I've taken a lot of night photos, but this one was especially fun because I actually was able to show my family all that I do. Because we were all camping together, they got a taste of all the things that I can do with these incredible machines.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Night Light
On a full moon in August, I went up into the Mountains to go camping with friends. They had not grown up in Seattle and didn't realize that it was necessary to reserve camping spots in order to actually have a space. Thus, while they sought a solution, I started taking photos of the lake. This photo has a 15 second exposure at about 11 PM looking straight into the moon. I'm just dumbstruck by the colors and how the stars still standout in the sky.
We did end up finding a spot, but be warned. When one is trying to camp on the nicest Friday night of the summer about an hour away from a city of about 2 million, reserve your spots early.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Mine!
Well, I've added a few more serious photos lately, but it is time to just have some fun. Reclamation of Youth Day (Bellingham Herald, KOMO) was a few weeks ago and the day was filled with just too much fun, including the best game of flies up you'll ever see. More to come from this great day!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Un Año Despues
I can't believe that it has been a year since I returned from Peru. That is a statement that I can hardly believe myself. Has it really been that long? Has it gone that fast? Has it really passed by? Have i lived in 2 homes, been jobless, volunteered for months, found a job, been on a few retreat, bought a camera, made friends, written thousands of emails, posted thousands of pictures? Has that really happened?
It is a little strange to be writing another 'one year later' post. I remember the sentiment I held while writing my lament of a year after CASP. In that post, I missed the community, the people, the heat, the fact that I was a college student being challenged to look at the world through a lens that I didn't know existed. It was an exhilarating experience. Then to look back on that a year later in the blandness of Spokane while working, just didn't cut it.
But Peru was different. Rather than being a life shattering, path changing, I'm never going to be the same type of person ever, it was a time to solidify who I was. It was a period that took so many lessons from that CASP trip and gleaned the ones that really mattered out and helped me to become who I was supposed to be. It showed me how to really be the ideals I held and how to be with the people with whom I held them. I really practiced inter-cultural relations and experienced life abroad without the safety net of other upper middle white college students standing at my side. I grew to thrive in a family that I hold nearly as deep as the one that I'm related to by blood. I grew to find another land that I really knew the history, geography, language and even pop culture of. There were days when I felt separate. There were days when I felt like I was in the middle of things, but more Peru taught me to be at home. It taught me to walk down the streets with a smile on my face and constantly looking for the good and the unique in the mundane. That may have just been a bit of naiveté or even the photographer's eye, but it became part of who I was.
So now a year separated from that experience, I still love the moments of walking down my street and seeing the beauty in the normalcy. I am enthralled by the wrinkles on a bus driver's face in the window. Happy when I hear a song that just doesn't fit the vehicle it is being pumped from. I'm happy to smile at children and to soak in that sea breeze.
This isn't to say that this year has been all roses. I spent some dark days on unemployment. Some lonely nights reading. I've even passed a few days that made me question why I'm answering technical questions about computer games from middle aged women. But, when it comes down to it, Peru solidified who I am outside my comfort zone to the point that I re-entered that area and being in Seattle kicked me around in that zone until I really made it my own.
So, I cannot proceed without thanking those who brought me through the Peruvian and Seattle experiences. Thanks to the friends of old who have stuck by me and the new ones who have built up around. Thanks to The family who has supported me in who I am. Thanks to that wonderful girl I get to date who makes me smile and thanks to a city that I'm happy to call my own.
So, you may be wondering, why this photo? What does a woman holding out a hat have to do with a year in Seattle? For me, it's all about pride in who you are. That is actually the name of the photo, 'Orgullo' or pride in Spanish. This woman, Vincinte de la Cruz, is a member of the Huayanay Artisan Community in Huayanay, Huancavelica, Peru and this photo is especially special to me because her pride in her work on this alpaca hat just shines through her squinted eyes. Each line on her face speaks volumes of the trials she has endured and the years at 13,000 ft above sea level that she has lived. But through that, she is who she is and she was so happy to share it with me. This is how I feel a year later. I don't have the wrinkles to prove it and maybe I dont have an alpaca hat, but I'm a more sure of who I am and I'm proud of that.
It is a little strange to be writing another 'one year later' post. I remember the sentiment I held while writing my lament of a year after CASP. In that post, I missed the community, the people, the heat, the fact that I was a college student being challenged to look at the world through a lens that I didn't know existed. It was an exhilarating experience. Then to look back on that a year later in the blandness of Spokane while working, just didn't cut it.
But Peru was different. Rather than being a life shattering, path changing, I'm never going to be the same type of person ever, it was a time to solidify who I was. It was a period that took so many lessons from that CASP trip and gleaned the ones that really mattered out and helped me to become who I was supposed to be. It showed me how to really be the ideals I held and how to be with the people with whom I held them. I really practiced inter-cultural relations and experienced life abroad without the safety net of other upper middle white college students standing at my side. I grew to thrive in a family that I hold nearly as deep as the one that I'm related to by blood. I grew to find another land that I really knew the history, geography, language and even pop culture of. There were days when I felt separate. There were days when I felt like I was in the middle of things, but more Peru taught me to be at home. It taught me to walk down the streets with a smile on my face and constantly looking for the good and the unique in the mundane. That may have just been a bit of naiveté or even the photographer's eye, but it became part of who I was.
So now a year separated from that experience, I still love the moments of walking down my street and seeing the beauty in the normalcy. I am enthralled by the wrinkles on a bus driver's face in the window. Happy when I hear a song that just doesn't fit the vehicle it is being pumped from. I'm happy to smile at children and to soak in that sea breeze.
This isn't to say that this year has been all roses. I spent some dark days on unemployment. Some lonely nights reading. I've even passed a few days that made me question why I'm answering technical questions about computer games from middle aged women. But, when it comes down to it, Peru solidified who I am outside my comfort zone to the point that I re-entered that area and being in Seattle kicked me around in that zone until I really made it my own.
So, I cannot proceed without thanking those who brought me through the Peruvian and Seattle experiences. Thanks to the friends of old who have stuck by me and the new ones who have built up around. Thanks to The family who has supported me in who I am. Thanks to that wonderful girl I get to date who makes me smile and thanks to a city that I'm happy to call my own.
So, you may be wondering, why this photo? What does a woman holding out a hat have to do with a year in Seattle? For me, it's all about pride in who you are. That is actually the name of the photo, 'Orgullo' or pride in Spanish. This woman, Vincinte de la Cruz, is a member of the Huayanay Artisan Community in Huayanay, Huancavelica, Peru and this photo is especially special to me because her pride in her work on this alpaca hat just shines through her squinted eyes. Each line on her face speaks volumes of the trials she has endured and the years at 13,000 ft above sea level that she has lived. But through that, she is who she is and she was so happy to share it with me. This is how I feel a year later. I don't have the wrinkles to prove it and maybe I dont have an alpaca hat, but I'm a more sure of who I am and I'm proud of that.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Block Party
Back in June, 4th Ave in Ballard had it's first block party. Good times were had by all!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The David Wax Museum
Thanks to The David Wax Museum for a wonderful house show last night. I really loved every minute of it and hope you can get the vibe that they filled my living room with. Definitely a band worth checking out!
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