SOOC #4

After two and a half months of not blogging, I've almost forgotten how! A couple of people asked me recently if I was ever coming back, and I'm happy to say the answer is yes! I never intended to take such a long break, but once you get out of the habit of taking photos and blogging regularly, it can be difficult to start back up again. But I've missed posting here--Instagram is really just not the same, for me, anyway. I will always love reading blogs (and blogging) more. I do still post to IG regularly, and I loooove looking at other people's photos, but I don't really like reading (or typing) on my phone, so that platform will always have it's limitations for me. (I still love snapchat too, by the way; it's a whole 'nother animal, but it's sooooo fun!)

Anyway, on to some SOOC photos. I found a couple of rolls of film from last summer (I think?) in a drawer in my studio, and I just got the first roll back last week. All of this lush greenery climbing up the sides of old buildings makes me ache for summer sooooo bad. We had our first taste of warm weather this past week, and it's been heaven! I heard talk of more cold weather and snow coming for Sunday, but I'm not even letting that get me down because I know warmer days are coming, and everything will be green and gold again. :)

P.S. Hope everyone is having an excellent St. Patrick's Day and doing something fun tonight...if you're into fun, that is. I'm pretty anti-fun, so I'll most likely be staying home lol. :)

SOOC #3

It's been busy around here for the past few weeks as I've turned into a one-woman felt ornament factory, but I wanted to take a quick break from making things to post a few SOOC shots.

I took these photos last year with my Yashica, and I love the sort of quiet, small town vibe they portray, which is not really accurate. I seem to be able to get shots with no people in them on busy streets quite often; I wonder if it's my introvert nature and desire to live in a less crowded place manifesting itself through my photography. Probably.

I have two rolls of film sitting on my desk waiting to be developed, and I can't wait to see what's on them! That's one of the great things about film: I often wait a while to get film developed, and then it's a total surprise when I open the package and flip through my prints.

I'll definitely share more SOOC posts soon! xo, Mary

Golden Days of Autumn

Happy weekend, everybody! It has been a looong week, and I'm looking forward to catching up on some sleep. I'm also excited about maybe getting out of the house with my camera if I feel well enough. I took this photo about the same time last year, and I can't wait till the trees are all golden and dappled in sunlight again. There are just a few trees beginning to turn here and there now.

By the way, this photo is SOOC, and I have no idea how I managed to get such good contrast and color considering the camera I used tends to produce images that are pretty faded and grainy, even more so than my other film cameras. It must have been kismet. :)

I've also got some closets that need cleaning out, and as boring as that may sound to some, I'm actually really excited about it. I've been giving away lots of things to Good Will and reorganizing. It feels so good to get rid of things I've held on to for years, and I mean years. Before we move again, I'm determined to lighten my load, or at least make sure that everything coming with us to the new house is truly loved and/or needed.

Now I'm off to find something delicious for second breakfast. Hope everyone has a gorgeous weekend! xo, Mary

SOOC #2

Here are some shots from the roll of film I mentioned in my last post. These photos were taken last October when we drove out to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I think I'd be perfectly happy spending the rest of my days in a little house down in one of those valleys; it's so pretty there!

Also, I'm going to say this SOOC series is a good exercise for me as a photographer. Like most people, my first instinct is usually to want to crop out that one weird thing in the corner, or adjust a funky color cast, or bump up the contrast. But I actually took one of these and did my usual editing and compared the "before" and "after" side by side, and I honestly thought the "before" was better. It's hard to say why exactly, but all those imperfect images capture the feeling of the day so much better. I can look at these and remember walking along the top of a stone wall with Peter holding on to me so I wouldn't fall. I remember laughing as the wind whipped my hair and skirt around like crazy. I remember what I was wearing and how the sun felt when it finally came out and a million other little sensory details that somehow exist just out of frame in these photos.

I don't think all photos look better straight out of the camera. Most of the photos you see on this blog will continue to be edited in Photoshop. But I'm really enjoying this SOOC series, so I think I'm going to keep it up for a while. :)
xo, Mary

SOOC

Sorry for the unintentional blog break last week...been running around with this guy. :)

These pics are from a roll I just got back, straight out of the camera. My favorite shots from other photographers are usually ones that aren't edited at all, so I decided to start sharing more of my SOOC photos too. We're so used to seeing images that have been heavily photoshopped, or vsco filtered, or whatever. And I think it's sooo nice when I come across a set of photos that hasn't been retouched or color-corrected at all. So I'm going to try to remember to share more of mine!

This week is going to be majorly productive. (I'm writing that here to hold myself accountable haha.) But really, I know it will feel so good at the end of the week to feel a sense of accomplishment, and I'm ready to get some projects out of my sketchbooks and out into the world! xo, Mary