Dragon Park Photos

Last week during a drive around to take pictures, I went to one of my favorite parks in Nashville, Fannie Mae Dees Park, also known as "Dragon Park." There is a ginormous dragon made of cut tiles by local artists. When I was at Belmont University, we used to head over there all the time just to play.

Here are some photos from that day. I took both my film and digital cameras along to take similar shots. It's interesting to compare the two.

Enjoy (especially you, Melinda!!)!!

Today

Three years ago today, my life changed forever...my mom (my best friend) collapsed at work and was resuscitated never to regain her full capacities again. She passed away on February 24 in hospice care.

I felt compelled to re-post this photograph as I took it with her in mind.

More Photos

More from Monday.

Today's Photos

Since I am taking a color photography class, I have to take 2 rolls of 36 exposures every week (finding subjects can get tough by the end of the semester!). Since I am just learning the color printing process, I decided to take my digital camera along for the ride today and take shots with both the digital camera as well as my film camera...that way, I could share them with my faithful blog readers.

Here are some of the best ones from today. Yes, I took some in a cemetary that I stumbled upon last year. I'm a bit obsessed with it for several reasons. First, it is surrounded on three sides by an apartment complex. Second, it's really rundown and half of the gravestones no longer have readable names (it's quite sad). Thirdly, I am oddly intrigued by cemetaries in general. Some say it is the greatest source of untapped potential....

Anyway, the other shots are from the land surrounding the Tennessee Historic Preservation Society.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

One of my favorite movies is "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"...maybe it's because I have good memories of watching it 5 times with my nephews.

I watched it again last night. One of the best aspects of the movies is the unabashed innocence and purity of heart that Charlie possesses, mostly likely because his family has nothing. He almost forgoes the invitation to Willy Wonka's factory because someone offered him $500 for the golden ticket. Throughout the entire movie, he is so grateful for even the smallest things...especially the chocolate bar he receives as a birthday present once a year.

In a discussion with a friend of mine several months back, we talked about the hearts of indigent people and how they are open to hearing the message of Jesus Christ. The hearts of those who have nothing are oftentimes the most open to hearing about salvation.

This can be seen a lot in the work of missionaries. I have a heart for it because so many people know that there is something far greater than themselves without ever being told about God or His Beloved Son. In the United States, we are so blessed to have what we have (we rarely recognize it) and we sometimes become complacent about the message of Jesus Christ. I myself am guilty of this tragedy. So how to we open ourselves back up again to the realization that we would be nothing without Jesus???

More Headshots

Joel Meyerowitz

In my color photography class, we are always looking at photographers (which I love doing). It is so cool to see what other photographers take...amazing.

One of my new favs is Joel Meyerowitz. I love his simplistic style, yet is photographs are spectacular. Check out is web site to see his work:

www.joelmeyerowitz.com

One of my favorites series of his is "Cape Light" where was work all taken in Cape Cod.

Let me know what you think if you check it out!!

Color Photography

So as previously stated, I am SO excited about my classes. We have started learning Photoshop (which is super!) and color photography has been good so far. We haven't actually started printing yet, but we are well on our way.

My instructor for color, Caroline Allison has some really great work. You can check out her web site: www.carolineallison.com

A lot of her work centers around suburbia and the effects of urban growth on nature's beauty. Good stuff...check it out!!

HandyChick

This afternoon I spent hanging a piece of slatwall I bought from a store going out of business...I wanted to use it organize my studio/office.

I was telling someone this evening all about it...she was like "how did you do that all by yourself?" Well, problem-solving is one of my fortes. I just propped it up against the wall (atop a file box), drew marks on the walls through the pre-existing holes. I then removed the slatwall, inserted the drywall screws and went from there...voila...organized!

Whoever said women can't do handywork is an idiot.

Classes

I'm totally stoked!!!

This semester, I've got three classes...two of which I am SO excited about. It might be because I didn't have any photography classes last semester...anyway, I've got color photography and digital imaging. The best part is that in digital imaging, I'm learning Photoshop as well as Dreamweaver. By the end of the semester, I'll be able to build my own web site. Plus, Photoshop is going to come in handy with photography.

I did attempt to learn Photoshop CS2 on my own which was quite overwhelming. I am SO glad I'll have a class that teaches the principals of the program step-by-step.

As for color photography, I am excited as well. My instructor is going to be great. We've had fun in that class so far. Color balancing is going to be an interesting skill to learn.

I'll keep you posted on my progress....

Proud Aunt

So here are some of my favs from the holidays. I will probably post more later....

Professional Headshots

Here are some samples of my professional headshot work.

The Wreck of the Day

So I thought today would be a lovely start to the new semester.

I got up at 6:45 am (with little difficulty after Christmas break), got ready for class and off I went, with no traffic difficulties. In fact, I left later than I should have but ended up getting to class early.

I went to my drawing class (which I ended up dropping later) then attempted to get into a different drawing class so that I would only have to go downtown to school two days a week. The class was full...so I ended up heading home, awaiting permission by the instructor to get into the class.

While at home, I contemplated the fact that if I were to drop any class, I would have to do it today in order to receive a full refund. So I drive back down there (it's about 20 minutes one way) and find my advisor walking down the hall. Thank goodness! I needed her help. So after discussing everything yet again, we decide it's best if I drop my Contemporary Art History class and wait to see if I get into the other drawing class. GREAT.

