Noctural Brilliance

Headstone in Monticello Graveyard

I should keep a pen and paper next to my bed because I have all of my most brilliant ideas just before I fall asleep. At least, they seem brilliant - so far, I can't remember most of them in the morning to really evaluate them. I assume that with a pen and paper on my nightstand, I will soon receive the McArthur Genius Award. My plan was to share my latest insights here, but I can no longer remember them...

Tulips on the grounds of Monticello

I just got back from a 40 hour architectural whirlwind tour with first-year students in the UNCG interior architecture program. A total of 31 faculty and students traveled from Greensboro, NC to Charlottesville, VA and then on to Cumberland, MD and Bear Run, PA in order to visit two great American architectural treasures: Jefferson's Monticello and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater. Including a 3 hour 'layover' during which we waited for a mechanic to arrive and fix our bus, we were on the trip for 42 hours.

It is interesting to see Monticello and Fallingwater in the same trip because they are so different and yet so similar. Both houses reflect the wealthiest segment of the population, bothy were unusually innovative, and both are attempts at a new American architecture. Jefferson placed his home on the top of the landscape while Wright's building is integrated into it. It is difficult to photograph either of these places. 

Fallingwater: The classic

Monticello Grave Crow

Pictures inside of Monticello are not allowed - supposedly because some of the items in the house are on loan and they don't have the photographic rights to them, but I'm unconvinced that this is true because they don't need to have photographic rights in order to allow non-commercial photographers to capture images. I think that the only time they would need rights would be if they were going to use the photographs to advertise or make money. I think it is probably to get you to buy the book that has pictures of the interior). Fallingwater offers a different tour in which photography is allowed, it is a longer tour and more costly, so they freely admit that it is a way to earn the money needed to support the entity. 

The other reason why these places are difficult to photograph is because they are so iconic. The view dead on of the back of Monticello is on the nickel and the view of Fallingwater can really only be captured from one particular spot and it is the photo that is always seen of the building. When so many other people have photographed or drawn a building from the exact same view it seems almost silly to photograph it again. After all, my picture of Fallingwater looks just like everybody else's picture with the exception of the time of year foliage or my technical abilities. 

Fallingwater: The zoom

I was determined to see if I could get a different image. After all, I have seen collections of images of the Eiffel Tower or the Washington Monument in which each image has really been distinct, and surprisingly different than the postcard image that I was used to seeing. Fallingwater is particularly difficult because there are only 3 views of it possible, two of which are at least partially blocked by trees. It is designed to be hidden, so the question becomes, how do I capture the experience? I figured this was a good time to experiment since the 'perfect' shot is one that I have seen so often, it would be easy to compare and contrast.

Fallinwater: Alternate View

Generally, I try to look for another angle, then for a different context, and then to the details rather than the whole. On this trip, students were spending time sketching the different buildings and so I tried to use them to create a different setting for the architecture. I also tried zooming while I took a long exposure shot of Fallingwater - I didn't have a tripod, so it's not great, but it was the first time I have tried that. I also worked with the exposure time as much as I could, it was a pretty gray day and so I couldn't underexpose too much, but I did manage to move the waterfall from nearly frozen to blurring streamers of water.

Fallingwater: Student Context

I don't think I captured anything particularly noteworthy, but it was an interesting exercise. It made me really think about what the point of taking a photograph is if it is just like 1,000 others that I have seen and that I could print off the internet. There is something about having 'captured' it yourself but then it also provides you with a platform for experimentation because you don't have the same amount of initial exploration to do. It's harder to see anything new that might be there but also to realize that sometimes there are things to be learned by understanding how and why others have captured a particular image which can only really happen when you are looking through the viewfinder yourself. 

It's always a challenge to create images of something that is so iconic and so restricted - it's not the images that I created that made it worth it, it's the experience gained in the way of seeing that was the most valuable for me.

The Only Useful Camera

I missed an image. 

It wasn't because I was too slow or didn't have the right lens or a good angle. It was because I hadn't brought my camera with me. I know better, but I didn't listen to myself. The only useful camera is the one that you have with you.

I was only going to Target, about a mile up an extremely non-photogenic road. A suburban development and a busy intersection with chain stores. All on a drizzly day, what could I possibly miss? On my way back from Target, I saw a heavy-set bike cop ditch his transport and chug up a small hill into a 12' high hedge. A brief moment later, I saw a teenager dart out of the same hedge at which point a police car pulled up onto the grassy shoulder. When he saw the car, he immediately lay down in the grass. Two cops ran over to him and aggressively handcuffed him face down on the grass. At this point, my car was parallel to the kid about 10' away from him. We made eye contact. It could have been an amazing photo. 

