Sometimes you have to give serendipity the opportunity to occur.

I had a professor who made the comment about stopping vs. quitting. It is not unusual for artists to go through creative slumps. Sometimes it can be beneficial to take a break – especially if you are feeling burnt out. You just never want to quit and abandon your craft. That is a terrible fate for an artist. My brain is built for creating, engineering, and questioning. (Did I ever tell you that when I was a little kid, I engineered my bedroom door to turn my lights off and on when someone opened or closed the door with only string and thumbtacks?) That is why I could not abandon my creative side. For a few years I was on course for becoming a nurse. Somehow science and art like to pair up in creative minds. But after a year and a half into the nursing curriculum, I knew I could not contain my free spirit and inquisitive mind inside of a hospital for 12-hour shifts or in front of a textbook for several hours at a time. I have too much energy and too much curiosity. I was made to explore the world and to expand people’s minds.

There is nothing I like more than being able to take a photograph that causes the viewer to see the world differently.

A recent thought of mine is to study the relationship between photography and psychology. How does your personality affect the way you take a photograph? Do certain compositional preferences reveal parts of your personality? How do past experiences affect your perception of the world? What do candid portraits say about a person compared to controlled portraits? Psychology was another major in college that I was interested in.

Really my main interests are art, psychology, horticulture, journalism, and architecture/interior design. My ultimate dream is to pretty much live the same way my friend and former boss lives. She is a professional photographer/artist, married with a daughter, and living on a hay farm in a home that they designed themselves and surrounded by gardens. The only thing I would want different for myself is the career path (and I don’t want to marry a lawyer). I have discovered that what I really want is to become a photojournalist. Wedding photography is nice and all, but I want to be on the forefront of events and traveling (not endlessly, but once in a while). I could always settle down into wedding photography or working for a local publication, but until then, I would like to cover news stories around the world. Think LIFE and National Geographic. I am really taken with LIFE photos from the middle of last century. There is just something really captivating about black and white journalistic film photography. My time in Costa Rica this past summer, especially the last week, really confirmed this interest. This is the closest I have come. And with more opportunity and practice, who knows where life could take me?

An end to my photography slump nears: Thursday I have plans to go on a day trip to Richmond and I intend to take my 35mm film camera.

I recently upgraded my phone because I had passed the contract end date and my old plan wasn’t worth it anymore. So anyway, I am not here to advertise… (although I got a pretty good deal)…

Of course, as you may expect, I’ve been playing with the different features. Here are my first photos with its built-in camera. Nothing too exciting in content, but I marvel at how this phone takes better photos than the digital dinosaur of a camera that I had in high school. Speaking of older technology, kids these days don’t even know what disposable film cameras are… [shakes head]

So anyway, I took some digital and some film photos. I had a waterproof disposable film camera that I had bought a couple years ago and then couldn’t find for a long time. I took it just to kinda use it up and finally give it a purpose.

Below are a few of the underwater photos:

This last underwater photo may be my favorite of the 15 or so that came out. In the twenty-two years I have known this creek, I do not know if I have ever had this vantage point – even when I would go swimming in the deepest parts. It is a new frontier.

We arrived there late afternoon, and managed to have a fair amount of light even though the hilly terrain here often causes engulfing shadows. We took advantage of the aging textures and colorful graffiti for backdrops. Here below are some of the photos:

Above: Jessica stood between the two ceramic silos that flank the abandoned poultry feed mill.

Above: Behind her is one of the many graffiti-graced train cars.

Above: This is part of the extension that comes off the back of the abandoned railroad station.

Although, I am sure I would get a stern look from my mom, I would love to get inside of these abandoned buildings to learn more of their history and secrets. (I am known for my curiosity…) I am neither stupid or brave enough to trespass into unstable buildings that have plenty of rusting metal, rotten wood, broken glass, etc…. but would it not be amazing?

More to come in future posts: photoshoot with a college senior, possibly more cabin/hiking photos, update about what I plan to do with my life in the near future, etc.

If you have a moment, take a gander at my last post about my photoshoot/fun trip up at Carter Mountain Orchard. It did not post to my Facebook profile, so whoever still reads my blog, may have missed that update.

