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Educate Me Picture Time

A Dream Come True…

After several people left comments here about my “Taste the Rainbow” print, and I’ve had some inquiries recently via Flickr asking about buying prints, I decided to pursue a dream. I’m going to buy an enlarger so I can print photographs at home.

In 7th & 8th grade, I did a science fair project on Photograms. I made it to the Illinois State Science Fair both years, which was a great experience. But what probably stuck with me even longer was working in my own “darkroom” of sorts. My parents set it up in our small second bath, and since I was doing photograms we only needed developing trays and a red-light plus some photographic paper to make them. I loved working on them – it was so much fun! So the passion was ignited. Matter of fact, one of the first items I ever purchased with the babysitting money I earned was a 35mm point-and-shoot camera. I’ve been hooked on photography ever since.

My senior year in high school, I took Photo I. I loved working in the darkroom. I loved the creative process. Elaine & I were trying to explain this to Kathy last night, and it came down to the fact that everything you can do in Photoshop, you can do in the darkroom. That is, after all, why it is called Photoshop. Since I took that class back in 1986, I’ve always wanted my own darkroom.

When we first looked at our house, I noted the fact that there is a second bathroom upstairs. It is sort of odd, because there are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The original owners, who we bought the house from, had 3 teenagers when they moved in – so with a girl and two boys, it made sense to have two bathrooms. Jason doesn’t need two bathrooms though, so my first comment? “Look! This one would make a perfect darkroom!” There are no windows. I would have running water. It would be a dream come true.

Now, after the latest photography experience, I don’t want to walk away from working in the darkroom. Plus, I don’t really need to take Photo II because I don’t need any more electives for my degree. I would like to take it so I can learn more, because as I said the other day there is a lifetime of learning out there when it comes to photography. I will not take it with my current teacher though – if I take it, it will be at a different campus. Or I will take continuing education courses for fun. But the cost of a used enlarger and the cost of tuition for the course are about the same. No need for the extra credits, I’ll take an enlarger instead.

So, thanks to the joy of Craigslist, I have found an enlarger. Not only that, the photographer that is selling it actually wants to sell off all of her darkroom equipment, for a fantastic price. MUCH lower than retail.

In order to help get the darkroom set up, I’m planning on selling a limited edition run of the flamingo prints, numbered and signed. Both the hand-colored flamingos and the sleeping flamingos. I’m working out the last of the details right now, so I will keep you posted. I’ll probably set everything up after Thursday, when the finals are over.

I’m *so* excited, I can’t even put it into words. Seriously, it is a dream come true. Thank you again to all of you for your support and encouragement – with out you, I’m not sure if I would be brave enough to follow the dream.

Categories
Educate Me Knittastic! Picture Time

Taste the Rainbow…

Taste the Rainbow

Click on the photo to get the uber-cool large view.

Originally, I hand-colored all of the flamingos pink. They looked … so … something. Plain? Boring? Expected? I don’t know. Just not right. So I removed all of that color – the joy of working with chalks! – and instead went with the rainbow flamingos. This scan doesn’t even do them justice – they turned out very nice in person.

They are now sitting in my Photo I portfolio that I turned in today. I went in yesterday to develop my last two rolls of film. I exchanged minimal words with my instructor, and he was back to normal. Well, what I thought was normal all semester long until Tuesday. I forgot to mention that at one point a few weeks ago he made some quip to me about something – the usual banter that goes on in a lab class like that – and said to me that he was glad he knew me well enough to say what he said. (I think it was something about a joke they had just made on the radio. His comment stuck with me a lot more than the context.)

I think that was part of what bothered me so much the other day. I felt as though I had met another photography lover, something that brings a common bond between anyone with a passion for their art. Knitters? We have a bond. Photographers? We have a bond. Although looking at it now, I realize the bonds are different. Both are arts, but knitters share their passion so freely – while some photographer guard it so close and can be quite snooty about other people’s work. You don’t see this in the knitting world. If I come across a new knitter, I welcome them – no matter what. I do not critique their work. I value it. I am the same way with photographers, but the lesson that has been driven home by this experience is that not everyone feels that way.

I refuse to be a skeptic though. I refuse to let it get me down. I will still embrace all photographers, because as I said the other day – we all have something to learn from one another. Knitters have taught me this lesson time and time again. No matter what your skill level is in any craft, there is something that I can learn from you.

My other lesson for today? To remember to love your inner geek, your inner freak, your little quirks – whatever it is that makes you who you are. Don’t let the world smother that part of you, but instead you need to set it free.

My last two Biology tests are over now. I made a B on the lab practical, and I am confident that I will make a B on the exam too. I’m down to three final exams on Tuesday, Wednesday and maybe Thursday of next week (depending on whether or not I take the photo final on Wednesday or Thursday), and then the semester is done. For tonight, I am going to enjoy some needed down time. Tomorrow there will be the MOMs group, studying, and then we will get together with Daysies to have dinner and wish her well as she moves off to Dallas. I still can’t believe she is leaving – I’m just glad she will always just be a phone call away.

Categories
Worth Keeping

Deep Thoughts…

I was quite amused to find that this was in my e-mail this morning for the “inspiration” e-mail I get every day. Seems to be just what I needed. Funny when that happens, isn’t it?

