(Around 7pm tonight)
This is turning into a very interesting night in the thriving metropolis of Dundalk, population a big 2,000 and temperature -5 °C. Right after we got home from work the power went out and it has been out ever since, which meant cold roast beef sandwiches for supper and a quickly cooling house. It was prime rib roast though, so they were really yummy!! Luckily, I had fully charged my laptop last night, and it has an amazing battery that lasts about 7 or 8 hours, so I am drafting my blog by candlelight.
The only problem is that there is something about the power going out that has turned my husband into a complete and total nutcase. Daniel and Mike were playing cards for a little while and they were laughing, yelling at each other, and basically acting like crazy people. Now we are all sitting in the dark living room, and Mike won’t shut up. It is like he has diarrhea of the mouth and it only gets worse the longer the power stays out. He is making up all of these outlandish, fake stories about his childhood, and they are really funny because they are so outrageous, but I don’t think he has closed his mouth once. I think Daniel is going to kill him LOL!!
(About an hour later)
Yayyy!!! The power is back on, but my story continues. As I tried to concentrate on editing photos and writing this blog amidst my husband’s non-stop babbling, a thought occurred to me. Why not take advantage of the pitch dark and experiment with my camera? I have never tried to take photos of lit candles before in a dark environment, so this was the perfect opportunity. Now keep in mind that I did not have any time to research any settings, so this is pure experimentation.
And just for fun, I’ll end off with a totally abstract shot. I think it’s kind of cool! I guess this just goes to show that I can make any situation fun :).
photos from the loonybin 
very pretty – that is so funny about your husband–at least he was emitting hot air!
Thanks and yes, he certainly keeps us smiling :).
it was cold and he was emitting hot air–you must be tird my girl–I wanted a ha ha or an lol
LOL!! Sorry LouAnn – I guess I’m just so used to him emitting hot air 24/7 that I didn’t even think about it helping to keep us warm (and yes, I am tired). 🙂
Very nice… I didn’t know you were the keeper of “Ted” the talking teddy bear…maybe that is why the hubby was acting crazy…. he needed his ‘Thunder Buddy’ (hopefully you have seen the movie) oh and by the way… I like the title of your entry tonight…. had me wondering what you were about to blog about!
Saw Ted, loved the movie, and bought the DVD, and I thought that if the house got any colder I would let Mike use me as his Thunder Buddy. He could cuddle me and pet me…….and then I remembered that our kid was home. Darn!! LMAO 🙂
Love these photos and shows an active mind to make the best of any situation… well done… love it..
Thanks Bulldog :). I usually don’t consider myself all that imaginative, so I was really excited when the idea popped into my head, and I was quite happy with the results!
Nice photos. Is Mike scared of the dark?
Nope! He was just in one heck of a goofy mood. It’s good to laugh like that though I’ll tell you :). So many people nowadays are just far too serious. My house really is the Loonybin, and I wouldn’t have it any other way!!
Lovely images. Sounds like the whole family had fun
Thanks Edith! It was actually fun to have a different night like that, but we were still very glad when the power came back on :).
‘an amazing battery that lasts about 7 or 8 hours’ WHOA! What kind of computer do you have? Mine is rubbish!
I seriously love these pictures Cindy, big thumbs up! 😀 The second one is definitely my favourite, the lighting makes it look all really eerie and magical, and the texture of the candles look beautiful and smooth. I reckon you could sell that shot to someone no problem, as a card or a picture etc if you wanted to.
It’s amazing how the power going out can make you so creative isn’t it? The same thing happened to me a couple of years ago, that’s actually where my blog pictures came from! My gravatar with the candle and the book, and the book that is the header on my blog – they were all pictures I took from when the power went out and I was writing my diary by candle light. 🙂
I just recently bought a new HP laptop, and I didn’t realize until after I got it home that it has the larger battery in it. I have never had a laptop that would last on battery power for more than about an hour and a half, so this is certainly a treat!!
Thanks so much for the awesome comments about my candle photos. You really made my day 🙂 because as I said, it was all experimentation, and I was happy that they turned out at all. You described them as “eerie and magical” – that sounds like the type of books we like to read doesn’t it? LOL
Photography at this time of year is harder for me because I’m not a cold weather person, so it’s always nice when a creative wave hits me so that I don’t run out of blog ideas. It was fun trying something different last night. What a coincidence that you had a similar experience. By the way, I love your gravatar picture. It looks so inviting, like I just want to grab a book and sit down and read :). Thanks again Becky! Happy reading :).
Those candles pictures look good! I started shooting night photography last fall when we were on vacation. I’d not done it before and just stood there and tried it out. I’ve discovered with night photography that there are no one-size-fits-all answers and your results will vary wildly depending on ambient light and other things. So keep on experimenting.
My husband is the same way with the jokes and talking. I put a link in here where he had me share one of his bawdy jokes with my blog friends.
http://livingtheseasons.com/2011/07/25/thanks-for-air-conditioning/
Nancy
Thanks Nancy – I’m so glad you like them. The biggest step for me in the last year was switching from “auto” to “manual” on my camera. There is no way that I could have achieved the shots above using “auto” because the flash would have popped up every time. I still have a great deal to learn though, that’s for sure.
As for our husbands, yours sounds like he would get along very well with mine. Check out the comment he just made me put on a friend’s blog. http://ouradventuresincanada.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/for-good-luck-rub/
That was hilarious! Yep, my husband would say that too!
How do we put up with them??? LOL!
Your husband’s stories might make great blog posts! Love the candle pics but was also looking for one of him (underlit) like in a Twilight Zone episode. 🙂
I know – I should have been tape recording him or at least taking notes because he was hilarious :), and we had so many candles and flashlights out that I could have done some amazing funny face shots, but I never thought about it at the time. Oh well, with him around I’m sure there will be a lot more opportunities for craziness!!
Well, usually the lights going out are a reason to groan, but sounds like you had a great time.
We did – it was a lot of fun where it could have been awfully boring otherwise :).
great experiment, I really like them
Thanks Mr. B! My son had a photography assignment over the weekend where he had to take certain types of photographs in particular categories, and it was really hard to think of ideas on the spur of the moment. My imagination doesn’t work very well when I have boundaries like that. I much prefer my candle experiment where I just start messing around with my camera to see what I can come up with :). Does that make any sense?
total sense, I do also like being restricted though, it’s not always easy but it can push you to create some of your best work because you need to move out of your comfort zone.
Yes, that is very true :).
It sounds like your husband can’t stand the quiet anymore. Maybe next time you should make sure you have fresh batteries & a battery operated radio so he can curb his verbal diarrhea. Loved the photos. How did you get the last one without burning your face or your camera?
Note to self – stock up on batteries for radio. You are so smart!!! LOL! I’m glad you enjoyed my candle photos, and it’s funny you should ask about the last one because I took the shot and then wondered to myself if it could have been bad for the camera :). I did zoom in quite a bit though so there was no danger of burning.
Glad I could help! I have a Chatty Cathy for a hubby, so I’m fairly familiar with this when the power goes out.
And they say women talk a lot. I think they got that all wrong :).
I agree with you! Hubby could talk the hind leg off a donkey!
LOL 🙂
I love taking pictures with candles 😀
In my coursework whenever I feel a picture is missing something, candle light often fixes it.
And these are great! 🙂
Especially like the first one with the candle lights just in view and a faint outline of the glasses holding the candles 🙂
Thanks :). I really like the first one too because the flames were captured so perfectly.