Maryland

This past weekend, I drove down to Maryland with my family for my cousin's wedding (congrats Fran & Christina!). I brought Sally along, even though I had no photographing plan set. The only time I really had to use my camera was in the car - luckily I had my telephoto lens already on. We approached the bridge to Staten Island. It had just started getting dark, so it was lit up beautifully. I always love when bridges are lit up. The surrounding cities are always lit up, too - such an unexplainably beautiful sight.

^A complete and total fail of a city shot, but its abstractness kind of spoke to me. I liked being able to look at such a rough and shaky shot as a beautiful piece with movement and some color contrast. That's what you have to do in life - look at the rough moments in a new way. Make them beautiful.

Fran's wedding was in a peaceful, small church in rural Maryland. I wish I had more photos because its simplicity and old-fashioned vibe were just beautiful. Almost every church has stained glass windows, but these really caught my eye and I couldn't resist capturing them.

Bird Nerd

I just looooove birds! They're so photogenic XD

They're difficult to capture, which is why I do not take Sally and my telephoto lens for granted. It's such a rejuvenating feeling to capture the flight in action. Don't get me wrong, I do drive myself insane sometimes. The above shot took an infinite amount of attempts, and lots of bread...

The First of Summer Memories

It may be finals week, but hey, who still studies? Physics may be challenging but I've been striving for the best all year and it's paid off thus far. So much that I believe I'm entitled to an evening taking pictures on the beach.

This photo has a little more sentimental value than I intended for it too. Maybe it's just because it's late at night? That's when I dig deep into my mind. I can never bring myself to focus during the day. It's late night and early morning when my mind truly functions.

Anyhow, I was soaking in the beautiful evening sunset with my family. The whole Earth seemed to shine a golden glow. I laid down on my towel with Sally (my camera)'s telephoto lens almost in the sand, handed my brother my sunglasses, and asked him to stand in front of the lens. Like a movie director, I made him walk backwards until his feet were visible. "Stop!" I called to him, "Drop the glasses."

My 15-year-old brother Matt has been through so much in helping me with my photos. He's often the model for my shoots or the right hand man with equipment. He often gets restless and impatient, but I can't say I'd blame him. I'll admit, he's my photo minion. However, this very evening was when he crossed the line.

First of all, I didn't ask much of him. I simply made him walk back a few steps and drop a pair of sunglasses. I would've even positioned them myself. Call me crazy, but I didn't think I was putting him through boot camp. But whatever it was, something set him off and he became more fidgety than ever. First, he refused to drop the glasses. He insisted on standing there and having me photograph his feet. Then, he built a mountain and placed the glasses vertically on top. And after I'd adjusted the glasses and was about to take the photo for real, he jumped in front and refused to move. You'd easily forget he was fifteen and not five.

After he finally calmed down, I peacefully took some photos of the sunglasses at various angles. Later that night, as I was looking through the photos, I couldn't help but laugh at the goofy shots I captured of Matt. They brought a smile to my face. Though he was agitating at the time, I was genuinely pleased. This is just what siblings do. If we weren't close, I wouldn't have those shots. I wouldn't have that constant reminder of this little ball of energy that can bring energy to my life every day. That's why I love taking photos. Especially candid ones. They really capture a moment when you're not trying to. If Sally was a person I'd thank her for seeing the moments I didn't see and having my back. And thank you Matt, if you're reading this, for always being there for me in my photography.

And yes, I'll show you a blooper shot. Here he is:

One of my favorite photography antics: meshing together two photos. Preferably ones that were taken at completely different times, in no relation to one another. The silhouette in this photo is my brother, and the glow surrounding him is, as you can probably guess, the sun. I took this at our first beach trip a couple weeks ago. The sun was setting and the colors were incredible.

The other photo here is of a journal entry I wrote back in November. My writing is not meant to be clear here, in fact I lucked out in that the sun's glow covers some of it. There's honestly no deeper meaning to this photo, and I'm not going to pretend there is. I just like how they go together. That's the amazing thing about art - there doesn't have to be a reason. You just feel it. That's also how I feel about life. But I'm not gonna go all philosophical on you. Though I could...

Why hello there! *insert awkward hand wave*

Quite honestly I'm not sure what I'm doing. I'm a stranger to the blogging world - in fact I've only seen a few blogs in my life. I was inspired by one of my dear friends, who possesses incredible photographic talent. I was also inspired by the experiences I had in my English class this past semester.

We had two assignments that I enjoyed very much, despite the fact that it was the second semester of senior year and the general expectation was to slack off. (I will not deny meeting that expectation at most times, however.) The first assignment was to write a story. That's it, just plain and simple. Write a story. I took some journal entries and merged them together to create a piece about some of the parts of my life I am most fond of - a person, my brother Matt; a prized possession, my camera (named Sally - please don't ask why); and a profound location, my elementary school. They all came together in my story about a photoshoot that I'd had with Matt at the school. This was why the next assignment, a photographic essay, thrilled me.

We had to collect photos pertaining to our story in some way, and I had it the easiest of probably everyone in the class. I took the photos FROM the photoshoot and got to show off my love for photography. 

I was never enthralled by these assignments, but they were a breath of fresh air compared to the tedious review sheets I had to do for physics and math. In fact, I completely disregarded them until finals week when my English teacher approached me. She acknowledged the amount of work I'd put into my final essay (though I thought I was winging the whole thing) and commented on my photographic essays. That's when I realized, I may have been so caught up in finishing senior year and going out with a bang, that I took for granted the interest I actually have in writing and photography. It's amazing how well the two can work together to create such beautiful visions. 

As much as I want to forget all of the assignments and the awful work part of high school, this experience will always be in the back of my mind. That's why I'm sitting at my computer during finals week, beginning a new hobby. I hope I can continue when I go off to SUNY Oswego in the fall.

This has been a lame introduction. I sincerely thank you for giving up three minutes of your life to read it - it means more to me than you think.