Nama Shoots & Writes

Happiness & Cheer

2011-11-30T21:45:00.001-06:00

Behold the Noble Fir!

More Japan: Fushimi Inari-taisha

2011-09-05T19:21:00.000-05:00

I realize I have a lot to catch up on. This last month of 100 degree weather has inspired much laziness around these parts.

Time to wrap up Japan! Only a couple more posts to go!

On our last full day in Kyoto, we started at the Fushimi Inari-taisha, the head Inari shrine in Japan.

I already posted the photos below of this shrine:

This shrine is well known for the hundreds of torii, or gates, lining the mountain path up to the three head shrines. These torii are actually found everywhere in Kyoto:

But nothing compares to the ones at Fushimi:

So why all the torii? And what of the inscriptions?

One of the difficult things about traveling in Japan is that most things are in Japanese. All week, as we visited Kyoto's temples and shrines, we were often left clueless as to the rituals and purpose of all the many elements inside. Thankfully, at Fushimi, we were lucky enough to stumble upon a willing and unexpected guide.

The older Japanese man on the left is a Buddhist priest who was at the shrine with his student, on the right, to worship that day. And after he struck up a conversation, we decided to hike all the way up the mountain with them since they offered to come with us. He spoke pretty good English, and so we had many of our questions answered by this very kind man.

The torii lining the mountain path have all been bought and paid for by patrons. The engravings on the gates are the names of the families, companies, etc. who have paid to install the shrine. The patrons enjoy added "blessings" by donating their funds for new gates. All the torii were in various states of deterioration, and the Buddhist priest told us that there's a long waiting list of patrons waiting for their turn to fund a new wooden torii. Fascinating stuff!

Also on the Fushiumi shrines are literally thousands of family shrines.

Most of the people at the shrine were Japanese people visting and praying at their own family shrines. Since Fushimi is the main Shinto shrine in Japan, it's a very popular place to have your own shrine.

Our two friends spent some time chanting/praying at the three main shrines on the mountain.

We felt incredibly privileged to meet this man, who's name unfortunately eludes me now. He was very kind to a couple of Americans who had little idea of all that the Japanese culture entails and had lots of questions. This morning, which lasted much longer than we had planned for, was definitely the highlights our of trip.

Stay tuned for what should be my last Japan post!

Twenty two & twenty three: Helsinki & Leningrad

2011-08-16T11:15:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned last week, Matt was in Finland and Russia for two weeks and had the privilege of taking my camera with him. And he took some awesome photos.

Here's a sampling of about a dozen. I'll definitely continue to edit and post more of Matt's photos in the coming week(s), and then, just maybe, I'll be caught up on this whole 52 weekly blogging thing. Maybe.

(The captions are from Matt, since I have no/little idea what he photographed since I wasn't there. Such a shame!)

Uspenski Cathedral, an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Helsinki.

Helsinki Cathedral, also called St. Nicholas' Church, a Lutheran cathedral.

A store front on Market Square, Helsinki.

A Mini Cooper just kicking it on Market Square, Helsinki.

This is one of my favorites thus far. It's a perfect photo of a typical European city street.

A statue of a bearded dude at the Hermitage, St. Petersburg. Artist unknown.

Matt's really into beards. I wasn't surprised to find many photos of sculpted bearded dudes from the Hermitage.

More great statuary at the Hermitage.

In Soviet Russia, hotel stays with you. Actually I think this is an apartment block, but it was just adjacent to our hotel.

Escalators down into the St. Petersburg Metro, which apparently are the deepest in the world. And they call it a mine...

Vladimirskaya church, St. Petersburg

I'm not sure if this building has a name, but this is along Nevsky Prospekt, the main drag in St. Petersburg. For any interested, the sign transliterates as "Kompaniya Zinger".

Inside Kazan Cathedral, St. Petersburg.

Statues on top of the Hermitage. Everything in St. Petersburg had statues.

Carvings outside St. Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg.

Stay tuned for more!

Twenty one: Windmills

2011-08-09T11:38:00.000-05:00

I apologize for completely falling off the wagon for the the past few weeks. The combination of life craziness, my camera being in Russia, and old fashioned laziness are all to blame.

Week twenty basically just didn't happen, which is my own stupid fault. Our anniversary was July 22nd, and Matt surprised me by coming home that day (best anniversary present ever), but then had to leave again for 2 weeks 3 days later. With my camera. Matt had the opportunity to spend a week in Finland and another week in Russia, and he rightly convinced me to allow my camera to leave my side for those 2 weeks so that he could capture his trip in all its glory. I will be going through his photos this week and begin posting them this weekend. Stay tuned!

Oh, and here's an obligatory wedding shot to commemorate our 3 year anniversary. :)

Last weekend while Matt was gone, I was able to fly up to Lubbock to see my sister and her family. Hooray for sister time! And my best brother-in-law let me borrow his DSLR, which is a better camera than my own. Did I mention that I've been looking at new camera bodies lately? And wishing I could just blow a grand on a new one?

We went out to a big windmill farm/museum in Lubbock for a perfect photographic opportunity on a gorgeous hot day. (My BIL knows me oh too well.)

I love it when the sky is covered in fluffy, cotton-like clouds when I photograph. It's such a perfect backdrop, especially for such rustic subjects.

The interior of the farm was dark, but I managed a few shots and thoroughly enjoyed the better image quality of the D5000 in low light situations.

The windmills made for such a wonderful photo subject, and a huge shout out goes to my BIL for letting me use his nicer camera and taking me here!

And this last shot is my favorite.

Stay tuned for pictures from Matt's trip to Russia/Finland, and this week, I will also be posting some more photos from Japan!

Nineteen: Ikea

2011-07-18T16:58:00.000-05:00

I've came across a fun photo shoot a little while ago entitled, "If I lived at Ikea". And it occurred to me that with all the bright colors and patterns, photographing the inside of an Ikea would be a fun adventure!

I did one smart thing, and that was going late on Saturday night. Two years ago when Matt & I were about to purchase our town home, we spent many weekend nights at Ikea looking for furniture/inspiration. We discovered that going late on Saturday (or Friday) nights was the best time to avoid the hoards of Ikea weekend shoppers.

Speaking of Ikea inspiration, I took a very similar picture to this one two years ago that gave us the idea for the colors we used for our downstairs' walls.

I must say that I was proud of myself for not buying a single thing. I had a few moments of weakness in the kitchen gadget area, but I succeeded in reasoning with myself that, no, I do not need another whisk.

I always like to look at the filler books on the shelves in the fake living rooms. Ikea sends us their furniture AND their literature!

I loved trying to find interesting patterns amongst all of the merchandise, which Ikea displays quite naturally.

While we already own a lot of Ikea stuff, I can't help but want more, especially their kitchens. If money was no object, I'd basically let Ikea come, tear down my kitchen, and rebuild it Swedish-style. Until then...I'll continue to wander Ikea on the weekend nights...

Rainy day self-portraits

2011-07-12T20:37:00.000-05:00

I planned on running at the gym today, and then the heavens opened up (literally), dropping the temperature from 102 to 80 right around 5pm.

Running a half marathon under these conditions is, I know, a terrible experience. But running 3.2 miles in a downpour? Absolutely beautiful. And perfect.

I flew, got soaked, and nearly lost a contact. And even if I had been left half blind by the incident, it would have been well worth it.

Eighteen: Westheimer

2011-07-10T19:05:00.001-05:00

The inner city of Houston has some really interesting, eclectic neighborhoods that have popped up over the decades and decades of life this city has bred. One particular area is the Westheimer/Montrose area, a neighborhood filled with restaurants, shops, and bars, most housed in old homes.

One narrow section of the Westheimer is an odd mixture of sketch...

hipster...

and yuppie, all within a few blocks. There are tons of antique shops all mixed in with vintage clothing stores and fancy, expensive restaurants. It's a really fun area to explore, even if it's nearly 100 degrees outside!

I especially loved the antique shops. They're always photographic gold!

I'll say it again and again: I really don't enjoy living in Houston. It's a huge, sprawling concrete hell hole (especially in the summer!), and I can't wait to leave this city. However, every now and then, I discover more and more beauty tucked into corners of the city that I know I'll be sad to say goodbye to. This area of Houston is definitely one of them.

More Seventeen: 4th of July Fireworks

2011-07-06T22:21:00.000-05:00

Part of my deep 4th of July nostalgia lies in the tradition of fireworks. I grew up down the street from a country club that put on a full fireworks show every year, and watching it was part of what we did on the 4th of July.

