just another occasion to wear a party hat

dear home,
I don't really need a reason to wear a party hat but when the opportunity presents itself, why not?

While I don't look quite as festive as Chris, it's not for lack of celebrating.
After a long time thinking it through, I've finally decided on the colors I want to use for my branding and what I want my logo to look like.

Seth traded this shoot way back when for logo design when I finally got my idea. I sent him a photo of my idea as soon as I came up with it and he sent back a logo that is so me.
I still need to work on making Brendazzle Photography a legitimate business but this is a start. The name is much more professional sounding than my previous idea (shuttered smiles) and captures my personality a little better. It's going to be a long process but I'm looking forward to it.

chalk [I heart faces]

When I first discovered this week's theme over at is chalk, I wanted to do a cutesy little people-with-chalk-thought-bubbles shot. My mother quickly reminded me that I could do so much better and stand out from the crowd with a shot from the Lake Worth street painting festival. I used another shot from this event for the "hands on" theme and had a gallery published through FAU's University Press.

It still amazes me how such wonderful masterpieces can be created from nothing more than chalk and pastels.

I chose this shot because, while it isn't my favorite from the day and certainly isn't perfectly lit, it really demonstrates the emotional pull that art can have.

breathe in, breathe out...

I've been keeping quiet all week, waiting to hear definitively before saying a word. I've been unable to get my eyes to focus for almost 2 weeks. I was getting conflicting guesses to what the problem could be and quite a few of those did not bode well for a career as a photographer. But I think I found an optometrist with an answer I can live with. The idea of having one pair of glasses for shooting and another for post-processing (okay, more like a pair for daily living and another one for working at my desk) is much easier to stomach than the idea that I have a problem with the muscles or with my brain.

While I'm waiting the week for the new glasses so I can see again, I'm continuing to exist in a state of denial. I'm refusing to let my inability to see get in the way of taking great photos. Today I shot my cousin using only manual focus and I managed to nail about half of them without being able to focus my eyes.

Seuss racing [I heart faces]

This week's theme over at is vroom, vroom. Obviously, a simple person-with-car shot would never be found in my photos and I wasn't going to just take one for no reason... but I did have this amusing shot of Doug from our epic family vacation.



I wish I could be more coherent about this but this week is a bad week for good word usage.

the calm after the storm

I just finishing writing a paper that took more out of me than I even knew I had. So I am going to spend the rest of tonight staring at the photo and thinking calming thoughts...

...at least until I go camp out for the midnight release of Reach with Doug.

life with Ida

As I alluded to yesterday, I got back my first roll of film shot in Ida. I did a super awesome happy dance when I opened the envelope and saw that my shots actually came out.








I'm not so happy with the way they scan or the way flickr is treating them but this is supposed to be a fun learning experience.

And it was totally worth it for Ida to steal the spotlight at our shoot with Rachel.

Ida loves Rachel a lot too.


Now the next question is whether I want color negative or slide film for Ida's next adventures. (Maybe it should be "who is going to pay the $12-15 dollars to develop the specialty film she takes?")

what's black and white and awesome all over?

I just got back from 60 Minutes Photo to pick up the prints from my first roll from Ida. I am seriously in love. Ida is a 1950s Kodak Signet and calculates exposure with a slide rule. Focus is very iffy and there are almost no controls. She has a fixed focal length so using her is an exercise in creativity and adaptation. And oh, how beautiful black-and-white film looks when seen through her eye.



This is just a teaser to tide me over while I scan the rest of the prints.

ignite your passion

Tonight, I wanted to do some light painting. Since my tripod was still in Dave's van, I called him to see if he could let me retrieve it. When I explained what I was planning, he packed a bag of goodies and set out with Doug and I. While the Target glow sticks weren't really bright enough to make good shots, Dave's plans made for some interesting shots.

