I've Been Framed

After a long day of working yesterday, Mr. Tide and I decided we would head out for a walk on the beach.  It isn't a beach right by our house, but one a little ways from where we live that we like to visit.

The skies were blue and there was a nice crisp chill in the air.  Mr. Tide thought I was crazy for wearing a light jacket, but I thought it felt refreshing.

Each morning when I wake up, I look out the window in our bedroom and on days like this, when the air has a nip in it and there isn't a cloud in the sky, I can see the houses on the opposite shoreline of the river.

Those houses are 5 miles away, so being able to see them is something that goes away when the hot hazy days of summer roll around.

These images were all taken from a beach on another river at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and it was so clear yesterday that I could see the land all the way across the Bay.  That is even more impressive than seeing just 5 miles across the river where we live because it's a whopping 12+ miles across the bay at that particular point!

Maybe I have a bit of ancient mariner in my blood, because for as long as I can remember I have always been thrilled to be able to see that far across the bay.  It's as if a part of me once knew that spotting land after a long journey meant you were almost home.

Also yesterday I took some pictures of a few of my latest projects.  I've had some of my images professionally framed and I'm really pleased with how they've turned out.

I found out yesterday while trying to photograph these that because we have added so many windows to this house that it is nearly impossible to find a dark, reflection free place to take pictures of my pictures.

These were all shot in a tiny hallway by my laundry room, and even there you can see that there are reflections of the windows, my camera, the tripod, whatever, in nearly every image.  And the colors are a little off, but that's to be expected when you don't have a nice set up for photographing framed artwork.

But hopefully you can get the gist of how they look.  I especially love the faux bamboo frame that surrounds the orchid picture, it just gives it a little added oomph I think.  Sorry it has the little corner protectors on it, I couldn't remove them from all of the pictures without a lot of trouble so I just left them on.

And I also love the barnwood frames used for the horse photo above and the boats image as well.  The horse pictured actually belongs to friends of ours.  This picture is a gift to them, let's hope she doesn't read this particular blog post before I give it to her in a few weeks!

So, there you have it, what I've been working on.  If you would like to have one of my framed giclee prints to hang on your wall be sure to check out my latest Giveway by clicking HERE.  You don't have to choose one of these images, or even one of these frames, but these will at least give you an idea of what yours might look like, so hurry on over and join my Giveaway, you have until Friday!  

Thank you!

Cross-Eyed

 (Created using Kim Klassen's free new Luminous texture)

I want to thank all of you for your wonderful comments and birthday wishes for our son Bugs!!!  He read each and every one of them and asked me to pass along his appreciation.  Your kind words of encouragement will remain with him for a long time...so thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Once again the kindness of perfect strangers comes shining through here in blogland, and I love that!

I've been going six ways for Sunday as the saying goes and like the cherry blossoms in these photos, I'm fading fast.  I've got lots of work to do, and it's getting done thank goodness, but my biggest obstacle of late is trying to get my fine art photography website up and running.

I actually took the coward's way out and got a site through a company that caters to photographers and offers e-commerce...sounds easy peasy right?  WRONG!  It's like a hornets nest of html and I now know why people pay to have someone else make their website.  Actually it's not all that bad, and if I would watch the tutorial videos that might help too, but it's all SO time consuming.  Have I mentioned before that I have the patience of a gnat?!

If you look at most photographer's websites, they offer you a few things, like their pricing for prints or the cost of a shoot, or they offer you the ability to purchase their images for licensing, my needs are a little different, which is why I'm having so much trouble.  I need a site that will allow me to showcase my images, but also sell and ship them in a variety of different mediums and sizes...prints, canvas, aluminum, or whatever someone might want.  

This has my head spinning and my stomach churning.  Thankfully Mr. Tide walks past me every once in a while and says things like "maybe you should take a little break."  This may have something to do with the groans and sighs he hears me making as the hours tick away and I feel like I'm not making any progress.

My website will feature a variety of limited edition prints, including florals, birds, and landscapes that can be created in sizes from the very small to really large, for use in corporate settings or to make a statement in someone's home.  I've been busy creating those images in between my writing assignments, and below are a few examples of what I've been working on recently.

I was also recently picked up by an online gallery that caters to designers and corporate entities, which is very exciting, I'll tell you more about that in another post.  And I hope to have my website up and running before my show next month, that is if I don't go cross-eyed first!

So to those of your who have left comments or sent me wonderful emails, I will get back to you very soon!  I just need a few extra days while I pretend to be a computer geek, and learn to love living in a very messy house!

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!