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On Target

I’m back in that zone where I have time to write, but don’t have anything particularly interesting to write about.  Yesterday we did a massive stock-up trip at Target.  This was largely driven by the impending expiration date of my very, very last 10% off coupon from the old rewards program.  We did a similar trip in Phoenix a few weeks ago, with what I then thought was my last coupon.  I actually felt a sense of relief after using that coupon.  Which lasted about two days, until the next one arrived in the mail.

It’s ridiculous, but whenever I got one of those coupons I felt this incredible pressure to spend a crap load of money.  Which is not that hard to do at Target.  Unfortunately, I end up with a bunch of stuff I don’t really need.  I think I have enough moisturizer for the next five years.  I like the new program better, I just use my card and get 5% off every time I shop.  I can just purchase what I need, when I need it.  Shit, now I sound like a commercial.

I sent off all of my photo DVDs last week – two for the catalog, one for the new acquisitions and one for the loaned items (direct to the museum in Brussels).  It was a huge weight off my shoulders.  Then I had lunch with my mom on Saturday and afterwards, showed off my catalog photos on my iPad.  Much to my horror, I found two photos where I had failed to notice the visible supports (one sandbag, one fishing line).  On my iPad.  After having reviewed them at least three times on a 21 inch computer monitor.  I guess it pays to take a break from Photoshop.

So I fixed those two and emailed them off today.  I’m sure there will be more things that need correction.  At least someone other than me is looking at them now.  On the plus side, my new acquisition photos were a hit.  They were passed on to the manager of multimedia production for use in the video walls throughout the museum.  Here’s the email he sent me:

These photos are great! My editor for this, Josh, will be able to make a great presentation with them for out recent acquisitions video. The multiple angles will really add a lot! Very well done!

My response:

It’s the L lenses. 😉  Seriously, I’m glad you like them.  It means a lot to me, coming from you.

His reply:

Haha! We both know L lenses can take lousy pics too! Lol!
I just hope you like what we’re doing with them… Instead of a simple slide show, we’re panning and scanning to explore details, using the multiple shot as we can. You gave us a lot to work with, and I appreciate it!

Now that made my day.

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Weighty Matters

At some point in my misspent youth, I swore that I would never become obsessed with my weight.  This is back when I was able to stay thin despite eating pretty much whatever I wanted and not putting much effort into exercise.  Twenty plus years and twenty plus pounds later, I have come to the conclusion that I will never be able to not obsess about my weight.  Go figure.

I’m not a rookie when it comes to the weight loss game.  I have lost a significant (20-25 pounds) amount of weight at least four times in the past twenty years.  The first time was around 1991,  when I managed to go from 153 to 128 pounds.  (Keep in mind I was 25 at the time)  I don’t know how long I managed to stay that thin, but I know there’s a photo of me from early 1993 where I look impossibly skinny.  I have no desire to go there again.  It’s not sustainable and I honestly don’t think it would look too good at my age now.  The sad truth is that after the age of 40, being too thin makes you look older.  Talk about a double whammy.

The second time was in 1999.  I remember greeting the New Year at my all time high of 178.  I’m tall and I carry weight fairly well, so I don’t think anyone saw me as “fat.”  But I felt fat.  I was getting married in just over eight months and nothing drives a project manager like a deadline, so I dropped 25 pounds in time for my wedding.  I waited until the last minute to buy my dress, so I could get the smallest possible size.  (I know you’re wondering – it’s a size 8 and yes, it still fits.)

Unfortunately, over the next two years, 12 of that 25 pounds managed to sneak its way back.  Losing weight isn’t easy but it’s a lot easier than keeping it off.  We had a big family trip to Europe planned for September, so a few months before that I went on round three.  I managed to take off about 20 pounds, putting me at 145.  This time I really thought I had it nailed.