The first thing out of Dave's bag was some isopropyl alcohol. Doug and Dave worked together to make a heart and Doug lit it. (We used a long candle lighter and do not advice anyone attempting to replicate this, as now both boys have hairless hands.)




Of course, Dave didn't want to be outdone and decided to make blue flame in a flask and then in a bottle. Woosh!

Half the time, the alcohol wouldn't ignite until after my shutter had closed and would be burnt out by the time I could get the shutter open again. But this shot was absolutely, perfectly timed and makes me super happy.

And then Dave had to secure his position as my go-to guy for light painting by bringing out his miniature Tesla coil.

It looks like a fairy tale to me.

I cannot wait to get better glow sticks and get to the park before it's closed for the night. I bet I can get the three of us to glow on the swingset.

a day out with my heroes

It all started with Dave needing to run an errand and wanting someone to ride along. He was already my hero by then for saving the tea party with a HUGE extension cord. But I digress. Doug and I decided to ride along with Dave down I95 to Hypoluxo. We opted to take the side roads back when I saw towers in the distance and decided to investigate. That began our great adventure.

Hypoluxo is known for the Barefoot Mailman and once we found the statue, the boys decided we needed to do a barefoot walk through the scrub.







Dave was really into the ecology of the scrub habitat while Doug was more into just exploring. So while Dave was showing me awesome ants (not pictured for the safety of the squeamish) and an endangered air plant, Doug was relaxing in the breeze. And me? I was collecting 'sand glass' and poking rusty things.



While Doug was lamenting the sad state of his poor toe, I somehow talked Dave into climbing the awesome tree (barefoot, of course).




As we were heading back to campus, we passed the most beautiful buttercup loveseat I have ever seen. So I asked Dave to turn around so I could check it out. I could not believe anyone could be getting rid of one of my dream props so Dave knocked on the door and asked if we could have the couch. Hello, hero.

And poor Doug had to use his body to brace the couch in the van all the way home. (Sorry moms!) He is totally my hero for not only protecting Princess Buttercup but for also waving to cars as we passed by and not freaking out about the long climb uphill around the port.


Since it was an impromptu couch adoption, we didn't have a proper way to denote our open trunk transport. So we used a Reese's wrapper.

It looks like it belongs in my life.


For the record, I am totally dragging this couch out to shoots. It's so much fun.

sandhill cranes and empty showers

Yesterday was one of those days where I shot a little, wandered a lot, and took a break from schoolwork. I wasn't originally intending to but I ran in to my favorite cranes ever when I went to pick something up and I just had to run back with my camera.

For the record, they do not like either the sound of my shutter or my auto-focus beep because the male got frightened and flapped towards/past me to scare me off. I wish I had a shot of that but I was trying to protect my camera and got a 70-300 lens to the chin.

I also went with Doug to finish up moving his stuff from the apartment to campus and ended up thinking for a little while in the bathtub. I do my best thinking in an empty tub in a quiet room. Weird.


I also loved the detail of the faucet. I'm eccentric sometimes but I think it works out to my advantage.


And just because I enjoy random statistics as much as the next person, I am about to hit 400 photos on my flickr.

life is sweet

After last night's cavity-inducing post, the last thing you need is any more sugar. Unfortunately, I still have photos to share from making s'mores in the housing courtyard on Wednesday.

I opted not to post these photos then because they would have gotten lost when the anniversary post went live 2 hours later.


I just love watching the flame lick the marshmallows.


I'm also trying to remind myself that high ISO noise is not the enemy. See? Brad totally doesn't look like he got splattered with neon paint.

one year [plus a day]

Doug and I had a wonderful anniversary. Apparently we are so cute that we induce diabetic comas in everyone we know and everyone keeps asking us when we're getting married.
I didn't really get too many photos tonight because I was more interested in spending time with Doug (and also because I stayed up too late last night watching Doug's face when he read the previous post). But I did get photos of the adorable Pacman cupcakes my roommate baked for us.



om nom nom love.