WEEK FOURTEEN

Monday, November 16
This week I wanted to do a different shadow picture everyday, but when push came to shove, it didn't happen-life happened and that's ok too.
I love the simplicity of shadows, and yet at the same time, how they can seem so daunting and overwhelming when the thing that is casting the shadow usually is not. Shadows as an art form is an interesting topic. What do you think?

Tuesday, November 17
Name this cowboy.
I love the way the texture on the wall looks like stars in the night sky in the country and the way the blue hue around the hat plays into that. The first couple of shots had a hint of this effect and were an accident, but once I noticed it, I really played it up and this was my favorite one.

Wednesday, November 18
Yet again, here is my abstracted dragonfly sculpture, but I would almost consider this an entirely different piece when presented as a shadow. At some point in my schooling I am currently involved in, I would like to present a project (assuming I have the appropriate class and assignment to do so) wholly as a shadow-the shadow being the final piece of art.

Thursday, November 19
I had fully intended to take another shadow picture this night to keep up with my theme for the week that I was working on, but then Cambria decided to have a reading night in her blanket/reading corner by the couch and I couldn't help but snap this shot.
I really liked this shot straight out of the camera, but wanted a more shallow depth of field then what it took it with and so I increased the DOF in Photoshop. While it was a really easy fix, it was still good practice. Normally, I edit and work on my photos with Capture NX, a photo editing program specifically for Nikon software and equipment, but since I started my Computers and Art class this semester, I've been trying to spruce up my Photoshop knowledge and this image was a nice, but easy way to use PS.

Friday, November 20
Five years ago on this date I wed Hallie, my lovely wife, and have never looked back. The time has come and gone so quickly, yet so much has happened in our lives together. I can't wait for the next five.

Saturday, November 21
I don't know what else to say about this image besides Cambria likes her yogurt. And she likes to "drink," it from a cup. I was laughing so hard while I took this shot, that I'm surprised it turned out at all.

Sunday, November 22
Homemade egg rolls. I ate way too many.

WEEK THIRTEEN

This week was a busy week for me and the weather was all over the place, so I decided that I would try and do the majority of my pictures inside with commonplace type of subjects. I mean, I may as well get used to it with winter coming and with the outside choices winding down a great deal.

Monday, November 9
Since I spent all night on the computer working on an assignment, I thought it would be fitting to get a shot of my mouse and keyboard. The three of us have become quite close as of late.

Tuesday, November 10
Any guesses on what is causing this shadow? And the break in it?

Wednesday, November 11
This cough drop was hidden underneath something and on top of a sheet of drawing paper and when I discovered it, it was too late. For it and the drawing paper it was on.
For this shot, I wanted to create a shadow for the cough drop with natural light and use a manual setting instead of a flash, so I could keep the shadow.

Thursday, November 12
A still life homework drawing assignment. My drawing: still a work in progress, but it's come a long ways since August.

Friday, November 13
Thursday brought Logan a light, but steady snow storm that lasted from afternoon into the evening. The next day was still brisk, but the sun was prominent enough to melt the snow in the places that weren't shaded, creating a dividing line between what had been the day before and what was the next day.

Saturday, November 14
The BIG day! Abby and Heath's wedding. More to come from this when I have time to process the pics.

Sunday, November 15
Cold outside, warm inside=wet windows in our apartment. Kind of annoying, but a good sign that we're staying warm and cozy.

WEEK TWELVE

Monday, November 2
I know, I know, you're tired of seeing my sculpture class projects, right? Well, too bad. They take me enough time to plan and create that I document them all.
This was a group site-specific project. We chose the site (Green Canyon) and created what we called "Black Sun." We based the idea around the idea of using the contrast of the dark, dark soil against the fall leaves (or white, fall snow if that happened too!) and only used the materials found at the site, bringing nothing in.

Tuesday, November 3
There's something intriguing to me about light posts and telephone lines for some reason. I took several different shots, including some portraits, but this one won out.

