Yellowstone

The National Parks finally got re-opened and we got to go to Yellowstone this weekend. Mark took us and within the two days, I feel like we covered pretty much all of the park. I had never driven all over the park like that, so it was nice. Of course having done so, we still did not see one wolf. My luck I guess. Every time I have gone to Yellowstone looking for wolves, I have yet to see one. I will just drop my expectations next time and then maybe? 

Mark helped me learn something about my camera. I have had it for almost four years now and I did not really know what I was doing. Now I feel like I understand a little more. I didn't know I had some control over things. I messed around a lot with the settings and just tried to take some good pictures. Anyway I learned something so that is always good, right?

Upper  Terrace

Elk at Northeast Entrance

Back of Northeast Entrance

Jazz and I

Norris

Lower Falls

Old Faithfull

Sunrise at Upper Terrace

Sunrise at Upper Terrace

Traveling

St. Vitale, Ravenna,Italy By Cristina Sferra

Ireland

St. Francis of Ireland

Germany

Brazil

Autumn Woods, Germany   By Jonathan Manshack

Piatra Nearnt, Romania

Bran Castle, Romania

  I have been thinking about Italy more and more especially since another group of students is over there now. I really do hope to go back some day. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how much I took the experience for granted while I was there. I appreciate it so much more now, having reflected on my experience there. I really do miss it. I have realized through some Art History courses that there were places and things that we were so close to that I didn't get a chance to see because I didn't know. When I go back, maybe I will have more of an idea of what I want to see. It is hard, for me especially, to plan and also to know what you want to see and do somewhere if you haven't ever been there before. 

   I feel like traveling takes practice. You go somewhere for the first time, that's a trial run. You're second trip, you are a little more familiar. My first time traveling was to Italy and I realized that I can become very worried and very anxious very easily. I do not plan things ahead of time very well. I also am not familiar with bus stops and bus maps. But like I said, I think those things take practice. So I hope to be able to travel more in the future. I want to return to Italy and see some of the same places and more. I want to see Ireland, Germany, and Romania desperately. I'd also like to see Brazil some day. One step at a time.

Halloween Inspiration

October is my favorite month and Halloween is my favorite holiday so I thought I would just find some fun photos. Black and orange are a great color combination because orange really pops against black. I just thought these pictures were fun and seasonal.

Dogs' Day

I took my friend's dogs up on the rims yesterday afternoon for a long walk. I decided to sit down for a minute to take a break and ended up pulling out my cell phone to snap a few pictures. The sun was so bright that I couldn't really see what I was doing so they are not the greatest pictures. But both dogs have such pretty orange coats that I couldn't resist. Plus it was a really nice day and the sun was shinning down on everything.

In-Class Photo Critique

#1 My eye is caught by the wide, open mouth of the bear and the salmon almost but not quite getting into the bear's mouth. Will he catch it or miss it? The water is splashed all around him, caught in time, in slow motion.

#2 It looks like the picture of the water was taken with a long exposure. The colors of the leaves are bright and vibrant. The orange patch of leaves still left on a hanging branch in the left corner draw my eye away from the yellow a little bit. If there were any red leaves in the picture, this would attract the eye even more.

#3 This water looks like the exposure was long as well. The rocks almost look too round and too smooth for rocks. A few of them even look to be floating or like they weren't originally in the picture to begin with. I like the scale of cool colors: whites, blacks, greys, and blues.

#4 This photograph has a mystical feel to it. The smoke or the wisps of clouds rising up around the mountain peaks creates the illusion of a layering of more peaks, creating shadows almost. The center between the two peaks, draws in my eye because amongst the clouds, the sky turned from black to blue.

#5 In this photo, my eyes go directly to the aqua, blue geyser hole outlined in a bright yellow-orange ring. My eyes keep wanting to look down and down further still. Where does it lead? The patch of snow in the lower right-hand side helps for your eyes to move up the picture plain and then leads you left and then right, all the way along, sweeping you to the background and up to the sky.

#6 The red in the little bird's face helps for him to pop and stand out. The blurred background also helps for you eyes to stay on him and not wander on to what is behind him. His bright feathers definitely make him easy to spot and easy to focus on.

#7 This picture does not look real to me. The salmon and the head of the bear look extremely altered. The colors of the water and the rocks are captured nicely, along with the pop of color from the bright green moss.

#8 The red foreground attracts the eye and carries you up to the green mid-ground and then up to the yellow, orange of the mountainous background. The moose almost seems missed among all of the colors of the scene.

#9 This bird looks like he just burst up from the surface of the water and exploded up and out with a fish and is ready to come at you whether you get out of his way or not. The blurred green background is a nice balance between his brown colors and the white, blue of the water.

 #10 The polar bear in the foreground seems like he just came up from the icy cold water and was a bit surprised to see someone with a camera, but content with his picture being taken. Looking up from his head, leads the eye back to the polar bear sitting on the ice in the background.