157/365 leafy textures

157/365 leafy textures, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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I just felt like something a little bit different today so bare with me while I learn how and when and how much to use textures as a creative element in my photos.

I have a story to tell and its almost killing me not to write it down here but the story just somehow doesn't seem appropriate for right now. Soon though, soon :-P

Big thank you to Virginie Moerenhout who has some beautiful textures on her stream for a) sharing and b) allowing the rest of us to play around with her work. Check out her original picture here.

Much love,
D.

156/365

156/365, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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Sigh. One day I will remember to leave over exposing my photos to post processing. Until then you will have to deal with the occasional loss of detail in photos like this one. Nevertheless, I still like it :)

Wow, uploading three whole days worth of photos today, I'm on a roll!

Much love,
D.

155/365 Cheeky

155/365 Cheeky, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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You know what really sucks about taking one self-portrait every day for a year?... That one lone but gloriously large pimple you get in the middle of your chin that just won't go away. And the whole time its there you're thinking "faaaarrrrkk... I don't even want to look at THAT let alone photograph it"

You know what rules about taking a self-portrait a day for a year in the age of digital manipulation?... The patch tool.

This week the patch tool is my best friend. Not this week as in "the photo you see here" but rather "this week the photos you will see in 2-3 weeks time depending on how I go catching-up now that I am back home in Sydney"

Yeah, I love the patch tool.

And I'm not afraid to admit it.

At least let me keep some of my vanity this year.

Because you know me and I always need a colour version


Much love,
D.

154/365 So hipster

154/365 So hipster, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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So bought a pair of Ray bans today. Not today "the day this picture was taken" but "today the day I am posting this picture which is 3 weeks later". In my defence they were on sale but it was still an extravagant purchase. Anyway, I told Barbie (who hates that nickname but what do you expect when you're dating someone named KEN?) and she proceeded to mock me and call me a hipster. So I called her a hipster, so she... well you get the picture right?

Much love,
D.

153/365

153/365, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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FYI to get this angle my face was essentially bitch-slapped by the foliage... :S

Much love,
D.

152/365 fairy tales

152/365 fairy tales, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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I recently re-discovered this dress while pottering around my house procrastinating. I'm pretty sure it was my sisters year 10 formal dress but she hasn't touched it since then so its mine now Mwahahahahahahahahahaaaa!!!!

Yeah.

Be prepared to see a fair few of these photos in the next week or so. Especially the ones where you see the skirt and not my face because, well, let's just say I was stressed and sometimes looking at yourself on an LCD screen takes more bravery than others... and sometimes one has more time to, I don't know, run a brush through their hair, than others... this was one of those "other" times. Which feels strange to say now that I have been on holidays for a little under a week... that was all a lifetime ago.

Anywho, I think I am going to like playing with this dress :)

P.S. It seems my default "I'm out of ideas but need to take a photo today" look is "pretty"/"girly girl"... I wonder what that says about me?

Much love,
D.

151/365 Lady in red

151/365 Lady in red, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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So today we are back at uni and back in the red dress... in fact we are also back down in the twigs because hey! I liked it and I thought it deserved a series. That and you might notice that over the 2-3 week period when I was doing assessments I was also keeping it simple with one of 3 props available each day - Red dress, green fairy dress (to be seen soon) and navy hat. Lets just say it kept me sane.

Anyway, this photo was one of those that looked a little bland SOOC but that I fell in love with as soon as I edited. Please take a look at the first shot in the comments - I also LOVE this one. It reminds me of a fantasy book cover, dark and ominous, and I like that at first glance you don't really know what your looking at. Its a case of both of these photos telling completely different stories (in my mind anyway) but still being the same picture. So a very close second to the dark sunset.

dark sunset


Just a b&w version


Much love,
D.

150/365 blank.

150/365 blank., a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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It's exhausting staring at a blank computer screen some days. With all the technology these days you'd think my essay would write itself... Well that failed :S

Much love,
D.

149/365 an afternoon in winter

149/365 an afternoon in winter, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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Still catching up on the photos taken during my weeks in photographic exile. Unfortunately that meant not only negligible Flickr time but also about 5 minutes each day during my afternoon break to take a happy snap. So I decided instead to play around with a few newish PS actions.... As usual I couldn't decide on the option I liked best. Actually I lie, I liked them both but decided to go with the one that was different from my usual post processing settings.



