Tarawen's Photography

[Yávië]

Who is this imposter who has taken over Tara's thread? YOU SHALL NOT FOOL US, MAIA. Speaking of, did everyone else already know about...?

Ilmarë, or Varda I, full designation 174567 Varda I Ilmarë, is the single known natural satellite of the Kuiper Belt Object and possible dwarf planet Varda. It was discovered by Keith Noll et al. in 2009, at a separation of about 0.12 arcsec, using discovery images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on 26 April 2009, and reported in 2011.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilmar%C3%AB_(moon)

Anyways, lovely panorama and mountains and green stuff, but lets be honest, I'm like 90% here for the PUPPY LOOK AT THOSE WHISKERS.

[Marceline]

IDK what you all mean about name changes and imposters where are you getting this

@Pele Alarion, you are indeed a true ranger. I'm glad you like the mountains!

@Aerlinn - I actually DID read about that while looking for art for Peeg to reference in his icon-making! So glad the puppies continue to please!

Here's something from the archives - a flower photographed during a trip to New Mexico in 2013. I believe I did some pretty heavy post-processing on this and am not as in love with the edit as I once was, but I suppose that's just evidence of how tastes evolve.

[Baphởmet]

I love, love, love your cityscape photos! I've tried over the years to do a few but they never quite turn out how I imagine them in my head, aka exactly what you managed to do. As soon as they showed up on my screen slow jazz started playing in my head along with the inner monologue of some tired, down on his luck private eye ready to give up until that case walks through his door. I'm just sorry it took me three months to get over here and see them.

[Taethowen]

HOW HAVE I NOT STUMBLED INTO YOUR THREAD BEFORE.

Every single photo is gorgeous. But I think my absolute favorites are the waterfall one (you should sell prints of that, seriously, if you don't already), the beautiful reddish-brown puppy on the shoulder (your shoulder?), and then panoramic photo (what a view!), and the most recent flower picture (it makes me think of a wig for a little Thumbelina-esque fairy). You are so very talented!

[Lailyn]

Oh I LOVE this flower photo! Its so gorgeous! I think its my favorite so far. The lighting is perfect and I love the way the red color just pops. It looks almost like its blowing in the wind, too, which would make the shot extra-challenging, but maybe its just the angle its grown at.

[Marceline]

@Frostbite - haha thank you! Now I will never not hear old timey detective music when I see those city photos.

Aww thanks, @Taethowen! The shoulder was not mine - alas, I'm not cool enough for pink/purple hair. Thanks for dropping in!

@Lailorn - Aw I'm so glad you like it! It is one I am still not sure about but I am glad it is appealing to others. I honestly don't remember if it was windy that day, but it's possible that that's why some of the strands are a little blurry.

Yet another one from the archives - sunset on the beach at Lake Michigan. If you look really closely, you can see the Gary, IN "skyline" in the distance

[Pele Alarion]

Ooooh, nature photos! *comes to enjoy them properly*

[Taethowen]

I love the vastness of this pic. The people are so small you can almost overlook them (but I love how you still caught their reflection too!), and you can overlook the 'skyline' completely if you don't know it's there!

[Tari]

@Tarawen I'm catching up on the photography I've missed. First of all, the photo from Korea with the city in the backround actually reminds me of the Emerald City in Wizard of Oz! For some reason, it just has that vibe to it. I also like the panorama of Rocky Mountain National Park. I'm fairly sure I've stood in a similar spot and taken photos, but I am also a terrible landscape photographer.

[Dimcairien Luiniel]

More nature photos! I'm finally realising I should be spending a bit more time in CoLP enjoying all the lovely art you people produce.

That's a really nice pic of Lake Michigan and I love all the colours that are going on. It's amazing how small humans are next to nature. And I think I can just make out Gary.

[Baphởmet]

I love this beach photo! The slanty angle of the beach against the straight line of the horizon is wonderful! I’m sure there is a good analytical explanation about how the intersecting lines play on our subconscious and how that builds the mis-en-scene but I think it’s sufficient to say I think it’s great! :D

[Afird Splitax]

Beautiful photos Tara! You are a photographer after me own heart with that close up of the flower in New Mexico. I love those kinds of shots. All your photos are so clear and focused. Wonderful!

[Marceline]

Thank you all! I'm afraid I've let this thread get full of cobwebs... Someday, I'll get myself in gear and go take some new photos around my neighborhood or something. For right now, I continue to raid my old photos to share here. Here are some bees!

I greatly dislike the composition of the shot below but couldn't resist sharing the bee butt!

[Taethowen]

Bees! and bee butt! To my completely untrained photography eye, I think the second photo is just fine, and worth it alone just for the bee butt shot. Though I can see how the first photo is more aesthetically pleasing.

I love the contrast of the bees against the flowers. The colors are gorgeous!

[Afird Splitax]

Wonderful photos, Tara! That little dog at the adoption event, staring up, is priceless. So cute.

[Yávië]

Bumble butt!! Composition and bee butts don't always line up, but I say go for the bee butt every time. I love the New Mexico flowers too. That's a place I only went to as a little kid and think I love but don't really remember. It seems beautiful.

