collage

i went to the lewis ginter botanical garden with my class yesterday. it was cloudy out but made for perfect picture taking. that was a good introduction to my day. it didn't end so well though. i ended up working at the store i was at for training last year. it was rainy and horribly busy but everyone's cutting hours so we were short staffed and there were lots of problems like there always were at that store. i'm there again tonight. looks like it's supposed to rain again. blah.

goodsearch

my brother's sanctuary gets donations when you search or purchase things online through http://www.goodsearch.com/ under project perry (louisa va). just thought i'd pass on something good : ]

pretty

i stumbled upon these on etsy this morning. aren't they awesome?

nice

happy first of spring. it's actually nice out now. but still a little chilly. it was a beautiful day on wednesday though and gareth and i went for a nice super long walk. i should have learned by now not to take my camera bag with everything in it when we go on these walks. it gets heavier and heavier each time. but it makes it so i can get all these great shots. actually i think i got all these with the same lens.







i got the estimate for the damage done to my car earlier this week before calling my insurance. they said it would be over nine hundred dollars. then i went back to the same place today to just get pictures to send to the other person's insurance and they ended up doing a whole new estimate at two thirds the original quote. i still need to talk to my insurance but i think that's shady of them to do that. i was pretty upset until i saw today that my taxes were accepted and i got a really big refund. so i'm still well on my way to getting a new car.

rainy

i wish all this rain would go away. but i guess we're getting early april showers. maybe that'll make for early may flowers. things have already started to bloom. i hope they don't get killed in another freeze. i saw a robin out back yesterday. got a decent shot of him. i was pretty sad to see this month's va wildlife magazine's annual photo contest. i didn't make it in at all. and i thought i had some really nice shots this year. i went last friday to the first friday art walk downtown. my professor and a past professor had an exhibit at one of the galleries. it was called "shoot the james." there were some great shots there. and some not so great ones. i think i have some great stuff that should be recognized. but i don't know how to get that recognization. i talked with some people at the show. a lot are a part of the focus group for photographers in richmond. i'm going to try and attend their meeting next month. i do feel like i'm trying to get into this scene. maybe someday i'll succeed. i had a really good day yesterday going to louisa for owen's bday. all the family was there. and some crazy kids running around. it was a pokemon party. i told owen gareth would be jealous but i brought him home a box full of goodies. he's had spring break all this week. it was well deserved with all the papers and exams he had last week. i went out early yesterday and got my car looked at. when i got the three hundred dollar axel and boot replaced last week they said my breaks and roters needed to be replaced for another three hundred. so i got the parts myself for less than a hundred and scott was planning on replacing them for free for me. but he said they didn't even need to be replaced yet. then while i was at matt's place a lady backed her truck hitch into my bumper leaving a big hole. my family says i have a target on me or my car. probably me since these things always seem to happen to whatever car i have. i started discussing the prospect of getting a new car. still haven't decided exactly how i'm going to go about that. but i know it needs to be done. it's been nice having these past two days off. it's like i have a normal job where i get weekends off. except that now i have work.

hope

i came up with the idea for the photo essay for my final project. "It seems to me that this has been a rougher winter than usual. Not just the weather, but this past week’s snow storm was an unexpected reminder that we’re not quite through it yet. Talking with friends and family, everyone seems to be really reliant on spring coming around and making things better. Emerging out of the cold and seeing life emerge all around us is always a hopeful sign and I really think people need to see that right now: Hope. People I know have lost their jobs or, myself included, are worried about losing them in the near future. The world is changing all around us as it always does, but we as humans are so reluctant to change. Unlike nature that endures changes constantly. I think that’s why we like to see the seasons change so much. It reminds us of a need for change and makes us see that life can endure it. I would like to photograph this phenomenon." i started taking pictures for it this week in the snow.