Thinking for yourself in the face of doubt

“One man’s creativity is another’s brain damage.” – Roland Fischer

If you accept someone else’s idea of reality and personal limits, you’ll have no control over your own destiny. You can only go as far as that view will let you. Do you normally accept things as they are, or do you ask “why” and “what if”? Being an individual and thinking for yourself—even while others are calling you crazy—takes courage. For many, trying a new perspective is scary. But if we always stick to the familiar, the known, we never grow and learn. Don’t be afraid to go against the grain. Ask the tough questions that everyone else is afraid to ask. Try a new way to do the same thing just to see what happens. We guarantee you that the world won’t end. You’ll see solutions that nobody else would see if they’re all looking at a problem the same way. Practice new ways to combine unrelated objects. After all, somebody had to try peanut butter and jelly for the first time.

Categories
Educate Me

Brand New Day…

Ahhhhh… it is amazing what a good night of sleep will do for the spirit, isn’t it? I went to bed early, I slept a little later than normal thanks to Mike getting up and taking Jason to school, and now I’m just relaxing. So much better. I don’t have much time to relax though – I’m going to go weave in the ends and felt my giant slippers, along with a Sophie bag, over at Katy’s house. Then it is off to develop my last roll of film. If it wasn’t for the fact that my portfolio is due tomorrow and I still need night photography prints, I wouldn’t go in to do it. However, if the photos I took last night don’t turn out, I will need to shoot more tonight – so I have to go in.

I plan to lay low and say as little as possible. I will continue to make my best effort with my work, and just let that speak for me. I will also do the online evaluation, and once the grades are posted, I will possibly write the department chair to let him or her know about the situation. I am still bothered by the lack of critique on our work, and the more I think about it, I worry that he thinks I’m such a “know it all” that he has been grading my work harder than others. Obviously, I would like to get an “A” in the class, so I just need to ace the final and be done with it all.

My bigger hurdle left for this week is the Biology lab practical and unit 4 test. I’ve learned this semester that while I didn’t care much for the bacteria and protists section of Biology II, I like the later plants and animal sections. Unit 4 has been vertebrates, and I don’t mind studying them at all. While reading a Zoology textbook the other day to prepare for our project, I actually had to make myself put it down and get the project done – it was that interesting! Random trivia, always a good thing to have!

Categories
Educate Me

Someone Stop the World, I Want to Get Off…

(Long rant. I’m taking advantage of the extended entry. You deserve a prize if you make it through the whole thing.)

I knew it wasn’t going to be a good day when I woke up after about 2 hours of sleep. Yes, 2 hours of sleep. My head was racing non-stop with so many things I needed to do. I could never really get settled in. I tossed, turned, and watched the clock all night.

I felt like a zombie for half the day today, and a moody zombie at that. Then I had my photography bubble popped.

Then my photography teacher made a rather asshat comment as I left the class today. This girl, who isn’t even shooting photos with the right film after a whole semester in the class, was asking him a question; she wanted to know if 60 divided by 12 was 5. Not even thinking (zombie state), I said yes. I realized that the words in my head had come out of my mouth, and I immediately apologized because I could tell from the look on his face that it had really pissed him off. He said, “THANK YOU, but this IS MY CLASS.”

Uh, ok, I know that. You’re the one that grades the papers and gets paid for being there. I’m the one that gets the grades and turns in assignments. Yep, pretty clear to me that it is your class.

I tried to shake it off. I knew I was tired and edgy, so there was no point in stressing over it. I went into the darkroom, I finished most of my portfolio prints, and I came out to leave when class was over. I was cordial to him, and I thought the moment had passed.

That was until he stopped me as I left – I was the last person to leave thanks to having my giant Biology scavenger hunt box with me – and he said it to me again. That it has really bothered him; that no matter how much I think I know about photography, and how much I might in fact know, it is still HIS class. He would appreciate it if I remembered this.

I was stunned. First of all, we only have 3 days left in the semester, and then he will be done with me. So was there a need for a confrontation? I don’t think so. Second, I said the word “yes” to a math problem. It isn’t like I was telling her how to print her film – I couldn’t begin to do that, since it isn’t the right film anyways. (There is black & white film out that you can buy and have printed at a regular store lab after you shoot it – we use different film and different chemicals for our class.) Last but not least, I definitely do NOT think that I know it all when it comes to photography. I think that learning is a lifetime process, and no matter how much I know about photography, there is always so much more to learn. I could take classes every day for 10 years and still not know it all.

I, of course, started to cry. Why? Because that is how I react to anyone that I seek approval from when they talk to me like this. I prefer to handle these situations over the phone (I can hide the crying better) or via e-mail where I can hide it completely. In person? After 2 hours of sleep? I knew the second that he stopped me that I was going to fall apart.

I was right.

I went on to apologize, trying to explain that I said yes before I could stop myself, and I was really sorry for doing that. That was when he made the comment about me thinking that I knew it all, and that it was his class. I stammered. I took a deep breath. I told him that that was not the case at all, I did not feel that way. He said that was how I had acted. I said again that that was not how I felt. He said that maybe he was reading something wrong, because that was definitely the impression he got. I told him that I was sorry if that was the impression he got, because it was not how I felt. I apologized again, as the tears flowed.

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