Lowen Photography

Moving

2009-03-21T16:05:00.003-05:00

So. I suppose I should publicly announce my new blog (even though I've had it for over half a year, now).

I will now be posting the majority of my photos at www.laurenmaxwell.wordpress.com

Any other photos, along with blather about stuff in general, at www.midgetramblings.blogspot.com

So. Head on over. Change your bookmarks. Have fun. Get bored to tears. But come back anyway. =)

Mini Photoshoot

2008-12-26T10:50:00.004-06:00

2009 Calendar

2008-11-27T13:09:00.000-06:00

Hey y'all!

If anyone would like to order a 2009 calendar (with my photos!!) leave a comment. I am ordering one for myself (at $7.99), and you get a better deal if you order more than one. I might charge you like, two extra dollars so as I can make a profit, but trust me, it'll be a lot cheaper than most other calendars you can find. Hopefully, if I get all the orders in on time (lets say...Dec 9th), you all will be able to have them before Christmas. They are being ordered via VistaPrint, a company about whom I've heard many good things.

Anyway, if you're interested...comment away!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Of People and Things

2008-10-06T21:34:00.000-05:00

2008-09-04T11:13:00.001-05:00

This is what I do...

2008-08-06T20:07:00.003-05:00

when no one will have a photoshoot with me.

Stuff In General

2008-07-19T15:08:00.001-05:00

Downtown Kansas City

2008-07-10T20:20:00.006-05:00

Oops....

2008-07-09T16:01:00.003-05:00

I just discovered that I accidentally deleted an entire folder full of really good pictures.

A few of the pictures I wanted wouldn't open in Picasa, so I imported them. I asked that the location they were imported to be "Random", hoping they would show up in my current "Random" folder. Instead, they created a second "Random" folder, and placed the imported pictures there. (The pictures were already in the original "Random" folder, they just weren't showing up in Picasa...weird, I know, but that's how it works.) Since I didn't need both folders once I had done what I needed to do, I attempted to delete only the second "Random" folder. I had done this before many times with no problems, but this time, I somehow deleted both folders without realizing it...

To make matters worse, after I get out, I run CCleaner, which, among other things, empties the recycle bin.

I'm really annoyed.

Architecture

2008-07-08T18:18:00.002-05:00

"Music is the Poetry in the Air"

2008-07-07T18:00:00.004-05:00

I like this one a lot...

2008-07-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

Self-Portrait

2008-07-03T20:12:00.005-05:00

Just thought I'd share this with you. It's my favoritest self portrait ever. I experimented with a lot of stuff on this one. I think one of the reasons I like it so much is because I wasn't expecting to come out this well. I was bored one day and just started taking pictures of myself. I'm actually right in front of my window--in the original you could see the blinds. In fact, I think I'll show you the original!

Cool, huh?

Miscellany

2008-07-01T12:29:00.003-05:00

And the Winner is....

2008-06-30T10:46:00.003-05:00

In 1st place, winning a framed and matted 8x10 of his choice: Connor!

In 2nd place, winning an 8x10 of her choice: Mazy!

And, in 3rd place, winning a 5x7 of her choice: Kristen!

Congratulations everyone!

Things

2008-06-26T18:06:00.004-05:00

I just printed my very first enlargement! I printed up this picture as a 16x24. It looks really good. The resolution isn't perfect; according to several different websites, the largest decent sized picture my camera should be able to print up is an 8x10. I think, however, that once this is framed and all, the casual observer (read: anyone other than my picky little self...), won't really notice the fuzziness.

And one thing about choosing your photo if you win the 'contest'...The resolution will be best on all pictures that you see after December '07. The ones before that were taken with a 5 megapixel camera, and therefore do best in a 5x7 or smaller. The only difference will be the sharpness of the picture when seen up close.

P.S. This is my one hundreth post!

AHEM!

2008-06-16T21:00:00.003-05:00

Lowen Photography is giving away a free photo!!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, with a way for me to contact you, be it a blog or an email address.
Deadline is June 27th, 11:59 PM, your timezone.
Winner will be drawn at random and announced on the blog on June 30th
Winner receives an 8x10 Lowen Photography photo of his choice, matted and framed.

