waterfall

Waterfall
November 2007

My iTunes: Angels We Have Heard on High by Point of Grace

This is a shot I took for the assignment "water." It's a fountain just outside the dining area of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. I thought it would be fun to play with the idea of water being blue, even though it isn't. It kind of looks like ice -- fitting for the weather we're having around here lately!

my little scholar

My Little Scholar
November 2007

My iTunes: When Love Came Down by Point of Grace

I'm listening to one of my all-time favorite Christmas albums now: Point of Grace's A Christmas Story. Now I know it's Christmas time!

This is Chloe. She is 12 years old, almost 13. She is one of the people who brings me the greatest joy every time I see her. I've been her Latin teacher since she was in 3rd grade and she's become like a little sister to me. One evening in late October after we were done our tutoring session, I put her hair in sponge curlers as she started her reading assignment for the night -- Homer's Odyssey. Yes, 12 years old and reading The Odyssey. She's a smart one and I'm so proud of her. Incidentally, the baby whose picture I posted a few days ago is her youngest brother.

frozen fountain

Frozen Fountain
November 2007

My iTunes: Nativity Suite: Visitation by Phil Keaggy

This is a shot I took in New York (surprise, surprise -- I seem to use those shots a lot). Only this one has been through the magic of Photoshop CS3. I'm hoping to get it for Christmas (it's one of the last year's I'll be able to get it at the student discount price, which is $700 off the list price), but for the meantime, I've downloaded the 30-day free trial version. If you're considering purchasing Photoshop, I recommend giving the trial version a test run. It's pretty awesome. But I warn you, if you get used to CS3, you might just become addicted and have to purchase it...

gerber baby

Gerber Baby
November 2007

My iTunes: March from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet

I just love babies. One of my good friends has a little boy who is just over 3 months old named Jackson and he was baptized on Sunday. As I had some free time over Thanksgiving, I got to spend some time with their family and do a little photo shoot of the little guy. Something about his eyes is absolutely captivating. And I love how his eyebrows are raised as if he's in a perpetual state of curiosity. In this shot, I think he bears a close resemblance to the famous Gerber baby. What do you think?

busy street

Busy Street
November 2007

My iTunes: It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas by Bing Crosby

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's official -- the Christmas season has begun. (Someone tell Walmart that Christmas decorations before Halloween is a little too early.) I can listen to Christmas music and start decorating with impunity. This is also the beginning of the busiest season in New York City. This is one of the shots I took a couple weeks ago when I went up there -- if you think the streets are busy then, just see what they look like now! One of my friends went up to New York to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I can't wait to hear all her stories!

aisle of books

Aisle of Books
November 2007

My iTunes: Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince

Sorry for the lack of posting the past few days. I haven't forgotten about you all! I've been having some computer issues: I ended up having to wipe my hard-drive and have spent the past few days reloading and reinstalling everything, which included spending about 7 hours talking with different technical support people. ALMOST everything is fixed. So naturally what is the only thing that I can't get to work? My camera. For some reason the computer won't recognize the camera or the memory cards. Not to fear, though -- maybe a few more hours on the phone will solve that little problem.

In the meantime, I've been listening to books on tape. Or books on CD to be more specific. Gone are the days of wandering in and out of aisles of books like these, looking for a good book. Now we just download them from iTunes and listen as we type away. Normally, as you might be able to judge from my attitude in writing, I'd much rather read a real book than listen via computer. But while audiobooks should never replace real books, they are pretty darn fun sometimes. And a great thing for multi-taskers like myself. However, even I can't fix my computer, listen to Harry Potter, do laundry, vacuum, AND sleep, and since I've been enjoying my beauty sleep the past couple nights, I think I'll opt for more of that before church tomorrow. Or should I say today since it's approaching 2:00 a.m...

watery view

Watery View
November 2007

My iTunes: [Nothing -- it's broken] = (

Sorry it's been a while since my last post -- life has gotten quite busy. All my professors are cramming the work in before the Thanksgiving holiday. Thankfully it's all done now. So for the next 5 days, I'll be working on the assignments they just gave me, and taking a brief break for turkey on Thursday. Yum, yum!

