Wave

You lay your head on your pillow and close your eyes. While your thoughts take over your mind you drift into a deep, or unsettled, sleep. 

You wake up. 

Not only is it no longer Monday, but it's not the same year either. It's Tuesday, first of January, 2013. 

8am, to be precise. 

And just like that a fresh start is handed to you. 

It's like 2012 was drawn into the sand with 2013 below it. Then a wave washed up and it swept 2012 away, blending it back into the smooth sand. 2013 has not been touched; it is safe from the water... for now.

What are you planning on doing with this fresh start that has been placed into your clenched fists? It's true, you weren't given $200 at Go and you weren't promised a bright and happy year. But that has nothing to do with it.

What are YOU going to do now that you've been granted another year? 

Wave goodbye to 2012. It has been blended into the sand with every other year before it. 

2013 is looking you straight in the face. 

My latest...

My next-door-neighbor phoned me on Saturday and asked whether I knew my photo was in the paper. Sure enough, the photo I entered for the Canberra Times summer competition went to not only the online version of C.T but also to the paper!!

I took the following photos with Jum's iPod touch and the quality isn't superb. But click to enlarge, I think it's readable! =D

(Caption) SUMMER HAZE: Rachael Axelby's photo Walking through Clouds shows a boy and a woman walking on the sand.

And I love this paragraph! I'm in the paper, guys! My face may not be there, but something even better is (there's something better? Well yes, of course.) My photography. 

My photography is being looked at by every news-reading-Canberran! 

Merry Christmas.

experiment #6

Water reflections are simply magical. They captivate me, I can't stop staring at them and I dream of one day being able to perfect an imitation of a perfect image.
This might be that day.

Original, found on Pinterest, master unkown, equipment unknown.

There are heaps of images like this one, with different concepts and objects but they all cover the same thing:

a flipped water reflection. My image was not imitated to this one directly, but the idea stays the same.

(Photo put in brackets. Also found on Pinterest.)

I like my take off better than the original top photo. 

My subjects are walking through clouds.

I think this will be an image I will always love, no matter how much my hobby improves or decreases. 

To me it has an infinite depth of meaning and magic.

experiment #5

Bokeh. 

Christmas lights. 

I've always wanted to try bokeh and while I still don't know how to say the word, I think I have succeeded. 

I tried it out without comparing to an image, that came after the editing. Obviously it's just bokeh, it's not going to look the same as any other photograph but the point is...

...experiment #5 was a success.

On a scale of 1 to bokeh this - this is bokeh. 

(top image is stolen from the internet, like all my other experiments, simply for practice. 

bottom image is mine... my own. My Precioussss) 

experiment #4

Bubble popping.

This is the one image that truly holds me captive... a perfectly round bubble, mid-burst.  

Not only is that the best idea ever, but the skill in capturing that shot is legendary.

So far I haven't been able to find the site for this image (this is from G-images) but I really need to know what aperture they use and even how many times the tried before getting the perfect shot. 

This shot was accidental, I was holding the button down just to get a good photo when hey presto! they decided to pop one. If the photo had of worked I wouldn't have been as unhappy about the angle, although this does sort of work. Not for a replica, mind you. For my next try I need to use a faster aperture and maybe an hour or two before that time of day^. That was around 4pm, and the sun kept moving. Also, I need to do my next shoot with less water-fights going on around me =P 

Experiment #4 - out of 10, I'd give it a 6. What number do you give it?

experiment #3

I live and breathe The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

This still (below) is taken (found on G-images) from a scene in The Fellowship of the Ring and ever since I have had my chain I've wanted to re-shoot it.

I've been the the snow three times in the past two months and every time I forgot to take my chain. Part of me dreaded losing it, I admit. 

Well, we're currently in the middle of Spring and this morning we woke up to 8cm of snow all around us. I got out of bed an hour early just to do this photo shoot. 

Comparing this to the original concept, the theme from the film, it is entirely different save the fact that it's a ring on a chain in the snow, but as a stand alone photo I am so happy with it.

Notes for next time - imitate original closer. Get less chain and more ring. Get more background instead of foreground. Be more patient and less cold. 

experiment #2

I love experimenting. Not always, of course. Sometimes after an experiment I'm ready to create World War III. Failure is something I don't like to accept.
"By failure you learn. By success... not so much." ('meet the robinsons' ;)
It's so true, yet so hard to take on board.

This experiment (take #2. To see take #1 scroll down two posts) was a chore and a half. I'm still in love with the concept, but my take is so, well, lame.

Original^. Using a glass slab, splashed/sprinkled with water, a shaded torch, and a tripod. And actually, I noted after much inspection, a helluva lot of Photoshop. (There's no such thing as a white M&M in a mixed pack, did you know that? For this image they've changed the brown M&M to white. Tricksy...)

So this one of my hundreds of trials. I did this on my kitchen table at night time, so the lighting is dark. And because I had to use glad-wrap it didn't work in daylight because glad-wrap isn't clear. Shhh, don't tell anyone.
I wanted my take-off to be happy and bright like the original but it just wasn't happening, brother. 

So, all in all, Experiment #2 was a failure. Stay tuned. Summer's on its way.

Hair Trial (one) 1.

This image is from Pinterest - The Bow Bun, how-to.

I gave it a shot today, and this is my first, frizzy-haired attempt. 

(I'm not a wannabe in trying to copy the pose as seen in the last image of the original photo strip...  it was a natural pose, trust me ;] 

experiment.

Hair flick experiment. Holding the camera down, facing upwards, I snapped a couple of times as my hair flew about with the violent breeze. I couldn't see most of the time, so I'm surprised that my face is actually showing! 