And so, not only did I really want to see some fireworks this year, but I wanted to photograph them, something I've never done before. And I must say, it was magical. What interested me most about some of these photographs were the abstract shapes and lines that were captured with a 1/2 second exposure, shapes you wouldn't see with the naked eye. I love it.

I took well over a hundred photos and edited way too many. Here's a small yet large sampling of my favorites.

Seventeen: 4th of July

2011-07-05T22:24:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the lateness (once again) of last week's post! I kind of cheated and took all my photos on Monday, July 4th, since, you know, it was July 4th! I unfortunately still haven't made my way through all of my photos, most of which are of fireworks. But don't worry. They are awesome. Photographing fireworks for the first time was amazing!

Earlier in the day, however, I went to my friend Jan's house where she hosted a good ole fashioned barbecue. Good food and times were had by all.

And because she's Canadian, she had to remind us all. :)

And her little boy is super cute and such a ham. He was loving his watermelon.

And here are a couple of firework photos I have edited thus far and found inspiring. Check back tomorrow for a whole lot more!

Sixteen: North Carolina

2011-06-30T22:06:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned earlier this week, I was in North Carolina visiting Matt this past weekend. He's studying at Duke for the summer, which we visited soon after I arrived.

This is the Duke Chapel, which was surprisingly built less than 100 years ago.

The gothic revival design of the chapel was beautiful, and it could have easily belonged in Europe, especially the interior.

We drove west to Asheville on Saturday to spend a day in the mountains. I seriously miss mountains and nature in general living in Houston. It's such a concrete wasteland compared to beautiful places like this!

That house was the B&B we stayed in, a 100-plus year old mansion completely and beautiful restored. It was absolutely lovely, and the property surrounding the mansion was quaint and wonderful.

Asheville was a very cute, eclectic town full of old homes and hippies. We spent the afternoon wandering around the old historic district.

Also in Asheville is St. Lawrence's Basilica, a beautiful Catholic church built by the same architect who designed the Duke Chapel.

As early evening fell in Asheville, the street artists and musicians came out of the woodworks. This girl was one of those statue street artists who would remain motionless unless you ponied up money. Matt decided to support the art world by giving her a few bucks, so she played her drum for us.

These folks were all members of a fun jazz/folk band playing on the streets.

We drove back to Durham Sunday afternoon, and early Monday, I was a plane back to Houston. It was a fast, but fun weekend, and a wonderful getaway from the Houston heat and oppressive humidity.

North Carolina, you were amazing. I hope to come back one day.

Sixteen Preview: North Carolina

2011-06-28T22:03:00.000-05:00

I've had little time to edit my photos from this weekend. I was able to fly up to North Carolina to visit Matt for the weekend, which was grand! I'll hopefully edit and post photos for week sixteen tomorrow evening.

Until then, here's quick preview: the Duke University Chapel.

Fourteen Redux: More temples in Kyoto

2011-06-22T22:06:00.002-05:00

Remember my last Kyoto post when I pretty much posted only photos from Nanzen-ji? Well, I left some out. We went into another temple on the grounds, and I was able to shoot the beautiful gardens.

Zen gardens are beautiful and so peaceful.

And that was really our last stop at Nanzen-ji. Oh, this complex was truly a wonder and one of the most lovely spots we found in all of Kyoto.

After an amazing lunch at a quaint, little noodle house (which I sadly have no photographs of), we headed up to the Tetsugaku-no-Michi, (or the Path of Philosophy) for a beautiful, tree-lined walk to our next to stops.

First, we stopped at Honen-in, a small temple site seemingly hidden in the trees. (I believe Matt took this photo, although I'm not 100% sure.)

We were greeted by this guy as we walked up the stairs to the site.

The trees and all the green was lovely, and there were more grounds workers meticulously keeping this place beautiful and a little wild.

Our next stop was a major tourist site: Ginkaku-ji temple, also known as the Silver Pavilion. We walked up a long, narrow road full of shops and packed with Japanese school kids. At everyone major site we visited in Kyoto, we encountered the same site: tons of Japanese school children, all in uniform, all seemingly unchaperoned, visiting the temples.

As we walked up this road, one of these groups of school kids stopped us and asked if we were American. They then proceeded to tell us that they were visiting from Tokyo, and that they needed to take a photo with an American. How could we not oblige? Especially when they let me snap a few shots of them after.

The Silver Pavilion was alright. We didn't find this building particularly spectacular. In fact, this one of only three photos I took it.

What was more beautiful and interesting was the surrounding bamboo forest inside the temple grounds.

Our last stop of the day was the must-see sight in Kyoto, one who's photograph rotates on my MacBook as a stock background photo: Kinkaku-ji, better know as the Golden Pavilion. (Photo by Matt)

We actually struggled to photograph this building properly, probably because we've seen so many photos that look exactly like the one on the Wikipedia page. Also, our inspiration level fell when we read in our guidebook that the original building burned down in the 50s. Boo. (See the original building here - isn't it beautiful? And perhaps not as gaudy?)

But we still photographed it from an many angles as we could. (The first photo is Matt's creation.)

And lastly, I have to throw in this guy. He sat atop another building on the complex.

And thus ends our fourth day in Kyoto. One more day to go!

Fifteen: Big Range Dance Festival 2011

2011-06-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

After shooting Rosie Trump a few weeks ago, she contacted me to come and photograph her and other choreographers for the Big Range Dance Festival here in Houston. It was an exciting night! And I absolutely loved the experience of photographing the art of dance. All the dancers were beautiful, and it was a privilege to capture their movements.

I took a whole lot of photos obviously, so here's a small selection of my favorites.

Thanks again, Rosie!

Fourteen: More Kyoto

2011-06-19T17:43:00.000-05:00

The doors of the entrance to Higashi Hongan-ji temple, captured by Matt.

A street in Downtown Kyoto, also taken by Matt.

More from the streets of Downtown.

As I said in my last post, after we found Nanzen-ji Temple on our first day in Kyoto, we knew we had to return once more, and so Thursday morning, we did.

These are photos of the gate at the entrance to the temple grounds. The deep wood of both the gate and the temple were beautiful. And these columns were massive.

Matt took both of these photos of the Nanzen-ji gate, and I think they're fantastic.

As we walked through the gate up to the temple, I noticed workers on the grounds meticulously grooming the gardens with tiny scissors and a lot of patience.

Worshipers who were visiting the temple first made an offering (to "purchase" an incense stick), and lighted the incense before they bowed to pray near the temple entrance before approaching the temple doors.

Surprisingly (to us, at least), we were definitely in the ethnic minority while touring Kyoto's sites. Occasionally, we saw other Westerners at major tourist sites, on trains, etc., but for the most part, we saw other Japanese tourists who seemed to be visiting the temples and shrines to worship. It provided ample opportunity for us to watch these "tourists" worship at these sites and pay their respects. What a wonderful glimpse of life to catch!

Most of the temples we visited had beautifully pained fabric panels behind the altars that, unfortunately, I was unable to capture with my camera since most temples did not allow photography inside the buildings. However, one of the buildings on the Nanzen-ji temple complex had it's doors open wide as we explored the outside garden. Perfect.

Also in this garden was a little waterfall both Matt & I found quite picturesque. (First photo taken by Matt.)

We visited a small shrine on the Nanzen-ji complex grounds, which included a cool marker

and geishas!

These two geishas were part of what looked like a photo shoot at the shrine entrance. I snapped on my zoom lens and started photographing them from another entrance, hoping to get a good photograph. One of the geishas noticed me through the trees, and they both turned and gladly allowed me to snap a few straight on shots.

There were also some buddhas at the shrine worth photographing.

Having already posted way too many photos today, I'll stop here (this was just the morning of our day!) and post more in a couple of days. I think it's quite clear that Nanzen-ji was our favorite site we visited in Kyoto. This complex was incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and seemed to be a world away from the modern city it sat in.

Also, look for my "week fifteen" post tomorrow night!

Fourteen: Kyoto, Day 1

2011-06-16T12:21:00.002-05:00

While I came back raving about Kyoto, our first day in the city was mostly unimpressive. Our normal unorganized city-wandering site-seeing strategy didn't work out for us that first day. We wandered most of the afternoon in a fairly modern part of the city, wondering where the heck all these temples were that apparently are everywhere!

