Tag Archives: postaday2011

…oy.  I have a lot to learn. When I look at other people’s photographs on Etsy, or websites, or blogs, I try to figure out what is happening in the photos that makes me want to take a closer look. Usually there is some kind of prop, or detail, that serves as a backdrop, to showcase the piece of jewelry.

Like anything new, I would like to know how to perfectly add props to my photos on the very first try. (Innate photo talent that I’m sure everyone else already has.) But also, like anything new, there is a learning curve to figure it out. How long it takes to achieve success is not the point. Giving it a fearless attempt, and embracing the wisdom that comes from making mistakes is my goal.

I began with a piece that was a challenge because the combination of chain and glass beads resulted in a necklace that does not drape easily, except around a human neck or on the leather display neckpiece that I am oh so tired of using. I looked around the immediate space where I was taking photographs, to see if there was a prop to try out. I wasn’t very happy with the results, so I stopped, and returned to the challenge today.

First, the leather neck display that serves a purpose, but has become b-o-r-i-n-g.

The bird…a little much? I can’t decide.

The corner of the flower pot , a 180º reverse in direction from the bird. Meh.

One of the most common things around our house is lobsters, (what else?) in many forms.

I intend to use the prop photos with other photos in listing my work on Etsy. (They are not meant to take the place of the kind of  professional photographs I would need to apply to a juried craft show, or use in advertising.)  Etsy allows up to 5 photographs for each listing. The sites that feature 5 photos for each listing are the ones I take more time to look at. I think it’s effective to have  as much visual information about a piece as possible.

I took a long time experimenting with the prop above, and I’m not sure that the results are what I am looking for. To take a break I went for a walk on the beach,  keeping my eye out for more prop possibilities. I came home with a bag full of stuff, and renewed energy for the learning process. I finished my afternoon with a discarded shingle and earrings that match the necklace.

The shingle prop is getting a little closer to the look I want. At least it helps take a little of the creepiness away from my “detached ear” prop! (Doesn’t it?)

…my favorite mother-in-law’s big birthday. She does not want to acknowledge her age, so she decided to cut the age in half and start over at 40. She has that much energy and zest for life. We had a birthday dinner with friends at our house tonight. This afternoon her oldest son (my favorite) baked her a cake.

…because my life isn’t all about the jewelry.  After staying up late last night to watch football, I worked on the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle which was challenging but fun. It’s not really feasible to subscribe to the Sunday Times up here on the island. It’s very expensive and usually arrives a day late. I could have it sent over from the newspaper store in N.E. Harbor, by boat, but it wouldn’t get here until 4 p.m. on Sunday and by then the weekend is almost over. So, I subscribe to the NYT crossword puzzles on line. I download the Sunday puzzle on Saturday night and then stay up until I finish it. Woo Hoo! Wild fun on Islesford.

I had the most relaxing Sunday. I started work on my next column for the Working Waterfront, watched some football with my husband and took a long nap on the couch. After a brisk walk at sunset, we spontaneously invited our friends Henry and Donna over for pasta primavera. I am so fortunate to have a husband who likes to cook, especially at this time of year when his boat and lobster traps are out of the water. Bruce made the pasta dish and I made a little salad of avocado and pineapple, and we had fresh baked coconut chocolate chip cookies for dessert. At this time of year we do not feel rushed, and I love it.

I am not a fan of the single-use kitchen gadgets. I don’t mean disposable things like sponges or scrubbies, but those items that take up a lot of room in the drawer or cupboard and they only serve one purpose. So when Santa put a rather large pineapple-corer-slicer-thingy in my stocking a few weeks ago, I thought it was a candidate for the regift pile or the white elephant table at the Islesford Fair. Last week, with a pineapple about to rot beyond edibility on my counter, I took the pineapple-corer-slicer-thingy off of its cardboard sleeve and gave it a try. I’ll be damned. The thing actually worked! And it worked well. Well enough that I made sure to buy another pineapple the other day when I was off the island at the grocery store. I couldn’t wait to show my lobsterman chef husband what a useful gadget it was.

All you do is cut the top off the pineapple, place the pineapple-corer-slicer-thingy on the freshly cut surface, and twist. When you reach the bottom of the fruit, you pull up and out comes the inside of the pineapple, neatly sliced, with the outer shell intact. Good times with a one-hit wonder and no more pineapples rotting on the counter.

Finally!

More to come soon.

Sarah brought the soup, I provided bread, and Ashley provided all the rest.

How lucky I was to spend the afternoon with friends who feed my creative spirit. Ashley gave us a presentation of the beautiful new book he is working on. I am not able to show it here, but he will be showing it to his publishers in New York next week.

I checked out Ashley’s night blooming cereus plant, remembering midnight visits last summer, with other islanders, to see the once a year blossoms. I don’t know what it is about his studio, but that plant sure likes it. It flowered 7 different times last summer, and three of the times were with double blossoms!  Today, though, there were no buds in sight…until I turned around to look at the unassuming aloe plant.

…with lots of fog and rain. Somewhat unusual for January. But today, winter was back to work, just like most of us after the holidays.

Among other things, I grew carrots last summer, and left some of them in the ground covered with an extra layer of dirt. It seemed like a good place to store them as long as I could still dig them up before the ground froze. We had a fairly mild December, and even with the blizzard last week the temperatures were still pretty moderate. My carrots were well insulated under their snowy blanket. The forecast this week is for much colder weather. Today was my last chance for a first time experience: harvesting carrots in January.

The top inch of soil was already frozen, so I was not a moment too soon in my efforts.

3 pounds of organic carrots, fresh picked from my front yard on January 3. You can’t get food more local than that. They taste pretty darn good too!