Sickest Week EVER

So this week was probably the sickest one this year for Hallmark. And myself. Personally, I missed all of Monday, Tuesday afternoon, almost missed Wednesday afternoon, and Friday I left in the middle of Danica's class, with only one left after that.

Monday for Hallmark, according to Shelly who handles attendance, so many kids were out that she had issues keeping up with it. And it was pretty much that way all week.

We have a cold, headache bug, and stomach bug going around.

And you know I have the stomach bug. I made it in Monday... and left before the day started because of it. And it's been plaguing me all week, and into the weekend. I'm totally sick of it. xP Worst thing is, I think I might be catching the friggin' cold. Dx I did drink some lemon tea with honey to help boost my immune system though, so I hope that helps. By the way folks... don't lick lemons. That was a bad mistake on my part. >.>;

Anyways, onto classes...

Tony officially made me, for one class, the waker-upper. If anyone fell asleep I was to kick ass and take names. Hehe. No problem Tony! xD

Tony also said that if anyone were to hog a portrait bay, to kick their ass and beat them to a pulp. Exact words. I totally giggled. Tony makes me smile.

Dick D'Lasandro told us that those who were so high-and-mighty about already knowing all the basics never made it to the top 10% of the final portfolios. I had to smile because that would be SanDiego right there. It's because people who already know it all never bother to pick up on the little tips that the instructors are going to teach. It's true if you really think about it. Makes me really glad that we only have a single photography class in my old high school. As much as I love the craft and the darkroom, it saved me from learning bad habits and stuff. ^^

Dick also said we're going to learn commercial photography so well we're going to put the majority of stuff in catalogs to shame, especially glass. YAY! <3

We're also starting posing and portraits with Rich Barnes, which is awesome. We were playing with an obnoxious red wig for that class. When he gives us the pictures I'll totally post them. Seriously, they're laughable. x3

I've found a new love in film scanners as well. Seriously... I want one. <3333333333333

That's pretty much it though. Gotta get ready for next week.

Speaking of getting ready, went to WalMart at like... 10pm last night for a Hula Hoop in order to do my final Phase I assignment. xD I'm such a lazy person. lol

You might want those notes after all...

SanDiego totally bombed his speech for our Business Communications class. Bombed so bad I don't think the grass of his ego was left standing. Oh...my...goodness...

He ended up being chosen to go for making a smart remark about everything being so easy (again), so David Frazier said that since he liked chatting so much he might as well do his speech next.

This guy just freaked out. Giggle this, giggle that, and interjecting with an "I am so nervous" after every paragraph.

But as he was going up someone said "What? No notes?" to which he responded "No, it's not worth notes."

Yeah... he bombed.

He started off, and just went downhill from a bad start. It was supposed to be a mini-autobiography... his turned into a documentary about Meerkats. A very poor and boring documentary at that. It had no beginning or end... just a middle.

Seriously, we only had to do a five minute speech and he totally bombed after making an absolutely conceded and arrogant remark.

Do I feel bad? Not one bit. He deserved what he got. It seriously seemed like he didn't care about the assignment, so he didn't prepare for it. At all. Seemed like he didn't even give it any thought until he had to give his speech.

Boy oh boy I can't wait until we have to do a 10 minute and then 15 minute one... >:3

Just not meant for NYC

I don't think I'm meant for NYC, since I wasn't able to coax myself down there today. Oh well. So I came home instead, and Mom made me leave early because we're expecting bad storms. So far they've held off... so I could have slept more... >.> Buuuuut... I am glad she had me come back early because I was able to stop at Yaddo... and I got some amazing shots. <3 So it turned out to be a good day after all, minus the fact that I still feel icky with a headache. I think it might be the weather or something though, I'm not sure. Lack of sleep is a possibility too, since I was up until 1:30am last night, dozing here and there for about 5 minutes before hand. And I woke up at 2:30am, since I was all nervous for my alarm at 3am, which I then turned off. And low and behold, I was able to sleep to 8am... when Mom called. xP But I digress, it worked out, and I got some beautiful shots due to an overcast day to screw out the harsh light. <3



