Scavenger Hunt Sunday 052911

Nice to see you all again... I was absent last week, so I am thankful I was able to hunt all items this week. My share:

01) Classic Still Life

When I first read this prompt, the first thing that came to my mind were fruits, but because it's been raining the whole week here, I wasn't able to go out and buy all sorts of fruits. Thankfully, we have this old fake fruits table decor, so I went to the storage room and took it out. Our house today is a mess (as we were cleaning the house for a celebration next week), so I just used one of our cleopatra chairs to add a bit drama to the background.

Editing this picture, I ran the Duotone script followed by the National Geographic script (both you can search for at the GIMP plugin registry), before applying two layers of Kim Klassen's yesteryear texture, one set to normal 70%, the other to overlay at 100%.


02) Self Portrait

After doing the laundry, I helped mom clean the kitchen. Instead of mopping the floors, we decided to take the hose and water the floor (too many paw prints)! Since water on marble floors can be a bit slippery, I took the electric fan to help dry the floor quick while my mom and I were scrubbing the floors and mopping them after. Finished, my face was sweating (err, "glowing," as K would say it), so I went near the fan to cool myself. The air blowing my hair made me remember an old Selfie Magic prompt (until now I still haven't joined though I want to), so I took out my cell phone in my pocket and took pictures.

03) On the Floor

My cat Teddy the night before she gave birth. We had three cute kitties come morning, but sadly the older cat Orange-y bit the kittens (he was able to locate them) thinking maybe they were mice. I buried the three kitties yesterday.

{Also linking this picture to Camera Critters}

04) Lines

Sunset last Thursday was so magical for me. I shared some sunset pictures already, and this one was taken after the short shoot. When I passed by the terrace I just loved the blending of colors, but since my camera can't seem to get the correct color of the sky, I just used my cell phone for this.

This was SOOC. I hoped to do something about it... but each step I made caused it to look darker, so I will just stick to the SOOC version.

{Also linking this up to SOOC Sunday}

05) Fresh

Freshly painted fingernails! The family is going to attend a wedding on Tuesday, and since their motif is purple/pink, I decided to paint my fingernails to help me find a matching outfit for it. :) I was able to buy a blouse yesterday. Anyway, I did the laundry this morning and helped with the cleaning of the house, so the polish already chipped off... I will just manicure my nails tomorrow, using the same polish, of course. I am happy I can now do my own manicure.

All pictures taken using my Sony Ericsson K800i cell phone, except for the "Classic Still Life," which was taken using my Canon Powershot SX130is camera.

*** Jenn ***

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 050811

Happy weekends, shutterbugs! Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend... and to the mothers, Happy Mother's Day!

My brother is about to set up the table for dinner, so I will go and make this post real quick. Here are my pictures for this week's Scavenger Hunt:


01. SOOC

One of the last grasshopper pictures I took last Friday. I loved how the grasshopper moved and still not mind about my camera (I tend to get my lens as close as possible whenever I take macro shots), but I really struggled with my camera's settings because it was dusk already.

{also linking this picture to SOOC Sunday and Camera Critters}

02. Sprouting

Sister bought a bag of special kind of soil and a bag of vermicast for the basil and mint, and since I am struggling with my little tomato project (I did plant some seeds before but they died), I decided to try once again. Last Monday, using a small microwavable plastic ware (the disposable kind), I used the special soil and the vermicast, and the sprouts looked like this last Friday. I laid out four columns of three seeds per column, but one column is still not sprouting that time - but they did this morning. I do pray these tomato plants will not die on me.

03. Isn't it Ironic?

Yesterday, sister and I attended Yves' first birthday at Jollibee, a local fast food. While we were eating, the store's mascot entertained the guests and welcomed people who would like to have their pictures taken with the mascot, and I did find it so ironic that these 20-something women were so eager to have their pictures taken (to the point that they left their foods at the table), while they try to persuade the little boy to pose for pictures. :)

04. Lazy

During a time when going to the mall meant traveling oh-so-many kilometers, the family tend to celebrate life moments by cooking home cooked meals. Now that the mall is just 15 minutes away from our house, we just celebrate it by going to the mall and eat out... and yes, part of it is because we do feel lazy planning and cooking for dishes anymore.

By the way, I used the Kim Klassen portrait texture for this - set to normal, with opacity of 65% before applying the unsharp mask.

05. Smells Like Spring

Borrowing a picture I took last week because I wasn't able to take any "spring" pictures (aside from the tomato sprouts), and it was raining all afternoon today. We don't have spring here in the Philippines, but I think the first quarter of the year is when most flowers are blooming.

Brother is now calling for dinner, and my net book is flashing the "low battery" sign, so I am now closing this post. Thank you for hopping here.

