Education plus Dedication

One thing that I project to be really important when it comes to being a teacher is staying dedicated. So many teachers become bored or full of angst with their work that they give up. This is not something that I want to do.

This article by the Washington post exemplifies this idea and I think that it's significant as a pre-service teacher to recognize this. Half of all teachers quit within five years. My professor for my Foundations of Education class last year warned us that teaching was hard, but that it gets better.

I recently had an interview with Steve Smith, and English and social studies teacher at Hancock High school for 26 years, and he said, "teaching doesn't get easier, it becomes more manageable."I asked him how he stays motivated and dedicated as a teacher and he told me to keep writing.

This blog is me writing to stay sane so that I can stay dedicated to my work. Even if I won't make that much money.

Heart Berries

This is an image that I did not create on accident. My family went on a raspberry picking trip--as we usually do in the summer--and my brother found a heart-shaped berry. Knowing that I'm a sucker for anomalies in nature and things that are just generally cute/awesome, he showed it to me. I stole it and put it in a basket with other berries (cleverly for contrast) and took the picture that you see here.

It's honestly one of my favorite photos that I've ever taken. Not just because it's pretty, but because I like the story that goes along with it. 

Mine

Brace for tacky & cheesy.


This is my boyfriend. I'm really bad at coming up with nicknames so I just call him "mine" because that's what he is to me, and I'm just a liiiittle possessive (he's really clever and came up with Manda-Bear for me--Manda rhymes with panda, and pandas are bears). I'm posting photos of him not to weird you out or anything of the sort. I like taking pictures of him; it's kind of a bonding experience thing. For the record, I like it more than he does. ;)

One of the first things we did together was I dyed his hair purple. It was a nice bonding experience. We weren't even dating at this point.

This photo was not taken in a public bathroom. It was taken in a public sauna room. Yes, we are in the UP (sauna-land). 

The purple occurred with some malfunction with my camera, I enhanced it in Photo Shop though. Purple hair, purple picture.

Watching my mom get a tattoo together. My parents really like him.

Eye see you. *rim shot!*

This one's kind of trippy. And no I don't mean to stereotype hookah smokers as stoners or anything with the way I made this image. Promise.

He's such a kid (not a baby goat, a person that knows how to have fun).

I might post more on this topic later. Sorry if this offends you; I'm really not trying to be personal and ooey-gooey.

Maturity: Time and Place

This is my dad at a zoo (No, not abusing an animal. He just wanted a closer look at the big kitty on the top lounge-shelf-thing).

My dad's birthday is on and he's turning 42 years old. But really, he's just a big kid. When I was growing up, I was surrounded by big kids--mostly my parents friends/coworkers (my mom worked at the school I went to). Now, I don't know how, but by the age of 12, I had the maturity of... well, my dad. I was mature (sometimes too mature) when I had to be, but I knew how to have fun and be a kid.

My family has this phrase that we say all the time. "Time and place!" My mom usually has to say it. This phrase is a shortened version of "There is a time and place for everything."This is to keep my family sane and appropriate because sometimes we can be over the top and too immature.

Sometimes, it's just fun to break the rules and be a kid. This I know because I have some rad parents... and I'm a college student.

Mom's sunglasses

I'm not trying to be self loving here, but my favorite pictures of myself are of a reflection of me taking a picture of something. And no, I'm not talking about those damn myspace-phone camera-in the bathroom pics.


Here are a few photos of me and my mom.

On the playground at my mom's place of employment.

On a road trip to the UP to visit my brother.

In the UP visiting my brother. I really like this one because there's a reflection of me in one lens of her sunglasses and a reflection of my brother in the other. Aw... family!

Like the rest of my family I love my mom. I think she's really cool. We have kind of a lot in common with each other (not to say that I'm really cool or anything). I've learned a lot from her. 

Burn those books!

One thing that really pisses me off about the end of the school year is when people burn their school books. Sure you may call me a nerd or stuck up, but I think there are better things to be done with these used pieces of writing, even if they aren't going to be used for future classes. 

This image is of an old World Cultures book used at Michigan Tech. I enjoyed the photo op and setting things on fire is fun, but since I've read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, I've been uneasy about the subject. 

