I’m so proud and feel so honoured! One of my DC Pictures I took last night got “Shot of the day” at Textamerica’s website!! I can’t believe it!! They put REALLY good pictures there!!!
Go to Textamerica’s Shot of the Day now and see what they have to offer.
And here’s the picture that they chose:
View my moblog and the other pictures.
Shot of the day!
18 Saturday Dec 2004
Posted in Uncategorized
Lady Ozma's Journey 
loadhan said:
I’m not surprised.
I mean… look at that picture! It’s amazing. It desserves it. š
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Thanks! š
Look at some of the others. š I really made a breakthrough… there are several that I really really thought came out well! š YAY!!!
Thanks!!
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Wow
Awesome, awesome picture! That is just beautiful!
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Thanks š It’s the other side of the metro there at the Old Post Office š HEHE Whatever that place is called. LOL
LikeLike
clueliss said:
congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!1
and an amazing shot!!!
You so inspire me. And you’re making me wish I had a better digi camera so I could indulge in more photography – heck I don’t even know if the one I have has a zoom or not.
I’ve long held an interest in photography but was made to feel self conscious about it by my sister and by people kind of making fun of me when I was 17 and on a band trip to dc (hmmmmmmm maybe I should scan and upload those pics so Oz can critique me). But people like you and twinkle over at ju are inspiring me that I’m not so weird to see things in architecture (I favor architecture and landscapes in my photography – I find people a tad boring/interesting). Hmmmmmmmmmm I also have scads of photos I took in Chicago on a trip years ago.
inspired inspired.
oh and I just bragged on you at ju in the pictures forum š
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
It really is aweomse. You should do more photography, even do it for a livinig.
LikeLike
sircaliban said:
Awesome pic.
how did you get the lights on the tree to do that? did you use a filter?
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I’m going now to the picture forum… I was trying to decide if I should go brag or not!! HEHE THanks for doing it for me so I wouldn’t sit around and make myself sick with “Should I brag?”
I love photography, as you well know. I’d encourage you to give it a whirl. š Find out if you have zoom or not girl! Oh and digital zoom is a waste of space. Don’t bother. š
I would never make fun of someone for photography, of course I’ve been doing it so long now… I was you… I took 10 rolls of film to the lab to be processed after going to Disney in Florida… OK? How long was I there? Three days. Yeah and it was not hte 24 exposure film either… ROFL. I never bought 24 exposure film, it wasn’t enough. Just imagine THAT processing bill! I had duplicates made!
Portraits have their place, but I tend to like architecture and landscapes myself. I like people to be in pictures more as “decoration” than anything else. Perspective, or for some meaning. Like the people in the tunnel… HEHE
DId you check out the other pictures? There’s a lot of neat ones! http://ladyozma.textamerica.com
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Thanks! š And I’m working on finding a client base. I had a friend offer to get me in with a really good photographer here, but I really felt unworthy, I’m regretting that now. Also, another photographer friend of mine and I were talking about doing photography for special needs kids or life threatened kids and their families. We’re also talking about really taking our photography to a more serious level. I’d like that. š
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
It’s a filter
It’s called Cross 6. What they do is put criss cross lines in the glass. Which lets lights refract and make a star. Because the lights on the trees are so close together it ends up making these like hexagons. It’s a COOOOOOL effect š
LikeLike
sircaliban said:
Re: It’s a filter
cool.. š
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: It’s a filter
Filters are fun š HEHE I am hoping for some for Christmas… we’ll see what Santa brings. I do have another filter I”m trying to figure out. So far it hasn’t worked right. But apparently, a friend told me, it’s not as easy to use as one might think.
LikeLike
clueliss said:
Re: congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!1
if I were to consider buying myself a bday present (end of february) what type of digi camera would you recommend. I love mine but would love something that allows me to play and learn photography more (maybe even take a continuing ed or parks & recs class on photography).
and when I was in vegas – my camera batteries when pffft while we were at Sigrfied and Roy’s secret garden. I got lucky and they sold batteries there. On the other hand when I was in Maine at the Portland Head Light House – my batteries went pfffffffft (you’d think i’d learn eventually on the batteries) and they didn’t sell batteries – most of my pics from that excursion are from a disposable camera of all things (proving – at least to myself – that you can take great pics without expensive equipment if you have a good eye). I just want to take this farther. I seem to be a much happier person if I am indulging my artistic side with my hobbies.
