Long Exposure Sparkler Writing

I finally attempted the long exposure writing with sparklers. I started my settings off with no flash at aperture f/8 and 30 seconds shutter speed. After a few trials, I fOUnd that 15 seconds worked best for capturing the number of letters I was drawing. The less time yOU shoot, the more times yOU can shoot with the same sparkler. YOU can also add flash to put the subject in view while writing.  If yOU are not able to write the word backwards, yOU can write it forward and flip the photo in a photo editor.  Lastly, I have yet to figure out how this works in video mode.

Spinach Super Salad with V

"I'm strong to the finish cause I eats me spinach!" Popeye cOUldn't have said it any better. Here is my latest super spinach salad creation I have been eating. Combined with regular exercise and other healthy foods I've been healthily losing weight and getting back in shape. Here is my adapted version of a spinach salad. Ingredients include spinach, lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt & pepper and tuna (in water).  I've also added habanero pepper for an extra kick. Feel free to add any fresh raw fruit or vegetable to yOUr liking. Prep time is 3 minutes and costs $5 which makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

Light Leaks

EUREKA! After months of painstakingly searching the internet on how to create light leaks naturally withOUt having to buy a filter or make after effects in post, I have figured it OUt! I am tasked with filming a music video and I wanted to add this dreamy, old camera feel to it. So, now it will be an option that I shoot with concurrent with normal lens use. I AM SO STOKED! See my before and after photos.

 Now I just need to clean my lenses and work on focus!

Kimchi chigae with V

I started dinner trying to use up the leftover kimchi when I decided to go for it all and make kimchi chigae (sOUp)! There are many ways to make this Korean favorite, but check OUt my simple step by step recipe that my mom taught me. Ingredients include kimchi, tofu, green onions, pork, olive oil, sesame oil, sugar, salt & pepper. This meal cost $7 to make and can feed 2-4 people. Enjoy!

 

 (photos by Virginia Lee Boyles)

Seasoned Style

 So I started to write today's blog with the angle that I wanted to cover the fOUr seasons as color and mood as it relates to fashion. But as I started researching some of the looks, I started to question the correlation of seasons to fashion to consumer to individualism. When I covered New York Fashion Week as credentialed media last September for Spring/Summer looks and again in February for Fall/Winter I was confused by the the timing and naming of the runway shows. Are the collections a few months before or ahead for their audience? Nowadays, most consumers are able to afford pieces right off the runway as they look to wear what is trending.  Whereas, when fashion week first started, they were designing for what gets printed in magazines for the upcoming trends to follow in the later months. Fashion week coverage is so digitized that September shOUld aptly showcase Fall/Winter and February Spring/Summer, respectively. Or have seasons in fashion done away with altogether.  People are wearing fall fashions in the summer and conversely, spring fashions in the winter. If you like an OUtfit, yOU're going to find a way to wear it in every season. Not to mention there are regions where climate has no effect on seasons. I love that we are programmed to have a select few designers tell us what is the next new trend in fashion is. Not to mention, most of the attendees dress nothing like the fashion that come off the runway. I met some fashionistas who were self-proclaimed trendsetters but were also pushing trends they saw from others were current. It's not forward thinking if everyone is wearing it. Honestly, more than half the fashion bloggers I see look the same and wear similar style OUtfits. I'd rather take a trip to the Far East to get a dose of real trend-setters and a cup of good green tea! Originality is being compromised by conformity. People dressing to what they think others deems as stylish rather than what their own style is. Color denims and leggings, high buns and headbands, your mom's old blOUse, bangles.. And consumerism is propelling this in OUr society. The more they drill consumers to buy buy buy, to look look look like their favorite celebrated personality or fellow fashionista in a certain season, the more money they spend spend spend in trying to be be be something else. So is fashion really seasonal anymore?