And then, after a few hours of walking, we finally found a more historic district that had been waiting there for us the entire time, including the Nanzen-ji temple complex, probably our favorite site in Kyoto.

Here are a selection of photos from our first day.

The Kyoto International Conference center where Matt attended ICC. It was a strangely sci-fi design set in a beautifully forested and mountainous part of Kyoto.

Koi

Bamboo stalks at a shrine I don't have the name of (photo by Matt)

Bell at another unnamed shrine - worshippers ring the bell at every shrine to call upon the gods before saying prayers

I posted this picture as a preview last week, but I just had to post it again as it's one of my favorites from the entire week. As we walked through the city feeling discouraged and tired, we were on the look out for a coffee shop or tea house we could stop at to rest and refuel. We found this cute little coffee house, and the owner, who pulled us in from the street, was just a delight. He bussled around us most of the time we were there, serving us delicious fresh lemon squash juice and pastries. When I asked him if I could take his photograph before we left, he laughed in embarrassment as I took a few shots, but gladly obliged.

Because I have a natural aversion to photographing people, I am extremely proud of this photo. The composition is perfect, and I am no longer jealous of all of the professional travel photographs I see that capture candid moments in the typical life of a native in their own setting, living their life as they do day to day. I'm so proud to have my own now.

One of the buildings in the Heian Jungo shrine complex

Massive Kyoto torii

And we've come to Nanzen-ji. I cannot put into words the level of deep excitement and reverence we experienced when we found this temple complex that tucked into the side of the mountains. The structures were old and massive and unbelievably beautiful. You first come to the entrance gate.

As you walked through the massive wooden doors and columns, you see a narrow path lined with trees. And then Nanzen-ji.

Part of the beauty of this temple complex was the surrounding forest area it was set in. After wandering a modern, concrete city all day, it truly felt like we have left the city and entered into an ancient environment.

The beauty of this temple and its surroundings was overwhelming and rendered us speechless. It was exactly what we needed to see restore our faith in Kyoto at the end of a long, unsuccessful day of sight-seeing. We actually went to see Nanzen-ji again later in the week to visit it one more time.

(The last photo in the above group was taken by Matt.)

Look for more Kyoto adventures soon.

Fourteen Preview: Kyoto

2011-06-12T22:26:00.000-05:00

I'm back in Houston after a wonderful and beautiful trip to Kyoto with Matt filled with temples, shrines, and cute Japanese school kids.

This week, I'll start editing all of our photos and posting them as "week fourteen", but for now, here's a preview of one of the highlights of our trip, Fushimi Inari-taisha.

Kyoto: a preview, Day 1

2011-06-07T01:03:00.000-05:00

Hungry carp, Takaragaike Pond

Water sprout, Nashinoki Shrine (taken by Matt)

Cute owner of a coffee shop we stopped at for some delicious lemon squash juice

Heian Jungu Shrine

Nanzen-Ji Temple

Thirteen: Old Signage

2011-06-05T19:35:00.000-05:00

Matt & I have made it to Japan! I'm sitting right now in the Kyoto conference center where Matt's conference is being held stealing interwebs (our hotel charges for the internet). I was hoping to have more reliable internets here, but that might not be the case. You might see some photo previews while during the week; you might not. But for now, here is week thirteen.

When I ran the Houston half-marathon, there as an area of Houston we briefly ran through that caught my photographic eye. It's an older, rundown, kind of sketchy part of town with old signage and run down businesses that I thought would be wonderful to photograph.

All of these signs had a beauty to their run-down-ness I really loved and screamed to me to be photographed properly.

Because I'm on borrowed internet time right now (and because I have things to see today, because, you know, I'M IN JAPAN [also, it's Monday morning here]), I'll simply post the remaining photos and let them speak for themselves.

Twelve: Rosie

2011-05-30T20:29:00.000-05:00

Friday afternoon, I had the opportunity to photograph dancer Rosie Trump with a friend in her full element in the dance studio at Rice.

My friend Ashley & I were quickly mesmerized by Rosie's moves, especially her expressive hands.

They told a story on all their own.

The lights in the studio made for a dramatic back drop to Rosie's graceful and beautiful moves. Playing around with them really made these photos!

This shot might have been my favorite of the day. I loved the lines her body created in this image.

And at the end of the shoot, Rosie put on a pink wig for some profile shots. She seriously turned into such a seductive and expressive character with that wig on! And again with her hands!

Thanks, Rosie, for letting me photograph you! It was such a blast, and definitely a new photographic experiment for me to try out. And I loved it.

Eleven: The Houston Temple

2011-05-23T14:22:00.000-05:00

I found myself waking up to a Saturday morning with zero plans. With Matt gone, I find that when I don't keep myself occupied, the loneliness sets in hard and fast. I wanted to have a productive day, so I had decided that if plans did not arise, taking a much needed trip up to the Houston Temple would be a marvelous way to spend the afternoon.

I grabbed my camera as I was walking out the door, thinking this would be the perfect photo opportunity for this week.

I particularly loved this shot with the fountain and an airplane passing by. I didn't even notice it fly by as I clicked the shutter.

The details in the architecture of temples is always a feature that grabs my attention.

And of course the flowers. Temple grounds are always filled with color and beauty. It's a wonderful addition.

That afternoon was so lovely, and it made me happy being here once again. It had been far too long since I had come.

And mostly, it was good to feel at home, to feel like I belong here.

Ten: Rice Graduation

2011-05-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend Rice University's graduation ceremony. I knew several people receiving degrees this year, so it was a good excuse to check out a ceremony steeped in tradition.

The processional started by the placing of a wreath on Willy's tomb.

The statue to the right is of William Marsh Rice, who's lifelong earnings helped to found Rice 100 years ago. The student's lovingly refer to him as Willy, and, to be honest, I had no idea this was his actual tomb.

After all of the faculty and university administrators processed in, the students begin their walk into the graduation "field" set up outside. (Yes, Rice conducts graduation outside. In Houston. In May. In a stroke of extreme luck, a cool front blew in the day before, and it was a nice, cool and dry morning for graduation!) The undergraduates proceed in by residential college.

They also receive their degrees by college, having their names read out by the College Master.

While it was fun to see the traditions of Rice on display, it also brought me so much joy to watch the excitement on everybody's faces.

Graduation day is a wonderful time for everyone involved. There was a pulse, a feeling of excitement and achievement palpable in the air yesterday morning.

That alone made it worth it to attend. Seeing as graduation is a long, long process, however, after the commencement speaker (David Brooks) spoke and the PhD candidates walked the stage, I looked at the program and saw the HUGE list of MBAs and other Master degrees still left to call BEFORE all of the undergraduate degrees and decided I was hungry. After a quick breakfast at McDonald's, I came back just as the last couple of undergraduate colleges were being called.

Perfect. I had just enough time to walk around the grounds to photograph the entire scene before the conclusion of the ceremony.

And finally, at the conclusion of gradation, all of the graduates are led out through the Sallyport, which everyone has initially walked through when they first arrived at Rice. The tradition goes that students avoid walking through it again until they graduate. The Sallyport is basically a huge archway in the middle of Lovett Hall, the oldest building on campus.

I quickly rushed over to the other side of the Sallyport to catch everyone walking through, bursting with excitement.

This faculty member was my favorite. It's interesting to see all of the faculty's different regalia they wear to represent the school where they received their PhD. This guy had a pointy, military-esque style hat that was unlike anything I saw!

It was such a fun morning, and I was really happy to experience graduation before Matt goes through it next year (hopefully). I'm sure the next one will be even better.

To all those I know who graduated yesterday, congratulations!

Nine: Discovery Green

2011-05-09T20:58:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, I'm not so good about posting on Sunday nights. There was laundry and dinner and tiredness! And then today's been a busy day...and that's why this post is finally going up on Monday night. The end.

Both times I've been at the Houston Marathon, once as a spectator, once as a runner, I've been able to visit Discovery Green, a park in the middle (kind of) of downtown Houston. The finish line is right by the park, so it's a natural gathering place for both spectators and participants to meet up and celebrate. I realized last week that I've never actually explored this park, which is suppose to be fantastic. So, why not now?

The park itself is quite fun and a beautiful spot of green in the middle of concrete land. The view, of course, is nothing one would expect to have in a park!

There's a little man-made lake, stage area, and huge green area where plenty of families and friends gather for picnics, games, etc.

There's also art! Functional art, at that.

