New RAMBLES AND RAVES

Hi there!

Thanks for stopping by.

Please visit my new RAMBLES and RAVES site  at  http://ramblesandraves.com

Thanks,

Wendy

Controlling Aperture And Shutter: For The First Time

On Wednesday, I received my loaned Canon Rebel XT SLR  for the photojournalism class at UNC-Chapel Hill this semester.   On Thursday, I learned 175 ways not to combine shutter and aperture settings.

Oh, it was horrible. Washed out, blurred images, you name it, I’m sure I did it wrong.  You’d have never known anyone was on the other side of the camera based on the final exposures.

I have been a point and shoot kind of person,  love the automation, and instant gratification.  But now, the task at hand: take one image that’s in focus while selecting the settings.

So, I ventured out, SLR in hand,  with an idea of my composition, but no skill to achieve the exposure.  And I do emphasize SKILL.  I have great respect for photographers who shoot on the manual mode, especially the one’s who nail the shot time after time.

A few of my favorite photographers who always seem nail it are Stacy Borelli, Shane Snider,  Christobal Perez, Chad A. Stevens and Jock Lauterer (the last two are UNC-CH professors.)

I read about the panning technique in one of my textbooks and wanted to try it.  My results are below… you can imagine my surprise, they were actually decent photos.

Shout Out To The Apple Store

Crabtree Valley Mall Apple Store Front

For several days, things were not going right with my MacBook.  There was something wrong with one of my USB ports, I couldn’t delete a user from MobileMe, and the list goes on…

I made an appointment online at www.apple.com to meet with my one of my local geniuses at the Crabtree Valley store. I didn’t know that you could make appointments before 10:00 a.m.

I made the appointment for 9:20 a.m.

The store was buzzing with Apple chatter … iPhone this, iPod that, etc.  when I arrived.  Mac people like shopping early, I guess.

Genius Barry greeted me promptly and asked, “How can we help you today?”

I explained my issues, and in less than 30 minutes Genius Barry fixed my week-old problems.  He also helped me get a new duckhead (that’s the removable two-prong plug) because I broke mine this morning. I was pleasanly surprised it was only $8.

So, to Genius Barry and all the other Apple Geniuses out there, “Thank You!”

You Decide…

“Sometimes you have to feed your belly, and sometimes you have to feed your soul.”

A comment from Prof. Chad  A. Steven at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Photo Night on 9/3/09  on choosing to help a non-profit versus choosing a paying gig.

An Evening Invitation

Angels Among Us...

For various reasons, I was running late, and arrived at half past eight. As I passed the threshold to the room on the right, it hit me. A vail of sadness engulfed my spirit and tears pooled in my eyes. I was not sure what to say to my dear friend.

READ MORE…
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/2136667/an_evening_invitation.html

Shiny Chrome Inspires Shooter

We all like shiny things, right?  I don’t actually know how to drive a motorcyle, but I love taking photos of them when I can.

Here ‘s one of my favorites. 

 

If you’re more into words, check out the story I wrote about the Ray Price Capital City Bikefest from 2008.

Smile, It’s Raining…

 

Smiling In The Rain

Rain… you either love it or hate it.  I happen to be one who loves it.

The rain reminds me of my dad; he always loved to sit on the front porch and watch a good storm.  I guess I inherited that from him. 

Summer showers make great backdrops for photographs.  Here ‘s another one of my recent favorites.

 

Rain Collage

Back To School, To Graduate Again…

 

 

 

UNC-Chapel Hill Welcomes Students

I know, it sounds funny… to graduate again, but that’s what I’m going to do.  Well, not completely… this time, I think I will skip the gradutaion formalities of sending out invites, walking, and etc. At this point, my brass ring is finally getting a Bachelor’s degree from the  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with my name boldly embossed.

 

Let me back up bit for this story, I attended UNC-Chapel Hill from August 1994 through December 1998. A few weeks after the  invitations went out for my winter graduation, I discovered that one class was not going to meet a requirement. Ouch!  Nothing like last minute details to put a wrinkle in your strategy.  Plans had been made,  job offers accepted and housing notices given. 

I told myself,  ”Don’t worry, it’s just one class, you’ll finish it in no time.”   Well, no time actually turned into nearly eleven years.  Isn’t it amazing  how priorities transform when life happens?