Love you all. 

like a mirror, like a rainbow, like glitter

With Piggy on my head, and the cold winds of Spring biting my exposed face, I was sitting on the grass. Just sitting, feeling no obligations to do anything or be anyone. Just sitting. 

The sun was setting, giving me beautiful tones and shadows to work with. I caught a glimpse of a spider web, just so. 

The sun reflected off it, like a mirror, like a rainbow, like glitter. 

The forms behind it, the dark green trees and the mildly blue sky were just were they were meant to be. They weren't going anywhere. It relied solely upon myself to capture what even the eye does not capture. 

Seeing is believing; or was it believing is seeing? 

80's Night. (rachael's notes)

::It was acceptable in the 80's; it was acceptable at the time::

80's sweets.

The leaders. There is no evidence of leg warmers, but they were there. Several pairs.

Table names.

Dance-offs to disco lights and pumping music.

We're making it acceptable again.

Fantasise me a wanderer.

Fantasies? Mysteries? 

Apple in hand. Golden lights. Dim colors. A sharp yellow. 

Something may be beyond; over and beyond.

Something new.

Who knows. 

Confetti Nails

Confetti Nails.

Baby-face

Inspirational Post

Sarah Ann Loreth Photography. (Flickr site)
She's where I get my photography inspiration from. Editing, shoots, motivation, even just picking up the camera. A few hours a week, if not a day, I spend going through her albums on Facebook. Then I go through them all again. I never tire of it. She has genius ideas.

I have here three of her before/after collages. I love editing my photos but seeing the difference between the original and my edits makes me stop - is the editing too much? Unrealistic? I can never tell.

Mushrooms. Original, top. Edit, bottom. 

She has brought in a magical light, a look that gives the atmosphere what it deserves. It's fairy-like.

Alice in Wonderland inspired. Original bottom. Edit, top.

The colors are so rich. Every minor detail is enhanced. 

Open Sky. Original, left. Edit, right. 

This one. There are now clouds, leaves, patterns in the grass, color on the mushroom stools. The models stand out; they're no longer a part of the scenery. 

If these were mine I'd think the edits were too much - but they're not mine, so they're perfect. At the end of the day I do feel more courageous. 

Sarah Ann Loreth Photography. She really does inspire me. 

Selfie of the day.

Selfie of the day. 'Angry Birds'. Angry beanies. 

Have a selfie of the day? You should blog it and link me :)

Look 'ere then.

Have I shown you this one before? Well... I entered it to an online photography site, as a sort of contest. 

They liked it.

They're publishing it with my bio into their manuscript/catalogue. 

They're framing a certificate. 

Cool words to hide my freaking-out-awesomest-feeling-evva rage inside. 

Yours truly, R

Hunger Games {forever?}

Hunger Games 'Love' necklace.

Hunger Games poster. 

Twas a Hunger Games filled birthday. Party yet to come!

T'other Blue. A dedicated post.

This is appropriate for two reasons;
1). My camera lens arrived in the mail today. It takes photos like a boss! I am so so so happy for it back. I've stopped trying to express how I feel about having a non-working camera so let's just put it like this: I feel sad and lonely without it.
And 2). It's State of Origin tonight. I've been told I have to go for Blues (which works, coz it's my favorite color) so this beanie is dedicated to Rugby. Sick, I know.

Online Editor.

I have found a new online photo editor - Phixr. http://www.phixr.com/photo/userindex

It's not so great for photography in itself, but for messing with photos and making the funky it's quite something! These are two I've only slightly modified. 

I think I'm love. 

Newsy Nails

Vodka-nail polish-newspaper. Nails.

Cinna.

Hunger Games inspired eye makeup. Gold glitter eye-liner.

Original photograph by Bek. 

J.R.R.Tolkien

Samwise the Brave. The Two Towers.

LoVe

A Pinterest Image.

'Love is a verb.... it's something you wake up every morning and decide to BE' (blimeycow)

Stand By Me John Lennon.

Beast > Beauty

Our emotions crash and fall, for no apparent reason sometimes. But while in the foreground your happiness is dying, in the background it is blossoming. Before the dying rose falls to the ground, a new one will have taken its place.

This is comforting to know, when unlike in this photograph we cannot see the new rose. Just know this - no matter what it is - you will not die inside for long. There is free air just behind you

::she's never felt at home even in her own face::

Listen up, minions!

Just quickly....

Now that I have the little rate app under my posts, doesn't mean I don't totally love comments.... COMMENT AND RATE xD Makes me happy....

I personally love doing this, so will throw it out there for you too - if you want a bigger and better look at the photo, most of them allow you to left click the image and it will enlarge. Otherwise, control and left click. This will open the photo in a tab, and again sometimes it's enlarged.

The last point: As on my main blog too, when I do this :: it's my equivalent of quotation marks. If it doesn't have that I said it myself, but otherwise ^ =) And if you wanna 'borrow' something I've said or a photograph, please pass it by me first so I know where my stuff is going to and where it'll end up =) They're copyrighted in my heart *bows*

Over and Out, peace to all ^_^

~Author

Two identities..

We all have two-faces, whether it's deliberate or we deny it. Our mission in life is just this - to make those two faces Good and Better.

Does a photograph really come through a lens?

Sometimes, photography has nothing to do with taking a professional photo with a fancy looking camera.

A photograph is an emotion, a scene, that is captured as an image. It is a memory holder. You don't need to take a snap that captures the eye of viewers, because this starts with you -

what makes you ponder or holds a special interest in your heart? In obtaining a skill for capturing what you define as memorable your viewers too will see it as you do.

Take the time to be yourself in this art.

Don't simply look through the peep hole of your camera - through your emotions your eyes will see something magnificent. And only through this will you then become a photographer.