A couple weeks ago I found this photograph I took while I was on my mission in the Canary Islands:
A satellite photograph from Google Maps can be found here (the vantage point at which the photograph was taken is the small open area a little ways to the south east of the reservoir). This is in the north east part of the island of La Palma, where I served for six months. One of the members took us on a big tour of the whole island on a P-Day, and this was one of the stops (if you zoom out so the entire island is visible, there is a highway labeled LP-1, which is the one we traveled, and it took the entire day from 7 am to 7 pm).
I’ve been wanting to return to the Canary Islands ever since I left them (which was eight years ago), and this week I found, on Facebook, one of my best friends ever from La Palma, as well as my companion/very good friend I was with the majority of my stay on the island. In all the times I’ve moved in the past eight years, I’ve lost the addresses to these two and many other friends, so it was very exciting to come back into contact with them.
Now I’m brainstorming ideas for photographic projects, new, or old, I could carry out in the Canary Islands (maybe La Palma specifically —it was my most favorite of the three islands I was on). I’d like to apply for grants and/or scholarships to maybe fund a summer long (or longer) trip there. Do any readers out there have any suggestions where I could find places that award grants etc…? I’d really appreciate any leads.
Today as I sat at Einstein Bagel Bros. enjoying my Dutch Apple bagel and listening to the latest Net@Night podcast, I heard the man sitting twenty feet away say something. I didn’t hear exactly what he said at first due to the traffic going by, and my attention was directed at what was being discussed in the podcast. I turned the volume down, not sure if he had actually spoken to me, and asked “what?” He repeated himself, but I still couldn’t understand what he said, and again asked “what?”
Now, when I am sitting, I often bounce my leg up and down. I don’t know why I do it, it’s just something I’ve done for as long as I can remember.
“Quit fidgeting!” was what the crotchety old man was saying. Puzzled, I asked him why, to which he replied: “Because you’re not entitled to monopolize the scenery!” Some scenery: a Smiths parking lot, a gas station and the traffic driving by on 400 North.
I was and still am completely befuddled by the whole incident, though it’s things like that in life that just make you laugh.
In my last post, I mentioned I almost took a job at Island Park Scout Camp, but decided not to. I had already quit my job framing, but after deciding not to work at camp, I decided to just move down to Logan, since I already had a place rented. So when we got home on Friday (my mom, two brothers, and a sister are all working up there this year), I immediately started packing. Saturday morning, we loaded up my grandpas truck and headed south. After a construction detour through Brigham City, we finally got to Logan at about 2:00. After we got everything unpacked, we headed over to the Cache Valley Cruise In, a really big hot rod and car show held every Fourth of July weekend. We walked through fairly quickly, and then said our goodbyes, and my dad left for Idaho Falls, and I started getting settled in to my new place, which I must say, is pretty nice. So, tomorrow, I start job hunting. Yuk.
We showed up to the job site today and saw this:
It’s not all that often we get that kind of a Thank You, and I felt pretty good about my job today.
Today as I was crawling through trusses nailing some braces up, my phone rang. I looked at it, saw the number had a 435 area code, and thought it might be an old friend from Park City. So I answered, and heard an unfamiliar voice. The man said he was Craig Law, and that he heard that I hadn’t heard any status on grad school applications, so he was calling to let me know that I had indeed been accepted to the program! Needless to say, I’m super excited to hear the news. I can now start making more concrete plans for the fall, and even begin checking out apartments in Logan. Craig is working on getting my assistantship squared away which will pay for tuition, which will be a big help.
Today I woke up to snow and harsh winds. I think winter keeps telling the other seasons “ok guys, your turn.” It then turns warm for a few days and then winter says “PSYCH!!!” and drops the temperature and dumps more snow on us. Seriously, I’m only in one less layer than I was in January. When is winter going to let go of its death grip?
My dad just gave me this photograph he took on the way to Little Lemhi Scout Camp. It’s about 3 years old, and I thought I’d share. You don’t see too many photos of myself.
Oh, and due to bad winds, we took the day off from work, so I took advantage of the situation and made three Lumen prints. I made 2 with the same plant, as was suggested by my friend Scott. The second exposure was a bit shorter than the first, but it’s still interesting to see what the re-used plant does. They were both exposed on Kodak Ektalure. The other print was done on Oriental Seagull. I’m really beginning to like that paper when exposed for 2-3 hours. When exposed for much longer the paper goes a purple color that I don’t particularly like. Exposures of 2-3 hours causes the paper to stay a subtle purple-ish brown that I do like. Once they dry, I’ll get them scanned and posted.
I’ve finally decided to take the plunge into the digital world. After using Jon’s D300 a few times, I’m finally convinced that digital is nearly capable of what I can do with film. I’ll still shoot film like crazy because I love how it slows me down and makes me really think about and analyze the scene I’m photographing.
So to help me afford the $1800 body, I’ve just listed my Xbox 360 and all my games, totaling about $600 on Craigslist, and am going through all my junk asking if I really need things and wondering if it’s worth the hassle of trying to sell. I figure within about a month I should have the money scraped together to get the body, and then another month to get the lens I want/need.
Happy Anniversary to my Mother and Father who have now been married for 30 years!
I love you mom and dad!