Silly girl.  But to be fair, I did manage to stay pretty much in the 145-150 range for the next six years.  Sometime in early 2008 it started creeping back up again.  For the next year I teetered on the edge of just fitting into things.  It wasn’t bad enough to get me motivated for another round on the weight loss wheel of fortune.  But in early 2009 the wheels came off the bus.  I packed on more than ten pounds in a matter of weeks and suddenly I was buying cheap pants and skirts at Target so I had something to wear to work.  Our tenth anniversary was coming up in September, so once again motivated by a deadline, I took off 20 pounds.  I looked great at the party.

Sadly, spending so much time on the road last year made it a little hard to stick to the whole healthy eating and regular working out routine.  Despite my good intentions about getting back in shape during the winter in Phoenix, my willpower caved under a few too many margaritas and tacos.  You’d think that being retired would mean I have plenty of time to exercise, but once you get out of the habit it gets tough to get back into it.  Besides, the reality is that exercise doesn’t make you lose weight.  Shocking, I know.  I’m not knocking exercise – it’s great for your cardiovascular system and staying toned.  It definitely makes you healthier, it just doesn’t do much for weight loss.  Trust me, I keep current on research regarding diet and exercise.

So now we’re back in Minnesota and I have just under five weeks to lose at least five pounds, preferably ten, before we go to the Galapagos.  I’d like to be able to outrun the tortoises, at least.  So it’s back on the wagon.  But I’m trying a slightly different approach this time, based on new research.  If it works, I’ll write more about it in future posts.

 

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Hail, Yes

It’s less than 24 hours since we arrived back in Minnesota and already we’re getting tornado sirens and hail.  Was it something I said?  Seriously, last week it snowed and now this.  One of my Facebook friends asked if we brought the storms with us.  No, but you can certainly blame us for the heat – it follows us everywhere.  Apparently we are giving spring a miss and heading straight into summer.  And for this I left sunshine and blooming cactus?  It was warmer in Minneapolis than Phoenix today.  That’s just wrong.

But of course we had to come back.  I have OBLIGATIONS.  Primarily a Youth Performance Company photo shoot on Thursday.  So we left Sunday at 5:00 PM and drove straight through, stopping only for gas and food.  I know many people will think it’s crazy to make a 26 hour drive in one shot, but it has some definite advantages.  By leaving Sunday evening we were able to avoid any significant traffic for the first half of the drive.  We were tired enough when we arrived home Monday night that the time difference wasn’t a problem.  When we break the drive into two days and stay at a hotel en route, neither one of us sleeps worth a dam.  Which just makes the second day more miserable.

This is the fifth time we’ve made the drive together.  The first time (returning from Phoenix last April) we made it a vacation and stopped for two nights in Sante Fe and two nights in Colorado Springs.  Which was a blast.  When we drove to Phoenix last October we did it in one shot.  I can manage it in the M5 because the seat is pretty comfortable.  When we did a round trip last November in the Xterra (to haul more stuff to Phoenix) I needed an overnight stop.  My ass just couldn’t handle the Xterra seat for that long.  My husband’s done it alone twice.  Which just blows my mind.  The first time he stopped but didn’t really sleep well.  So the second time he just kept driving.

Ironically, he can’t understand how I can put up with just sitting for that long.  He’s driving, so his mind is engaged.  Unlike most people, my husband actually treats driving as the serious task that it is and it keeps him fully occupied.  Fortunately, my many years of experience as a manager fully prepared me for sitting and doing very little for long periods of time.  I just treat it like the longest meeting of my life.  With a comfortable seat and snacks.  Lots and lots of snacks.

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Cinco De Mayo

Our original reason for staying in Phoenix through the first week of May was to celebrate Cinco De Mayo.  It’s a big deal in Phoenix, sort of like St. Patrick’s Day in St. Paul.  But I have discovered another compelling reason – Jacaranda and Saguaro only bloom in May.  I love Jacaranda trees.  They have lacey, fern-like leaves and they break out in a riot of purple flowers in May.  There are four around the pool area in our complex and we have a great view of them through the windows.

