How strange is it...

Earlier this week, in the beginning photography class I teach at the U, I had individual conferences with each of my students about their final projects. One of the students came ready to go with sketches and ideas galore! I was impressed. Anyway, one of the sketches involved an idea that he started in an earlier assignment with a shadow on the wall of someone holding their hands as if it was a bird. Then he was going to have a dead bird on a table underneath that shadow. Along with the idea he mentioned that he had no idea where he would get a dead bird. Me, well I said that my parents happen to have a dead bird in their freezer that I could possibly aquire for him if he wanted it. He was actually pretty interested, but a little weirded out at the same time.

Is that strange? That someone would have a dead bird in their freezer that is?

My mom found it outside about a week ago and put it in the freezer hoping to give it to the nature center near by so they could study it, dissect it, stuff it, or do whatever with it. Otherwise, someday it will get buried in the woods, or used for a photo project. We'll see what happens...

Isis, etc.

Isis Lula Winnifred Elph seems to be the new name of my camera (if I have 2 middle names so can she). She is a great camera although I'm still getting to know her. I made this photograph with her this weekensd as prep before I came back with my 4x5 (Victoria Jean). As I was going for my big camera a park worker was driving around moving picnic tables. I got back before he moved these though!

Working Hard, Hardly Working

I am quite professionally fond of my work study students at CVA. They even think of me even when I'm not around and today, well after I had left work, I got a text message from one of them directing me to a web site where I found this picture:



There, 3 of them are sitting on one of the couches in the darkroom watching movies on my computer. They can do that... the couch just isn't naturally there. They're making a parody of one of the great darkroom stories that I tend to tell about the couch getting moved there, and trying to get me to fire them all at the same time... although the amusement level is quite high. I'll have to see where that couch is tomorrow morning.

A new Winny?

My dear little digital Elph, (my only digital camera) who went by the name Winnifred Beatrice, who posed with me for the photo I have with this blog ( just to the right) has retired. She is too old and her poor parts do not work the way they used to, so I retired her... sigh. We had some good times though and she came everywhere with me. A moment of silence...


I now have a new 7.1 mega pixel Elph (3.1 mega pixels more than Winny had and cost the same as she did 2 years ago). Anyway she's pretty slick, but is she Winifred Beatrice II or someone completely new? She does have some trendy eye makeup going on (as they did not have the all silver version). I'm not sure I can name her Winny, although it would be a shame for the name to die with the camera, alas.

Any name suggestions?

Words of Wisdom from Menards

I got a Menards several-page add in the mail the other day. It's strange as I do shop there but do not hold a Menards credit card or anything else that would prompt me to be on their mailing list, but that's okay. So I read the add, not looking at the products but rather reading the strange little quotes they have printed in super small type at the bottom of every page. Has anyone noticed that before or is it just me? Anyway one of the quotes was:

"No place is boring, if you’ve had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film."

It warms my heart to hear film rather than digital camera, but that's a ramble for another time.