Thursday, May 31, 2012

Day 74/365


     My day today was spent in my car for the most part. My mom and I drove up to Saginaw, Michigan, (where I'll be starting a photojournalism internship at the end of June), to sign my leasing paperwork for my apartment. I also got a chance to meet my boss and most everyone else I'll be working with. My landlord and boss/coworkers/fellow interns all seem really great, so I'm feeling better and better about my move to Michigan in a few weeks. It's nice to actually be looking forward to working; I've never felt excited or happy about any jobs I've worked before. It's definitely something I could get used to!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Day 73/365


     I was having one of those existential/philosophical "deeper meaning" kind-of days, and decided to go out and look for a photo opportunity that could have a deeper premise to it as well. My answer was a drainage ditch/creek. Even though I would never step foot in that water, I thought it was a really beautiful area, despite its functional purpose. The mundane and the ordinary can be interesting at times if you have the right outlook.

Day 72/365


     Sorry; I know today's post is slightly late, but I did take the actual image on Tuesday so I say it still counts! I went to my first Cleveland Indians game of the season today, and, despite them losing terribly, had a great time. Some of my favorite childhood memories were from going to baseball games with my dad. My mom and brother have never really been baseball fans, so going to a few games each summer was something my dad and I did just the two of us, and it's probably one of the things I miss most about him. I was probably six or seven years old the first time I went to a Tribe game, and I was instantly hooked. My favorite player at the time was Sandy Alomar Jr. and I think I'll always have a soft spot for him; it definitely made me happy when I heard he was coming back to Cleveland as a base/bench coach a few years back. I firmly believe that baseball season is the best season!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Day 71/365


     I stayed out at my mom's cabin last night after the cookout we had yesterday for Memorial Day weekend. As I was driving back this morning, I decided to go down a different route home and ended up pulling over to take a picture of these cows. Happy Memorial Day!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Day 70/365


     Today's post is a video taken during a boat ride on the Grand River. My mom had some of her friends out to her cabin for a Memorial Day weekend cookout, and some of us went out on a pontoon boat for a bit down the river. At one point we had a short downpour of rain, so I made a video mashup of the ripples made from the rain hitting the river. 

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Day 69/365


     I went over to my aunt's today to help with some yard work. We were all weeding and spreading around leaf humus and we kept seeing tons of dragonflies everywhere. I stopped to take this picture of one that happened to land on the edge of one of the raised beds in my aunt's vegetable garden. It was a bit camera-shy; it would fly away the first couple times I tried to focus in on it, but I got it eventually!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Day 68/365


     For today's post I stopped at Wildwood Manor again and put together a small panoramic of the woods on the property. It got really humid and hot pretty quickly today, but under those trees you'd think it was a typical breezy spring day.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Day 67/365


     I didn't have much time to shoot today, so I ended up taking a quick picture of my mom's potted hydrangeas. I have some shoot ideas for the next coming week, so my posts should be picking up here soon!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Day 66/365


     Finch supervised the yard work we did tonight via my bedroom window. He's the definition of helpful.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Day 65/365


     Today's post is right out of one of my mom's gardens. She has quite a few different types of irises that grow throughout the backyard, but these dark purple ones have always been my favorite. 

Monday, May 21, 2012

Day 64/365


     Today was a lazy one, probably the first one I've had in a long time. My brother and I were out driving around this evening, so I took a bit of video of our drive home. Nothing too special, but it kept me entertained on the way back nonetheless.  

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Day 63/365


     I went for a drive this morning to get myself out of the house for a little bit before I resigned myself to yard work for most of the rest of the day. I love how everything looks when the sun's just starting to rise; that effect makes almost anything pretty.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Day 62/365


     I found this little guy when I was weeding out one of the gardens at my mom's house. We've always been able to find toads around our window wells, so I wasn't really surprised to see him a foot or two away from one of them on the side of the house. I tried using a twig to turn him around, but he got all puffed up when it touched him so I figured I should just leave him alone. I love the look of the texture and design of his skin. 

Friday, May 18, 2012

Day 61/365


     I ran quite a few errands today and did quite a bit of yard work in between shooting two different freelance assignments. With all the running around I did, I managed to just hangout for a bit outside with our dog, Pete. We both got some much-needed relaxation in, I think. 

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Day 60/365


     With everything I had going on today, I almost completely forgot to upload today's entry! I did a lot of yard work today, and while I was laying down mulch in the gardens going alongside my mom's garage I heard this weird shuffling/chewing noise. I looked up, and about one foot and-a-half to my right there was a squirrel sitting in the rain gutter chowing down on helicopter seeds from the Maple trees in our backyard. (Yes, we know the gutters need to be cleaned out; they're on the list). The little guy seemed to be completely unperturbed by me being so close, so I took his picture, which of course made him stop eating the seeds. Oh well...

New Multimedia Piece is Finished!

     I finished my most recent project on Jerry and Tyler Schmidt, two welders/sculptors out of Collinwood, OH who also happen to be father and son. The trade of welding and ironworking runs through multiple generations of the Schmidt family: starting with Jerry's father, Fred Schmidt, continuing on today with Tyler, and possibly someday Jerry's grandson, Nathan.

