Sample Presentation

   So first I want to say that Carrie's presentation was amazing. I think it was the best possible presentation to be the sample. She did a great job. For those of you who don't know about Carrie's project, she learned and preformed slam poetry and spoken word poetry. At the beginning of this project I would have described Carrie as not very outgoing and rather quiet. Now I can tell she is way more confident and sure of who she is. She preformed two poems; one she wrote and one was written by another poet. Her poem "Beautiful"  brought me to tears. I cannot do it justice here, you need to hear her preform it to really understand. Basically she redefines what beauty should be and expresses her outrage at society's ideas and stigmas about plus size women. I think it took so much courage and guts to be the first presentation. So props to you Carrie. Here are some of the notes I took at the presentation and ideas that I got during the presentation.

• maybe use a power point for organization only
• good eye contact is key
• passion!!! let it come through so that your audience feels it as well
• involve your audience

Show Reflection part 1

   So I'm exhausted, I got home from the show a little while ago. This is going to be a really short entry, I'll expand later but I just wanted to let you all know that Avalon and I made, drum roll please ...... over 600 dollars. :D yay!!! I think both of us think it was a huge success. We made a lot of money for the relief efforts and we had a great time doing it. I'll post a much longer entry in the coming days.

And Some More Matting

     So today I went in to Judy's room during first period and finished tacking dry mounting tissue, thats the actual name for the wax paper I was talking about, to the rest of my photos. After all of my photos were finished I started mounting my photos. I tack the edges to the mat board and then press the entire thing in a dry mounting press to stick the entire photo to the mat board. In 1st period I only got four photos mounted and I started panicking a little bit because I was worried about time. I went back 3rd period and I got in a groove. As one was being pressed I would start measuring the next photo so that I had something in the press continuously. I eventually ran out of mat board in the dimensions I needed so I called it a day.  Judy is cut me more sheets in the size I need for tomorrow so that I can finish up 1st period. All in all it was a very productive day and I got almost 30 pictures mounted. I have about 14 more photos to mount then I am finished. Wooo Hooo!!!! Now to focus on the show.

Finishing Matting and Other Stuff

   So on Friday I finished printing and I was able to trim all of the remaining photos so that on Tuesday I can start mounting right away. Wednesday is the Senior trip which means that I won't be getting any mounting done that day so I will have to get a lot done on Tuesday so that I don't fall behind. I will be finished mounting by the end of the week. I have three days.... and a little over 30 pictures to print. Which means that if I can do more than 10 a day I will be on track; lets hope I can. Crossing my fingers here. I'm also trying to think of a better way to hang my photos, as the fishing line might be too complicated and time consuming but I'm hoping it will work. I'm going to ask Adam Z on Tuesday about the possibility of the show staying up and open because that way more people will see it. I don't know if this is possible but we will see. Also by the end of the week I will have a more concrete idea and sketch of how I want my pictures hung. If the fishing line doesn't work I might just prop them up on the tables that have Avalon's ceramics. I will be making the cake balls on Saturday so that I'm not scrambling, more than needed, on Sunday.  I still need to make up price cards or stickers to put next to each piece. I also need to write up an artist statement and print out many copies of "Just a Horse." I think thats all for now.

Almost done printing!!!

    So today I went to Judy's room 3rd period and started to finish up the editing and printing. I continued printing into 4th period and by the end of 4th I had all but 9 pictures printed. Please realize that I had almost 36 pictures to print at the beginning of 3rd period. It was a VERY successful day!!! I'm really happy because my goal was to be done printing by tomorrow and now I will be able to finish printing and start matting all of my photos tomorrow. I'm very excited for my show now because I'm closer to finishing all the matting and such in time. I have all of next week to mat and I am positive that will be enough time. I will spend all of Sunday of the show finishing setting up for hanging and getting price stickers on the photos.

Progress and Setbacks

    So this week was my freakout week. I wasn't able to print for about two days and then when I tried printing in the library I wasn't allowed to. One of the librarians didn't want the printer being ruined by my photo paper. I told him that it shouldn't mess with the printer in any way because I have been printing on ink jet photo paper in a laser jet printer for the past two months and the photo classes have been printing like that all year but he didn't want me using his printers. So after I couldn't print in the library and I basically freaked. I was falling behind and I was afraid I wouldn't finish my printing and matting and I wouldn't be able to be ready for the show. I called my mom freaked out and once she calmed me down we went out to lunch so I could regroup. We decided that I would try printing at her work and if that didn't work we would think some more. Her work printer didn't produce a good enough quality print but my dad was able to figure out why the photos weren't printing at school and showed me how to make it work. I was then able to print a lot of photos today and I am feeling a lot better about the whole time issue. I plan on writing the rough drafts of all my presentation materials on Monday seeing as we have it off from school. I am planning on finishing printing this week and finishing printing next week. I'll then spend the weekend getting ready for the show. I'm back on track and ready for the show to be here.

