• Dia de los muertos 2008

    This photo’s from November 2nd or thereabouts. I’ve not had a chance to go out and take new pictures in the last few days. Things have suddenly got very busy. I shall try and keep this blog going again but I’m going to take the weekend off. Hopefully very soon I’ll be trying to fit pictures of Seattle into the carefully made categories of this here phlog.

    Also watch out for the about pages which now feature ads for Duaflex cameras… Have a great weekend, I’ll post again on Monday.

  • TtV, autumnal, chameleon car

    This photo unites three of my photographic obsessions right now. It features a “Through the Viewfinder” of a brownie starflex camera, Autumn colours and a chameleon car.

  • We won!

    Pumpkins for Obama. Not a brilliant shot… but topical 😀

  • Like peeling off a plaster

    I wish this thing would go faster.

    I can’t stand to watch, but shall have to. It’s a worrying start (4.50pm Pacific)

  • Going postal

    Votin'
    A drop in the ocean

    Sita was looking over her ballot forms last night and realised she had a ‘postal vote’. We tried ringing the council to find out what to do but it was closed. Turns out that everyone in Oregon gets a postal vote, so you can fill out the thing in the comfort of your own home, seal the envelope and drop it in a specially provided box down town. You don’t even have to wait till election day. Seems like a very good way of doing things to me.

    I have to wonder if anyone got confused with the Ballet Center half a block away. I was about to head off there when I realised it was ‘et’ not ‘ot’.

    Obviously, I hope to any deity listening that McCain-Palin are roundly sent packing and that the Califas Gay Marriage laws aren’t repealed. Shall be watching the Daily Show coverage and CNN this evening with DrSita, DrSudarat and DrMichelle. Here’s a post from 4 years ago. Jesse, as far as I know, is still a Massachusetts resident.

    Votin'
    Drive-Thru Voting
  • My wheels, yo

    I was hanging out in the antiques shops again this afternoon, I saw a load of cameras priced between 15 and 40 bucks and was sorely tempted. I reckon I should take at least another couple of hundred photos with my present cameras before I start adding to the collection. That said, I’m already thinking of trading my digital camera in for one with a higher resolution, because once I’ve cropped to the size of the viewfinder it’s probably only 2 megapixels, max and I’m not sure how they’ll look when printed.

  • Teasles

    “Dipsacus is a genus of flowering plant in the family Dipsacaceae. The members of this genus are known as teasel or teazel or teazle.” says Wikipedia. I’d just like to add Teasle to the list of accepted spellings.

  • Peter Kerr Park

    If I’d had a tripod I could have tried HDR for this, but as it is I chose to concentrate on the reflection of the sky and underexpose the rest. I like the fringe of autumn trees too… What do you reckon? Comments are welcome, as are ratings.

  • Hallowe’en in PDX

    It’s 8pm, I rarely post in the evening, but I’m hiding out in the basement…

    Luckily I had the foresight to nip to the supermarket and stock up on skittles, kitkats and starburst (coincidentally, all the sweets I like) a few hours ago… Boba Fett Jr, some Princess or other and Batman are among many others that have been round our house this evening. Atticus was initially apoplectic that so many strangers were wandering the streets after dark and daring to approach the threshold of his realm. He seems more resigned now. I know the feeling.

    DrSita’s in Denver at the minute. I’m picking her up from the airport at midnight tonight. I just texted her to say I can’t get the hang of this gringo tradition thing. By the third visit, I realised I was doing it wrong and you don’t say “Good luck” to a five-year-old. You say “Happy Halloween” (no apostrophe, ‘cos we’re in America). And the stress is on the ‘a’… “Hálloween”, not “Hallowéen” (UK)…

    Anyroad, have a collage of some of my latest Through the Viewfinder shots of some skellingtons from Mexico. And if you’re feeling particularly masochistic, wade through my latest pix of a walk round Peter Kerr Park down the road. I spent a while thinking up some decent puns for some of the titles.

