Martina's Design Studios

One Thousand Roses

Martina's Design Studios — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:12:13 +0000

This photograph is worth
One Thousand Roses to Me.
I am worth one thousand roses.
I did not stop and smell the roses.
I bought them.
On a whim, just because, just for me.

I bought a smile for my face,
I bought a subject to photograph,
I bought inspiration for my words.
I bought passion for my photographs.
I bought more than just a bunch of roses.
I bought one thousand roses to illustrate the one thousand thoughts I’ve had today.

Broken Camera…No Blog show…Last Photo

Martina's Design Studios — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:45:44 +0000

Help! I can’t believe that my camera is broken. It displayed an error message yesterday during my photo shooting of the snow. When I tried to turn off the camera, the display was still showing until I removed the battery. When I got home, I later took off the lens to see that the mirror was in lock up. I can’t even turn on the camera. I get no response.

I have to search for a repair location now. Not sure if Nikon takes camera repairs directly. The camera is most likely out of warranty. What will this cost? Gee, how long will that take?

Be careful what you wished for you might just get it? I secretly looked at the newest cameras, but only to dream, I don’t have the money for it now. The new one won’t make me a better photographer. Besides I loved my Nikon D300s, I planned to keep it for at least a few more years, it is only about a year and a half old. It hasn’t paid for itself yet.

When one door closes another door opens, doesn’t it? Maybe, there is a hidden reason here for this? Maybe I can start my opinionated blog. I need to stay connected to my followers somehow. Maybe I can shift to my focus more towards my reading and writing in more depth.

Perhaps I can start a fund-raising event for “my camera fix fund.” I can locally hit businesses with the idea of hanging up my work on their walls. I can stand on the street asking for money, I can wait outside the grocery stores with a brochure or business card. (the ones I’ve been meaning to make, well now I have the time).

Photography has always been the constant in my life. When interests and ideas come and go, my camera always brings a smile to my face. I am always happy to be picking it up at any time to capture the world around me at any moment in time.
My camera is my canvas. My camera is my medium to deliver the messages I enjoy sharing.

It is a part of me, it became me, it became my message.

For now, I take a moment of silence as I mourn an inanimate object.

“Lost Without You”
It was my tool.
It was my passion.
It was my focus.
It was part of me.
It was part of my life.
It helped me reach out to you.
It connected.
It communicated.
It spoke no language.
It delivered what your eyes interpreted.
It cared the same way I did.
It has vision.
It had a life of its own.
It had compassion.
It had a heart to help.
It gave me words to speak.
It was me in all creativity.

My camera gave vision to my photographic journeys.

Boo-hoo!

Awaiting in Earnest…Lessons From the Young.

Martina's Design Studios — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 05:04:24 +0000

Lessons learned from my young children. My little boy here, he looks out and waits patiently as others pass him by on their sled. He doesn’t pay any mind to the excitement found around him. He would rather be in his own little world, making his own discoveries right where he is…(Isn’t that inspiring?)

He soon ventures out of his comfort zone to watch the action and eventually ventures out on his own knees. He is not bothered that he is without a sled. In fact, he has made himself quiet comfortable being who he is, where he is…
(why do so many adult have a hard time with this? Being uncomfortable being themselves among the crowd?)

He finds himself out in the open snow hill among other eager children…(why are adults so afraid of their own risks? Afraid of sharing who they truly are inside?)

He decides to use what he has (himself) to have his own fun, no matter what anyone thinks around him. (Why are we NOT so free at expressing ourselves and giving it our all and dancing like no one is watching. A lesson learned indeed).

Happy and content he will be as he doesn’t bother with the fact that he does not have his own sled. He actually is happy walking and crawling on his own, he enjoys watches those around him… (Why can’t we as adults be more comfortable being who we are instead of conforming to the norm just to fit in?).

Until he is carried away because he is in the way. He was in his own world and happy as can be, why can’t we? (Yes, why can’t we learn something in an observation of a child who does not care what others think, do or say around him? He has his own mind and it is made up and he is not afraid to show it!). I applaude him!! I have learned from him.

A lesson learned indeed. We are conformists. If we stand out from the crowd then we are afraid to stand out amongst the crowd. We fear rejection. We fear not feeling like we fit in, we conform too often.

It is so comfortable to be in our comfort zones.

Rays of Hope

Martina's Design Studios — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:28:20 +0000

Rays of hope.
Blue skies.
Clouds move overhead.
End SOPA.

