I just love my tiny press.  I like the sound it makes, the smell of the ink, the history of it, the worn-off paint, the heavy iron, the mechanics of it... it's really a great piece to be able to own and work off of.

So, in honor of my press, Day 29: I heart my letterpress!

50mm 1.4, f/1.4, 1/15sec, ISO 1600, no flash

So yes, Vogel State Park in Georgia.  We were there Saturday through Monday with a group of Bo's friends, but I didn't actually get back to Gainesville until Tuesday morning... and I drove straight to work.  So I really still feel like I just got back even though tomorrow is Thursday.

Saturday we spent most of the day around the park and had a nice group dinner in a warm cabin with some wine and a fireplace.  Sunday a couple girls got up and did a 5am hike... we slept in until the ripe hour of 9am.  We had our breakfast, washed the dishes, got some more firewood and got ourselves ready and then it took a while for everyone to get themselves (and their tiny children) ready.  So we had a leisurely family-friendly hike late in the afternoon and I spent some time taking photos while Bo was exploring potential bouldering areas just off the trail.  We had another lovely evening and planned a more serious hike for Monday morning.  Mountains here we come!

Well... it rained all morning.  Rain and rain and rain.  So we checked out, hung around until everyone else was on their way out as well as the rain slowed down and went up to Brasstown Bald.  It was incredibly foggy, which was really quite nice.  It was one of the few times you can feel totally safe while experiencing weather on a mountain. Apparently the view is really great from up there and you can see four states, but we could barely see each other so.... maybe next time :)

As before, the first one in the group gets the exif data and is the one that I'm using for the challenge.

Saturday

28-135 3.5-5.6 @75mm, f/5.6, 1/13sec, ISO 400, no flash, probably with polarization filter

My requisite sunflare shot (oh I have many from this trip!)

Pro tebe, Vašo!

Sunday

28-135 3.5-5.6 @135mm, f/5.6, 1/32sec, ISO 200, no flash, polarization filter

Monday

28-135 3.5-5.6 @90mm, f/5.6, 1/200sec, ISO 400, no flash, no filter

This past weekend we were in Georgia attempting to experience the mountains.  We didn't have much luck for a number of reasons, but at least we were up there.  The next post will feature shots from the trip... but at least now you know why it's taken me so long to post :)

I took this shot at Bo's house on Friday evening.  The theme for the current DGrin challenge is 'Unique or Ordinary', so I decided to do a photo of one of Bo's masks.  I'm really not a big mask person myself, but he has one or two (which are only mildly freaky) so I thought it might work.  

Yes, photo.  Here it is:

50mm 1.4, f/2.0, 1/8sec, ISO 1000, no flash

I almost didn't make this one, folks... I am so tired right now.

For this photo I laid down in the middle of the street and shot at ISO 3200.  I came back in and stacked five frames in photoshop to try to reduce some of the noise.  It didn't reduce the noise as much as I'd expected... I guess that's part of the learning process.... it was my first time stacking. 

I've noticed that I've had lots of really warm-toned images happening recently... some of that will probably change soon as we'll be heading to the mountains in Georgia for the weekend and hope to encounter some snow and bright blue skies.  I likely won't be posting until Tuesday since I won't be back until late Monday night.

50mm 1.4, f/2.0, 1/5sec, ISO 3200, no flash

I ordered a new plate from Boxcar with some Valentine's day designs and it was due to arrive today (Wednesday).  I spent Tuesday evening getting all the paper ready so that once the plate arrived, all I had to do was divide it up and get to work.  I am proud to announce that the entire floor of the front room/studio area is covered in freshly-printed items.  I'll be adding these and a handful more of new items to my Etsy shop over the next couple days, so feel free to stop by and take a peek.

So, the photos:

Day 22: Paper

28-135 3.5-6.5 @47mm, f/4.0, 1/6sec, ISO 1600, no flash (crazy processing in Lightroom)

Day 23: Printing Frenzy

28-135 3.5-6.5 @60mm, f/4.5, 1/100sec, ISO 400, flash@1/8 bounced off ceiling

A sample of some of the items: