my camera has been in the shop for about a week now. it’s due back any day now, but of course it’s been a long wait for a photographer. i haven’t done any shoots since it went in, spending my time doing consults, random errands, and attending the wedding of friends in upstate new york. as i returned from new york and ran out of significant errands to do (besides consults), i started to get antsy. today i took shots of random things around the house with my rebel…just because going long periods of time without taking pictures makes me feel strange.

it’s always nice to take a break. when my camera first went into the shop, i saw it as an opportunity to get stuff done that i’ve been putting off that aren’t business related. but now most of my errands are up (woah!)… besides laundry, which i always manage to continue putting off. tonight geoff and i have dedicated to working solely on our wedding…and perhaps catching a missed episode or two of house.

running errands all day long for a business can be rather monotonous. especially when your camera is in the shop. so in between consults, mailing cds, putting together a more cohesive consult binder, and visiting upstate new york (and freezing there), i have been:

1. making button earings

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i got the urge to start making earrings a little bit ago and received some posts and my first hot glue gun on my birthday. how did i manage to go for decades without a hot glue gun? simple: i lived in pittsburgh and frequently stole my mom’s. but now that i’m in north carolina, mom’s hot glue gun is not as easily stolen, so they got me one of my own. :)

hot glue guns reach some crazy high temperature where your skin is easily scalded, so the primary objective was to keep the kittens away from the hot glue gun. of course, anything that kittens are supposed to be kept away from immediately attracts them, so i found myself locked in the bathroom hot glueing buttons to earrings. i have way too many button earrings, but i really figure you can’t get enough. i pretty much have buttons to match any outfit. i don’t know why i like them, and several friends have taken to calling me “coraline”, but i still think they’re pretty awesome! :P

2. organizing my jewelry box

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my sister got me this adorable necklace for my birthday. and in between that and the button earrings i decided it was high time to reorganizing my giant mess of a jewelry box. i got halfway through it when i got overwhelmed and threw a bunch of random earrings into a box that i dedicated to “sorting later,” but we’ll see how that actually pans out. but the button earrings and camera necklace are now safely stowed away when not in use.

3. re-reading old favorites

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my parents found me georgie and jenny’s birthday book and gave them to me over their visit a few weekends ago. they were my favorite childhood books that i got out of the library on a regular basis. it still cracks me up that kids can read the same book over and over again and it never gets old. georgie (above) totally rocks and jenny (below) reminds me significantly of what buckles would look like if he were animated and went on crazy adventures in new york city. it was great to see these books again – good memories!

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4. hanging out with dolfy

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buckles is much more on a schedule than dolfy. buckles wakes up to be fed in the morning, sleeps literally ALL day without fail, and wakes up sometime around 6:00pm and remains awake and ALL OVER YOU until you go to bed. buckles, highly resembling cartoon cat jenny, is difficult to photograph. he is black and often sleeps in dark places. our living room has very low light in the evening by preference, so you kind of have to be purposefully following around buckles with a camera to get a decent shot.

dolfy, however, is awake whenever you are and annoying you whenever you want to be left alone. he has no schedule – sleeping on and off pretty much whenever and waking you up anytime between 2am and 6am, depending on his personal preference that day. he has a piercing ACDC-like meow that he uses constantly and for every mood he has. it’s pretty much like having a two year old child anytime i’m home. he’s extremely demanding. so whether or not i like, i’m always hanging out with dolfy, but not always by choice. :) :P

the camera SHOULD be back this week. if not, i’ll keep shooting with the rebel because i’m ready for my little camera vacation to be over. it’s always good when you take a break though, because often you feel more fresh and creative when you get it back.

my family and U2 were in town last weekend to celebrate my birthday! well, maybe U2 wasn’t there for that reason, but we went to see them for my birthday so that counts. :) this is my second time seeing my favorite band since i was 12… and although i wasn’t entirely impressed with their set list, bono’s voice sounded much better than he had several years ago in pittsburgh. that may be due in part to the fact that the ginormous stage takes four days to put together and take apart, so the boys get a bit of a break between shows. so they sounded amazing, even if a lot of their set list was newer stuff from atomic bomb and all that you can’t leave behind. props to bringing back “ultraviolet” though… one of the best U2 songs ever from achtung baby. it’s been making lots of appearances lately and was on SNL last weekend. woot!

