morning mist

Morning Mist
October 2008

My iTunes: Casta Diva from Bellini's Norma

With the exception of last weekend when I was away on a conference, every spare second of my time for the past two weeks almost has been spent working on my seminar paper on nineteenth century grand opera in Philadelphia. This is the one that I spent a portion of the summer researching in Philadelphia. The first (and only) draft was due this past week, and I thought I'd be able to get it into a polished state, but I had some unexpected glitches with some performance data that resulted in me putting about 22 extra hours into one of the appendices. Currently, the three appendices that are finished add up to a total of nearly 100 pages. So for about two weeks, I've been up until 2:00 a.m. and up at 7:00 a.m. to work on it, which meant no time to blog.

In addition to that, rehearsals for Norma started this week, so I'm driving back and forth from Baltimore quite a bit. Rehearsal tonight was canceled (thank goodness!), so I'll have some extra time to work on this paper.

Last weekend I took a break for a conference and managed to grab a few shots. This was taken at the lake in the morning when the mist was rising.

I'll be doing a bit of shooting tomorrow with Melody & Jake's wedding! I hope to get back to regular posting soon, but between paper, rehearsal, and photo editing, I might be lucky to find time to sleep...

new shots coming soon

I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post -- I promise, though, new shots are coming soon. I just edited a few and was about to post them, but for some reason blogger won't upload images at the moment, so I guess the pictures will have to wait a bit longer.

For the past two weeks or so, my life has been almost entirely consumed by my capstone paper and everything that goes with it. Tonight I worked on polishing a few of the appendices (yes, there is not only an appendix, but more than one). I will be so glad when the whole paper is done and handed in. I think my brain has reached full capacity and won't absorb another thing.

After this weekend, I'll have even more photos to share -- I'm shooting a wedding on Saturday and I'm very excited! But in order to be well-rested, I should get to bed now...

embrace

Embrace
October 2008

My iTunes: Molto Voglio, Molto Spero from Handel's Rinaldo

This next week is going to be VERY full of work. Thankfully (perhaps), I don't have any shows or rehearsals this week, so I'll have extra time to get things done. I've nearly four things off this week's to-do list, one of which was finish editing the pictures for Mark and Renee's photoshoot. I'm going to see them this weekend, so my goal was to get them the pictures then. I think I have achieved my goal. I thought I'd share one last picture that is one of my favorite from the shoot. Thanks for asking me to do the shoot, Mark and Renee! I had a great time with you guys and I hope you'll be happy with the pictures!

Before getting back to my to-do list, I want to share a shot of me and Tiziana Caruso, the soprano from the Baltimore Opera Production of Aida that we just finished. I miss hearing her sing already. I wish that any time I wore body paint, tribal paint, and a red-and-black mohawk wig, I could hear her sing. I think I'd do it at least twice a week. She has the most beautiful voice, is a wonderful actress, and a very sweet person as well. The Washington Post had a great review, and in my opinion was quite accurate. This shot was from the cast party last night after our closing show. Si sono celeste, Tiziana! Spero che ci incontriamo di nuovo! Grazie e ciao!

go team!

Go Team!
October 2008

My iTunes: Aspettare e Non Venire from Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona

I spent yesterday afternoon at a football game with a friend who came up to visit for the day. The company was wonderful and the light was good, and we both enjoyed watching another friend of ours on the cheer leading team. The football team, however, didn't have such a great afternoon. We lost by nearly a 50-point margin. Ouch.

One more performance of Aida is left. Bittersweet, because I will really miss hearing the wonderful singers but will not miss the body paint!

flower in the abstract

Flower in the Abstract
October 2008

My iTunes: Tel jour, telle nuit: I. Bonne journée by Dalton Baldwin & Nicolai Gedda

This is a shot I grabbed while on one of my photoshoots this past weekend. And believe it or not, there's been no editing done to it. It's probably one of the 5 or so pictures I've ever posted without editing.

This weekend is the closing weekend for Aida. I'll miss hearing the amazing singers, but won't miss all the time spent taking off the body paint!

I have a new thing added to my to-do list: find a floor length black dress to wear for my choir solos. We had auditions yesterday afternoon for choir solos, and I was given three different parts. It should be fun!

fall leaves

Fall Leaves
October 2008

My iTunes: Chevaux de Bois by Dawn Upshaw

I had the rest of the first engagement shoot yesterday afternoon. I haven't had a chance to edit any pictures yet, except for this one which I snapped while I was waiting since I got there a few minutes early. I really liked it, so I had to open it up in Photoshop.

