Ten Percent

Holy holy, here is the one hundredth post.  I will honor the occasion by offering up my interpretation of the top ten percent, my favorite ten posts.  According to the new Happy documentary, happiness can be increased by entering 'the zone' often.  By writing these posts I've found myself in my own version of 'the zone' many times over.  I know there are a few of you out there reading this, thanks for hanging out.  And Stacey, thanks for the friendship, partnership, and motivation.  Here are ten posts that have made me the happiest, in a random sequence.

Shoe College

World Creativity and Innovation Week

What are the odds?

Measure twice cut...twice.

I've got a pretty mean serve.

New old cameras.  And a Hasselblad!

Dutch Baby

Bokeh Heaven

Good morning, Sunshine!

A Bradbury Afternoon

Here's to 100 times 100 more.  Thanks for being here.  Really.

Love,
Heather 

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Scruff Mcgruff Chicago Illinois, 60652

I had such an incredible time visiting my friends Brittany and Seth in Chicago this past summer.  Lucky for me, they had only moved there a handful of weeks prior to my visit so Brittany was up for experiencing the touristy sites with me.  We certainly packed our days and as I review my collection of photos I'm actually quite surprised by all of the things we managed to pull off.  If you remember, I purchased my tilt-shift camera in anticipation of this trip.  Well, it served me well.  There are too many photos to share (as usual).  So, I'll give you a preview with a few more specific posts to come.  Here I present Tilt-Shift Chicago.

Lots of walking.  Lots of eating.  Super duper fun times.  Randomly, if you remember, Kelli was in Chicago at an overlapping time.  And even more randomly, a handful of other friends including Jonas were also in Chicago at the same time.  All trips were planned separately.  All trips were first visits.  None of us rendezvoused.  Jonas and crew went out to see Refused and encountered quite a bit of gnarly violence along the way.  You should listen to his podcast to hear about the stabbing he witnessed/subsequently tourniqueted.  Crazy!

Thanks again Britt and Seth!  Until we meet again!  Hopefully sooner than later.

Oh, and yes.  The Cubs won!

-Eightch

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Bokeh Heaven

Sigh, like a hands together next to my cheek, head tilted like my tilt shift camera, eyes to the sky, sigh.  Photojojo, thanks for introducing me to my tilt-shift digital camera.  Tilt-shift camera, thanks for introducing me to some major bokeh.  Bokeh, just, thanks.  You put me in such a dreamy mood.

Here are the results from my first ever tilt-shift camera testing-out adventure.  The camera has four color settings:  Vivid, Sepia, Standard, and Monochrome.  Here you'll find some test shots that show off the different color options in the preceding order, clockwise from top left.

While shooting with the tilt-shift I became curious about how it would compare to a shot taken with my Canon, same scene same vantage point.  Here are two shots to show off the different effect each camera provided.  Canon left, tilt-shift right.

My tilt-shift camera took the tiniest bit of research and practice to realize how to best use it.  This camera offers its best performance when shooting from elevated locations.  This little fact has offered me a whole new perspective on the perspective of my photos. It's very small, so I've been keeping it in my bag on the off chance I'll be in a great place to utilize it to the best of its ability. I'm excited to report it has a video option, as well as a voice recorder. Up to this point I have used neither, but I'm growing quite excited at the option of some bokeh'd out video. I know this is the 'easy way out' when it comes to tilt-shift photography, but as an amateur who isn't ready to make a major lens investment, this is certainly doing the trick.   I am totally pleased with this purchase.

Any of you out there have experience with tilt-shift photography?  I'd love to see what you've done!

Forever yours,

Heather

P.S.  I can't wait to show you my Chicago tilt-shift shots!

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Tilt-Shift Camera

Well, I'm beginning to grow a bit concerned.  I am developing quite the talent, err, affinity for, err, habit of shopping online.  I love getting things in the mail.  Things like this, and these, and these, and these, and these...and a few things I'm still getting around to showing you.  But people, having something to look forward to beyond the predictable junk that mucks up my mailbox really seems to brighten my spirits.  And, Photojojo is amazing.  For these reasons and a few others, I don't intend on pulling myself from my mail order maelstrom anytime soon.

So, for this installment of "What did Heather get in the mail today?" I offer you my tilt-shift camera.  I had been thinking about it for a while, so when my Chicago trip was booked (and with visions of reaching heights my little city just can't provide) the camera was purchased.   

I've played around with it a bit, and am trying to put together a couple of comparison shots to really see the different things this little camera can provide which non tilt shifted lenses cannot.  I'll keep you posted!

Kisses,

-Eightch 

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