I’m growing my hair out natural, so braids were the next step in the evolution of my hair style. I haven’t had braids since I was 13, and I’ve never had a style like this. It pays to have a talented little sis.

Secondly, My friends Azalea and Sam, who I did the maternity shoot for in October, welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world on Monday: Jernigan. My sis and I rode over to P’cola to see the newly expanded family. I was so in awe to go from taking pics of while Jernigan was in gestation to holding a real live person who came out so perfect. Awesome.

I took these photos Saturday; she’s just 5 days old.

Big sis, DeDe.

Sunday, my sister and I made it back safe and sound. I suppose I’m refreshed after being away from everything, in a completely different environment for a week and a half.

What I enjoyed most was seeing such a diverse array of people. I mean, really, I had to actually look for the white people at first, which was a very surreal experience. So many different ethnicities living side by side. Take the couple we stayed with, Maudeline and Frank. Maudeline is from Montreal, born and raised, and her parents are from Haiti. So, French is her first language. Her husband, Frank, is from Union Island, I think. (I’m like, dude, how do you grow up on a place that is only 3 miles long? I guess it’s no biggie if you have all the necessities.)

I had a great time visiting with friends. Hopefully, next summer I’ll be able to see Montreal.

Below the cut you will find a selection of photos that I consider my favorite shots/highlights from the trip.

City Hall . Missassauga, Ontario

Me and a “Yummy Mummy” cookie from The Queen of Tarts.

Ryerson University . Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The CN Tower

View from the Observation level of the CN Tower. When I went out here I didn’t know it was open air, and it kind of freaked me out feeling the wind blowing all those stories up. Still, I braved it to get this shot.

I’m not a big drinker but this stuff was pretty good.

I was really enthralled by the look of these massive towers that supported the power lines.

SNOW!

Isaiah. He was sick during most of our stay with his parents, as a result he was rather bratty. Here he started crying when his dad left him in the car with me.

Yay! for Tim Horton’s. Apparently (from what I’ve been told), it’s very addictive.

A bird in the hand. . . feels very weird. Our friends had lovebird hatchlings that had to be hand-fed so they could get accustomed to people. I got to feed them a few times. I was kind of frustrating trying to get them to east the food, or rather, getting them to open their mouths enough for me to get the food in.

Maudeline treated us as this dessert restaurant called Caffe’ Demetre’. It was very good. I ordered a dish called “the Last Straw”: vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries and strawberry syrup on a Belgian waffle.

It was good.

We went skating at the ice rink at Gage Park in Brampton, Ontario.

It was fun. I didn’t fall, but my sister did. I definitely tripped a few times though. Stupid toe pick.

It was nice though, despite the freezing cold. One of the “ice monitors” looked like a slimmer Steven Strait.

Before crossing the border to Buffalo, NY to catch our flight, we stopped off at the Duty Free and I bought a few souvenirs.

I finally know what Mobile, Alabama (my hometown) looks like from the sky. Ever other time we’ve flown out has been from the airport in Gulfport, MS, because it was cheaper.

A sketch I did on the plain ride back home. One of the characters from my novel, Tara.

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Visiting Dean’s house in Axis, I was introduced to a new litter of puppies. They were so cute and fluffy—and wet.

This is blurry, but I like the spontaneity of the moment. We were hanging out, watching Dean and Marcus play a racing game.

A few weeks ago, my dad and I explored some property of a family friend. It had been raining, but the worst of it has slowed to a slight drizzle. A house used to be on the property, but it burned down a few years ago. I’m really fascinated by how nature takes over man-made things. There was some of everything growing on that land–kudzu, daffodils, grapes, peach trees, wild flowers . . .

This vehicle is a long way from home.

To be continued.

• movies: Transformers was awesome. Shia did not disappoint.
• music: Chrisette Michele
• books: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossein

I’ve been busy lately, as always. Work, study, surviving . . . the usual. My taking photos is the only constant, and it manages to keep me sane. I really need to fit drawing in there, somewhere, but I remain creatively blocked to no end.

