A Time For Relaxation

Pheeww!! Fall 2012 Quarter is officially over! My GPA is still above 3.10. I got a B+ in History of Photography and Photojournalism, an A- in my Nutritional Science class and a C+ in my Advanced Lighting. I have to say, I am pretty proud of myself.

Here is my final for Adv. Lighting

I'm not sure how to add a Power Point here, so I can't share my History Final, nor am I allowed to share my Photojournalism final due to confidentiality agreement between the home owner and myself. 

So, for the next few weeks, I will not be posting pictures of assignments, but probably random things I've taken pictures of around the house, neighborhood and Woodinville in general. Until then, enjoy your surfing of the internet, and I will get back on here soon!

Much love and healthy wishes to all!

~Bean

Updates, updates & updates!!

Well hello again! It has been less then a month this time. Hah :-) I'd like to thank my mom, Beverly, for being on me constantly to get a new post up. That really has helped me to remember to post something, even if it isn't pictures.

Update one:
I have my four classes scheduled for the Winter 2013 quarter and they are as follows; Analytical Writing, Art History I, Digital Illustration II (which is going to be super tough since I suck hard-core at Photoshop), and Portraiture. I'm looking forward to these classes non-the-less, mainly because it's another step closer to graduation. I am REALLY looking forward to my analytical writing class! I aced my English Comp class, which got me into writing again, so I'm hoping this class will further my desire to write and help me to get better at it.

Update two:
Since this quarter is about one week and a half away from being finished, that means FINALS! EEK! I have decided to try and persuade my Photojournalism teacher to allow me to do two photo essays. Hopefully I will be able to get some sort of extra credit for one of them. If not, then whatever! They will both rock, and I will at least be able to post pictures of one of them. The other, not so much. As a matter of fact, I need to draw up a contract between my teacher, myself and the owner of the house I am to use in one of my essays stating that the pictures I take will be for educational purposes ONLY! They may not be posted on the internet, in a magazine or printed anywhere, anytime! (If you live in WA, we could do a drive by and I could show you the exterior, at least).

Update three:
I am still healthy and alive, loving school and life. Remarkable! But, I do need to get back into doing Yoga because I have been noticing my moods are delving into the realm of dark, and I don't like that feeling. I am convinced it is due to the stress of trying to get awesome grades in school while struggling to pay my bills semi-on-time. I'm thinking, with my tax return this year, I may invest in a form of reliable transportation again. It's going to be tricky, but I think if I have a car again, I'll be able to get a second job. We shall see!

So, there you have it. No photos this week, but next week there should be some, and if not next week then definitely the week after. I will be out of school and have all my finals done, graded and ready to share (minus the one previously mentioned). Thanks for stopping by, friends! I love you.

Take care and stay healthy!
~~Bean

Accumulation of the Last Six Months!

Fair Warning: This post may end up being super long. If you don't have time to read, then scroll down to see the pictures of work I have been doing throughout this quarter of school. Thanks <3

Well now, It has been that long, hasn't it. So, I suppose I should tell you much has changed in the last six months. The biggest change, is getting back into school. I sold my car ( :-( ) and used some of that money to pay for this quarter at the Art Institute. The second biggest change, and possible a dumb one, is I quit my job at McLeod Construction and ended up getting a job at The Home Depot. My motivation to get hired at THD was mainly because I thought they had an employee discount. Why not work at the place you will be buying all the material to fix your house up with, huh? Well, turns out, they have no such incentive. I've been there for the past two months, and literally, there is NO incentive to work for this company other then to have a job. Oh well, I am grateful that I have a job. Now that I don't have a car, I don't think I can work for McLeod even if I wanted to.

On to a much more happier subject. I am not miserable, just poor. For now. But what student isn't? I am thoroughly enjoying my classes this quarter. I was disappointed to learn one of my favorite teachers from my last quarter here was let go. I wish him luck in his future. He was an amazing teacher and I'm glad that I still have all the notes from his class. They certainly will come in handy in the years to come. This quarter I am in Photojournalism, Advanced Lighting, History of Photography and Nutritional Science. So far, everything is going great and they can only get better. At least three out of my four classes are pushing me in ways that I don't normally go. Which ways are that, you might be wondering? Well, I am not one to stand up and speak in front of a class, for one. Two, I don't normally go up to random people and ask, "Hey! Can I take your picture? It's for one of my classes". I used to think I was out going, until I actually had to do stuff like this. Fortunately for me, I am doing it and the more I do it, the easier it is getting.

