A Day in the Life of Katerina Vodrazkova

November 15: Katerina Vodrazkova of Over the Rainbow Prints

All photos in this post are taken by HTC mobile phone and some of them processed by Snapseed app.

I was looking forward to the Saturday 15th November as I was going to visit a wool exhibition and planned to share some photos with you, fPOE blog readers.

I started the day by walking to the farmers market. It is approx 3.5 km from my home and the walk goes through nice residential area with nearly no cars there. This brisk 30 minute walk became a part of my health/fitness routine long before I started with running and so that is how I usually start my Saturdays, get some fresh veggies and take a tram home (I do not like to walk back with full bags of groceries).

Another part of this little routine is buying something sweet from a baker that specialises in French luxury tartlets and macaroons. This time I tried the tartlet with milk chocolate and passion fruit topping. Yummy.

After getting my groceries home I set off to the wool exhibition. I am not only a photographer, but I also make felt and fibre accessories and home decor, that you can find in my KV Designs Etsy shop and I planned to buy some new material. Not that I necessarily need any, but you know how it is with craft material :)

The exhibition took place in the stables of Toulcův Dvůr. It is a little farm in the middle of the city with many ecology and sustainability activities organised for children and schools during the week.

And here comes the main catch of the day – I was so taken to admiring and touching and cuddling all the lovely soft woolly and silken yarns and scarves and other goodies, that I forgot to take any photos. So at least, when I got home I took few photos of the goodies I bought – some merino silk for sea inspired scarf or tunic, some mohair and locks for adding textures. Cannot wait to use them in my projects.

When I got home it was time to make a cup of tea and bake some cupcakes for Sunday. Baking sweets is another of my favourite pastimes.

I bought those little cute Christmas cutters in bottom left corner short time ago and was eager to try them out. I can report they do not work, because they are too small so you cannot get the shape out of them :)

And that is all for today.

A Day in the Life of Patricia Migliore

October 15: A Day in the Life of Patricia Migliore of Roselight Studio.

Wednesday, October 15th was suppose to be a vacation day for me! My husband had a weeks vacation and we had planned to be down at the Jersey Shore for a good part of the week.

But when a regular client contacted me with a job, it was impossible to turn down the opportunity to work. So we trimmed 2 days off our planned getaway so that I could photograph an internal conference at the local convention center for a major international pharmaceutical company.

I cut my teeth as a photographer in my 20's doing just this sort of work for a large insurance company and I know that the pace is going to be grueling.



After finding a place to safely stash my extra equipment and having a good look at my schedule, I make a quick stop at the coffee station to get a bit of caffeine to keep me going. Then I head in to the ballroom to find myself a seat that gives me good access to photograph the podium and move around the room without getting in people's way. Since the events are being webcast internationally, I take a quick scan of the video set up and their line of view to make sure that I stay out of it!


Test shot of the podium. This is going to be my view off and on throughout the day. But this is not all sitting around!! The presentations in the ballroom are just a small portion of what is planned so I am racing in and out at a quiet but rapid pace.











If I am not running, I am waiting. I must keep my cell phone on but it is kept on vibrate (throughout the conference, I am at the beck and call of literally a dozen people!). But when things get slow, I surreptitiously check it for business emails and really important stuff like the news feeds of social media!




Whats in the bag?? Two Nikons, three lenses, one Quantum Q-Flash, three Quantum batteries, a JustRite Bracket, one Nikon SB-800 outfitted with one pretty expensive piece of Tupperware that I have borrowed from a friend to try out before buying (the jury is out on this one.......somehow I resist spending $125 on something that needs gaffer tape to keep it in place). Also; extra batteries and media cards. If this isn't enough, there is back up equipment in the car.









This conference is not about pharmaceuticals......it is about food....endless amounts. The continental breakfast gets cleared away and morning coffee and snacks set up. That gets cleared up for lunch....which gets cleared up for afternoon coffee and cookies.