*** Jenn ***

Scavenger Hunt Sunday 050111

This week has been a lax one for me - brother flew to Cagayan de Oro to be with his girlfriend, and the sacks of rice were not delivered yet, so I need to stay at home. That means, I wasn't able to go out and hunt the items, and this week, I am using a mix of pictures I took this week and from the past.

01 - Architecture

Something I took last March, this was a part of St. Michael the Archangel church in Bacnotan, La Union. I also used an old paper texture by Mourningstocks, which I downloaded from HERE.


02 - Rimmed with Light

I really struggled with this prompt because I couldn't achieve such effect using any of the lamps / flashlights we have at home, so while walking home from the market just outside our neighborhood, I saw this and thought the clouds were rimmed with light. Well, I am not sure if I got this prompt correct, if I didn't please tell me so I could change it. :)

03 - Toes / Feet

Another picture I took last May, this was one of the pictures I took after buying a pair of Anna Sui footwear at a garage sale.




04 - This is My Favorite

This morning, my sister and I went to the Sidcor Weekend Market, and even if we had a specific reason to go there (mostly for garden purposes), I still was able to capture pictures of the flowers, and among the 10 flower pictures I took, this was my favorite.

I am also linking this picture to SOOC Sunday. I just think the flower looked pretty as is, no need to do anything to it. Well, I am thankful I got the exposures and shutter speed correct for this picture.

05 - Shade

Another difficult prompt for me because I don't own any sunglasses, our windows don't have blinds, and the sun / trees didn't give that shade effect I was hoping for. This was a picture I took from the weekend market (again), while I was hunting for an available space in the mess hall. It's summer here in the Philippines - scorching hot (temps not going below 30*C) - and the way for these merchants to keep their customers in the shade was to make use of tarps, sacks, and nets to block the sun rays.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

*** Jenn ***

Scavenger Hunt Sunday - 022011

My take for this week's prompts:


01 - Chocolate
18 February 2011
{Canon Powershot SX130is}

Sister bought herself two Boston Creme donuts from Dunkin' Donuts before going home from an all-night party with friends, but she wasn't feeling well the whole day after she got home, so she just gave her donuts to brother and I.

I found the chocolate topping a bit sweet, so after a bite (and taking this picture), I scraped off all the chocolate before eating it again.



02 - Numbers
20 February 2011
{Canon Powershot SX130is}

My cell phone Cysho (read: See-Show, a Sony Ericsson K8ooi cell phone) has been with me for three and a half years now. It wasn't my first choice of cell phone (I wanted a Motorola V3x that time - similar to what my sister used to own), but when I saw this at a store having an NTC (National Telecommunication Commission) seal, I decided to buy it as it was within the same price range. When I first learned how to use the macro function of its camera, I then realized I made a good decision of buying it... and I still am amazed at how great it is in capturing images. Cysho and I have come a long way, and I am looking forward to many more years of capturing life moments together.

I took this one using the "Miniature Effect" on camera.


03 - Canned Food
20 February 2011
{Canon Powershot SX130is}

Not a good picture, I know... I guess I am not inspired to take a picture of canned food this week. :)


04 - Music
07 February 2011
{Canon Powershot SX130is}

This iPod Nano (which I named Zoe) was something I won from a Coke Zero contest in Facebook. This was awarded to me 26 February last year, but believe it or not, it was just this month that I decided to use it. Of all the gadgets that came out, the MP3 player was something I never got interested with, which is why I am also asking myself why I joined the contest, but when I got it, I thought of selling it... but my sister was discouraging me again and again. Realizing this has been in my closet for nearly one year, I decided to take it out and pollute it with MP3 files I have in my netbook.

My sister and I are traveling north this coming Friday (we won't be home 'til March 06), and I guess I can count on Zoe to entertain me during long land travels. Song on play when I took this picture was "Thinking 'Bout Something," from my favorite band, Hanson.


05 - Stack
16 February 2011
{Canon Powershot SX130is}

When I received an invitation for the Max's Corner Bakery blog event, I tagged my sister with me and we took home lots of baked goodies, including a box of macaroons. I know most people are familiar with the circular shaped multi-colored macaroons, but here in the Philippines, we also call this pastry macaroons - made with dessicated coconuts, flour, sugar, and milk. It's a habit of mine to take pictures of each of the food items before we eat it, and my way of photographing these macaroons was to stack some of them just to break away from the usual way of photographing foods. My family did wait patiently for me to finish with the shoot before I let them eat it, but yes, I did hear some complaints here and there while photographing the macaroons.


All of these pictures were SOOC - I am bit lazy to play with their colors this time, so I am linking these to SOOC Sunday, too.

*** Jenn ***