Evanita W. Montalvo-Nature and Wildlife Photography

Happy New Year!

2012-01-16T20:13:00.042-08:00

It's been quite some time since I've posted anything. A lot has happened since August 11th 2010.. wow yea 2010 that was quite a long time ago. I'm hoping to be more active with my blog. To kick off the new year here's a recap of the past year.

At the end of July 2010 I moved over to Seattle to live with my boyfriend Linhart our 6 year anniversary together is coming up soon! In December of 2010 we decided to get our very first pets together. We took in two sugar gliders a brother and sister and named them Momo and Petrie.

Petrie on our first visit

Petrie in his Christmas Stocking 2012

Momo and Petrie in their Cozy Flower

Unfortunately the only photography I've done while I've been out in Washington is mostly just photos of Momo and Petrie and my fiber arts projects. I've been working quite a lot with my knitting and spinning more so on the later. I'll share some of the cool projects I worked on over the course of 2011.

8 oz of Seawool 70% Wool and 30% Sea Cell spun as singles on my Wee Peggy.

Fiber purchased from Creatively Dyed.

Finished Seawool Weekend Shawl

Details of Seawool Weekend Shawl

Alpaca 50/Merino 30/Tussah 20 Blend from Woolgatherings

Spun Singles on my Wee Peggy

Weekend Shawl made for my Grandma as a Christmas present

In September 2011 I got a brand new Majacraft Aura spinning wheel which has made spinning so much more enjoyable.. not sure how that is even possible!

My Majacraft Aura


My first project on the Aura was All Spun Up "Odd Couple" kit October 2011 SAL. The color blend is 83% Mohair, 15% Nylon, and 2% Merino.

Secondary Wool with Odd Couple Kit. 70% SW Merino and 30% Alpaca

"Odd Couple" Kit in Blue

Finished "Odd Couple" Kit in blue 326 yards

I was inspired by Colorlessblue's gorgeous lace weight spinning and decided to pick up a Jenkins Turkish Delight.

Spinning some test fiber that came with my spindle

All Spun Up December 2011 SAL Fiber "Waterlilies"

Finished 2 oz in 2 ply 195 yards with 6 more ounces to go

The "Waterlilies" spinning I'm currently working on along with a scarf I'm knitting. While watching Doctor Who I noticed Amy Pond was wearing a gorgeous teal and black scarf.

As seen in Season 6 Episode 9 Night Terrors

The original scarf made by the Bohemian Wardrobe Company

A little over 50% done, colors are deeper than they actually are

"Great Weekend Mitts" to match my scarf. They still need the side panel and buttons called for in the pattern.

The last thing I'd like to share with you all is that Linhart and I have been shopping around for a HOUSE!! We are both really excited but it's been a stressful process. Hopefully sometime this year we will have a home to truly call our own. :)

Hopefully this year I'll have a lot more things to post about and be active at posting. Hoping everyone is having a wonderful new year so far!

EWM

deviantART 10th Birthday Bash @ the House of Blues

2010-08-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Last friday(August 6th) Linhart and I flew out to Los Angeles for the deviantART 10th Birthday Bash. Spent the majority of Friday at HQ which woah... has trippled in size since I've seen it last. It's such an awesome place full of awesometastic people! Got to meet a lot of people I hadn't met before especially quite a few of the remoties.

Saturday was a day of epic proportion lots of busyness and fun to be had. For those that couldn't be there I took some videos to share the fun :D

Introducing deviantART Muro

Angelo's Closing Speech

Sunday morning we went out to eat with Ikue, Shuttermonkey, Zilla744 and his wife Monica and little kiddo Emily to IHOP and had a delicious breakfast

EWM

Mom's Photography Gallery Exhibition + Surprise

2010-07-11T22:00:00.001-07:00

Early today well rather I should say yesterday it's past midnight, my Mom had her gallery opening for her very first gallery exhibition at the Foellinger-Freimann Botanical Conservatory.

She has a total of 48 framed prints that she mated and framed herself up for display until August 29th. Each print was printed through devantART. I'm absolutely proud of all the hard work my Mom put into this show and how beautiful it looks! I'm hoping she'll sell quite a few prints. :)

Dad and I had a super surprise in store for her that we have been planning since last year. Dad got a medium sized plastic tote and filled it full of peppermint patties.. but wait .... are we sure that the whole box is really full of just peppermint patties... or is there something more to this box! Watch the videos to find out the surprise.

