Photographer's Depression

So, again, I haven't posted on this blog in centuries. Why, you may ask? Well, it's the usual slew of things that, culminated together, can be described with one word: Life. More specifically: school (which is my life essentially). Well, that's an easy excuse at least. Recently, I just haven't been in the picture taking "groove". I don't know what it is, but I just don't seem to like the photos I have been taking lately. It's difficult to explain, but it can best be explained like this: basically, when I'm taking pictures, I see the photos I take before I take them. In other words, I can look at something and see the photo I want to take of that something in my head before I actually take the photo; and then I go ahead and take that photo that I see in my head. Make any sense? Maybe? Maybe not? Let me use an example. Let's say I see a snowy landscape with a solitary tree in it. The snow is unmarred by footprints so it is smooth and seamless. There is just the right amount of clouds obscuring the sun so the light isn't blaring harshly off the snow, but there is just enough obscurity of the sun to create a nice even glow on it. It looks like a dreamworld. I see the perfect shot of this solitary tree, coupled with the overpoweringly simple and austere landscape of snow in my head. I go to get the best angle, but when I take the picture I am greatly dissatisfied. I can't seem to take that photo that I see in my head. I can't get it right, and it didn't use to be like this. Maybe I am setting my expectations too high? I don't know. But anyways... I know it probably sounds really weird, and I'm sure you totally wanted to read all of my ramblings, but that's how I've been feeling about my picture taking of late. I don't know what to do about it, but I think I'm going to call this phase I'm in "photographer's depression" and just live with it. I don't know how long it lasts, but hopefully I will be rid of it sooner than later!

Also, I will try to update this blog more diligently in the future, so if you haven't been checking-in on a regular basis because of a lack of posts (and rightly so), rest assured, you can start visiting with more frequency without the fear of potentially seeing a bunch of old posts that you've already looked over a million times (because I know you have! :P).

Anyways, that's all for now!

Winter Is Here

Yes, winter is finally here. Eight inches of white stuff fell at our place this past Friday and Saturday. Don't believe me? Here is some evidence for you:

Morning Fog and Sunrise

A couple days ago, I went to Lake Elmo (a local nature park) to try and take some bird photos. It didn't go that well. The mosquitoes were horrendous and the birds weren't emerging from their hiding places as I had hoped they would. Despite those unpropitious conditions, there was one pro about the trip: the effulgent fog.

Isn't that almost Lothlorien like?

And then this past Saturday morning there was an illustrious sunrise (don't even ask me why I was up early enough to see a sunrise on a Saturday morning. :P).

The view from my bedroom window.

And then the view from, yes, the roof. :P

I don't think I had ever seen a sunrise like that before in my life... A sunset, sure. But a sunRISE?

Hike!

So, it's been forever since my last post, hasn't it? I just haven't been in the blogging mood, I guess. So, I don't have a lot of time for anything lengthy, but I thought I'd just share, for now, some photos that I took on a short hike the other day. =)

I like the contrast this Gold Finch has against the purple thistles.

Just a thistle.Nothing much here. Just a field of wild grass. =)A Monarch Butterfly sunning itself.Another shot.And then this guy appeared at the end of the hike. I only managed to get one quick picture of him (below) and then he darted away. It's a gorgeous Broad-winged Hawk.

Anyways, that's all for now! =)

Minnesota Zoo: Career Days

About a month ago I went to the Minnesota Zoo for their Career Days program. It was a good program as it gave me a lot of information and tidbits on how to get into a career of animal care, which is something that I'm definitely interested in. Afterwards, I only had enough time, unfortunately, to walk on their Tropics Trail and take these pictures because of a Princess Bride party at the Bormans later that evening. So these are the only good pics that I got. :)

I'm not exactly sure what kind of bird this is, but I like the picture.

And then there was this (wild) House Sparrow that kept following me around. I managed to snap a few revealing photos of his mischief. :P

The end. :)

Lilac Bushes

School is officially over as of Tuesday June 10th, and I couldn't be any happier. I don't think it has really sunk in yet that I am FREE from the confines of the school-world for the summer. This is only my second whole day without any school. Yesterday was a complete slum day. Even so, I'm going to try and make the most out of this summer, starting with an update to this blog that has been in complete neglect for over a month because of the afore mentioned.

First off, I'll just share some photos that I've taken of our lilac bushes in our backyard.

And finally, a shot farther away.

And, of course, Bethany with the lilacs. :P

Birding

I love birds. They're just so amazing to me. I think they're the most unique animal on this earth... but that might just be my opinion. :) I mean, if you think about all the different animal groups. There's mammals, reptiles, amphibians, aquatic life... and then there's birds! They have their own separate group! I don't know about you, but that group seems to stand out from all the other groups to me. :) but anywho... end rant!
I went out with my new camera yesterday morning to test it out and see if I could get any decent shots of my feathered friends. This was my first time ever going out with the mindset of taking pictures of specifically birds. I was quickly surprised at how elusive these guys were. I could hear them all around me making a considerable raucous, but I couldn't seem to catch a glimpse of who was making the noise. I mean, I knew bird photography wasn't a walk-in-the-park by any means. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance, but I still wasn't expecting it to be that "bad".

That's when about 30 minutes into my adventure, a cardinal flew into view and perched on a branch about 30 yards away and started to sing its heart out. It definitely gave me some renewed hope! Coincidentally, about 60 seconds later, a blue jay popped into view only about 10 yards away. It seemed as if it was almost posing for me! It was awesome. :) Although I did see some other birds briefly, the rest of my time was mainly uneventful.
Overall, I was satisfied with the outing and I definitely plan to do it again sometime! The following pics are the two best shots that I managed to get.
(FYI - If you click on the pictures, they'll get a lot bigger!)

