Celebration

Happy Birthday to Mom! These are a few things we got for her. And as a thoughtful son, I thought she'd enjoy some flowers in addition to the presents we got her. ;)

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A Love Affair

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Okay, so this may be a Mesquite, but I am still loving this focus on making small things (Christmas lights) into the very close-up focal point of the photograph.

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Normalcy

I love seeing completely normal things and making them something much more. For instance, my blinds, which have now become objects of two separate posts are very ordinary (click here and scroll down to see the other one). But this photograph is absolutely one of my favorites that I've ever taken.

A week or two back my English teacher took us outside and had us observe everything around us. Afterward, we discussed the things we saw. While everyone saw people, shadows, each other, cars, grass, I saw patterns, the lines made by the mortar between the bricks, the interesting angles that the metal stairs and safety rails created, and the geometry of the nearby parking garage. The point of the discussion was to get different perspectives on the same things to help us analyze a text from a different or more complex view point, and my professor seemed genuinely intrigued that I had such an artistic outlook on the environment we were in.

I see the world in such a visually different way now that I'm so focused on taking pictures everyday. I look at almost everything and think, how can that be turned into a visually dynamic image? It all stems from me trying to keep things new and not repeating angles, styles, subjects, lighting, etc. It's challenging, and I often find myself repeating angles, styles, subjects, lighting, etc, but has been really really rewarding.

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about
finding something interesting in an ordinary place... I've
found it has little to do with the things you see and
everything to do with the way you see them."
- Elliott Erwitt

In Bloom

This is a neat plant called Hoya. It blooms every once in a while. The flowers actually face the ground, and are at the end of a long vine-like stem. That's what's coming out of the flower bunch. The Latin is Asclepiadaceae. Ten points for whoever can pronounce that. Haha. And that cute little pink leaf is the new growth coming up from the soil. It sure is a neat little plant!

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Looking Up

With the sunroof open, I got a neat view of the powerlines.

Winter Foliage

This time of year brings a few specific things that I really really love. The look and smell of a Douglas Fir tree is number one. The growth and bloom of an Amaryllis is number two.

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I entered the Tacky Sweater Contest at work. I got second, even though I should have won. But what's done is done. And it was super fun anyway!

What To Do...

I took my final in my 9 AM class last week, so I didn't have class until 12 today. It was awesome. This is what I saw while I loafed around the house.

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Here's Gary! I still laugh when I see him. I think he's 24 days old... but I might be off by a week. I can't remember, but he's still got plenty of little grass sprouts coming up!

I Miss It

I miss so much the sunsets of the summer months. They are always much more dramatic. This one, however, was super awesome.

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Rain

It rained today for the first time in entirely too long. The car was looking all types of neat with the water on it.

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Simple

There isn't much going on today. A slow morning to appreciate the little things.

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Garland

My parents have awesome design sense right? Well, every year they do up our mantle and hutch with this garland and lights and all types of awesome ornamentation. I aspire to be that excellent someday with a home of my own. A fusion of modern design and holiday cheer.

Paint

So there I am, doing my homework at my desk right? Well, I look up at my beautiful custom painting of my converse (by the lovely Kendle Farr). I take it off the wall to look at it more closely. Well, my halogen desk light was on, and it was coming through the painting all types of awesome! You can't really tell in this picture, but it made me really happy. And was a really nice distraction from all of my studying.

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Commute

This is what I saw as I drove home today.

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Less Cool

I don't like these "streaky" pictures (except the circle one from a few days ago). The reason I post them is because they are a last attempt at art before I do my homework or forget the blog. Tomorrow and Friday I have a bunch of tests going on, so if the blog gets neglected, it's because I'm stressing out pretty bad. Boo finals.

Official

It is officially December. And that only makes it more official that it's Christmas time. :)