LOMO to the power of 4.

So I'm obsessed once again. I was given an Action Sampler toy camera by my sister a few years ago when I was first fascinated by Lomography. I didn't really get around to taking many pictures with it....being a film camera it just wasn't as convenient and I was a freshman in college so I was probably up to no good and busy with life (haha right?). This past year I have really learned to love my camera again. And I feel that film photography is a dieing art and I don't want to see it go! So these are some of my shots taken of the beautiful Monsees sisters! Emily and Casey are some of my favorites to photograph and a crack up to be around (more pictures of them to come!). I love them dearly!

(this one's my fav!)

This camera actually has four different lenses that go off at four different times with one click of a button! That is why each different quadrant is slightly different. To get different affects from the camera I would have the subject move or I would move the camera! I'm obsessed with the results!

my earth people are beautiful.

My photo project for the moment......I love these images! They turned out so well thanks to my willing friends who allowed me to put baby powder, dirt and leaves all over them. I love the range of colors and the intensity in the eyes. They're beautiful and I love them.

feet and fireplaces.

After being told to take more photos, this is what I got. I like them. I love taking pictures. I want to learn more. I want to follow around around an amazing photographer. I found one. He's in New York.

it was all a blur.

My photography adventure for the day....tried to get new photos for a project.....no luck. Although, I still enjoyed my pictures for the day! My happy little accidents that happen while driving downtown Abilene. Sometimes I don't get out of my car to take pictures in hopes to save myself from looking like a creeper with a camera. So instead I just take the pictures while at stop lights and what not (which my also make me look like a creeper...but only if someone looks directly at me in my car, which I am hoping is less likely than me standing on the side of the road).

through the lens.

So I'm taking a digital photography class this semester and I have a project due next week. Of course, I barely started taking pictures before this weekend. It turns out....I was better off. I went to Austin this weekend and was able to take some really cool shots! My professor had shown us how he used one of his old film cameras to take some digital shots. I decided I would try a variation of the idea using one of my brothers cameras. Here they are! Enjoy....

the film camera I used

the Five.





another toy of matt's.



the farm....this one was taken through the back of another lens. The entire picture is flipped, but the barn inside the lens is right side up!

Sum Sum Summer Time!

So I got back from Europe....helped mom recover....and played with my two wonderful nephews!! Here's some pictures i took from our swim day!!!

I break the rules.

Welp, there you have it folks.....Michelangelo's David!!! This is my illigal picture by the way. You are not allowed to take pictures in the Acadamia Museum that houses David. They even had ladies standing around yelling at people when they took pictures. Luckily I did not get caught....I'm just the sneaky!

I have alreaady seen three replicas of this David, but seeing the real thing was different. I hadn't been this close to it and the sculpture seemed so much bigger and more dramatic than any of the others. It is pretty sureal to see art this famous right there in front of you. Very cool experience even though David was pretty much the only thing in this museum.....but it was worth it!

Volterra and San Giminicricket?

So yesterday we took a day trip to Volterra and San Gimignano!!! Both beautiful old castle like citys, both with funny names! We still don't know how to pronounce San Gimignano! The closest pronounciation we could get is San "Gimi-ano," haha. We were supossed to take our easels and paint.....but of course 1. I didn't take my easle and 2. I didn't paint. They gave us tons of time in San G. but of course it rained for part of the time and there weren't very many good places to actually set up your stuff and paint. We mainly ate and shopped around...and sat around. We did take a bunch of pictures....maybe I will paint from one of them later. We'll see......

Why must it rain?

First off, I am a big fan of rain, and thunderstorms, lightning and what not, but when you chose to spend your summer in various countries that are not known for rain, it is not my favorite. It is currently raining here in Scandicci and it has pretty much rained in every country I have been in so far. It obviously rained in Oxford…a lot, but who would have thought that it would also rain in Paris, the day and half I was there, our first day in Florence, and on our day in Venice. Yes, it usually lets up for part of the day, but it usually down pours when we are outside walking around town or painting out in the countryside. Take today for instance. Our professors decided we would go out and paint near this church in the outskirts of Scandicci. The view of the vineyards was AMAZING, but right when we got there…..what happened? Little drops of rain started to fall. Unfortunately it stopped for a while just in time for us to get in another oil painting. It was about time for us to pack up and we started to really hear the thunder roll in. The cool thing about Italy is that you can pretty much see the storm rolling in because of all of the hills, and we were on top of one of them. Even though storms may look cool it is not fun walking or riding a crowded bus with a wet oil painted canvas in hand. My painting unfortunately did not fall in a puddle like some peoples. The rain might have done my painting some good. Oil painting is definitely not my favorite. Now, I am sitting in my room, on the computer, not going outside in Italy, because it is raining.

I am going to Spain on Thursday…..hopefully the rain will not follow us there.

Venezia

So I went to Venice a couple of days ago! Venice is amazing! It's pretty much like a different world....a world on water. It didn't hit me until I got home that night that there are no cars in Venice. I think that is why it felt so old world. We took a train from Florence to Venice, and then walked along the various canals all day. We got a little lost, but I don't think you could really go to Venice and know exactly where you are. We ended up at St. Marks Square. This is along the Grand Canal and where all the pigeons hang out. The pigeons were my favorite part of the day. Yes, it may sound a little gross, but you don't think about that when your in the moment, haha. We had some crackers leftover from lunch so we held those in our hands and the pigeons just flocked to us.....it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen or felt. It is so weird to feel birds all over you, on your arms, sholders, and even you head! The pictures were fun to take and they also turned out excellent!