And that is not all! Every trade booth has a candy bowl. You can tell Halloween is just around the corner.

One trade vendor had a popcorn machine.

Photo 8: Favorite trade vendor giveaways: pens and thingies that you squeeze to relieve stress. Every conference I shoot, I try to get a unique one. I have a little doctor, a lobster and now a pony.

This conference spread across two buildings connected by a covered walkway. When the participants go off to break out sessions, they are spread across two buildings, two floors and six meeting areas. EVERYTHING must be covered and I race back and forth between buildings, up and down floors and in and out of rooms. At one point, I realize that in one building, there are speakers giving seven minute presentations and in another building there is a panel discussion at the exact same time. I do a quick estimate and decide that if I photograph one speaker right at the beginning, I have approximately 12 minutes to dash to the other building to photograph the panel and dash back before the next speaker is wrapping up. That's the game plan. My speaker goes up. But she keeps her eyes cast down on her papers as she speaks. Not good. I stand there, camera up to my eye, watching for my chance. My brain is screaming "Look up, look up, look up.....PLEASE look up!!" Finally she does, I get my shot and off I race. I got them all. Comfortable shoes!

Little breaks in the covered walkway showing off the hotel landscaping is my entire view of the outside world for two days. But that is ok. As Wednesday ends, I race home where husband and dog are waiting. Within 45 minutes the car is unloaded and reloaded and we are heading south!

A Day in the Life of Dorothyann Strange

September 15:A Day in the Life: Dorothyann Strange of Right On Strange Photography with iPhone photos

I am so glad that September 15th was the day chosen by fpoe so that I may share this experience with you. Today is the day my husband and I will meet a group of our friends from our church in Ohio at the Benedictine Archabbey and monastery in St. Meinrad, Indiana. As my husband and I are in the long process of moving from Ohio to Indiana, we are already nearby to this special place. It's a 6-hour trip for our St. Aloysius Church group.

We start our trip with coffee and breakfast at a nearby restaurant as we still don't have our fridge or cupboards stocked with anything useful to eat at the spur of the moment (we slept in this morning-yikes!).

Must…stop…at antique shop! My husband and I have a weakness for all things old and so antique shops are difficult to pass by. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without, fortunately, as we are moving into a much smaller home and don't know what to do with all that we have or at least don't agree on what we should get rid of.

We meet heavy traffic on the way to the monastery.

The two spires of the archabbey greet visitors miles away and is always a welcome site. The monastery is located in the middle of a national forest and with the twisted ribbon of highway snaking up and down, left and right through the hills, travel takes longer than expected (can you hear "are we there yet…?)

Our church group has never been to a monastery and my husband has a long history at St. Meinrad having attended high school and college back in the sixties here. I brought my three children here for many years to explore and play while my husband attended board meetings and have developed warm friendships with a number of the monks. This beautiful place has a calming, peaceful ambience that our Ohio friends will enjoy.

My husband and former classmate Father Harry struggle with computer issues before Father's presentation. A young seminarian comes to the rescue and Harry commences to teach us the history of monastic life and the Benedictine traditions of the St. Meinrad monastery. The latin phrase "Ora et labora" translates to 'prayer and work', and is the Benedictine mantra. Essentially, it means to pray and then to put your prayer to action. Harry says that in practice, it is "ora et labora et labora et labora…", a Benedictine joke.

Afterwards, I walk through the monastic campus to enjoy the night sky bright with stars, a hooting owl and the silence of the forest. I have always loved the calm of this secluded place and the warm friendships of those who choose to live here.

A Day in the Life of MelaLuna Moonbeam

July 15th:


Hello! My name is Mela, I love the fPOE community and so wanted to give the “Day in the Life” challenge a shot :)

At this juncture of my life, I am a self-employed “multi-artist,” as my partner calls me. My business has multiple facets, including my photographic ventures, but I also read astrology charts and have a very strong interest in internal healing arts and martial arts and do a bit of teaching. As such, on any given day I’m usually engaged in a number of different things, and it’s perpetually changing. These days my photo business is the highlight, as I’m in the busiest season of the year, doing weekly art markets, and attempting to strengthen my online presence for the off-season!

