Karmalized.com :: Photography by Kristin Farwell

Toronto

Kristin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 05:16:28 +0000

I'm in Toronto for work this week, and I've been a bit 'unplugged' due to the data plan on my phone (my data went from 'unlimited' to $15.36 per MG as soon as I got off the plane. Really, AT&T?! ). Anyway, I have wireless at the hotel for the night, so I figured I'd make a quick post.

We went to a Blue Jays game last night. The weather was awesome and they made a triple play as soon as we hit our seats. Not a bad way to end the day!

Good news for Subscribers

Kristin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:18:51 +0000

A bit of good news for those of you who subscribe to Karmalized via RSS or email. Last week before the 'big change' I mentioned you may have to update your settings because I wasn't sure if the old URLs would redirect to the new site. Well, thanks to the magic of a tool called Feedburner, the old URLs still work! You probably figured this out because you are still getting updates / emails whenever there is a new post, but figured it was worth mentioning anyway. (If for some reason you stopped receiving updates, click the RSS icon in the sidebar to make sure you're using the right URL).

For those of you who aren't subscribed to receive automatic updates, they're pretty handy. You can sign up to receive an email whenever there is an update to the site (that is the ONLY reason I'll ever use your email address, cross my heart). If you visit a lot of sites each week and wish there was an easier way to keep track of them, you might consider looking into RSS feeds. Here is a great 3 minute video that explains it much better than I ever could. That said, if you aren't interested in these tools and you'd just simply like to visit me every few days, that's cool too. I accept all kinds here. :)

To the Dogs!

Kristin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:05:28 +0000

Pet portraits have to be some of the most fun you can have in an hour shoot. Granted, your subjects don't pose and they may slobber on your gear, but they are (usually) so happy you're there.

In this case, I took photos of FIVE dogs. Every time I turned around there was another one! *What are you doing? Wanna play? Do you have cookie? What are you doing? Can I chew this?* (A friend of mine told me that sounded a lot like a day with his two toddlers.) Really though, they were all VERY sweet. Here are a few of my favorites:

Welcome to the NEW Karmalized!

Kristin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:57:26 +0000

I am excited to announce Karmalized.com has undergone a major overhaul and is relaunching today FRESH and NEW!

Those of you that have been with me for awhile (this website has been around since 2002 if you can believe it), you know full well that I get restless and change my design once or twice a year. That said, this is a much bigger change than the ones I've made in the past. As my photography career has grown, it was clear I needed a website to keep up. With that in mind, I've left Wordpress, the platform that has been 'powering' my blog, to go with a company called Squarespace. You can learn more about Squarespace over here. In a nutshell, I'm able to have a more robust website (a blog, portfolio, extensive navigation, etc.) while maintaining the flexibility to design and update it myself. It's actually much EASIER to design and update, but that's a whole other blog post.

Now that the website has launched you might see a few new pages, most notably the addition of a proper Portfolio. It was tough to pick those few photographs to showcase, I have so many more I want to share. I guess I'll have to keep shooting and updating that section to keep it fresh! I've also added a Happy Clients section. I've been fortunate to work with some amazing clients and I'm thrilled they enjoyed my photographs.

Last but not least, with such a major update of importing the old content into the new website there are bound to be some old posts that look a little strange or have broken links. I've done my best to go thru the 2009 posts, but the rest will take me some time. Feel free to leave a comment if you see something really out of whack.

Thanks, as always, for your support. I hope you like the new site! :)

Where I've Been

Kristin — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:01:22 +0000

Hello, dear readers! I know the updates around here have been few and far between lately, but it's because I have some exciting news! I am working on a new site that is very close to launching so I've been putting most of my time and energy into getting that ready. I'm making the last few tweaks this weekend, and if all goes well, I should make the cut over this week. Cross your fingers!

Also, for those of you receiving updates via email or RSS, you will need to update your settings once the cutover is made. I tried to have everything redirect for you, but I'm not sure that's going to work out. Sorry about that. BUT... that just means you'll get to come visit the site and see the pretty new look!

Ok... back to work. Stay tuned!

Ultimate Six (or Seven) Layer Dip

Kristin — Mon, 25 May 2009 19:27:09 +0000

First, let me say that I really should have posted this recipe a few days ago so people could have made it for Memorial Day - what was I thinking?! Now that that's out of the way, you must (MUST) make this for your next BBQ / Office Potluck / Picnic (that I'm not attending, because I'll totally be making it).

I've provided the FULL recipe and it's awesome, but now that I've made it a few times, I gotta cut some corners - it just takes too damn long. My suggestions are at the bottom. If you want, make it the long way first and you'll see what I mean. Or just trust me. ;)

Also, I found this at America's Test Kitchen, that's why there are "test notes" in the recipe.

Thiiirrty!

Kristin — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:17:06 +0000

I turned 30 a few days ago. I wasn't sure how I was going to take it, but I did ok, no crisis! I guess we'll save the freakouts for 31. My sister flew to Austin for the weekend. I think this is her third year in a row for a visit, it's starting to become a bit of a tradition. It was a STELLAR weekend - we had a BBQ (with homemade spiedies), did some shopping, went out to the Mandola Estate Winery for dinner and a wine tasting, and the last day we perused the shops on S. Congress and then had margaritas at Polvos. Seriously, how do you top that?!

Jack's Birthday

Kristin — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:47:43 +0000

These are photos from birthday party this past weekend for a boy named Jack. There was a moonwalk, a piñata, a princess and chocolate cake. What more can you hope for in a birthday party?!

It's always nice when the kids start to warm up to me. In the beginning they're all "Who the heck are you?" but by the end, they're a little more, "Lady, I'm just gonna eat this cake, you do whatever you want." That's my favorite part.

The full set is on SmugMug.

Garden Update - Weeks 1 & 2

Kristin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:02:31 +0000

We're going into week 3 of the Vegetable Garden Project and so far, so good! Here are some photos of the progress so far.

Week 1 (4.14.09): Corn Sprouts!
You can hardly see it, but those are itty bitty corn sprouts. At this point it had been just over 7 days.

Week 2 (4.19.09): Bean & Corn Sprouts
The corn is up! It's one week later and we have full seedlings (on the left). Also, you can tell Jef planted those - there are exactly two seedlings per square and they are lined up in little rows. They'll probably survive and everything. The beans are on the right and went from nothing to full size plants in one week. I shouldn't be surprised - in elementary school, I did a science project w/ bean sprouts because they grew so fast, but still, it's amazing to watch.

Week 2 (4.19.09): Scallions
Me: OMG, look at all the scallion sprouts! Jef: Did you actually PLANT the seeds, or did you just take a handful and throw them into the soil? Me: ... Jef: That's what I thought.

(For the record, I've since thinned the scallion seedlings and they're looking great).

Nooner Rockitude

Kristin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:42:07 +0000

Motionside, Freebleeder and Nooner all played together for the first time in several years in celebration of our friends Nate and Shana's wedding. This show was doubly special as it served as a reunion for Nooner, who brought back all three guitarists who were ever members of the band. We were promised 'face-melting, mind-blowing rockitude' and we were not disappointed. (Higher resolution slideshow and prints available over at SmugMug.)