Day 195

Day 163

     Well today was my birthday. And what I wanted to do for part of my birthday was to take some family self-portraits. The times when our family is together are getting rarer and particularly since we will soon be gone from my childhood home, with the kids getting older and moving away. At first, there was some fussing, but we ended up having some fun with it. Of course, they didn't turn out quite as I'd planned, but the pictures are a recording of a good memory. It is a lot harder to get good pictures when you are the person behind and in front of the camera, and especially when the people in front of it are your family. So I guess here is a goofy mess up.

     In other fantastic news...guess what I got for my birthday? The new AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G! The lens I've been drooling over since they announced it! I couldn't believe it! Of course, it's not available to order until the 16th, so I just got a card with a picture on it. But believe me, I will be up early on the 16th!

Day 156

Day 145

     No matter how hard I try, I have never been able to capture the mood I get when I simply sit outside. It's definitely happy, but it feels like so much more to that. And that's why I love the outdoors so much. Because it is peace. No matter how awful my day, if I go outside, I'll feel something to make me feel better. Laugh at me all I want, but if I could, I would live purely outside. I belong among these pines. And that is part of the reason that I grew up in the best place ever.

Day 142

Day 138

     Today was a day of epiphany. If you use a bounce card on a speedlight, you should be able to use it with on-camera flash! Right? Right! Of course, I do not own a bounce card, but can easily craft one, using a hand or a sheet of cardstock and tape. For now. And of course, it worked wonderfully. And I enjoyed the transparency it created in my hand in my test shots.

Day 124

(Wanna know a secret? None of this makeup is real! I added it all in Photoshop! Just to see if I could.)

Day 83

     Very dramatic day. I was doing fine, writing a paper, when I heard the news. My home town was in the wrath of a wildfire. 8,500 people had been evacuated, and the fire was quickly spreading. My neighborhood and another large one were evacuated and seemingly in the path of burning. And I was frightened. Deep down I knew it would be ok, that I could just trust the Lord and whatever happened would be ultimately be for the best, that it was unlikely that my house wouldn't be there tomorrow. But it was just the selfish me that feared for the landscape I called home, my churches, schools, and friends' houses. And of course pets. All papers forgotten, brow furrowed, anxiety-eating and online news channel streaming. Constant text updates and phone calls, just to soak up all I could learn. And I watched as the fire surprisingly quickly climbed over gullies, swallowing up fields and chomped up the towering Ponderosa Pine Trees I had grown up with. I watched as it jumped from 50, 100, 1000 to over 1600 acres consumed. And I watched as it burned within feet of homes, and as the wind suddenly changed directions, burning back on itself and back out to open area. Evacuations for my town were lifted, and the thousands returned home. No structures damaged, and now as far as I know, it's 70% contained. Truly a miracle. Prayers are answered. And I breathe a Sigh of Sweet Relief.

Day 79

     I got a comment saying my self-portraits were too "angsty." Haha. So I'll try my hand at one where I'm smiling for once.

Day 78

    

Day 66

Peace.

Day 65

     Feeling a little whacky today? What does that mean? Time for a silly self portrait.

Day 62

Day 55

Day 26

      Self portrait time.  I have definitely covered all of the subjects found in my dorm room. And building. It is definitely going to take a lot of preparation and creativity to keep this up until April! But I guess that is what makes it so much fun!

Day 18

     All alone. Lonely. Alone. Alone. Alone.

Day 4

     Today was a traveling day. Back to college. So I didn't get much daylight to work with. I took some okay pictures of the plane and gate, but I still was unhappy.
     So I experimented with the dark. I started waving glow sticks and flashlights around and I by mistake produced this shot. Not what I was looking for, but I guess sometimes mistakes can be good things. I got a few funny comments walking out of the room with the supplies (including a potted plant to play with), but it was quite entertaining for me to try and plan out taking pictures with light elements. Working with lights in the dark is probably the most experimental and limitless strategies I have discovered, and are immensely pleasing to pioneer. Enjoy!