Sun Warms.
Circles the world.
Rays of Hope.

Make Friends.
Learn Something.
Share something
Do Something.
Discover Talents.
Express Creativity.
Bring your World to Me.
Welcome to my World.

The Sun Shines on you Today.
The Sun Shines on me Tomorrow.
Here.
There.
Everywhere.
One World.

The Circle.
No Start.
No Stop.

End SOPA.

Peace, Love, Prosperity.
Rays of Hope.

Rays of Hope…..Today

When the Snow Begins to Fall….

Martina's Design Studios — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:00:45 +0000

…You get out your camera and capture the flakes floating in mid-air.

…You add a kid and a shovel and they will help dig your car out.

…You add another kid and he will start to clear the snow off the front of the car.

..You add another kid and he will begin to clear off the back of the car.

…You see the final inspection and last sweep of snow.

Mission is complete.
Where work is fun in the eyes of children.
They were all so eager to help without being asked!
Thank you guys!

The Future is Here…

Martina's Design Studios — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 19:23:14 +0000

I shopped through the supermarket aisles to pick up cold medicine, cough drops, and headache relief to help ward off my cold, or to think I am. Common colds have to ride the wave don’t they? I stopped to take a closer look at the coffee sold here.

Can you notice the changes from the left to the right side of this photo?

This is what you get tomorrow at yesterday’s same prices.
More of Less product.
Check it out.

The pre-printed price labels are already permanently attached with the weights listed in oz. Everything looks as it should. There are just a few more bags to sell, before the new ones are the new norm. It won’t be long before the “sale” comes out and people think that they are saving money, because those prices were inflated long ago last year.

Still waiting for pay checks to increase the same way the illusion of keeping prices the same, isn’t really the same.
Wouldn’t it be nice to open an envelope and see an increase in your paycheck without being told you were getting one?

Is this future subtlety a way to manufacture future false predictions with statements that tell how much prices are NOT going up? Technically they are not, but you don’t even know that they ARE. You will be shopping more often for the same product.

2011 vs. 2012

If You Watch a Sunset….

Martina's Design Studios — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:58:41 +0000

….You will see the drama of the sky unfold before your eyes. (It’s better than watching water boil).

Try not to stare straight into the sun…

Start to see the colors appear…

Wonder and watch how many different perspectives of the same sunset come to life…

The amazing sky will dramatically change before your eyes, full of fabulous color, patterns and textures…

Your mind will not fathom what the eyes saw and the camera tried so hard to capture…

Images will appear more like a painting than a photograph…

The Artist will imagine what could be painted from your photograph…

You find unique ways to crop out the obstacles below…

You can even end the viewing with the showing of a full moon, to begin again…

Don’t forget to Thank your friend for keeping an eye on the kids while you were too busy keeping focus on the evening sky while adjusting the manual settings on the camera accordingly and running around to get unique viewpoints. Thank you dear friend Steph….

If you Give a Boy a Bowling Ball…..

Martina's Design Studios — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:50:34 +0000

….Stay out of the way.

Don’t pay attention to the fault light…

Discover how they can move…

Feel their new found strength…

Be excited for the gutter balls…

Add your bowling ball to their aisle…

See them get so excited that they will jump up for joy…

All in a day of winter break fun!

Winter Captures

Martina's Design Studios — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:12:47 +0000

As I look up to the sky a couple nights ago, I see an awesome display of winter in the sky. It sure doesn’t feel like winter with the sun shining through the glass and lack of snow. Ok, don’t get upset if we do get 3 feet of snow later.
Photo was darkened a bit in LR3 to bring out the contrast to that interesting middle spot that intrigued me so.

Winter's Sky

Today, an Eastern fox squirrel paid a visit on the back porch. Squirrel’s belong to the order “Rodentia” family and the squirrels have over 365 species in seven families.

Careful not to disturb the squirrels curiosity, I captured this image through the dirty glass door. “Hit me with your best shot,” here it is. Happy hunting my squirrel friend, he must be after the berries left on the trees out front.
We will have to leave some critter crumbs for him later. He’s a good vacuum cleaner, although I don’t think the food found on the porch is proper for his diet, or for humans either.

Winter's New Friend

Life. A Mystery.

Martina's Design Studios — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:42:38 +0000

Life.
A Mystery.

Reflections of 2011.
Thoughts for 2012.

Projections in the mind.

A mystery.
Not to solve.

A Life.
To live.
Live it well.