Tag: slideshow

Categories
Optiglot

Seeing Up Close in Black and White

It’s fun to experiment. I got a most wonderful doodad the other day, a Sigma 70-300mm telephoto lens, and I was promptly forced at gunpoint to start taking pictures of friends and loved ones nearby. The results have been quite good so far, and Lynae’s merch should start looking better than ever. Parenthetically, that is to say that, yes—there was a good reason for this indulgence. And hey, tax-deductible business expense!

Anyways, the pictures I shot were good, but lacked that little something that makes ’em special. Fiddling around in Lightroom I loaded up a bunch of presets designed to imitate old black and white film. This was a curious move. I mean, I’ve dabbled before, who hasn’t? But black and white pictures… they’re nice, I suppose… I understand why the form continues to thrive… just… does this look like a website for someone who shoots photos with no color? Really now.

Yet despite my completely natural disinclination, I think I made some spiffy pics. They have some real character. Here are the magnificent seven, from my lens to yours:

Talk Into the Hand (by Orin Zebest)

She's a Smirker (by Orin Zebest)

Sherilyn's Dye Job (by Orin Zebest)

Girl with Glasses Black and White (by Orin Zebest)

Morningtime Squished Face (by Orin Zebest)

Fine Hairs Around Ears (by Orin Zebest)

Fine Hairs Around Eyes (by Orin Zebest)

Categories
Glot

Last Week in August

Hello again everyone. As you know, I went on a roadtrip. A roadtrip during the last week in August. But not to Nevada. There’s a certain… “festival” event that we sort-of chose to miss this year, and every previous year also, coincidentally. Not that it was important, or anything. We didn’t have nearly at all close to enough money, anyways. Pfft, we had a better time traveling around northern California on an aimless roadtrip to somewhere. Ended up as far north as Crater Lake, although had the best time in Lava Beds National Park. There’s nearly no one there, and it’s full of caves which you can just drop in on and explore. Resting after discovering an ice cave in one, we discovered a new name for myself. Took lots of good pictures too. We had a good time, spent it with each other and not 40,000 people in a desert. I like the desert—grew up there—and it can be a very pretty place. Much more crowded now, I hear. I’ll take my roadtrip elsewhere.

Categories
Glot

Missouri Holiday

Hello! I’m in Missouri. Why. Why? Because that’s where Lynae’s dad lives. And why does he live there? Is he from there? No.

But the place is nice. There’s a lake, and woods, a long gravel driveway, a pool, and cousins, and every other silly thing that makes it seem like a family retreat in the woods. And I’m here in the middle of it. The Boyfriend. An interesting role, and I don’t mind playing it.

There’s precious little time. Between Silver Dollar City (think giant Frontierland with more rollercosters,  Marvel Cave, Steak N’ Shake, Go-carts, and Predator World (the weirdest zoo I’ve ever been to), there is not a lot of time for… internet commitments. Off to dinner.

UPDATE: Now that it’s over, I have no problem with a little more sharing.

We came, we saw, we got really really sunburned. In somewhat sensible slideshow order: Springfield Airport, Tablerock Lake, The Butterfly Palace, Steak ‘n’ Shake, an a rock quarry next to an amusement park, Marvel Cave, Predator World, abandoned florist shop, late-night arcade/go-carts, Denny’s, way fancier than Denny’s, Tablerock Lake, Springfield Airport.