This park was lovely, and I'm shocked it took me so long to come and really see it! I'll have to keep my eye out for events/excuses to come back.

And what's a post about a park with at least one flower photo. I happen to be particularly proud of this one.

Eight: Japanese Garden

2011-05-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

It's official. Matt & I are going to Japan next month! We'll be spending a week in Kyoto, and it's going to be amazing.

As Japan was on my mind this weekend, I thought I'd photograph the Japanese Garden that lies in the middle of Houston.

It's quite the beautiful oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle, and I've done a friend's family photos in the garden, but hadn't explored it fully before.

A huge pond with water features lies within the garden with small bridges dotting the tiny streams that flow beyond the pond.

I love all of the stone "art" in the garden. Perhaps they're placed strategically all feng shui like? Either way, they add perfectly to the calming atmosphere in the garden.

And, of course, the typical garden features are just wonderful. It is a garden after all!

Don't forget the ducks! They're always ducks. And I love ducks. This guy let me get so close to him. I kept waiting for him to either run away or attack me. Thankfully, he just posed nicely for me.

I'm overjoyed at the prospect of spending a week immersed in a completely different culture than my own or like any one that I've experienced before. And, of course, I'm beyond excited to photograph Kyoto and the other places we'll visit. I guess I won't have to worry about what I'll be photographing that week!

Seven: Sculpture Garden

2011-04-27T21:32:00.000-05:00

(This post is up incredibly late this week. I apologize! Things have been super busy around here. Enjoy last week's post!)

We live close to the Houston Museum District, which is fabulous. There are several museums, most within walking distance, and we've seen some amazing exhibits since we've moved here, including the actual Lucy. I think I nearly cried from happiness that day.

I had the idea to wander the museum district and photograph the exterior of all of the museums. After all, while they hold incredible treasures inside, they're all beautiful buildings on the outside. As I started wandering around an area that I thought I was very familiar with, I came to the realization that I didn't know what was behind a huge wall on a particular corner across the street from the Museum of Fine Arts. I walked all the way around it trying to figure out if I could even get in, and, lo and behold, I discovered a beautiful, hidden sculpture garden.

How have I missed this for nearly 3 years?! I was shocked, and as I started wandering around with my camera, I had a brilliant idea to save the museum district series of photos for a later date. This week, it's all about the sculpture garden.

I've mentioned before how much I love sculpture as an art medium. It's always been my favorite, and I find myself always being drawn to study the intricate details of the figures and wonder how one could carve a material as hard as marble into beautiful, fluid, organic shapes as if the resulting subject had been naturally born out of the marble. I could have stayed all night at this sculpture garden, studying all of the details and emotion in each piece the artists created.

I was incredibly happy to find a Rodin sculpture in this garden. I love how rough cut his work is. There's a feeling of movement and emotion you get from his pieces. He style reminds me a lot of Rembrandt.

And for now, I'll leave my commentary behind and let these photos of works of art speak for themselves.

Delayed

2011-04-25T17:46:00.000-05:00

Week seven will have to be postponed for one more day. I've taken the photos, but I haven't finished editing them. And I have some Mahler to sit through/perform tonight. Yippee!

In the mean time, here's a self portrait I took today as I was feeling particularly wind swept and red.

Until tomorrow, just...keep lookin' at me. I'm sure that will suffice.

Six: Mom & Pop

2011-04-18T21:21:00.000-05:00

One of the few charms of living in the inner city of Houston is the old, random beauty you can find by simply driving around the more aged parts of the city. The area around Rice University is one of these lovely spots where the city's lack of zoning really shows off its brillance. The neighborhood is filled with 100 year old homes, some of them residencies, some of them little "Mom & Pop" shops, all right next to each other.

The cute level is incredible.

There is one particular street where the businesses outnumber the homes, and I found it to be this week's (or last...yes, I'm posting late again!) perfect subject.

Walking along this street felt like going back in time. Each of these little shops, which included law firms, consignment shops, dentist offices, and jewelry stores, seemed as though they had been there for decades and had remained unchanged.

While I definitely do not love Houston and can't wait to leave, it's times like these when I realize that I will certain parts of this city and their old charm & beauty.

And some of this beauty I've only been able to truly appreciate after the fact through photographs. Seriously, one might ask, what's not to love?

Where else can you find an old pharmacy with ancient apothecaric bottles lining the windows?

And this is the part where, in my heart of hearts, I admit how much I do love what this city has to offer me at times. I still don't have an undying, all-encompassing love for this city, but it has its moments. And those are definitely moments that I will miss when we leave.

And one last set of photographs from this week...while I was wondering up and down this cute street, a manager of a restaurant noticed what I was doing and struck up a conversation with me about photography. He then invited me into the restaurant to photograph the awesome Edison light bulbs that hang from the ceilings of this particular old house. Opportunity taken.

Perfect Playlist

2011-04-15T11:34:00.000-05:00

I had one of the best runs of my life yesterday: 3 miles in 30 minutes. And I felt fantastic!

I tell people all the time that seem so impressed with my mediocre running skills that most of running is mental. You can't think about the fact that you are running, because if you do, every pain or feeling of discomfort will be what you focus on. And, let's be honest. Running is always painful and uncomfortable. I'm learning slowly but surely how important it is to train your mind to completely zone out and not think about running.

And today, I was more successful than I think I ever have been. I felt incredible!

Major credit, however, goes to my iPod and the amazing, randomized playlist it put together for me. I highly recommend the following songs to help any runner reach deep down into their suitcase of courage and pull out an awesome run.

"Song for a Young Queen" - Chris Thile
"Arrival" - Ethel (Click on the album Light)
"Like a Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan
"El Scorcho" - Weezer
"This Side" - Nickel Creek
"The Plagues" - The Prince of Egypt Soundtrack
"Nowhere Man" - The Beatles
"Falling" - Ben Kweller
"Mahna Mahna" - The Muppet Show (I can't tell you how happy I get when this comes up on my iPod.)
"Sleep" - Eric Whitacre

This was pretty much the perfect mix of completely unrelated songs I needed for that run yesterday.

And it seems that mild Spring weather is having its one last gasp tomorrow morning. The forecasted low: 49 degrees. Perfect morning for a run. I can't wait.

Five: Take a look, it's in a book

2011-04-10T23:29:00.004-05:00

I love books. It's no secret. And because of that deep, abiding love, the ebook "revolution" makes me weep inside, because no matter how much cheaper or more convenient it will be in the end to have all of your reading material stored on a digital device, I love the senses that come along with reading an actual book and cannot imagine my life without them. The smell of books is overwhelmingly nostalgic and intoxicating. There's a huge part of me that can never see myself completely switching over to a digital device purely based on the smells, along with other tangible senses, I experience with I read a book.

That being said, I, of course, love book stores. It's a dangerous relationship because no matter how many books I have, I always want more. I currently have 5 books I've purchased/acquired within the past few months that haven't been cracked open yet because I'm busy reading other things. It's a disease. A pleasant illness I don't mind having. And incurable cancer I simply can't imagine my life without.

Yes, I love books.

And so for this week's project, I originally had the idea of going to a city library to photograph the books housed within. While book stores are one of my favorite places, new stores have a patterned, consistent, even sterile feel to their shelves of books. All the books are new, shiny, and untouched. Library books are sometimes ancient, well worn, and have a past. To me, that's way more interesting to photograph than the books on the shelves of Borders.

However, the particular library I wanted to photograph happens to be closed on the weekends. Faced with this unforeseen challenge, I came up with a brilliant Plan B: Half-Priced Books.

This chain is a well known second hand book store started in Texas in the 1970s by a couple of hippies. And, well, it hasn't changed much since then. Isn't that beautiful? You can go to any of the Half-Priced Books and find thousands of random, care worn, sometimes decades old books for super cheap, waiting for their next adventure. I absolutely love this store. I worked in one when I was 18, and it continues to hold a special place in my heart.

I thought this would be the perfect place to photograph books. Torn edges, irregular patterns, yellowed pages, ancient smells...it's a photographer's dream.

I had to include the one Christopher Walken, who was just begging me to photograph him from the shelf.

And lastly, no hippie bookstore would be complete without an old Remington typewriter randomly placed on a shelf in the Fiction section.

Four: Flying Owls

2011-04-04T20:38:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the delay in this week's post. I simply didn't get around to editing and posting these photos last night!

