Tumblr

So, after a conversation with some of my work study students I have decided to join Tumblr!

Yes, it's true. I'm going to try to keep my tumblr account all about photo, this blog can be more personal random things, and yes, there will still be photo stuff here, because I cannot separate photo from my life.

So I've had my tumblr account for 72 hours and only have 1 follower! There will be lots of good stuff going on there! If you have a tumblr account be my follower!

All that is Photo:

http://carolinehoudek.tumblr.com/create.html

Pure Photo Beauty

I will never have a darkroom in my house, yet the idea that I could is still magical. My computer and color printer are my darkroom and it makes me just a little sad when I think about processing in the "soup."

Happy Valentine's Day

Christmas 2010

Sometimes the people in our lives mean more to us than we realize.

This year I built a garden; I had to build a raised garden as the soil in my yard was not good for planting. A friend helped me retrieve lumber, more friends helped me build the frames, and a neighbor helped me move the garden beds into place. I had enough soil to fill one bed, but another friend, who had drifted out of my life, drifted back in long enough to see that I needed help and brought me two truck loads of compost to fill the other garden beds... shortly there after that friend passed away. I miss my friend, but I also know that there are many wonderful people who are a part of my life and for me my garden is a growing symbol of that.

A Little Photographer Amusement

I received this in an e-mail... a few years ago and found it again while cleaning out my inbox. Despite the questionable validity of this it needs to be shared! Enjoy.

This is a case of a photographer photographing another photographer. The following pictures were taken by Hans van de Vorst from the Netherlands at the Grand Canyon, Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer in the photos in unknown.

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary rock in the Grand Canyon. The canyon's depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe. Watching this guy on his thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod I asked myself 3 questions:

1. How did he climb that rock?

2. Why not take that sunset picture from that rock to the right, which is perfectly safe?

3. How will he get back?

After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon he packed his things (having only one hand avaiable) and prepared himself for the jump.

This took about 2 minutes. At that point he had the full attention of the crowd.

This is the point of no return.

After that, he jumped wearing his thong sandals...

Now you can see that the adjacent rock is higher so he tried to land lower, which is quite steep and tried to use his one hand to grab the rock.

We've come to the end of the story. Look carefully at the photographer. He has a camera, a tripod, and also a plastic bag, all on his shoulder or in his left hand. Only his right hand is available to grab the rock and the weight of his stuff is a problem. He lands low on his flip flops, both his right hand and the right foot slip away... At that moment I take this shot. He pushes his body against the rock. He waits for a few seconds, throws his stuff on the rock, climbs and walks away... presumable to a bathroom to change his shorts.

Discovered Treasures

One year ago I purchased a house, a little bungalow in south Minneapolis. Me, with the help of my friends and family have done a lot of work on it. One of the improvements was creating access to the attic above the eaves, which, for at least the last 7 years was completely walled off.

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours in the attic putting some good old R38 insulation up there. Hopefully my house will now heat more efficiently... but while I was up there I discovered a pile of old linoleum that was discarded up there. Of course warning bells went off, is it full of asbestos or other harmful materials... but at the same time it was beautiful... under the years of dirt and whatever else went on in the attic.

I appreciated the beauty and was ready to throw it away when my mother, who was helping me, made a suggestion. She is a big fan of HGTV and the other design shows and suggested I hang a piece up. I ran downstairs and grabbed an assortment of frames I had made years back that were just lying around, and brought them back up to the attic to see what would fit in them. After some sizing and cutting (all done by a flood light in the attic, might-I-add) I had a new piece of art to hang on my wall.

I have to say the historical concept is more exciting than the artistic concept, but it still does have a certain beauty to it.

Show Opening on Friday!

Yes, it's true, I'm faculty now, no longer a grad.