There is something interesting about photographing through water. Fountains intrigue me. As a kid, I always wanted to throw pennies into the fountain and then take my shoes off and run through the fountain and pick up all the coins.

signs

Signs
November 2007

My iTunes: Giovinetti Che Fatte All'Amore from Mozart's Don Giovanni

Here's another shot of the signs from the vendor in New York. Only now you're not dictated to see only black, white, and red = )

northern details

Northern Details
November 2007

My iTunes: Clair de Lune, Op. 46/2

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday because I was out of town (again). I seem to be doing that a lot this fall. I spent the day in Washington D.C. at the National Gallery and the National Museum of the American Indian. The National Gallery is one of my favorites, but I'd never been to the other museum, and since I'm taking a course in European-Indian relations in the 16th and 17th centuries, I thought it would be a good idea to go. I'm not entirely sure I liked the museum -- there was a lot of empty space and relatively little artwork. When I have a bit of free time (haha -- what's that?), I'd like to look up some reviews for the museum and see how people have liked it. It's a relatively new museum, too. The best part about it was finding wampum. (If you don't know what it is, go look it up.)

But anyway, this picture is of a detail of "Madonna and Child with Saints in the Enclosed Garden" by a follower of the famous artist, Robert Campin. It was painted in the Netherlands in the mid-1400's. Northern "Renaissance" is such a fascinating time period to study. Most people focus on the art of the Italian Renaissance, but the art of the North at that time was extremely influential. One of the quickest ways to tell the difference between a Northern work and an Italian work at this time is to see how much detail there is. Northern artists are known for their attention to detail. After seeing something like this, you can begin to understand how the telescope and the microscope were both invented in this area of Europe. Art historians refer to the Northern perspective on detail as the "telescopic-microscopic view" sometimes because everything, whether in the distance or up close, is seen in great detail.

And there is your art history lesson for the day!

sprinklings of red

Sprinklings of Red
November 2007

My iTunes: Clair de Lune, Op. 46/2 by Ian Bostridge

If you've ever been to an open market in a big city like London or New York, it's likely that you'll have seen displays of signs where the vendors lay out all the signs in a big rectangular area. For the color red assignment, I thought it would be fun to play a bit with the idea of being color blind, but instead of being unable to see red, what if that were the only color you could see? Well, perhaps the world would look something like this...

(Doesn't it just make you want to watch reruns of I Love Lucy?)

red daisy

Red Daisy
November 2007

My iTunes: Giovinette Che Fate All'Amore in Mozart's Don Giovanni

I'm taking a brief break from writing a 14 page paper this evening to post a picture that makes me happy. Why? Because it is red. And I'm tired of this paper. It's proven to be an interesting topic, or at least I think it is interesting. I'm writing about Plotinic aesthetic theory: it's place in philosophical history, its influences on art, and its responses to contemporary events. Really, any time I get to write about Roman art or art in general, it makes me happy. I just wish I didn't have 11 pages left to write... and that it wasn't due in less than 24 hours...

by any other name

By Any Other Name
November 2007

My iTunes: Clair de Lune Op. 46/2 by Ian Bostridge

There is something about red that I am just drawn to. For example, I am sitting here in my red henley, wearing socks that I bought because of their red accent stripes, drinking tea from my red tea pot, posting a picture of a red rose. I also love classical music, like what I am currently listening to and what serves as the background for this rose. I suppose this picture is the conflation of two of my loves, then. I'm embracing the artsy-ness that I've discovered to be me.

stained glass

Stained Glass
November 2007

My iTunes: La Ci Darem La Mano from Mozart's Don Giovanni

I babysat an adorable 1 1/2 year old little girl last night, and as her mother was saying goodbye, she gave her a cuddle that only a mother and child can share. It made me think of this window.

stained glass sunset

Stained Glass Sunset
November 2007

My iTunes: Don Giovanni by Mozart

Another shot from the chapel. The light at sunset is so nice through the windows, don't you think?

chapel

Chapel
November 2007

My iTunes: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered by Celine Dion

It's becoming harder and harder to find picturesque little chapels in this area. American architecture has been heavily influenced by modern artistic trends and because the turn-around rate for buildings is so high, very few buildings have any history. If a sports stadium is 8 years old, it's time to tear it down and build another. If you ever run across something that is 100 years old, you're shocked at how long it has lasted. But visit some cities in Europe, like Assisi, Italy, for example, and you'll hear buildings that were built in the 1400's referred to as "the new buildings." That's one reason I like this little chapel. It still has character and it looks so picturesque. It's not quite like the cathedrals I love in Europe, but it's better than most buildings in America.