And Lightroom... I heart lightroom. <333





Four Seasons: Winter by *Saknika on deviantART

Four Seasons: Spring by *Saknika on deviantART

Four Seasons: Summer by *Saknika on deviantART

Four Seasons: Fall by *Saknika on deviantART

Four Seasons: Collection by *Saknika on deviantART

Stupid Trip... Stupid Nerves... Stupid Stomach...

Right now I think I'm going to cry because my nerves are acting up due to the friggin NYC trip tomorrow, and I'm sick. And it blows big time, because I really want to go, but if my stomach doesn't quit it I am going to chicken out simply to feel better. Anyone who's ever had a really knarly case of food poisoning... that's the pain I'm in, only a bit worse. All because of this stupid photo-expo trip. Seriously, it's not worth it when I end up like this. Not to me. Not when I'm upset at myself for it. The worst part is, I know I'll regret it if I don't go. I know I will. But god damn my nerves and stomach are killing me. I really don't know what to do. Vomit maybe. Maybe not. Just... I don't know. I really wish I weren't in my shoes right now though, let me tell you.

...Maybe just surviving Massachusetts can be enough for me. NYC isn't going anywhere after all. Then I can do it on my own time, know that I will always have a group of people with me... and I'm not restrained to the bus schedule. Yeah... maybe I'll go another time... because my stomach and nerves do not love me.

Hell... I don't even know if I'll go to Salem on Saturday at this rate. My stomach is that screwed up.

I want to gut myself...

This blows.

Damn stomach.

Damn nerves.

Damn myself.

Just another day in Hallmarkland...

Well, life has been pretty mundane for once at Hallmark! It's amazing! But we're still doing some really cool stuff, so I'm happy.

David Fraizer is pretty happy, because we've made it to In Design, which is another Adobe program, used to create layouts for things like magazines, and it's also a great vectoring resource. So creating a really awesome logo won't be outside of my reach anymore. <3

Hallmark really isn't just about the photography ya know. xD We have to learn the business end of things too, and part of the business end is creating our own letterhead, stationary, and business card (which I've done thanks to Miss. Mierzwa <3), and just knowing how it all works. So I am going to really enjoy the computer work too. Hehe

The other cool thing though, is that David is as psyched about fractal art as I am. He even asked to see what I had created, and he really liked the stuff. In fact, he and I are working on finding a way to incorporate it into my photography. ^^ That will be pretty sweet. I'll be sure to post his favourite, one of my newest, at the end of this blog post.

In other news, John Nordell made us go on location as if we were photo journalists. We had 70 minutes to go out, get a photo of the theatre and make it look like a small town, come back, make minor colour corrections, crops, ect... without distorting the picture, save it as the proper file, and submit it to him. It was intense, but fun. Still... I don't know that I'll ever end up becoming a photo journalist. xD lol

We were also in the commercial studio, playing with view cameras and 4x5 film. <3 I have to say though... my favourite part was loading the film in this big light-tight boxes. You kind of felt like a robot... but oh well. x3 It was great. I learned that day how to load film, too, because I was absent for that class. lol David Langley is good about that stuff though, and it only took five minutes for him to teach me. But still, most complained like crazy about loading the film. Personally, I am in love with that stuff. Then again, putting the film on the reel in the dark room was an enjoyable activity to me as well. So maybe I'm just really wierd. rofl xD

Today I have a half day, and the afternoon is mine. So I am going to hunt down Michael Zide, and he said that he would review my portfolio thus far. <3 I really love getting feedback on my work, especially constructive criticism so that I can improve. Seriously, when Tony reviewed my work I was in seventh heaven. I could do it all day, I swear. It just makes me really happy. ^^ So I can't wait to see what he says, and then perhaps I'll go find Joan Terry, because she is our visual artist, and she can really help me with composition. Although, according to Nordell, I have a natural eye for it (he reviewed my stuff at my interview), so we shall see. Either way, it'll be good. And in reality, I'm partly doing this so that I can keep my mind of NYC. xD I am soooooo nervous about that. There is still a strong chance I chicken out. ^^; I really do want to go though... so we'll see. *crosses fingers* Here's to luck and hope!!!

