Tag Archives: photography

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Down with the Tyranny of Fashion

Grandma was stylish and up-to-the-minute back ...

Image via Wikipedia

A few years ago, I hosted a luncheon for a group of female friends. One of my guests wore a lovely twin-set, the height of fashion at the moment. Had she worn it the year before, the fashion police would have pulled her over and given her a ticket. Twin-sets, fashionable in the 40s had been passe for decades.

Twin set: Matching sweater and knit top, frequently worn with a string of pearls. Murder mystery writers often dressed the spinsters who lived in the cottage at the bottom of the lane in twin-sets and sturdy tweed skirts.

Who are they? Those folk that decide what is in or out of fashion? Why do we listen to them? More importantly why do we buy what they foist on us? The most effective way to quash the tyranny of fashion is to boycott whatever offends. Vote with your wallet, ladies.

Take platform stilettos designed – in the short run to break ankles, and in the long run to ruin your back for a lifetime. We couldn’t wait to grow up when we tottered around in our mother’s heels. Now we totter around in our own on which we spent too much money, especially for something that causes personal harm.

Take see-through clothing – designed to cover you  modestly, until you move, then the bits that were hidden are exposed, life imitating the art of fashion.

Take winter boots – that are incapable of protecting the wearer from anything inclement, because they were designed for show not showers.

My personal fashion weakness are handbags. [You can't criticize if you haven't sinned is the theme of a homily I write in my head while riding buses.] If I had the funds, my handbag collection would require a walk-in closet of its own. Handbags are victims of fashion tyranny and really bad taste. Current trends add chains and studs and all manner of unnecessary hardware, so that the carrier looks like a porter for a medieval torturer. Everyone of those hard-edged adornments can run a stocking, rip a blouse or snag a skirt, while at rest on a lap. Why do we buy $200 bags to ruin our $300 wardrobes, not just visually but literally?

Form follow function…please…in fashion.

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When Evil is Black and White is it Easier to Digest?

Cover of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of ...

Cover via Amazon

An Art History instructor once explained to me how much richer my understanding of Visual Art would be if I had cultural knowledge. For example, paintings with Biblical references: If I haven’t read the Bible how will I understand the painting. We’ve lost the art of flower giving, because we no longer learn the meaning of flowers and their colours. Our lives then are in black and white, many of us are missing the subtle shades of grey that add substance.

This thought was brought home to me today as I watched Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I have been indulging in a Potterthon that began with a reading of the first two books and morphed into a movie marathon. When historians revisit the late 1990s and early 2000s, they will have to study the Harry Potter phenomenon. Words were added to the language. References are everywhere, including Love Actually.

The octogenarian cowered in her chair, appalled at the darkness and evil depicted. A very black evil contrasted with the white of goodness. The skies and lakes are grey, but the heart of Harry Potter was written in black and white. Not so evil in the octogenarian’s life. She understands only too well that in the pursuit of good moral compromises might have to be made.

Have we made evil palatable? Is that not in itself an evil act?

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Changing Themes – Like Changing your Hair Style

WordPress makes changing a site’s theme as easy as changing hair styles. I couldn’t resist this new one. Although I did opt for a colour photo in the header, not a black and white as the theme author intended.

My blogs have begun to proliferate like zucchini in a garden. My excuse is that my enthusiasm for new things compels a desire for a new sandbox. Hence my genealogy site, my travel site and of course – my blog for the sound bite reader on twitter. Links are to the right.

Warning: I am working on becoming a certified jewellery instructor for Micheal’s – Magpie Creations will be launched on graduation.

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Road Trip: Spring must be here!

Big day for the octogenarian and me. Our first road trip of 2011. We are in training for the cemetery tour at the end of the month. Mother hasn’t been on the road for any extended time since October 2010.

The plan: 90 minutes to the destination, with a stop en route. Tour the destination. I’ll be doing some ancestry research, so we won’t be returning until late afternoon. That means a lunch stop. If today goes well, we’ll push the limits and try for a 2 hour destination without a stop enroute.

I have to pack the car with emergency kit: blanket, water and windshield washer fluid. Then there is the walker, with basket. Of course, my genealogy road kit, I’ll need to pack that. More practice for the big adventure. Placing things so they don’t rattle and are easy to retrieve when needed takes some thought.

Oy…the binoculars, camera and tripod. We’re going into the country- photogenic country. So there may be birds to watch and photos to take. And that means I need to pack a folding chair. The walker converts to a chair, but it isn’t a comfortable one for extended periods.

My pulse is pounding at the thought of a day away. Spring is here and we’re going on a road trip at last!

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Fooling with Elements of Photoshop

Clipper Adventurer's Anchor
Clipper Adventurer’s Anchor

I use a basic version of Photoshop to manipulate images. My skill level is point-and-shoot. I push a feature button and ignore layer options. Caroline Modolo’s photo of Clipper Adventurer’s anchor on the deck is an example of what I do.

 
I don’t worry about histograms. I prefer to use the smart fix feature. If I have one frustration with the program it is the way it creates its own directories for images. I can never find the photos again if I use Photoshop Elements to transfer images from my camera to the laptop. And its slide creation software is annoying. PowerPoint has more features and functions, but PE produces a PDF slide show small enough to email. So I keep using PE.
 
I’m looking for new photo manipulation software. Any suggestions for a lazy photographer like me?