Second visit to Hope Cemetery

So I went back to Hope Cemetery after work today. I got out of work at 5, then I was there at about 5:30 or so. The light was beautiful because it was orange, and it was shining on all the tombstones. Unfortunately, a lot of my pictures came out darker than I would like. I'm not a mechanical person, so I really need to practice with the ISO and aperture settings. Really basic things that I'm still embarrassed that I miss up. I tried to pay special attention to the shadows, and the way that they fell on the graves, and how the stones cast shadows on each other. I was also pleased to notice that the leaves are finally starting to fall.

Anyway, I have this idea. I was passing by this couple who were planting flowers at a grave. They were obviously mother and son, and it was really sweet. I was thinking that maybe I could try taking pictures of people in graveyards, the way they are interacting with each other (or the graves), and what they are planting. The problem is, how do I go about this? Do I go up to them and tell them that what they are doing is very sweet and I want to photograph them? Or do I hide in the bushes and snap them as they're going about their business? Would it be rude to go up to people when they're mourning their loved ones to ask for their picture? How long would I have to sit in a graveyard while I waited for people to show up?

Oh, I want to say that I haven't edited these photos yet because I was really excited to post them.

Note to self: make sure the printer preferences are set to the CORRECT paper.
I thought I was just really bad at taking pictures, or doing something terribly wrong artistically. I didn't notice until the 4th print that in photoshop I had the printer set up to print on pearl, when I was printing on matte. After I changed the setting to matte paper it looked a hell of a lot better. stupid stupid stupid!

I am having trouble with landscapes

I read the email Frank sent about the Hope Cemetery contest, and decided that going to there shoot would be good practice because I'm feeling kind of rusty at photo. I really feel like I suck (I'm not fishing for compliments). So I don't know where the paper about the contest is, but I have a few successful shots. A problem I had when I was there shooting is I didn't want to create cheesy cemetary pictures that girls in highschool take. I wanted to find things that I think are special about Hope Cemetery in general, and try to shoot those. By doing this, I wanted to research the cemetery then go back again for a second shoot.

My favorite parts of the cemetery are the very old graves that don't have names, and the sections of newer graves that have nostalgic markers on them. I think that some of the graves have been thoughtfully decorated, but there are definitly some of them that look like someone was emptying their attic. To each their own I guess.

This is my favorite photo from the shoot because I like the point of view, and the relationship between the cherub statue and the virgin mary statue in the distance. I'm also glad you can't see the muggy haze (it was really hot and humid on saturday), because I think it made a lot of my photos from that day look like shit.

I think I'm overdoing some of the images in photoshop, and its making them look worse. I'm also having trouble making things look good on paper in addition to looking good on the computer. This is making me really mad but I guess the only way to fix it is to practice.

I'm going to go back to taking pictures of my friends, but I feel like my friends in Connecticut are a little more interesting, and funny than my Worcester friends. Most of my Worcester friends are Clarkies, and I don't mean this in a rude way but I like to talk to/look at people who aren't Clarkies, because usually they're more individualistic. I also want to hang out in New Haven (I'm so homesick!) and take pictures of the club girls wearing no clothes and the yalies running down the street. I have my car, so I go home every other weekend give or take.

This is my friend Mark eating a watermelon slice. I love his face in this picture. One of the last weekends it was warm enough to swim. This is what summer should be. Watermelon and (root)beer. I hope to do more portraits of my friends hanging out, because they're really important to me. I'm going home to Connecticut this coming weekend, and the next. So I should have some more fun portraits soon.

During this photoshoot we were approached by a child molester who wanted to show us his "organ"

I'm really mad because I just wrote a long story about this picture, the photoshoot, and the child molester and then I accidentally deleted all of it. I took pictures for my friend's band "Earthmover." Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures didn't come out well because it got dark outside, it was hard to get 5 people to look in the same direction at the same time, and I'm still practicing. Although this wouldn't be an official picture, it's my favorite from the shoot be cause I like the lighting and the sharpness of the picture. I also like the interaction between the boys because they're really funny. Fortunately for me, we might get to do another shoot because the bassist quit the day after this shoot was taken. I now know I have to focus on getting them all to look in the same direction at once, and I need to make sure we do this when it's still bright out.

I think this is a good start.

This is my favorite photograph from the my train trip from meriden-portland. It's a view of Washington from the train. I love the deserted mountains, the clouds, and the faint hint of civilization in the background. I felt like most of the midwest also has a peaceful, empty feeling. I was on the large train from Chicago-Portland for 46 hours, and most of the scenery looked like this.