Chaos Love: love, life, design and more.

Thanks to all for your warm wishes and support!
Cam and I have had such a blast this past year and it all has been going by so fast! This coming year brings us into a realm of real security and comfort as Cam establishes work in America and we start going on trips together such as Amsterdam coming up in 6 weeks! With him having steady work and me getting done paying medical bills, we know that this year will have a lot of good times in store. We had a lot to celebrate and last night we went to Rocky Butte where we were married back in our youth and had a picnic of bread, exotic cheese and local wine. If my foot was in good order, I would have brought the trampolines. But we did bring the space helmets, of course, for photographic moments!

Posted in: anniversary, chaosgurl, photography, portland on July 22, 2009 at at 10:40:00 AM 0 comments    

Golden, Golden Gate, originally uploaded by Senex Prime.

Well, I'm back from my little jaunt down to San Francisco. Even though I worked hard (staying in the office until 10:30pm the night before the presentation), I did manage to get out and about and play the tourist a bit.

Here's my favourite shot so far – the always impressive Golden Gate Bridge (coincidentally, the subject of the presentation) as seen from Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf. The place is way too touristy, but it does offer spectacular views of the bay, especially at sunset!

More soon!

Posted in: chaosboy, photography, travel, united states on July 12, 2009 at at 10:10:00 AM 0 comments    

Seriously, its getting too geeky on here. I need to fill this space with some gore! It hasn't been all puppy dog tails over here. Cam has been working REALLY hard with a full time job and taking care of my crippled self. Tomorrow he is off to the great land of San Francisco to do amazing things and move ahead in the world. Me, on the other hand has just managed to make Mac and Cheese by myself without toppling over and calling 911. No but really, I am doing ok these days and I have my fingers crossed that two weeks from now, my doctor will give me good news like "go ahead and walk out of this office."
For the last two months, it has been a bit of a hardship and I have been sitting around a lot but Cam and I have gotten out and done all sorts of crazy stuff that normal people with broken ankles don't do.
Lets take work for example. For a month now, I have been helping the masses in a wheelchair with a laptop on my lap where I can sort out all their needs on the spot. It's been very gratifying for me and my customers to not have to stand behind a counter, stare each other down or print out giant receipts for them to sign. I take credit cards wirelessly and send them invoices via email and most people are "impressed" by my abilities although it is nothing special. It's how I get by. In reality, its just pure laziness on my part. One gentleman told me the other day that he was "glad the store hired people like me" and quickly backed it by saying "my happiness was pleasant to work with." Yeah, yeah. I do feel like people treat my like they have just entered a Goodwill sometimes, smiling instantly down on me when they came in with a frown. I can't say the wheelchair has hurt sales. I actually think business is doing better.
Outside of the store, the wheelchair has been a novelty. I can sit down in long lines. Women in heels run to get the door for me. People in coffee shops offer help when I am just sitting quietly by myself waiting for Cam. I think I have renewed hope for the human race at this point. Everyone loves to be a hero helping someone who "looks" like they are in need.
Everyone has hurt themselves this summer. As we rolled around town yesterday observing the Blues Fest by the waterfront, I was counting the casts, crutches and fellow wheelchairs go by. I used to think it was a heightened sensitivity, but I am pretty sure now there is no mistake, people are getting out there and slamming themselves. Can't blame them, this summer has been gorgeous. We have been able to go on a road trip, camping, festivals, concerts, or just out for drinks as if my hinderance were nothing more than a skin rash.
Other than my new profound outlook on life, let it be known that its going to be an exciting week of Christine's Birthday Festivus! With the bad leg and all, the video project of everyone dressed up as dinosaurs in the forest will be postponed to another date. I might just be up for sitting around in good company with a cold beer in my hand on a hot summer evening. Oh and Im sure Cam has some sort of crazy party in space planned for me *wink wink* right darling??

Posted in: on July 6, 2009 at at 3:05:00 PM 0 comments    

Last weekend, Christine and I headed on out to Homedale, Idaho to attend Water on the Ditch, the annual party/jam session thrown by some of our good friends each year. As always when travelling, I took my camera with me, but I wanted to make sure I tried some new things out. Because always taking the same kind of shot gets boring, y'know?

The one type of photography you simply can't do in Portland is star trails; the light pollution from the city simply outshines the faint imprints left by the stars. I did try some when Christine and I camped out in Central Oregon (now forever known as "The Ankle Trip"), but I obviously wasn't thinking straight and shot at ISO400, adding so much noise to the shot as to render it useless.

So I tried a shot on both nights. The first one was okay, but nothing special. However, the second night's shot turned out perfectly:



This is an hour long exposure facing almost directly north. The camera settings were ISO100 at ƒ/8, 17mm focal length. A lot of people suggest opening the aperture all the way up, but I was concerned that doing this would totally blow out the foreground detail (which I was hoping would be the best part of the shot), so I closed it up a few stops. Of course, the camera was mounted on a sturdy tripod and the exposure was started and ended with a cable release. I had the long exposure noise reduction option in the camera set to "On", but I have since read that you shouldn't really bother with this, as post-production noise-reduction in Photoshop or via a plug-in like Noise Ninja will always produce a better effect.

I really am amazed this turned out so well. The foreground is everything I could have hoped for and then more. The light from the stage on the trees surrounding the house is quite magical, and there are lots of little details from lights that went on and off during the exposure as well: someone walking with a flashlight, headlights from a car turning into the property, camera flashes and so on.

Post-production was limited to noise reduction (it still needed it, although not to a huge degree), cloning out some dead or hot pixels in the image and then adding some extra saturation/brightness to the colors. It prints beautifully at 13"x19" on our Canon Pixma Pro 9000 and we plan on giving one to our friends who host the Ditch each year as a token of our appreciation for this most excellent of parties!

The more we get out of the city, the more of these I'm going to take... I can only get better with experience!

Posted in: chaosboy, oregon, party time, photography on July 4, 2009 at at 2:56:00 PM 0 comments