Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. - Rumi

Viva Cuba!

So I got back from a week in Cuba at the end of June, then had to move right after I got back and put my things in storage for a month, so I haven't had a chance to even look at most of the photos I took there. But I did manage to get a few before that! So here they are, just some randoms from the trip. I'll post more in early August when I have my computer back!

I really wanted to try and get some good photos of my friends in Cuba this trip; the only good place in their house for pictures is on their tiny balcony/patio, where I can hardly back up enough to get 1 face in the picture! But I did get these of Helen and Dixia, which I'm happy with (all technical issues aside):



I also forced Kristin, the friend I go to Cuba with, to pose for me much more often than she would have liked.. Here are a couple of those:

At our friends' mother-in-law's house:




A police officer friend:


At a home ec picnic day at Helen's school:


Delivering rice:


Playing dominoes:


That's all for now.. Whew, finally got a post up here! Hope everyone's having a great summer!

Girl.

I don't babysit much here, but look at this gorgeous lady that I do get to spend time with sometimes.. Just a few shots from a lazy afternoon!





Aaand, we're done. Note the lenscap in hand! Haha.

"May your world be full of colour
............and your crayons never melt" - Tymm

So I skipped a season...

Hellooooo! Anyone out there? It's been way too long. Winter came and went without a post to this blog, and now I hardly even have time to type since I was supposed to start working on a report 2 hours ago.

Here's the post in a nutshell:
1. I miss you
2. I've hardly taken any pictures in months other than bar pics for facebook
3. I'm really happy but really busy
4. My apartment still has centipedes and no, we're not friends
5. I went to DC for a conference and loved the blossoms!
6. I truly hope you're all as happy as I am
7. One day, someday, I'll check your blogs again
8. I miss this blog, so I'm going to try to post more
9. I discovered I like calamari
10. I miss you!

Now I'll overload you with pics from DC and a couple of fun ones with a friend yesterday. I'm going to try to revive this blog!

DC:







My awesome friend Amy who posed for some backlighting yesterday.. Isn't she cute??


The prepared speech pathologist with her 100 pound bag of materials:





That's all for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll post some pictures from Christmas! :)

Great Expectations (and fog!)
Hi guys! It's been a while. Things are going well here, school is busy but ok and the centipede population in my apartment has greatly decreased. I find that I'm just not getting my camera out as much as I used to day-to-day, but I'm hoping that over the next couple of months I'll get better at that again. I'm loving being here though. I've been thinking about things that have happened here that I wasn't expecting, there are quite a few. I guess expectations are really just fears, so it's cool when you don't have to be afraid of things anymore..
- I wasn't expecting everyone here to be so nice: Ok, I'll admit that sometimes it's a little weird. I know more store clerks' life stories than I ever have before. But it's also very nice! I know I can't go anywhere without people smiling and saying hello. And people in stores are starting to remember me, which has never happened to me before. The only bad part is that I feel even more guilty if I leave home without washing my hair.
- I wasn't expecting to make friends that I hope I'll know for life. At least not so quickly... I tend to take a while to get close to people, but I already have a few friends here who I know I will be friends with for a long time. And who will tell me if I have something stuck in my teeth.
- I wasn't expecting to feel so comfortable here. I walk down the street and feel totally normal and relaxed. And sometimes when I pay for something at a store, I get surprised that I'm using American money.. I must really feel at home!

I have my first American Thanksgiving with a friend's family tomorrow, so excited! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I went out with my camera when it was just getting dark last night. It was so so foggy out there... These are different for me and definitely not perfect, but I've never really tried taking photos in the dark before, so I'll cut myself some slack. I followed the girl with the umbrella for two blocks, I hope she didn't see me!

At the construction site across from my house:

85mm, f.2.0, 1/160, ISO 1600

85mm, f.2.0, 1/160, ISO 800

85mm, f/2.2, 1/100, ISO 1600

85mm, f/2.2, 1/100, ISO 800

85mm, f/2.0, 1/125, ISO 1600

85mm, f/2.0, 1/80, ISO 1600

A real subject!
Woohoo! I actually had a real person agree to some pictures today. It was like Christmas morning! Lol. We only spent about 5 minutes since we were on our way out, but still. It's something. As soon as Nikki showed up at my house with this blue sweater on, I knew some photos were in order. Aren't her eyes beautiful? They look so awesome with the sweater and her hair.. So gorgeous!

I was definitely a little rusty with these.. I've hardly shot adults period, and none at all for a few months. So I had a hard time telling her how to stand. I also had some trouble focusing, not sure why.. The full-body shots were way soft, and the ones I tried up against the brick were messed up as well. But I got a few that I like, and it felt really good to be processing photos of a person! Yesterday I was considering posting a blog retirement announcement, but I think I'll keep it going for now. I'm sorry I can't visit your blogs as much as I'd like to.. Grad school is crazy! But if any of you with kids ever have any questions about speech/language development, please feel free to ask me :)

Thanks for looking! CC is welcome. I posted some of these on ILP but haven't gotten any responses, so if you have any thoughts please let me know!

All with my 85mm 1.8 at f/2.2, ISO 100 and shutters around 1/125 - 1/200.



(Super soft!)



And one of me, courtesy of Nikki! I got the shot set up for her then we switched spots!