Matting 101

    Ok so here is the entry about matting I said I would do a while back. The first step is to print out the photo on high quality paper. After the paper has cooled and the ink has dried the print is ok to be matted. Because all the photos are a different size they need to be trimmed. So Judy has a rotary cutter in her room and it can take off the tiniest of slivers of paper so its really good for precise trimming. Then there is a special wax paper which you tack to a corner of your photo. To tack the wax paper onto the photo you use a tacking iron. It basically melts the wax to the photo so you can attach the photo to the board. So you tack the wax paper in two opposite corners on the photo. The photo and wax paper are then trimmed till they are the same size. After they have been trimmed you have to select your mat board size and color. I usually use the same size for my photos and usually use a black background as opposed to a white background. Now on the photo with the wax paper there are two corners that you did not tack to the photo, once you line up the photo on the mat board you tack these two free corners to the mat board. You now have a photo that is tacked to the mat board. You then place the entire photo mat board combo into the press. Its basically a large flat clamp. It gets up to 225 degrees F and you close it onto the photo and hold for 30 seconds. This melts the remaining part of the wax paper to the photo and mat board, effectively gluing them together. If all of the wax paper does not melt then you press it for 10 second intervals until it is fully connected.

     That is how you mount a photo. 

In Class 23/5/11

     So Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been really busy with life. So today in class we wrote for about 15 minutes on what we have learned since the beginning of the year. We then shared what we wrote with a partner and then with the class. Kelvin brought up a good point that if you don't try you'll never succeed and I think that a lot of people subconsciously realize that this is true but they don't take it to heart and live by it, myself included. I want to do this for the last few weeks of my project. 

    This is what I wrote about in class yesterday.

    The biggest thing I think I've learned is to not be afraid of your project changing the direction that it is going in. I was dead set on one idea at the beginning of the year and when it came time to write proposals during the second semester my ideas had changed. Even then I thought I was going to do a collage of horses and I never ended up doing that. Also once you find a good idea that you like and think will interest you for an entire semester, go with it! I put two things that I loved together which kept me happy and interested for the semester. There are always going to be frustrations in your project but if you are flexible it works out in the end. You'll be surprised at where your project goes if you are flexible and work through the problems and conflicts. Another thing I learned is that WISE is a huge time commitment. I know a lot of people took this class because they liked the idea of having class only once a week for the second semester but it is a huge time commitment. I have been doing so much work in and out of school for this project and its somewhat exhausting. I have also learned that I don't do cold calls very well. I have balked at doing them all semester and I am finally doing two tomorrow. I am also going down to the shop on Cayuga street on Sunday. Its not the calls themselves its more of the anticipation of the call. 

    Thats all I wrote about, I'll be posting at least two more entries tonight, one on matting and one on my progress.

Art Show

    So Avalon and I met this morning to discuss the show and all of the logistics. We decided that Avalon would get the posters signed by Mr. Mills and then we would make a lot of copies and post them around the school. I am going to make a Facebook event and invite everyone to it.
     Hanging: I have decided to hang my pictures with fishing line. I am going to run a line across the windows in a zig zag fashion and then tie my pieces to the line. Avalon is planning on setting up her pieces along the walls on tables I believe.
    Food: I am making Cake balls. Cake balls are exactly what they sound like in that they are balls of cake. Once the cake is baked you crumble it up and mix frosting into it so that its moist. You then roll the cake into balls and dip them into a candy coating. I'm planning on making a batch of red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla. Yum. We are also planning on having a fruit platter with lots of yummy deliciousness.
    Sales: We decided that if a piece was purchased the buyer would be able to take it on the spot. They would pay us in either cash or personal check and then they could take it when they left. We also thought of having a donation box for people who don't want to buy a piece to contribute money.
     Cranes: Because this show and sale is for Japan, Avalon thought that we could make the idea more known by making origami cranes. I have tons of origami paper and we are going to place them around the room as a constant reminder of what the sale is for.

   We will be showing up an hour early to start setting up. I will be doing all of the loop making before hand so that all my pieces are ready to go once I get to Kulp. I have not gotten much farther in printing and I'm freaking out a little about that. I know it will get done by the show so I'm not freaking too much. I am also ordering my portfolio book soon, I'm excited!

Some more Progress

So this week I started printing, it was definitely frustrating at times because there is special photo paper that I use and its expensive so I switch the paper in the printer so that I can print but then sometimes other people print at the same time and end up using my photo paper which is a waste and it really pisses me off. Ughh oh well it hasn't happened too often yet. I then take the extra photo paper out of the printer to use for next time.

So far I have printed about 10 photos. The low numbers are from problems with the compatibility of my photography files to the photoshop at school. Unfortunately a number of them have not been compatible so I have had to switch computers until I find one that works. Its really frustrating and time consuming!!  Also I only have a 1 GB flash drive so it doesn't hold a lot of files, as I was trying to save the photos I had edited today I couldn't save more than 7 .psds because my flash drive couldn't hold any more files. It sucked.

Also another frustrating thing that happened today is that Judy wasn't there. This wasn't a problem in the beginning. I set up at one of the Macs and started editing all the photos I needed to. I had edited about 15 photos and then tried to start printing. Well thats when I realized that the art office was locked. The art office is where the printer is located. This meant that I was unable to print at all today. Had I been able to I would have almost 30 pictures printed. Grrrrr. oh well I am just going to go crazy with printing next week. I should have all 70 photos printed by next week and then I can start matting. I'll have an entry on this later.

