I'm back, and yes I'm ranting...

 Hello, hello, hello, is there anybody out there? Haha. I truly apologize to my 2 followers that I haven't been writing lately. I have been so uninspired. Between the boring, endless whiteness of winter, and my half broken camera, I just don't have it in me right now. I'm so afraid that my camera will break completely. You might as well gouge my eyes out...damn you crappy new technology that was built to break so I'd have to buy the newer models you pump out constantly. I still have an SLR from 1962 that works perfectly. Maybe that's my new inspiration right there. I do feel like a fake if I haven't even used film before....GASP!

 While we are on that subject, nothing infuriates me more then all these posers with the newest cameras and all the gadgets, and they don't even use them. They just brag about them. Awesome. Good for you. Well I'm at least extremely proud to say that I've come all this way without any fancy equipment. It's kind of like a raw survival, just you and your camera out there on your own. What you see is what you get, and there's nothing helping you along. Except when you get home to Photoshop's loving arms! I don't even have a tripod anymore for f*** sakes! Everything's so damned expensive, and breaks so easy. I'm still mourning the loss of my nifty fifty I owned for a week before it broke. One day, if I ever have the money, I would love to start the Starving Artists Foundation, where said posers, can blow the dust off their cameras and donate them to emerging artists who have the talent, and just need the tools. I know from experience they will treasure those cameras, and the opportunity, more than anyone. I already have another SLR I've been lending out to inspire people.

 On the subject of me being proud of myself, I was recently recognized by some well respected, and extremely talented artists on DA, and they had some pretty wicked things to say about me. It totally made my life, and I can finally die happy. Haha, just kidding, I'm not done yet! So I would like to share those things with you, and then I'll be off. I think to further inspire myself, I will be posting more in my blog. The truth maybe. I've always held back, on here, on FB, and on DA from fear of rejection...or something. I'm kind of a shut in if you haven't noticed, and I have a problem socializing in public, and online. I also have a problem putting my opinions out there, mainly because I just don't care what other people think, and people that do really irk me. I don't need someone's approval to continue believing what I believe. It's mine, and not yours. Just writing all this will bother me for a bit, but this is my blog, and the problem is, nobody really knows the real me...

Spotlight on Me

"Ashley's work impresses me. Her eye for composition is wonderful and it's followed up with some world class post work. Ashley's pictures tend to be darker, but they don't mask everything. They are dark, but not overly cooked or devoid of the feeling in the original image. It's a fine line and she balances it with great skill" - Joe McGuire

The First Critique I've Received

Critique by *Adomius 

 The first thing I thought when I saw this image was "What is he looking at with such sad eyes?" and that is why I am going to start this critique with what I think of the impact. This picture is terrifyingly moving. There is such fear and sadness in his eyes that it is hard not to worry about him. The way that he is curled up and laying on the floor only adds to the sad effect. It is simply an extremely powerful image.
There are very few ways to display the tragedy of being a new born in a way as well as this. For a new born child their first moments of sadness are truly the saddest of their life so far, and you capture that so well here.
It is rare to find an original idea, but I must say this image is one of a kind.
The technique is wonderful as well. There is a great composition; enough of a border around the head to be defining and a fair amount of negative space. The contrast is beautiful as well. The white carpet, the dark shadow below the head, and every shade of grey on the face and body give this perfect range of the grey scale. This is one of the best images I have seen in quite some time.

Most Recent Photo 

What's Your Poison?

If you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison' it is certain to disagree with you sooner or later. -Lewis Carroll