While I was on my photoshoot, I ran into another photographer and we chatted for a bit. As she walked away, I saw that she had a ShootSac bag with the cover that I want! I wish I could have told her how much I liked it, but she was too far away by the time I realized. But thanks to my amazing research skills, I found her website online -- stop by if you have time, I really love her work! My next photography purchase will be a ShootSac bag -- they look so amazing! Check them out here, and be sure to visit Jessica Claire's blog-site, which is one of my favorite things to look at online (she's such an inspiration)!

Busy day today -- theory class, aural musicianship, lyric and diction (my favorite!), then a coaching session for some French songs I'm working on, then another performance this evening. I think I should get to bed soon, then...

holding hands

Holding Hands
October 2008

My iTunes: Calmes Dans Le Demi-jour (En Sourdine) by Dawn Upshaw

Another shot from Saturday's shoot with Mark and Renee. As many of my regular visitors know, I love to take pictures of people against brick, especially shots like this!

My weekend of grad school visits is finally over, and thank goodness I have today to recover. Or rather, I have today to try desperately to be productive. My goal is to get my paper from 12 pages to 20 pages this afternoon. I should get started with that...

happy days

Happy Days

October 2008

My iTunes: Il barcaiolo by Cecilia Bartoli

I know it's a second black and white shot in a row, but I really love this one. I'm not sure exactly what I love about it. It sort of reminds me of something from the Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett because of the old gate.

As we were thinking of where to start shooting, Renee mentioned an old Quaker cemetery that was a few minutes walk away. We laughed for a bit at the thought of doing an engagement-type shoot at a cemetery, but turned it around and said that instead of associating the spot with death and decay, we could associate it with timelessness and legacies.

I don't want to detract from the shots of Mark and Renee, but a few people have asked whether I have pictures of me in my costume for Aida. I didn't, until last night. I thought I'd share these two:


I'm quite recognizable, right? I've decided to embrace the look, body paint, tribal paint, red-and-black mohawk, crazy costume, and all. When else will I get a chance to look this ridiculous? But let me tell you, getting all that off takes forever. I think I'll be finding body paint in my ears for weeks to come...

mark & renee

Mark & Renee
October 2008

Meet Mark & Renee, two more of my photographic victims. We had a lovely shoot this morning and this is one of my favorite shots. It was hard to decide whether to post the color version, the black and white version, and the "Troy" version (I love TRA!). I settled on this one, I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Mark and Renee are friends of mine and have been married for several years, but never had engagement portraits done. Well, now they will have some! I'm excited to share the rest once I edit them! Tonight is opening night for Aida so I will probably spend most of my non-stage time editing today's shoot.

a quick preview: take #2

A Quick Preview: Take #2
October 2008

My iTunes: You Opened Up My Eyes by Martyn Layzell

I still don't want to give too much away, because the bride still hasn't see the pictures (unless she's seeing them here!), but I had to post another for today.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Totally Rad Actions? Literally cut my editing time for Saturday's shots at least in half. Maybe more. I like the title of the one I used for this: "Old Skool."

Tomorrow's rehearsal is the piano dress, and the first time we wear the full costumes and the body paint. We'll see how it goes...

a quick preview

A Quick Preview
October 2008

My iTunes: Marchia trionfale from Verdi's Aida

Today I met with the bride and groom whose wedding I'll be shooting in November. I was very excited to meet them, and now I'm even more excited to shoot their wedding! Since the walk-through of the church went so quickly, we spent a little time doing a practice shoot in the field by the church. I had a long rehearsal this afternoon, so I got to spend some time editing the shots right away. I don't want to give away too much since the bride hasn't seen them yet, but I wanted to share this one as a teaser...

let yourself shine

Let Yourself Shine
October 2008

My iTunes: Fêtes galantes by Ian Bostridge

A good saying to think on today.

In between work and rehearsal today, I'm trying to spend some quality time working on my paper on opera in Philadelphia, and perhaps start rewriting the Latin paper that I lost when my computer died. I thought I'd take a quick break and share a picture, though.

And incidentally, I've been really enjoying learning the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For those of you who aren't familiar with IPA, you'll see it in dictionaries -- they're the funky symbols that show you how to pronounce things. I've been having fun going through all sorts of foreign language songs. I finished Italian and German and am working on French now, so I'm enjoying a few playlists of French songs.

And now, back to work...

hydrant

Hydrant
October 2008

My iTunes: Ritorna Vincitor from Verdi's Aida

Today Robert put up two lovely macro shots with blown out backdrops that I really liked, so I thought I'd post this shot to continue in the blown-out trend for the day.

Busy day ahead: teaching two voice lessons, an exam, a meeting, a practice session, and a choir rehearsal. Well, I guess comparatively it's a relatively light day, but when I think about being booked solid from 12:40-6:00, it seems more full.

Happy October.