Framed Photography for Home Staging

I’ve put together a gallery of one-of-a-kind photography that I’ve edited in a way to fit a neutral theme, perfect for staging a home that’s for sale. I’ve chatted with a few realtors for input and I’m excited about this collection of photos. Click here for the full group of images, and I’ll include some below.

Some of these look quite a bit different from the original. Some came from an evening where I got on this creative streak and edited pics to fit the idea in my head. But all the pictures were created or included with the idea that they could hang on a wall in a house where potential home buyers are walking through. Do you have a favorite? If so, comment below and I thank you in advance!

-Out of the Wilderness

Pennsylvania Senate Debate – thoughts from a non-Pennsylvanian

My mom, sister, and I watched the debate between John Fetterman and Dr. Oz last night, mostly in disbelief. Can a candidate be in the condition Fetterman is in and still win an election? We live about 6 states away so a lot of what they talked about didn’t really apply to us except for federal topics like abortion, infrastructure, immigration, and inflation. As unbiasedly as I can say this, it was heartbreaking to watch. Fetterman had a stroke a few months ago and clearly hasn’t recovered. That’s not really up for debate, as his many blunders, gaffes, and setbacks have been recorded and kept at the forefront of the discussion.

In the hour-long debate Fetterman had a few coherent answers but for the most part we had a hard time following his train of thought. My mom and I exchanged confused glances more times that I can count and I guess when Fetterman’s very first few words are “Hi, good night, everybody!” you might think the night’s not going to go so well for him. Dr. Oz was much more clear in his answers, was able to thoughtfully connected ideas, and he communicated effectively. Maybe you don’t agree with his stance on things, that’s a different story, but he came out looking much better than Fetterman.

If Fetterman wins, it’s 100% Democrats voting for a Democrat. As one person said on Twitter, they’d vote for a potato before voting for Oz. That isn’t exactly a shining endorsement of Fetterman, right? If voters simply vote for their party without thinking critically about the actual candidate, where is our country headed?

Any Democrat who watched that debate cannot, with a clear conscience, vote for Fetterman. His health is not good and after the debate all I could feel is compassion for him and worry for the people of Pennsylvania if they can’t think objectively. Fetterman won’t drop out, it’s probably too late for that, but I’m guessing a lot of PA Democrats will just be a no-show at the voting booth. They would rather not vote than elect Fetterman or Dr. Oz.

It should be an interesting two weeks between now and November 8th, when all the votes will be counted nationwide. Republicans are predicting a red wave, Democrats a blue one. It sounds like one is right and the other is desperate, but I guess we’ll see!

-Out of the Wilderness

2022 Car Show Was A Sight to Behold

The other day I went to a car show and had no idea what to expect. I’m a self-proclaimed “not a car guy” so while I like seeing cool cars, I have no desire at all to get into fixing them or learning much more about them beyond their color and style. But this show was pretty awesome, and the cars were beautiful! My favorite was a yellow Lamborghini. I gravitated towards the antiques from the 1970s but there were all kinds of cool cars and motorcycles.

Of course, there were also a few that were perplexing. I’m thinking of a PT Cruiser. Why it was there, I’m not sure? But then I started focusing on headlights and close-up details. I love how these photos came out!

Check out more photos from the car show here and more close-ups for purchase here. Think about one of these images framed in your favorite room, they’d look great!

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Amazon Holiday Ad Wants You to Hoard “Stuff”?

I came across this Amazon ad recently and I can’t decide if I like it or not. On the one hand, I *love* the 1970s mostly for the clothes, furniture, and cars. This ad clearly pulls from that decade, just check out the sweaters.

But ever since learning that Amazon helps pregnant employees travel to states where abortions are legal, I’ve kind of soured to the idea of ordering from them. On top of that, the ad is attempting to be funny but the only line I halfway chuckled for is “stuff to squeeze between your buns.” I *do* love ketchup, however I don’t know anyone who buys ketchup online! Ok, Whole Foods counts, I guess… but you have to be a Prime Member, not just a casual Amazon shopper.

Back to the ad, the harmonies are fine. The lyrics are clever. I guess I just wanted to laugh more. And, too, it bothers me a little bit that we’re not even through October and Christmas shopping is already being shoved in our face. They (they = corporations, advertisers) won’t ruin Christmas for me but I’m becoming less and less enthused about the greed surrounding the holiday.

I rather anticipate the excitement of lights, family, classic songs, and the most important thing- celebrating “the reason for the season,” Jesus. I’ll go ahead and give this commercial a thumbs down for those reasons and also that I’ve become somewhat of a minimalist. Living in a travel trailer will do that to a person! The last thing I want to do in a small, confined space is gather more stuff. That’s the habit of hoarders, right? I’ve seen a few homes where a hoarder lived and trust me, it ain’t pretty.

My home on wheels

Enjoy the commercial, but I’m going to think twice about where and how often I spend my money. Lately, I’ve enjoyed paying for experiences, not things. Like booking campsites in state parks where I took these pictures.

If you’re just dying to buy something, skip Amazon and head over to my SmugMug art gallery where you can buy framed stuff to keep or give to loved ones. That’s the best use of your money in my unbiased opinion… 😉

Thanks for dropping in…

-Out of the Wilderness

Brand NEW butterfly artwork!

I spent way too much time working on an image after being inspired by a product ad on Facebook. There were these cool little light fixtures in the shape of animals and inside were forest scenes, Christmas lights, and color. It’s probably easier to just show you the ad…

Those are physical things in the picture so I knew it would be hard to recreate the idea in picture form, but I loved the idea of a scene within the shape of wildlife. I have a few butterfly pictures so I picked that as my starting point.

Butterfly outline

Next addition is Christmas lights so I found a picture taken last winter. The blurry lights in the image would work well enough so I used the warm color in my editing.

Blurry lights

I love silhouettes. I found a cute, plump bird silhouette to use. See if you can find the chubby bird in the final image!

Bird silhouette

I didn’t want a solid white background so I found another butterfly, a profile angle, to fill up the blank space.

Butterfly for background

I tried all sorts of different things to create a pleasing image but ended up only using 4 elements… the blurry lights, the bird, the second butterfly, and this flower:

Flower

Putting all of this into one image was hard. I had many errors and went over it again and again, trying different ideas but never quite being settled. Even the final image had 4 or 5 different versions. But none sat right with me so I went back to an early version just with the butterflies, the lights, bird, and flower. It’s simple, colorful, not too busy, and I love it. I hope you do, too. Here’s the final image of a butterfly scene…

You can snoop around more of my “created” images in this gallery. I also take photos of wildlife, landscapes, cemeteries, and more. Find them all on my SmugMug page where you an download and purchase them as framed artwork.

Thanks for dropping in!

-Out of the Wilderness