This past weekend I attended a picnic and then went over to the Fairhope pier with some friends. I got some nice shots. It was really cool to shoot in black and white. I find it works really well in lowlight conditions anyways; the exposures are more forgiving, even digitally.

Baby DeeDee.

Braxton.

Albert.

Shirelle & Ashley.

Alex toured us when we visited Bethel in New York. He’s from Mobile, and he came down for some vacation. This is the first “formal” portrait I’ve gotten of him. He’s pretty comfortable in front of the camera, which always helps.

Lovely Laura.

Fairhope Pier:

This photo is insanely sharp, considering the long exposure and lack of tripod.

I saw this couple from far off (actually, when I was first walking on the pier they were in front of me, but I didn’t pay them much attention), and I liked their silhouette against the dock. As Braxton and I were walking back down the pier, I mentioned that I wanted to take a photo of them, like up close, but I was too chicken to go do it. Well, Braxton was all about it, so I ended up going down there. Braxton actually kinda of asked for me. I couldn’t really see the girl’s face because the lights caused her to be in the guys shadow. However, when she came into the light and I could make out her face. . .

. . .it’s Melody, the Starbucks barista, and her friend Daniel. She always looks so effortlessly awesome. She kind of reminds me of a friend met in college, Caitlin, who’s probably going to become a critically-acclaimed writer any day now. But anyway, they were all about letting me take their photo, so thanks, guys. My only regret is that I wish I would have framed this a bit better, but, I had my back to the side of the dock with no railing, so I was a little preoccupied with trying not to fall into the muddy bay below for the sake of the shot (color).

I’m going to pause this here, because it’s almost 5am. The next post will be my friends’ midnight playground antics and other random shots from the past few weeks.

“I’m not taking picture because you can’t capture all this in a picture. You just have to tell people to experience it for themselves.”

That’s pretty much how I feel, too. However, I do believe that photos can move people to go and experience the place for themselves.

The first time I went to New York City, I did take mad photos because everything was new to me. This time around, I opted instead to try to form a narrative of my journey with my photos. I’m pretty happy with the result, except that I didn’t get photos of the celebrities people I saw (Nigel Barker and Talib Kweli).

Still I have some gems in the form of photos I’d like to share, and most of them have stories.

At the B&B in Middletown, NY

Middletown, NY – A squirrel in a maple tree.

Crazy gas prices on the road to Canada. What’s more—as I found out from a young man I met from Egypt—gas is about 40 cents/gallon in Cairo (and it’s getting cheaper).

Canadian Customs – I had to turn over my pepper spray, because it’s illegal to carry it in Canada. The Queen of England has it now.

My little sis actually snapped this since I was driving. The camera settings were wrong so I had to salvage it. I like the surreal quality it has.

Our first time at Tim Horton’s.

Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.

Brampton, Ontario – Sunday brunch.

Brampton, Ontario – Chantel, age 11.
There’s just something so innocent and sweet about this portrait.

Brampton, Ontario – Alva’s rose.

Brampton, Ontario – I do love my sunsets, wherever they may be, in this instance, in the Canadian suburbs.

On tour at the Watch Tower of Canada branch.

You can see a rainbow, see a rainbow . . .

All comfy with our tour group in the elevator.

Crystal, Ann, and Alva (our hostess).

Watchtower Farms, Walkhill, NY – From the embossing machine. I thought it was pretty.

I love the enormity of this painting. Last year I took a photo of my other sister and a friend standing in front of it.

Dining Hall, Watchtower Farms, Walkhill, NY – Oh, garcon. . .

Middletown, NY – Some nice girls we met.

“Can I take your photo? I think you’re so pretty,” I said.
She was really tickled by that, and let me. So, this is Genevieve. I love her freckles.

On the train to New York City – I think she’s a dancer.

Hostelling International, New York City – This is Shota, the Japanese fellow I mentioned in my previous blog entry. He’s from Tokyo, and was really cool and friendly.