Much love,
D.

148/365 braving the water

148/365 braving the water, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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I figure the more times I walk around uni in fancy dress the less people will take notice of me... It had been raining pretty much all week the day I took this shot but I just really wanted a specific photo so braved the weather and water in the red dress anyway... probably not the best idea as not only did I risk the dress but I also got rained on and didn't get the photo... but here is the proof I tried :)

Having lots of fun in Perth at the moment. My sister is the lead in the 3rd year WAAPA musical and I don't even know how to describe how cool it is to have a professional looking program with a photo of my sister on the front cover!!! :-D

She might kill me for sharing this, and if she does I'll take the link down but check her our isn't she AWESOME :D aussietheatre.com.au/features/20-questions/a-quick-chat-w...

The only issue I am having is that apparently we look alike. We don't see it but other people do. I am talking the kind of look alike where a few times at the opening night party, strangers thought I was her and I had to correct them... which is amusing until I realise that it also means I have to be on my best behaviour because people are judging her (and if they think I am her by extension me) and this is her career we are talking about here... a little awkward for your resident introvert really.



Anyway, I've been hogging her computer for a little too long. Toodles

Much love,
D.

147/365

147/365, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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So I discovered today (while on one of my many "breaks" from completing my philosophy assessment) that at some point in time in the last few weeks I managed to break my on camera flash :(... If I shake it around you can hear the little glass pieces in the capsule tinkling. I wonder how that happened? Anyway, as I only have the one camera I guess that won't be getting fixed for another 191 days :-S

Also have 18 photo's to edit before I get on a plane tomorrow night and fly to Perth to visit my sister... This is why I don't like getting so far behind because catching up feels like a chore and I am sooooo over looking at crappy pictures of myself taken on uninspiring days while trying to pack in too many assignments. Can't decide if I want to sigh or throw something *humph*

5 down, 13 more to go... yeah this ain't going to happen tonight.

Much love,
D.

146/365 Evil Car Oil

146/365 Evil Car Oil, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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The basic story to this photo is that I had been driving around for about 2 weeks with the oil light flashing and thought maybe it was about time I solved that little issue...

The longer story is that it reminded me of a time about 18 months ago when the same thing happened. The "fill up with oil" light was on. Only, at the time - for some unknown reason because I swear I am usually smart (not the you would know from my posting sometimes) - I thought it was the "fuel low" light. And I knew that couldn't be correct because I had just filled up the tank with petrol and the fuel gage was sitting pretty on full. So obviously the light was broken and I shouldn't worry about it... he... he... he........ :-S

It wasn't until about 2 MONTHS later when I was driving my dad somewhere and he noticed the light that my assumption was corrected.

dad: why is that light on?
me: oh its just the fuel light. I think its broken or something because for the last few months it stays on even when the tank is full.
dad: What? Let me see? Have you taken it to get checked?
me: nah its all good.
dad: DARCY! That is your oil light! Are you telling me you've been driving around with no oil for months?!
me: .... *awkward silence*... ... ... ... maybe...
dad: Sigh. There is oil in the garage at home. Make sure you fill it up AS SOON AS YOU GET HOME.

So I did... about a week later anyway.

And thats a whole other story. Because you see, I thought your supposed to fill up the oil using the hole the dipstick thing goes in... so I found a very tiny funnel thing and somehow managed to balance it in the right place and then managed to aim the oil from a drop of about 75cm into said tiny funnel into dip-stick hole, into car engine... needless to say it took a LOOOOOOOONG time. But at least that meant I didn't Overfill the oil levels... which is what happened the next time my oil went low and I decided to enlist the help of the warehouse manager at work to fill it up.


Me: So WM, do you know where I can take my car to get the oil filled? The oil light flashed. Oh and I'm pretty sure one of the back indicator lights has blown so I might get that fixed too.
WM: Okay you can take it to... *describes some place and sees the perplexed look on my face* You know what, just walk down the road, but this and this and I'll fix it for you.
WM: So its completely empty you say?
Me: Yeah I checked the dip-stick thing, there is nothing in it at all.
WM: Right, in that case lets just put this whole (4 Litre!!!) bottle of oil in shall we? It should be right then.
Me: If you're sure.