Yes, I took photos of the flowers.  Unfortunately they are too high off the ground to use my 100mm macro, so I used my 70-200 zoom with the 1.4 tele on it and I wasn’t really thrilled with the results.  The lens just doesn’t focus close enough.  I brought the same set-up to my Dad’s house on Monday to photograph his neighbor’s saguaro in bloom, while I was waiting for the truck to pick up our washer and dryer.  It’s also way too high off the ground, but I was a little happier with the results.  You can tell it’s not really at peak bloom yet, but I’m not hanging around in the heat to see it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case you’re wondering, all of the little specks around the flowers are bees.  Hundreds and hundreds of bees.  Maybe it’s a good thing the flowers are so high.

We did a mini Cinco de Mayo celebration at our favorite Mexican restaurant, Padre’s.  We got there around 2:30 and left just after 4:00.  It was busy enough to feel like a party, but not too crazy and noisy yet.  That’s about all the excitement I can handle.  Before and after we went, I set a new record in Photoshop.  A total of 8 hours of processing.  I finished the catalog photos, so tomorrow I will be working on the new acquisition photos.  It’s going to be another long day.

 

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Crunch Time

With the days ticking down until our trip back north, it’s getting to be crunch time.  We chewed up most of Friday with our trip to Tubac to pick up the painting.  Saturday I buried myself in Photoshop to finish creating print-ready images for the catalog.  Sunday was spent running errands.    Monday was dedicated to getting our almost new washer and dryer delivered and installed.  We now have a wonderful, energy efficient front-load washer.  This achievement was not without its challenges.  We got the set from my Dad’s house, so we had to disconnect it ourselves and arrange for someone to move it.  Of course we couldn’t find the special screws you need to secure the drum when you move the washer.

So, this required a trip to Home Depot.  The appliance guy was kind enough to let us remove one of the screws from a similar model washer, so we could take it to hardware and try matching it.  Of course we couldn’t find an exact match, but we got something close and my husband was able to make it work.  After we had the set transported to our house we discovered snag number two.  The power cord for the dryer (which is massive, because it’s electric, not gas) had three prongs and our outlet had four.  I immediately had a panic attack, envisioning the need to find an electrician to re-wire the outlet.

Once again, my husband talked me off the ledge.  He assumed it had to be possible to replace the cord, rather than the outlet.  He unscrewed the plate that covered the spot where the cord disappeared into the back of the dryer and, lo and behold, the cord was attached with screws.  It was incredibly easy to remove.  This never would have occurred to me.  My ex-manager brain is still firmly in the box.  So, another trip to Home Depot was required.  I drew a little diagram of the outlet configuration for reference.

We found the power cords in the appliance section and I started comparing the prongs on the plug to my little diagram.  Then I started freaking out again.  The top prong was backwards!  How could this be?  How could there be more than one configuration of four pronged electric dryer plugs??  It took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to realize I was looking at the prong configuration backwards.  I wasn’t seeing it the way it would go into the wall.  Insert forehead slap here.

Back home again with the plug, we assumed it would be relatively easy to complete the installation.  Mostly it was.  Of course there were still a few more minor snags.  Because every project takes longer and is more complicated than it should be.  Just like IT.  In this case it was totally worth it.  I love my (almost) new washing machine.  Laundry is once again a zen experience.

 

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Art, Schmart

I am not an artist.  There, I said it.  I’m not saying that a photograph can’t be considered art, mind you.  Just that I personally don’t consider myself to be an artist.  I collect art – primarily blown glass and paintings.  I have an enormous amount of respect for the people who create the things I purchase and I love meeting artists.  We are driving down to Tubac this Friday (about 2 1/2 hours south of here) to pick up my latest acquisition – a stunning painting by a Tucson artist named Neil Myers.  He was featured in the March issue of Phoenix Home & Garden.  People with that kind of talent blow me away.

As much art as I’ve acquired over the years, and mind you, it’s a lot, I’ve never ever been tempted to purchase a photograph.  I’ve seen some pretty stunning photos, but even the most amazing ones make me think “I could have taken that” or ” I have photos just as good/better.”