Of course though... no entry is complete without a word on SanDiego...

It turns out that he has to be dating his boyfriend for the money, because there is no other really good reason that a 27 year old is dating a 43 year old man. None! Especially coming from California. You can't possibly tell me his options are all that limited because he's gay. No way in hell. I mean... come on. How ridiculous and obvious can you make it? I can't believe that this kid is in it for anything but the money. Money is almost all he talks about, when he's not looking gross with all his facial piercings. Can't wait to see him try and get a job with those. Gross.

Anywho...

That fractal...


The Moon's Universe by *Saknika on deviantART

Contest Prowl...

Mmmmkay... I'm in a contest-y mood... so I want to enter photography contests! If you know of/are hosting/find any, post me a link here in a comment! Because seriously, this is something I really need to just boost my creativity and what have you. So help me out! The contests can be on or off DA, I don't care. Preferably without an entry fee, we college students are poor bastards. And I'll be searching too!

I'll list out contests, and when I enter I'll bullet out the entries.

Contests Thus Far:
Best of College Photography
Dawn to Dusk
Feelings of the Rain
Streaming Over the Bridge
Lakeside Memories
Antique Staircase
Screaming Fish
Lil Azriel
Momentum: Images of Dance

Set Your Roommate on Fire Instead

Well, classes are continuing to go smoothly, and I like that. We're going to be getting into using the view camera with 4x5 film soon, and later digitally!!! <3 I am wicked excited for that. View cameras are awesome.

I think the part I like best about it though, is that we can do whatever we want so long as we tell Dick D. first so he can walk us through common sense. I mean, one kid lit his arm on fire for it, and all Dick scolded him for was being too stupid to do it without having a way to put it out right after. He should have used his roommate. xD Haha. Another set of kids set a globe on fire at 2am and that got out of hand... which is when Dick got the call. x3 Then there was the one who almost electrocuted himself... had Dick not stopped him... >.< So yes, Dick is going to be our common sense as we make wild with creativity. :3

I then went home for the weekend... <3

Did some shooting that very night in Saratoga on Broadway with Brendan. Had this random guy from Burlington Vermont model for me. Tehe. It was funny, too, because he was looking for a photographer, and I was looking for a street musician. He was a street musician, just lacking his instrument since he was there on business, and I was a photographer. I didn't get the photo he wanted, but I'm still sending him a print.

The reason why I didn't get the photo is because he wanted me to go back to the room his boss had rented him that was pretty much at a love hotel. Heart shaped jacuzzi anyone? So yeah... we weren't going there. Used the excuse that it was too late for Brendan and I. xD And it kind of was... we didn't get back until 11pm... >.> But still, the guy had a really cool coat/scarf/hat thing going on and I got the shot along with a model release. WHOOT! ^^

Saturday was a day for organization. Organization and shopping. :P It kinda sucked... majorly.

Sunday though, I went up to the hunting camp and did some New England life shots. The guys really hammed it up for the camera too. One, who was about to leave, put all his gear back on without anyone asking him to, just to be in the photos. x3 They were awesome. One peed first and came out of the outhouse with a trail of toilet paper... on purpose. lol The guys were busting on him when he tossed it in the burn barrel that they hoped it wasn't used since he wasn't handling it too delicately. xD But I got some great shots there, and some great shots around the area as well.

Those shots included:
Mountains
Rock painted like a pig
Water
Foliage
Tree growing out of a house

So I'm pretty happy with my results. Got a lot of shooting done this weekend.