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Ok, my first lesson to you would be… don’t get a camera that takes regular batteries. They burn through them. And my second lesson is “Never leave home without [your charger].”
As for getting a new digital camera… a budget would be good and also just HOW into photography do you want to get? Both VERY necessary questions otherwise I’d say get mine or the Canon Rebel or smething but they are $$.
I will say that as far as digital goes you might be happy with a Kodak or an HP but I’m not. But I’m a major photobuff and sooooo… They are good for the regular person, heck I’d buy one for my mum. But I’m spoiled and they are NOT good enough for me. Canon was the first company to REALLY embrace the digital camera age and they have superb glass in ALL their cameras. And it always comes down to the glass. You get shoddy glass, you get shoddy pictures. Nikon and Olympus are Right beside Canon though.
I also have the canon Digital ELph which I love. It’s a SUPER camera. However you can’t really control a whole lot with it. You can some, it’s a good “medium” camera. And it is so tiny!! You can put it in the pocket of your coat.
If you are going for a “real” camera though I’d recommend mine. It was PC World’s No 1 pick in February and it beat out the Canon Rebel. Since it’s almost half the price… excellent! š Plus of course you have a resource who can tell you where the bloody settings are… HAHA However, it’s a small fortune sooooo….
A lot will be determined by how in depth YOU want to go, and your class you are wanting to take goes. If it is a class that just teaches you the “art”… you can go with virtually any digital camera. However if you are really wanting to learn about photography itself and get into macro photography and fstops and shutter speeds… well you need a much fancier camera which means $$.
And you are right. It’s all about the person behind the camera and not the camera itself. My mum has used my camera and you see the shots I take with it… hers are no where near as good. I’m like “How on earth do you NOT take good photos with this camera???” I mean I put it on the fully automatic side where all she has to do is point and push a button and a second later she has a shot… HEHEHE
That’s why I like my camera. You can be me and geeky and sit there and go “OK I need an fstop of 2.6 and a shutter speed of 1/3.2 and the white balance needs ticked off over here and no flash and….” Or you can say “Portrait mode” or “action mode” or something… HEHE So it is a great camera for someone learning. You have a wealth of automatic functions as well as a wealth of fully manual functions. It’s like an SLR combined with a point and shoot. Two cameras for the price of… well probably two cameras.. HA! Anyway, it really is about the eye.
Good luck! If you narrow your choices down I can look over them for you and tell you what I think. š I often still look at cameras just to see what’s out there. š
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
Well best of luck on the client base, you sure have the talent to do it for a livinig.
A charity for kids sounds like a great idea. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of “Flashes of Hope” but they’re an awesome group. Had my picture taken by them a few years ago, it my parents favorite. I know groups like that really mean a lot.
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
I’d never heard of it, but if the name is anything to go by, that’s what we were thinking about!! I’m gonna go google them now!
I’m not sure i have the knowledge or the talent, but I like doing it, and that’s what counts, right?
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
You have the talent and the heart to do it, that’s all that really matters š
FOH is a non-profit group out of Ohio that takes pictures of kids/survivors of cancer. Awesome group.
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Hmmm how funny I was in Ohio and never heard of them… hello? ROFL… that’s OK… I feel ashamed I didn’t take more photos that year but I just didn’t have the strength and etc. Or the time. Which is what my friend agreed on. She has two autistic kids. So we thought this would be a great way to help people out. We’re still putting together pieces and ideas but we thought maybe taking some “candids” as well as a “nice” photograph.
Oh and I just took a ton of new pix out at SPotsylvania Courthouse… you’ll have to go check them out later š
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
I’ll check your new pictures out for sure, can’t wait to see them
FOH is mostly advertised at the Clevland Clini, CHOP, and St. Jude’s. So if you don’t go to those hospitals I don’t think it’s as well know, they’re still not a huge organization but they’re getting there. It’s funny cause my mom says the exact same thing as you! Of course she took some pictures over the 5 years my treatment went but she didn’t take as many as she would have liked to. I asked her awhile back about that and she said “I was focusing on your treatment and keeping our lives together, I had to no time to worry about taking pictures…I wish I had though.”