Here are some of the Photos going in the show. It is one continuous quote. Also Avalon and I need to get together and figure out the logistics of the show very soon.

Updates

   So I had my AP Bio exam on Monday so I missed class but I have the assignment that is due on Monday so that is good. I have yet to have my mentor meeting this week I think I will be meeting Mrs. G on Friday so that is planned. I am now starting to print all of my photos. I haven't figured out exact payment with Judy yet but that will happen eventually. There is a special good quality paper that the photo classes print on and a gorgeous amazing printer and that is what I'll be using.  After all the photos are printed I will be matting them ( I'll have  another entry devoted to printing and matting). And then its the show. Wow this semester has gone by quickly. Only about four weeks till the show.  I still need to:

  -Print all 71 photos
  - Matt all 71 photos
  - Figure out how I'm going to hang all 71 photos (some will be on the same mat or next to each other)
  -Buy all the needed hanging materials
  -Get the show publicized!!!


 

  

    I think I'm pretty much done taking pictures for the show. I'll definitely continue taking pictures for WISE and my project itself but I'm pretty much done for the show. I'm happy with what I've created for the show and I really hope it goes well and we raise a ton of money for Japan.

   Also I really need to get together with Avalon soon so that we can discuss the logistics of the show.

These are a couple of the photos going in the show.


    Ooooh I just remembered!! I went to Judy's art opening a little while back and she had these cards there that were of dog noses (they're really cute my mom and I liked them alot!) and my mom suggested that I make something similar with horse faces and heads. She said I could do little post cards or cards and each would have horse faces on them. We'll see if it works out, maybe I would do it separate from the show because I don't know if I'll have time before then but I might try this after the show is finished, as another little project.

Pictures from Freeville

   Here are some of my favorite shots from the Freeville barn pictures. Enjoy and Happy Mothers Day!


  
   This is Sketchers, as I was walking around his paddock to get to the pastures he followed me along the fence line. So adorable! I love the texture of the fence here. I have a mini-series of shots like this.

   This is also Sketchers, he is the cutest most curious little pony. I love him already.

So the shorter horse that is closer to the camera is Sketchers again and the large Belgian in the background is Diesel. I love the size difference here. Sketchers can barely reach the top of the fence and Diesel is towering above the fence. I just love the contrast.

   I love the movement in this shot.

"Just a Horse"

   I went to Misty today and as I was putting my lunch into the fridge I started to read this paper that was on the front. It was called "Just a Horse." I immediately loved it, it was everything that I felt and couldn't put into words. I have decided that this will be the name of my healing series. "Just a Horse" I fell in love with it so much that I asked Holly if I could have a copy, she said I could take that one and she would print out another for the barn. So here it is "Just a Horse", Author Unknown.

     From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a horse,”or,”that’s a lot of money for just a horse”. 

They don’t understand the distance travelled, the time spent, or the costs involved for “just a horse.” 

Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a horse.” 

Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a horse,” but I did not once feel slighted. 

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by “just a horse,” and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “just a horse” gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it’s “just a horse,” then you will probably understand phrases like “just a friend,” “just a sunrise,” or “just a promise.”

 “Just a horse” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. 

“Just a horse” brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person. 

Because of “just a horse” I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

 So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a horse” but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. 

“Just a horse” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day. 

I hope that someday they can understand that it’s not “just a horse” but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “just a woman.”

 So the next time you hear the phrase “just a horse” just smile, because they “just” don’t understand.

Project in a Project

   So this past class we got an assignment. This assignment is to create another way of representing your project, a newspaper article or something like that. One of the options was to create a soundtrack for your project and this is what I plan to do. There is a minimum of 10 songs and I have to write a paragraph on each song that I include on my playlist. Obviously I'm going to include "Wild Horses" as that was a huge inspiration for my project. I also have alot of other songs I have in mind including "All the Pretty Little Ponies" and some others. I want this playlist to not only reflect my project in title but also in the lyrics. I'll be listening to my entire iTunes library soon so that I can figure out songs I want.
   Here are a couple of the photos I took at the barn out in Freeville.

Thank God for Dads

     Soooo you know how I lost like all 200 of my photos from the Freeville barn and I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I would have to go back and take all new pictures? Yeah well Dad to the rescue!!!! He used a recovery program to get the files back and now I have all of the pictures again. I cannot tell you how happy I am at the moment. My Dad just saved me so much time and energy!! I'm really excited to see how they really turned out. I'll post some pictures later. Thank you so much Daddy!!!

More edited photos

    I have edited almost 20 photos finished and edited. I still have a ton to edit and add text to but this is huge considering I got 20 done in two days! I love productiveness!! Also I have emailed three local photographers in regards to meeting up with with them to talk pricing, framing and hanging in general. Anyways here are some of the most recent photos with text, as well as some others that will not have text.

    Please leave a comment with any criticism, things you think I should change or that you like, thanks!!

