bright summer days

I meant to get some fun firework pictures for the 4th of July, but alas my view was blocked by trees and power lines rather unexpectedly. But it was a great 4th nonetheless! I went to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's special 4th of July performance, where they played at an outdoor theatre and the end of the concert was accompanied by fireworks. It was basically the perfect way to celebrate -- picnic in the park with friends, the orchestra playing the 1812 Overture and some patriotic pieces arranged by Charles Ives (whose Alma Mater is where I will be attending graduate school, incidentally) in the background, and closing with fireworks and accompanying music.

Being a musician, I was naturally most excited about the music, so it was really fun to be there with my friends Julie and Chris, both of whom are tuba players and fellow music-junkies. I guess we don't look like the kind of people who love classical music though, because an older gentleman who was one of the event volunteers jokingly said to us as we boarded the bus to the park, "And I'm sure you're all going for the music and not the fireworks." Little did he know how right he actually was :)

I did snap a few shots of the crowd -- 7000 people! But I haven't loaded them onto my mac yet, so I'll have to wait to show them for another day. I thought this shot was sufficiently summer-y, though. I love how forsythia is so bright and cheery!
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My iTunes: Early in the Mornin' by David Baker

photoshoot: three brothers: take 5

"Cheese!" Just too cute.

Currently enjoying a quiet evening to myself -- listening to a little Charles Ives on my new clock-ipod-radio contraption (the last clock I had was so bright that it kept me up at night, even on the dim setting), sipping my new favorite summer drink, and slowly working on a little more deep cleaning and organizing. Thought I would take a break to put up a quick post.
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My iTunes: Circus Band by Charles Ives

photoshoot: three brothers: take 4

Here is one of my favorite shots of S. He had the cutest little pouting face, and this is probably the most still he was for the whole shoot. I really love this shot, and so did his mama!
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My iTunes: Salut marin by Carla Bruni

photoshoot: three brothers: take 3

We did the photoshoot on a football field -- fitting for three brothers, don't you think? S was a real mover, and didn't stay still too long. I managed to snap this shot as he was playing by the practice net down by one of the end zones. Two seconds later, he was just a blur, running as fast as he could toward the other end of the field.
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My iTunes: George by William Bolcom

photoshoot: three brothers: take 2

Isn't this little guy just too cute for words?

At work again... back to the grind (literally, because I work in a coffee shop...)
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My iTunes: L'Amoureuse by Carla Bruni

photoshoot: three brothers

I am resurfacing after a blogging hiatus! I did a quick shoot yesterday for a friend of mine who wanted some pictures of her boys for Father's Day. They turned out really well, and you really see the different personalities of her three boys. T is the oldest and definitely has the older brother mentality. E is the middle boy and my friend says that no one else in the world can make her laugh harder. S is the youngest and he marches to his own beat, and will be a little heart breaker one day. It was quite a fun shoot, and my friend was happy with the pictures. I'll probably put up a few more here soon, but this will be it for now!
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My iTunes: Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by the Trevor Horn Orchestra

musical art: part 3

And here is the third and final installment. I'm excited to see them printed and put up on the wall. Actually, I'm just excited to see the walls in person!

I've been on the look-out for a bedding set for my apartment as well. Since I'm renting a studio apartment, the bed will be a significant fixture, so I wanted to be sure that I like the duvet cover I get. I saw one online that caught my eye, but wanted to see it in person. When I got to the store, they didn't have the one I was looking for, but I found one I liked better that was on clearance! And, thanks to some coupons I had, I got an additional 20% off. Score!

musical art: part 2

Part two of my three-part musical art series.
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My iTunes: Beethoven's 5th Symphony

musical art: part 1

In lieu of purchasing art to decorate my apartment this fall, I'm planning on decorating it with some of my own works. I want something a bit more abstract, but still involving photography. Since I'm slightly obsessed with music, I thought I'd try my hand at creating a series based on images of music. This is the first of the three I've created so far.
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My iTunes: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

graduation

I did it! Graduation was yesterday afternoon. I graduated with lots of pretentious honors: Summa Cum Laude, 4.0 GPA, two departmental honors, six honors societies, 183.5 credits, the United States History Award, not to mention three majors and a minor. The program had an insert with blurbs about some of the graduates with exceptional accomplishments and/or plans, and I was included. All in all, I feel rather proud of my accomplishments!

One of the coolest things about the graduation was that I was the very last person in the entire graduation to receive their diploma. First, all the graduate students received their diploma in alphabetically order by last name, then the undergraduates without Latin honors, then Cum, Magna, and Summa, and I was alphabetically last for Summa. I think it's the perfect spot to be -- everyone cheers for you and there is no anti-climactic wait afterward for 300 more people to receive their degrees.

So now that I've graduated, my summer begins. I will spend some of this week unpacking and consolidating all the ridiculous stuff I've accumulated over the last four years, and I'll go right back to work on Monday. My summer class starts this week -- I'm taking an acting class for fun and to help my performance skills as a singer. And I'm hoping to get right back to my voice and piano lessons!
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My iTunes: Procession of the Nobles by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (this was our processional music!)