(P.S. You can also specify B&W, Sepia, or Color)

The Rest of the Little Flowers Photoshoot

2008-06-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

Little Flowers Photography

2008-06-10T19:32:00.004-05:00

All these pictures were taken by Grace, my 10 year old sister, and the person in most of my photoshoots. I'll probably post some more tomorrow.

More of Grace

2008-05-19T21:15:00.002-05:00

Grace in Black and White

2008-05-08T20:43:00.004-05:00

Inside

2008-04-28T20:23:00.002-05:00

Tulip

2008-04-19T16:57:00.002-05:00

Flowers and Experimentation...

2008-04-15T21:15:00.004-05:00

I was actually too short to get these shots, so I had to get a stool to stand on. In this first one, I didn't move the stool over to where it needed to be in order for me to see what was in the LCD screen, and so I stuck the camera out and shoot blindly, with the super-macro setting, and ended up with this interesting perspective. I actually kind of like how it's blurred in the front and focused in the middle.

Piano

2008-04-15T13:00:00.001-05:00

Daffodils

2008-04-07T16:02:00.003-05:00

Indian Creek Trailway, March 20th: Part Two

2008-03-21T17:47:00.002-05:00

Indian Creek Trailway, March 20th: Part One

2008-03-21T17:45:00.001-05:00

Spring?

2008-03-18T12:24:00.001-05:00

Pleasant Hill, MO

2008-03-11T11:47:00.004-05:00

The Road

2008-03-08T13:53:00.001-06:00

Violin

2008-03-05T16:42:00.001-06:00

Because everyone else is doing it.

2008-03-03T21:18:00.006-06:00

My Photo-A-Day blog.

New picture everyday except Sunday.

Even if its only a close-up of my eye.

Mostly for my own enjoyment--I don't care if you don't go.

But at least you know.

Snapshots

2008-02-29T19:40:00.003-06:00

More on Jones Soda contest

2008-02-25T11:33:00.004-06:00

If you want to see the current ratings of my photos, or just want to see if I've added any more, go to the Jones Soda Photo gallery and type my name, Lauren Maxwell, into the search bar. All my pictures will say "Kansas City, MO" underneath my name.

(click to make larger)

Vote Now!

2008-02-23T18:03:00.012-06:00

Hello everybody!!

I have just uploaded a few photos to Jones Soda Co. and have a chance at getting them used on upcoming Jones Soda bottle labels.

I need your help, however. (Yes, I wanted that to be cheesy.)

You need to go here and place a vote. Preferably a high vote. (Just so you know: Each computer can ONLY vote for a picture ONCE. If they see an IP address attempting to vote too many times, the vote count will be reset to zero. You are allowed to vote for more than one picture, but you can only vote one time for each picture. Sorry if I'm being redundant, but I really want to be clear on this.)
*NEW* http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918465
*NEW* http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918456
*NEW* http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918454
*NEW* http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918457
*NEW* http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918461
*NEW* http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918462

http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918380
http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918384
http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918381
http://www.jonessoda.com/gallery/view.php?ID=0000918378

Keep checking back, because most likely I'll be uploading even more photos soon.

Snapping Turtle

2008-02-23T16:30:00.002-06:00

2008-02-23T16:03:00.000-06:00

More Cloudy Skies

2008-02-20T17:26:00.002-06:00

Cloudy Sky

2008-02-19T16:09:00.001-06:00

Missouri Capitol, Jefferson City, MO

2008-02-12T17:27:00.000-06:00

2008-02-11T14:15:00.000-06:00

Hints of Spring

2008-02-09T17:03:00.000-06:00

Colors

2008-02-07T14:58:00.000-06:00

2008-02-06T07:57:00.000-06:00

From October

2008-02-04T13:06:00.000-06:00

More photos shot from out the car window...

2008-02-02T18:48:00.000-06:00

This last one is my favorite. Hmmm...I should clone out those tree branches in the background.

"The grass withers, the flower fades..."

2008-01-28T15:57:00.001-06:00

The Balloon

2008-01-28T13:07:00.000-06:00

"Thou hast made...winter"

2008-01-22T16:49:00.000-06:00

I love, love, LOVE icicles!

Going Home...

