Fun at the Fair!

Recently, the local fair was in town, so I just HAD to go out and get some photos! I've been enjoying shooting Polaroid 600 film in my SX-70 camera, too. Although the film is too fast for the camera and an ND Filter is recommended, I've been enjoying shooting without one, just to see what comes of the colors. I really like the faded-out feeling!


SPIN!


Butterfly Fries
I wish I had a dress in these colors!


The Wave Swinger


Starship 2000

Signed prints are in my Etsy! Thanks for looking!

endless summer...?

Oh Summer, you're fun and all, but here in Tejas, you're just too darn hot! Please, please, consider leaving us for the next 9 months or so...it's not that we don't ever want to see you again, but it's just that you're SO fun, we can't bear you all the time!


Shade (2007)
Location: Dead Sea, Jordan
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Polaroid Time-Zero

Back from the Road...

Hello! I'm sorry for my extended silence here on my little blog, but I have a good excuse! I went on a three-week road trip! I traveled from Texas to California and back, taking different routes each way, visiting family and friends, taking loads of photos, and enjoying some summer fun before the new academic year begins! I've got scads of Polaroids to scan, many digital photos to edit, and lots of film pictures to develop, so I imagine I'll be posting images here from the trip for some time!

To begin, I'd like to share a photo that I'm very proud of, which I took in Holbrook, Arizona along the old Route 66, that famed road of the American Imagination. This is one of only three wigwam-style motels left operating in the USA, and arguably the most fabulous! I definitely want to go back and stay there one day!


The Wigwam Motel (2009)
Camera: Holgaroid
Film: Polaroid 89 (expired)

Signed prints are in my Etsy shop! Stay tuned for more photos from the American Southwest and California!

Laika Loves to Sunbathe!

My whippet, Laika, loves to sunbathe! She loves the heat so much that I have to monitor her when it's hot, to be sure she doesn't get burned! Here she is earlier this weekend, enjoying the 100+F heat of Texas in the summer!


Laika, 3 July 2009
Camera: Diana+ Edelweiss with a Fujifilm Instax Mini Back
Film: Fujifilm Instax Mini

And here's a secret special for you! From now until Friday, 10 July 2009, buy anything from my shop, mention "blog!" at checkout, and I'll refund your shipping!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to my compatriots, and happy Weekend to all of you around the world!


Snow Cone This Way (2009)
Camera: Diana+ Edelweiss with a Fujifilm Instax Mini Back
Film: Fujifilm Instax Mini
Location: Denton, Texas, USA

Here Comes the Sun!

There's a new Poppytalk Handmade Market opening today, "Here Comes the Sun!" It's all about summer, and you can visit my table here!

Do you have fun plans for this summer? (or this winter, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere?) I'm catching up on a lot of work, but also planning a road trip through the Southwest and home to California next month! In the meantime, here's one of my homages to summer, shot on my roadtrip to Minnesota that I took last summer. Check the spelling--do you really want to eat "TenderMAID" hamburgers?


Tendermaid Hamburgers (2008)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Polaroid SX-70 Blend
Location: Austin, Minnesota, USA

Signed prints are in my Etsy shop! Happy Summer!

hello! is it really september already?

Oh my, I have been so neglectful of my blog as of late! The primary reason has been that my summer has been so very busy! Trips to Colorado (for work), Minnesota (work and play), and California (play and work) kept me very busy! And now the new university term has begun. In case you don't know, I'm a professor at the University of North Texas, so my schedule gets really busy in September. To top it off, I've fallen a bit behind in some writing duties, so I'm still playing a bit of catchup!

However, I've been finding a bit of time here and there to play with my batches of Polaroid Artistic TZ film! I wanted to post this particular photo today to encourage everyone out there to consider replacing your loud and polluting gas and electric lawn mowers with an awesome push mower! My husband and I got this gorgeous retro-and-wonderful, truly analog push mower some months ago, and our lawn looks great! Just think: you'll get some exercise, won't pollute, and have some mulch at the end of your lawn mowing session! It's getting easier and easier to be green, and small steps really add up!


The Lawnmower Polaroid, 2008
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Polaroid Artistic TZ Film
signed prints in my Etsy shop

Enjoy the final days of summer, everyone!

Summer is a Time for Peaches

After my blackberry picking experience that I talked about here, I decided to go to another "u-pick" farm for fresh summer fruit. This time, I chose to visit Red River Peach Orchard outside Gainesville, Texas, and picked a whopping 25 pounds of amazingly yummy peaches! While out in the beautiful orchard, I took this photo of riped peaches drenched in morning light. I immediately fell in love with it!


Ripe Peaches (2008)
Camera: Polaroid Sx-70
Film: Polaroid Time-Zero (expired)

When I got home, I decided to make my very first jam ever! I made eight pints of peach jam, and found it to be a time-consuming, but fun and easy, process! Here's a photo I took of my first jars of yummy peach jam:


My First Jam (2008)
Camera: Polaroid Sx-70
Film: Polaroid Time-Zero (expired)

Not only did I make jam, but I made two cobblers, some delicious peach salsa, and I put up three huge freezer bags full of peaches into the freezer! I also ate about a million peaches! They were amazingly juicy and sweet!

Vive Summertime Fruit!

signed prints, as always, are in my Etsy shop!

Blackberry picking

Even though it's about a million degrees here in Texas now, I went out on the 2nd in the early evening to pick blackberries. It was a lot of fun, and so inexpensive! Nearly a gallon of yummy blackberries cost only $12! The sweat and toil gave me a renewed appreciation for farm workers, too.

Here's my bounty! :)



Blackberry Picking (2008)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Polaroid SX-70 Blend
Location: Duck Creek Blackberries in Sanger, Texas, USA

the summer has just begun, but it's already been so busy!

I cannot believe it's been so long since I wrote anything here! Chalk it up to a crazy, busy summer! My university's spring semester ended in early May, but I only had two days off before I started a crazy three-week "Maymester"--which meant that I taught an entire semester in three weeks! WACKY! In the middle of that, moreoever, I took a 4-day trip to Atlanta where I stayed with my friends Amy and Dan and met their new daughter, Abby! Here's an SX-70 polaroid I shot of them near their lovely home (using Blend film):


The Pasternacks

Isn't she the sweetest little girl? Here's another pic I shot, using my Olympus Evolt DSLR and a little postprocessing in Photoshop!


AbbyBaby

That same weekend in Atlanta, I also attended my dear friend Laura's wedding to her new awesome husband, Ganoby! Here's an SX-70 polaroid diptych I shot of Laura's beautifully-henned hand and foot, using Blend film:


From the Henna Party

After the Maymester ended, I literally had only one day off, and then it was off to Fort Collins, Colorado, where I spent nine days as an Advanced Placement grader for the AP World History exam! EEEKKKKKK!!!!! I met some awesome people, though, got to hang out with Santa Barbara folks (a wonderful surprise!), and really admired these poppies...



And then the crazy part...after being home for only about 36 hours from Colorado, I hopped in my car and drove from Texas to Minnesota! I gave a paper at the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians in Minneapolis, and then traveled up to Duluth (such a cool town!) to see the mighty Lake Superior! The real purpose of this post is to put up a few pinhole Polaroids that I shot while at the Lake, using my Daylab Pinhole camera and expired Polaroid 669 film. I hope you will enjoy!


By the shining Big-Sea-Water


Transparency


By the Shores of Gitche Gumme

Prints available at my Etsy shop! More photos will be coming!