Photography

I like to think that I have a good eye for photography. I don't know much about aperture, lighting, or exposure time, and I certainly don't have anywhere close to a decent camera (David and I want to buy a new digital camera but we simply cannot agree on which one to buy, especially when newer and better ones are being released like every other day) but I think I do a pretty good job of finding interesting angles or capturing things at just the right time to get a really beautiful shot. I really love vivid colors in photography too. There's something very sweet and poignant about black and white photographs, but nothing is more beautiful to me than colors that pop and explode. I also really love to photograph objects that most people don't look at twice. I especially love architecture and landscapes....I rarely ever take portraits and only then, I take them for memory's sake and not any aesthetic value. One of these days, I'd really love to take another photography class and get into it some more but for now, I'm happy to take shots that please me and offer me a continual glimpse at something I found beautiful. I thought I'd share a few (okay, a lot) of my favorite photographs that I've taken over the years. In no particular order:

This shot of the Seine River in Paris (from September 2004) was pure luck. The sun had just barely set as we were crossing a bridge to Notre Dame and I set my camera (which takes fantastically horrible night shots on most occasions) on a pillar of the bridge to get a longer exposure of Paris at dusk. I think this is one of my most favorite photographs I've ever taken, mostly because of the muted hues of the sky, the lights reflecting in the water and the way the lights create different shapes and shadows.

This is the view of the street from the bedroom window of my apartment in Rome during my study abroad in 2004. I loved how the shutters (which actually functioned!) framed the shot. I just wish the buildings hadn't created such long shadows on the other buildings and obscured the people down below. To me, this is what Italy looks like and when I think about Italy, I often envision it as if seen through wooden shutters.

The Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington, Virginia. I took this photograph in May 2008, right at twilight. I love that the memorial is just a silhouette of the men, but that the colors of the American flag can still be seen. Plus, I think the clouds and the sky behind the statue are pretty.

I really love the color of these leaves and their translucence. But more particularly, I love the juxtaposition of the blue sky and the green leaves. I just think it looks really cool. I took this photograph in May 2008 during a visit to the Civil War battlefields in and around Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Spotsylvania.

I couldn't decide if I liked this photograph better in black or white, so I included both. This is from the Confederate cemetery in Fredericksburg. I love old cemeteries. I love how the thin headstones slant and slide in the ground and how their inscriptions are faded and worn from years and years of rain and snow and time. Modern cemeteries with their highly polished marble headstones creep me out, but I love old cemeteries. I find them oddly peaceful and calm.

Again, this is from Fredericksburg (or just outside of it....I think this was closer to Spotslyvania actually) from my trip in May 2008. You might recognize it. I love the green grass, the faded old fence, the dirt road and the billowing tree in the background. This photograph makes me feel like it's still 1863 in this rural area. I don't think this photograph would be half so interesting without the fence jutting in.

Again with old cemeteries. This was taken at the Mission Delores cemetery in San Francisco in the summer of 2006. It was just a small plot of land, full of beautiful pink and purple roses and other flowers.

So this is my cat, Emerson. The most adorable and wonderful, and yes, slightly neurotic cat that ever was. Some may say that I am obsessed but I only say that he makes a wonderful subject. I got on the ground to photograph him from his little cat scratcher. I think he looks rather kingly and dignified in this picture.

So here's my kitty again. He really hated this cone. But I love the red of his cone and the blue of the sheets and my sister's wrought iron bedstead in the background. Mostly, I just think my kitty is cute.

This is the Salt Lake Assembly Hall in Temple Square (March 2008). I went to Utah to research Mormon tabernacles for a paper and I took lots of interesting shots of the tabernacles, but I think this is my favorite. I like the verticality of the spires, the interesting architectural lines and the tree branches that impede the view.

(Edited to add: Sorry about the weird text issues with this post. Blogger and I do not get along. I really don't think its posting formats are very user friendly and it always takes me twice as long to post something here as it does in any other blog-type program. Hate. I just got too fed up to spend hours fiddling with it to get it right.

This is what I wrote about the two pictures from the cemetery since it's being stupid: I couldn't decide if I liked this photograph better in black or white, so I included both. This is from the Confederate cemetery in Fredericksburg. I love old cemeteries. I love how the thin headstones slant and slide in the ground and how their inscriptions are faded and worn from years and years of rain and snow and time. Modern cemeteries with their highly polished marble headstones creep me out, but I love old cemeteries. I find them oddly peaceful and calm. )