Feedback and constructive criticism are always welcome.

So anyway, I meandered (cool word, eh?) back to Charlottesville from Harrisonburg, where I live now, for the day and night. We went to the orchard early in the afternoon and it was very busy with families and kids. The apples I picked straight off the trees for cooking were huge! They were possibly twice the size of the store bought ones sitting on my kitchen table right now. So my friends, Peter and Yarden, and I adventured straight downhill to the east and discovered a pond. We explored through some of the rows of apples and took a gander (another cool word) at the abandoned apple truck up on one of the dirt roads. It was a lot of fun – we had plenty of fun teasing each other and making each other model for photos. Ha! I am a terrible model, because there is a certain side of the camera I like to be on and it’s not on the same side as the lens.

My style of photography tends to be a mixture of candid and posed. I may direct you were to stand and may even give you some guidance in how, but I want your facial expressions to be genuine. I love it when a photograph shows genuine personality and expression  - I am interested in seeing who someone is, not what titles they may have… I do not care if you’re a senior or if you are getting married, I want you to be able to look back, into the photograph, and see in that moment, there was integrity. I do not believe in photographing fake smiles and tears. (You know those studio settings where some guy is directing the exact angle of your body and how much of your teeth you show…. that makes me sick. It just takes all of the art and joy out of photography.)

I will not continue to bore you with small talk and such. So here are some photos I took while adventuring around the orchard with spunky, fun company:

By the way, I can spot poison ivy incredibly well (don’t doubt it) and this orchard has a lot along the paths. So if you go, wear long pants… good precaution against both poison ivy and ticks. Poison ivy = itchy, open sore rashes. Ticks = lyme disease. Best to be avoided. )

Yarden and I have been neighbors and friends for 14 years now! Incredible.

This weekend, I will possibly have two photoshoots to build my portfolio. I have a couple of friends who I enlisted to model for me. Hopefully, there will be photos to share soon. In other news, I put an ad in the local university’s paper and it published for the first time today. I already have a student inquiring about portraits. The idea is to get a few clients, build the portfolio, make some additional moolah on the side that I can save for new equipment, and be able to regularly use my beloved cameras.

Per week, this all adds up to 30 hours at one job, 7-10 hours at another (if I get/take the job), 2-3 hours of volunteering (oh yeah, I volunteer at the library now), and freelancing on the side. In short, I will be working ridiculously hard this fall so I can pay my bills, build my portfolio, and save toward moving to a new place. Biting the bullet now so I can achieve my dreams later. Let’s just hope I don’t get too overwhelmed before the end of the year. Fingers crossed.

Oh hey, here’s a photo:

I am having a hard time proofreading this, because I am so ready to just curl up under the covers and go to sleep for the night… so any weird English will just have to do.

Oh wait, post script:

Saw this as part of a Target ad in a Vantiy Fair magazine. First of all, yes, I will be the photographer!! Second, I could have taken a better photo than this one. (Not trying to be arrogant – it’s the truth.) Why did the photographer have such weird timing?? It looks like he caught the girl while she was talking. Weird. I don’t think it’s a very flattering photo.

I am not sure if I mentioned this in a previous post, but JMU’s Madison magazine published a photo of mine in their fall issue. It is pretty exciting! The editor and director both wrote me really lovely letters regarding my work. See below for the image:

In October, I will have work in two different venues. I will have a photo in the Kappa Pi art show at Clementine Cafe and I will have a body of work in the ACV’s Smith House. Both locations are in Harrisonburg and the install dates are in the beginning of October. I am not quite sure how long each will be up. But they should both be up by the second week, so I say go ahead and check them out if you get a chance.

Also in the very beginning of October, I am hoping to help a local artist, Peter Krebs, of Charlottesville with a photo project. My understanding is that we’ll be taking photos of people out on the streets and printing photos on the spot for them. We’ll see how that goes.

