I’m going to take a different approach to this blog.  Instead of writing about photography, I’m going to write about whatever.  But don’t fret, I’ll still post pictures!!!

Matt & I are in full swing on our journey to marital bliss.  Only 24 more days until “the big show”.  We are both incredibly excited to have our family & friends help us celebrate.

The above picture was taken a few years back, but in my hometown of Altoona, WI.  Becuase the train runs right through the town, we were affectionaly called the “Altoona Railroaders”.  People laugh when I tell them my HS mascot was a train.  They are just jealous they were something completely unoriginal like The Torjans or The Mustangs.  Sad for them.

This is one of the pictures I am most proud of.  I love the vibrant green, the simplicity, the contrast of the brown on the green, the cow on the hill way off in the distance, the color of the sky.  I could go on….and on….  Not to mention the memories behind this photo.  It was taken on my “road trip” with my best friend while in Germany.  We took a long drive from Northern Germany to Munich.  Driving in a foreign country is not as easy as it may seem.  We passed this farm, and I made Sara turn around so I could take some pictures.  This happened to be one of them.  Something about it reminded me of home, Wisconsin. 

I hope you enjoy it just as much as I do.

There is something eerie about these swings.  Maybe because they are at an abandoned house.  Or because there are no happy children around.  Or maybe because its winter & they look so lonely.  I don’t really know, but something about them draws me in. 

The picture was taken right before Chrstimas 2007.  It was actually a fairly warm day out, not to mention not a cloud in the sky.  The perfect winter day for picture taking.  On the way to a friends house, I passed this abandoned ‘farm’.  The house had broken windows, the shed was tilting to the south, there barn had a whole in the roof, and of course, the swings were abandoned.  It makes me wonder what happened.  Did the owner die & family didn’t care about the house?  Did it just become in habitable?  Why did they leave the swings? 

I originally shot the picture in color.  It still looked a little eery, but for the full affect I made it black & white.  I, personally, feel shooting in color and then changing the photo to black & white after makes for a better B&W photo.  If shot in color, the color data allows you to have more control over the end result.

Fast forward to tonight.  It was about 8:30 PM and just before dusk.  I let Lucy out to potty and as I was calling her back in the house, a figure on the street caught my eye.  At a quick glance, I thought it was just someone on the street, then I looked again, and I thought it was Andrea.  WE made eye contact.  I let Lucy in the house and saw this figure walk past the front.  I had this feeling it was Andrea and she was lost.  I told Matt what I thought, and he said she’d probably be fine.  After 5 min. of worrying, I aksed Matt to drive through the neighborhood with me.  After going up & down 2 streets, I saw 2 cars pulled over talking to eachother, one of them really looked like the SUV I see in Andrea’s driveway.  I said to Matt “Should I roll down the window & tell them I think I saw Andrea a few minutes ago?” and he sai d”no, lets keep driving”.  So we did.  We drove down another street, finally taking a Right onto Bayaud, right in front of Andrea’s house.  I thought “do I knock on the door?” and just as I thought that, the SUV I saw a few seconds ago pulled in the driveway and out stepped Andrea. 

She made it home safe & sound…but yet I’m still bothered by it.  I feel so bad for her.  Maybe I should have said “Hola Andrea” when I first thought I saw her & walked her home.  Does she have dimentia & wonders off?  Does her family get mad at her when she gets lost?  I’m considering letting her family know I’ll pick her up 3 nights a week to take her for a walk through the neighborhood, just so she’s supervised. 

I guess I shouldn’t worry.  She’s not on the streets, she’s home where its warm, dry, & comfortable.

On a happier note…here are pictures of possibly the 2 cutest kids in the world.  My niece, Abby & Nephew, Gabe.

a bug

This picture is also from the sinclair station.  I took it because I loved that even though this place appears to have been abandoned for years, it still had a note (in fairly good form) on the door wanting to collect the electricity bill.  What a pleasant suprise I had when I went to process the pictures and saw the bug on the door too.  I think the bug adds so much to the picture!  Now I look forward to reviewing all the pictures I take, just in case I’ve captured an unexpected object.

The Lost Sinclair

A few years ago I was on a road trip with my friend to see her family.  We passed this abandoned Sinclair station on the way.  The whole entire weekend I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I loved this sinclair station.  I loved how it was run down, abandoned, in the middle of no where, slightly still preserved, and its character. 

I took the opporutnity on Sunday to snap a few pictures of them as they just bloomed.  They were perfect.

Tonight I used Adobe Lightroom to “develop” them.  I just adjusted the color to make them more vibrant.  What a difference!

**side note…I just let the dog out, only to see tulip petals scattered around the backyard.  I guess Lucy, the dog, also enjoyed them!