Today was pretty fun too, made Ophelia, Kelly, and Adam build a pyramid for my photo. Ophelia swears she is never working with me again... but we remember what happened with that last time. x3 We were also picking on Adam, telling him how sexy he was. Ophelia's favourite saying from this: "Adam on a plate!" Haha, they're crazy. Went far enough to ask Adam "Boxers of Briefs" and his "size"... if you catch the drift. I was rolling. He called his wife and was like "They're picking on me honey!? Why can't there be more guys around here!?" Hehe... we're terrible. And I think his wife laughed at him too... xD

But Adam is now officially turtle. So yes, Turtle got picked on pretty badly. But we love him. He's a great guy with an awesome personality. His wife definitely picked the creme of the crop.

So that was pretty much my day. Going to have another good one tomorrow, and try not to dwell on NYC too much or I'll chicken out. xP

OH YEAH! Before I forget, never rent from Susan Renfrew... she sucks. It's always between 60 and 65 degrees F in here, and I'm freezing. That, and she doesn't acknowledge communication between the two of us... and she's just a bad realtor. For serious. I hate her so much right now.

And on Saturday I might go visit Z and Carly in Salem. <3

Stocking It Up... and More

So today John Nordell taught us about stock photography, and we're doing photos this month that we are going to try to have entered onto a well-paying stock agency site. If they make it up, and are sold... that means cha-ching cha-ching for us. Hehe... x3 I'd like a little of that in my site for sure.

I've also taken out two ads on my school site, located at: http://www.scoresup.com/Galway, so I will be able to get my gallery and prints more noticed, not to mention this blog. It will definitely help with business, in my honest opinion at least. I just need the exposure at this point so that I can really try to market myself in order to sell my stuff. So that's what I'm attempting to do.

SanDiego was put in his place today by a fellow classmate as well. He was going on about how we were going over Lightroom in our digital class today, and how he already knew it all, and someone (don't know who but I wish I did; think it was June, don't quote me on that) spoke up and said "Well if you already know it all, why are you dumping so much money into this school?"

He proceeded to say that he still had things to learn, and these words hadn't finished coming out of his mouth when the other person quipped back "You're constantly finishing teachers' sentences and bitching about knowing it all."

Seriously... I want to kiss this person's feet. Mind you, the instructor, Michael Zide, said nothing during this. But I bet he was smirking. I honestly don't know though, because I was too busy giggling to myself.

So whoever you are, if you're reading this, THANK YOU! I'm just far too nice to throw that back in his face. I think I need to grow some bitchiness or something, because he needs it.

Although, it's really funny watching him freak out about what to wear to the Photo Expo. He wanted to dress arrogant until I told him just how badly those famous photographers would frown on him. He seemed to think this was the thing to do, and the I said "Yeah, but they have the power to destroy you before you even learn to crawl." The look on his face was priceless... then he told me yeah right and walked away.

I so hope he makes a bad impression on these people and just blows his whole career to hell. I really do.

Oh, and his latest is to brag about the money his boyfriend has and is willing to spend on him. GAG ME LOVER BOY! xP

On the flip side, Andi and I went and had dinner last night and that was fun. So we hung out today, and we're really thinking about doing abandoned buildings this weekend. So she might be coming home with me. ^^ I would be so happy if she did. Still, this is up in the air so I have to talk to her about it. Won't know for sure until later.

Other than that I have some super pains from being wacky in Northampton yesterday, which made today a good day to clean the house. Aside from all the rain outside. >.<

That's pretty much it though. Catch you later!