EWM

This is a test for deviantART

2010-05-04T06:52:00.001-07:00

Updating Gallery System Complete

2010-04-17T10:09:00.001-07:00

I just finished updating my new gallery set up... I even added new images! I hadn't added anything new to my galleries in over two years. Hopefully now that I have the easier to manage JavaScript based gallery it will lead to more frequent updates. :)

EWM

Updating Website

2010-04-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of updating part of my website! While chatting with Djordje yesterday we got to talking about coding and I mentioned that I love to code and wish I was better at it as my flash gallery is complete fail.. well maybe not complete fail but it's not nearly what I had envisioned it. Super awesome Djordje was kind enough to give me a helping hand and fixed up Galleria by DevKick Lab so that it would fit nicely within my gallery pages. I'm still doing some fine tweaking but it's looking pretty snazzy. You can see it in progress in the Fauna section of my gallery.

EWM

Driving to Maysville Road

2010-04-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

Had a good driving day today! Mom had to go to Menards to check out their window selection and then grab some groceries. To get some good practice I got to drive over to the Maysville Road walmart which is about 9 miles away. It went really well, there was several areas that the speed limit changed so had to keep an eye out for that... switched lanes a couple times... Over all I think it went quite well! parked twice both times a smidge too close on the left side but getting there.. backing up still needs some work but getting better.

EWM

Shutterbug Show and Sale

2010-04-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

Today is an exciting day! I'll be helping mom out with her table at the Local Shutterbugs 2010 3rd Annual Photography Show & Sale She'll have some of her framed prints that will be in a Gallery Show she'll be having over the summer as well(more info on that soon) and a ton of 4 by 6 prints. I'm looking forward to it, I think it'll help prepare her for her gallery opening reception. Here's hoping to today being an absolutely fantastic day!

EWM

Good Friday Driving

2010-04-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Just got back home with a Jamocha shake in hand from Arby's mm delicious. Mom took me out driving around Elmhurst High school again and I got to drive around there for a bit and then we moved towards the Gravel Pit area to find out if we could see get to the Frog Rock on Sand Point.. alas we were unable to they have fenced it up and labeled it private property.

While driving by the Gravel Pit I got to drive in a bit of country which was nice only to realize... on the way back I had to go through an intersection with normal lights(the only other one I had been through was a flashing all way stop).... first one and it went well! On our way back towards Elmhurst we drove over to Indian Village nice neighborhood with some busier streets.

All in all it went quite well.. just need to focus more on my slowing down and turning and keeping away from the side of the road. Mom might let me drive from Elmhust all the way back home which is about an 8.5 mile drive. Excited and nervous but feeling a lot better about driving. :)

EWM

Driving Update

2010-03-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

I just got home from practicing driving with Mom! I think it went quite well.. and I accomplished new goals and did better at some previous goals. Mom drove us out to her old neighborhood by Elmhurst Highschool. Accomplished a lot of new things and got better at some things I've already been working on. For one it was sprinkling and I haven't driven in that sort of condition so that was good learning experience.. and gave me a reason to drive slower LOL... Got to drive on some busier roads...or rather should I say tricked into driving into busier roads.. ok ok it was good for me and I'm feeling a lot more comfortable now. We spent about a good hour and 15 minutes driving. I think there was a good variety of environments including neighborhoods, busy streets, four way stop, curvy roads, school parking lot etc that made for great practice. We are planning on going out around the same area for practice Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this coming week.

Here are some new thing I go to do:

- Driving while it's sprinkling!
- Drive in a different neighborhood
- Practiced parking in an empty parking lot
- Drive on roads with stop lights
- Drive on a more busy road

Some previous goals that I'm getting better at:
- Driving the speed limit (around 25-30 in the neighborhood)
- Make better turns
- Remembering my turn signals
- Slowing and Stopping decently when necessary at intersections

EWM

Miko and Sami Videos

2010-03-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

I don't have a whole lot to update you guys with however I have two videos of Miko and Sami to share. The first is part of a walk we had last weekend through the neighborhood and the second.. well it's example of how much excitement energy is released when my Dad stops over.. I'm not even sure excitement best fits the description of what absolute chaos follows.

Today is one of those rainy days but later I'm planning on doing some driving ... hope the rain doesn't muck up things too bad.