RainWater

One of my favorite things to photograph in nature is the condition of things after a rain. This is most productive if it's sunny out while the surface is still wet, to help with the lighting. Gloomy photos are gloomy. 

Some photos just turn out and I don't even ask them too. This photo was pretty much an accident. I don't mean to discredit my work, but in creativity, accidents happen and sometimes they're good accidents. 

One thing that I think is really cool is seeing things refracted/reflected through rain drops; even when I'm not taking pictures. It's cool how the drops act as little lenses. 

Spider Webzz! I think they're really cool. Spiders, not so much, but when I see a spider web, I get all excited to take a picture of it. Especially when it's created on something really cool. Like a holly plant. And has rain drops on it. Like this one.

I don't mean to brag, but this one was really exciting to take. I love lilies and this one was really cool with how the dew had collected in troughs of the petals. Also, the petals and water looks really sugary. Like frosting. Yum. Now I'm imagining that this flower is from Willy Wonka. But it's in black and white so it would probably taste like licorice. Not so yum.

Wet fuzzies. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of plant, but I thought it was really cool how the water was collecting in the bristles of this bushy plant.

I'm a water person (including in Pokemon) and I think there's not a lot more exciting than seeing cool dew formations on things in nature. I hope you agree a little bit so I don't sound so much like a ditz. Sunsets are cool too, I just think water (being such an essential part of nature) is really cool when it's doing interesting things. Like clinging to a spider web.

All of the photos in this post are taken of things covered in rain or dew. Some of my photos of water-covered objects, however, are me "cheating." Other photo's that I have taken with water are objects that I have spritzed/misted with a water bottle. 

Dance

One thing that I find to be really difficult when it comes to photography, is getting the right setting for the correct lighting. This is very apparent when I am inside and taking photos of a performance.


When I went to Hope College for a year after high school, I was hired as the photo editor for the Milestone yearbook. This meant that I not only edited all of the photos for the book, but I also had to attend and shoot many events. One of the hardest was taking photos of a dance performance.


The following photos were taken at a dress rehearsal for Dance 35. Hope College--Holland, Michigan.

When I was going through photos that I took from this event, I noticed that after flipping through all of the files at a fairly quick rate, that I could make a movie. My method for taking photos for this was: just keep shooting. Haha. The affect is pretty cool and as soon as I have some more free time, I think I'm going to figure out how to stream all of the photos together to make a quick vid.

News and Media visualized

The feeling we get when we see a local news station truck:
Oh, wow,
Maybe I can be on TV
I wonder what can possibly be happening in Holland, Michigan?
Look at her hair! It's just as big as it looks on TV.


I took this photo to capture those feelings and what it's like to feel the impact of media on society--even on a small scale.

This photo was taken in Holland, Michigan on the campus of Hope College during the norovirus outbreak of spring 2008. Yes, there was much news coverage.

We use a different phone

Did you know that some people don't know what a "dial tone" is? Hell, maybe you don't know what a dial tone is. Culture has changed so rapidly and so drastically that simple concepts like the dial tone are unfamiliar to some people. When I heard from a friend that one of her freshman college students didn't know what a dial tone was, I learned a new perspective and understanding of how we interact with technologies and people.  

I took this photo in the basement of my high school because I have never seen anyone use this pay phone before. Once, I had to use a pay phone myself, but I couldn't because I didn't know how. Also, I'm pretty sure that the machine hadn't had any maintenance in quite a few years. I arranged this photo as I did to symbolize the frustrations we have with technology old and new. 

Fun-Gus

Fungus!


One of the most phenomenal things about nature is fungus. Have you ever seen a wild mushroom before? I'm sure you have. Isn't it an amazing sight? There are so many things about nature that I wish I knew, but that I kind of don't want to know at the same time. I'm not a scientist, that's for sure, but the wonders of nature always have me wondering how things grow, flourish, and occur. Fungus is one of these things. Fungus can be pretty, ugly, or just downright nasty looking. Regardless, I find fungus to be quite interesting to photograph. 

This is a photo of my brother and mother. I chose this angle to make them seem smaller and the mushroom seem bigger.

(Ridiculous) Signs

One thing that I have noticed as I travel around to different places are the signs that people hang up. Sings are very useful and informative and without them, we would often be lost. Sings help us find places and things that we wouldn't be able to find without the help of these simply worded instructions. Some signs on the other hand are ill placed and just plain ridiculous. Some signs serve a purpose: to keep the populace from flying off the handle and doing a bunch of stupid/immature stuff. But sometimes, signs can be too controlling and just too much. 

