Photo 'a Go Go!: Yet, even MORE of my 365project

Yes, it's that time, again, folks. Time to shake and shimmy to the photographic stylings found only right here in the Pop Circus "Photo 'a Go Go!" gallery. Well, actually you can also view them on the official 365project website, but it sure sounds more cool and exciting the way I said it at first. Anyway, let's carry on with the show...

Kaleidoscope ball 

I really dig this water-filled bouncing ball with its

myriad of colorful little balls floating inside. I had

a feeling that it might make an interesting photo subject.

Super Mushroom 

I couldn't believe it when I walked out my front door

and found THIS sprouting out of the lawn! I sure did

a double-take. I even looked all around a bit furtively,

half expecting to see Mario or Yoshi peeking through

nearby shrubs!

I'm quite tempted to take a little nibble, just to see if
this real version of Mario's magic 'shroom provides
the same super-growth powers as the ones you find
in Nintendo's virtual worlds. Oh, heck! What's the
worst that could possibly happen, anyway? It always
works for Mario...

Water's edge 

I'm grateful to be living close enough to the ocean

that it's only about a half-hour's drive from home.

That's a real good thing since I'm using my camera

a LOT more, now, and there are so many different

types of photo ops to take advantage of at the beach.

Like my previous shot of the Balboa Pier which I

photographed several days ago, this too was taken

in the late afternoon sun. Do you find it as hypnotizing

as I do to watch the waves come rushing up the sand

and then slowly drift back out to sea, only to repeat

the cycle again, and again?

My mother's
"handsome" cat

This is Handsome, my mom's friendly little
feline companion. As you can see, he's an
attractive long-haired kitty with piercing eyes
and wonderful markings on his coat.

I miss having a cat of my own, so it's nice to
be able to visit with Handsome whenever I go
over to see my mom.

(Psst! It's also nice never having to clean out
his litter box, since I'm not his owner!)

There's our Matt, again!

Ya gotta love this guy 'cause he's just so
odd in all the right ways. Here, Matt is
proudly modeling his 'They Might Be
Giants' fez that he got at one of the band's
concerts, years ago. Interestingly, Weird
Al Yankovic was at the same show, and
for some admittedly strange reason, Matt
felt compelled to buy a second fez that he
could personally give to Mr. Yankovic
with his compliments... so that's what he did.

The End.

Premonition

Once I was able to excuse myself from the
others, I immediately went upstairs to the
attic so I could take another peek through
the window that was not there before. What
I saw when I pulled back the little curtain
was disturbing in ways that I cannot fully
describe. I knew about the alternate
dimension that lay just outside this mysterious
window because I had already made that
jarring discovery the first time I peered through
it. No, this was something entirely different.
What I saw and felt as I strained to focus my
gaze out amongst the pine trees in the darkness...
well, it was... WRONG. Somehow, I just knew
that deep within my bones. But this wasn't the
only knowledge I had gained that night.

A delicate-looking green insect landed on the
window pane before me, and I swear it was
actually whispering something to me. As I stood
there entranced, and concentrating on every tiny
whisper from the strange bug, it suddenly
disappeared. It was only a moment or so later
when I realized the damned thing had actually
reappeared inside my head! Once it was digging
around in there, it was no longer a struggle to
understand what it wanted me to know - Evil was
coming to pay us ALL a visit, soon. Very soon...

Knothole

I've always felt that one of the best aspects of
photography is how you can focus in on what may
seem like an everyday boring subject/object, such
as a knothole in an old wooden fence, and the
results can be fascinating. I like these rough textures
and subtle colors, but most of all, I like how you
could almost (maybe?) be convinced that this was
an entrance to a cave, somewhere...

If you didn't already know better.

Kewpie doll bubble jar

Here's another shot inspired by something I made
(assembled, really) and gave to my husband as a gift.
The subject matter is a clear glass jar filled with
dismembered Kewpie doll parts floating in blueish-green
liquid. All I did was simply shook it up a bit to create the
bubbles, and then turned the jar on its side so I could
see this little cutie looking back at me. She looks fresh
and clean... and happy to indulge my (slightly twisted)
photographic tendencies.

