Before and After

So yesterday, after it really hit me that school was over for the semester, I started to edit all the photos that I didn't have time to touch during school. I came across one that while cool, seemed hopeless. It was too dark; hard to tell what was going on-- I wasn't sure if I was going to post it on facebook or not. ((Sad side note, that's where my pictures are put. Facebook. Where no one ever looks at them. I put some up on DA but it takes forever to upload one photo-- and you have to name every one.))

Anyway, I just started to mess around on photoshop, trying to salvage the photo. I remember what the scene looked like to my eye-- I tried to recreate it. Below are the fruits...haha...of my labor. :)


BEFORE:

AFTER:

...c'est finis?

...it's over.

First semester. Over. Gone. Done with. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that finals are over. I have never been through something so stressful and difficult. I just finished my last final. And I just checked my grades-- I have that one A, calculus, required to keep my scholarship.

I guess I'm just in shock. It hasn't hit me yet that it's all over. It'll probably hit me tomorrow night, or the next day, as I drive to my grandparents house. It'll hit me that all my friends that I made this semester will be gone, and I won't see them for a month. O.O Granted, I'll get to see my friends back home, so that will be fun too.

Still...after all the stress...after all the hard work...first semester is over. It's odd-- I had just constructed a new routine that I'll now miss. I'll miss have physics three times a week with all the guys I met. I'll miss having Calculus with Lauren four times a week. I'll miss my amazing Cal teacher. I'll miss my journey's class, and all the amazing people I had it with.

Though I must say, I am really looking forward to a month full of sleep and relaxation. I feel like I need it-- finals really killed me. I've gotten so little sleep, and so much stress lately. And now all I can do is wait for the grades to be posted.

But until then! I figured that I would post a couple pictures of our decked out for Christmas dorm room. I never did post any pictures of the dorm like I said I would....;)

Snow Pictures

So this morning was my Physics exam. It actually was better than I thought it would be-- I think I did decent on it; though it will probably be a while before I know my grade.

Anyway, before we head home to pick up a friend, I had some down time and decided to finally get around and edit my snow pictures. ;)

I had to take an out of focus picture simply because I love the dreamy way it paints the scene. It gets rid of all the small distracting details and presents you only with the large picture.

We had only got a dusting of snow so our snowman was a baby one ;)

Snow Day

At least that's what today felt like. ;) In reality, it wasn't like college was closed for the brief dusting of snow we received. However, class are over....and finals have begun. I'm lucky as I have until Friday for my first final-- and reading day started on Tuesday. So both Tuesday and Wednesday and most likely Thursday were comprised of a weird combination of sleep and intense-- or at least the attempt there of-- study. My hardest final, physics, is on Friday and I'm worrieedddd. I would love to have a later post saying how the final really wasn't my worst nightmare in hellish reality and that in fact it went rather well, and I escaped with a B in the class. However, while the teacher did assure me that most likely I would end up with a B in the class, providing I didn't bomb the test, I'm still worried.

After all, I'm supposed to be a Physicist. Are they supposed to be good at Physics? It's just so different from everything that I have ever done. I love it. I love the moments when all the fog flies away and I realize that I can describe the physical world with math. I keep telling myself that's what matters-- that I enjoy it, not that I don't have a natural knack for it.

We watched Water for Elephants last on Monday night. Also, I died my hair red Monday night. Hahaha I may post pictures last. Anyway! The point of this was to say that while watching the movie all I could do was think 'that could have been me'. Not the whole circus act but Robert Patterson's character. The vet. That was almost me. I wanted to be a large animal vet until I was like sixteen. I had it all planned out-- I wanted to work outdoors, I wanted to go from farm to farm, doctoring the cattle, the sheep, the horses, goats, chickens, whatever need help.

