Beautiful Boy

There are days when I think that John Lennon's song "Beautiful Boy" was written just for my little guy. This was one of those days. I can't even think about the lyrics without getting misty. Especially since he was what happened while I was "busy making other plans".

Enjoy the wonder that is Prince Lorenzo:

Like Father, Like Son

I recently came across a kid picture of my husband and was shocked at just how much his son resembles him as a kid. I always thought he looked more like me until this picture. So for your perusal, a picture of the dad & the son, side by side:

Check out the eyebrows, cheeks, nose and grin. He is his father's son.

Beautiful Irony

I know I've been away for a while. I've had life. You know, the basics of laundry and child rearing and summer camp and 1st grade and Pre-K starting... Lest you think I've been all work and no play and thus become a dull girl, I'm going to tell you a tale of two books. They are beauty, they are the beast, but not a Tale of Two Cities.

The first is "Universal Beauty". It's the Miss Universe Guide to looking beautiful. And it's chock full of great advice on skin-care and such. And it's not really that geared towards the Pageant Girl.

The other great book I read was The Photoshop Elements 6 Book For Digital Photographers.

I've always wondered how and wanted to learn about making a good picture GREAT. Well, that book tells all! And how...

The irony of it all? There's not ONE picture in the first book that was NOT manipulated SOMEHOW using the techniques in the second. Take a good look at the cover. I promise it has been enhanced.

FW: Olan Mills Awesomeness

Recieved Via Email. I normally don't share forwards, but what's a girl to do when an email rivals the now defunct Threadbared.com?

Sent: Friday, January 11, 2008 3:59

Subject: Olan Mills Awesomeness

Dear family, friends, felons, and fellows:

I thought I had given up on forwarding of e-mail long ago; however, there are rare occasions when I am presented with an e-mail that is so funny it must be shared. This is one such e-mail. Those with weak bladders, or those who are prone to hiccups, or those who suffer from bouts of proctorrhea should take care to prepare for accidents due to heavy laughter. Enjoy.

[sender]

P.S. I was half expecting to see Robert Bradley in his infamous Saxon t-shirt in one of these photos. Alas, it was not to be.

[/end email transmission]

After a brief googling, I found another blogger who is posting it in it's entirety. Here is the link: http://sohos.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/olan-mills-awesomeness/

For those of you too lazy to click the link, I've copied it here:

Actual Olan Mills (and a couple others) photos

Those glasses came free with a purchase of Brut cologne.hose glasses came free with a purchase of Brut cologne.

Thoughtful Lance. Mirthful Lance. Two sides of a delightful coin

Drake won Bitchin’est Senior Mullet by a landslide

The Purvis family made several stops along the Oregon Trail to document their six-month journey. This photo was taken just two weeks before the dysentery took Momma to Jesus.

No Comment

Olan Mills backdrop #4: Bucolic Meadow with Split Rail Fence. Is that an animal carcass behind her?

A pose like this will get you kicked right out of the Convention.

Bobbi isn’t the first waitress to fall for her manager, but she and Dale both got fired from Shoney’s.

This photo isn’t discolored. The 70s really were that Orange.

At the Southern Baptist Convention?

Olan Mills Backdrop #11: The Library, one of their most popular themes, as seen in this photo of the young Unabomber and his wife.

Patrick broke ranks and chose drag over the bow tie

Kenneth and his prom date

I got a 20 that says he drives a Camaro.

Hiroshima, 1945. The last known photo of Kelli and Senor Loco

Talk about a third wheel…

Nothing says 1973 quite like denim and helmet hair

B-52’s, the early years.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words...

Just Say No!

What Not To Wear?

Or rather, how NOT to wear what you ARE wearing. To wit:

Let me begin by saying that I'm an addict frequent shopper of Joann Fabrics. I love them dearly. So when the flyer came in today's mail with the above picture (after I'd just been there this morning), I had a little chuckle.

Let me point out a few things about this that are SO wrong.

1) The blue dress girl looks extremely uncomfortable. I'm not sure if it's the dress or the photographer or the art director or what, but she definitley looks like she'd rather be somewhere else wearing something else. And I don't blame her because...

2) The blue dress is not at ALL suited for her figure/frame/bewbies. It makes her bewbies look like they are being pushed out towards her sides (and not IN to create cleavage). It hits her RIGHT at the knee which is NOT good. Also, the shoulders and waist ruching on that dress maker her look like a behemoth. And she's what? A size 6?

3) The blushing "bride" looks like she has stomach cramps the way she is hunched over. Which also crumples the waist of her dress. Tres fugly, no? I'm pretty sure even a Barbizon graduate would know better than to slump like that.

Going beyond the misfitting dress and the lack of poise/posture of the models, I have to say that cutting off the HAND of one model and the FEET of both just is icky from a photographic standpoint. When it comes to "cutting off" body parts in photography, my memory tells me you do it BETWEEN joints, not ON them. So a correct crop would have been to cut off the legs between the ankles and knees, not directly AT the ankles/shins. But what do I know.

In photography, there is also a "rules of thirds" (nevermind the concept of "leading lines). Imagine, if you will, a tic-tac-toe grid in the viewfinder of your camera next time you go to take a picture. If your subject matter is located at the juncture of the lines almost anywhere within that frame, it will have decent composition. That's a very barebones explanation, but try it sometime and see if you don't see a difference.

Okay, I couldn't help myself. Here's an example of that exact photo with the "rule of thirds" grid applied to it:

So what is right at the junction of the first & second rows/first & second column? Anyone? The waist ruching and bewbies!

Oh and let's not forget the needed space AROUND the subjects to be photographed. Everything needs a little space around it somewhere. It's part of that leading lines thing I mentioned before. Basically, you use the space to draw the eye to what you want to showcase. The idea is that when you first observe a picture (photo, artwork, etc), your eye is drawn to one point and then procedes to the right and then up and over to take in the work as a whole.

In the case of the above example, the FIRST thing my eyes were drawn to was the waist ruching of the blue dress which then led my eyes to the rumpled waist of the bridal gown. From there my eyes were taken the the schlumpy shoulders of the bride and across to the linebacker shoulders of blue dress girl and then to the outboard bewbies and finally BACK to the waist ruching. If that was the effect the photographer/art director/graphic artist/layout person/whomsoever was going for, they nailed it. If not, yeowch.

I just had to edit this and add that apparently when photographing inanimate objects, whoever is responsible does a pretty decent job. I give you:

As you can see, nice composition starting with the "rule of thirds" and a leading line down and to the left. Amazing the difference, no?

Edited once more to add that my mother got a DIFFERENT Joann flyer and apparently the picture was cropped differently for that mailer. OY VEY! It still was bad, though.