The follow are real signs that I swear I haven't doctored. As you look at them, think about the purpose they serve and what people from different perspectives might think about what it portrayed on the sign. Also, maybe consider how you would feel if you were viewing the sign for the first time. Would you laugh? Would you feel overpowered or overwhelmed? Or would you not even think about the sign and move on? After all, just how many signs do you encounter on a daily basis?

This photo was taken at Krupka's Blueberry Farm in Saugatuck, Michigan.Yes, I and my family did indeed throw berries.

What do you think about this sign? When I saw it, it made me think about the ridiculousness of placing such a sign. 1) It prompted me to think about throwing berries; I wasn't going to throw them otherwise. 2) Why make such a large sign about throwing berries on a farm?

This photo has two signs: "Peace on Earth" and "One Way." When you see the "Peace on Earth" sign, what do you think? What do you assume about the contents of the building? What do you assume about the neighborhood? 

The reason I took this photo was because I like the combination of the two signs. I am a pacifist and advocate of peace. The reason I wanted these two signs together was because I think that there's "One Way" and that is "Peace on Earth." --Hancock, Michigan

You know those silly green signs that explain a historical landmark or monument? Yeah, this is one of those. I chose this angle to show Eagle River's title as well as highlight Lake Superior. I did this to signify the important body of water to Michigan's UP. --Eagle River, Michigan

This one's a bit more abstract. Sometimes, I photograph things that look different than how they do in the typical perspective/viewing place. --Holland, Michigan

This "sign" is not a typical sign, but graffiti is something that people post for all people to see. When I saw this "sign" while I was traveling down a two-track road, it made me think about why people write the things they do and if they are thinking about who/how people will perceive their message. 

The New Richmond Bridge Project

In the early 2000s, my mother and I worked with a committee of people from the tiny town of New Richmond to raise funds to restore the only functioning swing bridge in America. The bridge goes over the Kalamazoo River in West Michigan.


Quite a few years later (this past spring) the bridge was completed and dedicated to all of the people that worked toward preserving this historical landmark. Not only did the restoration include fixing the bridge and making it operational, but there was also 


The following photos are from the dedication that took place this spring. 

A view of the bridge from the east side.

The yucky Kalamazoo River. Don't eat the fish you catch from this water.

The swing bridge (left) and operational train bridge (right). This photo was taken from one of the boardwalks that was created as part of the New Richmond Bridge park project.

One of the first times that the bridge was opened!

View of a bridge that runs parallel to the New Richmond swing bridge. Trains still travel on this bridge.

Small child looks down at the Kalamazoo River: between the two parts of the bridge that detach to open.

Detaching the attachments that keep the bridge parts attached when it's not opened. 

To swing the bridge, two people walk around holding a key (as seen above) which turns columns around and opens a passage for boats to pass through.

The bridge opened: a rare sight! This is one of about a dozen times that this has happened. On the day of the dedication, volunteers opened the bridge as many times as necessary so that people could "ride the bridge" as it was turned open.

A band was playing shuffle/jazz tunes during the reception of the dedication as well as when the bridge was being turned.

Columns of the bottom of the train bridge. The water level was high and the current was quick. 

This is a boat launch from the shore into the Kalamazoo River; it shows how high the water was this day, the water level was above the dock. This is south of the Bridge.

A photo of the base of the bridge. The original bridge was built in 1907.

Amazing Camouflage

One of the most interesting and phenomenal things about nature is camouflage. How is it that one thing is meant to or adapts to blend in with another? This is a question for science, and this isn't the place for that. Through photography, we get a chance to explore the beauty of natural camouflage. I especially enjoy the camouflage of frogs and toads. 


The following photos were taken of toads in camouflaged areas that I found them. 

This photo was difficult to take; I could hardly see where the toad was because he was so small and blended in to his surroundings. 

It's interesting that I found this toad where he was because the rung of a ladder is not a natural habitat for a tree frog like this one. I typically see these frogs on trees around our house. They make the most obnoxious noises; but whenever I hear the sound I become nostalgic for childhood summers.