So on to the juicy stuff! I am going to put some images up from my photo-jo class as well as my lighting. Just to let you know ahead of time, though some of these photos may look good to you (i.e., my lighting ones) I am going to let you in on a secret. I had to reshoot EVERY single one of them. *sigh* It's a good thing I no longer have a car and have to get up with Jared. I end up having to spend my entire day here in Seattle! So, on with the pictures!

This is from my Black on Black shoot. Requirements: Photoshop RGB values MUST read 0,0,0.  Successful after the 3rd ReShoot!

This is from my Watch shoot. Requirements: Watch face must be completely lit with no signs of the camera or light box. Successful after the 2nd shoot. A little side note, when I printed this picture my teacher gave me lots of praise :-D

This is from my Flatware shoot. Requirements: The face of the fork must be completely lit, with no black areas on fork or tines. Also, the set up MUST fit a layout EXACTLY. Success has not been achieved yet as I have not had a reshoot for this assignment yet.

The Main building for the Guided Tour through Chateau St. Michelle.
This series was taken for my photojournalism class.

It's Christmas time at Chateau St. Michelle!

Me, holding my wine to the light to inspect it's clarity.
Gram, you would thoroughly enjoy this one.  

A fellow tourist, posing for me for my assignment.
Thank you, Lady. I wish I had gotten your name.

This is the Riesling and an unsuspecting tourist. This image was selected to be in my class magazine, "This Week Magazine"

Again, another unsuspecting tourist. Although, he did look at me. My teacher liked this shot, but my editors did not.

These three ladies were on the tour with Jared, Jade and I. The little ol' lady was super sweet. We chatted for a little while and her companions and I exchanged quick words before they wondered away.

THIS is a new release. Unfortunately, at the end of our tour, they were closing down. Fortunately enough for me though, as a tasting of this particular wine cost $20! A bottle, if I remember correctly, cost over $100.

Design shot. I moved the sign so I could get a better shot. 

I asked these gentlemen if I could photograph them as they walked around the display. They agreed, but I was expecting more action. Ah well.

This was our tour guide. Crazy enough, this woman grew up in Welsley, MA!

Two slaves from oak barrels. The one on the left is American Oak, a barrel runs for $500. The stave on the right is French Oak and runs for $1,000.  

This is where we found out that at Chateau St. Michelle, the only wine they produce is their Chardonnay. 

Here she is telling us where the grapes are grown, and at which wineries Chateau St. Michelle's wines come from.

Time to taste the rewards!

Air-ration: the process of swirling the wine to let the oxygen back into it. This will allow you to smell the pungency of the wine. 

So, there you have it. I will probably post a little later because two of my photos could not be uploaded since they were too big. Right now, I must get going. It's studio time! Hopefully I will be able to post more often, since I will be spending a substantial amount of "free" time at school. We no longer have internet at the house, so I will be relying solely on the AIS connection to the outside world. Although, If I take my computer to Starbucks and buy a coffee, I could syphon off their free wi-fi as well. Either way, I am going to make a seriously hard effort to start posting more often. At least, I will try not to let six months pass before I post again.

For now, take care of each other! I love you all!
-Bean

Just an Ordinary Sunday.

Hey all! Just thought I'd post an update on my status of life :-)  The month of June has flown by super fast! I know there were some Burpdays this month that I missed; Sandy, Riley, John, Jeff and probably more, but Happy Burpday June babies! Wish I could have been with you to celebrate.

So it is only a week until we leave for Utah to visit the other half of the Buist family. I'm excited to see everyone again and excited to be in warm, sunny weather! Although, while I'm typing this it is warm and sunny outside here in Seattle. Hah.

