Jim Henson's Fantastic World

On Wednesday, my sister and I took my niece down to Washington, D.C. to the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit at the Smithsonian's International Gallery. Having grown up watching Jim Henson TV shows such as The Muppet Show and Seseme Street, and enjoying Henson movies such as The Dark Crystal, The Muppet Movie, and Labrinth, the opportunity to see an exhibit of Henson's work excited me.

Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in the exhibit. I was disappointed by this, but respected their wishes and didn't try to sneak any shots with my iPhone (my DSLR would have been less than conspicuous).  That said, I have found a few photos on Flickr that show a few of the displays. You can also listen to the official podcast (very informative) which is meant to be listened to as you walk through the exhibit.

As you enter the exhibit, you are immediately greeted by Kermit the Frog sitting on a log inside a display case. It is really interesting to look at these puppets (err Muppets) up close and being able to walk around the display case 360 degrees to view all sides. The only area that you can't see is the area where the hand is inserted. I never realized this, but the blacks of the eyes are made of a fabric (probably felt). I had always assumed that they were painted on.

Other Muppets on display include Rowlf the Dog, Bert and Ernie, Wilkins and Wontkins, King Goshposh and Featherstone, and Mahna Mahna and The Snowths (I may be missing a couple others). I don't know anyone who doesn't know or has never heard the Mahna Mahna song. It's a classic!



Other displays included props and clothing worn by the puppets in The Dark Crystal. There were also wall displays with original drawings and storyboards, as well as a wealth of information and behind-the-scenes photos. One photo showed Jim controlling a Muppet outside that was as taller than the building. They also had several videos on display.

My sister and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and everything kept the attention of my 16 month old niece.



October 5, 2008 is the final day of the exhibit at the Smithsonian. I highly recommend checking it out if you are in the D.C. area! I may even go back a second time before it's gone. The exhibit will be traveling to several other cities around the U.S., so check out the tour schedule to see if it is coming to a city near you.

Photos make great Christmas gifts

It's been a while since I've posted something photography related. I did get the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Image Stabilizer USM lens, but the weather has been so bad/cold here that I haven't had a chance to get out and use it yet. Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be sunny and around 65 F, so I am taking those days off from work to get out and enjoy the warmer weather and make use of this monster.

For Christmas, I usually do something photography related for my family. I usually create a calendar for my parents and sister. Last year the calendar was all photos that I had taken over the course of the year.

This year, I decided to do something different with the calendar. I have been teaching myself photo restoration and have made a project of restoring several boxes of my mother's old photos. For this year's calendar, I chose my sister and I as the theme. I sifted through 38 years of photos and picked out about 24 of my favorites to restore for the calendar. It was quite a time intensive project, but it turned out very nice and my sister and parents loved it!

I also chose to restore a 37 year old portrait of my grandparents (who are no longer with us) to give to my mother, her sisters (my aunts), and each of the grandchildren (my sister and cousins). I think that this really moved them. They had this picture already, but it was old and faded. I was glad that I could bring them so much joy and memories. This was a tough project because of the state of the photo, but I think my hard work on it paid off.

I used an Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner, VueScan scanning software, Adobe Lightroom, and Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for all photo restoration work.

Hopefully I will have some photos to share on Monday or Tuesday. I will probably hit the National Zoo and the Smithsonian area in Washington D.C.. I may even head out to Arlington National Cemetery. I haven't been out there in a few months.