by Susan Lobb Porter | Fitness, Life, Photography |
This is me.
This is me doing yoga after years of not doing yoga. And no, my feet are NOT dirty, that’s digital manipulation to disguise the fact that they’re just plain not pretty. And okay, maybe they’re just a little bit dusty from wearing flip flops to the barn but the sepia tint was supposed to take care of that.
But back to yoga. All I can say is Holy crap! Was I ever STIFF. Felt like Barbi, she of unbendable knees. And arms. And general plastic parts. Felt like every year of my age which is none of your business by the way, even tho you are my best best BEST beloved readers 4 EV-AH. So no, I will NOT tell you. Although I will admit to being 31, once. Trust me when I say I was uber hot back then. Spontaneous combustion hot.
It’s been one week since I began contorting myself in unnatural positions. Unnatural positions that were once second nature to me. At first my body laughed, laughed, which happened just before the wailing.
But the second day wasn’t nearly as bad.
And the third day was better still. Noticeably so. I was no longer counting the seconds or watching the clock. I was flowing with my breath. Flowing merrily along as I went just a bit farther. And deeper. Sure, my hamstrings twanged like an out of tune guitar. But not that out of tune.
It’s been a week now. Five days (two off for rest) of serious Hatha yoga practice. A good hour each time.
The result? My shoulders are no longer up around my ears. My butt feels tight, my joints feel loose and I’m walking free and easy with a sassy swing to my hips. I’d say that’s reason enough to continue but at this point I don’t need a reason.
Because it feels so darn good!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Everyday Ordinary, Photography, Porterosa |
Oh my sweetums, one day, right here at the Porterosa, I went in search of hearts. Because sometimes a girl needs signs of love from the universe, just sayin’.
And I found them EVERYWHERE. A veritable plethora of love signs.
On the ground.
Fallen from trees.
Cast by shadow.
Created by fleeting light.
And spun by Charlotte (with a little help, perhaps, from a pony nose. Or not.)
Lessons learned:
- Open your eyes.
- Open your mind.
- Whatever you’re looking for is right there in front of you.
Technical info: All photos taken using an iPone 4S. Point. Shoot. Dat’s all.
As always, my best best BEST beloveds, if you like what you see here please tell me about it in the comments below. And share it with your friends. I’ll be your best friend if you do. Really. I’ll sit with you at lunch. Play with you during recess. And if you pin it, I might even do your homework.
Pinky swear.
XO
by Susan Lobb Porter | Photography |
“Summer in the deep South is not only a season, a climate, it’s a dimension. Floating in it, one must be either proud or submerged.” ― Eugene Walter, The Untidy Pilgrim
Last week the weather was so HOT, so sticky sultry all consuming miserable, I could’ve been in Florida. Or Texas. Or some place sane Yankees don’t venture to in July. I know because back when Daddy was alive and my parents retired to Florida I used to have to go there every summer for his birthday. For his ‘this might be the last birthday’ guilt-trip vacation.
I’m NOT a fan of Florida. NOT. At. All. But my children have fond memories of those southern summers: beaches with holy roller baptisms and alligators all in the same day, giant grasshoppers and cute little armadillos squished into the pavement alongside the highways and back roads.
But the thing that impressed them the most was the exploding cow.
She was dead, lying in a field and puffing up in the summer heat like a bovine balloon. Until. She. Popped. I kid you not. And let’s just leave it at that, okay?
So I know something about summer. Sultry heat. Know something about what Eugene Walter means by that quote up above. And last week, in the hills of northern California, far far from the deep south, I let the heat get the best of me. Let it wring me out like an old sweaty rag and leave me shuffling through life limp and cranky.
I’d walk into the studio, look around and walk out again. Over and over and over. Couldn’t think of what to do, couldn’t get the creativity rolling when simply being worked up a sweat.
Just when it looked like my life was one big creative sputter (drumroll please) ta-da… I started another online photography class with Catherine Just, In Plain Sight.
Handsprings! Backflips! Da Muse is back in town!
The assignment: pick a topic and photograph it for 30 days. Well, you know what happened the last time…the pony series. Which is still going strong 170 something days later.
I had to pick a new subject for this class. But I was hot and cranky, remember, and wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. On the first day I had to run an errand downtown and I came across this.
Shadows and Reflections #1
Susan Lobb Porter
The lines and shadows intrigued me. I thought of all the ways I could take that concept. Shadows. Paths that I walk. Lines. Convergence. The possibilites were making me crazy until I decided to let the photos lead the way.