I think almost anyone can learn to be a competent photographer, with sufficient time, training and motivation.  Not great, but competent.  I don’t think you can say that about painting, art glass, sculpture or any of the “fine arts.”  I consider photography more of a craft, like sewing, knitting or making jewelry.  Something that can be learned/trained to a degree.  I’m sure there are plenty of “fine art” photographers out there who would disagree with me.  I don’t care.  It’s my opinion and it’s my blog.  So there.

One of the key differentiators between myself and so-called fine art photographers is that I lack a defined and recognizable style.  Yes, I’m a photo whore.  I’ll pretty much shoot anything anywhere.  Except nudes, ironically.  I have no interest in photographing naked people.  Way too many people do it and call it art, when I’m pretty sure most of them are guys who just want to look at naked girls.  Seriously, check it out, the vast majority of nude “art” photography is of women by men.

Apparently a unique, recognizable style is needed to get attention and become marketable.  So if I came up with a really unique concept, like photographing antique milk bottles filled with colored liquid in abandoned bowling alleys, I could become “known.”  Too bad the mere idea of it bores me to tears.  If the milk bottle idea seems far-fetched to you, consider this – I once read an article about a photographer who was known for clipping photos to a clothesline, setting them on fire and taking photographs of burning photos.  Escher is turning over in his grave.

So maybe I’ll never be famous.  I’ll just settle for continuing to photograph whatever personally interests/amuses me or benefits an organization that I care about.  Here’s another favorite.

 

 

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Just Fix It

I now have less than two weeks left before we make the big drive back to Minnesota for the summer.  How the hell did that happen?  The last six months have flown by.  I have three days of studio time left at the MIM.  I had to add another day next week, not to finish the catalog photography, but to fulfill an additional request to photograph some new acquisitions.

I was taking the approach of doing minimal corrections to the catalog photos, since theoretically I don’t know which ones will actually end up being used.  But after spending an hour reviewing images with the writer/project manager, I realized that she and I are making the decisions and we align 90% of the time.  So over the last few days I started working on a set of print quality images.  I may end up with a few that I spend a lot of time on that don’t get used, but I think it’s worth taking the chance.

One thing I quickly discovered was that we weren’t always smart with our placement of the magic fishing line we use to suspend items, especially in the first few days of shooting.  It’s not too hard to “erase” from a solid background (like the gray background paper or plain wood) but it some cases I am trying to make it disappear from the top of fancy inlay.  It’s amazingly tedious work.  At times I’ve gone to 500%  enlargement and worked with a brush as small as three pixels in diameter.  I know I’m fixing things that don’t have a chance of being visible in print, but I just can’t stop myself.  I want every image to look good at billboard size.  It’s my anal retentive side rearing its ugly head.

I might post some before/after photos after I get through the process.  It’s a little too painful for me right now.  So instead, here are a couple of my favorite images so far.

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The End of Spam?

I had not received a single spam comment in almost a month.  I can only speculate that either one of the recent WordPress updates improved the spam filtering or the spambots figured out that their posts never make it to my site intact.  I honestly have mixed feelings about this.  I started out hating the spam but once I started mining it for comic fodder, I almost looked forward to it.  These are some of the last spam comments I received back in March.  This might be the end of my spam call and answer.  Unless this post brings in a fresh batch.

Actually difficult to get educated people on this issue, you seem like you no doubt know exactly what you are writing about! Thank you

Of course I know exactly what I’m writing about. I make most of it up.

With your ability, certainly you have heard praises before but I just want to add on to the many who have thanked you for what you’ve accomplished. Your pieces are distinct and show great ideas. Thanks for your contributions!

I never really get tired of the shameless flattery, even from spambots.

I’ve found your articles to be a breath of fresh air! I’m still reading through some of them, but I can already say how appreciative I am to read your worthwhile.

My worthwhile always enjoys being appreciated.

