Police Week/Candlelight Vigil

So, I went to a piece of the Law Enforcement week, and chose to shoot some photos of the candlelight vigil. Basically the Memorial is to honor fallen officers. On the walls of the memorial there are over 19,000 names. There were many things going on, it was just difficult to shoot without flash, and I felt like shooting a flash at people in this time wasn't exactly very pleasing. I wanted to shoot intimate, close, and try to get the feel of the people. Hope you enjoy seeing a glimpse into the vigil. It was fun to be there alone, shooting photos of people who were bound together by a loss. The poliec family is a similar bond to Navy, so I kind of felt at home with all of them. Also, I've never seen so many people in uniforms from all of the US.

alternative processes

What used to be the way to actually photograph something, shooting with film, without instantaneous results, is basically what this class I'm taking is all about. I'm picking up my film today from the holga, and I have no clue what will come out of them, not only is it film, but a holga toy camera, but also a pinhole that we made. we'll see what happens. Like I said, I have NO clue how it will work out. anyway.

Here's the end result of my collodian wet plate negative, printed in gum bichromate style. What that means in simple terms is, it is totally done in photoshop and printed on a regular photo printer.... but, it is made to resemble a huge 8x10 camera that actually had glass sheets covered in photo chemicals, expose those chemicals to light and you have a negative, make that negative, then you coat a piece of paper with light sensitive chemicals.... lay your negative onto the paper and expose it to sunlight and wherever you painted those light sensitive chemicals, you will have an image. this is what it would have taken to make a shot similar to this...

so, the bubbles would be cause by the collodian wet negative, the brushstrokes are similar to what it would look like if someone were very sloppy with their light sensitive material they painted onto the paper.

Excited to be going out shooting tonight with Sarah, the candlelight vigil is tonight in Judiciary Square for all of the law enforcement who have died in the line of duty this year. Should lend some awesome photos, we'll see. But, it will be neat to see it either way.

pinholga

So, I won't have the photos for a while,m because I need to develop them, and quite honestly I have no clue how they will turn out, but, hopefully i get some kind of results from my two rolls of film I shot today. I was trying to work with depth of field and figuring out exposures. So, after using a $40 camera on a $400 tripod, I should be able to get something right? hahha... maybe.

Anyway, here's some pinholes I took using my camera without a lense, but only a body cap on it, and also some funny ones of me just playing around. this is a pretty fun class so far, I'm excited to have it this quarter alongside my advanced lighting class.

I will post the actual results once i get them developed :)

air force memorial

So, Sunday Zac and I got up early to go to the air force memorial and photograph, I had a few shots turn out fun. We had a good time photographing around DC and Arlington together... hopefully we do more soon :)

this is the landmark.... you can see this memorial from lots of places around DC... and this is where I call home, it's only about a mile from my house. It's so weird to see it from the opposite side of DC and realize... "there's my home"

on that note, kris will be gone until June sometime, so I will probably write a bit more daily to keep him up to date in case he is able to get internet while out. Or, to give him a way to catch up once he returns.

Air force memorial

I dropped by the air force memorial today to nap a shot of these wonderful clouds. they were so beautiful. So, here's a photo of some cirrus/cumulus clouds.. at least I think that's what they're called. been a while since like 5th grade. okay, off to bed, was going to stay up and help kris stay awake for the ride home, but he decided to drive at like 2 am... this girl needs sleepies before then! goodnight world. happy mothers day, or whats left of it.

Mother's Day. Mom. Grandma. Love.

first phase of my dandelion gum bichromate reproduction, will post finished product soon.

since my mom lives in GA, I wasn't able to actually be with her for Mother's day, but I did drive a lot this weekend and it's when I drive that i really begin to think about different things, and when I began this blog, i did a similar thing with song lyrics, my first blog post was a long one. I've been told that others like how straight to the point my blog is, I mean, after all, it's about photography, not my daily thoughts. But oftentimes they're one in the same.