As mentioned in my last post, I ran the Rice Flying Owls 5K on Saturday, which marked an anniversary of sorts for me. It was about a year ago that I ran this same 5K, my first 5K, after having just attempted to become a real runner.

I wasn't able to take photos during the race, obviously, but I brought my camera to capture the after race event, which is always a fun part of any race.

There were many we knew who ran the race, including Ruth (go and see her run down here). After, we all hung out enjoying the after race food, which was delicious. Everyone had a good time.

After the race was officially closed, they had a kids dash, which was the only "race" part of the race day I was able to photograph. Everyone stood to the side of the designated "track" for the dash holding the same posters used to motivate those of us who ran the 5K.

And they ran their little hearts out! It was adorable, needless to say.

Even Sammy, Rice's mascot, joined in the fun to motivate the kiddos.

The Rice 5K was such a fun event! While I didn't do as well as I was hoping to (70 degrees and 100% humidity means that I can't run very well), it was still a reason to celebrate having made it full circle to where I was last year. And can I tell you how ultimately pleasant 3.1 miles feels compared to a half marathon? Even in the terrible weather conditions? Seriously, I had to only suffering for just over half an hour, and then I could stop, eat some bagels, and enjoy the after race party.

I think I'll definitely do this race for a third time next year. And keep on keepin' on in the mean time!

A 5K & a photo shoot (with dogs!)

2011-03-31T11:43:00.000-05:00

Another mid-week post, another photo of yours truly (with my new glasses):

In other news, remember last year when I started this whole running thing and ran my first 5K?

Well, this Saturday, I'll be running the same 5K again. Do you know how wonderful it feels as a runner when a 5K is your minimum running standard? Last year, I was still struggling so much just to complete a 3.1 mile run. And now, having completed two half marathons already this year, it feels fantastic to only be "competing" in 5K. Seriously. It's like a nice, brisk jog as opposed to a drawn out and painful mental and physical battle where your goal is to not die and just finish this damn race...

That's pretty much how running a half marathon feels. (At least to me.)

I'm seriously excited to be back where I was last year with tons more training under my belt. (And new running shoes!)I'm hoping to demolish my time from last year and run my little heart out on the "anniversary" of my first real race as a runner.

And now, some more photos. I did several photos shoots last year and didn't really have the time to share them. Here are some of my favorites from a shoot I did for a good friend. Her and her husband had just received terrible news that their dog Duke had cancer and wouldn't survive much longer. She realized that they didn't have any family pictures of them and their dogs, so we spent an afternoon photographing everyone together.

Duke is the dog in the foreground. He had such beautiful brown fur.

Duke & Spike were such good buddies.

This was my favorite shot of the day.

Three: Red Telephone Boxes

2011-03-27T20:20:00.000-05:00

There's a neighborhood near downtown Houston called Upper Kirby that has a very visible and distintive feature: the red telephone box.

Scattered throughout this neighborhood are several of these British telephone booths, all of them either empty or sealed off. Most of them are proudly labeled with the "Upper Kirby" mark, and they're all randomly placed and clearly spotted from the road. I spent the afternoon yesterday circling the neighborhood in search of all of the red telephone boxes this neighborhood houses and successfully found most of them. Oddly enough, I could not find a list online to help guide me.

Box #1 was placed off the beaten bath of what is known as Upper Kirby, and the only booth that, to me, looks authentic. It still has the "Telephone" label, and you see the remnants of what once was a telephone inside.

Booth #2 rests on a busy street across from newly built, super swanky condos and lofts. If one wanted to label this feature of the Upper Kirby neighborhood as stuck up and upper-crusty, this particular booth's location would be the ammunition.

Booth #3 was tucked away a bit and stood within an unremarkable, modern strip mall right outside a CVS Pharmacy. There was also a dumpster rather close to this booth, making it the most randomly placed of the seven I found.

Booth #4 was the sister to #2, also placed in the "new swanky condo high-rise" district of Upper Kirby within the parking lot of a recently built Wells Fargo. It had a cosmopolitan feel to it that I liked.

Booth #5 has further down Kirby, which quickly loses its cosmopolitan feel as you drive to the south. This booth was placed in the park stip right in front of a car wash and repair shop that might have been related. It didn't blend well with the surroundings, but it added that touch of class it might have needed.

Booth #6 was located at a street corner off the main drag of Kirby. It was surrounded by hip, young shops (Whole Foods, Borders, etc.) and boxed in with flowers. I thought it was a beautiful location.

Booth #7, the final booth I found, was shaded by huge trees next to the outdoor seating of a local cafe. It would be the perfect spot to eat outside on a pleasant day and, perhaps, imagine yourself in London, staring at the red telephone box.

The Red Scare

2011-03-23T19:49:00.001-05:00

It's time for...a mid-week post!

First, a photo.

For those of you who are not on Facebook (or not my 'friend'), about 2 1/2 weeks ago, I went red. I posted a quick photo on Facebook, but I figured (a) why not take another photo and post it here on the blog, and (b) I like the color of my hair better now that it's faded just a bit. Instead of being in-your-face red, it's more of a normal (but still bold), dark red.

I know I look a bit deer-in-the-headlights in this photo, but I wasn't trying very hard. And I also kind of like this look on me. It's a bit quirky and odd. Just like me. And yes, I was totally holding out my camera (on my gorilla pod) out in front of my face Facebook-style. Again, not trying very hard.

I had a conversation with a photographer about taking self-portraits, and he told me that for over 5 years, he took a self-portait every day as a way of documenting his life. Wow. Since I had a month to learn the art of/get comfortable with self-portraits, I really respond to this idea of documenting my life through photographs and making sure I am in them. So often, I take hundreds of photographs at events, and I'm not in a single one. That's...a bit sad, I think.

This photo above is quite unremarkable (except for the red hair), but I've decided to try and take more self-portraits, especially as I'm exploring and experiencing new and different places this year. And perhaps I'll start posting those every now and then. My blog seemed to get much more popular during my month of self-portrait taking, which (hopefully) means that everyone thought I was an awesome portrait-taker.

Is...that right?

And in other news, I bought a wide-angle lens attachment last week.

New photography equipment (especially attachments that are cheap!) makes me happy.

Two: The Rodeo

2011-03-20T20:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Matt & I & some friends went to the Houston Rodeo & Livestock...thing. We weren't actually interested in any of the music or rodeo shows, and we found that we had plenty to do just wandering both the carnival and livestock section of the Rodeo!

I found the ferris wheels a pleasure to photograph against the clear blue sky. Although, I didn't particularly want to get on one. I'm quite the wuss when it comes to most carnival rides. I'd rather photograph them.

We did, however, spend the money to take a ride on the ever classic carnival ride, the bumper cars. Because we all rode at once, I couldn't take any photos while we rode, which was too bad! I think we all seriously felt like kids again chasing each other around in magnetic cars for a few minutes.

While we were checking out some of the carnival games, Matt noticed one game that was giving away light-saber-esque "swords". It was a fairly easy game, so he paid the $5 to attempt to win one.

Look familiar? Pretty simple game. Matt immediately caught one of the fish and won his fake light saber.

More games were played and fair food was eaten. One of our party tried to tackle the classic turkey leg.

Mr. Turkey Leg also wanted his own light saber and was successful in winning one for himself. I couldn't help but photograph the cuteness that was two grown men wandering the carnival with their prized light sabers.

And lastly, the prize-winning animals. Or, well, I'm not sure if they all won, but they were all definitely cute. Bovine:

Longhorn:

Swine (photo by Matt):

Chick (newly hatched!):

And the poor turkeys, who had to stare at pictures of their probable future all day:

We had a ton of fun with our friends at the Rodeo. And in case you were wondering, both deep fried snickers and oreos are delicious. And probably heart-attack inducing. But still delicious.

And perhaps one of these days, I'll pluck up the courage to ride one of these things.

One: Beer Bike

2011-03-13T21:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I decided to spend part of the day at Rice University to witness the spectacle that is Beer Bike.

Beer Bike is the hugest event of the year at Rice for the students and alumni, even bigger than Homecoming. It had its humble beginnings in the 50s and has evolved into a highly regulated "sporting" event that involves, you guessed it, beers and bikes.

Before it was regulated, the race involved one person chugging beer and then (trying) to race on bike in a relay against all of the other residential colleges. Obviously, this form of racing was arguably dangerous, and so now, there is a chugging "team" and a biking relay team, each performing the duties separately.