July 15 was a nice, pleasant and mellow day for me, and I really liked taking pictures all day – it made me appreciate the little things more, instead of always flying by the seat of my pants! Ha!

So with all that – here it is! My day in the life…

…

Every morning when I wake up I always look out the window first thing. Basically, I guess, I’m checking the weather and trying to figure out what time it is. I live on the north side of the mountain so I can usually tell by where the sunlight has landed whether or not I’ve slept in for way too long ;) In early mornings, there can be a beautiful misty fog that hangs in the valley – but no such luck on Tuesday cause it was overcast!

There are a few rituals that happen every morning. This morning in particular I felt the need to record my dream from the night before, which I often do in a specific journal (fuzzy monster journal, apropos right?) I use for recording things like dreams, card readings, or anything else of a symbolic nature. There are times where I get into interpreting it all, but a lot of the time I don’t have the energy beyond jotting a few things down.

Once I’m up, I go to visit my altar space where I always light a candle, and start the tea. I often will do some kind of meditation practice, though just as often I feel pressed to start working right away. I find, however, that I feel more at ease if I take even just a short time to practice invocations, quiet sitting, or read the I-Ching before I dive into work projects.

I found the hawk’s feather while out in my yard the other day. A friend told me that it is a symbol of spiritual messages.

This is my lovely living room. Sometimes I don’t get a chance to appreciate it, but it is a beautiful place.

Now – work!

Lately I’ve been slaving away at these new wood block mounted prints. I think I started off with a simple idea but then got into this whole acrylic glazing/epoxy resin ordeal… and there’s been endless trial and error. However, when done correctly, I love the finish. The ones pictured here were dried and I put them out to cure.

OK, So evidently I worked for ten seconds and immediately needed lunch. Sometimes I’ll get so involved with my work that I won’t eat all day long, but on Tuesdays I do 3 hours of martial arts training in the evening so I need to make sure I eat a good lunch!

Quesadillas – easiest food to make with leftovers. Just butter up that pan, throw cheese on a tortilla with some hot sauce and put whatever veggies you want. Done.

After that I needed to digest, so I spent some time on Etsy fixing up my shop, doing promotions – whatever it is that I do there. Look! There’s a bunch of fPOE’s I was researching.

I have an actual office in my house but I often end up in the main room when I’m doing computer work because it’s so sunny and bright with lots of greenery to look at.

After working online for a bit I went to add another coat of varnish to a small batch of wood block prints. I took a picture of myself all geared up with my respirator and paint clothes but I looked ridiculous so you won’t see it, ever haha.

Anyhow, once that was through, I only had a little bit before I had to leave, so since it was it was such a nice day, and I had camera in hand, I took a wander about the yard.

There were lots of pretty rhododendron flowers to admire and wineberries to eat.

My yard is just full of flowering plants, fruit bushes and trees, and so many other great things. They bloom and fruit all spring, summer and fall! The rhododendron forests are completely wild, and cover the entire mountainside with pretty white (and sometimes purple and pink) flowers! Other things I see a lot are azaleas. I never used to care about flowers, but ever since I moved to North Carolina, there’s just so many and it’s great!

At around 3:30 on Tuesdays I meet my partner and we travel together to his internal martial arts school. He is an amazing master teacher, and also a great mentor to me in my life pursuits since he’s also a working artist in his own right. We set up the school together and chat, usually. I sweep the floor, answer the phone, collect tuition. It’s a really demanding job – ha!

This particular day I had some homework to complete – reading chapter 48 in the I-Ching, “Well.”

…The well is deep

The water is shallow

The rope is short

The bucket is broken...