Green

This is my first attempt at doing a water droplet shot...
I'm pretty happy with it. Not only do I find simple,
natural beauty in the droplets, I'm also fascinated by
the detail seen in the rich green leaf on which they sit.

Canna, or can't I?

Continuing with water droplets, here's another shot
taken of some clinging to the leaf of a plant. This time
it happens to be a vibrantly colorful Canna plant.

One bad penny

I was taking a nice morning walk with my mother-in-law
when I happened to look down toward the ground and
spotted this wonderfully beaten up, scratched, and
repeatedly driven over penny. At least, that's what it
looked like to us.

The first thing I thought, and said was, "Oh! I could take
this and shoot it with my macro lens for the 365project!"
And with that, I shoved poor, defiled Lincoln into my
front pocket, anxious to retrieve him later for his
photographic close-up!

Fiery red

This is a Canna Lily that I found to be exceptionally
vibrant and beautiful in the late morning sunlight.





Are you still with me? I know that was a lot to share, and I appreciate your interest. Truly. Unfortunately or fortunately, however you happen to see it, that is all for today's 'Photo 'a Go Go!' gallery visit. Thank you for coming, everyone! And, please, remember to retrieve your coats and umbrellas upon exiting.


~ All photos were taken by Anthony (AKA antvision), and are not to be used or reproduced without written permission from me. ~

Photo 'a Go Go!: Even MORE of my 365project

Hello, everybody! It's time, once again, for another installment of everyone's favorite photo-viewing pastime... Photo 'a Go Go! [APPLAUSE]

Folks, it's been so long since I last shared any of my 365project photos with you that I thought I'd go ahead and torture you with some more, now. You knew I was gonna sooner or later, so I might as well, right? Thus far, I've been making a point to present my photos to you in the same order they've been taken for the project, so I figure I'll just continue on with the same method. Let's jump right in, shall we?





Happy toy [2]

I felt like I had to revisit this one, photographically.

It's just so colorful, and the first shot I took of it

for the project didn't even show the dial or the

receiver/handset! So I think I'm finally satisfied.

I think...



Verdant growth along

the old weathered fence

I've always liked this sort of juxtaposition;

something young, fresh and healthy set against

or alongside another that looks old, run-down

and has some character. I'm also happy with

the textures here, even though the fence IS

mostly out of focus.

The Great Stromboli

Marionette Show

I spent a fantastic day at Disneyland with

my husband and two of our dearest

friends. We spent 12 hours there filled

with laughter, screaming (on the rides, of

course), great food (Blue Bayou) and

even better company! It just doesn't get

much better than that.

While in Fantasyland, I spied a wonderful

window display of Stromboli's Marionette

Show from the animated Disney classic,

'Pinocchio'. Both Jiminy Cricket and

Pinocchio, himself, were also "dancing" on

the stage of this wee puppet theatre, but I

was particularly taken with the pretty little

lady, above. I'm guessing that she's

supposed to be Heidi, or a close facsimile?



Beautiful imperfection

While walking along some unusual

shop windows, I came across this

attractive copper bust and instantly

knew that it must be visually

documented. Isn't she/he lovely? I

was especially drawn to its color,

along with all of the scuffs and

imperfections. AnyTHING, or

anyONE, that shows this sort of

aging character truly IS beautiful to me...

A few of my favorite things

Since I enjoy both photography and board games

a whole lot, I thought I'd get creative and figure out

a way to combine the two subjects, visually.

And so... Voila, this was what I came up with!

My father's hippo

About a week ago, my mom dropped by to give

me something very special. It was an old porcelain

hippopotamus from somewhere around the 1950s

or '60s. But that's not why I think it's special. It

was my dad's, and he kept it on top of his bedroom

dresser. The body is hollow, so my dad mostly kept

pocket change and other odd 'n' ends inside of it.

Plus, that awesome gaping mouth was the perfect

place to rest his glasses for the night. Or, maybe,

even a few business cards from his day at work...