#87

#87
November 2007

My iTunes: Clair de Lune Op. 46/2 by Kyle Engler

I like how this shot has a lot of movement in it, yet the one "still" object is in the middle of taking a step. It's like a picture of a split second in which time itself stands still and you can take a step back and notice all the little details. (Don't you wish you could actually put your life on pause sometimes?)

football

Football
November 2007

My iTunes: Batti, Batti O Bel Masetto from Mozart's Don Giovanni

Never in a million years would I classify myself as a sports fanatic, and probably not even a sports fan. But I occasionally enjoy going to my college's football games. Even though we rarely (if ever) win. My excuse is that they are fun to photograph, and because the college is so small, I can get pretty close to the action with camera in hand...

fountains

Fountains
November 2007

My iTunes: Ma Qual Mai S'Offre, O Dei from Don Giovanni

I've always thought fountains are fun. Photographing fountains at night is kind if like photographing fire works. There isn't much light, other than that produced by your subject, but there is movement that you want to capture. I like fountains especially for the lines, though -- even though nothing is stable, engineers can determine based on water pressure and directional vectors exactly where each stream of water will go, and then they arrange multiple nozzles accordingly to make some sort of display like this one from New York City.

windows

Windows
November 2007

My iTunes: [One of my voice lessons] = )

As I sit here listening to the beginning of one of my voice lessons, I'm hearing myself do an exercise meant to warm up the vocal chords and work on two specific vowel sounds: "eh" and "oh." You're supposed to sing "mellow, mellow, mellow, mellow, mellow" up and down the scales. I think it's funny that I'm telling myself to be 'mellow.'

One of the recent assignments was doors and windows. I took this shot from a little chapel close to my house. I like stained glass windows, so I thought they'd be fun to take pictures of.

lakeside view

Lakeside View
November 2007

My iTunes: Don't Know Why by Norah Jones

The glory of fall... or the glory of photoshop?

black-eyed susans

Black-Eyed Susans
November 2007

My iTunes: Music for a While by Dawn Upshaw

Today I set a new record for sleeping in. I made it all the way until 11:35. Never slept that long before. The problem is, now half the day is gone and I still have a million things to do. Still, it was nice to get some much needed rest!

This has been a fun shot to play around with. I like the colors, lines, and textures in it. I think the poster effect nicely accentuates the good features of the shot, too.

impression of fall

Impression of Fall
November 2007

My iTunes: Rejoice Greatly from Handel's Messiah, performed by Kathleen Battle

One of my favorite periods in western art is the 19th century, which spans a variety of artistic movements. Two of my favorites are romanticism and impressionism. In playing around in Photoshop, I realized that I could turn a photograph into an impressionist-style painting using filters. This shot reminds me of paintings by Monet because he liked to paint in a similar style. I'd go off into a bunch of art historical jargon and explain the history of the impressionist movement, it's goals, and some of it's famous painters, but I think that for now, posting this picture and expressing my love of the impressionist movement will suffice.

red house by the lake

Red House By the Lake
November 2007

My iTunes: Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 by Yo-Yo Ma

How did it get to be November already? Time seems to be flying past like nobody's business. I like listening to slow classical music as if I'm fooling myself into thinking that time is passing slowly and I can savor each moment. Why is it when I have a lot of projects due time flies and I never seem to have enough, but when I am waiting for something, time crawls?

This little red brick house was right off the lake where I stayed this weekend. I like the combination of colors -- the red of the house, the burnt orange of the leaves, the green of the bull rushes -- and textures -- the repetition in the house, the random lines in the foreground, and the mottling in the background. Seems peaceful, like a flock of geese should be flying overhead and the crickets chirping in the background.