more experiments...

My photography professor recently loaned me a Holga. I've never used one, and was incredibly excited to see my results. I was only able to scan in a few negatives, but there will be more soon...and hopefully the next round will be better exposed and less blurry.

I'll definitely be using more of this method - fun, fun...

production, production

The last 26 hours have been the most productive of the semester so far...

I spent Friday night entirely developing my portfolio...around 2am, I made the final pdf. There is still a little design work needed in the typography, but the photo choices are all made. My goal is to send it off by thursday at the latest.

Today was spent working on my photography thesis project - minus the 15 minute break I took to get coffee, the 2 hour break I took to go see Choke (based on Chuck Palahniuk's book) and the 1 hour break I took to eat dinner with 2 good friends. I've been researching, choosing, and developing photos since 8:00am. At 10:00pm, I am reviewing my process and deciding whether I should begin working on copy or if I should go get a drink.

Here is a taste of what I"ve been working on...4 of the 15 I have put together.

don't judge too harshly, it's only the first of many steps...

back to school...

I am now on my second day of school, and we have already had a project due and a critique in my photography class.

The assignment was pretty cool. My teacher has these cards called "Oblique Strategies," developed by an artist and a musician. Supposedly, the phrases on these cards are inspirational enough for you to be able to create an entire collection of work based on it.

My group's phrase was "simple subtraction."

And here is the photo i took:



We interpreted simple subtraction as a way of simplifying things in your life and subtracting negatives. I chose bicycles because of the simplification of problems you have when biking rather than driving (parking tickets, finding a space, gas, etc), and the environmental impact that you subtract when you choose to use your own energy rather than introducing more negatives to the environment.

Here are the other two that I made, but didn't end up using...

changing things

It's been a while...nice to see you again.

A lot has changed since I last wrote. I've taken vacations, I moved into a new room, I've seen great shows. And the culmination of these events has convinced me to rework my mentality (whether I can actually do that or not). As a disclaimer, I have a lot to write about tonight...and I'm in a bit of a stressed mood, so I apologize for the lack of effort in entertaining writing...I just want to get it all down.

Moving:
My new room is excellent. My new roommate is excellent, too. And I have my harp! It's been nice being able to come home and see it. It's almost a connection like people have with cars or pets. I needed my harp to be around. Thought I've played only a few times each week (and yes, my 14-foot-ceilings have phenomenal acoustics), it's comforting just knowing that I have the opportunity to practice again. I don't feel guilt when I don't practice when I go to my parent's house anymore because it's always a possibility. I've even spent a few quality mornings & nights with the harp, ignoring the cell phone, redefining the calus', and realizing how rusty I've gotten. It's fantastic.

Shows:
Bon Iver - inexplainable. I cried three times. I got to see it with a few of my best friends. Please check them out if you haven't already. And if covers are your things, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hnAY05A9PE

Vacations:
I'm a bit of a traveler. I tend to spend every last penny I own on spring break trips to Italy, Ireland, or France. My first taste of life outside the US was to the Czech Republic in 4th grade. This summer, however, the farthest I've gone is about 400 miles, to the northwest side of Wisconsin. I spent the last few days up in Hudson, where everybody thinks they're actually from Minnesota because they can walk across the bridge and be there. Even their news at the end of the night covered the Twins and the Vikings, no mention of the Brewers. I was able to spend about 36 quality hours with a great friend who now lives in D.C. Originally from Hudson, this incredibly intelligent, change-the-world kind of girl and myself were content spending hours sitting on her back porch drinking coffee (or wine, depending on which side of noon it was). Those few hours made me realize how unbelieveable (some) people are...that girl has helped change my life more than she probably knows. Another remarkable thing about Hudson was the drive up there. After a gross miscalculation, i ended up having 150 miles more to drive than I had anticipated. Quite a disappointment when you assume to be ariving in about 20 miles...yet 170 still awaits. To ease my annoyance, I put on the Fleet Foxes and took a few more breaths. The trip up to Hudson was driving into the sun the entire time. Unfortunately, my super trendy aviators don't block as much sun as was probably needed to take that, however, by about 7pm, I was able to take them off. For the next two hours I watched the most incredible sunset I've ever experienced. The sky went from purple to blue to green to orange to yellow. This was no typical sunset. More than once I felt the need to pull over just so I could look at it long enough...

My first vacation was to Manitowoc. Yep, only an hour away from Milwaukee, I still called it a vacation. I went with a friend who lives there. After an unfortunately hung-over morning, quenched by Culvers at 10am, we spent lots of time with her family and old high school friends. We relaxed...visited all the local landmarks...and saw some of the best fireworks. After half an hour of straining our necks looking up at them, we were calm, tired, and happy. Not too many exciting things happened in Manitowoc. It would be much like coming home to Delafield to visit my family...no plans, but a perfect break.

My middle vacation of the summer was to Door County - Sturgeon Bay, to be exact. My friend moved there in April and we had been promising to visit ever since. This friend was the kind of girl I expected to see every day when she lived in Milwaukee. Whether that was because I worked two blocks away from her house or because she worked a block away from my house, we managed to always have fun together - even if it was just sitting on her bed drinking beer and listening to Fleetwood Mac. Back to the vacation, Door County was also a phenomenal break. Two others came up with me, and though all of our plans of camping fell through (due to the rain), it is still a trip that will go down in the books for me. We slept in her grandma's house, got rained out of dinner, and roasted marshmellows over the kitchen stove. It couldn't have been better...

Damn, Wisconsin...you definitely know how to perfect the things you're known for. The beer on the beach, sunsets that last an hour or two, and lasting friendships with quality people can't be argued with. It's no Colorado or New York...regardless, I'm glad I spent my last 3 months here.