My spiritual and martial arts life is very important and key to everything else that I do. I see it as a way of life, and something that my soul understands. In the most concise terms, my martial arts training keeps me grounded in my journey here on earth -- able to survive, and adaptable to change.

On Tuesday nights we practice Tai Chi. In the second / entry level class I am also an assistant teacher, which is something I really enjoy. We usually finish up around 8PM but this particular night we ended up staying very late having a discussion with one of my classmates, and got a super late night dinner at this foodie cocktail lounge next to the butcher’s shop – they served stuff like porkbelly poutine and rare salt-cured hamburgers.

It wasn’t our usual night, but it was good and ended warmly. Everybody was exhausted, and we all went to our various homes where, for me, I relaxed a bit and went to sleep!

Alright – so there it was. July 15, 2014 through the eyes of Mela!


More places where you can find Mela:
http://melaluna.net // astro.melaluna.net // http://etsy.com/shop/melaluna

Caryn Drexl :: Featured Photographer

Have you ever been curious about the mind of a surreal photographer? Caryn Drexl answers a few questions about the inspiration and process behind her dark and moody portraits.

What are five words that describe your photography style?
I actually struggle with how to describe my work constantly. Surreal, conceptual, creepy, artsy-fartsy, and...weird?

How do you choose your subjects (between either a model or a self-portrait)?
It depends. Some ideas are self-portraits from the very beginning, often because it's something personal, others end up self-portraits because I'm the only one available at the time. Sometimes I alter ideas to fit a model, sometimes a model inspires an idea. But it always has to fit, if it doesn't I won't shoot it until it does.

What are your creative influences?
Everything! It can be the light in my backyard, an old painting, a trip to a craft store. I often get inspired at the strangest times, like in the shower. When I purposely look for inspiration I'll watch old movies, look at images [online] and figure out what speaks to me and how I can take the aspects I love and make it into something that's mine.

Learning to Sin

How do you prepare for a portrait shoot, or do you prefer spontaneity?
Again, it all depends. I try as often as possible to know what I'm doing and how I'm going to do it beforehand. Sometimes when I'm missing pieces of the puzzle I'll stand in my studio room and just look around at all my stuff until something clicks, or I'll break down the pieces I've already decided on to see if I can continue on with the theme or concept. If I've created a back story and a character it's important, to me at least, that all my choices go with that. Other people might not see it, but I'll know! Sometimes I create my own props and clothing, sometimes I spend hours shopping for these things. When I'm shooting with other people I always try to have multiple ideas to shoot, and I'll have everything as ready as possible, and a plan for the order in which I'll shoot things, just to make it worth their time and have everything go as smoothly as possible.

The Strands We Twist

What moods or emotions are you trying to convey in your portraits?
I don't have an overall plan or idea in mind for all my work. Each piece, for the most part, stands on its own. And generally speaking, I shoot for myself, and with some images I'm telling my own story, so while it's nice if people get what I've done, it's not a must for me. I started taking self-portraits as a teenager in the 90's as a way of dealing with things in my life, and in a way that still continues. Sometimes though I just shoot stuff I think will look pretty!

What are your portrait photography goals- upcoming projects or career paths you would like to try?
I do have some series I want to work on. I'm also trying to do more mixed-media work, because I really enjoy when I get to be hands on. I want to be more patient with some of my bigger ideas, because sometimes when I can't shoot them for whatever reason (usually money!) I scale them down and then end up disappointed. And I'm trying to branch out into mentoring and small workshops because I've found I enjoy helping out younger or beginning photographers who want to branch out into the more surreal portrait area.

:::::

Time to Start Over

To see more of Caryn’s work, visit her at the following links:

ETSY SHOP
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
BLOG
TWITTER

fPOE Member of the Week...Holga Jen

fPOE Member of the week is Ontario, Canada photographer, Holga Jen.

Her Etsy Shop.
Her Blog.
Her Flickr.
Her Website.
Her Facebook Fanpage.