imagery.

I wanted to show a variety of pictures I have taken over the course of the last several years. My photos are generally devoid of people (something I wish to improve upon in the future.) So here is a catalog of a few subjects that interest me:

1) taking pictures at night or in the dark. Infinity difficult at times! (but sometimes you can get that pretty cool lighting techniques that is so popular now-a-days: light trails)

2) taking pictures in moving vehicles ( the pink one above as well)

3) Thinks that are interesting shapes (in these cases circular):

4) kitty cats. some of them just love to pose and model. heh.

Of course this is not all that i take pictures off. Nor are these my best works. They all just seem to fit together in some way.

I suppose if I had more patience, these are the subjects I would probably draw. Cats would probably be the most difficult subject to draw. Also, generally, I find photography to be helpful in developing a better sense of composition. I often, as many other people do I'm sure, take many many pictures of the same subject: different angles, etc. trying to find what works. (this is why I love digital cameras! instant feedback.)

365 Everyday Moments

Make a Smilebox slideshow

BEFORE WATCHING:
My post this week is the first of a series. I am challenging myself to take at least one picture every day, to record the things that I experience, that are part of my life or my story. Today, Wednesday, February 11th, I have taken at least 42 pictures for the 42 days so far this year- It's more like 1,800 (not counting the deleted ones)!
-Moving on... the slide show is set for 49 pictures (some have 2 pics for 1 day) and each slide has a little blurb at the bottom.
-I realize the font is white and often it goes too fast to read it all, so below here are numbered slides with the caption. -There is music with this slide show.
- Lastly, the slide show can be viewed manually by pressing stop and then next to change slides.
Ok, now begin!

Captions:
1. Happy New Year!
2. A childhood memory- my bed was beside the window and I'd fall asleep watching the light. The little light in the window always brings me back to my childhood bedroom at Christmas.
3. Celebrating a family friends 50th.
4. Since I adopt manatees, people often give me manatee things for birthday gifts. Why haven’t I taken a picture of them before? I don’t know.
5. Another flashback to my old house where we had rocking chairs on the swing-around porch. I long to go back to that time and place when we’d sit on the porch licking popsicles.
6. What a beautiful sight- right outside the door!
7. Isn’t it funny how when the power goes out we still expect the lights to turn on once we flip the switch!?
8. The light was just the right angle. So, I got out an onion and sat it on the counter. It wasn't cool enough! I dug around and found some blooming garlic. Perfect! So tah-da!
9. Mario's after church.
10. My home (college) church.
11. Dog sitting Lilly-Pickle with my stepsister.
12. Playing with my new camera flash.
13. Arriving at Ocean Isle for a weekend stay. Right on time!
14. Shell hunting in the tide pools.
15. Looking from down low.
16. What is there to say? Stunning.
17. Dinner with a good friend.
18. New, fresh, clean cut NUPASTELs by Prismacolor.
19. So sad, but cool photo subject.
20. I love all things old and antique- books falling apart, photographs, and all the things I cannot have, like this!
21. My latest favorite, “Talk of the Town,” by Jack Johnson on the Curious George cd. Too much babysitting!
22. I have more pullovers, zip-ups and jackets than long sleeve shirts!
23. A typical sight of my desk - always messy!
24. Tate St. coffee inspiration!
25. Only someone looking with a photographer’s eye would notice something this little.
26. A random day on Spring Garden St.
27. Yum Yum's stacks it high!
28. A two-hour delay on the first day of class- too tired to get out of bed and play in the snow, instead I watched.
29. If only teachers required you to look at the book, never opening it or reading all the hundreds of pages.
30. Rest is not idleness; and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summers (winters) day, listening to the murmur of the water or watching the clouds float across the sky, is not by no means a waste of time. - J. Lubbock
31. We’re too excited about the snow to study!
32. The snow was short-lived, yet beautiful!
33. Never have I found a milk jug this size! Perfect for me and a bowl of cereal!
34. A night full of laughs and happiness as we cheered UNCG on at the coliseum.
35. I have mail! Better yet, mail that contains food!
36. Running up and down the hall in my new camera backpack!
37. Bowling with Daystar! My group played 1 game in two hours; the other group played 4… and who had more fun? Us!
38. I was looking at my world with a photographer’s eye- I noticed the bright shafts of light filtering through from the window blinds and I was awed.
39. Working at the messy desk. When will it ever be clean? Probably when I quit art… so never!
40. The food pantry is four drawers down in the dresser.
41. Laundry night—at least the start of it.
42. My bible is open to read, as I get ready for bed. This week we’re talking about walking with Christ.
43. Every 2-3 weeks a letter from mom arrives with more magnets to dress my snowman with. He even has a Santa suit! Happiness!
44. My mini easel is ready for the winter change of canvases.
45. A cupcake from Carolina Bakery isn’t the same without the blue icing.
46. Our school has beautiful old buildings- if only we’d stop and look once in a while.
47. I pass by this tree almost every day, but I never stopped to admire it until I looked at the world through my camera.
48. Sometimes I think the swing is lonely, swaying in the wind as everyone rushes by to class.
49. Friends soaking up the sun and studying on the 64° February day.
_______________
So, now it's your turn. Start your 365-day photo challenge. Keep your thoughts to the basic, wonderful every day stuff and experiences you encounter. What do you see each day that is a big part of your story?
- That is what has made this fun. In a way I am solving the mystery of who I am. If you were looking in on your life, like an observer in a foreign land, what would you record? I love to capture those moments we experience from day to day—the bits and pieces of our lives that are sometimes forgotten as parts of the puzzle—finding who we are.