Great!!!!! (please note the sarcasm)

    So the day started off really well, I got contact information of local photographers whom I will be contacting later in the week to make an appointment to visit their studios and talk with them about their photography. And also I went up to Healing Rein Farm and took lots of pictures.
    When I got to Healing Rein, a woman named Peggy was there to meet me, she told me that Lauren had taken a bad fall last night and was unable to meet me today. Good news is Lauren is ok. Also a funny little thing is that I knew Peggy from intercession polo, so that was cool. I learned that Judy, a teacher at my school, photography wonder who I am getting ideas from and just working in her room during free periods, leases a horse there. It was soo strange that of all the barns in the Ithaca area, this was the one that Judy, Peggy and other people I had heard of all ride there. So Peggy showed me around the farm, introduced me to Jodi as well as all the horses. I got tons of great shots and I was soo excited to edit them.

   Then disaster struck, somehow while I was importing my photos to my computer they got deleted. I mean gone, poof thats it. So pretty much an hours worth of photos were gone. :( UGHHH I had another SD card that had some pictures on it but out of 200 photos I got to import about 15. Soooo dejected right now.

      I'm going to have to make another time to meet Lauren at the barn so I can take pictures. I'm also going to ask Judy if I could go with her when she rides. In the meantime I will be continuing to edit the pictures I do have and making more appointments with friends and such to photograph their horses. Here is another picture I took on Saturday, yesterday, and edited.

Pictures from this weekend

    This is Annie Oakley from the Misty barn. She is a paint mare who we think is pregnant!! We're keeping an eye on her until we know for sure.

Happiness

    Pretty much I love my barn, I love the people there, they are amazing and we work really well together, I love teaching itty bitties how to ride and groom, I love seeing a girl who is crying terrified of being on a horse get off beaming because she had so much fun, and most of all I love the horses.
     I worked all day today. I got up at 6:15 and drove an hour to Misty, worked for 8 hours non-stop, then took pictures of our horses, and then drove another hour back home. Why do I drive so far for work you might ask, as gas prices are rising and I have to get up so early? Allow me to enlighten you.
    I love horses. I know I've said that before but being around horses makes me so incredibly content. I don't have to think about anything that is going wrong in my life, they are the perfect distraction for me. We had on little girl today burst into tears before she was even on her horse, just standing next to him, and by the end of her riding time she wanted to come back for summer camp. I don't know what it is but horses have a power over people.  She completely lost her fear because she had so much fun.
      Then in a later group of older girls one fell off. Keep in mind it was not the horse or rider's fault, things just happen. Now this particular horse, Spade, direct reins which means that the rider uses two hands to steer him and when Spade spooked the girl couldn't hold on to her saddle. I was at the opposite end of the arena when this happened and when I looked over at the sound of Spade spooking all I saw was this tiny little girl parallel to the ground without a horse under her. She landed and literally bounced right up again. And there she was up walking around wanting to get back on Spade. She was completely fine. Oh and this was her first time ever riding a horse. She was so happy to be on a horse that even falling off couldn't stop her.
   This is why I do what I do, the joy that it brings is worth every dollar I pay in gas to get there.  Also as I was walking around in the paddock after all the horses been turned out, I was so content. Like nothing that went wrong outside of that paddock could touch me. As I said in a earlier post that I had been lagging a little bit in my work, this is exactly what I needed to get me going again. I have found that thing that is going to kick my project work into high gear.
  Here is another one of the pictures I edited and one that I took today unedited.

Mentor Meeting 4/29/11

    So today I had my mentor meeting with Mrs. G. we talked about my progress so far. The one thing that has been my biggest problem so far is getting out of my comfort zone. I have talked about this before but I haven't really done a lot to address this predicament. So my assignment for this weekend is to get the contact information of two local photographers and then follow up and make appointments to meet with them and talk about photography.
   On the up side I edited four photos today, adding text and just making sure that they are ready for me to print. I should be able to start printing wednesday of next week. I cannot wait to have the actual pictures in my hands. Thats when I'll start getting excited!! Lauren also texted me asking if I could go up to the barn either Saturday or Sunday as Jodi, the owner of the barn, was gone next week. Sunday actually worked perfectly for me so I am planning on going to the barn and meeting Lauren and Jodi then. I can't wait!!
    I am at Misty all day Saturday and we have our first program so that should be fun. I can't wait to see my ponies again. Thats all for now, here is one of the photos with text that I edited today.

Questions Answered

   So I just emailed Jenna, who I used a picture from in an earlier entry, about her thoughts on setting prices, how does she set her prices and also framing, does she frame her pieces for a show?
   She got back to me and said she does tend to frame her pieces with a simple frame and mat border. In regards to pricing she said that it very much depended on the print, whether or not it was just from a shoot or if it was edited and more time put into it. I emailed her back with more information and details so we'll see what she says.
   Also I am going to talk to Judy more about how she likes to display her photos during a show. I also am going to ask her to critic my photos, I have been editing based off of what I like and what people have said but I really want an opinion outside of my friends to critic them.