Day two took a slightly different turn. I woke up early, around 6. The sky was yellow and heavy with smoke from a distant fire. I lay in bed thinking so much for shadows.
But I was wrong.
Shadows and Reflections # 2
Susan Lobb Porter
I caught sight of this on the wall as I went to take the dogs out. Aha! Heat, dull sky…mystery. Time to sacrifice another chicken to da muse. (Disclaimer: No chickens, except for the one that went into last night’s chicken salad, were sacrificed to the cause)
Day three dawned bright and sunny. And hot. I did say hot, right? First thing in the morning, probably between 6 or 7, I went down to feed the horses. But my shadow wouldn’t cooperate, she stayed behind me.
Shadows and Reflections #3
Susan Lobb Porter
No matter how fast I moved, how much I twisted, she was there where she wanted to be. As long as I remain in the light my shadow self will always be there.
Day four. 6 AM. Same time of day, same wall but look at the difference between this and day two.
Shadows and Reflections # 4
Susan Lobb Porter
The sun was bright, the light against the wall shifting and changing by the minute. I hurried to take a few shots before taking the dogs out. But the windows needed to be shut against the promise of the morning heat as well.
Dogs won.
Day five. Puppy potty break before bed. I never noticed it before but the lights on the patio cast two shadows. Two illusions of me connected , overlapping at the lower legs like a couple of conjoined twins.
Shadows and Reflections # 5
Susan Lobb Porter
Bean decided to come between them. Did he prefer one over the other, I wonder? Did he even know they were there? Oh man, getting way too existential here. Whatever. I think this is an interesting image.
Day six. Early morning. On my way to feed the horses. I stopped at the top of the front porch steps and thought holy crap! Visions of good stuff all around me!
Shadows and Reflections # 6
Susan Lobb Porter
Shadows. Lines. Angles. I was AWASH in creative inspiration.
Day seven. DearDaughter’s birthday. It was evening. I was in her old room, the one she painted hot pink the year she was 16. The only light came in through windows to the north and east. There wasn’t much, just enough to catch me sitting on her bed.
Twenty-six years, almost to the minute, that she was born.
Shadows and Reflections # 7
Susan Lobb Porter
And here I was twenty-six years later, sitting on her bed taking pictures of my shadow. Thinking about the time that passed. Wondering where it went. My baby’s milestones…learning to walk, learning to talk. Going to school. Graduating from Berkeley. Where she’s been. Where she’ll go. Future milestones she’s yet to define.
And then I realized those memories were like the shadows, shifting and changing over time. The only thing about them that remains consistant is the love. And that’s good enough for me.
Because no one need the daily reality of exploding cows, now, do they?
Technical info: All photos were taken using an iPhone 4s. There was a little tweaking involved in PhotoShop with some of them but not too much.
So that’s it, m’dearies. What I did on my summer vacation. Oh wait, I’m not on vacation. Okay, what I did the first week of July, the first week of In Plain Sight. There’ll be more next week. Perhaps some painting as well. So come on back and check it out.
Meanwhile, as always, if you liked this post please share it with your friends the world the whole freakin’ UNIVERSE. I’ll give you a pony if you do. Or chocolate, yes, chocolate. Which I’ll eat for you and enjoy very much.
XOXOXO Heart emoticons here because you are my best best best beloveds.
But you KNEW that, didn’t you?
Now go share this post, okay? And thanks for the chocolate.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life, Photography |
It’s hot. Too hot to write without whining. So I’m going to take a break from blogging for a few days.
Meanwhile, here’s a peek at my new digital series, The Bottom of the Bowl.
Bottom of the Bowl # 5
Susan Lobb Porter
I’ll tell you more about it next week.
When it cools down.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Blogging, Everyday Ordinary |
Oh. My. Goodness! Where did this week’s post go? Where???
It went…AWAY. Poof! Just. Like. That. To the interwebs away place, wherever that may be.
I didn’t discover it was missing until this morning. I thought maybe it was just a crappy post and you, my best beloveds, were insulted that I put it out there. Insulted enough not to comment here or like on FaceBook.
Just one of those things, y’know. I’m a big girl, I can take rejection.
But after two days of cyber silence this little worm of an idea began squirming around inside my head (under my hair, the place where magic happens). The little worm said, ummm…did you hit publish?
What a silly question! I’ve been blogging almost two years now. I know ALL about the Publish button. The Save Draft button. The Move to Trash button.
Uh-oh…
And now I know all about the Publish in a Parallel Universe button.