So, for mother's day, I will ponder the thoughts that i thought. Mostly, about mothers day. No worries, I didn't write these while I was driving this time. :) some people text, my one friend actually drums with drumsticks, but I sing, write, and catch up on daily events with my mom.

i grew up and lived with my mom for the first 12 years of my life. at that point in time, i began(as most girls do) to stay as far away as I could from her, but she never gave up. never. called me hundreds of times, leaving voicemails, some harsh, some sweet trying to convince me to just call her. tears occurred lots, harsh words were exchanged often. it's really quite interesting how we ended up becoming as close as we are today. i'm not entirely sure what happened. i moved to GA to be closer to her, but even then i really didnt talk to her near as much as i do now. i'm not sure if it was a light switch that clicked or not, but suddenly we have become close. my mom being a single mother raising two kids, goign to school, working full time, and attempting to try to find the "man of her dreams" was stretched too thin and somehow i guess i thought it'd be easier if i was gone, one less thing to worry about right? nope, thats completely wrong. so, today i really am proud of the fact that there is no drama, no screams, no tears, and certainly no times where i throw things (among tantrums) trying to get my way. she is constantly there to console me through this first year of married military life and help me realize it's okay to be alone, even if it's not the healthiest thing in the world. anything from cooking, cleaning, even broken down cars (which i seem to have a lot of bad luck in) mom was there, trying to make me laugh, when i wanted to cry the most. teaching me how to drive and laughing because i slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting a butterfly that crossed my path. every halloween my mom was a witch, and she made a good one too...no pun intended. she would help us pick out and handmade our costumes for any event, prom dresses, no problem for this woman. she ceases to amaze me with the talent of being able to fold a fitted sheet into a perfect square. now that we live so far, we dont see each other much, but when we do, we value it with miles and miles of walking, lots of wine and good food, and laughing until tears fall down our faces. shes a great grandmother to her two grandchildren and even remembers the dogs on special occasions. its really the small things that are important in life... and if i've learned anything from my mom, this is it.


one small thing more, before i end. when i was 15 my grandmother passed away. she had the kindest soul i have ever known. it is because of her i learned patience, pride and to listen. it didnt matter what i wanted to talk about, she was there. definition of grandmother: Mable Estelle Jeffcoat. today in the car, Zac and i spoke about the people we wished we could meet in the afterlife or heaven, or wherever we go. Grandma, I'm being as good as i can for the rest of my life because i'm coming to give you a big hug, i miss you.

Happy Mother's Day 2010.

painting phase 1-if you can't make love, make something you can love.

So, i ecided to paint/multimedia a large canvas I've had in my room. so, here's the first stages. Luna seriously thought I was crazy, as many people do, because I was painting/comiling information for my painting on my bed... I mean, I don't exactly have other places to do it. so, here's the first beginning steps of the canvas.. don't worry, it's no where near done.

i wrote lots on the canvas, but the overall theme is:

If you can't make love, then make something you love.

let this be my inspiration. photo 1

So, it's been a while since I busted out the good ole scissors and glue... I think it's about time.

I Saw a graffitti documentary about Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and MRBW among others, and they gave out posters in the movie... okay, weird, i know... what the heck am I going to do with this thing? So, inspiration goes.... yes.. inspiration is good... I will turn it into something.

Love....overall,

canvas, love, paint. and a movie poster. so, dunno when it will be done, but I will try to photograph the process.... here's photo #1

Camera batteries are all charging currently, so I shot it with my camera. So, here it goes... inspiration is a fun thing...

Norfolk Tides game

Tried my lense out at a baseball game on saturday. It was pretty good, next time will be an improvement though for sure. It was fun, Norfolk Tides vs. Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees. They lost but I won, sunshine, hubby, and photos... could life get any better?

Spritzed Glass-studio

For Advanced Lighting, our assignment was to shoot a portrait through spritzed glass (with water). It's a very technical process and involves a lot of light moving, readjustments, and, as my professor says constantly.."ask yourself what if.."'s So, my handy right hand lady Sarah came and helped me out, with a very long process of shooting this photo... yes, this was shot in a studio! :) I'm getting sooo much better at this stuff, I can actually go into the studio with an idea and then have it work! YES! My friend Jaren posed for me, and he was sooo patient, I couldn't have done it without him. While Sarah and I moved the lights, sprayed him down with water, and moved everything a hundred times, he just sat and smiled, and was patient when I dressed him up nerdy and made him pose! :) Thanks so much, Jaren! So, hope you enjoy! I will be posting lots in the next few days, because this weekend I didn't have internet, so I have to catch my blog up! I will, though!

USS Enterprise

My husband took me on a tour of the USS Enterprise, here's a few of my favorites, or you can view more and slideshow at:

ocean view

Ocean view is a beautiful beach at night. I took so many photos, here's my favorites. I love night exposures, they are so great to find light with. This poor little sailboat was just out there sleeping among the stars.