On another note, my little sister is coming to stay with me for 3 or 4 weeks this summer!! I can not properly express how super duper excited I am that my mom and her dad actually said YES!! Needless to say, it's a lot. My fear of being 40' in the air on scaffolding swaying in the breeze didn't stop me from doing my excited, victory dance when I found out :-) So far, the second bedroom (which Jilly will be staying in) has had one of a few cleanings. We took one of the three shelves up to my M-i-L's cabin, as well as some of the stuff on them. Other things were re-worked to fit onto the shelves of the bookcases in the living room and the kitchen. Now that I've been writing about it, I think I'm going to get back in there and organize some more things to make more room.

Ok, I'm off to do something other then sitting on the couch, watching the Sox dominate the Braves ;-) and playing on the computer. Until the next time, stay healthy and beautiful!

-Bean

A Weekend for Mothers

So, Mother's Day weekend was pretty fun. We went to Shirley's cabin and did some more work. I ended up installing all the insulation in her down stairs while Jared installed the wiring for lights, switches and outlets. Unfortunately, we learned that instead of using 2wire for everything we need to run 3wire from switches to lights and back to switches. Oh well...at least we are still a couple of steps closer to getting her cabin livable.

I know I said I would post some pictures. I didn't forget. I want to upload them on to our office computer and fiddle around with them in Photoshop before actually posting them. Besides, I need to get back into working with PS to hone my skills :-)

So, without further adu, I am heading to bed. Pictures to come in a few days (possibly a week because I'm such a procrastinator)

Love, hugs and healthy vibes! <3

Once Upon a Time...

There was a girl who had a blog... and she rarely posted anything to it. Oh wait, that's me :-)

Well, here is an update. I am still alive. I am still in WA and I am still planning on attending school. Not this summer, but in the fall. Right now, I am currently enjoying the fact that I don't have to worry about whether or not I have enough money in my account to buy a coffee. It's quite nice. I'm checking into my local community colleges for prices on Liberal Arts to get my math, science and history out of the way for a smaller price then going to AiSeattle. I love my school, AiS, but I do not love their obnoxious prices for classes, especially ones that I really could care less about (except history).

Anywho, Game of Thrones is on tv, I've had one and a half glasses of wine, and I'm tired. I know I know... it's been forever and you think it will be forever again until I post. Chances are, hopefully, not. I might try to get something in again tomorrow before heading into the mountains for the weekend. If not, then I'll post again on Sunday with some pictures. I really need to get a hang of updating on a daily basis, if not weekly.

Much love and health!
~Bean

Some Recent Assignments

So here are some photos from recent assignments from at least two of my classes, Photographic Design and Lighting. I've cropped and altered them since handing them in for critique. Enjoy :-)

This one wasn't actually submitted for critique, but I liked it. 

A small piece of duck down caught on the wire around the duck pond. My teacher really liked this one :-) 

Small children ride on this! 

 Pure Seattle/NW imagery.

(it's a crop of a sculpture I found in one of the pier buildings)

Share that sun with us!  

A small bit of sun while driving out of my road on my way to school. 

A delicious drink made by a fantastic barman at the "Prohibition Bar" downstairs from Frank. 

Malbac's Nursery: Pots 

Ouch! But pretty :-) 

Another small piece of a sculpture in Downtown.

Well, that's all the space I have for photos at this time. I have more, but I still need to adjust them, crop them and turn them into JPEGs for all to see. Until then, all your continued support is so very much appreciated! 

Loves and hugs all!

Assignment 1 of Winter Quarter 2012

So it has been quite a while since I have posted ANYTHING. I blame Christmas and Thanksgiving. So, without further adu, I present you with my first assignment in Photographic Design (my Monday class). The object of the assignment was to focus on point, and leave the image up to interpretation. Enjoy!

This was my teachers favorite out of the whole bunch. So much so, that he wanted to show it to other classes and recommended that I print it and put it in my portfolio :-)

 I got some pretty good feed back on this one. 

 Snowy day in Seattle. Denny Way was closed and fellow Seattle-ites decided to take to the streets with a vengeance...and sleds!

 I apologize for losing some of the detail in Mr. Arrys face. The JPG format smooshed the black pixels together.  

 Zoom in and read the sign. :-)

Well, that's all folks! Hope you enjoy them. More to come :-)