Now I beg you, go take some pics of your pup!

[Pele Alarion]

I wonder what scent those flowers have that bees find them attractive... :D

[Marceline]

The Cottage agrees: bee butts > photo composition

It is gloomy and rainy and in the low-60s here today, which is putting me in an autumn Mood. I don't usually take photos for moods alone, but this one wound up kind of being just that. Shot on whatever phone I had at the time.

[Taethowen]

The weather was the same here today, and it's supposed to be like that again tomorrow too, and I am *so* making pumpkin muffins and/or pumpkin bread tomorrow and turning on the fake electric fireplace and snuggling in soft blankets. So I feel you on autumn, lol!

I love how the light is playing in this photo, and the barely yellow and orange leaves nearly glow in it. Also, there's some leaves on the lower left hand side (not quite in the corner) that look like a green butterfly and it makes me smile!

[Afird Splitax]

The colors that Autumn brings, is one of the most picturesque time of the year, I think. This photo reminds us that it is on its way. Lovely!

It seems like the cold weather just creeped up on us, doesn't it? Was it not just summer two weeks ago? *grin*

[Pele Alarion]

Phone or no, but it looks like such a lovely corner of a forest... asking to be explored by adventurers.

[Marceline]

@Taethowen - Ah! I never noticed that butterfly-like pair of leaves, but now I can't unsee it! So cool what fresh perspective brings to old photos.

@drifa - Autumn really did arrive all of a sudden! Weirdly, it's back to warmer temperatures here for at least a couple more days, but then next week will be properly chilly.

@Pele Alarion - I'm afraid you might find the little forest preserve where I took this photo a bit dull, given all of your adventuring! You are most welcome to visit anytime, of course.

Since I sometimes now forget that I live in a pretty big city, here is a photo of Chicago - taken looking slightly northwest from an airplane. I can't believe how much I used to travel for work.

[Afird Splitax]

My, it is big. As a Canadian, I have, most of my life, known, read or heard about Chicago, being neighbors and all. But I have never been there. One of my favorite groups when I was young was, Chicago. And like the name of my home town , Chicago is from the indigenous Algonquian language. My town's name means 'Land of Mary". Chicago (shikaakwa) "Chicagou" means wild onion or garlic. Thank god that it is the, Windy City, eh?

[Taethowen]

Sheesh Chicago is massive! The picture doesn't feel huge until your eye follows the road into the city and you realize those are skyscrapers, not just buildings.

[Sur Vanar Utírieste]

@THE MAIDEN FAIR Your photography is so beautiful! I find it truly inspiring. That photograph of the waterfall in Glacier National Park is so pretty; it makes me want to slide right in and allow the little current to run over the entirety of myself.

I had no idea you were born in Busan. Wow. There is still so much I don't know about my Old Plaza mates. This fact about you reminds me of that superb zombie-apocalypse film that came out not too long ago - Train to Busan, have you seen it?

Your panoramic photograph left me speechless. Have you considered, or have you ever licensed your work for wallpaper photography or stock photography? I am sure you would do wonderfully.

[Eldrith]

I greatly dislike the composition of the shot below but couldn't resist sharing the bee butt!

LOL I call that "the moment trumped the photography"

[Marceline]

Haha yes Chicago IS quite a big city. I love it so much!

@Drifa - fun fact - my high school marching band did a Chicago-the-band themed show one year!

@Annúnfalas - thank you so much! You are far, far too kind. I'm a total hobbyist when it comes to photography so I've never really thought about licensing anything, but thank you. I have heard of Train to Busan (incredible things, actually!) but I am such a baby when it comes to scary movies. Would you recommend it?

@Eldrith - haha yes it certainly did in the case of the bee butt!

Here are a couple older photos that I am sharing simply because I liked how the light turned out - for different reasons on each shot - without any post-processing.

[Pele Alarion]

wanders in to enjoy some beautiful photos of nature

[Taethowen]

I love that cactus photo but I can't tell you why, lol. The lighting is gorgeous.

And I'm trying to figure out what is on those stalks in the first photo. My brain can't decide if they're a fruit/flower that grows on it or if they're a wasp nest or something.

[Afird Splitax]

Hi Tarawen! I love those last two photos. I am a great fan of these kind of shots. Plant pods, blades of grass, shadows and silhouettes - all unique and special in their simplicity. Mind you, that cactus is by no means plain. It is quite lovely with the sun outline it.

Thanks for sharing!

[Sur Vanar Utírieste]

I would highly recommend this film @Tarawen. Trust me, you will not regret viewing it.

[Yávië]

Oooh, that cactus with the sun lighting up all the thorns is . Also the hints of blue and green on the sagebrush (I presume) on the upper one. I miss the desert. 🏜

[Baphởmet]

I'm not even going to play coy, I love the cactus. Absolutely. Love. It. Being a southwestern lad, I am very partial to cacti of all sorts (gimme that nopales!) and the way you caught the light behind it gives the plant that "set on fire" look I enjoy so much. Much brilliance, very lovely, wow!