30 Days

   So there are 30 days left of my senior year!!! :D yay!!! But that means that there are even less until my show and presentation. :O eeek!! I have approximately one month until the art show that Avalon and I are doing and I have yet to start printing... Oh crap.
        That is what I'm thinking at the moment because while I realize that this is plenty of time to print all that I want I also need to finish my Healing series. The editing doesn't take that long so its just a matter of taking the pictures. My goal for next week is to have at least 20 pictures printed and hopefully 10 of those twenty matted. This shouldn't take very long because I have 3 free periods in a row that I can spend printing and editing in Judy's room. Once I get into the swing of printing it won't take long. Also I hope that I can go out to the barn in Freeville soon so that I can get different pictures. I'm trying to set up times to take pictures of my friends riding their horses but so far our schedules haven't worked out. Oh well I'm sure I'll have time soon. As I edit the new pictures I'll be printing and matting so that I will have enough for my series in June. In addition to the series I will also be showing additional pieces that are outside of the healing series.

Once again, more photos

    This is Dunkin again. Haha he moves very well and looks pretty while doing it so I end up taking a lot of pictures of him. He's also a goofball. I'm going down to Misty this Saturday so I'll be able to get more pictures then. Its our first program of the season so hopefully it will go over well. I'll also post some of the polo nationals photos that I took during the awards ceremonies.

     Once again this is Puddin'. When I go to Misty again I'm going to try to ride some of the different horses so that I can take pictures of the ones I was riding last time. We'll see how that works out. I'm just happy to be back riding again.

More Photos

    This is Puddin' again he was obviously exhausted after doing almost nothing on the first day back.


   In other news, Lauren and I have decided that we are going to wait to take pictures at her barn until the weather gets nicer. I'm really excited and I can't wait.

    Also I'm really shocked at how nice people are. I mean I know that people are nice and all but some of the people I have contacted have gone out of their way to help me or to give me other contacts. I guess I'm just kind of realizing that to get help or suggestions I really just need to ask. That was my revelation of the day :). Thats all for now.

More Photos and More Opportunities!!

    Here are some more of the photos that are in the running for the contest entry.

    This is Puddin' and for some reason I really like this picture. I can't quite put my finger on why but I like it never the less.











     This is Dunkin again, I love how the light catches his body here.

      So I might have another place to photograph some different horses. Susan gave me a contact for Lauren who rides at a barn in Freeville. Lauren is willing to show me around so that I can take pictures. I'm really excited because these are different horses. So they are something new to photograph.  Lauren asked for copies of the photos in return which I am very happy to give. Thats all for now. 

   PS. The polo national championship finals are tomorrow at 1:30 and 3:30. Cornell women play the UVA women first then Cornell men play the UVA men. You should all come out and watch!!

Back in Town

   So I'm finally back from visiting my grandparents and other relatives in Canada. It was really good to see them, seeing we hadn't seen them in a while. We also stopped in at Guelph :) and got lots of Guelph apparel.
    On to my project, I took pictures at Misty last saturday, however as it was the first day of riding and working with the horses there was a lot to do and therefore I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. Of the ones I got however there are definitely some that I love and are potential entries for the photo contest. Some of my favorites are below. Enjoy. Also I'm going to make it a goal to have at least one post a week have some of my pictures in it because I looked back at some of my posts and there are a ton without pictures. Seeing as my project is on photography I should include more photos.
        

   This is Dunkin, he is a 6 year old gelding and acts like a 3 year old. He is an adorable palomino paint with bald face. Basically that means that he has a yellow and white body, palomino paint, and a white face marking that goes all the way around his eyes, bald face.
   I love the way the dust caught the light in this picture.

    This is Puddin'. He is a chestnut gelding who used to do team penning and barrel racing I believe. I love how the motion shows in this picture.

Photo Contest

     Eeeeepp!!! So I have decided to enter Horse Illustrated's 2011 Photo Contest. The theme of the contest, in honor of Horse Illustrated's 35th anniversary is Celebration. Any photo that captures some form of celebration is eligible. The contest is open to amateur photographers only and one entry per person. This means that I have to figure out which one I want and be confidant in my decision. I will be putting up an album on facebook of pictures that I would consider and then I will have people vote. I will be adding to that album as I get more pictures. The last date of entry is June 1st however to put my mind at ease I will be entering by May 31st.
    I have no expectations going into this. yes I would love to win or be a runner up but this is a huge competition and while I'm hoping to win I do realize that it most likely won't happen. Oh well this is a good step in making my art public.

Last Polo

     So I just got back from my last Wednesday night polo ever, well at least until I'm back on  breaks next year. Speaking of polo, the national championships for men and women's intercollegiate teams are being held during my April break which is next week. This means that a huge bunch of teams are coming in from around the country, most of them with their strings (usually 2 horses per person, 4 people per team, men's and women's teams) I have no idea how many horses that is but its a lot and we try to fit them all into the barn or trailers in the parking lot. Pretty much the back of the barn is complete chaos. I mean chaos! At any given time there are twenty people back there shouting and trying to get horses ready for the next game, two playing strings (3 horses per playing team so 6 total per chucker), multiple coaches trying to talk strategy before the game and our high school team running around attempting to keep the barn in order. Then in the arena there are 8 horses and people in the ring playing a chucker (7:30 minutes with stoppage for a walk break ie. the horses walk around to cool down and catch their breath and any fouls or injuries) there are four chuckers to a game and if there is a tie the game goes immediately to shootout I believe. As this is happening all of next week I'm hoping to get a lot of pictures, not necessarily of the games them selves but of the chaos in the back. I am gone Monday through Wednesday so I will miss those games but I will get to see the finals and some prelim games.
      Also happening in the near future is the barn I work at getting all of our ponies and horses in for the summer. This is super exciting because it means that I will have many different horses to photograph as well as extended periods of time to take pictures. A lot of my healing series will be done here at Misty.
    I think those are all the updates for now.