My dad died 21 years ago, and after all that time,

I'd completely forgotten about his hippo. That is,

until my mom just appeared with it one day, and said

I should have it. I'm quite touched that she held onto

it for all of these years.

I didn't receive this priceless knick knack with any of

my dad's old pocket change, business cards, or

ANYTHING inside. But what DID come with it was

some wonderful (temporarily forgotten) memories of

my dearly departed father.

Starship Victoria

Sinking into the plush, red velvet cushioning of

my chair in a most fearful anticipation, I stared

out through the huge, glass viewing-sphere and

watched as our magnificent spacecraft approached

the foreign surface of planet Zebulon.

1958 Murray Champion

This is a miniature reproduction of a classic,

kiddie pedal-powered car, like they had

back in the 1950s. It's made real well, too.

In fact, it has a bit of heft to it because it was

made out of some kind of heavy-duty metal.

I received it as a gift years ago and I still really

dig it! The color combo is perfect. That shade

of blue is my favorite, and I've always liked

red. If only I could shrink down to the

appropriate size in order to ride it... Just

imagine how much money I'd save on gas

AND car insurance!

"Like sands through

the hourglass..."

I'm real pleased with how this shot

turned out! I always find the seemingly

random patterns of light reflection that

you can capture within different types

of glass to be very fascinating, so I do

like that element. But the thing that

really made me giddy about this photo

was that I managed to capture lots of

individual grains of sand falling through

the center of this hourglass!

How cool is that?!

Hello, my BUZZZY bee-like friend!

I almost feel as though most of the credit for this

wonderful photo should go entirely to the magic

of serendipity. My original intent was only to snap

off a few macro shots of this dandelion, I wasn't

planning at all on trying to catch an insect in any of

my compositions. But then, as I was focusing this

shot and about to take the picture, that nice little

flower fly zoomed down into the frame only long

enough for me to press the shutter release, and then

it quickly buzzzed away! Like it was flying by, saw

what I was doing and thought, "Hey, I can help a

brotha out... I think I'll just swoop down there for a

sec and pose for the guy."

Peering 'neath the pier

I absolutely love being at the beach.

It's just about my favorite place of all, next to

Disneyland. But I don't enjoy going there to

sunbathe, or for a dip in the ocean. I just enjoy

being there and absorbing the peaceful energy.

You know, the powerful crashing waves, the

wonderful distinct smells (SOME of them), and

the unmistakable euphony of sounds (i.e. seagulls,

buoy bells and ship horns). Not to mention the

visual aspect of nature's oceanic beauty... Of

course, the only times that are best for appreciating

any of those things are either in the early morning,

or late afternoon/evening. It's pretty hard to feel

connected with the ocean's calming energies during

the middle of the day, when there's hundreds of

people sunbathing on the beach, kiddies building

sandcastles and teenagers surfing and/or boogie

boarding.

I'm glad that I shot this late in the afternoon, so

nobody else was around to walk into my frame.

What you see is the underside of Balboa Pier in

Newport Beach, CA. What you don't see, thank

goodness, is me tripping and falling down in the wet

sand as waves washed over me (shortly after I took

this shot)!! Aaand, as if I hadn't suffered enough

indignity, my friend, Matt, immediately busted out

laughing! But it was okay because I laughed pretty

hard, too.

Innocence

I sure hope y'all have enjoyed this latest edition of 'Photo 'a Go Go!'. Stay tuned for even MORE of them in the not-too-distant future... 'Til then, we'll see what other trouble we can get up to around here! So make sure to check back often. Bye-bye!


~ All photos were taken by Anthony (AKA antvision), and are not to be used or reproduced without written permission from me. 'Photo 'a Go Go!' dancers were found in a back alley, behind Google Images, playing Connect 4 and drinking Earl Grey tea. Clearly, they needed something to spice up their lives. ~

Photo 'a Go Go!: Antvision [[Pix-travaganza]]

I'm happy to say, "I'm still snappin', folks!"

My 365project has been a blast, and it has also been every bit the challenge that I figured it would be! That's a good thing, too, because it helps in both keeping my mind sharp and keeping it in an almost constant state of creative thinking! Since the idea is to produce a new photo every day, I find myself pondering nearly non-stop what sort of subject I'll shoot, the story it (or I) could tell, the technique I might use, etc. I must admit that some days I do feel as if it could all drive me insane, but I usually manage to push through! Usually...

