Mr. Maeser

All I did was increase the contrast for this one. You know, people are like pictures. Sometimes they are very uninteresting, because of how they photograph their lives. They neglect the contrast, they dwell in dolor. When you ask them, "What are you like?" They may even begin their reply with, "OH! I'm very boring."

That's not necessary.

I like the lines, simplicity, and contrast this black-and-white photo has. I've noticed that I often try to make my life fit into a line, or set of lines: I'll compare my life to a book I've read, or a movie I've seen, or the life of a friend or family member. The picture gets messy. It's a bad idea.

Making common things abstract is a fun goal in photography. It's also a life perspective valued by the transcendentalists.

This is a leaf on a willow tree.

Karl G. Maeser said that if you drew a chalk circle around him, and made him give his word of honor not to leave it, he would die before stepping out of the circle. I say: what a moronic thing to promise.

Evolution of a Photo.

This is the "Final Product," so far.

One step behind....


Just trying to find the sublime cropping. I used to be such a purist- HA!

I wonder what black and white would look like? This one is another photo I took about the same time. I think it looks better as a whole black and white- especially Naomi's face compared to the other children's. It also has a color enhancement, it sort of makes the sun look REALLY bright. I sort of like it, but I like what I did later better.

Here's the original, "untouched" photo.

This photo was originally taken with my 3-year-old, 6.0 mega pixel cyber-shot camera. I decided that it would look better in black and white. Then, I saw that I really liked the two sisters' faces, and there was room to frame them right. Then I wanted better contrast. When I was in high school doing dark room black and white photography, one goal I had was to have a true white and a true black in each photo. So that's why I amped up the contrast, and I like it.

I also like the light right around Brynn's chin. I didn't plan for that, it just came out.

Small Things

I went to the temple the other day, and after taking stalker-type pictures of someone else's two adorable children, I took some ridiculously nerdy pictures of small things.

Like this yellow flower.

I've been oddly fascinated with bugs lately. I really wanted to get some good bee pictures to add to my collection.

I liked how this flower became abstract up close. I felt like Georgia O'Keefe.

The Killers

This summer, I happened to have a Delta flight from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Salt Lake City, Utah. There was no in flight movie, so I first contented myself with watching the five stations of TV available. However, I soon found the music on the Delta kiosk more enjoyable, and stumbled upon this album: the killers, day and age.

I wasn't sure if my ardent love for this album was born of the extreme boredom I was experiencing when it blossomed into my life, or if it were genuine virtuosity that impressed me. Imagine, then, my trepidation when opening the cd package(I don't think I've bought a cd since high school), and put it in the player. I pressed play. The sound began to reverberate from the machine, and I was genuinely relieved. Apparently, I love the Killers.

Radical Eclecticism

Sometimes, you just need to get out of the house.

For me, that also means "off campus," and the other day, it also meant, "away from my roommates and friends." So I went shopping.

I walked to the store; it took about fifteen minutes. I thought it was worth it. I wanted to take my time. I needed shampoo, so I decided to leisurely peruse the hair products. As I was looking, a large woman in a moo-moo dress started looking for shampoo, too. Her husband/boyfriend/victim was with her. He seemed to enjoy listening to her, but I know that she couldn't be a friend of mine.

"Do they have it? Where is it? This isn't it. I'd have to do my hair every day if I used this. Who does their hair every day? I know I don't. Look at my hair, does it look like I did it this morning? Well, I didn't. Here it is. Oh, they've raised the price. That's ridiculous. They're going to regret that, because we aren't going to buy it anymore. It's too expensive now, you might as well buy it at the salon. Can you believe? The other day, I was at the salon, and someone actually asked them if the shampoo was safe on pubic hair. Isn't that awful? The clerk just looked at them, disgusted. We all were mortified."

I didn't want to hear it, but once I started listening, I couldn't stop. Her companion seemed to genuinely agree with her on everything she said. I don't expect everyone to agree with everything I say, but obviously, there's someone, somewhere who will.

I'd like to thank that person in advance for their validation.