I love watching my little furry girl grow up.
She has learned so much already in three months; most recently how to bark at the door. (She turns and runs away right after though!)
I keep hoping that I won't do anything to irrevocably mess her up for the long haul; she's right at that age where anything that scares her has the potential to scare her for the rest of her life.
Via Flickr:
My boyfriend came to visit me for my birthday. While he was here, I put him in charge of taking Bailey for a short walk (or two) so I could get some good photos of her. This is one of my favorites. <3
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Happy Girl ~ Bailey
Friday, June 8, 2012
Country Girl *Edited*
This blog has been edited in the following ways from the original: the loose ends of thought strung along have been tied together in three final paragraphs. I apologize for any confusion that any previous editions might have caused.
This is the view that I see every day when I'm out walking Bailey and we turn away from the road and head home. How great of a view is this?
Last month, when I spent a week in Denver, I wholeheartedly realized something: I love living in the country.
I also loved being minutes from anywhere in the big city. Restaurants, stores, and other places that we do not have ready access to up north are only a few miles away in the metro area.
When I was in the car going somewhere, however, I was not a fan of the traffic.
Denver traffic is not bad, comparatively, and I have not had any serious issues when driving in Denver in the past; however, I was not (and am not) sure that I could trust myself driving on the cities and streets. The thoroughfares and main veins are fine, but it's the side streets and connecting points that were ultimately my undoing.
I'm not saying I'm chicken to drive there; it would just take some serious adjustments.
Then, when I got home, I was discouraged by the amount of traffic that was passing up and down my road. I wanted my quiet country retreat back. It used to be that I could sit outside in the mornings with a cup of tea and listen to nature waking up, as if the sun was playing a symphony with her dancing rays. But now, there is increased automobile and airplane interference.
I realize by living in a society which so values globalization that such noise is nearly unavoidable, but new residential developments and oil rig production has brought more automobile traffic to my once more-peaceful road. The increase in airplane traffic has been caused by construction on a small neighboring airport, which has rerouted the inconvenienced flights to the municipal airport in my area.
But, my area is still quieter than Denver was.
Summertime has always been my favorite season in the country. I love the light, the shadows, the life that happens all around me. (Except, of course, for the spiders.) This year, however, has been wrought with wind and heat. I cannot go outside and enjoy the season; it's either blustery or oppressive.
I have been grateful for Bailey's need to go out during the mornings and evenings, though; those are usually the best times for light and temperature.
Since February, the plan has been for me to join my boyfriend in Denver once he has secured a job enough to afford an apartment for the two of us. (I could be looking for work down there at the moment, but I would have no place to stay while working should employment find me.)
The Denver trip did nothing to damper these intentions.
So what, then, was the point of this entire blog, in which I praised country living and seemingly occluded any desire to live in the big city?
It was nothing more than a reaffirmation that I love where I live.
The lives of people who live in the city are different from the lives of people who live in the country. The pace at which one lives, the self-sustainability, the dangers, the views, the noise...all different. I appreciate where I grew up.
And I love the bittersweet thought that, someday sooner than I want to process and think about, these 3+ acres in the country will be mine.
This is the view that I see every day when I'm out walking Bailey and we turn away from the road and head home. How great of a view is this?
Last month, when I spent a week in Denver, I wholeheartedly realized something: I love living in the country.
I also loved being minutes from anywhere in the big city. Restaurants, stores, and other places that we do not have ready access to up north are only a few miles away in the metro area.
When I was in the car going somewhere, however, I was not a fan of the traffic.
Denver traffic is not bad, comparatively, and I have not had any serious issues when driving in Denver in the past; however, I was not (and am not) sure that I could trust myself driving on the cities and streets. The thoroughfares and main veins are fine, but it's the side streets and connecting points that were ultimately my undoing.
I'm not saying I'm chicken to drive there; it would just take some serious adjustments.
Then, when I got home, I was discouraged by the amount of traffic that was passing up and down my road. I wanted my quiet country retreat back. It used to be that I could sit outside in the mornings with a cup of tea and listen to nature waking up, as if the sun was playing a symphony with her dancing rays. But now, there is increased automobile and airplane interference.
I realize by living in a society which so values globalization that such noise is nearly unavoidable, but new residential developments and oil rig production has brought more automobile traffic to my once more-peaceful road. The increase in airplane traffic has been caused by construction on a small neighboring airport, which has rerouted the inconvenienced flights to the municipal airport in my area.
But, my area is still quieter than Denver was.
Summertime has always been my favorite season in the country. I love the light, the shadows, the life that happens all around me. (Except, of course, for the spiders.) This year, however, has been wrought with wind and heat. I cannot go outside and enjoy the season; it's either blustery or oppressive.
I have been grateful for Bailey's need to go out during the mornings and evenings, though; those are usually the best times for light and temperature.
Since February, the plan has been for me to join my boyfriend in Denver once he has secured a job enough to afford an apartment for the two of us. (I could be looking for work down there at the moment, but I would have no place to stay while working should employment find me.)
The Denver trip did nothing to damper these intentions.
So what, then, was the point of this entire blog, in which I praised country living and seemingly occluded any desire to live in the big city?
It was nothing more than a reaffirmation that I love where I live.
The lives of people who live in the city are different from the lives of people who live in the country. The pace at which one lives, the self-sustainability, the dangers, the views, the noise...all different. I appreciate where I grew up.
And I love the bittersweet thought that, someday sooner than I want to process and think about, these 3+ acres in the country will be mine.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Jessica
Last weekend, a handful of people converged to help a friend with her final photography project, which was to emulate a famous photographer.
I was lucky enough to be one of those in attendance.