Yes, Parallel Universe. You have to trust me on this. It would also help if you were a theoretical mathematician and/or physicist. But mind-altering drugs, drinking too much and listening to this episode of Science Friday will get you there too. ‘There’ being parallel-land where parallel-you is reading the original post and snorting your coffee out your nose because it’s so damn good. The post, not your coffee. Although I hope the parallel-you indulges in decent coffee too.
And of course parallel-you leaves pithy comments and shares Arty-Life around the parallel-interwebs.
Just like you do here, right?
Okay, are you sufficiently confused yet? Good. Then I guess it’s time to climb off the dog ate my homework wagon and share a little ART with you now.
Bottom of the Bowl # 1
Susan Lobb Porter
This, my best beloveds, is the beginning of a new photo/digital series I’m calling The Bottom of the Bowl. I realized one morning that the marks left on the bottom of the bowl of yoghurt were akin to the marks I leave on canvas. Imagine that! The original photo was all white and boring but then again, so’s a blank canvas. Right? But thanks to cyber-fairies and technology ART can happen even from dirty dishes.
Stay tuned for more. And please, tell me what the parallel-you would think of this. I’d really like to know.
xoxo
by Susan Lobb Porter | Cool Apps, Photography |
There are MANY photos in this post. Really, LOTS. It’s all about COOL APPS. YAY!!! But like all good things, you have to be patient because I have a story to tell you first. Okay? Good, then let’s get to it.
We’ve got an old sofa. It’s the most COMFORTABLE sofa on the planet. In the entire universe. In the entire spread-your-arms-this-big realm of existence.
Really, I am NOT exaggerating. Except it’s not really a sofa, it’s a sectional. Which means there’s this long part you can lie down on, an adult can sleep on and not wake up with a back that’s all catty-wumpus. Which makes it even better.
God made this sofa. I would not lie about that.
But after 14 years, 2 kids, many, many, many sleepovers, 4 dogs and 2 cats…well, it’s looking a wee bit worn around the edges. Which isn’t too big a problem because the sofa itself is sound. Solid. And slipcovered. That’s the way it was made and over the years all I’ve had to do when someone peed, puked or spilled wine was unzip and throw it in the wash.
It’s not only comfortable and attractive, it’s practical.
It’s also time for a new slipcover.
Problem is, the store we bought it from is no longer around. The nearest store that had the manufacturer’s swatches was up in Lake Tahoe. Well, not in the lake but right there on the edge. So Mr. Spouse and I ran up there yesterday. Not quite as dramatic as it sounds, we’re only an hour away. Although considering the way Mr. Spouse takes those mountain curves, umm…well, it was dramatic enough from my point of view.
After picking the fabric we had an hour to kill before dinner. An hour with scenery–gorgeous gorgeous UNBELIEVABLE scenery and a camera. Ahhhh, for an artist who likes to take pictures it doesn’t get much better than that.
Except for some reason, some unfathomable reason, most all the photos came out crappy. Especially the ones that featured my index finger–of which there were many.
Must’ve been the altitude.
So today’s post is about taking a crappy photo and making it better. Or at least interesting. Making lemonade out of a lemon.
It involves apps. And Photoshop. And MAGIC!
This is the original photo. See what I mean? Meh. Shrug. Boring! Really, like for this I went to art school?
Here it is with a little help from the JixiPix app Simply HDR. It punches up the color, evens out the shadows. I consider this the base for further play.
At this point I shift over to Photoshop. JixiPix apps also come as Photoshop plugins so I can continue what I began with the iPhone.
A painterly look with Artista Oil.
Now vintage. But not just any vintage. This is a combination of JixiPix Vintage and a whole bunch of effects from onOne software. From here on that’s what I’ll be doing, combining apps and effects from different companies. A bit of this, a bit of that. I’m sorry I can’t tell you the exact recipes because I just start playing.
I cook the same way.
Ummm… I think this is from JixiPix Romantic Photo. Something brooding about this one, like an English novel.
This one is straight Moku Hanga, again from JixiPix. It’s supposed to give the effect of a Japanese woodblock.
And this one is starts with JixiPix Grunge and ends up a few more layers in onOne. It’s one of my favorites.
But not all of the photos needed editing.
Like this one. This thing was monster huge and heavy on the Macadamia nuts, hot fudge and whipped cream. Yes, we shared. And even left a little on the plate.
So, excluding the obvious draw of the fancy-ass hot fudge Sundae, which of the altered photos is your favorite? You can tell me in the comments below.
And I’d love to hear about any favorite apps or Photoshop plugins you may have.
As always, my best beloveds…xoxo
