Parallels

My dog is a Cairn Terrier, the same kind of dog as Toto from The Wizard of Oz. He's incredibly photogenic and dashingly handsome. The figurine is a Hagen-Renaker, made of porcelain in San Dimas, CA (I think.) Anywho, I thought it would be cute to put them together for my depth/emphasis project. What do you think?

Cactus Practice

This assignment was 'texture.' I took my camera to my friend's house because she's got a complete cactus garden in her house. For these particular photos, I practiced using my camera's macro mode with manual focus, because automatic couldn't make up its mind on where it wanted to focus. It's just like cars. I prefer manual shift cars because you have more control. Automatics just roar up to the gear's limit until they shift.

Magnify

I decided to take a break from posting my prints (mostly because I don't have any more to scan). So, instead, I'll be revisiting the digital pics from last year.
I like this shot because even though the plant is surrounded by rocks, it is covered in dew. To me, the dew represents the hope for life that the plant has.

Olden Time

This is another picture from my line assignment. Don't worry, it wont be line forever.
You may be annoyed by the 'noise' on the photo. 'There's lint on it!' you declare. Allow me to explain myself.
In photography class, we develop our negatives in the classroom and make our prints in the darkroom. The darkroom has orange lights, the kind that won't fog photosensitive paper. (I, of course, would be the one to say, 'wait, something's wrong' and turn on the white lights, exposing all the paper for future classes and ruining everything.) It is actually very dark in the darkroom and the negatives are grey! I set my negatives down and couldn't find them again. I raged, went back to the classroom, and did my math homework for lack of anything else to do.
The weekend passes and on monday, I have photography class again. Despairingly I ransacked the darkroom again in an attempt to find my long lost negatives. of course, one of my classmates immediately holds them up and says, 'Hey, Madi, aren't these yours?' Delightedly, I seized them. I figured that they were probably stained from fingers and dusty from their week long time in negative prison. So I promptly ran them through the sink and wiped them through my fingers.
Of course, you're never ever ever supposed to get negatives wet. It swells the emulsion on the back of the film and kills your photo quality.
I made my prints anyway.

Beata Maria

This is another one of the prints I made for the Line assignment. In this photograph, I wanted to show the contrast in shape and line between the rock wall and the smooth lines of Mary's robe.
See in the top right corner, the rocks are washed out? That's from the sunlight wrapping around the edge of the wall and exposing the film more on that side. I don't really appreciate it, and I couldn't fix it Picasa, either. Well, now I'll know to look out for sunlight with nefarious intentions. Photo class is a learning process.

Ave Maria

I'm now a junior in high school, and I'm taking photography!
I'm using my dad's old Canon Eos 620. In the class, we are given a roll of black-and-white film and an assignment. We develop the film in class with an old canister and D-76 developer, then head to the darkroom to make our prints. The whole process is very involved.
This series comes from the 'Line' assignment. I went to a Franciscan Friar's monastery for a change in scenery.

Jodie Revisited

I am back on vacation in North Carolina. We went back to Elk Park Falls and we saw Jodie again. He no longer shows ribs and is looking very healthy. When we left the falls, we saw him loping down the road, up a driveway, and towards a trailer home. I'm so glad he has a person.

Ivy Climb

A product of a walk to a friend's. One of those gigs where you get all into the exuberant photographer's pose with the crouching and the muttering and the camera constantly connected to your face. This is one of my dad's favorite concept with trees - go see his page. Link at the top of the page.

Paper Birch

I've been taking lots of walks lately because my good friends Emily and Hannah live about ten to fifteen minutes down a nearby road. Emily is my best friend from Field Hockey and also my zombie killing accomplice. (We always play Left For Dead at her house.) Hannah is a musical genius and one of my bandmates. I've taken my camera for these walks because there are plenty of oppourtunities for macro work. I have a Panasonic DMC-TZ3. It has a great macro function and I really recommend it for anyone. It's a little heavy because it's made of metal, but all the better for me. I'm a menace to all things electrical, especially headphones.
This is a Paper Birch tree. Its bark splits every year in the winter. They're really pretty up close, but from a distance they just look like they're moulting pitifully.
Sorry for the delay. I have half days at school this week, so I'll get back into the posting groove.

Forgive Me

For the delay with new photos. This week at school had been particularly rough and Midterm Exams are coming up, if you know what I mean. I just haven't had any free time. New pics coming up really really really soon.

In Miniature

On a trip to Old Town Ellicott City, I discovered this miniature deity. She was placed on the table outside of a Gypsy Palm Readings and Fortune Telling shop, along with a spare Crystal Ball and some decorative, potted plants.
Macro Photography is my second love, after Animal Photography. Expect to see lots of it.

Airborne

I returned to Elk River Falls yesterday, and who should appear but Jodie, the stray! He has a very handsome trotting gait and makes his way towards you like he has a purpose, but has a very aloof additude. He allowed me to pet him many times, and even ate cheese out of my hand. When I started humming a song, his ears picked up and he came trotting right up to me, sticking his nose in my face. I doubt he has a person, but there are surely plenty of scraps to be had from nearby trash bins.