Lost Aussie on the loose

21 Years Ago

... My how time flies....

This is a pic snapped of me almost 21 years ago to the day, close to 9 months pregnant and waiting for the arrival of #1 son.

Pertinent since I am about to hop on (yet another plane) to head down to Australia to celebrate said son's 21st Birthday on the 1st of June.

I've spent this evening going through photo albums and collecting the pre-digital assortment of fun, cute and embarassing photos that will be used for a slideshow on the night of his party.  It's been a trip down memory lane and definitely brought lots of smiles, and the odd tear to my face.

Although I am not looking forward to more long plane rides, I am looking forward to seeing my tall "small" men again and I'm going to break my journey in Thailand on the way, so stay tuned for some pics of a different flavour!

For The Love of Nancy

As many of you know, one of my bestest friends (and first ever students), Nancy is having the battle of - and for her life.  She is currently undergoing Chemotherapy treatment as well as intensive rehab in a Spinal Unit in Toronto.  Thankfully she is surrounded by MANY wonderful friends and carers who provide a fantastic support network.

Her friends have orgainised a fundraising event to help Nancy and if you can attend the event in Toronto, I sincerely hope that you will.  Otherwise if you can donate money to her cause then it would be much appreciated too.

 

For those of you who can't attend the fundraising event and are not in a position to bid for Nancy's artwork, I shall post tomorrow several prints of my own that you can choose to purchase with 100% of the proceeds going to Nancy's  * Cancer Box.

The prints will be of the usual calibre that you would receive from me but very conservatively priced in the hope that MANY purchases will help fill Nancy's war chest.

Life - Lakely

I am learning that whilst the vista might remain the same, the Lake does not, she's quite the volatile mistress.  Tonight we are being hammered by high winds.  The floating docks and moored boats are all creaking and bumping like crazy and the double glazed windows are all doing their damndest to thwart off the onslaught.
The cats have all popped their noses out of the door and opted for inside and cozy.  I'm just the idiot who had to go OUT and take the camera with me to catch a shot of the moon over the water...

What can I say, I am enthralled.......

The Ever Changing Moods

Cold and gloomy today, with mists and rain rolling in across the Lake.  I parked my trusty Canon and tripod on the middle balcony and took a bunch of long exposures which did a fair job of smoothing out the choppy water.

It seems like ages since I had my camera out and and hour or so of 'faffing' about taking pictures was a nice respite from unpacking, organizing, cutting up cardboard and heaving it three stories down to the garage.

Logically I know I am making progress, it just doesn't seem like it quite yet.

A New (and warmer) Perspective

10 days later, 700+ miles and much drama/effort, we are moved away from Long Island to North Carolina.  Ensconced in boxes and slowly digging the bits of life out from between sheets of packing paper.

I'm exhausted, but happy.  Our little house on the lake is quiet and calm, with a vista that is second to none.
No doubt that within a few months you will all be sick of lake pictures .... afterall my backyard is not going to move and nor is the lake!  But I am hoping there will be a little diversity in the photo offerings.

This move is a little different than others I have experienced.  No weight of the big corporate budget, which means a lot more effort on our part and it will take quite a few weeks before all the boxes are unpacked and put away.  And whilst I can't abide mess or mayhem I've decided that I am not going to kill myself over getting stuff sorted out in 5 minutes. 

Gotta take time each day to put up my feet and enjoy the view right?  The sunsets each night are phenomenal!!

Pointing South

Charlotte Skyline, NC.  Feb 2013
© Marie Otero 2013

Well FINALLY, after goodness knows how many weeks, months, we finally have a closing date on our house and I can heave a modicum of a sigh (of relief).

For no other reason other than it's time to move on.

From a 6500sq ft house into a 3000 sq ft one.  Trading living large for a spot on the lake and well, I am kind of done with a lot of the "stuff" that I have been carting around for well over 20 years and finding the process of "chuck it out if you haven't touched it in a while" to be quite cathartic.

My thanks to everyone who has sent emails and left blog comments of late.  I'm sorry to be a poor respondent but hope you understand I'm a 'tad' busy  and that you will bear with me as I make this transition.

Moving Along

This is another "cooked up" piece.  Images from Venice, Charlotte NC, Central Park NY and the Beaches of Long Island.  Made last week when the pressing events of moving were not quite so pushed to the forefront of my mind.

And whilst I might be immersed in stuff to do with the house and moving I am not so oblivious to all that goes on around me on the world wide web and am appalled to note that another teacher of photoshop classes has rather blatently ripped off my syllabus for an online class that I taught a while back .....
right down to the same weekly offerings, of Camera Raw, straighten, crop, portrait retouching, buttons and blog banner stuff.  All with the same order and detail as a class I have posted in the past.

I am all for being entrepreneurial, but PLEASE get your own ideas and think a little further outside the box if you want to represent the same kind of material......

And on that score, I will be teaching more in 2013.  Possibly more "in person" workshops based out of Charlotte, NC.  Photo walks, photo tours and some post processing as well.  I'm going to be based slightly north of Charlotte, right on Lake Norman ....

 

so I am thinking, long explosure and perhaphs some wildlife photography and architecture in the City.... 

What do you think?

In Search of Santa

Apparently 52% of the population believe in Santa, and if you were in any doubt that he exists, we found him in many guises last weekend traipsing around New York during Santacon ... and...in many shapes and sizes, so I guess you could just take your pick...

He even appeared on a skateboard ... along with another curious creature caught out in red....

Recovering from Hurricane Sandy

I took the photo of this stone scupture in Bernkastel (but added a different background)... and it seems rather apropos for today ...... which is Halloween...
Unfortunately the trick and (not treat) is that we are still enduring the dramas of Hurricane Sandy.

Thankfully humans and animals in our house are fine but we are day 3 without power and starting to encounter challenges with heating, eating, washing, communications,trash.... and the list goes on.

Most of the businesses around us have no power either, including the grocery stores and the petrol (gas) stations.  Most of the ATM's are out of commission and so are the transaction processing machines at the stores, if you can find one open - so cash is the only form of payment accepted in many instances and that is in rather short supply.

I've actually come to work with my husband today so that I can stay warm, get coffee, hot food and have some degree of communication with the outside world.  It's also nice to just have the lights on!!

And speaking of lights .....my stellar "survival" technique over the last few days has been figuring out how to make a Lamp using "extra virgin" olive oil, a wick made out of an old t-shirt and some craft wire and an empty jam jar (or 6!).....surprisingly effective actually!

DH has also admitted that my penchant for purchasing candles has finally paid off!!

Cross Posting at Vision and Verb Today

I'm posting over at Vision and Verb today.... if you would care to pop along!