Little Red

This is my baby, hahaha, the car I drove in highschool. She's ugly but don't judge. :)

Abstract: Carly Carlson

Not really sure how abstract this is... but there ya go. :) Sorry I haven't been as active of a participant lately- things are insane here and I just have bitten off way more than I can chew right now! :) I'll try harder! :)

Fresh & Hero

FRESH:
Okay, I posted a post which I will try to delete about how my cookies didn't turn out for my "fresh" photo. I tried a second batch yesterday and again, no dice. SO Here is a photo of some DELICIOUS fresh homemade pudding, which really, when I hear fresh I think of fresh food and this is my favorite. :)




HERO:
My mom is my hero. Here she is, making the very pudding pictured above. :)

I used "Clairify" and "Oh snap!" from the Totally Rad Actions set for both of these, in Photoshop. CC

Success.. I actually took a photo today. :)

Well. It has been a crazy week thus far- so this photo has no hidden or double meaning (except the obvious- my sweet girl is my success! duh!) The real success is that I even pulled my camera out today- I took 5 photos and this is the best one- shows you the kind of poo quality the rest were... bear with me, and CC if you want, but know that I'm well aware it's a crappy shot. :)

Junk.

{18 mm, f 3.5, 1/400 s, ISO 1600)

I know this isn't the most awesome photo, but I like it for some reason. The darkening around the edges is not post processed- it is exactly as it was when I shot it, which I like. The only post processing I did is in photo shop, opened a curves layer and raised the RGB up a little from the center, which lightened the photo because it was a little dark. You can do that in LightRoom and photoshop elements as far as I know, so give it a try! :)

So the story behind this photo. I come from a LONG line of junk collectors. Both of my great grandmothers passed away and the cleaning process following both their passing was unbelievable. Junk, junk, junk. Some of it had absolutely no meaning, but it was mixed in with the significant things. Looking back, I think I made a realization at that time that I want my home to be filled with "meaningful" rather than "what was she thinking"!

My grandmother is no exception-- this photo is a shot of her kitchen wall. The tip of the iceberg, if you will. The one bare spot in her whole kitchen is shown in the photo. A lifetime of acquiring has created a home stuffed to the gills with meaningless crap.

My mom, gratefully, is not as bad as my grandmother, or great grandmothers, but she still has way too many things. She knows this, she'd like to purge and get rid of the "stuff"... but what if she'll need something she's gotten rid of later, down the line?! Well, at least my mom is an awesome decorator and has made it work in her home so it is actually a cozy fun place to be rather than a cluttered display of junk.

I thought of the word "tradition" when I took this photo because it seems it's almost a tradition in my family to collect junk and keep it even when you don't need it. The train stops here, folks. All my life I have been drawn to the kitschy, crazy knick-knacks and I've collected up the wazoo. I have little doo-dads from yardsaling with my Grandma when I was 5... I've made it a goal to purge NOW, get rid of the junk I do not need, and anything I buy or acquire in the future will undergo a strict do-I-need-this check list. So I don't plan to eliminate all that is not necessary- there is something to be said for a functionless thing here and there, sometimes those little knick-knacks DO have meaning to us, and the fun and funky vintage decor is just awesome but there is a point where it is TOO MUCH STUFF! :)


ps. sorry this is so long... i'm a rambler as i'm sure you'll see in future challenges...

CC

Hey I'm...

(if you care... Nikon D300, ISO 1250, 18mm, f 2.5, 1/200 s, in a basically dark room directly in front of the south facing window... I like that kind of info, but I am a certified nerd!)

Hey! I'm Carly! I've had a lot of fun reading through this blog and I'm excited to be a part of it! (thanks Rachel!!)

I'm 22, I have a 15 month old little girl, Stella. I am a self-proclaimed music buff, I love all genres and am rarely without music playing in the background. I'm LDS and I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I love love food. Which has led to my new passion- weight loss (I say passion sarcastically!)
My husband and I just took a huge risk and left Eastern Idaho to bring my photography business to my hometown in Eastern Oregon. We're living with my parents for the time-being but it's all good. I have loved photography since I was a little kid and I've been doing portraiture for almost a year now. My website is carlycarlson.com, and my blog is blog.carlycarlson.com. As always, constructive criticism is welcome (and oh-so-helpful!) and I look forward to getting to know all of you awesome women!! (and men, if there are any!)
These challenges could not have come at a better time- I'm ready to be stretched creatively! Let's do this! :)