Wednesday, November 4
This is a before and after shot from a photo I took for October 25. I thought it was interesting to see the progression of the effects of Fall on these vines. Once bright orange and lively, now mostly dead and gone, but brown where they still hang on by a thread against the vibrant, seemingly thriving green vines.

Thursday, November 5
I've been trying for quite some time to get a decent shot of Cambria's eyelashes, but to no avail...she just moves too darn fast and is NEVER still! Alas, I finally got one. I really like it, but hope there will be many more to come.

Friday, November 6
This road is out in Providence. The first time I saw it, I had to drive up and down it, even though I didn't need to take it to get to where I was going. And I immediately fell in love with it.

Saturday, November 7
My parents have had this swinging gnome for quite some time, but it caught my eye yesterday more than ever before because I couldn't believe just how spot-on Blake and Christine's gnome costumes from last week were. Gnomes are rad. Period.

Sunday, November 8
The Clash said, "Should I stay or should I go now?" and I think that is what fall is doing this year-especially in Logan. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind all the beautiful days we've had lately, but knowing it could snow one day and be nice the next gets somewhat annoying after a couple weeks.

WEEK ELEVEN:

Monday, October 26
Green Canyon.
On Monday, in our groups, our sculpture class journey up Green Canyon to find and area to create a site-specific sculpture. This was the area that my group decided to use. Tomorrow we start and finish it.
I love the color of the leaves against the dying trees. And I think it looks awesome how the trees are so thick that they completely choke out the sky completely.

Tuesday, October 27
Though we had one other day with some early morning snow, on Tuesday we got what I would consider our first "real," storm. Cambria looked outside at the falling snow in awe. Oh, and she also couldn't get enough of the birds at our bird feeder.
I wanted to only use the light coming in from the outside to illuminate this shot, in order to keep Cambria's back in the shadows and keep the natural light all in front of her.

Wednesday, October 28
Ah, Drawing I.
Gotta love still life drawings. Here is our Halloween-themed still life drawing set up for the day. Not too shabby. A few skulls, candles, pumpkins and whatnot. I did however, fail to get the toaster oven with the bloody hand sticking out of it.

Thursday, October 29
I had totally planned on another shot this day, but my eyes kept being drawn upward to the blue, blue sky and the spotty, texture-filled clouds that were throughout. Though my initial focus was the clouds, I wanted to bring some lines into the image to move the eye around. Hopefully it worked.

Friday, October 30
For all intensive purposes, this was our Halloween this year. A couple that we are friends with and my wife and I organize and throw a Halloween party every year. This year was our fourth year running and we called it: "Rocktober Massacre." Pretty sweet name (thanks Jesse for the idea). There are always dozens of amazing costumes and this year was no different. For me personally, the Altoms' garden gnome ensemble was my favorite. And if you think they look rad in this photo, you should have seen them dancing to Mimic, the live band that played.

Saturday, October 31
If I were to name this photo, I would call it, "Halloween Hangover," because our trek to and from SLC in one night just about did Cambria in. Thanks to some extensive road closures on the way home, an hour and a half drive turned into about three hours+ and we didn't get into bed until 12:45 a.m.
After three or so hours of sleep, Cambria woke up screaming, then fell back asleep after a while for about another 45 minutes and then woke up screaming again. We spent the rest of the night/early morning on the couch with her-which meant she slept (finally!) and we didn't. The party the night before was so fun we stayed later than planned and probably shouldn't have considering Cambria is cutting three teeth at the same time and we knew keeping her up late could be interesting. Oh well.

Sunday, November 1
I don't know if it's related to keeping her up late and the bad night's sleep or not from Friday or just the woes of a teething child, but Cambria woke up with a runny nose and watery eye on Saturday morning and was worse this morning. Hallie went to church and I stayed home with the little one. For the last week or so, she's been carrying around a Halloween drink cozy that Hallie got for me, so we figured she may as well use it. We started sticking her cups in it today and she absolutely LOVES it. A girl after my own heart.
Doesn't the runny nose and watery eyes just break your heart?