Hmm… well here’s an Instagram photo for you:

Oh and I am hoping to have a fashion-related photoshoot with one of my girl friends sometime soon, if the weather will cooperate and such. I have been feeling a real lack of camera usage lately and I also need to broaden the portrait aspect of my portfolio. I really do not shoot enough portraits, and that, ultimately, is what sells. I am looking forward to meeting with her and trying out ideas.

Even if I can’t make much money right now from my photography, I am still constantly trying to build my resume and portfolio. I am really looking forward to October, because I get to do just that and not to mention, it may possibly be my favorite month of the year. I love fall… the leaves, the food, the weather… [sigh]

Okay, more updates to come as life goes by. Time to run out and get food because my housemate is using her college meal plan to buy me food. Ciao!

This is sorta like a double exposure. I shot through a window and it reflected the trees behind me. This is part of an abandoned hotel project in the middle of downtown Charlottesville.

I thought the roots of this tree were interesting, how they are exposed and all.

Rough, smooth, cool colors, warm colors.

Ray of light beneath a railroad bridge off of Water Street.

I love McGuffey. I grew up going to programs here and visiting artists I know that have had studios there. It has creaky wooden floors, soaring ceilings, and lots of natural light. I had work hanging up in the upstairs hallway earlier this year for the C2D art show.

I know most trees, but this one has me puzzled. It’s the only one I know of that grows like this. You can find it in the main park downtown by the library.

Charlottesville has a lot of old signs fading away with age. New businesses take over old buildings and leave the original signs up – probably because of some historical preservation law or something. I am glad they do.

That used to be The Hardware Store, but now it is Urban Outfitters. The Hardware Store used to have a medley of shops and food inside. I always went there as a kid to get chocolates and books. There was a jewelry store, a bookstore downstairs, a restaurant, an art gallery, a boutique, a candy store, etc inside. I miss how it used to be. Stupid Urban Outfitters and the down economy.

All of this is color 35mm film.

Here are a few photos from the weekend:

 Above: This is decaying turkey tail lichen growing on moss and a tree.

Above: I really want to know the name of those plants. Does anyone know?

Above: This is trailing arbutus. It is a rare and endangered plant native to Virginia.

Here are a few of the photos I scanned in:

Here is Franny and Dustin – my constant companions at the photo studio throughout my time in Costa Rica. I miss being auntie to Franny. She would follow me around the photo studio whenever she wasn’t being told to go to her bed.

The middle boy is André. He really captured my heart. Behind him is Los Guido. The other two went to the woodshop class, we never had them in the photo studio, but I saw them several times over the course of the summer.

This is Isaac. He was a bit camera shy! He is the one that called me mommy and bonita (Spanish for beautiful/lovely).

A man waiting by the water truck, people watching. On this day, we helped deliver water to homes in Los Guido. They went almost a week without water and the government came in with these water trucks after the community protested using bonfires.

People watching and waiting for water. The middle girls are Americans that we had in our photo studio for my last week there.

Water buckets waiting to be filled almost to the brim. All of us were very sore in our shoulders after carrying water. A full bucket is quite heavy!  The cracked dirt seems to reflect the lack of potable water for the community.

I am not quite sure what I like about this photo. Perhaps it is the sharpness or the balance. A few of the photos that I scanned in came out hazy or “flat.” This one came our fairly well.

We drank Coca-Cola frequently since there were neighborhood stores everywhere. It was really nice to get a coke for about 70 cents.  The bottles were marked with the dates 1995 and 2002, so they have been reused for quite a while! I really think that Coca-Cola needs to return the recycled glass bottle business in the United States. Would it not be a lot easier on the environment? Less plastic manufacturing and less waste pollution. Not to mention a really cold glass bottle of Coca-Cola is a lot more refreshing than a drink from a plastic one.

Here is a view of the contemporary art museum in San José. It is northeast of downtown right by the national park. I really liked it, especially since the interior is so different from the city. It is spacious and clean compared to the crammed, dirty city. There was a piece of work in there that used plants in tubes and it was cool to see how the plants decayed over time.

]]> http://sarahderrphoto.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/film-talk/feed/ 0 itscomingintofocus Scan10008 Scan10076 Scan10052 Scan10047 Scan10036 Scan10033 Scan10017 Scan10011 Scan10084