If you need any help with your project let me know!
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
I was in Columbus Childrens Hospital. So you’d THINK… but *shrug* Especially since ours was THE pediatric oncology in the state. It also had the only pediatric trauma in the state and the best pediatric cardiology in the state.
That’s exactly what I say btw. It’s hard between the running to and fro the hospital, trying to take care of two kids, take care of a house, take care of a husband, mix all those drugs, administer all those drugs, and actually get something known as sleep. LOL. I took some, but not a lot.
I’ll let you know. Please, any ideas that I can bring up to Amy I’d LOVE. Like how they approached you and what they did and etc.
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
Yeah it’s surprising you didn’t get approched by FOH, maybe it’s because they were still fairly new then. They’re only a few year old organization and have just started to get going.
As far as how they found me. One of their photographers was a free-lance photographer who was at St.Jude’s in 2002 (I was just about to finish treatment for OS) for the annual “Survivor Day” there. While there the photographer asked around for people who live in the Ohio/Michigan/Indiana area. He was fixed up with us and they made an appt. to come to our house 2 months later. They brought all the equipment to our house w/ 2 photographers and took some posed pictures of just me and then me and my family. After that they followed us around the house for about and hour and just took shots of us. They took a few weeks to get the pictures ready and then came back with 7 great black and white shots of me and my family. I know they also visit hospitals in the Ohio area, get referrals from hospital staff, go to events thrown by CCCF like the egg roll in D.C., and things like that.
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Could be then. Caramon was dx in 2001. Of course we weren’t approached by a whole lot. Never did Make a wish either. We were asked to join the local pediatric cancer support group but their meetings always seemed to conflict and were like half an hour away so we only went to a handful of things. Great group though.
That’s cool. That’s exactly what I was thinking we would do if we go for it. We’ll see. It might just be one of those great plans we never fully see to fruition. She is employed full time at the paper and has two autistic kids. And I definately need a partner!
i’m glad you have some good photos. We really don’t. You can see some of what we have on my website (i swear it is supposed to be up tonight) but I’ll tell you it isn’t much. And some of it sucks because the digital camera I had at the time sucked eggs. It was a real cheap one. Basically like my camera phone! HAHA
BTW I posted those new pix
LikeLike
clueliss said:
Re: congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!1
well if I’m going to get into photography – I’d like to make an investment so I can take it as far as I want to (haven’t decided yet) without having to invest in yet another camera.
Would love to learn about fstops and such.
remind me of what yours is. confused here (due to workload – head is spinning).
the one I have now is an olympus somethingorother. Not real fancy but it does the job – so long as I don’t expect zoom – lol.
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
Wow you never did MAW? I thing he could still be eligible, if you wanted to apply for a wish. I can understand how you didn’t get to do it during treatment though…MAW is one of the last things on your mind I’m sure.
Yeah it’s nice having some profesinal photos to sort of remeber and see what I as like. My mom has them all over the house lol. š Like I said before…anything I can do just let me know.
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
Oh, I’ll check out your pics first thing in the morning. Time for bed now š
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Mine is the Olympus 5060. It’s well worth the money I spent on it. I like it because it will take you from start to finish. You can get it and just mess around with it for months. Learn the regular stuff. Then you can slowly expand to fstops and shutter speeds and all that fancy pants stuff I do. š And then you can start adding filters and other lenses. Etc etc. It’s also got a video function. š It’s costly though I found it a bargain at something like 550/600 bucks.
If you are even remotely considering this, I suggest you hold out for something like that if you can. I mean you can get the elph for like I don’t know 300 bucks… but you don’t get the control and will end up wanting to upgrade again. Besides if you take your time and really watch, you could probably find a better camera on a good deal. Such as… watch for the 5050. It’s the old version of mine. Supposed to be almost identical. š
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Well they mentioned it to us in passing while we were waiting for the dx to come down. And then… yeah… just too busy. Now it’s to the point where I’m like “He’s probably not even eligable anymore.” I’m kind of bummed out because I think it would have been neat. But I guess he really didn’t need it… The only things I really did was Hugs and Hope. And we did join the local group, Kids n Kamp, but weren’t real active since it was like half an hour away.