The lovely model you see in the photograph, Jessica, was wrapped in a sheet and a scarf, and then sent into gross water. All I did with this part of the project was to help find a location similar to what was in the goal photograph and to see if the pose was close enough.
Then came the fun part.
In exchange for helping with the project, my friend wanted to make sure that Jessica got some pretty, personal portraits.
In addition to Jessica, my friend, and I, there was also my friend's sister, my friend's niece, and Jessica's friend, Doni.
We shot Doni, Jessica, and my friend's niece in a couple different locations.
This photo is one of my favorites.
The location can be translated into a child shoot, a newborn shoot, a maternity shoot, and an engagement session, but I think that it would also serve well for a family session or a senior session, so it's pretty much a good location to keep in mind.
(Thanks to my friend for introducing me to it, if she reads my blog.)
I'm out of school now, so I can focus on growing and expanding my photography business, so maybe I'll have some shoots that I can use that location!
This photo can be seen in the Rock the Shot Forum.
www.rocktheshotforum.com
I was lucky enough to be one of those in attendance.
The lovely model you see in the photograph, Jessica, was wrapped in a sheet and a scarf, and then sent into gross water. All I did with this part of the project was to help find a location similar to what was in the goal photograph and to see if the pose was close enough.
Then came the fun part.
In exchange for helping with the project, my friend wanted to make sure that Jessica got some pretty, personal portraits.
In addition to Jessica, my friend, and I, there was also my friend's sister, my friend's niece, and Jessica's friend, Doni.
We shot Doni, Jessica, and my friend's niece in a couple different locations.
This photo is one of my favorites.
The location can be translated into a child shoot, a newborn shoot, a maternity shoot, and an engagement session, but I think that it would also serve well for a family session or a senior session, so it's pretty much a good location to keep in mind.
(Thanks to my friend for introducing me to it, if she reads my blog.)
I'm out of school now, so I can focus on growing and expanding my photography business, so maybe I'll have some shoots that I can use that location!
www.rocktheshotforum.com
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow, we will stand by each other, however it blow.
Then come the wild weather, come sleet or come snow, we will stand by each other, however it blow., a photo by speckled_beckle on Flickr.
This is one of my favorite shots from the short flour experiment that I was a part of during my studio photography class.
As mentioned in a blog post a few weeks ago, I would love to explore this idea further. It is truly so versatile.
There are also plans to do something similar to this shoot, but with rain. The rain shoot is still in the planning stages, but I have a general idea of how I'm going to go about it.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Finally!
I was so grateful to be able to finally get some new work up. I have tons of landscape and nature photos that I could share, but after a while, my page starts to feel boring (to me) so I like to mix it up.
There are two reasons why I haven't shared new work regularly.
The first is that my Canon battery died (doh!) and I was not able to locate my charger. (Hooray for emptying out my camera bag in a hurry.) That led me to borrow my teacher's Nikon D300 for a night of shooting, and then to borrow the school's Nikon D200 for a week. (I have it checked out until May 3rd.) The problem with that is that my Canon uses an SD card (for which there is a direct drive in my computer) but the D200 uses a CF card, which requires a reader. I borrowed one, but it didn't work.
The second reason I have not been sharing work regularly --even the work waiting from my Canon, like the above shot-- is because my computer needs a friendly back up drive to use. I have a back up drive, but I need to get it examined. When I try to access some files on it, the files say "file not found" or "file not accessible" and I have no idea why. So, needless to say, I haven't used my backup drive in a year and a half. That translates into my computer being full (287 GB has lasted me two years, at least!) and not being able to upload photos.
(Breathe.)
To cap off all my wonderful technology troubles, my flash drive "went missing" from a computer lab at school, so the only way I have to transport pictures back and forth is email.
Like I mentioned in the description of this image on Flickr, I think that all of this techno trouble is happening because my finals are not looking to be too troublesome this year.
(In fact, I have one presentation next week and one test in anatomy, then I'm done except for photo DVD viewing! Huzzah!)
Friday, April 20, 2012
Wednesday Night Habit
Every Wednesday since the beginning of March, I have been feeding homeless people at the only shelter in my county.
It has been a wonderful experience.
I started doing it because I needed to do a service-learning project for my Honors Lit class, but it has become so much more.
I look forward to feeding hungry people every week. So often, it feels like people feel they need to repay every kindness that heads their way; it's a wonderful feeling to help people who cannot repay me.
I encourage everyone to do it at least once in their lives. (And don't necessarily wait until the holiday season; that's when "everyone" helps.)
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Almost Free
As much as I have loved being a student for the last three years, I cannot wait to be done.
Five more full weeks --including one final finals week-- and I will have a college degree.
After that, life is going to get interesting, but at least I won't have to worry about school anymore. (At least for a while.)
Last Monday was our blowout night in my studio photography class.
I experimented with speedlights, portable flashes, and flour. It was great. =)
I want to pursue the flour thing farther. It is so versatile.
I also want to do some rain shoots; I think it would be awesome. Plans are already in the works to do it.
I have a bunch of new work to show, but I am waiting. There is a bunch of school stuff going on, and I need to focus on it.
Five more full weeks --including one final finals week-- and I will have a college degree.
After that, life is going to get interesting, but at least I won't have to worry about school anymore. (At least for a while.)
Last Monday was our blowout night in my studio photography class.
I experimented with speedlights, portable flashes, and flour. It was great. =)
I want to pursue the flour thing farther. It is so versatile.
I also want to do some rain shoots; I think it would be awesome. Plans are already in the works to do it.
I have a bunch of new work to show, but I am waiting. There is a bunch of school stuff going on, and I need to focus on it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)