2008-01-19T14:42:00.000-06:00

A few really old ones that I like

2008-01-17T17:25:00.000-06:00

These were all taken in Estes Park, CO in 2006 with my 4 meg Olympus something or other.

Close-up

2008-01-07T22:12:00.000-06:00

Tree Shots

2008-01-05T18:04:00.000-06:00

These were all taken in my backyard. Enjoy. :)

OK, so this might not qualify as a "Tree Shot", but I wanted to put it in anyway.

[Untitled]

2008-01-01T12:04:00.000-06:00

More Snow and Ice Pics

2007-12-29T18:45:00.000-06:00

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful...

2007-12-28T17:05:00.000-06:00

I'm Watching You...Always Watching (Part Deux)

2007-12-28T17:03:00.000-06:00

Snow

2007-12-27T12:07:00.000-06:00

View from my front yard.

Not sure if this is blog-worthy but...

2007-12-26T15:47:00.000-06:00

This was the best picture I was able to get yesterday of the Plaza Lights

Happiness...

2007-12-25T21:17:00.000-06:00

I hope all of you all had a great Christmas!

This post is simply to show of my brand new Fujifilm FinePix S700 that I got.
It has 10x optical zoom and 7.1 megs. Among other stuff.
Here is a sample of the amazing picture quality. Click to enlarge.

2007-12-24T21:57:00.000-06:00

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...

2007-12-22T19:00:00.000-06:00

This is pretty cool...

2007-12-21T20:25:00.001-06:00

An older picture...

2007-12-19T14:02:00.000-06:00

Another Photoshoot

2007-12-11T13:14:00.000-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2007-12-05T21:17:00.000-06:00

Tomahawk Trail Part II, Nov 2007

2007-12-01T16:38:00.000-06:00

Tomahawk Trail, Nov 2007

2007-11-30T16:37:00.001-06:00

Football Pics

2007-11-20T20:50:00.000-06:00

For Kristen...

Deanna Rose ~ Overland Park, KS

2007-11-15T17:40:00.000-06:00

Grace...Again

2007-11-14T17:14:00.001-06:00

Announcement

2007-11-13T20:18:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to alert y'all of the name change.

It recently came to my attention that there was a huge grammatical mistake in the name (It says "Vide", but should be "Fide"; so instead it means, "See, Courage, and Work". ) So. I'm not gonna use it anymore. I had been contemplating a name change for about a month now, anyway, seeing as VVL was long, and potentially hard to remember, spell, and correctly pronounce.

The new name is, however, grammaticaly correct, easy to remember and say, and much easier to spell. It is now Lowen Photography.

Please change your bookmarks and RSS feeds to the new site.

UP NEXT: Grace's violin pictures

Family Photos: Part III

2007-10-30T12:35:00.000-05:00

Family Photos: Part II

2007-10-29T15:52:00.000-05:00

More pictures from Saturday.

Family Photos: Part I

2007-10-27T20:34:00.000-05:00

These are a few of the pictures I took this afternoon of my family. Hopefully I'll have more up by Monday, and probably some more throughout the week.

Sorry they're out of order. :-\

Isaiah

2007-10-13T20:45:00.000-05:00

Self-Portaiture

2007-10-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

Lake Lone Jack ~ Lone Jack, MO

2007-10-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

Sneak Peek: Lake Lone Jack

2007-10-02T11:32:00.000-05:00

Swope Park and The Kansas City Zoo: Part Two

2007-09-13T20:29:00.000-05:00

If you look really closely you'll be able to see a rhino

"Coke Machines in their Natural Habitat"

It was really hard to get a good picture of these baboons, beacuse the lighting wasn't any good, and there were lots of people.

Never Forget

2007-09-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire

And her people blown away

Have you forgotten when those towers fell?

We had neighbors still inside going through a living hell

And we vowed to get the ones behind bin Laden

Have you forgotten?

~Darryl Worley

Labor Day: 2007

2007-09-04T10:08:00.000-05:00

Pictures from the Labor Day picnic at our church. I'll pick up with the KC Zoo series by Thursday, hopefully. (I might have some pictures from later today to post, too...) :)

Hope y'all had a great Labor Day!

Swope Park and the Kansas City Zoo: Part One

2007-09-01T12:44:00.000-05:00

This didn't turn out like I had hoped, but I thought the angle was interesting.