     The full multimedia project can be viewed here, and a few still images can be seen on my Flickr page as well. Everything should also be up on my website within the next week hopefully too. 

     I'd love to know what you think of it!
     

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Day 59/365


     Today's post is my last preview for my multimedia project on Jerry and Tyler Schmidt. I'm currently editing it all together now, and it should be done sometime tonight! I'll post a link to it once it's finished if any of you would like to check it out!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Day 58/365


     Today's post is another little preview of my project on Jerry and Tyler Schmidt, the welding father-son team out of Collinwood/Cleveland. I first introduced this project back on day thirty, and its backstory can be read here. This project is really coming along, and I think I should be finishing it up soon. I'm excited to see how it turns out!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Day 57/365


     One of my aunts ordered some photo prints from me, so I stopped by her house tonight to drop them off. I sat outside with her for a bit to visit and her dog, a little Jack Russell Terrier named Annie, decided to crouch down in the grass in order to keep an eye on me. She's quite the little spitfire; I think she fancies herself to be a Rottweiler at times...

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Day 56/365


     I took a break from helping my mom garden today to take a quick picture of a cardinal that had been hanging out on our fence a few feet away from where we had been weeding. We weren't sure if he was just looking for food or if he has a nest in the Birch tree that's a few feet away from where this picture was taken. 

     Happy Mothers' Day!



Saturday, May 12, 2012

Day 55/365


     Tonight marked my first campfire of the season with my friends. These nights are by far my favorite part of spring and summer. We've been getting together for them since we were all in high school. Years later, all of us have gone off to different colleges and we've still managed to keep the tradition going as often as possible. Now that a few of us have either graduated or are about to graduate, some have had to move around for job opportunities, and some of us have no idea what we'll be doing one month from now. I myself will be moving to Michigan at the end of June for an internship. I honestly have no doubt though that I'll still maintain great friendships with this group of people; I'll be visiting whenever I can and I wouldn't put it past some of them to drive up and visit me. They've always been there, and have helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life, and have made the good times even better. 

Friday, May 11, 2012

Day 54/365


     More petsitting adventures! Along with Sage, I'm also taking care of her feline counterpart, Juno. Juno's the most outgoing cat I've ever been around; she's incredibly affectionate and almost sounds like she's trying to talk with all of the different sounds she makes.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Day 53/365


     I'm petsitting for my cousin this week, so I get to hangout with her incredibly sweet yellow lab, Sage. She could quite literally be the nicest dog on the planet. I'd take dogsitting her over babysitting any day!


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Day 52/365


     There was a big display at the garden store next to our studio for Mother's Day today: tons of different bouquets and garden baskets and stuff like that. One of the employees was watering the lilies when I was in there on my break so I took a quick picture. 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Day 51/365


     One of my childhood friends is in town this week so she stopped over today to visit and brought her two year-old son with her as well. He's definitely a bundle of energy. We spent most of the afternoon outside; playing in the sprinkler, running around after the dogs, and playing with bubbles. I could definitely go for a nap right about now!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Day 50/365


     The weather couldn't seem to make up its mind at all today. It started out cool and cloudy this morning, then stormed a bit, and then alternated between sun and storm clouds for the rest of the day. I got caught in one of the mini storms on my way home from running errands, and liked how the water droplets looked on my car's window. I'm also a sucker for the bokeh effect so that was just an added bonus!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Day 49/365


     Guess whose mom is going to be upset when she comes home and sees what one of the dogs did to the patio window... I guess Kilee's nails are sharper than I thought. How does that even happen?


Saturday, May 5, 2012

Day 48/365


     Today my mom and I went back out to the cabin to finish up the yard work we started yesterday. It was beautiful out, and there were butterflies everywhere! I especially liked this Black Swallowtail that I took a picture of on my mom's azaleas.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Day 47/365


     My mom and I went out to her cabin today to do some yard work. I got a quick picture of a little honey bee checking out some of the wildflowers before they were mowed down. 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Day 46/365


     I got a rare Thursday off from the portrait studio and decided to go to the zoo! I haven't been in years, so I was really looking forward to it. Then the weather powers-that-be decided to have the temperatures today go into the 90s. It was an absolutely beautiful day, just a bit too hot for me, and apparently too hot for 3/4 of the animals at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo as well. It was still a fun day, but I think I'll have to plan a trip back when/if we get a more seasonably spring day. The flamingos were still out in full force though!

     I also made a triptych with photos of the African Elephants from today too! It can be seen on my Flickr page here. I'm currently replacing my website's editing software, so unfortunately my website won't be updated with new photos for another week or two. After being sent the wrong version of the program, I'm now waiting on the replacement to come in.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Day 45/365


     Springtime means spring noises! Birds chirping, breeze blowing... and lawn mowers mowing. For today's post I stood on the front porch of my mom's house and just recorded the ambient sounds of the birds chirping and flying around and our neighbor working on his yard. 

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Day 44/365


     I came back home from shooting a project to find this little guy hanging out on my mom's car. After a quick google search I think it might be a Red Admiral Butterfly, but I'm not positive. I was only able to get the one picture before it flew away, but hopefully we'll be getting more butterflies as the weather evens out and gets warmer.