7.15.2009

celebrate, celebrate, dance to the music...

Whew.
It's been a long, long week. I've been slacking on blogging. With all that has been going on it was very difficult to find the time. Our mid-term slide show was due yesterday and now that that's over I think we can all breath a little bit more. Maybe. lol That's the good news, the bad news is I've tried every way I knew how and can't get my slide show to load onto my blog so I can show everyone what I've been working so hard on. :-( I really want you to see it. I was happy with the way it turned out, and it's a very feel good group of pictures so why not share! My boyfriend saw it and said he just couldn't stop looking at the images. This made me smile. I want my pictures to always have that effect on everyone that sees them. If anyone knows how to load pdf slide shows onto blogger,...let me know!

Anyway, after much hard work, lack of sleep, and stress, and tears... our group the 'E' and 'F-ers' thought we all deserved to celebrate and kick our feet up for a change. Unfortunately, we still talked the majority of the time about photography, but I've found that's kind of inevitable. We're camera nerds. And... now that that's been established...pictures! I couldn't bring myself to bring my camera, but was so pleased when my good friend Bippen brought his! He gave me permission to share some of his pictures on my blog. Thanks Bip! We had a fabulous time. And all but maybe 5 people came. I thought it as about time you see my new family. I spend more time with these people than you can imagine. And they're great. :-)

Hal, me, Kimber, Amy, Claire
Mindy & Susie (oh for funny!)
Casey, me, Kimber, Angie, and Leah
Mel, Chad, Clarence's hat, Jimmy, Kristy, and Papa Frank

And again, Hal, me, Claire, Kimber, and Amy.

We did group shots in the studio last week. Assignments for studio are over, but we can still use the equipment if we need to for personal projects/practice. This isn't the greatest picture, but it's funny.Amidst all the craziness, we had our first dedicated flash class last week. At that point my brain was so full, I don't know if I retained anything I learned that day, but it was fun, to say the least. We had to practice using our flash outside while wearing a hat.

My neighbor, Elizabeth, is a true gardener. She reminds me of my mom, because if she could, she'd be outside all day with her hands in the dirt, even if that meant pulling weeds. I talked to her about photographing her in her garden for my slide show, and she graciously invited me over to photograph her garden anytime I wanted, whether she was there or not. The photograph I took of her turned out just as I imagined (you'll see it later...) and when I was done, continued to wander in her backyard with my camera. I felt like I was in the Secret Garden. I found myself getting lost in the details, as I always do. The tree full of tiny ladybugs, the dew drops on the leaves from her sprinkler, the delicate vibrant raspberries on a bush that nearly takes over half of her backyard. Raspberries are one of those "delicacies" in my mind. Something too pricey to buy from the store, and when you do get to have them, you close your eyes and savor each bite. She has more than she knows what to do with, so it was such a joy to pull them off bountifully and eat them as they grew in the warm sun. Anyway, I loved her garden, and realized too late I could of done a whole slide show on it, if I had wanted to.
"Gardens are for sharing, they grow happier when people get to enjoy them." -Elizabeth. I agree.







And here are just a couple random shots I didn't use for anything, but really liked. This little girl was at the splash park this weekend when I was out working on a project. I had a lovely conversation with her mom and took pictures while her little sun-bathing beauty sat on a beach towel and ate grapes. :-)



I've come to learn the importance of writing and photographing and how they really come hand-in-hand. In our Visual Studies class we've been doing a lot of writing. I love it because writing is just another form of expression for me. We had to write "artist statements" for class. I was surprised, not only that it was harder for me than I expected, but also at the outcome of what I finally chose to turn in. As many of you know, I tend to be a little long-winded. Oddly enough my statements were nothing short of sweet and to the point. We had to write one sentence describing our self and our photography today. And another sentence describing where we want it to go or what we want to do with it. I wrote page after page, and in the process, learned a lot about myself. In the end, this is what I had to say.


1) My life never used to make any sense, and then I looked at it through my camera.

2) I want to never have to work another day of my life because my photography isn't work, it's my one true happiness.

amen. :-)

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