"Out of the Rut"

       So here is the list I promised. I think that I am going to do one of these lists per week for the rest of the year well at least I'll try.
  
Planning: 7 Things I want to accomplish in the next week.

1. Fully plan the healing series for the art show
2. Start printing and matting photos from ones I already have taken (won't get alot of these done because of break next week)
3. One entry per day
4. Start photographing for the healing series. Lots over break!
5. Start the poetry for my healing series
6. Finish/Confirm dates and info for show with Avalon
7. Get Judy's input on my photos (why didn't I think of this earlier? oh well)

Recording: 4 ways my project has changed thus far.

1. I will no longer be doing the collage. I'm a little disappointed because I was so excited about this at the beginning of my project but I have decided to focus on the healing series.
2. I am going to do a public art show! This will get my photos out to the general public instead of just people I know
3. I'm going to try taking equine therapy photos if I'm allowed to
4. I'm adding words to a lot of my photos

Ideas and a Community Contact

     So I have finally nailed down my series idea: Healing. It works with the whole Japan earthquake, hope in the aftermath theme that Avalon has and it also works with my project because horses are able help us heal in so many different ways. Therapeutic Riding is a growing occupation that is helping more and more people in need each year. Here is a list of some of the conditions and challenges that NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) helps with. 

• ADD or other Hyperactivity Disorder
• Amputation
• At risk-youth
• Attention deficit disorder
• Autism
• Cerebral palsy
• Developmental delay
• Down syndrome
• Emotional, behavioral difficulties
• Family counselling
• Grief counselling
• Learning disabilities
• Muscular dystrophy
• Multiple sclerosis
• Paralysis
• Reactive attachment disorder
• Spina bifida
• Spinal cord injury
• Strokes
• Substance addiction and abuse
• Terminal illness
• Traumatic brain injuries
• Visual and auditory impairment
• Weight Control Disorders

(www.narha.org)


    Horses are also able to just listen. Somehow they know exactly how and when to make you smile. No matter what. And a good ear that can never tell your secrets is always better than a gossip.
   I got an email address of a woman my mom works with whose daughter goes to a therapeutic riding center near Cortland. I am going to email her to ask about the center as well as how her daughter likes it. I'll also ask for the contact information of this center to see if I could come and take pictures for my project.

Class Notes 4/11/11

       So today we were given an assignment in class which was to read a classmate's journal and respond to it. We also had to write a list of things to improve upon in this last bit of school. I will be posting this in a little while. I am reading Paul's blog for the partner share. I really like his blog. I sing and do musicals but I've never really learned all the chords and keys and stuff like that so to read a blog that is about music and explains it for people who don't know the structures. The only thing I think he could add is maybe putting up a copy of the music he is writing. I think it would be really cool if the people reading his blog could see the actual music he is creating.  Overall his blog is really good.

I have a life again :DD

     So "The Wiz" is over and I am not heading straight into anything which means that I have soo much time now!!! This is great because now I will have a lot of time to work on my project. The horses come to my barn on Thursday!!! I'm really excited  because I get to ride a lot more often now and I get to see all of my friends more often. Having 12 horses that I see regularly means I have many more opportunities to take pictures. Last year during photo class I took pictures at my barn and most of the pictures turned out really well. I can't wait to start working the horses again because I get to ride and take pictures of the horses I love.

Wow. Inspiration

      So I just read Avalon's latest post and I am in absolute awe of her right now. She decided to create three series of pieces, all revolving around Hope. You need to read it to understand how cool her idea is!! I am soo inspired by her idea that I am going to do a similar one not exactly the same but I do like the idea of a series that has a purpose instead of just being a series. I want to do a play off of her idea that is distinctly mine but has a same common theme.
    I haven't had a lot of time to hash this out yet, so there aren't many details, but I'm excited about this and once "The Wiz" is over I'm going to have a lot more time.

      If you haven't seen "The Wiz" yet it is an amazing show and you should all come see it!!!

Mentor Meeting 3/31/11

     Wow. Its the end of March already. This means that I now have less than two months to complete my project. :O Today Mrs G and I talked about my coming week. I have tech week for "The Wiz" and I will not have any time what so ever to take pictures so in leu of taking pictures I will be doing a lot of research. So far I have read two books that I will elaborate on at a later date and I have started looking through my huge book of horses. We'll see how much actually gets written about in a timely fashion. Thats all for now.