I want to give thanks such a lot of for your work you have made in writing this posting. I am hoping the same most reliable work from you down the road too.

I can pretty much guarantee you that my work will continue to be highly unreliable.  I sort of pride myself on that.

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I continue to be astonished by the number of people who find my blog useful for school projects. I knew public education was in a downward spiral, but I didn’t realize it had gotten this bad.

You need to participate in a contest for probably the greatest blogs on the web. I’ll suggest this website!

Excuse me while I go laugh my ass off.

Simply wanna say your article is stupendous . The distinctness in your post is simply substantial and I can take for granted that you are an expert on this field . With your approval allow me to grab your rss feed to be updated with future posts . Thanks a million and please keep up the sound work .

If you grab my rss feed, I’ll scream really loud.

Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your blog. You have some really good posts and I think I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d love to write some material for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an email if interested. Kudos!

Wow, I never really thought of sporadic blog writing as a “load.” Now you’re making me tired just thinking about it. But if I let someone else write, it’s not really JustJacque, is it?

I am constantly browsing online for posts that can benefit me. Thanks!

Well, good luck with that.  I wouldn’t waste too much time hanging around here.

 

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Ensembles

One of the more challenging things we’ve been doing in the photo studio lately is shooting ensembles.  That’s just a fancy word for a grouping of instruments that were either played together or have some common theme.  Usually an ensemble jacks up the complexity level.  Instead of having just one item to wrangle, you are dealing with several and you’re trying to place them all in a way that looks good as a grouping.  Occasionally, okay one time so far, it actually helps.  The one instance where this was true involved a bagpipe and a drum.  Drums are easy.  They sit flat and can be shot from multiple angles.  Have you ever tried to photograph a bagpipe?  It’s like a dead cat.  Actually, a dead cat would probably be easier to photograph.

But when paired with a drum, a bagpipe can be brought to life.  The photo on the left was the first ensemble we did and it actually made me excited about what was possible when combining instruments.  That lasted about a minute.  We subsequently encountered much more frustrating combinations.  The absolute worst was four children’s instruments.  We tried a half a dozen different arrangements and nothing worked.  We wasted a lot of time and got nothing for our efforts.  None of those images will make it into the book.  One thing we did figure out was to keep it simple.  We started to get really tricky with the arrangements and the results just seemed forced.  So when we put the three wind instruments in the photo on the right together, we just did it in the most straight-forward way possible.  And it worked.  I didn’t bother taking any additional photos.   Sometimes the money shot is obvious.

 

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Cat-atonic

It’s amazing how little I get to know of a city when we’re only there for a race weekend.  We’ve been to the race in Long Beach the last three years, although to be fair I can’t really count 2009 because we just flew in for the day of the race.  My knowledge of the city is pretty much confined to the path between the hotel and the race course.  I  doubled that from last year to this year just by staying at a different hotel.

One interesting fact we picked up from the hotel change is that Long Beach has a pretty significant feral cat population.  From our hotel window we counted up to 8 cats at a time on the rocks surrounding the harbor.  It was entertaining from that distance.  Most of the cats seemed pretty mellow.  Except this morning, when one had a bird in its mouth and was trying to find a private spot for breakfast.  Two other cats obviously felt they should be invited to join the feast.

The other new piece of information I picked up regarding Long Beach is that it’s only an hour boat ride from Catalina Island.  Of course this means it would burn half a day to actually visit Catalina Island, so it’s not something we’re likely to do on a race weekend.  But it’s nice to have it as an option.  In theory.  In fact, it looks like we have a whole bunch of theoretical options for sightseeing.  Maybe someday we’ll visit the area when it’s not a race weekend.  Nah.

There’s just way too many other interesting places we want to visit.  Long Beach is pretty low on the priority list for a dedicated trip.  But maybe we could add a day to the race weekend sometime and do at least a few other things in the area.  I can almost buy that one.  Or maybe we could do a whole So Cal thing and go to San Diego first.  I could add that to the list.  Mind you, its a pretty long list.