Tavern on the Green, Central Park, NY – We at lunch here.

The grass here was sooooooo comfy.

Gotta love that New York Pizza.

A band that was playing at the Times Square subway terminal. They were really good. I should have bought a CD.

. . .

So, those are the highlights of my trip. I had a great time. Personally, it was very spiritually enlightening. It’s really jarring to get back to the grind of everyday life after being in a completely different world. Ah, mais, c’est la vie, n’est-ce que pas?

Well, since I am a photographer, I figure this will be a nice little feature to my blog. Every Saturday, I’ll post my favorite photos from the week.

Another night at Martini’s.

Richard at Wintzell’s Oyster House.

At my friend Dean’s house, Sunday afternoon.

Clarence, with the golden eyes.

Portrait of Sean P., 16, aspiring model.

LeToya.

Yeah, so I busted a bracket last night, shortly after the above photo was taken. After only 2 months with my braces. I’m going in tomorrow to get it fixed. Stupid holidays. . . my appointment has to be during my class time.

So anyway, last night I went to the house of the Fuenmayor’s with my sister. They were having a little get-together. I just finished a big project for Ellis, so I was in need for a little break. Also, I hadn’t been out in a while, so I figured I’d attempt to socialize.

A out-of-focus photo of my friend, Dean, who gave us a ride to the Fuenmayor’s.

Laura (on couch), Dean and Braxton about to play Spades.

Braxton, who fell in love with my camera.

A clear photo of Dean.

So we played this crazy game called “spoons”, which is like musical chairs, but with cards and spoons.

Then we played another card game called “murder”. Based on the rules of the game, it’s kinda hard to do it with only candlelight, but it was still interesting.

Arianna. Look familiar?

Edgardo. His English is in-progress, and he’s really nice. I danced with him at this party a few months ago. . . I just remembered.

As I said, I wasn’t the only one who had fun with my camera last night. I let my friend Braxton play with it. After showing him the basic functions, he was good to go, and took some pretty nice photos.

See the rest here.

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So school is winding down. Our last assignment involves gum printing. Very time consuming but a cool alternative process. I’m still not sure what I’m doing and contact sheets are do tomorrow. I’ll just go with my original idea. I tend to overthink my concepts on every assignment.

. . .Goodness, I still have sketches to post. I’ll get them up eventually. I need to draw more in general. I also need to practice drawing different things than people, like environments and perspective.

And then there’s graduation, December 9th. Wonder what I’ll do after that. . .

As always, I’ve been taking photos. My little sister said something to me a little while ago that I found so funny. I asked me to take a picture of something, and I guess I was taking to long with it, and she said finally,

“Sharon, you don’t have to take a photograph. Just take a picture.”

Laura’s awesome like that.

Salt print in the fixer.

Tongs labeled to use for different alternative photographic processes.

The advanced darkroom.

I haven’t been able to bite my nails since I got my braces. My nails grew out, so I painted them, which I hadn’t done in a loooong time. The color is “Holly Days” a really dark green. I bought it from Bath & Body Works like 5 years ago and it’s still good.

My younger sister Nicole being glamorous.

Another late night or being bored into taking photos of myself.

Commissioned pages with which I will soon part. Done for Arson Entertainment.

Saturday – My sister’s study, waiting to be baptized.

Playing with extended shutter speeds. It’s the lights on the ceiling of the Mobile Civic Center.

We ate at a Chinese Restaurant I’d never been to. I really liked the lanterns hanging outside. I was having trouble with my AutoFocus, though, and this is one of the first shots. I liked how it came out, though.

Nicole, in the outfit she made for the Special Assembly Day.

My hair had grown out of the cut, but I can’t afford to go to the stylist. Saturday night I resolved to trim it myself. I’ve done it before but it’s been, like, years ago. I didn’t cut off as much as I wanted in the back, mainly because I couldn’t see it. I like it though. It looks really good tousled.

The aftermath.

Sorry for the lack of art. I have drawn a few things. I’ll try to have them up in the next post.