[Marceline]

Thank you all!!

*gives @Pele Alarion tea and honeycake*
@Taethowen - I have no idea what those things on the stalks are either, but I thought they looked like cute lil bug homes.
@Drifa - thank you!! I'm so glad you like them.
@Annúnfalas - Will I though?? I have such a low tolerance for scary things
@MEOW - I miss the desert, too! Someday we'll both get back there.
@Jorgy Underash - fun fact, these were taken in NM!

I've been taking some photos with my "real" camera again of late, too, which at some point I'll process and potentially share here.

For now, here's this: lately I've just been loving the late afternoon light - I particularly liked seeing it filtered through a glass of ginger ale the other day.

[Taethowen]

There is some wonderful quality about afternoon light in the fall/winter, rather than in the summer. It's much more soothing! I like just the hint of rainbow colors you can see along the edges of some of the shadows.

And I wouldn't be surprised at all if the mysterious stalk knobs were bug nests of some sort! They really do look it.

[Pele Alarion]

@Skwovet The pic looks so playful to me. Oh, and it also looks so wonderfully sunny! *envious*

[Baphởmet]

Of course the picture was taken in New Mexico! We have the best cactuses, ask anyone, the best cactus. Other states think they have the best cactuses but those states are lying, you can ask anyone, they all say we have the best cactuses

All joking aside, I love the new picture! The way the light shines through the ginger ale and how the glass creates all the patterns is amazing. It's funny that we see things like this all the time but the mundanity of it makes it almost invisible to us until we actively stop and look at it. Wunderbar!

[Marceline]

Thanks you three! Fully agreed on NM cacti being most excellent, @The King in Yellow!

Because I'm still obsessing over soft light but haven't taken any new photos recently, here is something else from NM. This one is largely untouched.

And because I've been following a lot of photographers lately and am inspired by their bold edits, here's a similar view but in a totally different light, taken a couple of days after the photo above (more heavily touched up here, though the general vibrant sunset colors were there in the original). Not super in love with the edit, but I'm calling it an okay outcome for an experiment.

Can you tell I've been missing the mountains during these pandemic times?

[Marceline]

Here are a couple new edits of photos from my trip to Korea in 2019. I've used Lightroom to edit photos for several years but am just starting to mess around with it on mobile to touch up pictures taken on my phone.

[Winddancer]

Gorgeous pics, Tara! Though gaaah with the bee ones..

[Marceline]

Thanks, Windy! Sorry about the bees!

[Lailyn]

Tara that sunset is gorgeous as is the soft lit NM landscape. I love the bees and have to ask - do you remember what lens you used for that shot (if not phone camera I guess)? I admire your Korean cityspace photos a lot - as someone who does not like cities, I have a hard time with making urban spaces look any kind of appealing in a photo but you've done a superb job with this.

[Marceline]

Thanks, Lail! Street photography is so difficult for me, but I want to get better at it once it's a bit safer to be out and about.

I shot the photos of the bees with a beloved Canon T3i and this lens. According to the photo's metadata, I was zoomed in all the way to 250mm

[Pele Alarion]

@Tarawen Those mountains look as if they are just inviting adventurers... *travels through pictures to see nature and streets*

[Nia]

Love all of these, Tara - great job! Particularly like the sun peaking from behind the cactus, and the way it bathes all the spikes in that lovely red colour, with the rest pretty much just a silhouette. Your photos of the cities you've been to are also all lovely - but they're giving me a bad case of wanderlust!! Man, I miss seeing the world!

[Yávië]

Oh I love the upper photo of the NM foothills and all those soft yellows. It's makes me homesick and I've never been there. The sunlight in that first Korea photo too. <3

You've inspired me to go install Lightroom on my phone. I like taking photos but I'm very bad about doing anything about them afterwards. If I can share something right away from my phone it's slightly less likely to sit buried on a memory card for a decade, but maybe I can up my game just a little.

[Ta'leus Shieldsong]

That photo of the Korean street is awesome. As much as I love nature photography, city photography is where it’s at for me. I could look at photos of large cities and urban neighborhoods all day.

[Marceline]

Thank you all for stopping by!! <3 I need to get back into photography...Someday...

For now, here's an update on what little artsy stuff I've been up to this year. I am a big fan of bullet journaling as a planner/life organizer, and since January I've taken to filling in blank spaces in my journal with drawings of Adventure Time characters. So here are a couple from January and February! @Ta'leus Shieldsong and @Ambivalent Octopus may appreciate these.

[Baphởmet]

ADVENTURE TIME!!!!! AHHH! I love this so much! Ever since I started watching (thanks to your fabulous, fabulous recommendation) I can't imagine not having the silly theme song, the random, goofy characters, or the heartfelt themes in my life.

And your drawings are so adorbs! BMO is my favorite character so far and you captured their essence perfectly!

[Nessa Saelind]

Oh Tara your planner is so amazingly neat and tidy! <3 And your handwriting is lovely and the drawings on the marginalia as well! What notebook are you using for your planner?