What is in your Emergency Kit?

On Saturday nearly 200 people descended on the air-conditioner-less Stake Center and pitched in to assemble 72 hour emergency kits for the developmentally disabled of Washington County.

I had the enviable task of photographing this event. Enviable because I did NO work whatsoever!! I just walked around, poking my nose in and snapping pictures. Truth is, I feel like I missed out. Everyone was having so much fun making the kits! Don't get me wrong, I had fun also, I just didn't contribute much.

Here are a couple of my favorite shots from the activity:


Isn't he a cutie? Paying such careful attention to his mom... I'm sure he had some suggestions for her, also.

Great hands! Three nice ladies, all busy making first aid kits.

Now, for the big question - What is in YOUR Emergency Kit?
Yes, there's food and bandaids and water and a blanket... but what are your secret "Must Have To Survive" items?

Here are a few of mine.

1) Tweezers
One word - splinter. uh huh. Now you agree with me, don't you? Last thing I need in an emergency is a splinter. Or a hang nail. Must have tweezers. In a pinch I can do with a loop of thread, but I'd much rather have a good sturdy metal tweezer with me.

2) Nail File
Don't look at me like that - you know my hands never get a manicure. But I do have rather brittle nails which tear easily, and a nail file saves me from ripping the nail down to the cuticle. Definitely a need for survival (especially if I need to be chopping wood or putting up a tent!)

3) Book
Something to let my mind escape. If it's a very good book, when I'm done, maybe I could barter off readings for chocolate... hehe...

4) Paper and pencil
Keep a journal, write a HELP ME note, whatever - can't go anywhere without paper and pencil.

5) Small glow in the dark Star Chart

6) Two dog collars, treats and food.
I don't care what disaster takes place, I'm not leaving without my dogs. And if the rescuers get snotty about it, I'll stay rather than go. I guess I'd better add a "king sized down comforter" because my spoiled dogs may refuse to sleep on the ground. heheh!!

Manga!

You won't believe this, but I think there's actually going to be an entertaining movie coming out this summer!


Julie and Julia looks look so much fun!
But I think this is one movie where we'd better eat before we go.

Practice makes perfect

Or, in my case, practice pays off big time, but if the bug holds still it sure helps!

Click the image for full sized - it's much better.

Speaking of which, I need some more practice.
Would anyone like to be my guinea pig?
I'll do my very best to capture your fabulous-ness. :)

Castle!

Castle is back on television!

If you haven't already become a fan of this murder mystery television show, you should check it out. Season one is being re-run on Saturdays on ABC. Get your TiVo set up. :)

You've already missed Episode One, but it's available for the next few weeks on the ABC website and Hulu (which links back to ABC).

This is an adult show, not for the kids. I find some of the crime scenes disturbing, but they go away quickly and the rest is great stuff. I really love the daddy/daughter scenes, and who can pass up a chance to watch Nathan Fillion (aka Malcom Reynolds, aka Captain TightPants).

Wait.
Don't tell my mother I wrote that last part.

Blustery Spring

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.
April showers bring May flowers.

At least, that's what my mother taught me.

It's been a typical blustery Oregon spring so far. I just wish it would be sunny on a weekend - long enough for me to get out and take a few pictures of the gorgeous blossoms that are cycling through the trees.

This last week I noticed that the dogwoods are in full bloom. I really love dogwoods, despite their rather erroneous and dour reputation. The fabulous textures - strongly veined petals with a hard little nub at the end - and the dusky rosy colors all add up to be one of the most interesting flowers. Just four petals. That's all it takes to make me happy.

I ran across something interesting while I was taking the dogs for a walk. A tiny blue eggshell, sitting right in the middle of the street. The wind was up, so I ran for home to get the camera. (The dogs weren't happy about their walk being cut short, but I gave them a good tummy rub to make up for it.)



I just love the stark contrast between the fragile shell (with its tiny lining intact), the high relief of the asphalt and the lengthening shadow.

Color indexed B&W

Sometimes color just doesn't do it for me.
I know that sounds odd, but black and white photography can bring out details that we miss because of the way we emotionally respond to color.

To illustrate, I've taken the photo of the yellow tulips and huge wooden shoe from my last post , and played with it a bit. I love the results!

You can just hit a button and turn any photo to black and white using the free software that abounds out there. This is what you'd get:

Original



Black and White



Not terribly exciting, eh? So, try color indexing instead!
Color indexing means that you tell the software what is white and it adjusts the rest of the spectrum for you.

For example, this is what I got when I told it to index on yellow. All the yellows turned to white and the greys work down to black from that point.



Pretty blah. That's because there is SO much yellow that when it turns to white the photo is rather blown out.

Instead, I chose blue as the index color. Because there is little blue in the picture (just the shades mixed with the green of the stems) the flowers suddenly have a lot of detail - all that yellow is seen as shades of grey.



I think the result is fabulous. (And a bit eerie!)

Tulips in the Rain

Several weeks ago I signed up for a photography seminar to be held in conjunction with the Woodburn Tulip Festival. I was very excited, not only to hear the lecture, but to play with the expensive cameras!

The two days before the seminar were beautiful and sunny, and guess what? Yep, Friday was overcast with showers, turning the tulip fields into squishy beds of mud. Worse, the delivery of expensive equipment was mis-shipped, so none of these shots was taken with a $5000 camera. *pout* *whine*

Ah well, we still had fun!

Sadly, we had little sun, and I'm a lover of shadows in my photos, so the conditions were not ideal for me. On the bright side, you didn't have to carry around a mister to make the flowers look all dewy! :)

If you get a chance you should head down to Woodburn. The weather has been cool, so the tulips are just starting their big show now. In fact, they've extended the festival to the first week in May. Make sure to let the kids play with the rubber ducky derby and ride the cow train.


(As always, try clicking on the pictures for a larger version!)