Abby Bridals

Last Saturday were Abby's bridals and though the weather gave us some problems here and there, we got some great shots. It was rather cold and raining on and off, but the dark sky contrasted against the warm fall colors in the leaves, trees and everything else, gave us phenomenal lighting and great tones.

Thanks for hanging in there Abby!

WEEK TEN:

Monday, October 19
I LOVE the changing leaves in the fall. Logan has so many trees lining the streets and it makes fall drives, even through simple neighborhoods, pretty awesome. I might be biased, but the two most beautiful fall-color cities are 1. Louisville, KY and 2. Logan.
On this shot I focused on lines, leaves, colors and also playing with some Photoshop. Can you guess where the fire hydrant and bus stop sign used to be?

Tuesday, October 20
I've always been a sucker for leaves and vines, so when I can get both I get giddy like a little boy when the ice cream truck comes around.

Wednesday, October 21
Our last project in sculpture was to create an abstract piece with plaster being the medium. I choose to abstract a dragonfly. I actually really liked how it turned out. It's something I'd actually like to have in my house vs. my bust sculpture.

Thursday, October 22
I was kinda bummed about this photo. We carved pumpkins a week ago Saturday and I planned on getting a good night shot of it with the candle glowing, but I waited too long and the carved portion of the pumpkin started rotting, so this shot turned into something different, though I don't completely hate it.

Friday, October 23
Ah, the season for parties. Bring It! Friday night was Hallie's work Halloween party. I think she nailed this one-do you know who she was?

Saturday, October 24
Abby's bridals. This is one of my favorites from yesterday's shoot. Abby was awesome and as photogenic as ever. The weather was cold, rainy and the day was full of shooting location issues, but she never complained once.
On this shot I wanted to capture her beautiful earrings and necklace. Her dress was beautiful and reminded me a lot of Hallie's wedding dress. More to come on these photos when I get a chance to finish going through the images and touching them up.

Sunday, October 25
This shot is right outside the Fine Arts building. I drove by it last week and the colors were so vibrant and contrasting against each other that it looked surreal. I wanted a shot that showed the bright, rich oranges, reds and yellows fading into the equally lush green. It almost looks like the bright colors are waging a war against the dark green.

WEEK NINE:

Monday, October 12
Monday night as I looked around at the remnants of Cambria's birthday celebration, I felt sad. I love party's and holidays and get a bit depressed once they've come and gone. I thought this photo was appropriate for how I felt on Monday night. Also, I've been really interested in shadows lately.

Tuesday, October 13
There's something about a long, curving road that beckons me to push the shutter. The dark, brooding skies and the way the mountains are framed at the vanishing point by the trees are my favorite aspects of this image.

Wednesday, October 14
Right outside the Whittier School here in Logan there is a new playground that is pretty epic. Cambria loves it. Heck, who am I kidding, I love it too and might even have more fun there than Cambria.

Thursday, October 15
Over my fall break (though I'm still not sure how they get off calling one day off "fall break"), Hallie and I went to Park City with her mom, grandma and sister. I spotted this window shot on my way out the door of our condo to take some outside shots. Isn't it crazy what simple lighting will do for a picture? Instead of lighting the wall around the window, I thought focusing on the outside shot that was framed by the window was much more interesting and made the shot of the mountainside pop that much more.

Friday, October 16
I love frosty fall mornings. I think the beautiful and vibrant yellow tones from the trees create a beautiful background.

Saturday, October 17
Hallie suggested that I take a shot of our window skeleton decoration around sunset when the light pushes the shadow up against the blinds and I'm glad she did. I've actually been waiting for a day without too much cloud cover to get the right shadow projected on the inside of the blinds and this day was perfect

Sunday, October 18
Yet another road shot. This time the fence leads the eye, instead of a yellow line and then farther up the shadows keep the eye moving to the end of the road.