Me:.... 6 hours later, driving down Mona Vale road after picking my cousins up from school... *crap it feels like my accelerator isn't working... double crap! there is a heap of black smoke coming out the back of my car... triple crap! Accelerator definitely not working!!!! please please just make it around this corner...*

Turns out my car only takes about 2.4L oil MAX.... I won't deny it. There were tears. Especially when the NRMA guy told me that I could get a tow but they probably couldn't fix it until tomorrow because all the mechanics clock off at 4 and its 3:15 and the tow truck will take at least 30 mins... yup the water works came out... and dad drove all the way across the city for moral support... and the manager at the NRMA service place kindly stayed behind and got his hands dirty to help me out... yeah, that totally happened.

But the good thing is there have been no such dramas this time around :)

Third time lucky right? Phew!

Much love,
D.

145/365 the bridge and other stuff

145/365 the bridge and other stuff, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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My computer screen is giving me a headache so please excuse me if I don't write a full description.

Much love,
D.

144/365 Reflections

144/365 Reflections, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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Goodness me, it seems to me as if I took this photo YEARS ago not mere weeks. It had been raining so the little stream that runs through most of campus was flowing generously enough that the water appeared clean and fresh rather than murky and stinky. And anyway I was wearing my gumboots and had an hour to spare before my next lecture... So what else is a self respecting girl to do but go splashing in the water? Pity I also forgot my tripod (thought it was in my car but no it was in the garage) so composition options were severely limited. Nevertheless I like how this one turned out :)

P.s. I'm having a real thing for 70s looking colour schemes ATM. Just saying.

Much love,
D.

143/365 Winter

143/365 Winter, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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Its been a while since the red dress got to come out of hiding. Even longer since its left the safety of my house. On this day it actually made it all the way to uni! Not only that but I had to wear it in public just to get this photo... well sort of public. Okay okay! I didn't have the guts to wear it near the buildings so instead thought it would be easier to find the place I wanted to shoot, set up and well, change. There. In public. I swear its not as strange a it sounds when I write it like that. No-one saw anything. Promise.

So there I am, minding my business, playing with the local wildlife, taking photos of myself when a woman who was a complete stranger and didn't seem to speak much English walks up to me and asks for a picture. "You're so beautiful" she says (LOL! I think). Anyway I let her son of about 6 take a photo of us and go back to my photos. But no that wasn't enough, she now wants us to sit on the rocks and pose so she can have another picture. It was just about amusing and out of the ordinary enough that I jest went along with it.

Hey?! Who doesn't like it when complete strangers think your so pretty/ weird??? that they have to get a photo with you just to prove it? I just hope she doesn't think I am anyone famous (this only occurred to me after this whole event)... she'll find herself mightily disappointed.

Anyway, thats my funny story for the day. Who knows, if I keep wearing my red dress to uni maybe they'll get used to it.

Also had a version with a slightly different colour scheme...



Much love,
D.

142/365 The Diva

142/365 The Diva, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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Brown teddy insisted on making an appearance. Who am I to deny him his audience? If I recall correctly this was taken at the end of a loooong day. But it was so long ago who is really to know?

Much love,
D.

141/365 "Look"

141/365 "Look", a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

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Look look look!!!!! I'm baaaaack :)

Now just incase you missed it, repeat that last line in a sing song voice. There you go, thats better :) Miss me?

I sure missed you (or more specifically the entire world in general) but I hate the focus in this photo so please don't judge me for it... a replica has already been taken and corrected its just that this was the only photo I took on this day so I kind of had no option but to post.

So uni assessments are in, well 3/4 anyway and that 75% counts as done right?... sigh, I know, you're right. Its just that it had been so long and I've been living under a rock and you would not believe the limited amount of sunlight that reached me under there :( So I gave myself the afternoon off and edited one photo.

P.S. have I told anyone about how I love procrastinate? Because that long list of 18 photos I have sitting on my desktop waiting to be edited and posted is looking mighty intimidating :S So lets just take this little bit at a time right? I am thinking I'll aim to post 2 pics a day and by that reckoning I'll be caught up by... the 24th June... assuming I find a method of editing and posting when I am in Perth... yeah I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow... :S

toodles :D

Much love,
D.