Massive Up-To-Dater

Oh... where to start. I've been gone for so long after all. I've just been too busy to update... aka I was asleep. xD Class can really wear you out. It's insane, I swear. But hey, I'm enjoying every single minute of this insanity, and that's what matters most. ^^

Reminds me of what Miss. Mierzwa always says: "You have to make every day fun, or find a new job. If it's not fun, it's not really worth it." And I swear that she probably could make doing laundry fun. She is the master of fun. <3 It's why she can be an idol of mine. She's what shaped a lot of my humour, and helped me get such a good personality. Ophelia, here is why I seem like such a funny girl to you. It's all Miss. Mierzwa's guidance. ^^

So the week was fairly uneventful. I was sick that Monday thanks to a really crappy stomach, and that totally freaked me out. Like, I was running around as if my head were on fire and being cut off all at once. CRAZY!!! But I got all caught up, and it ended up not being as stressful as I made it out to be. I was stressed to tears, for serious. xP

I did have to hand a project in late though, due to the school misplacing my film. So since it wasn't my fault, I took no penalty. Thank goodness, because illness isn't even a reason for missing due dates unless administrative permission is given. o_o WE ARE SERIOUS PEOPLE, YO!

We also got to build cameras too... I was really amused. Really, really amused. You'll see pictures of my 33 cent camera soon enough. xD

We even took pictures with it! <3

Had a wonderful three day weekend too. Very busy, very busy indeed. Saw Helena for the first time in close to a year, spent the night at her dorm in Albany. Then Saturday I just sort of chilled, before getting my car fixed and meeting Craig's mom in the supermarket. After that I went to Craig's to celebrate his 18th. I got him a taco for his birthday. xD Wrapped it, too. Hehe Of course I also gave him $5, but seriously, he loved that taco. lol Sunday was a day to cut Brendan's hair. He loved it. Monday I hung out with Nikki and Dani at Uncommon Grounds in Saratoga, and we all did interviews. I was very sarcastic for Nikki's, since she was videoing, and we all laughed. Tehe. Then I drove back into Massachusetts at 4am.

Why 4am, you ask? Well, it's quite simple really. I needed that extra time to capture the sunrise! <3 It wasn't the most spectacular one, but it was lovely nonetheless. Sadly though, the shot I wanted of the moon was ruined by friggin' clouds. *shakesfist* STUPID CLOUDS!!! And I had a 300mm lens on loan too. T_T

But yeah, so I got back and then went to school. :D

I finally got to give my speech for Business Communications, and everyone loved it. David Fraizer, the instructor, said he really loved my energy. Hehe, I can't help it, I love speaking. That's why Tony said it sounded like I was ready to do it again. I was! x3 I talked about how I am very random, and like to make a fool of myself. Fun fun! <3

I also finally found the railroad police. We'd all heard of them, but no one knew if they existed. Guess what folks, they do, and they hate us Hallmarkers going into the train yards. They told me to tell everyone "STAY OUT OF THE TRAIN YARDS!" xD Exact words!!! lol So I guess we shouldn't go there.

However, there is this old abandoned infirmary in Northampton... ;) Contact me, I will be going there. ^^

Speaking of Northampton, that's where we shot today, and I think I got some really great stuff. Andi, Adam, and I stuck together. Then we met up with Heidi, Ryan, and Jodon for lunch at Bueno y Sano. It was yummy! The people couldn't understand English for their life, but the food was good. lol If I could have remembered enough Spanish I'd have been set... but I couldn't. Dx I was most disappointed.

Then tonight I had a super dinner dillema. I didn't want to eat in because I really don't have anything left... meaning I need to shop. xP But eating out alone is... well... lonely. So finally, I found Andi and she hadn't eaten either. It's like 8:30pm, and we went to Athen's Pizza and got us some yummy Greek Salads. <3 I swear though, it's gotta be something about NY and late meals... xD But it did solve my dillema and I finally have someone to really hang out with. I like that.

What was REALLY cool though, was being able to WALK to Athen's Pizza. THAT'S HOW CLOSE IT IS!!! I have never been so excited before. Not even five minutes walking distance. <3 I'm getting spoiled here. lol xD

So I am going to go back to my spoiled life and revel in it. Tehe. :3