My life was a whirlwind of change in 2009,  and through a series of unfortunate events, something really great happened allowing me to go back to school,  to graduate again. 

Tuesday was my first day.  Everything felt so familiar,  as I stood in the center of the Upper Quad, once again in awe of the University.  For a brief moment, it felt as if time had stopped, and I was right back where I was meant to be. 

Wish me luck!

Ridin’ Rainy… That’s What Happens When You Ignore Your Gut Feeling

 

Rainy Day In Raleigh

Two weeks ago, Jeff and I were on our way to visit our friends of Knock Out Roses, Raleigh’s hottest new Indie rock band, to hang out and talk about promotions.  

 

 I had a funny feeling standing in the driveway,  you know the one, when you put your hand out in the air and look up into the sky, to see if it’s going to rain or not.  

Well, I ignored that feeling, because I was ready for an evening motorcycle ride.  I strapped on my helmet (or as I like to call it my hat), and we were on our way. 

I had no idea what kind of ride was waiting for me and was still in denial when we got to the front of the neighborhood.

“A rain drop here, a rain drop there. No, big deal,” I thought.  

My smart husband actually pulled into the next neighborhood and suggested we return home for our SUV.  

It had been so long since we had ridden together, and I really didn’t want to go back home.  I said, “It’s not that bad, just a few drops. We’ll there in ten minutes.”

So, we kept going.

The bottom fell out of the sky within less than a mile.  I’m not kidding; at 50 miles per hour, all rain feels like a deluge and tiny little pins prickling your skin.

Not Singing In The Rain

We sought refuge within the empty bays of a self-serve car wash and called our friends. “Uh, hey… it’s raining, and we think we’re gonna be a little late (and wet.)”

The rain lightened up (or at least that’s what we thought,) and we continued on our damp journey.

An already unfortunate comedy of errors got worse as we made a wrong turn and went at least four miles out of the way. Our detour took us through a residential area… as in, there was no where for us to stop, and get out of the rain.  

At this point, I’m huddling behind Jeff hoping for some sort of refuge from the downpour.  It didn’t work.  

Finally, we came to a gas station, where they had thougthfully installed awnings over the gas pumps. Yeah!

People in their dry cars were looking at us funny; I’m sure they thought we were crazy. 

We sat there for a few minutes after pumping gas, just laughing at each other, marveling at our wetness and watching the rain.  It looked as if we had showered fully clothed, not a dry spot anywhere.  He smiled and picked at me, “So, it’s just a few rain drops, huh?” I puckered my lips, kissed him and told him to shut up. 

 

Oh, yeah… we did finally make to see our friends, and we were only two hours late.

Backpack Buddies Food Drive for Central North Carolina

 

Mix 101.5 van at the Backpack Buddies Food Shuttle Drive

I had no idea that waking up late today would have such a profound effect on my day, and prompt me to help others. I usually walk my third-grader to the bus stop every morning, but fortunately we woke up late today and I had to drive her to school. That meant we could listen to her favorite morning show on Mix 101.5 with Bill Jordan, Lynda Loveland, Vanna Fox and the rest of the crew.

 

Today was the kick off for Mix’s annual Backpack Buddies Food Drive with the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. I remembered hearing something about it earlier in the week, but honestly didn’t pay that much attention to it until today, when I heard Bill Jordan talking statistics with some members of the Food Shuttle.

They said approximately 91,000 kids receive free and reduced lunch in our 7-county* listening area, and that means a lot of them are possibly going hungry over the weekend. Bill went on to say that we could fill the RBC Center, home of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes, 4.5 times to equal the amount of hungry children in our area.

As a mom, I can’t imagine what it must feel like to not have enough food to feed to mychildren. So, I went to Target and picked up a few kid-friendly healthy options to donate at Crabtree Valley Mall today.

Mix 101.5 and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle will be doing live remotes today at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh and Crossroads Plaza in Cary until 6:00 pm.

They have a goal to raise $20,000 by 6:00 pm today, as of 11:30 am they were just over $15,000.

For more information, please visit one of the following links:

Mix 101.5 / WRAL- FM 

The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Blog

The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle Web site

Associated Content

*91,000 children receive free and reduced lunch in a 7-County Area of North Carolina, which includes: Wake, Durham, Orange, Chatham, Johnston, Edgecombe, and Nash counties, according to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.