It might not have been either - after all, the police seemed to be acting within the bounds of their authority, there was no Rodney King style beating. The kid didn't have blood on his hands and we weren't in some war torn neighborhood. However, I am still kicking myself. Maybe the newspaper would have wanted the picture and I've got to fight for every opportunity I can find to make my way in the world of photography. Maybe they wouldn't have, but it might have been a beautiful piece. The contrast between the white, middle-age, large police officers and the skinny, black youth; the look in his eyes as I looked back at him. The point is, that I won't know any of that and I missed my chance.

One of the reasons why I have gotten so many good pictures is because I always have my camera with me and you never know when something interesting is going to pop up. Even if I'm on my way to Target or Taekwondo or to pick up my kids from school, the world is a fascinating place and those decisive moments don't present themselves more than once. There will be thousands more in my life but that one that was missed will be memorable.

These are some images I have been lucky enough to capture because I had my camera with me when I didn't know I would need it. None of them depict world events or captured fame or the making of a hero. Instead, they were animals standing in just the right place, pilgrims traveling on horseback on the side of the road, and bottles filled with colored water in the room through which I could see an event space. The sign at the cemetery and the sculpture of the cars in the trees were happy accidents.

There will be more. And next time, I will have my camera with me.

Quadpolar Steez

If you feel a breeze blowing by, it's probably just me as I swing from breathless egoism to wild despair and back again. I used to wonder if I were bipolar but I have since realized that I can't be restricted to just two poles - I'm an explorer.

So, on the up - I got my first freelance writing gig through oDesk, writing for a photography blog out of New Zealand. I wrote about some tips for photography with children (not of children, but how to enjoy photography with children under 10). When that is ready for its big reveal, I will post the link.

On the down - I applied for and was rejected from a freelance writing position with Photojojo. The response to my application, which included the standard letter & resume as well as writing samples, was:

"Your writing was swell (the intro sentence gave me quite a chuckle)! But, it's not quite a fit for the Photojojo steez." 

I think it was the most adorable rejection I've ever gotten.

Then I had the following reactions, in this order:

• Wait - who are they to say I haven't got the Photojojo Steez?!?
• What the hell is the Steez?
• Is this something I was vaccinated against when I was a child?
• Thank you urbandictionary.com for providing a definition of steez that is only helpful if you already know what steez is.
• Clearly I don't have this if I don't even know what it is.
• Oh my god, this means that I am old. I'll probably be dead within a week.
• Is this really an okay way to write in an email to someone you are rejecting? I'm an adult for chrissake.
• Oh my god, that means I'm old too!
• Fools, I'll destroy them all.
• Or maybe I'll take a nap...because that's what old people do!!

Luckily, I was interrupted by the legal requirement to pick up my children from school and there is absolutely no stewing about self while in the presence of children.

It's funny, I could get 100 positive responses to something and then I get one rejection (which is actually a pretty positive rejection provided that I never find out I am wrong about my understanding of steez) and I'm off the 'clearly my life has been a waste and I should probably just crawl in a hole now' cliff.

After all, I am a genius. I guess I'm just continually surprised by how many people fail to realize this  despite the fact that it has been independently confirmed by at least three people.*

*my mother, my husband, and a homeless guy I offered $10. for confirmation of my genius.

Rats! Plague! Dentistry!

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It is never easy to tell people that you have rats. This is true even if they are intentional rats, meaning rats that you intentionally acquired and not the oh-god-why-didn’t-I-clean-up-the-crumbs-under-my-bed-now-I-have-rats kind of rats. 

It started a couple of days before Christmas with both my children standing in the kitchen chanting ‘buy us rats.’ It ended with my explaining to my husband how I had taken his actual, real, hard-earned money and converted it into a pair of rats. Then, it continued with my father dramatically yelling: ‘Plague! Plague!’ as he walked around the house. That did not help my argument.

Buster the Rat

Contrary to many people’s beliefs, however, we have yet to contract the plague and the baby has not, as of yet, been eaten. The rats are very curious, lively, and entertaining little creatures each with its own personality…or ratonality, I guess. Buster, a black and white rat, is enormous and terrified of everything. Even the smallest noise sends him hurtling through anything in his path to hide in his house. Mister, on the other hand, is a drama queen who gnaws on the bars of his cage as if he hasn’t eaten in a fortnight and looks at us with little pleading Oliver Twist eyes, despite the fact that we just watched him consume his weight in cheerios.

They are also hoarders. Everything that goes into their cage eventually gets stuffed into their house until the house actually lifts up off the shelf upon which it sits, leaving a house shaped mass of newspaper, collectibles, and rats. They will continue to accept treats as long as we will offer them and run off to squirrel (?) them away for later. They generally hide them in the paper litter that lines the bottom of their cage. For this reason, they find cage cleaning time particularly distressing as it means the removal of all of their not-so-carefully hidden treats…upon which they had been walked and peeing…but still.

Rat and Mouse. Ha. Ha.

