at my favorite Chinese place. You're gonna have to roll me home at the end of the day!

The most surprising thing is that my friends told me that my boss is the one that organized all this. He rarely, if ever, partakes in any parties in the department. It's always one of us who organizes things. So yeah, knock me over with a feather!

I've been out of art school for 15 years and I've spent 10 of those here at my current company. I've had my ups and downs here, but in general the company is very good to its employees. So perhaps I have another 10 years here in my future. :-)

Ok, gotta go get me some more of that awesome taco dip!

Supernatural 100th episode spoiler not true?

This is from E!Online, saying that the guest star casting for the 100th ep listed at IMDB isn't true, but something's still not quite adding up.

( Who ARE we supposed to be seeing? )

Ben Edlund interview at SPN 100th ep party

Hey guys!

Here's an interview with Ben at the 100th ep party. He's actually pretty serious for once! :-)  I liked when he talked about the fans, about the end of this season and that we'll be rewarded for our loyalty. *g*

Writer and Executive Producer Ben Edlund comments on writing the scene in which Ellen and Jo die, giving the Ghostfacers their name, the horsemen, why Michael is taking so long to appear, and why the boys should eat and sleep better.