For example, try photographing,
-What makes you happy
-Lunch boxes or lunch bags
-A pitcher of lemonade or iced tea
-Someone getting a haircut
-Your most prized possession
-A hot-dog stand
-Your hairstyle
-Your mailbox
-Painting the deck
-Sidewalk art shows
-A photograph for each letter of the alphabet (for example, an apple for the letter “A”)
-High-school memorabilia
-Garden tools
-Things that bother you
-Puddles
-Your feet
-A gas station with gas prices
-Running shoes
-Birds flying south
-Bonfires
-An unfinished (or finished) crossword puzzle
-Your cell phone
-Drive-in movie theaters
-Your fine china
-Your favorite cereal
-Valentines you received
I could list all 365 days worth- but I won't.

I will try to post more pictures periodically.
Hope you liked it!

RE: Looking for Light

Well, poooy! I tried to reply or comment on Barbara's light photos, but to do that I can't add a picture. Since you asked what we think about light, I had to post a picture! Now, don't laugh- I do take pictures of onions sometimes! We had just gotten in from grocery shopping and the light was coming in at just the right angle. I love light! So, I got back out the onion which I had already starred at earlier, perplexed by its texture, and sat it on the counter. It wasn't cool enough! So I dug around and found some blooming garlic. Perfect! So tah-da!

photographs vs. drawing

So I've been the active participant in several discussions about the use of cameras and photographs in the realms of drawing. Some people say they are useless or distracting; that there is no need to use a camera that, instead, you should interpret what you see, not what the camera sees, to make a drawing. Others say they like to use photographs and replicate them to make really intricate drawings. I'm partial to cameras.

My admiration for photography came fairly recent. I bought my first digital camera from target for about 200$. I dabbled around previously with very low quality digital cameras, web cams, and a second hand camera I permanently borrowed from my sister (and later accidentally broke). I had always enjoyed taking photos, but found it to be a hassle to upload from some of the more archaic cameras of my past. And the quality was almost atrocious...

But it wasn't until I found myself walking almost everywhere, that a real admiration seemed to develop. It's almost amazing what details you can see when you go under 5 miles per hour. I often find myself wandering, with camera in hand, trying to find a part of the city I have neglected to see. Being a "big city" girl, there is a kind of peaceful feeling to being able to do that! Walking gives you almost an infinite amount of time to look. And photography, I have found, makes you even more aware of it. You often find yourself looking for an "interesting shot" or angle that you've never thought to try before. You start to notice small things like the way the cracks on the sidewalk bend, and how the grass seems to creep into the crevices. Shadows seem all the more interesting. You start to look at and understand the shapes of things you may often neglect. This is almost paramount in drawing.

It's kind of like making a visual catalog of all that you see. Lamps, walls, trees, grass, plants, ivy, anything really. Even people if you so wish. Something to draw from, literally. And, as an added benefit, you start to improve your photography, too.

I wouldn't give up photography for all the money in the world. But, as I said, I'm partial to it.