Photo 1 final

Well, it's the end of the semester and my assignment is to turn in 5 photos of a subject that I can come back to over the years. I chose portraits. Portraits frighten the hell out of me. I always think of portraits as cheesy snapshots that anyone with a camera can take. I don't want that. I am still trying to decide on a 5th photo for this series to help tie everything together. For now these are my favorite 4.

Broken bones and God

I know that I often struggle with what I believe in as far as religion is concerned. But the one thing that I can never deny is that there is a God.

One of my very best of friends (Adrian) was in a car accident yesterday. She is stable yet still in the ICU. Apparently if she had been driving a newer car... she would not have made it. And I would never be able to get over that, never. Just like Tyler. But because I do believe that there is a God somewhere, somehow, I know that he/she has a reason for her to continue on in this life and I am so, so grateful.

I have been numb, depressed and dazed all day. I just want so badly to be there for my sweet Adrian. But she lives in Arizona and neither of us can afford the trip. Especially not now. But somehow I keep going back to being thankful that she is alive. I miss her. I wish that I could be there to support her. Thankfully she has a wonderful family that will be there for her.

This old beast saved her life.

SO!

I'm still trying to decide which TWO pictures to turn in next Tuesday. I have realized that through this assignment that portraits don't have to be cheesy or typical. This makes me feel excited to research portrait photography.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKY!!!

You are 10! I LOVE YOU!

Every year I remember..

The years go on and so do I. But the one person that never leaves that little place in my heart is Tyler. I wonder about who he would be today. Six years ago he left but somehow he is here in the air more than he was that last year. I miss him still. I will never stop missing him. Never stop missing that beautiful smile.

It's strange, the feeling of missing because like I said, he is here. He is in the air, in the golden leaves, the winter mist, the rolling clouds on great mountain tops. He is in Sky and in Solee. He lives on. This makes me feel happy and hopeful.

Tyler Stillwell Gray you are loved.




And just one more thing, I am so grateful for my husband Eric. He loves me completely, this includes the pieces of me that contain my love for Tyler. I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life.

Previous post continued

The first one is inspired by a photo of Barbara Streisand wearing a lamp shade. Hayley is awesome for letting me do that! The second one almost looks like a bridal to me. Anyway, it's been a fun assignment!

A picture from one of my photo assignments

I am thankful for beautiful and gracious friends. I am also thankful for all the creative friends and family in my life.

Just a couple of photo assignments

So the first 2 photos are part of my "Color of Light" assignment. The last one is part of a group assignment that I am working on. I'll be done with this semester soon and then I can actually start editing my pics from Moab.

Guess what I did?!

I ran a half marathon! 13.1 miles! I have to say that it was a spiritual experience for me. I know that I have been through a lot in my life. I have always known that I was emotionally and spiritually strong as well as wise but I never believed in myself physically. Now I know just how strong I am. I almost cried when I crossed the finish line. I'll never forget what that race meant to me. I am proud of myself and I feel stronger, happier and more connected to myself than I ever have been before. Thank you Eric, Geno, Katie and mom for always encouraging me in my running! I love you guys!

Just a couple of photo assignments

I am pretty bummed that the school tore down the darkrooms. I was having so much fun even if I did waste 4 rolls of film in my old busted up camera. At least I was able to spend 7 1/2 hours in the darkroom on the last lab day to catch up on my assignments. Here are a couple of pics that I have done for my Photo Vision class.







Taking an interesting picture of an egg is not as easy as it sounds! These will have to do for now.

Oh my!

Eric and I love each other. We love Murphy. We also love Lily. Murphy loves us. Lily loves us. However, Murphy and Lily hate each other!

I know that Christmas is like 3 months away but one of my Christmas wishes is that Lily and Murphy will be able to live civilly together without trying to kill each other.

My other wish is that we will be able to afford to live in our house after my sister moves out.

I'm shy..

but I really wanted to take this man's picture. So I sucked it up and asked. He said ok. Nothing too special but I like them anyway....

Work sucks. School is good. Dog and cat fight. Husband and I are like passing ships in the night. I might go meditate with some Buddhist monks in November. Sister and her boyfriend still live here.


Sigh.

Cats are perfect companions for...

brilliant people!

My writing blog:

http://jvswrites.blogspot.com/

Growing pains

This post has nothing to do with Frida Kahlo or art. I have just been obsessing over her lately and I found this picture of her that I really like.

..........

Growing up I never would have imagined that I would have gone through half the crap that I did. Some of it was good, some of it was bad and some of it was awful. But in the end it's all ok because I am here and I am genuinely happy. I am married to an awesome man. I have so many wonderful people in my life. I have a beautiful home. I am continuing my education. My job really sucks but at least I have job and it's not flipping burgers! And I'm healthy. Maybe I didn't move to Paris or become a National Geographic photographer. That doesn't matter though. What matters to me is that things are good. My life is almost exactly what I imagined it would be at nearly 30.

On the flip side so many of the amazing people that I grew up with, the people that I thought would have gone somewhere, are some how stuck. It's like they never learned how to grow up or they just gave up trying. So they do all that they can to stay in their little safety zone. And when they get pushed beyond that zone they don't know what to do. They either sink or swim. It's kind of pathetic. And I'm not saying that in a mean or hurtful way at all. It's just so sad to see hopes and dreams crushed by the people that gave life to them. Their own worst enemy. And change wont come easily, if at all. It breaks my heart.

Anyway, I guess the whole point of this is that I never gave up on myself. Even when I thought that I did, even when I desperately wanted to, I never could. It makes me wonder about the people that do...

Our house is a very, very, very fine house...

These are just a couple of pictures to show how awesome and how far our house has come. We get compliments on our house all the time. And people are always stopping and asking if they can have some of our apricots. Yesterday I let a lady and her husband take some and they are making jam with it. She said she would bring some back for us. So nice! I love our house, our home.

Just a couple of pics

Andrea

This is just a short pre-post about my sister Andrea having her baby. Camera phone pics included.

After 30+ hours of labor my sister Andrea had her baby girl. It was very surreal. Both mom and baby are beautiful and perfect. Baby Sloane came into this world on July 2nd, 2010 weighting 5 pounds 15 Ounces and reaching 19.09 inches long! She is a tiny, sweet little baby. I love her and I love Andrea very much. I am proud of them both. More to come later after sleep!