When the Sun Sets in the East, It Means Business

Yesterday i did something that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I packed up my camel-back with my camera, tripod, bug spray, and pop-tarts, put a bandanna around my head, and took a hike. I climbed up behind the school to the highest wooded hill within walking distance. After about a half hour a was far enough away from civilization to really start noticing the beauty around me, as cheesy as that sounds. I pulled out my camera and started snapping. About 347 snaps later my camera died. I really need to invest in multiple extra batteries if I am ever going to take a s many pictures as I want.

Anyways, I found some interesting things, no surprise, about photography and nature.
 1) Its hard to take a picture of wind. It was very gusty up there and at one point there was a young tree being whipped around so violently I thought it might uproot. I thought wow, if only I could capture that intensity in a picture. I have to say even though i tried multiple angles and shutter speeds, I failed to get a "windy" picture.


Random, but Can you see the rabbit face and ears? ----------->

2)Patterns make cool pictures, and if anyone knows patterns its God. Every living or once living thing has patterns, and it was fun to find them. Trees, insects, rocks, you name it. Circles, stripes, lines, and other shapes were everywhere.


3) Butterflies are very proud creatures and will pose for you, but they will not stick around for second chances. I spent about an hour in the dirt and leaves following butterfly after butterfly.

 Can you find the butterfly?

 I learned patience and am realizing the art of quick adjustment. I also was able to start anticipating the butterflies movements. They are pretty smart. To keep from getting blown away by the wind, they would face directly away from the wind current and close their wings tightly.

This makes them almost perfectly 2-dimensional and streamlined. The strongest wind didn't effect them at all! I quickly found out that the perfect time to capture a picture of them was at a particular moment right after the wind died down. Every time, the butterfly would shake and then spread its wings down to their full extension, just once, then fly away and find another sunny spot. It was a great convenience too, that the wind just happened to be coming from the east, so the setting sun shown fully on the back of the wings so you can see the color.

Going off of that, I give you...
4) Nature is full of visually dramatic images without the aid digital enhancing. My goal is to learn to take great pictures that don't need to be redone once I upload them to my computer.The experiment of the hike yesterday was to be at the highest point of sight, overlooking the valley and take pictures of a Virginian sunset, using the the sun as dramatic lighting for my pictures. Boy did I get a show!

I wish I had ten clones of me running around that hilltop snapping pictures of everything that cast a cool orange shadow or lit up when hit by the sun rays just right.

The colorful part of the sunset only lasted maybe 10 minutes and every time I thought I got the best, most dramatic and colorful shot, the clouds would move slightly or the sun would drop another couple inches and the whole view changed.

When one door closes, it makes it easier to draw on

Day 1: So I got my door, or whatever that hulk of wood is. I then had to come up with something to draw on it. I consulted with a very wise woman, yes mom thats you, who jokingly said draw an avatar! as funny as that was it got me thinking and I quickly came up with the vision of an Indian in some woods. Instead of showing a warrior or a hunter, my idea was to portray this man in harmony with nature, playing a peace flute and with his hand resting on a tree. I did some research, and I decided to draw a portrait of an american Indian from Virginia, familiar with the blue ridge mountains and the Chesapeake bay. The clothing, hair decor, tall background trees, and flute are representative of that.

Here is the door, weighing in at about 200 lbs.

me working on the outline. living it up in the ol suspenders!

I took sandpaper to certain parts to show highlights, it worked fabulously.

Day 2: The feet were very hard, but the hands were harder. it was very windy that day and so the acrylic, which is already a quick drying medium, dried instantly. Luckily its a water based paint so with a wet cloth it came right off. Its good and bad, cus you cant do much layering if you keep having to wipe it all away.

Day 3: Finished product.

Head detail. The wood finish or veneer was super glossy, so there was a horrible glare the whole time. Made the tiny details a pain to do. 

Tada!!!!!