Quilt Show

My aunt, Daphne, and her quilting group had a show at the Beebe estate in Melrose. A very sexy way to spend a Friday night, right?

I practiced some of my indoor event shooting. And came to the conclusion that I definitely need a better flash. Photography is an expensive hobby. The ones that I took with the in-camera flash needed a LOT of editing in Photoshop. And the colors still aren't exactly right--Daphne's shirt (which, of course, she made herself) was a little more orange than red. The natural light ones came out too warm, bordering on tungsten, which I was mostly able to mitigate (though if you correct too much, they come out looking too harsh and cold). Some of the non-flash photos were too soft. The lens I was using is good for low light, but must be focused manually. Soft focus can't be fixed, really. There is a sharpening tool in Photoshop, but I think it makes the photos look fake. The answer is to be more vigilant about focusing. Or, well, to buy a better flash.

Anyhoo, here are some of the pictures from the event ... I still have a few more to edit and upload, but you can look at my quilt show set to see what I've uploaded so far and any new ones will appear there, as well. Some of the photos are marked for friends and family only, so be sure to log in to Flickr if you have permission to see my private photos.

Top to bottom and L-R: Daphne's colorful, fun totes and toss bags, her beautiful handmade scarves, Daphne on "opening night," women examining one of the impressive quilts on display, the artist with Jesse and Audrey.







Flash (left); no flash (right):

Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall?

OK, this is new to me--I'm posting a link to an audio file. It is not suspicious and it will not harm your computer, I swear. Just click on the link and choose "open". It should play automatically on whatever media player you've got installed. And they're only a few seconds long.

The first clip is a rare one of me doing my job. I am trying to record an intro to an online audio interview. I am alone in my office. It is my seventh attempt:

"Hello, this is Gienna Shaw, for HealthLeaders Media."

I did eventually record the intro. But the digital recorder is also new to me. Here you can hear an example of how adept I am at handling it (that's my voice; I am on the phone with a colleague, oblivious the the fact the thing is recording):

"You know? I know. Right."

Announcement

"That's how we roll" is now over.

A few more scenes from LA

Haven't been writing much, haven't been editing photos much, either. But I've posted a handful of pics from my recent trip to LA and I'll try to add more over the weekend ... I do have some other events to write about. The Quilt Show opening. The near-fatal trip to IKEA. And, ah, some other stuff I can't remember now.

Yeah, my life is wicked glamorous.

Bottles and pills

It might take me a little while to upload pics from LA, but this one is from the exhibit I went to at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Collecting Collections: Highlights from the permanent collection).

I can't find any information about the piece in the foreground, but the painting in the background, Hang Over by Fred Tomaselli (2005), is a mixed media. It includes all sorts of interesting materials embedded in resin--including leaves and strands of pills.

Poolside

I've decided that I am a hotel pool person. Yes, I live two blocks from the ocean. And I visit my folks' place by the lake once or twice a summer. But really, there's nothing like a hotel pool. No sand, no seaweed, no murky bottoms, no dog poo. Free towels that you throw in a hamper when you're done with them, comfy lounge chairs that don't fold up like a clamshell, snapping you in half if you shift the wrong way, and generally clean and pleasant surroundings. Plus, people bring you alcohol. That's nice.

Worked this morning, but once the conference sessions were over I beelined it for the hotel's pool and spa. Sauna'd and had a pedicure and went to the pool for some lounging in the sun.

And yeah, I probably got a sunburn. But it was totally worth it.