The Cardinal.

The Blue Jay.

New Camera!

Yesterday was a good day. A very good day. I went out with my dad to Sam's Club to look at some cameras, with a potential to buy one if I saw just the right one. Obviously, the $800 top-notch cameras would've been really sweet to get, and I really enjoyed messing around with the displays they had, but those were definitely out of my price range. Truthfully, I don't think I would be able to utilize all the bells and whistles on those high-tech machines in order to maximize its hefty price tag, negating its usefulness really. So those were out of the question. As I tore myself away from them, I found a 10MP Nikon with 15x optical zoom for a good price. It seemed like the perfect one, and I wanted to buy it, but they were all out. The person at the info desk said that there were 7 left at the Sam's Club in White Bear Lake, though, so me and my dad drove up to White Bear to get it. When we got there, I decided to look and see if they had any different cameras, just in case... even though I was almost positive I wanted the Nikon. That's when I clapped eyes on the Olympus! I picked it up and saw that it was 12MP and had 26x optical zoom for the exact same price! (well, technically it was 4 cents more expensive, but... =P) What a DEAL!! I totally bought it instead. I'm soo glad that we decided to drive all the way up to White Bear, because it ended up turning out to be waaaaaay better than I had thought! God is so good. :)

This is what it looks like!

It's Spring!

Early this morning (yes, VERY early!), I was awakened by an obstreperous thunderstorm! It had dime-sized hail, lightning, thunder, heavy rain... the whole nine-yards! Minus a tornado, though, which I wouldn't have been able to see anyways because the sun wasn't even up. But it was amazing nonetheless, because it was our first REAL thunderstorm of the year! and I absolutely love thunderstorms.

But anywho, that's just one sign that Spring is finally here. Another sign are these pictures I took this evening as the sun was setting. Enjoy. :)

A Dandelion!

Another one!


A leaf amidst voluptuous spring grass.


And this picture really has nothing to do with Spring. I just liked it. It's our deck. :)

Sad day!

I suppose it goes without saying that it's been awhile since I last posted. I just haven't been in a very "photo-happy" mood recently. Maybe it's because of school. Maybe it's because I just haven't realized that winter is actually over now so I can get outside more and take pictures. Either way, I plan to be taking more pictures soon, although something tragic happened to my camera the other day.
I was coming home from a homework marathon at Dunn Bros one night and as I was going through the entry way on my way to my room, I bent my shoulder down to slide my backpack off my back, but I narrowly missed it with my hand and it crashed onto the floor. Luckily, my computer was okay, but my camera (which was in the front pocket) wasn't. I unpacked my bag and inspected my camera and found that the little viewing screen on the back had been cracked! :( Fortunately, the lens was unharmed, so I can still take pictures with it; but, I was (and sill am) really disappointed.
And to add salt to my wound, my dad totally rebuilt my computer over this past weekend and I forgot to tell him to backup my "picture" file because it contained all of my pictures that I have ever taken on it. So, now ALL of my pictures are completely gone! Well, at least the ones that aren't on this blog. Oh, what a sad day! *sobs* ah, well... Nothing lasts forever, but God does! And this has been an awesome reminder to me of that... Although it has been a big disappointment, I don't intend to dwell on it. However, I do intend to let God to continue to remind me not get too attached to earthly-material things because they will never bring me everlasting satisfaction! They're only gifts that He has graciously given me and I am extremely thankful for them, and I will enjoy them while they last.
Anywho, that's whats been going on! Enjoy the weather, and I'll try and take some more pictures soon. :)

Forlorn Referee

The other day, I was leafing through my photos, both old and new, when I stumbled on this one. I thought it was interesting, so I decided I would post it. =D

A Dynamic Night

Last night was an amazing night. I spent the whole night with friends going ice skating, watching a basketball game, eating free pancakes at iHop on National Pancake Day, and then coming back to our house to watch the Olympics. I took pictures pretty much the whole time, but I only got a few good shots. Overall, a very dynamic night with a myriad of happenings.

This the only good shot that I got at the basketball game after about 50 tries. It's really super hard to catch these lightning quick guys at just the right time, especially from the bleachers. I had to zoom in quite a bit.

This one is a bit grainy and has a bit of an orange hue to it, but I like the placement of the main subject, Ryan, and his surreptitious look. =P

A candid shot of Ryan!

The place that we ate our free pancakes at. We got a grand total of 3 free.

I think saying that Seth looks "eccentric" here would be an understatement. :P

Ice Skating

Photographing people usually isn't my greatest asset. I guess that might be because I haven't really pursued that avenue of photography that much. Regardless, I find it difficult to capture a photo of a person that's dynamic, shows expression, and has good composition. Anyhow, we went ice skating the other day and I snapped this shot of Bethany while I was skating... A fortuitous shot, to say the least. ;) It's a little grainy, but I like the overall atmosphere that it captured.

Dell

I was messing around with my speakers the other day, taking random photos, and this one actually turned out halfway decent, I thought.

Birdie

The other day, I was doing math when my bird decided he needed to give me some helpful tips.

"Need help?"

"You can count on me."

He's just so cute. And he lets me do practically anything to him. :)

Blue Pen

A blue pen laying on a grocery list.

Subordinating a Mild Insurrection

So, last night... me and my siblings had lots of fun!

Black Hawk Down, anyone? :)

I used GIMP to manipulate this shot. (and the one above it)

Band Shoot!

"You can run, but you can't hide!"

Wait... A beard? Wow, that was fast.