bokeh

i got a special surprise from laurie this week...a bokeh kit for my camera!


bokeh is a photography term that means "blur" in japanese.  it's a really pretty effect where all of the out-of-focus light in your photo turns into pretty circles [see my attempts on flickr].  now, what's really awesome is that when you put a bokeh filter with a specific shape over your lens and set your camera's aperture really low, then you can get the bokeh in the shape of your filter.  it's a really amazing effect!




i had tried to make my own filters out of scrapbook paper over christmas, but the effect didn't quite work.  so i'm really excited to try it with this kit!  now all i need are some pretty twinkle lights :)

frost

i was editing some photos this weekend and they reminded me of one of my favorite poems.  it's a classic by robert frost about a solitary horse ride through the silent, snowy woods...the poem itself is just so simple and peaceful.  i thought i'd share it with you this morning - happy monday :) 

stopping by woods on a snowy evening
robert frost

whose woods these are i think i know.
his house is in the village though;
he will not see me stopping here
to watch his woods fill up with snow.

my little horse must think it queer
to stop without a farmhouse near
between the woods and frozen lake
the darkest evening of the year.

he gives his harness bells a shake
to ask if there is some mistake.
the only other sound's the sweep
of easy wind and downy flake.

the woods are lovely, dark and deep,
but i have promises to keep,
and miles to go before i sleep,
and miles to go before i sleep.

[see larger images on flickr:  branches, bark, trunks, pinecones]

winterberry bird

"be like the bird that,
passing on her flight
on boughs too slight,
feels them give way beneath her,
and yet sings,
knowing that she hath wings."
-victor hugo

i took this photo on my winter walk.  in the original photo the bird is very gray and blends into the background...it was hard to make him stand out against the beautiful bright winterberries [i don't actually know what winterberries are, but that word just sounds so pretty - so that's what i'm calling these red berries :)].

the processing on this photo took awhile, but the wonders of photoshop helped this little bird stand out [see larger image on flickr & before/after below].

i'm really learning a lot in my new photography class and from just playing around in photoshop.  it's nice to have a creative outlet from all of the reading and writing!

i have another presentation today...hopefully it will go well.  then....it's the weekend!

before

after

hoping for shadow

it's punxsutawney phil's big day today.  will he or won't he see his shadow?

i don't know about you, but i'm hoping he does.  i'm loving these rosy-cheek, scarf-and-mittens, snow-covered, wintery days...

i took this photo in front of old main on my way downtown.  the processing is from my new iphone app, instagram [which i'm totally in love with it :)]