And yes, I went to spectate this "sporting event" yesterday if nothing for purely photographic means. I figured it would be a gold mine of opportunity, and since I have never been to Beer Bike before, I thought it would be "fun" to "experience" it for myself at least once while we live here.

While it was certainly crazy to behold at times, I had tons of photographic fun wandering around the Beer Bike "grounds" with my camera, which included the undergraduate side of the track where all of the colleges were cheering on their team.

Each college has a theme each year for their team. I saw such "themes" as "The Kegfather" and "The Fresh Pints of Bel-Air". Brilliant.

Once the races got started, we wandered over to the graduate student side, and we beheld what Matt referred to as a possible Quiddich scene from Harry Potter.

Quiddich? Nope. Beer bike. Different "sport", but the same crazy fans.

I was glad, however to be on the graduate student side as it was much more chill. Everyone was having fun rooting for the GSA (Graudate Student Association) team, which historically does quite well in the races.

I had much more fun, even as a teetotaler, than I thought was possible. I hung out with Matt & his graduate student friends during the races and watched the occasional craziness break through.

And these bikers were hard core. Halfway through the race, the GSA was nearly a full lap ahead of everybody else.

Unfortunately, a bad crash involving a spectator stopped the race, and 30 minutes or so later after the judges (yes, there are Beer Bike judges) had deliberated, they decided that it was too windy to continue the race safely on bike, and so they turned it into a Beer Run.

And somehow, the decision was made for the GSA team and the college that was in second place to start in the same spot on the track. Boo!

And the GSA ended up coming in second because of this. I left soon after the race ended, but I can only imagine what righteous anger and plenty of alcohol would have looked like at the after party for the GSA.

And so I have experienced Beer Bike. I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had because I was simply hanging out with friends the whole time. And I brought home a lobster-red sunburn to match my hair. Awesome.

Project 52 Begin

2011-03-12T20:19:00.000-06:00

It's true. I'm embarking on a new photo challenge for the next year. I was going to begin immediately after my photo-a-day challenge ended at the beginning of the month, but I apparently needed a break. But now, this photo project is on!

Nama's Project 52

For the next year (52 weeks), I will be taking a series of photos at some point during the week, and then on Sunday night, I will be posting these photos along with the story behind them and my experiences.

My goals are varied for this year's project. I want to explore the art of photojournalism as much as I can, taking photos that tell a story and evoke emotion through the subjects and their stories. I've been quite moved by many photojournalistic series I've come across that weave intricate and beautiful stories within a series of photos. This type of photography truly speaks to my soul, and I so want to break out and give this a shot in whatever way I can.

Another goal I have is to simply get out of my photographic comfort zone. I tend to photograph the same places, people, and things, because that's what I've become comfortable with. I need to break out of that. And this is a way to push me beyond that bubble I've inadvertently created around my photography. I will strive each week to photograph "new" places, people I do not know, and things that I haven't even begun to explore.

I hope this goes as well for me this year as this last year did! I'm quite excited to continue building my photographic skills with new goals and a new outlook. Please still come and support me through this new challenge! And come back every Sunday night, starting tomorrow night, for my weekly series of photos.

One year later...

2011-03-03T20:31:00.001-06:00

I've been in the process of writing a retrospective on my year long photo challenge for approximately six months.

Before you get too impressed, this is simply because I wanted to write a "half point" retrospective of how I was feeling six months into my challenge.

And then I kept putting it off. And fairly soon, it seemed ridiculous to post 8 or 9 months into my challenge, so I decided to hang on to my writings and post it all (modified) at the year's end.

I want to first say thank you to everyone who has followed me during my journey this past year. My heart would flutter every time I received an email from Blogger informing me of a new comment. They like my photos! Validation rocks! I know many of you simply came to look, and I can’t thank you enough for your support. Knowing I had an audience looking forward to my posts every day is part of what kept me going.

These past few days have been a combination of weird, oddly satisfying, and empty. I came home Tuesday night and instinctively started to pull my camera out of my bag. And then I had to stop myself. I didn’t take any photos today. I don’t have to post a photo tonight.

Both relief and sadness flooded me. Is it nice not having to worry about the daily task of photography? Yes. I feel like I’ve earned a break. But I now feel like I’ve lost a part of me, something that, at times, enveloped my life for a year! I realize that just because I’m not obligated to use my camera every day, I still can use it to my heart’s content, but perhaps it feels a little different now.

With this in mind, I’ve been dreaming up a new photographic project that I will start this weekend. (Look for my introductory post on that tomorrow.) I want to keep pushing myself to grow and learn, and, of course, I love giving myself an excuse to take photographs. In some ways, this past year has been nothing more than a self-indulgent project! While there were definitely days that I didn’t want to take any photos or that this challenge felt more like a chore, most of the time, I absolutely loved it. And I want to do more.

But first, a look back. How did I get here?

My hope in starting this project was more than just to take photos every day. That was certainly part of it, but I knew (or hoped) that in forcing myself to photograph the world around me daily, both my creativity and technical skill would grow. Posting a chosen photo on this blog was a natural end result and something to keep me in check. It allowed me to complete a photographic process, from snapping the image, to editing, to sharing.

I can honestly say that my skills set as a photographer has experienced tremendous growth. Part of this growth, however, was the continuation of the decision I made when I bought my DSLR, which was to force myself to shoot in full manual mode. Through doing this, and with the help of the photography class I took last year, I was forced to learn everything that my camera was capable of. Sure, I could have taken short cuts, left certain camera settings on auto, but what good would that have done me?

And now, shooting with my Nikon in manual is incredibly natural and seamless. In fact, I feel a bit confused when I have to pick up and operate a point-and-shoot. "What? I just have to point it and shoot? Weird." This growth has been wonderful and having full confidence in what I'm doing is an incredible feeling.

My creativity has grown, too, by leaps and bounds. Would you agree? I believed when I started this project that I already possessed a good photographic eye. I never simply pointed my camera at a subject and clicked away. I naturally had a good sense of how to frame the shot with an interesting perspective.

And while I was worried about how that would hold up to daily use, I never thought I'd see the quick and very real changes to my creative eye. I don't mean to be a braggart, but I was genuinely surprised by this growth, and now I seriously think my ability to compose a great photograph is awesome.

That's just good taste and sense talking. :)

I now look at my first month or so of photographs, and while I have favorites from that first foray into this challenge, I'd say about half of the photos inspire a big fat "meh" from me. As the months go on, however, more and more photos still stand out to me as not merely okay photographs that were nice enough to post, but truly great works of photographic art.

Am I talking myself up too much? (Feel free to say yes!)

I know some of my favorites from this past year, but what are some of the photos that you’ve really loved? I’d be very interested in knowing your thoughts.

That being said, I fear I don’t have much more to say. Just keep an eye on the ole’ blog. I’ll keep on photographing and sharing my experiences. In fact, I have a lot of photos backlogged that I want to share soon.

Also, on a related note, remember when The Pioneer Woman chose my frog photo last year for one of her photography assignments? Well, it’s happened again! What a wonderful cherry on top of an accomplished week!

I took this photo of Jessica, The Best Friend, on her wedding day in Las Vegas back in October while she was getting ready in her hotel room. I seriously love this photo on so many levels. I loved that I captured such a calm sense of anticipation emanating from Jessica. She looks so gorgeous in this photo. And I’m not just saying that because she’s The Best Friend. And I’m thrilled that PW chose this photo for her “Sisters” assignment! Jessica's practically a sister to me. We even have a song.

More good things to come.

Self: Accomplished

2011-02-28T21:04:00.000-06:00

Year-long daily photo challenge: complete.

I can hardly believe it. I'm quite overcome with emotion now that this day has home, not only because of the feelings of accomplishment and achievement I feel having completed this challenge, but also a bit of a sadness to be at the end.

I wanted to convey in this self-portrait those feelings, plus the absolutely love of my camera and all of the creative and technical growth I've accomplished over the last three-hundred and sixty-five days with it by my side.

Blue: Apollo 13

2011-02-27T21:47:00.000-06:00

After I finished my second half marathon in tears yesterday, Matt told me that this race for me was like Apollo 13: terrible things happened and a lot went wrong, but at the end of the day, nobody died.

Yep, that pretty much says it all. I survived a pretty brutal 13.1 miles. And only now are people telling me that running on sand is a terrible endeavor. Why was I not privy to this information before yesterday?!

