Hidden treasures...

So, since I already did my "last photo class" blog, and apparently I was a week early, I wasn't sure how I should sum things up from the class this week. SO! I decided to go through all my images of the semester in search of some "hidden treasures" that I did not post and I did not show in class. They are not all THAT great. I mean if they were I would have shown them already. Anyway... I did think some were worth posting.

This is the first picture I ever took for this class. I was just testing out my camera and trying to learn more about it. This image is okay. I think I like that it was the first image I took more than I like the actual image. This is my room at home. My bed is not made well. I really like white and there is a lot of it in my room. This would have been much better with a tri-pod, but I guess three months ago I just didn't know any better.
Yes Frank, I have a boyfriend. You have known me for three years and somehow you never knew that. Well, in case you didn't believe me this is him. I was taking pictures in a park and he didn't understand why I wanted to take pictures of him and not the park. This makes me want to shoot him more. I took some of him in past classes and really liked them. I don't think he really likes me taking his picture, though.
Blurry, cut off foot, where is the front of the wheel? This picture sucks if you examine it closely, but if you just take a quick glance and appreciate it for the colors it is pretty cool. So, just do that. Don't examine it. Just enjoy the colors.
Thanksgiving at desert time. That's my Grandpa down at the end. And my aunt (who Annie knows) is holding the wine glass. I think that wine glass held so delicately is what makes the picture. It was coming to the end of the night here and, as you can tell, people were tired. This is a very typical image for my family.
More Thanksgiving! People are enjoying their desserts. I wish the whole family was in this. It's really only like a third of the people that were there. I would have loved to get a bigger group but people were getting fussy about the pictures by dinner time. I had to give it a rest and wait for dessert.
I had to include at least one self portrait. I showed an image similar to this in class, but I actually like this one much more. There is this circle of darkness around me and I am just standing in the brightest part of the picture. Those lines from the shades are pretty cool, too. I look like a peeping tom. Actually, my roomates and I do spy on the neighbors sometimes but only when they are outside and having entertaining arguments. And even when we do that it is not from my window.
I just couldn't help myself...

Happy Thanksgiving and Goodbye Digital Photo Class!

So, I have noticed another theme that has developed in my pictures: wine. As I started gathering images for my final I realized that four of them had wine in them. This was not at all on purpose. I guess my life is just surrounded with wine and I can't get it out of my pictures... I also really like wine glasses... maybe that has something to do with it. Anyway, this is an image I took at my uncle's house on Thanksgiving. I really liked the image I took of my family at my house on my grandmother's birthday. There were in focus items on our kitchen island and everyone was moving around it. I tried to capture that again. That is my grandma in the blue sweater; I have no idea what she is doing. That is also my wine glass that I purposely placed there. I also tried to get my aunt to be inside my wine glass. The shine on this granite countertop reflected all the items really beautifully. I was having trouble not pissing my family off with all of my picture-taking. Since I was using the countertops as my tripod some of the time I got yelled at to get out of the kitchen a lot. I also got yelled at to come to the kitchen when I got so carried away with my picture-taking that I neglected my boiling potatoes. Even though my family gets annoyed with the pictyre-taking, I think they get excited when they actually see the images. It is definitely worth it.
So, since this is my last official "Into to Digital Photography" post, I guess I have to say what I learned and all that nonsense. This semester has been the most self-assuring of all three of my photo semesters. I put a lot more effort into the images I was actually making and I found myself constantly soming up with new images in my head that I should take. I think my photographic "epiphany" happened when I took the first image of my hallway. For whatever reason I was really compelled to take that picture, and completely estatic when it turned out exactly how I wanted it to. The class also seemed interested in it and that drove my to continue taking self portraits in my hallway. I had always hated taking pictures of myself because I get really awkward about posing and everything. I am okay with smiling snapshots but serious model pictures are not my forte. It was difficult not only to get the image right but to be my own model. Even though I will not be in a photo class next semester, I will definitely continue photographing my hallway and most likely be posting those images on here. After every photo semester I get really busy and I find myself forgetting to bring my camera places and never taking enough pictures. Then, when I come back to another semester of photo my skills are rusty and it takes me a while to get back into the rhythm of things. I will do my best to NOT let that happen this time. This semester has been really eye-opening for me and I would be a fool to just let things end here.

Drunk Puppy

This is my dog Zoe. Last night I was at home doing homework. I knew I had to go to bed early because I had to wake up early this mornine to drive back to school. I packed up my lap-top and was about to call my dog to follow me upstairs. Then, I noticed she was sleeping so soundly and peacefully that I had to get a picture. I took my camera out, set it up, and she immediately woke up. I decided, then, to just take pictures of her looking at the camera. I discovered that if I set the camera to the timer she stares at the camera because of the blinking light. She was so relaxed the entire time that I was taking these pictures that I decided to add my unfinished glass of wine. Now, I think this is a white wine glass, and yes that is red wine in it, and it kind of bothers me. I doubt it bothers the dog, though. I was so paranoid that the wine was going to spill and stain the couch so I would stand there holding it in place as the timer was going off and I would just take my hand off at the last second for the exposure. I was worried that this was going to just look like some cheesey picture I took of my pet, but I don't think it does. It actually kind of reminds me of my mom. The dog is sitting on her sacred "spot" on the couch, with a glass of red wine, and what looks like a long days work. I guess was trying to humanize Zoe. I don't think I will be taking a series of images with her, but I am glad that I got at least one that I like.