Anyway, if you happen to be interested in seeing more of my project photos, please, step right this way into our Gallery of Fine Art Photography tent. Here, you'll find another (rather voluminous) collection of imagery covering a variety of interesting subjects in this latest exhibit we like to call, Antvision [[Pix-travaganza]]!







Happiness... dried & preserved

October 4th, 2008 was a very important date.
It was also quite a happy one, for that was the
day on which my husband and I got married!
We had already been together exclusively for
18 years by then, but since there was a brief
period at the time allowing same-sex couples
to legally marry, we decided to go ahead and
"seal the deal".

These roses are from the dinner reception we
had immediately following the ceremony. No
matter how dried, dusty and withered they
become over the years, I know that they will
always seem just as beautiful to me as they
did on our wedding day.







Andrew Bear

This cute and lumpy vintage teddy bear is
just about 60+ years old, around the same
age as my mother-in-law. In fact, she grew
up with it, and then years later passed it
down to her son (my husband) when he
was a child.

Andrew Bear has always sat on this little
chair for as long as I can remember. That,
too, was from my husband's childhood, and
even has his name across the back of it in
tiny letters. I like to picture Tommy sitting
on the chair as a little boy. I just know he
had to have been SO cute! Now, it's hard to
imagine Andrew Bear sitting anywhere else...







Branching out

I finally made a point to grab my camera and
take it outside with me, immediately upon
returning home from work today. As I walked
around looking for photo-ops in the late
afternoon sun, I spotted this great tree branch
covered in all of its wonderful craggy bark and
delicious contrasting shadows! So I HAD to
capture it! Boy, have I EVER missed shooting
outdoor photography...







So very succulent!

Just a beautiful plant in a pot, on our back patio.







Oh, so soft and succulent...

Yet another plant on our patio which I
found to be quite striking, shot close-up
and in soft focus. I was real pleased with
how just the right amount of daylight
helped to produce such terrific natural
shades of pink, purple and green...

No help from Photoshop, either!







Mancala

This African stone game has always
appealed to me, mainly because of the
glass marble-like stones that are used,
but also because of its simplicity. I
should admit, though, that I've never
actually played the game. And I even
OWN it - that's MY game in the picture!!
Ridiculous, I know... Just never got
around to learning the rules.

Maybe, before I put it away on the game
shelf again, I'll try to talk someone into
learning and PLAYING this colorful
game with me. Either that, or it'll just
end up sitting on the shelf collecting
dust for ANOTHER 10 years...







Peacock feather (Detail)

Still experimenting with my macro lens,
trying to get used to the focal field & range.
I'm sort of figuring out that I need to be
even closer to my subject than this, for
optimal focus coverage. But I like how this
turned out, with the edges of the feather
being all that's in focus. The colors, too... I
was real happy with how they all turned out!

And is it just me, or does the center of the
feather look kinda like a heart to you? That's
really strange because I didn't alter the photo
to look like that, and it doesn't look that way
to the naked eye, either. Only in my photo.
Bizarre, huh?







Two koi... to be conceited.

I captured this vibrant shot while visiting
with my in-laws. They have a beautiful koi
pond in their backyard, with a waterfall at
one end and a bridge across the center.

In fact, I sat down on that very bridge so I
could take this photo.







What is it?

Well, can you tell what IT is? If you don't
manage to figure it out, you're gonna want
to kick yourself because it's actually pretty
darn obvious...

So put on your Thinking Cap, but don't go
OVER-thinking it. I'll reveal the answer at
the end of this post!







Timeslip

Just the idea that such a paranormal
phenomenon could exist which allows
a person, or a group of people, to travel
through time due to a rift in the very
fabric of time itself, fascinates me to no
end! I'm very open minded about para-
normal and supernatural possibilities,
but I also view the world around me
with a healthy dose of skepticism.

If you could "slip" away to any date or
place in time, what or where would it
be, and why?