A fun tidbit: I had this fantasy before I ran my first half last month that, as I approached the finish line and needed to motor it in, "Bohemian Rhapsody" would magically come up on my iPod, giving my that burst of energy to finish strong.

Of course, with 2GB of music on shuffle, the chances of this happening were quite low. And while this didn't happen a month ago, just as I passed the 13 mile mark yesterday within site of the finish line, the unthinkable happened:

"Is this the real life / Is this just fantasy"...

My dream had come true right when I actually needed it. I laughed, sped up, ignored the pain, and headed for the finish line.

On an unrelated note, I just realized that tomorrow is the last day of the month! Which means that tomorrow, I will be taking and posting my last photo as part of my year long, daily photo challenge.

I better make it awesome.

P.S. I will be embarking on a new photo challenge later this week. Details coming soon!

People: Beachy keen

2011-02-26T22:51:00.000-06:00

Second half marathon: complete. It was actually quite a terrible race for me. Running on sand is hard. But I finished!

After the race, Ruth & Grant let the kids play on the beach for a bit. Perfect photographic opportunity.

People: Under pressure

2011-02-25T21:52:00.000-06:00

We're in Surfside tonight getting ready to run another half marathon tomorrow morning (yes, I'm crazy), and Ruth & Grant & co. are joining us for the fun! Lucy was being oh so cute at dinner and played the perfect subject for my photo today.

So cute to the point that I couldn't choose just one. :)

Wish us luck tomorrow!

Self: Vestige

2011-02-24T21:28:00.000-06:00

Architecture: Into view

2011-02-23T20:30:00.000-06:00

B&W: "O Muse! Sing in me, and through me tell the story"

2011-02-22T22:01:00.000-06:00

Sometimes, I like to pull out the journal I kept while I was in Italy and remember the amazing times I had there nearly 6 years ago. I actually bought this journal with Caravaggio's Medusa on the front in Florence at the Uffizi where I actually saw the painting!

Interesting tidbit: the most commonly discussed topic in my journal is food. I tried to document (it seems) nearly everything I ate while I was in Italy, including specific gelato flavors. Nice.

Patterns: Stalks

2011-02-21T22:15:00.002-06:00

Architecture: Pattern break

2011-02-20T18:21:00.000-06:00

Macro: Ephemera

2011-02-19T23:57:00.000-06:00

Today, Matt cleaned out the glove compartment of our car, which was his grandparents before he owned it. He went through a stack of papers that included old tire warranties, maps, and, as seen above, the original "sticker" on the car when his grandparents bought it brand new in 1987. He was determined to throw out all of the old papers, even though he felt a certain connection to his grandparents through them, but I told him we should keep this small, yellowing piece of the pile.

B&W: Wither

2011-02-18T22:47:00.000-06:00

Doors & Windows: Chester Copper Pot

2011-02-17T20:39:00.003-06:00

Nature: Harvest

2011-02-16T20:09:00.002-06:00

Ah, Houston, where the trees never know what season it actually is. Less than 100 yards from this beautifully autumnal tree were three other trees in full spring bloom.

Blue: Viscous

2011-02-15T22:45:00.000-06:00

A little less than half a month to go, and here are the stats of my last month theme usage so far:

Architecture: 1
Nature: 2
People: 1
Black & White: 1
Doors & Windows: 1
Patterns: 1
Blue: 2
Macro: 2
Lighting: 3
Self: 1

Thirteen more days to go!

Nature: Fold out

2011-02-14T22:23:00.000-06:00

Happy day of love to all. Love is all around.

Macro: Emulsion

2011-02-13T19:48:00.000-06:00

Lighting: Misaligned

2011-02-12T17:33:00.000-06:00

Yesterday's photo is finally up! Check it out below.

Blue: Crisscross

2011-02-11T23:59:00.003-06:00

Architecture: Balance

2011-02-10T20:14:00.000-06:00

People: Twenty-nine

2011-02-09T21:33:00.000-06:00

Happy birthday to my husband, who makes me laugh every single day.

Doors & Windows: Rusted shut

2011-02-08T19:59:00.000-06:00

Lighting: Reaching

2011-02-07T20:17:00.000-06:00

B&W: Barren

2011-02-06T22:06:00.000-06:00

Self: Sick day

2011-02-05T22:20:00.002-06:00

Nature: Suspended

2011-02-04T22:12:00.000-06:00

Lighting: Bisector

2011-02-03T21:23:00.000-06:00

Macro: Papyri

2011-02-02T20:51:00.000-06:00

Patterns: Vortex

2011-02-01T21:35:00.000-06:00

February: A month to look back

2011-02-01T10:48:00.000-06:00

I can hardly believe that my little photography project is nearly complete. It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was still trying to figure out how to take photos with my new DSLR camera and not feeling all that confident in my abilities. Nearly a year later, I can honestly say that both my technical and artistic skills have improved dramatically, and while I'm still learning new things all the time (and hopefully will continue to!), I think my initial goals of improving upon my amateur skills have been greatly met.

First, I'd like to take a look back at this past month. I've been absolutely flattered by everyone's positive response to my self portraits. It's been a difficult, yet revealing month for me.

I quickly discovered how it's technically a lot more challenging to take photos of yourself. I frequently would see the finished photograph in my head, but because I was not behind the camera watching the photo being made, it would take me quite a long time (photographically speaking) to get the photograph I had in my head.

While I'm beyond excited to get back behind the camera and no longer be its subject, I did grow to enjoy taking self portraits. I think this month more than others really got my creative juices flowing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the energy, experience, and end products. And...perhaps I've gotten more comfortable being in front of the camera.

And now I assume everyone is wondering what's in store for my final month?

How about a retrospective!

All month long, I will be revisiting each of my themes (with the exception of my Christmas "Cheer" theme) at least twice in no particular order.

Architecture

Nature

People

Black & White

Doors & Windows

Patterns

Blue

Macro

Lighting

Self

Ten themes to revisit! I'm quite excited to do this and say goodbye to this wonderful challenge. In fact, I don't really want to stop doing this. I'm not sure what I'll decide to do at the end of the month, but I want to do something to keep me photographing. We shall see.

Self: Approaching storm

2011-01-31T20:57:00.000-06:00

Self: Finisher

2011-01-30T19:36:00.002-06:00

Despite the rain, oppressive humidity, killer side stitches and abdominal cramps, I finished the Houston Half Marathon this morning. While I didn't make my time goal, I still consider it an accomplishment and feel proud of myself for keepin' on despite difficult race conditions.

And...I predict this won't be my last half. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Also, I was way too tired and destroyed by the time we got home, so I lazily told Matt what I wanted in the frame. He took a few shots, and then decided to experiment with my vision, and came out with this fabulous shot. Thanks, Matt. :)

Self: Preparation

2011-01-29T21:26:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow morning, I will be running the Houston Half Marathon.

In the rain.

It'll be an 13.1 mile adventure. And quite the accomplishment coming from someone who starting running just barely a year ago. Go me!

Self: To bake

2011-01-28T23:46:00.000-06:00

Self: Dilemma

2011-01-27T23:12:00.002-06:00

Self: Nama(ste)

2011-01-26T21:28:00.000-06:00

Self: Percolate

2011-01-25T22:12:00.000-06:00

Self: Locks

2011-01-24T21:53:00.000-06:00

Self: Sassy

2011-01-23T19:28:00.000-06:00

Self: Gust

2011-01-22T17:47:00.000-06:00

Self: Flip

2011-01-21T21:50:00.001-06:00

I actually wrote a real post today (with only one photo, which wasn't mine own). Check it out below.

Looking for inspiration

2011-01-21T13:56:00.000-06:00

I've come across too many good things today that I need to share.

It all started with this photo:

Matt sent me this via link this morning, and my attention was immediately captured by this beautiful portrayal of a creative genius. I love how contemplative he appears while staring at his own creation, silly as it may be. I also feel a great sense of loneliness in this photo. Perhaps Jim Henson felt alone in his creativity, misunderstood, unable to connect.

I don't know too much after his personal life, except that he died too young and quite tragically, but this photograph of him seems to shed light on a part of his soul that perhaps only I am perceiving.

Or I could be making all of this up.

But, that's what went through my mind when I saw this photograph.

I then watched a part of Stephanie Nielson's talk on beauty she gave last year. She told the story of how she nearly died on a plane crash and then found herself and her beauty again. I think what struck me most about this piece was her testimony of a living God.

