Word of the Day: Tchotchke

From now on I will occasionally post pictures based on the Merriam-Webster Word of the Day, given that the word lends itself to being photographed. Today the word is "tchotchke" For those of you who do not know what \CHACH-kuh\ means, here is the definition: (n): knickknack, trinket. Now Tim and I aren't really knickknack-y people. I've always found them a bit tacky, and Tim couldn't care less about trinkets. We collect shot glasses from places we've traveled to together, but I wouldn't classify those as trinkets since you can use them for something other than a creepy display. However, I do have one item that may be considered as a tchotchke by some. I am 75% Swedish. When I was little, my parents bought me a Dala horse as they did for my siblings. I would call my pony a decoration, a link to my heritage, a piece of art, etc. but people not familiar with the painted wood carving may classify it as a knickknack. Therefore, I present to you my tchotchke for the Word of the Day photo of 2/28/2013. Happy last day of February, everybody.

Night Long Exposures

I love taking long exposure shots. There's something exciting about not knowing how a photo will turn out if you leave the shutter open for a few seconds. Now I will eventually do a post of long exposures during the daytime (trickier because of the amount of light available), but for now this is all about nighttime long exposures. In Spokane, everyone lives near the river. No matter where you are, you don't have to drive far to see it. There is also an area called "the falls" where the river descends downhill quite rapidly. They're no waterfalls; regardless, they make for excellent photo opportunities. My husband took me on a date last night to see these falls and told me to bring my tripod and camera along. Of course I obliged. After this session, I now can't wait until the spring when the falls are gushing and I can take shots like these in the daylight.

From the Hip

During my search for photography projects I found this particular one I thought I might try. Every picture you take must be from the hip-no use of the viewfinder or lcd screen. My husband and I went to Wally World to pick up some food sustenance, so I brought my camera along. He kept calling me a "creeper" ("stalker" for those of you not familiar with the term), but I prefer the term "private detective." Though no one hired me to take pictures of anyone, I still felt as if I was secretly trying to obtain information about the people of WalMart. I left recognizable faces out of the images because I'm a nice person.

Ski Edits

My husband, his father, and a family friend decided to pay to take a couple jumps onto a giant air bag. Of course I took pictures. I knew immediately I wanted to do a fun photo edit showing their progress through the jump. It's hard to explain how I accomplished these photos through Photoshop, but it's really not terribly difficult if you know what you're doing. I also altered their coloring a little just for fun.

Tilt Shift

Now this will tickle your brain. Tilt shift is what we like to call "miniature faking." This effect can be done with a special lens, but I faked it with Photoshop since I don't have that lens. It's easiest if any people in the picture are tiny, because it is super hard to make people look like plastic figurines if they're large and detailed. I included the originals for some perspective. If you are really having trouble determining which ones are tilt shifted, you should probably get your eyes checked.

Schweitzer

I haven't posted anything for the last two days because I was on a ski trip without internet. Those are the best because you don't have dumb things to distract you from awesome things. My calves, quads, hamstrings, shoulders, and neck were all sore after 3 straight days of skiing, but I'm not complaining. Really. I met one awesome person and formed stronger relationships with three others. Not to mention I had my husband and in-laws to goof around with. Of course I had a camera on me at all times. While I was skiing, my not so smart iPhone (converted into iTouch) was jammed in a pocket. When my mother-in-law came to watch the boys jump onto a giant air bag around lunchtime I got my nice camera for a bit. There was also my excursion around our condo. I'll let you share in a piece of my adventure now.