WISE Notes 4/4/11

      So today we finished up the show and tell that we started last week. John played a recording of him playing five of eight parts  to his piece. It sounded so cool and it was kinda weird to think that every part was him playing. Dana also played one of his songs that he created and it was really good. I'm a little surprised, not because I didn't think that Dana could produce a good song but, at the fact that most of the people involved are in high school. I guess I never really realized the talent we have outside of the theatre people. We were then threatened with a lap around K in the pouring rain because we were all so dead to the world.
   Once again I will remind everyone that "The Wiz" is going to be amazing!! And that everyone should come see it!!

BUSY!!!!!!

      So "The Wiz" opens on Thursday. ON THURSDAY!!!!!! Oh my gosh that is soon, so this is what we theatre people affectionately refer to as hell week. Meaning that we pretty much get up for school in the morning and don't leave until the end of rehearsal at 10pm that night. We have food delivered to us by our loving parental units or by a delivery guy, change out of costume, eat, get back into costume and continue with the show. Up to this point we haven't teched, figured out the lighting and sound cues and scene changes, the entire show. We have made it half way through act two. That thought is a little nerve racking. This week is spirit week so you will see all of us in the show walking around in crazy outfits. How does this relate to my project you might ask, well you see, seeing as I will most likely be spending almost every waking hour at the school this week I can't go to polo to take pictures or anywhere else for that matter. This means almost no hands on work this week, which is somewhat disappointing. Oh well, it just means that I will be able to get a lot of research done, which is good because I haven't really done a ton of research up to this point or posted the research I have done. So please do not expect many pictures from me this week, I may put up some older ones but there won't be any new ones :(
   If you are reading this you should come to "The Wiz" on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm in the newly renovated Kulp Auditorium. It is going to be an amazing show and you would be supporting a WISE project, Casey W. is doing this show experience as his WISE project so come see it!!

Life and Death

    So I went on another college visit today and I think that I am about ready to decide where I want to go for college!! AHHHH crazy!!!
    So on to my project. I am still reading "Chosen by a Horse" and I love it still. Actually scratch that. I just finished it and I bawled my eyes out. The way that Richards was able to convey the loss and love of a horse is amazing. I have worked with three horses that had to be put down.
     Snickers coliced and had to be euthanized, we had sent him to Cornell to see if he could be saved but unfortunately his owner did not want to pay for the surgery bills. This was when I was a camper at Misty Hollow, we lease the horses from April to October and therefore his owner had the final say. For those of you who don't know, colic in a horse is when there is a food blockage or other obstruction in the intestine. Horses are not able to throw up and relieve themselves of the blockage that way so the only thing to do is walk them, the walking helps to move blockage sometimes resulting in passage of the blockage. In extremely bad cases the intestine can twist itself so that even walking does not help. Snickers had a pretty bad case, all riding was canceled that day and our barn staff stayed up the entire night walking him. Unfortunately the next morning he was sent to Cornell and didn't come back. I had been riding him the day before and was really sad to see him go, he was a spirited little horse.
     Then there was Zoe. She was the oldest most decrepit mare in our barn. She had a limp when she walked and we fed her so much food to keep weight on. Zoe was narcoleptic, which means that she falls over when she falls asleep. To be sure that this wouldn't happen we had to watch her constantly while she was being ridden. Sometime during her journey back home she must have had a narcoleptic episode because when her owner had gotten home and opened the trailer she was down. Unfortunately she didn't get up and they presumed her dead and therefore left her in the trailer overnight until a grave could be dug. When her owner went out the next morning she was standing up eating hay that was left in the trailer. Her owner then decided to let her live out the summer at pasture and then would put her down before winter
    Baby was a polo horse that I just met last year. She was so inquisitive and full of life. She had a tick in which she would always play with her bit and flap her lips together. She got an infection in her eye and had to get medication. She went blind in one eye and was moved to a different barn to live out her life. Unfortunately she then went blind in both eyes and had to be put down. A horse can live blind in one eye, we have one at my barn, but being blind in both eyes is a death sentence.
      It sucks to see all these gorgeous horses put down before it was their time to go but  its nice to know that they didn't have to suffer anymore than was necessary.

Class Notes 3/28/11

WISE class meeting 3/28/11

1.     Money?

2.     Self Assessment

3.     Friends help friends research

4.     Show and tell

    So Mrs G had an idea for a a fundraiser that would benefit the WISE program. She wanted to know if we wanted to put on a WISE night for the community that featured all of the WISE student's work. My class didn't really care. I think that we wanted a night but none of us wanted to put in the time needed to pull off an event like this. We were then made to run around K building to wake up. After we all filed back into class we were handed our self assessment. This is due on Friday as that is when the marking period ends. Also as an aside, I am going to try to write every day this week. It might not work because I have rehearsal almost every day but I am going to try.