I like the way this little girl is standing there, completely oblivious to the fact that I'm taking her picture.

The turtle closest to the bottom of the picture has moss growing on its back. Click on it to see it larger.

Landscapes

2007-08-25T15:34:00.001-05:00

Bella

2007-08-20T14:28:00.000-05:00

Baseball

2007-08-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

Work

2007-08-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

I'm sure y'all remember this tree. Its featured in all of my outdoor photoshoots. It's gone now....

Once again, I didn't do anything special to these photos. Just very minor corrections.

Combat

2007-08-06T11:55:00.000-05:00

I didn't do much of anything to these photos other than color correction, and some other small corrections. I figured I should probably keep from adding softlgow, and thereby creating more of a feminine feel...These are, after all, fight shots.

Photoshoot: Part II

2007-08-02T10:54:00.000-05:00

This one was cropped, sharpened, and slightly desaturated.

I cropped this photo, then made it black and white.

I started out by sharpening this one; I then made it black and white, cropped it, and added some softglow.

Once again, this one was cropped and sharpened. Then I added softglow, sepia-toned it, and desaturated it.

I cropped this photo, then added softglow.

This shot was warmified, desaturated, and then cropped.

I cropped this, warmified, and then desaturated.

So...there you have it. There may or may not be a part III--I'll have to see about that. There will, however, be a new post very soon, with pictures of hand to hand fighting. Should be interesting.

Photoshoot: Part I

2007-08-01T18:17:00.001-05:00

All I did with this picture was to simply change it from its original color to black and white.

This one just needed a little sharpening.

I sharpened this one, added some softglow, then cropped, added more softglow, sharpened again, then turned it into a black and white.

This one didn't need much, I just sharpened it and cropped it.

For this one, I sharpened it a little, then warmed up the color tone. This created an odd orangey-brown tint, so I did some auto tuning, sepia-toned it, and then desaturated it.

I started out just sharpening this one. Then I decided to add a bit of soft focus and glow.

First, I made this black and white. Then I added softglow and sharpened it up.

This one started out a bit blurry, so I sharpened it, saturated it, and added softglow. I made it black and white, then cropped it and added grain.

This one started out as just a normal picture with a dull color to it. I tried to brighten it up a bit and give it some interest by first cropping it, warming up the tone, and then adding some soft glow.

I started out by cropping this one. Then all I had to do was to add some softglow.

This one was sharpened, cropped, saturated, and then changed to a black and white

For this shot, I began by sharpening. Then I warmed it up, desaturated it, and, once again, added some softglow.

This one was quite simple--all I did was make it black and white.

I sharpened this photo, then added some glow.

I cropped this one, added soft glow, then turned it into a black and white photo.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll have part 2 up.

More People....

2007-07-31T20:59:00.000-05:00

I was looking through my archives and found some really cool people pictures I haven't posted yet. Here you go...enjoy.

This one was a candid shot that I took in the middle of a photoshoot. She was looking up and about to say something when I snapped it. I sharpened it a bit, added some glow and VOILA!

I desaturated this photo a bit and then added a bit of grain to give it a softer look.

This photo was shot just after the last one, and is, again, a candid shot. Sometimes those are the best. I shot it in black and white, so I did very little to it, other than add a bit of a glow and slightly saturated it.

This is a candid shot of my older brother. I didn't do much editing, aside from a wee bit of sharpening. Unfortunately, I don't know why that black dot is on his ear. I'll have to get rid of that somehow.

Photoshoot with Grace

2007-07-30T22:36:00.000-05:00

Bridges

2007-07-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

Slideshow

2007-07-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, the sound got messed up in the video, and it ends up being pretty loud and funny sounding...

Macros

2007-06-11T11:11:00.000-05:00

Randomness

2007-05-26T20:14:00.000-05:00

Swope Park, Kansas City Zoo

2007-05-24T16:41:00.001-05:00

These are all I have right now, because my computer was acting funny, but I'll post more by Saturday.

Tomahawk Park--Kansas

2007-05-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I went a little overboard on the softglow effect...

I'm running out of Title Ideas...

2007-04-30T12:21:00.000-05:00