So what kinds of poses did they end up sending you?
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
Well pose #1 is just a simple one is actualy a picture of me sticking my tounge out lol. #2 is me and my older sister, on the couch sort of just playing and laughing. #3 is me with my younger sister sitting on my lap. (I thought they’d never use that picture but when they sent it the picture came out as one of the best!) # 4 is all 3 of us together on the sofa sort of hugging, no smiles just serious looks. # 5 is me with my parents in our backyard. #6 is me sitting in front of the piano because that’s one of my passions. The last one is my favorite for sure, it’s got a lot of meaning. They asked me to sit down in the living room floor aginst the wall with “something I loved”. Volleyball was my life for a long time so I took my old volleyball that I had recieved at National’s when we won the title and just sat down with it. When the shot came back with me and the ball in meant so much because I was just finishing treatment for osteo and I had stopped playing volleyball because one of the drugs (vincristine to be exact) was causing joint stiffness and pain. I think to us it represented the hope for the future. It was really surprising to see just how beautiful the shots were. Those were the poses we kept. The other poses were mostly playing around the house, me with my dog, a couple of me with my parents sitting on the fireplace, some with me and my sisters messing around in our play house in the back yard, they took one of me flushing my line (I didn’t like that one), some of me in my bedroom doing all sorts of things, and a few of me on the computer. They really tried to capture you in every day life and I think they did a great job. I wish we had the pictures up now but my mom had to pack them away during construction. They are something I will always treasure for sure.
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
I remember vincristine well. That’s the “achey” drug. Caramon always said he was “achey”. He’d go in to get that and he’d tear up and go “But it makes me achey.” *SIGH*
The shots sound real nice. I like the volleyball idea. I think I’ll use that on any picture I do on location, be it for someone with special needs or not. And I’ll try to make sure that one turns out cool! The volleyball picture sounds amazing!!
I have a snapshot of me flushing Caramon’s line or changing his bandage or something. I don’t like it either. *shudder*
The pictures sound nice. And I’m so glad to hear your testimonial. I’m definately showing it to Amy and hopefully we’ll be able to break into something like this. The hardest part is actually breaking in. Once you are there and they are used to you… that’s one thing. But getting your foot in the door is hard.
It’s the foot in the door I’m struggling with. Right now I just take for myself. I have no client base and I don’t even know how to get a client base. I’d start with my friends except most of them already use Amy. I guess I should say, Amy is my client base as she needs to handle her kids so I’m her photographer… but anyway… LOL I’m trying to get “word on the street” but it’s not always so easy.
((HUGS)) Keep giving me ideas! *GRINS*
LikeLike
sircaliban said:
Re: It’s a filter
Our wedding photographer used a filter similiar to that one during our wedding.
Can I use that photo in my group? Real Advice for Real Love?
Let me know..
Cal
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: It’s a filter
I guess so… I don’t mind. Any reason you want to use it? Just wondering. Though I’d LOVE it if you referenced where it came from. š
I love filters. They are fun. For weddings a nice filter is the spot filter. I’m still working out the use of that one.
I wish I were nearby still. I’d come up and shoot some pictures of you guys and of Matthew for your Christmas present. You’ll have to deal with just my friendly greetings instead. ((HUGS))
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
I’ll try and think really hard for some more ideas!
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Good because I have a gig for after the holiday! That lukemia gal I met on Friday who is in Caramon’s grade at school. I told her mum I wanted to come out and shoot pictures of them. She said I could! WOOOOOT.
LikeLike
livestrong_03_5 said:
Re: Wow
That’s awesome that you have a shoot set up already! I’ll try and think really hard for some ideas and to remeber more about my shoot. I’ll ask my friend Bria who I see tomorrow (who had a shoot in 2003) if he has any ideas too.
LikeLike
Lady Ozma said:
Re: Wow
Awesome! š I’m definately going to ask this girl to get something she treasures. I’ll do the same for her little sister. š THey are cuties. I’m so glad though the friend I made has been clean almost as long as Caramon. Will make it easier on me for my “first time” doing something like this. I mean I had a shoot in Ohio before I moved, but it was just for a friend with her boys. Not anyone who’d been sick or had other special needs.
LikeLike