    Then we started show and tell. Miriam went first and talked a little about the tape that is used in athletic training, Paul went second and showed us a music theory book that not many of us understood. Alexi then shared his journal in which he jots ideas and expands, David brought a book that explored the relationship between eastern mysticism and physics. Now I have no knowledge about physics what so ever but David's WISE project sounded really cool! I don't normally focus on philosophy a lot, but this sounded intriguing. Erin brought in some sketches that are going into her children's book, they looked amazing. I wish I could draw that well! Marley then showed us some of her favorite wire wrapping magazines, Gabe brought his mouth piece to his saxophone and played a few notes for us. Marcel brought his journal that he uses for notes and research, his fact of the day was that one in every two and a half people will die of heart disease. That is so scary! That was about it for class. 

Happiness Revisited

       Sorry I haven't kept you all updated. I was away all weekend on college visits AHHHHH decisions!!!!! So I was unable to work on my project hands on over the weekend. I did, however continue reading a book by Sarah Richards, who wrote "Saddled," called "Chosen by a Horse" I really like it. Richards puts the connection with horses onto paper very well.
      So on to the homework assignment. This week we were supposed to read a story called "Happiness Revisited", hence the title, and answer questions about it.
  1) When do you feel most happy?
   I feel most happy when I am around horses. Whether it is watching, cleaning or riding, if I am in a barn I am happy. The sense of comfort and contentment is amazing. Even if I am frustrated while working with a bratty horse I am still content amazingly. horses have this 6th sense where they know if you are upset or really excited and will act accordingly. I get horses and they get me and honestly thats all that matters sometimes.
  2)  React/respond to the article.
    I agree with a lot of the points of the article. I definitely think that we do things that we think will make us happy. If they don't make us happy we tend to not do them; however, I think we do sometimes do things that may make us unhappy short term but happy long term so overall it makes us happy.
  3) Where are you on the flow chart?
    I think I have almost achieved flow. Because I haven't really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone I don't think I have yet achieved flow however I am not completely bored because I work with animals that have minds of their own.
  4) How has this changed or remained the same throughout your project?
    I would say I was farther from flow at the beginning of my project because I wasn't consciously thinking about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone so I was a little bit bored but I have come closer as my project has progressed.
  5) How can you achieve flow?
    I can achieve flow by challenging myself more. I stay in my comfort zone too much and therefore my project is not enough of a challenge for me. To do this I need to do things I do not normally do such as interview people I don't know and take pictures I haven't taken before.

Collaboration :D

   So one of my friends Avalon, who is also doing WISE, is planning on selling her pottery pieces with all of the proceeds benefitting Japan. I absolutely loved this idea because we get our work seen and we're helping people in need at the same time. So I approached her about the possibility of me also using that idea and selling my photos with the proceeds going to Japan. She agreed and then said that her mentor had suggested she do a joint art show with another person in WISE and asked me if I wanted to do a joint art show. I thought this was an awesome idea because now I can sell my photos to benefit Japan and collaborate with a friend. Avalon also pointed out that we will hopefully get more people there because we will both showing pieces. We will be planning more later so I'll keep you updated.

The Latest Photos

    So these are a few of my favorite pictures I've taken from the past few weeks. This photo on the left is of Clara and the one on the right is Pico. Pico is such a character, he is so inquisitive, I love it.


These are a couple of people from Wednesday nights. I love the action in this shot.

The one to the above is of Marrissa, she is a grouch so to catch her looking happy is a pretty big feat.

Below is David's horse Desi. She is a gorgeous dapple grey, she is in training to play polo right now.

Mentor Meeting 3/22/11

    So I had a mentor meeting with Mrs G. on Monday and it went very well. We talked a lot about how I am doing well with my project but I am not pushing myself out of my comfort zone. So my mission for this week is to push myself outside of my comfort zone
      She suggested that I do an enrichment program at one of the elementary schools. For those of you who don't know, enrichment is a bunch of programs that are open to elementary kids. People from around the community come for an hour after school to teach classes on a variety of topics. Unfortunately elementary school ends at 2:00 and enrichment starts at 2:05 and goes until 3:05 this is smack dab in the middle of my 7th and 8th period classes and I can't miss those. I am going to think about solutions to this problem because leading an enrichment class for an hour once a week for 8 weeks would definitely put me outside of my comfort zone.
      Another suggestion was going to local coffee shops and asking if I could display some of my work for a while. I mentioned the fact that I was thinking of holding a photo show at my house and Mrs G. was a little hesitant because she really wants me to get out of my comfort zone and therefore my house with people I know might be too comfortable. I totally understand this and I think thats why I was leaning towards holding the show at my house because it would be more comfortable for me.
   Mrs G. also suggested that I interview a local photographer. I talked to Judy but I know her rather well and I am comfortable with her so talking to Judy wouldn't be getting out of my comfort zone. One of the photos I used in one of my earlier was taken by Jenna at Jenna Leigh Teti Photography. Jenna said that I could email her with any questions or to just talk about photography in general. I think that I will take advantage of her offer and see how she got into photography. I am also planning on contacting a friend's mom, who is an equine vet at cornell, and seeing if I could get in to take pictures of a workout on the treadmill or something like that.
    I also need to talk to Judy soon to see if she would be willing to let me print my photos at school using school paper. I would pay for the paper and ink I used. If I can't print at school then I will have to find another place to print.
     I think thats all for now. I will be posting pictures of my long exposure experiment and some nice Wednesday night polo pictures at a later date.