Venice is also know for its glass. There was glass every where! Unfortunately I didn't get to see anybody blowing glass or anything, but one lady did have all of her glass bead making stuff out in her shop, like she was making it right then. I don't know how you would ever live in Venice because it seemed like the only thing to to there was shop. I would like to be in Venice at night after all of the tourists go home for the day. It would be so quiet and you would just see the glow from the lamps on the streets. I also would have liked to ride in a gondola....but that didn't happen either. They were really exspensive, but it would have been fun!

The Duomo and then some....

We went to the Duomo a few days ago......it was pretty much amazing! We climb all the way to the top of the dome....all 417 steps. It had an amazing very of Florence! It has been really cool to be around such time changing architecture. We walked up the very same same steps the builders and architects did to build this dome. We were there on a rainy day so I don't have many pictures of the actual Dome. Luckily it stop raining when we were on top to those pictures are great!

Gelato in Italy is amazing! Flavors so far: pinnaple, chocolate, nutella, cocoanut, and pistachio.....all have been amazing!

The Duomo
At the top of the city!!!
rainy day...
Beautiful Italia!

Bella Italia!

So I arrived in Italy today!!! The flight wasn't to long, but I am definitely sick of buses and metro systems.....I guess I will have to get used to that considering the main way we will travel in Florence is by city bus. I haven't seen much of Florence yet. Today we really just got settled into our house. The living arangements are tight and there are lots of girls crammed in to little rooms. But hey we are in Italy so I am going to make the most of it. The people at our house, who I don't know their names yet, cooked us an amazing Italian meal for dinner! It was delicious. I love pasta!

Tomorrow we are going to the Duomo, so I am pretty excited. I hope I have enough energy after traveling all day today!

Until next time!

The City of Love?

Sorry it's been so long....I have been busy traveling the world! I just got to Italy, but first I wanted to tell you quickley about my trip to paris last weekend!

Friday:
-woke up at 3:00am
-rode in a bus for about 12 hours to Paris, France
-arrive in Paris with no money
-find money
-find Hostel near the Moulin Rouge
-go to the Louvre!!!
-watch the sunset as we see our first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower
-go to bed

Saturday:
-wake up
-got the the Musee d'Orsay!!! An amazing museum, my favorite so far!
-eat lunch at a parisian outdoor cafe
-walk to the Arc du Triomph
-starts to rain
-wait in long lines to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower
-see Paris from the top of the Eiffel tower!!
-sit in on Saturday night mass at Notre Dame
-walk back to the Louvre to find a metro
-back to the Eiffel tower to see it sparkle on the hour!!!
-get crepes with nutella and bananas!
-crash at the hostel

Sunday:
-wake up
-get back on a bus for another 12 hours
-back to freezing cold, rainy Oxford

Enjoy my pictures!

Stratford Upon Warwick?

Last week we were able to choose where we wanted to go for our day trip last Wednesday. I chose to go to Warwick Castle and to Stratford Upon Avon. Stratford is the town where William Shakespeare grew up. We saw where Shakespeare was born, went to Church and one of his theaters. Stratford was a very touristy town and we didn't want to pay the money and stand in line everywhere, so we went and got a delicious sandwhich and tarts and went and laid in the grass along the Avon River. It was nice.

After Stratford we went to Warwick Castle! The castle was fun. It was full of medieval nights and princesses. It was like a big field trip....I think we were the oldest people there. Everybody else was 10 and under. It was cool, yet tiring, to climb all the way up to the tallest tower and to go all the way down in the dungeon. There were beautiful gardens. One of them even had a lot of peacocks wandering around in it. Peacocks are really beautiful up close.

It was a fun day......oh and they should also bring Magnum Bars, a delicious ice cream bar, to the states.

Shakespear's Birthplace

Warwick Castle

The Camera, the Brush, and the Wardrobe

So I started my day off with a lost camera.....I later found it under a pillow in the commons room. Because of this I don't have any pictures to document today. Sorry.

The rest of my day pretty much consisted of hanging out at C.S. Lewis's house. We took a tour of his house and of his gardens. We walked around the pond where he bathed every morning. It was pretty cool to be in the house where such a dynamic writer created most of his works. After we left the house we walked to the church where he was barried. We saw his grave and and then sat and painted....for a very long time. Watercolors seemed easy at first, but now I am just stressed at how challenging they are turning out to be. The past two days have not been fun, watercolorwise.

I did discovered my first jar of nutella today. It was delicious. Most of my house ended up buying it by the end of the night. Try it with Ritz crackers....or anything for that matter. It's wonderful.

Not so Foggy Day in London Town

So we went to London, last Friday as a class. We took the train from Oxford and then used the Underground to get around all day. I didn't really get to see much of London yet, because the underground pretty much went straight to the museums. We went to a Vistorian musem first. It was pretty cool....but the introduction we were given was that most everything was a replica, so the appeal of everything kind of went down. It was still cool to see everything like replicas of Michelangelo's David and Raphael's School of Athens. My favorite by far was a glass piece by Chihuly. It was really amazing!!! I was great to see one in real life!! Mom and I have been obsessed for a while now.

After that we went to the National Gallery! This was very cool and pretty much insane that there are so many famous paintings in one placce. What shocked me the most was seeing my favorite painting! I walked in to a room and there it was. Only about two feet tall, a painting by Jan van Eycke. I have studied so much about these paintings and now they are actually real. Every bit of symbolic detail was there! Seeing these painting gave me chills and again, it was hard to breathe.

Chihuly glass instalation!
David and the School of Athens
Trafalgar Square with my first glimpse of Ben!
The National Gallery