EWM

Long Time No Hear

2010-03-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday night I got a surprising call from my best friend Peter! It's been quite a long time since I've heard from him. I keep thinking to call but end up getting distracted and end up not calling. We used to gather a bunch of friends on Friday night and go midnight bowling and then when bowling was over we'd hang out at Steak and Shake and play Apples to Apples until 2-3 am. Was great times never a dull moment LOL. Unfortunately with the busyness of school we haven't been able to hang out but luckily he's in from from Indianapolis for the week and we'll get a chance to hang out tomorrow and play some games. Looking forward to that it's been quite a long time since I've played any card games. One of my favourites is a Vietnamese game called Tien len also known as 13....hopefully I'm not too rusty hehe

EWM

Rowdy Shiba Boy

2010-03-13T21:39:00.001-08:00

Earlier this evening Mom was talking to my Dad about this cute male Shiba Inu puppy she saw at the pet store on Friday. Of course he was all excited about it as he absolutely loves our two Shiba girls and they in turn love him a gazillion times more they go absolutely bonkers when he stops by. It was getting late but we figure might as well stop by the pet store before someone decides to take him home.

We got Miko and Sami ready to go with their harnesses and pretty bandannas and headed out to check out the cute Shiba fluffball. When we got there the employees were all awwww your back again are you going to take the Shiba home with you? As adorable as he was we'd rather not purchase a dog at a pet store nor do any of us have a need for anymore pets we have our hands full as it is. We did get to play with the little fluffball in one of the little pens they have to let you get acquainted with the puppies.

So we get the fluffball into the pen and boy talk about ROWDY!!! Dad and I were in the pen while mom was holding on to the girls outside of the pen. I don't ever remember Miko and Sami being quite that rambunctious. He loved to run around and play tug-o-war with this dishcloth they had knotted up. I tried to pick him up a few times but he wasn't too fond of being held.. he kept bashing his head into my chin.

However!!! Dad picked him up and surprisingly well wait not really surprisingly seeing as how Miko and Sami go absolutely gaga for him.. anywho surprisingly the puppy allowed him to hold and pet him without putting up too much of a fuss.

Of course the pet store people wanted to see how well our two Shibas would get along with the puppy which we simply stated wouldn't work out. Last time this happened the little rascal we got to see was all over our girls and they were freaking out! We thought ok maybe if we hold on to this little guy that maybe we could see how that goes... HAH not quite the reaction we anticipated.. the little fluffball used the "Shiba Scream" scared both dad and me, our pupperoos as well as the entire store.. I'm sure they probably thought I was strangling the poor thing.. Not sure why it started screaming but we took the girls out right away.

Dad absolutely loved the puppy and I do think it would do him a great deal of good to have some sort of pet but unfortunately at this time he'll need to prep himself for it as he's not quite ready for one yet. Maybe some day though :)

I hope that whoever buys this little rascal enjoys him and takes very good care of him!

Learning to Drive

2010-03-11T20:29:00.011-08:00

Over the past couple weeks I've been driving around my neighborhood with my mom learning how to drive.. so far it's going pretty good with the few slip ups here and there but nothing too major. Some of the highlights so far are driving 20 mph, drove 1 mile away from home to west state blvd and back, and parked in a parking spot and backed out of it.. yea I know nothing too big so far but making progress and that's what is important right?! Anywho thought I should post some goals up to monitor my progress better. Will add more when I think of them and will check things off as I accomplish them :)

Update 3.16.10
Drove around for about an hour :)
Turning and staying away from curbs is improved and got to park and back out once.

Update 3.20.10
Drove out to Aunt Carol's in the country from off highway 14 to her house. Manage to drive comfortably around 35-40 mph. On the way back drove from State down Eastbrook back home.

Update 3.28.10

Update 4.2.10

Update 4.4.10
Drove around Elmhurst and Indian Village Again. After we finished driving I drove from Elmhurst all the way back home about a 6.5 mile drive through town/downtown. Went better than I thought it would!

4.10.10
Helped mom out at her Shutterbug Show & Sale and someone had to take the dogs out and feed them during the show. Mom let me drive from Franke Park back home with dad and then back to the park. Went great with the exception of accidentally going the wrong way! Fear not I was able to turn around and head in the better direction hehe. It was the first time dad got to drive with me and he was quite impressed YAY!

Update 4.11.10

4.17.10
Drove Papi back home on the south end of town in the around 9pm. Went fairly well. :)

4.24.10
Drove over to Hobby Lobby so mom could pick up a few extra frames for her gallery show coming up this summer. Then we drove back home and then stopped over at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo to pick up Papi unfortunately his zoo photo day got rained out. Got to watch Serendipity one of my favourite movies and later that evening dropped Papi off back at his house and then drove over to the St Joe Hospital Garage to pick up my brother Pete from his work. Over all went pretty good even though the drive in the evening was through some pouring rain.