And now I'm on my way to become an Astrophysicist and quite possibly an astronaut. Sometimes I wonder if I was really sure when I turned down the idea of being a vet. What I wanted, was really James Heriot's job. He was a farm vet in the 1930s over in England. I told myself that things had changed, that my job would be different. Vets have become crazy specialized since then. I heard the horror stories about how arrogant horse people are. Eventually I fell in love with the heavens and everything changed. I can barely imagined what things would be like if I had kept true to my first dream. I wouldn't be at Hendrix; I think there was one school in Arkansas that had veterinary sciences. I wouldn't be surrounded by the people I am now-- it would be a lot more country folk. It's not like I ever thought that the job would be glamorous so I wouldn't be surprised by the blood mud and guts I would have to deal with.

It's just so weird to think about how everything could be totally different. Normally I don't think about it, but watching the movie, as Robert Patterson's character doctored the horses, it just reminded me.

That could have been me.

So close

...and yet so far. Finals are coming up-- the end of the semester is coming up, Christmas break is coming up. It seems like we are just so close to leaving, yet so far, seeing how finals are the barrier standing between me and break. o.o

Oy.

Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures in an attempt to procrastinate from studying for finals. ;)

I love the dreamy, out of focus vibe on this one...

I love the vintage feel of this-- as if it was shot during WWII and not a week ago.

Berries of the Gods

So this morning I ventured out into my yard. It was cloudy, but I knew that it was only going to get worse and start raining this afternoon so I figured I would get some shots in while I could.

It surprised me how quickly fall had turned into winter. One of the saddest realizations since going to college is how I'm going to miss so much from back home. I'll miss all the days I took for granted, watching the leaves turn, taking photos. I guess I'll start trying to get home more often so see not only my family but also my yard. Hendrix has the most beautiful campus, it's true, but it's not home.

Anyway, I went out in the windy weather to take photos. Seeing how it was dark and windy, getting clear shots was tricky. I had such a slow shutter speed that wind easily blurred my photos. So, I upped my ISO and went on. I got some good shots-- decent, but the fun was found in taking them. Then, I stumbled on the 'shot of the day'.

Every time that I take photos there's something-- some location, some perspective-- that makes me immediate go 'that's the shot, that's what I have been looking for'. Today I discovered this bush that hangs over our fence. It was covered in purple berries. As soon as I saw it I was like 'this is it!' I knew that these would be the best photos out of the lot.

And what can I say, I love them! Granted, after I loaded them onto the computer and further examined them, I saw that a lot of them were blurry. :( What looks clear on a camera screen does not look clear on a computer all the time.

Still, some of them turned out. :) For some reason I seem to have an obsession with berries lately. They are my new white flower :P There was this white flower that bloomed in my backyard. I took a picture of it at least once a day-- it was the flower I went straight to once going outside. Eventually I told myself that I would have to branch out, but I still loved shots of that white flower.

On another note, I have to post some before and after's soon! I've kind of developed my own action, one that I love dearly :D It lightens the photo and adds a purple-ish tint that can very easily be switched to any other color. It was used on the first two photos above. :)

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Weird thing is, I've been wanting to post ever since my last post but I've been away from internet connection during Thanksgiving. Now that I'm home, I can post away! While my grandparents may not have internet connection, they do have a beautiful, and large backyard. (couple of acres I think)

I'm worried that I'm reverting to any old phase I went through-- over photoshoping....I don't know though, I love the light, almost washed out dreamy feeling these photos have. I should post some before and after's sometime.

I loved the perspective of this. I was basically shooting blind-- I turned my camera up, put it below the flower and just clicked away.

This is a more normal picture of the flower :) Like I said, I hope I'm not over doing the photoshop on these pictures.

You have no idea how much I love reflections. ;) Soo muchh..

I had some difficulty in capturing this reflection, there were leaves below the water and I didn't want to focus on them, just the watery tree.

So I'm back home now-- slightly sad, seeing how mes parents aren't here aussi. But oh well, I'll see them soon enough. Next time I see them I'll be on Christmas break. :D