so traffic was horrendous. we live 3 miles from carter-finley stadium and it took us 1.5 hours to get there. yes, hours. really? really. i’ve read several news articles reporting that lots were full, state troopers were turning people away from parking, people abandoning their cars on the freeway and still missed the entire show despite buying $250 tickets. ouch. now, i always recommend leaving early for a concert, but there is a definite problem when people were leaving plenty early and then were turned away by troopers saying lots were full.

major concerts seem to happen much more frequently in pittsburgh than in raleigh. apparently charlotte gets most of our larger performers for some reason. however, i really have never seen such a mess at any concert i went to in the ‘burgh. i chalk it all up to raleigh really just not knowing how to handle the traffic. but concertgoers shouldn’t have to anticipate such a disaster that they feel the need to leave at 1pm to get to a 7pm concert. i also chalk it up to the carter-finley staff taking forever to make change for our $20 parking ticket. :(

well, despite it taking an hour and a half to get from my house 3 miles away to the stadium, we did get there in time. i think we missed 4 muse songs, but that was partially due to people literally taking down the metal fences designed to direct the crowds to specific gates so they could cut in front of other people. it was a mess, people… a mess. it was also kind of terrifying… like being stuck in some sort of awful end-of-days scenario where everyone is pushing, trampling, etc. with little regard to everyone else around them… only instead of escaping from flames or death they’re just trying to get a pepsi before you can.

but besides all that we had actual fun! :P :)

the stage was awesome. i’ve never seen something so entirely cool in all ways possible. it was designed to make the tour more “intimate” by making the stage larger than the venue. when i first heard that description i couldn’t understand how it made sense, but it really did. we had super good seats and, although behind U2, they often turned around and played towards the people behind them… even larry, the drummer, had a rotating drum set. pretty sweet. they’re always super good to their fans.

i so wish i could’ve brought my canon to the concert, but it’s in the shop for repairs. more importantly, too, is the fact that there weren’t any cameras allowed. :) they were searching pretty hardcore, so i left the canon and the backup canon at home. :( i did bring my sony point-and-shoot though, determined to get some images, and got some pretty sweet ones! the noise is high, but i’m still glad i have the pictures. here it is, folks! what looks to be a giant octopus/squid thing that U2 affectionately refers to as their “spaceship.”

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favorite picture of the night by far featuring the incredibly intoxicated girl in front of us during one of her more lucid moments.

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the video screen expanding.

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little walkway lit up. U2 was able to walk across little bridges over the crowd and onto the walkway to play for us folks behind them.

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complete with lots of awesome light shows.

in conclusion, the U2 show was amazing despite traffic and the terrifying crowds. they sounded good, they looked good, and it was a gorgeous night. next time maybe teleportation will be invented and i can just find my way  into my seat with no issues. :)

miss the family though! :( i’ll see them next month for november. thanks for coming out guys! geoff and i had a blast.

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not pictured: mom… off taking pictures of weird ducks beneath the bridge.

exciting news!

the shakori hills fall festival of music and dance is happening tomorrow through sunday, october 8-11th, just slightly southwest of chapel hill in pittsboro (directions)…and carolyn scott photography is proud to announce that we are participating in an auction benefitting the all breed animal rescue of the carolinas! the rescue will have a booth at shakori hills and will be auctioning off merchandise and other goodies to benefit this fantastic non-profit organization. at the booth will be three certificates from our photography business, entitling the winner of the auction to a free photography session, online gallery, and 8×10 print of their choosing. you can use the session for your pets, family, high school senior, engagement shoot, etc. please come out to shakori hills to bid on our certificates and to help raise money for a great cause!

learn all about the festival here and the all breed animal rescue of the carolinas here. i’m happy and honored to be working with them to raise money for their program. please consider adopting a stray cat or dog or being a foster home for animals in between homes. and of course, visit the rescue’s booth at shakori hills to bid on a free portrait session, gallery, and 8×10 print!

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