Bouncing rubber baby pony

No, it doesn't REALLY bounce, I just
thought the title sounded a lot more fun
that way (plus, it's a fun thing at parties
to try and make people say, real quick-like
and several times in a row)! But it IS made
of rubber, and it's vintage from like the
'40s or '50s. I found it in an antique shop
and gave it to my husband, either for
Christmas or his Birthday. He loves, loves,
LOVES ponies!

We have a few other neat, old, rubber toys
sitting around our house. Perhaps, one day,
I'll make THEM model for the camera, too...







'Magic 8 Ball' optimism

Wouldn't it be great if we could start off
EVERY day receiving this kind of positive
and encouraging prediction?

It would most certainly beat getting the
alternative message, "Better not tell you now"...





I hope that you've enjoyed this latest update of my progress with the 365project. If you haven't, well... that's your problem! I just have one last message for my loyal Captivated Spectators, before I sign off. I'm well aware that when considering the infrequency of my posting, I am very lucky to have many of you still coming back to my circus on a regular basis AND always leaving me such kind comments. For both things, I am extremely grateful! I'm hoping to "get my act together" and eventually start posting waaay more often. Wish me luck with that, I'll NEED it!

Until next time, remember... Clowns are only funny from a distance. If you get too close, you'll find out the hard way. Byyye!



*ANSWER to 'What is it?': The end of a white starfish's arm.



~All photos by Anthony (aka Antvision). Except top 'Photo 'a Go Go!' background dancers, they were spotted hitchhiking along the Google Images highway with signs that read, "Will SHIMMY & SHAKE for FOOD!"~

Photo 'a Go Go!: 2+ Weeks into my 365project...

It's been just a little over 2 weeks, already, since I started taking photos for my 365project, and I've only flaked on 2 of the days in all that time! I was feeling a bit like a failure at first for skipping days, but then I started seeing that a lot of other people doing the project also miss days, occasionally. The way I know this is because there's a neat calendar view feature you can access from everyone's photo page that displays a calendar with thumbnail-sized photos shown for each day that one was taken. So once I saw that I wasn't the only one with blank days, I felt much better. And if you're at all like me, it's not that easy to take a good photo that you're proud of every single day. Then again, (make sure you're sitting down for this one, folks) some people have said that I tend to be a perfectionist... But even that aspect aside, I'm simply not always in the mood, or I may not have the creative mojo flowing for some reason. Know what I mean? The last thing I'd want to do is snap off some dumb, random shot just so I could upload a photo for that day! Bottom line, though, is that I see no reason why I can't make up for the days I miss. I think that as long as I take and upload 365 days worth of photos it'll be okay if those days aren't all consecutively connected. It just might end up taking a lot more than a year to finish. And if that's not okay, or it's against the rules, well... then I'm changing the rules, right here and right now, for Anthony's 365project!

Wanna see some of the latest installments "hanging" in my gallery? Go ahead, take a look. I'd love to know what you think of them... (I decided that it was probably best to only display a week's worth of photographs at a time, so as to NOT exhaust your interest or patience!)





That's our Matt!

Right there, blowing into a toy crocodile's
head and making its "eyes" float, is my
good friend Matt. He's almost never too
self-conscious to do something silly, if it'll
make us laugh! I have certainly had some
of the best times hanging out with that guy.






A love creation

As I wandered around the house looking
for an interesting Show & Tell item to
photograph, I looked inside our "cabinet
of curiosities" and spotted this old collage
box which I assembled and gave to my
husband as a birthday gift many years ago.
In fact, I think it was actually about 16 or
17 years ago!

I can still remember how much fun I had
searching through antique shops, looking
for just the right cigar box and ALL of the
neat trinkets to place on top of it. I've made
several interesting things for my husband,
in the past, but haven't created any NEW
gifts in a verry long time. Hmm, his birthday
IS coming up fairly soon...






Skelebunny

Imagine our surprise when my
husband and I stepped out into the
garden patio, today, only to find
one of Tommy's fictional comic book
characters just sitting nonchalantly
in a small, fancy chair. We couldn't
believe our eyes! All this time
Tommy thought that he had
completely made up everything
about the Skelebunnies and their
well-intentioned, immoral exploits.

