Goals and Hopes

Here's the dealio: 
I don't make New Year's Resolutions and
I don't make set goals
But I do have vague goal-idea-hopes-things floating around my head.


Recently they've looked something like this:
Get better at photographing people
Start taking photos I actually like again
Get into/apply for graduate school
Go somewhere/do something exciting
Finish my degree
Get really really incredibly good grades (mostly because I know I can if I just actually try)
Make some connections for my future (work-wise)
Have friendships (not just friends I see once a month)
Get back in shape (it's been way to long)
Don't worry about what everyone is thinking
Write (creatively) more


Yeah, that's about it. 


The photos are from New Year's Eve. We had sparklers. It was kind of boring. And all my photos are awful. 

Winter

I am excited to have some time to myself over the next couple of weeks. I'm hoping to get some reading I've been wanting to finish done as well as take tons of photos. I have several ideas stuck in my head right now, so hopefully I'll be able to take them and they'll turn out how I want them to. Sorry I haven't posted much lately, school has been keeping me busy. This photo is from my Thanksgiving trip to Idaho, it was taken in the car on the drive home. 

Rain

In September, as my black and white photo class was ending it rained a few days. I realized how beautiful the rain really is and how great it would be to capture it on film in black and white. I have been waiting (rather impatiently, to be honest) for the winter rain to hit Portland and this month it really has hit full force. Part of this project is to capture the actual physical phenomenon of rain but I also want to capture some of the moods that rain and winter in Portland brings about. I want to do some portrait work for this eventually, but the opportunity hasn't arisen. I want these to all be photos from my everyday life, things that I am actually experiencing and seeing. All the water I have to endure as well as the cozy interiors I retreat to when it's too wet to be outside. 

These are shots from the first roll of film I've shot for this. I really wanted to develop and print the film myself but I don't have access to a darkroom right now and honestly, I don't have time. Eventually though I do plan on printing my favorites of the series myself. 

On a more practical note, this project has made me hate the rain a little less. But I'm still more excited about snow... which may be coming to Portland soon (and if it does it totally counts as being part of Portland in the winter, right?). 

Let me know what you think of this project. There are more photos from this roll on my flickr.

This is a sneak peak of a project I've been working on lately. I'll show you more soon.

A River Runs Through It

Growing up I remember that there was a book of my dad's on fly-fishing. It was always out somewhere. I don't ever remember my dad going fly-fishing growing up but I know he had all the equipment for it, a fairly nice pole, flys that my aunt (his sister) had made him, and even the hat. When I was in high school I learned to fly-fish in one of my classes, I even caught a fish. It was a rewarding and new experience and I wish that I had had the opportunity to do it at some time earlier in my life. I just watched A River Runs Through It for the first time, and I am surprised that I had not seen it before. I'm sure it's a movie my dad likes, so much of it reminds me of him and also of what I want my life to be like eventually. I'm not the kind of person who loves living in a city. I like it, it's fun and there are some things that are great about it, but really I want to live in the woods one day. Just be out there away from people with the trees and a river and some mountains and live. Just enjoy the parts of the world where I feel most at home. I think that's something that my dad and I have in common, although we've never really spoken about it, I think he prefers to be outside, away from people. As I've gotten older I've come to realize that I'm a lot more like him than I ever thought, but there are some things about him that I will never be like. When it comes to fly fishing though I want to do more of it, I want to be out in the woods more, I don't want to spend all my time in the city.

Autumn

I don't like when it gets dark at 6 at night. But I do like that it's cold outside and that trees are losing all their leaves and it feels appropriate to drink tea. 

I haven't really liked most of my pictures lately. I snapped this one today on my way home.

November

I'm really missing being out of the city. I'm also missing pine trees, mountains, and aspen leaves, but those aren't all that easily remedied. I do like living in the city but I just feel so at home when I'm out in the woods. I think I'll try to at least make it to Forest Park this week (not that that is really the woods, but I live fairly close to it and it might make me feel a little better, plus I have to observe animals for one of my classes) as well as doing some other things that have been on my to-do list for a while (like buying some tea and getting supplies to make this tote). Lately I've been trying to get some things taken care of so I can actually do what I hope I'll be able to do next year as well as cooking some pretty delicious food. Also, did you notice that for the first time in a long time this post is less than a week after my last one? Not only that but it isn't at an ungodly hour of the night. I'm working getting myself to have a more regular sleep schedule. Hopefully I'll get out and about and take some new photos soon. October was a stressful month for me, but November is looking like it's going to be better already. I'm glad the weather's gotten cold, I can actually wear the things I want to without being over-dressed (and therefore, ridiculous).