One day, my daughter’s rat sneezed in my nose. I have yet to develop the superpowers I was certain would come as a result of such an interaction. I’m also on the lookout for signs that I am hiding my leftovers under my pillow. So far, I never have leftovers. The rats will come and look right into your face and explore any opportunities that might smell interesting, such as the inside of my nose or the interior of my cat’s ears (much to her great excitement). Or my daughters mouth which was followed by her exclamation “’ook mah, ey clea’ ‘y teeh” as I follow her instructions and notice that nearly the entire head of the rat has disappeared. I do not consider rats to be a substitute for tooth brushing, but if dental care continues to rise in cost, I may consider switching to annual rat debridement plan.

During the day, when they are sleepier, the will snuggle in my coat pocket or behind my head as I sit on the couch and occasionally stretch. At night, they participate in Olympic level training exercises on their wheel, at least until Buster hears a noise and then he goes back to hiding in his house. I think Mister mocks him.

Mister Contemplates Self

My mother was concerned that it would be difficult to know if we had two rats of the same sex or if we would soon have baby rats. She based this worry on her very accurate memory of my first foray into rodent ownership. A boy I went to school with gave me two male mice. Not a great deal later in my life, I had 32 mice. Despite the paucity of information presented in my school’s sex education curriculum, I quickly developed a male/female mouse theory that could never, however, be verified because mice penis’ are very small and mice also bite. I don’t remember what became of the mice.

A Sharp Shinned Hawk Outside my window

In any case, this is not a concern that one needs to have in rat ownership, as the male rats are very clearly identifiable. For a male human to have a proportionate relationship with his manhood, it would be necessary for him to walk around with a pair of basketballs taped to the back of his shorts. You can sex a rat from 3 houses away. I am pleased that this miracle of the cycle of life is not something that I will have to explain to my children. After all, I have only just recovered from answering my son’s questions about sex that arose as the result of playing Sims. As long as they learn about sex from the internet and video games rather than relationships among animals, I feel like all is right with the world.

As to whether or not it is acceptable to keep animals in cages I will say this. We do give our rats floor time everyday and, in comparison to the footage I have seen of their wild cousins, my rats rarely have to worry about rising sewage or hungry eagles. I’ve given them tiny complaint forms to fill out should they wish to express comments or concerns as well as the number for a rat help hotline.

Sometimes, though, I will catch one of them looking right at me. Staring directly at me for several moments on end as if contemplating the bridge between us; examining this interspecies relationship that has created this trust between such disparate beings, like tiny philosophers. Then, generally, I realize it’s because I’m eating a cracker. So I share.

T-Rex Weddings

I had my first meeting for my internship with event photographer Beth Ely. Somehow, I managed to make it through a design degree without ever doing an internship. I don't know, maybe there was a point at which people thought that academic experience was what you were supposed to be getting while in school. Crazy, right? In any case, this is the first time that an internship makes sense for me because I am trying to learn a set of skills from a working professional in a career that I actually want to be involved in. I always knew I didn't want to practice interior design (okay, not always but approximately two semesters after beginning my master's degree).

I am actually somewhat terrified. I am used to being an expert; an authority in my field. Now, it is back to being a novice. Also, there are people involved. And I have to stay awake at night. The only thing missing is giant spiders that crawl down the back of my shirt without warning (typical spider warning: hey, lady, we are going to climb down the back of your shirt...). Beth is very enjoyable though and I met with her for the first time on Monday at her house. I was also interviewed by her english bulldog Winston. His major concern seemed to be whether or not I would get along well with his stuffed frogs. I think it went well.

I love that the groom appears not so much to be pulling his bride forward as trying to hold her back so he can get away. Image by Quentin Miller as featured on the BBC

The first wedding that I am attending is on Saturday. I won't be taking pictures, more just watching Beth out of the corner of my eye in an attempt to not just creepily stare at her while she works. She apparently wears two cameras in holsters and I have got an awesome picture in my head to accompany that. She was telling me about her style at which point she mentioned something called the t-Rex shot. I spent a couple minutes trying to imagine what the words were that she had really said that I had somehow mistaken for t-Rex. Coming up empty handed, I finally asked. Apparently, the t-Rex shot is when the wedding party stands in a line on the far side of a field and when counted in they all run towards the photographer with terrified looks on their faces. Then you Photoshop a t-rex into the background (scroll to the bottom for the dinoshot) as the photographers at DWJ studio did for a 2013 Idaho wedding. I do not know how I did not already think of this. I'm imagining a lot of zombie shoots in the future...

I will be photographing the wedding of a friend of mine (who may or may not want her name revealed...so I will call her 'fluffy bunny slippers). She got approval from her fiance and so in August, I will be trying to capture Fluffy Bunny Slippers magical moment...and I really don't want to give her 3,700 underexposed JPEGs and realize after the party is over that I didn't ever actually take a picture of the bride and in fact all I have are selfies of me pretending to eat a cake. 

With a t-Rex in the background.