Have they really existed all along,
or is Tommy's imagination so
powerful that it brought them to life?
The little guy wouldn't tell us, as he
evidently doesn't talk to humans. He
did pose for my picture, though!






"I was almost beginning to
think I'd lost my marbles!"

A glass jar is a very good place to keep
your marbles, as it is very pleasing to
the eye. And you'll always know where
to find them, should you start to feel
as though they are "missing"...






Happy toy

I think most anyone who was a child
growing up in the late '60s thru the '70s
would recognize this familiar, iconic face
as that of the cheerily colorful Fisher-Price
Chatter Phone. Definitely one of my uber
favorite childhood toys!

It had a pull-string so it could be dragged
along behind you. And whenever you did,
its big blue eyes would roll up & down in
tandem with the clickety, clackety chattering
sound made when its little blue wheels
turned. Of course, it also had a rotary dial
that triggered a bell inside whenever your
wee fingers spun it 'round.

I would love it if I could pick up the bright
orange receiver and call my 5-year-old self,
way back in 1975. I'd want to tell him that
everything is going to be okay, that HE is
going to be okay, no matter how bad things get...






Fun, old books

Something else that I like collecting is vintage
children's books. I find them to be fun, colorful
and charming. However, I do not buy them for
storytelling. The two ways in which I do use
them are:

[1.] As pop-culture reference material.

[2.] As a vintage illustration/image archive that
I can cut 'n paste from while working on collage
art. Well, technically, I scan & print out whichever
book page has the image I like, and then THAT is
what gets cut up. I don't want to damage these
beautiful, old books any more than they already
have been!

The bookshelves have slowly been filling up over
the years, so what you see here is just a fraction
of my total vintage and pop culture book collection.






Monochromatic Solitaire

I enjoy ALL kinds of board games, especially
ones that are this attractive and well-made.
My preference, of course, is to play games with
other opponents, but this beautiful wood and
stone marble (Is "stone marble" redundant?)
edition of Solitaire makes those times I have
no one to play games with MUCH more enjoyable!



Thank you for visiting our 'Gallery of Fine Art Photography' tent, here at the one and only Pop Circus. Please, come again!


~All photos by Anthony (aka Antvision). Except top 'Photo 'a Go Go!' background dancers, I found them in a dark alley behind Google Images. They work really cheap!

Photo 'a Go Go!: My 365project

This should be a bit challenging, and a lotta fun!

A friend of mine suggested that I try the 365project because she had already been participating and was totally loving it. What is it, you say? Why, it's a year-long project/journey in which you photograph something with a digital camera EVERY DAY that's special, interesting, or even just plain ordinary. What you shoot is entirely up to you, and that's what I find especially appealing about it. You're really only limited by your own creativity and imagination! If this seems at all like something you'd want to do, go ahead and click on the link to find out more about it.

I just started the project Tuesday, April 6th, so I've only taken and uploaded 2 pictures. Here, check 'em out...






[Day 1] Glass Paperweight

Behold the beauty of glass!

This is just one of many glass paperweights in my personal
collection. I've always been fascinated with glass in its many
forms, from rough wave-beaten chunks of beach glass to
elegant cathedral stained glass windows. But I'm especially
drawn to handblown glass with its shiny bubbles and magical
swirls of color inside!







[Day 2] Office Toys

It's 'Take Our Toys to Work day'...
Every day!

If you know me, you know that I really like toys. For whatever
reason, I never outgrew them. Just having toys around makes
me happy, even if I'm not playing with any. And the more
colorful they are, the better! This is a shot of the computer on
my desk where I work daily. If I didn't have these little guys
giving their cheerful support every day, I'd surely stress out!




I have every intention of remaining committed to this project, I do not want to lose motivation and give up! I will see this through to [Day 365]! I feel like I'm off to a pretty good start, but this is only the first week. Check back in about a month, and see how well I'm doing then... Yikes, what have I gotten myself into?!


~All photos by Anthony (AKA antvision)~