    Serenata de los muertos
    Pero el día que yo me muera, sé que tendrás que llorar
  • Busyness Cards

    I never thought about the roots of the word “business” before. Busy-ness. Just thinking out loud, anyroad moving on…

    My photoblog‘s getting revamped at the minute mainly because of the number of people asking about the vintage viewfinder contraption when I’m out. I’ve found a great template for it and have been tweaking it to my liking.

    Still to do? The title (“Say Cheese, It’s Gwyn’s Photoblog”) needs rethinking… I need a proper archives page, more straightforward tag system, and to write some updated copy for the About Pages…

    Might I implore you to sign up for email updates? Sign up below, confirm, then when I post a new picture it’ll wing its way to your inbox with the description too, never more than once a day. You can cancel at any time… I’m going through some of my older photos at the moment but I’ll soon be posting new ones.

    Enter your email address:

    and I can always cancel if I get sick of them

    Any thoughts on the site or pictures are, as always, most welcome in the comments here or over at the phlog. And if RSS feeds is how you roll, it’s replete with that kind of nonsense too.

    I’d also like to plug Uprinting.com and the Web Resources Depot who are doing all these cards for free ‘cos I won their competition. Once the cards arrive I’ll say nice things in my professional blog too. Though judging by recent news I’m going to be a lot busier soon…

  • Sellwood Riverfront Park

    Looking over the Willamette River from here (Google Map) in Sellwood, Portland, OR. An area noted for its plethora of antique shops and Tacoma Bridge, held together by glue and prayers (probably).

  • Haz de Luz

    I’m going to start entering VFXY’s theme of the week . This is my entry for this week’s topic : “Darkness”. I shot this photo through a crack in the door of a huge warehouse in Alameda, CA on a Flickr phototour of the abandoned navy base. Haz de Luz means ray of light in Español…

  • Hyperspace in Tryon Creek

    A polarising filter, slightly longer exposure and, most importantly, zooming while pressing the shutter created this here effect.

  • Shoots and leaves

    One of my first Through the Viewfinder shots, taken just outside my front door. We’re having one of the dryest autumns on record in Oregon leading to a gorgeous selection of turning trees.

  • Atticus in the park

    It’s supremely difficult juggling an expensive digital camera, a vintage Kodak Duaflex IV and a hyper-active, squirrel-crazed schipperke. However, occasionally he does stand still and lets me take a shot like this.

  • Interviews

    I won’t write too much about the interview, ‘cos there’s a good chance I’ll be googled and they’ll find this post if it went well enough. On Facebook I put in my status that I was wondering what to wear and received sartorial advice ranging from optimal tie patterns to clingfilm with strategically placed Sarah Palin stickers. I then announced I was going to wear my Ghostbusters T-shirt and got these words of encouragement…

    The best thing was the ghost GLOWED in the freakin' dark
    The best thing was the ghost GLOWED in the freakin' dark

    Alan: Best of luck, Gwyn.

    Stuart F: Who they gonna call?

    Joop: Did someone give you the questions?

    Paul: dont get slimed

    Alina: You gonna be a ghostbuster and all?

    Emma: definatley the best choice of attire for, well, any occassion. be sure to mention in the interview that you “aint afraid of no ghost” in your best english accent

    Annelise: Good Luck!

    Ricardo: Are they going to ask you to take the TOEFL?

    Facebook is often a lot of fun…

    Other news. DrSita’s in North Carolina right now. Apparently in the airport there’s a mexican restaurant called La Tequileria or somesuch. News of her adventures soon…

    Cut and paste: agaveweb.com/tequila to see a site in progress for some mates of mine in Guadalajara and their new language school.

    I’m starting a new photoblog just for my Through the Viewfinder photos. I’m at the design stage right now. Because of the number of strange looks I get when I’m wielding my dual camera contraption and the occasional person asking me what it is, I’m thinking it’d be handy to have a business card with the site on it so they can see (buy??) the photos and learn more about the technique. Might take a while though, but I want to get something up because the other day I won 1000 free business cards and I need a domain for it. Any suggestions for a domain name? IsThatAPeriscope.com …