So I head to the Registrar's office and wait for one hour until it opened back up after lunch. During my wait, my advisor comes back and tells me I can get into the digital imaging class and could drop the drawing class as an option. Oh Lordy.

Finally, after this back and forth saga, I drop the drawing class and add the digital imaging class.

Whew...what a crazy day.

To make a long story even longer....

After much relief, I am pulling out of the parking lot when I see this guy about to back into me!

WHAM...he does.

And, of course, there's a HUGE-O crater in my bumper with no damage to his car (at least that we could see). Dat gum it!

In conclusion to my long saga, I can only hope that tomorrow will be better. Thank God His mercies are new every morning.

Oh Deer!

So the running gag gift in our family is "The Deer."



My mom had gotten it as a gift from one of her students (she was a nurse in an elementary school) and thought it was the gaudiest thing ever. So she started a tradition of passing the deer around to the family at Christmas.

Also incorporated were "The Rules of the Deer":

1. You must display the deer for all to see


2. You have to wait one full year before passing it on to someone else

Last year I gave it to my youngest nephew, who displayed it in his room on his shelf with his Tonka trucks. This year, he gave it to my brother, who, in this photograph, is proudly displaying the fact that he got the booby prize.

Oh deer.

Skiing!

As tradition in our family, we went to Big Powderhorn Mountain in Ironwood, Michigan (the Upper Peninsula) for our annual skiing trip. We rent a chalet (in the photo, the one in the middle) and ski all day long. Here are a few photos. As you can see, they are of me, so thanks to my brother, John, who took these.

Tabula Rasa

I read a really great article in Dan Miller's "48 Days to the Work You Love" e-newsletter today. It's about having a clean slate, starting fresh, starting over. Considering that it is now a New Year, I thought this was appropriate.

Tabula Rasa – the Power of a Clean Slate
Tabula Rasa -- This is actually a Latin term meaning “clean slate.” People who end up being successful usually view change differently than the average person.

It was a cold December night in West Orange, New Jersey. Thomas Edison's factory was humming with activity. Work was proceeding on a variety of fronts as the great inventor was trying to turn more of his dreams into practical realities. Edison's plant, made of concrete and
steel, was deemed "fireproof". As you may have already guessed, it wasn't! On that frigid night in 1914, the sky was lit up by a sensational blaze that had burst through the plant roof.

Edison's 24-year-old son, Charles, made a frenzied search for his famous inventor-father. When he finally found him, he was watching the fire. His white hair was blowing in the wind. His face was illuminated by the leaping flames. "My heart ached for him," said Charles. "Here he was, 67 years old, and everything he had worked for was going up in flames. When he saw me, he shouted, 'Charles! Where's your mother?' When I told him I didn't know, he said, 'Find her! Bring her here! She'll never see anything like this as long as she lives.'"

Next morning, Mr. Edison looked at the ruins of his factory and said this of his loss: "There's value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew."

What a wonderful perspective on things that seem at first to be so disastrous. A job loss, business failure, personal dream gone sour... whether these things destroy an individual depends largely on the attitude he or she takes toward them. Sort out why it happened, and learn something from the blunders. Think of different approaches that can be taken. Start over. With any failure, there is a lesson to be learned and forgiveness to be found. With the slate wiped clean, look forward. Be wiser and humbler in view of what has happened, but don't stop living because of it. A key truth of the Christian faith is that our hope lies in a still-unseen future rather than in a miserable past.Don’t ignore the value of your “tabula rasa.”

I hope you can see, with some disasters in life, that you have the chance for your own tabula rasa.

One Punk Under God

I was going to discontinue cable, until I discovered "The Sundance Channel" which is now one of my favorites. Recently I discovered the docu-series "One Punk Under God" which chronicles the life of Jay Bakker, son of Jim and Tammy Faye. VERY interesting show. It comes on Wednesday nights.

The series is interesting because you see the Jay's struggles as he tries to keep his ministry afloat while taking stands on issues others want to ignore. It also chronicles his relationship with his ill mother, Tammy Faye as well as the awkward relationship with his father.

I encourage you to check it out if you have cable...otherwise, check out the site:

http://www.sundancechannel.com/home/

Back in the Saddle Again...

I'm back!

It was a great, peaceful Christmas in my house. This year I determined to NOT get my hopes up like I usually do and I quite enjoyed myself.

I spent the first few days in Wisconsin baking cookies (a tradition I started with my mom when I was in college), visited some friends and took pictures of the snow. Then off to the Upper Peninsula (the "U.P." as we Wisconsinites call it) for a few days of skiing. My entire family (dad, brother, sister-in-law, eldest nephew, middle nephew, sister, brother-in-law, youngest nephew, niece) all cram into a chalet near the slopes and ski away. It was great. Good snow, no family fights and good food (thanks to BEST sister-in-law EVER) along with TONS of laughs, including the middle nephew doing his rendition of "If I Were I a Rich Man" from The Fiddler on the Roof.

I love you, family. God has blessed me so!

Enjoy these pictures of my white Christmas....

NOTE: All pictures were taken out in my dad's back yard.