When the plane crashed and she woke up in the burning inferno, she experienced something miraculous, personal, and sacred that allowed her to escape the burning wreckage. She would not share the experience, but she testified to any who have doubts that there is a true and living God who loves us and knows our circumstances exactly.

Perhaps for some quite personal reasons and struggles in my own life, this real and humbling testimony of our God struck me to the core and resonated within the walls of my soul. I was reminded that I am, indeed, a child of God.

Romans 8:16
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God

I must have needed that quiet, quickening moment of reminder, and He knew it.

I then saw this video on another's blog:

How incredible! And inspiring. I loved the sentiment she shared that she is not the disease that nearly took her life.

It reminded me of the journey I've had becoming a runner.

Once your body is trained to run mile after mile after mile (after mile, etc.), running becomes psychological much more than physiological. Your body is capable of so much more than you realize when you're half way through a 12 mile run and feeling tight, achey, and tired. Those are the moments that I have to remind myself that this is not about my body anymore. My body is trained, capable, and strong. My mind is the weakness that feels every pain, every stitch, every cramp, and wants nothing more than just to stop running and never run again.

I have my own challenges when it comes to running, and sometimes I think I complain too loudly that my body (in some ways) was not built for running. It's hard, painful, and slow-going. But I still go out every (other) damn day and do it.

Why? Because it's not (only) about my body.

It's about overcoming the mental block that keeps telling me that I can't do this. While my body grows stronger and more capable with every step I take, the essential mental strength comes only incrementally and painfully slow at times. But it comes, and when you hit those strides when, despite the pain, you simply glide along, mentally clear and content, those are the moments you live for. Just for that short amount of time, you've overcome your mind entirely, and you just run.

---

Two more related photographic inspirations:

This article I read on Slate: The Slow-Photography Movement

I read this article with a huge smile on my face. While I don't necessarily agree with the author's entire sentiment, I get it, and I live it.

"If Step 1 is a long consideration of the subject, Step 2 is the exercise of creative choices—the greatest pleasure that our automatic cameras rob us of. What should be in the frame and what should be excluded is the most obvious decision, but there's also exposure, depth of field, and more technical choices beyond that. Making such deliberate decisions requires a little bit of courage, for you cannot blame the camera if the results are bad. Yet these choices are, to my mind, the whole game. They are what individualizes photography, what puts the stamp of your personality on the photo."

I've written in the past about moments like these. I sometimes spend so much time and energy considering my subject, framing it in my mind, moving to the camera and putting that into action, and then tweaking technical elements here and there, changing the perspective slightly, and then, and only then, do I actually take the photograph. And while I do think that the post-processing of a photograph is important and necessary for the final outcome of that shot I saw in my head, the process he describes is the experience of photography.

Sometimes, for me, it happens quite slow. This month as I've been taking self portraits, it's been painfully slow at times. Self portraits are technically difficult and time consuming because ultimately (in most cases), you are not behind the camera. You cannot see what are you actually photographing until this process is complete. And there's been a lot of trial and error involved for me.

At other times, this process happens fast and sometimes without my knowledge. I can honestly say that I've honed my creative abilities to trust what another photographer calls the "threshold":

"There is no end to photographic possibilities. But there is a point in the making of photographs that marks the moment of decision to release the shutter. That moment might be called the Threshold. On one side of that point, there is no image, only imagined possibilities. On the other side of that point is the consequence of our choice. It is the final truth.

In the Threshold a picture will reach out and demand that it be made. The photographer doesn’t know why. It is a picture without explanation. It is a picture recognized and made before knowing what it means. It is a picture made before you can talk yourself out of it.

To be an artist requires becoming attuned to the Threshold, and to dwell in the moments of clarity and awareness that lay between the imagination of a picture and its realization."

Thanks, Justin, for the further inspiration down this photographic journey.

Self: Member

2011-01-20T22:24:00.001-06:00

Self: Glass eye

2011-01-19T22:43:00.000-06:00

Self: Be mine

2011-01-18T21:51:00.002-06:00

Perhaps this post is a bit premature, but I seriously love Valentine conversation hearts. I could pretty much devour an entire bag in a matter of days.

Self: Death by laundry

2011-01-17T22:11:00.000-06:00

It happens to the best of us.

P.S. Happy birthday, Mom!

Self: Warrior

2011-01-16T22:52:00.002-06:00

Self: After a run

2011-01-15T23:35:00.002-06:00

Stretching after a long, hard run hurts so good.

Self: Literary

2011-01-14T22:44:00.000-06:00

Self: Looking-glass

2011-01-13T20:58:00.000-06:00

Self: Warmth

2011-01-12T21:15:00.000-06:00

Self: Twenty-eight

2011-01-11T23:17:00.000-06:00

That's right. This face is 28 today. Happy birthday, to me!

Self: Spotlight

2011-01-10T22:27:00.000-06:00

Self: Winter cocoon

2011-01-09T21:51:00.000-06:00

The week of winter has arrived in Houston. I'll be under layers of blankets on the couch with a fire going only to emerge when it's back in the 60s.

Self: Atomic

2011-01-08T18:36:00.001-06:00

Self: Flip

2011-01-07T21:06:00.000-06:00

Nice how I went to a straight on, full-face photo to one of my feet, huh?

Self: Smirk

2011-01-06T21:46:00.001-06:00

For the record, I really dislike taking photographs of myself. I decided to face my fears and the camera today and...well, there it is. I hope this will get easier as the month goes on.

Self: Desperate

2011-01-05T23:44:00.002-06:00

I apologize for the delayed post! Blogger's editor was down last night, and I was sleepy.

And in no way is this photo a statement of desperation. I simply liked the idea of creating a 50s-era housewife photograph.

Self: Contour

2011-01-04T20:07:00.000-06:00

Self: Every (other) damn day

2011-01-03T20:55:00.002-06:00

A few months ago, I saw a Nike workout shirt that said, "Every damn day". And even though I wouldn't dare pay $40 for a running shirt, I loved/hated the sentiment. While I don't run every single day (I might injure myself if I did that!), I pretty much have to run every other damn day to be the kind of runner I want to be. And the difficulties associated with this lifestyle can frequently cause one to swear a little bit.

Self: Non-fiction

2011-01-02T21:14:00.000-06:00

January is my month

2011-01-02T19:20:00.001-06:00

Isn't January a depressing month? The cheer and joy of Christmas has ended, the harsh of winter sets in...and I turn a year older. Seriously, guys. I'll officially be pushing 30 this year, and the only consolation I have is that...Matt's birthday is less than a month after mine! And he'll be closer to 30 than me this year. Ha ha!

And so this month, my photos will be all about...me! As you saw yesterday, I will be doing a month of self-portraits. This prospect, in all honesty, scares the hell out of me.

Yep. That's right. I feel so intimidated by this project that I dropped a hell.

And because I've never taken a self-portrait until yesterday, I do not have any examples to show you...but, seriously. It's pretty self-explanatory, folks. But do you really want to see more photos of me? Well...okay. Here are a few of my favorite photos Matt has taken of me during our travels.

And again, in all honesty, all of this does make me uncomfortable. I seriously don't like having my photo taken. I wrote about this briefly when I was posting our Scotland photos, and I do wonder amongst photographers if we all do have issues being in front of the camera. I love the creative energy I feel looking through the lens, framing the world I see, and creating beauty out of anything I find. The prospect of seeing that same beauty and awe in photographs of myself is quite daunting. However, I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do a month of self-portraits, and now that I'm 2 months away from the close of my little challenge (can you believe it?!), it's time to face up to my biggest photographic fear.

I hope you enjoy a month of me. If you start finding this month's photos lame and uninteresting, feel free to tune out for the month and come back in February! :)

Self: Primary

2011-01-01T23:54:00.000-06:00

Happy 2011!

I haven't had time to do a proper introduction post for this month's theme, so it will be posted tomorrow. For now, enjoy my first self-portrait of the month!

Cheer: Indulge

2010-12-31T23:30:00.001-06:00

Happy New Years!

Cheer: O Come

2010-12-30T23:07:00.000-06:00

Every so often, I'll take a photograph that I am not only in love with, but that I think is an amazing work of art...and that sentiment is felt as humbly as is possible. The photo below (which has nothing to do with Christmas) that I snapped today while wondering the arts district in Dallas is one of these photos, and I couldn't help but share it.

Thank you for indulging me. And be sure to check out my last post below from our Scotland trip last year.