4.25.10
Drove over to Pet Supplies Plus and then off to the gas station while it was pouring. Then went to walmart to pick up groceries. Got to learn how to back up in to the drive way.. went better than pulling into a parking spot surprisingly..

4.29.10
Practiced parallel parking with a couple trashcans out in the parking lot for the Salon behind our property. Went decent enough for it being a bit dark out. Will be practicing more this weekend. ^_^

Driving Goals!
-------------
- Drive in a different neighborhood
Drove around mom's old neighborhood and Indian Village

- 40mph!
Handling 40 mph better but need to try better and keeping a consistent speed

- Driving proper speed limit
Getting better though.. I caught myself GOING over the limit (4.2.10) OPPS

- Dealing with weather conditions
Dealt with sprinkling decently (3.28.10)Dealt with pouring rain on 4.24.10 went over fairly well.

- Make better turns (ie turn into the right section of the road better)
Improving however need to do better at the speed at which I'm turning.. it's either too slow or a bit too fast.

- Stay away from the curbs!
Doing ok about the curbs but not as good at the staying off the side of the road on roads without curbs

- Practice parking and backing out
Improving

- Drive on roads with stop lights
Gone through a blinking red light all way stop and through a normal light intersection (4.2.10) Went through several while driving through town on 4.4.10 :)

- Drive in the country
Twice so far and getting better just need to stay off the side of the road!

- Parking lot driving
Once so far not too bad

- Backing Up
I've done a bit of backing up but need a lot more practice

- Drive with someone new
Got to drive with dad on 4.10.10 went really well!

- Drive all the way to New Haven (where the BMV is where I will take my driving test)
- Parallel parking dun dun dun...
Practiced for about 20-30 minutes in the parking lot of the Salon behind our property with 2 trashcans as fake cars.. went not too shabby for it being a bit dark out. Will practice more soon (4.29.10):)

- Reverse parking
A couple times backing up into our drive way.

- Changing lanes
Doing pretty good with changing lanes just need to make sure to be observant.

- Drive to Walmart
Went to the Walmart out on Maysville Road (4.11.10)

- Drive to PetSmart
- Drive to the Firefly

EWM

OMG NEW CANON LENS... wait wait WHAT?

2010-03-04T21:18:00.000-08:00

Just got word of a new canon lens.. wait what it's a COFFEE MUG.. you gotta be kidding. I CAN HAZ ONE NOW PLZ!

I reallllly reallly really want one O_O

EWM

About EWM

2010-03-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd share a bit about myself! I recently graduated from the University of Saint Francis with a Bachelors in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography and minor in Art History. I took my first Photography class while in high school and got to use my dad's photography equipment. It was loads of fun only wish I had started photography earlier but better late than never! I specialize in Nature and Wildlife photography, but like to venture into other areas of photography if given the opportunity. My favourite places to shoot are nature parks, gardens, conservatories, and zoos.

I enjoy doing both pure photography as well as photo-manipulations digitally and traditionally in the darkroom.

Over the years, I have acquired an assortment of photography equipment and learned various photography processes. Toward the end of my time at the University I made a studio set up in my kitchen in order to use my dad's strobe lighting kit for both portraiture and floral still-life.

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for flash photography I've grown quite fond of using the strobes and every once in awhile I purchase flowers at one of the local florist shops to shoot with my parents. We all have loads of fun though I can imagine the neighbors are wondering what on earth is all that bright light coming out of the kitchen windows LOL...

Outside of my photography I am a Help Desk Rep for deviantART which is one of my all time favourite sites to browse around as there is just so much art to see and so many artists to meet.

I also enjoy knitting and spinning yarn with my spinning wheel!

Lastly I'd like to end with my two most favourite pets ever! My two shiba inu Miko and Sami. They just turned 3 and my mom decided to start making a blog for them to record all the fun things about them. You can check them out at "Shiba What?" :)

EWM

Brand New Blog

2010-02-24T23:23:00.001-08:00

Lately I've been thinking about my blog on personal website and how much of a pain it is to update and how much I miss the extra blogging abilities that I wasn't able to make possible. I decided to give blogspot a chance and managed to get it customized enough that it matches my website :D The blog can be accessed as normal by clicking the blog link in the top header.

Nothing too exciting going on right now though I did get my drivers permit a couple weeks ago w00.. now just to practice actually driving fun stuff.. My mom decided to give blogging a try and is making one about our two Shiba Inu Miko and Sami called Shiba What? Should be a lot of fun! I'll leave you guys with a video of me and the pupperoos enjoying the snow :)

EWM