October 3

Nature’s first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf’s a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay

Robert Frost

October 2

Fireworks at the unveiling of the new stadium. It was pretty distracting driving into town literally right beside where they were being launched, but luckily I had time to drive up to the mountain top and watch the display with the city lights dotting the background.

September 27

The view from my dorm window! I love where I'm living, this year on campus and just in general. It would be really hard to live somewhere flat after being surrounded by gorgeous mountain ranges all the time.

You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness,
O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas,

who formed the mountains by your power,
having armed yourself with strength,

who stilled the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.

Psalm 65:5-7

September 25

Nature's cathedral.

September 24

On photography assignment again in the courtyard of a local coffee shop. The band was standing in the darkest corner... So this photo of a Christmas-light-entangled tree trunk is one of the better pics of the night. It makes me think of Asian word forms.

September 23

A drawing for a genealogy workshop ad. It looks cooler inverted.

September 22

There was a torrential downpour, and then the sky turned to gold.

September 20

Construction... it's everywhere!

September 18

Art shows are so much fun, outside ones even more so! This particular artist's unique method, fascinatingly, did not involve brushes, but included paper towels, a blow dryer, and rinsing paint from the canvas in a bathtub.

September 17

View from a soccer field. Spectacular sunsets are one thing I truly love about this area.

September 16

On assignment taking soccer photos.

September 14

The clouds around here are very interesting. The germs floating around are not. :(

September 9

The dorm power went out for about 3 hours. So I went outside to read. And in spite of - or maybe because of - no electricity and no internet, I found that a good book + early fall weather + cool clouds = a great afternoon.

September 8

No photoshopping today, just the beauty of nature on the roadside... The dust from the road made all the leaves look pale, in contrast to these brilliant blooms. Taken while on yearbook assignment to photograph lacrosse tryouts.

September 7

Mongo-mantis! This thing was huge! It posed for the picture then turned and watched us as we walked past...

September 6

Fall is coming.

September 5

What it looks like above my bed. The spare bunk is great for storing paintings, large tablets, and massive sheets of matboard.

September 4

Bob Ross was here!

September 2

Pondering mortality and God's sovereignty while watching the sun set.

"The LORD Almighty has sworn, 'Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.'"

Isaiah 14:24

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

September 1

Blue-tailed skink on the red brick wall.

August 31

The grand chandelier of the grand lobby.

August 30

More yummy oranges.

August 29

Heralding the coming fall season.

August 28

There haven't been many flower pictures on here lately.... So here's one from a favorite in the garden. I think this particular plant is some form of chive; the flowers are less than half an inch in diameter but I love their elegance close up.

August 27

Not really a photo, but a wordle creation from this past week's posts.

August 26

In my distress I called to the LORD;

I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O LORD,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me.

Psalm 18

August 25

There's just nothing like cafeteria food. Today was cheeseburger pizza. And yes, those are pickles on top!

August 24

Bag of oranges from Walmart: a dorm necessity.

Thoughts on Photo-a-day

Questions from this project come to mind. Is this a photo journal? Photo journalism? Have I found my calling as a slightly obsessive photographer who may or may not take a dozen photos to have just the right one for the day's blog post?

I've said before that as an artist, my philosophy is that art is a reflection of God's creative glory back to Him.

I've been at this for several months now, and taking a photo every day (more or less) has shown me, more than I realized before, that beauty is all around us. Yes, it's cliche and not at all surprising. But I've found that purposefully looking for that scene in my everyday life that captures art in the ordinary has brought me to a new realization of my Creator's heart for beauty. He's the source of it, after all.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

August 23

I took this for the interesting perspective, and was quite surprised at what my camera had done with the slightly warm tone of the porch light. No photoshopping here.

August 22

My fish, Lapis Lazuli. If you're wondering, it's because he looks just like the stone. And apparently it's a Biblical name. Lapis Lazuli was very, very angry that I was taking pictures of him... Really, he used to swim away from the camera when I held it to the bowl and now he tries to attack. Apparently there's not a name for this phobia, but it looks like I have a camera-shy fish.

August 21

How can you not visit a bookstore with a sign like this?

August 20

Homemade peach syrup for pancakes. I cut and peeled two peaches, added about 1/4 cup honey, and let sit on a low boil for about 20 minutes. There wasn't much juice and it was still fairly tart, but very yummy on pancakes with some regular pancake syrup added in.

August 19

Look up! Ceilings are interesting.

August 18

Kind of drab, but I was going for the look of an old photo. It was a very overcast day, which I think helped. Another view out of my dorm window. I have a feeling this won't be the last photo of these trees before the year is over...

August 17

Our ceiling is like a cave.

August 16

I was on a roll for a while with posting photos daily (as was the original idea of this blog), but they've dwindled lately due to my laptop's sudden death. Until I can get the motherboard fixed, these posts might not be entirely as regular as I'd like. This picture is the view from my dorm room.

August 14

Brother blob! He said no one would believe me that it's him on my chair wrapped up in my blanket... I'll leave it up to you to decide.

August 10

Technically this isn't today's photo; I took it two days ago (but it was this or another flower photo, aren't you glad?). I love this tree in black and white, and it makes me think of a jungle. While this photo was not taken in a jungle, it was part of a very interesting weekend trip to the Frontier Culture Museum and surrounding historical sites.

August 9

Emerald water in

the cove.

August 8

Not quite a flower, not quite a bird.

August 7

Dreaming of a stairway to heaven.

August 6

It's slowing down in its old age, but I do like my computer. Lately, more than easel and paint, it's been my #1 tool for art.

August 5

Guitar lessons! Mine is the fender....the strings have never been changed in the approximate 2.5 years I've owned the guitar, which shows: 1. how dry and consistent the climate is here in my house and 2. how little I play.

August 4

My car obscured by falling raindrops.

August 3

Found nestled in the front yard.

August 2

My summer earnings.

In paperback.

On half a shelf.

Oh college.

August 1

Notice the ample dew in this picture taken at 3 pm. It's only 70 degrees on this first day of August, significantly cooler than the average of 95.

July 31

I love green. And the beauty of nature (though I'm sure you figured that out already!). After spending a night camping under the stars, this scene met us in the morning. Unfortunately, it was the one day in July the weather was too cold to use this swimming hole.

July 29

I didn't take this photo today; the original photo was taken about three years ago. I'm posting it, however, in shameless promotion of my Etsy shop. Take a look! Fine art (really mostly oil & acrylic with the occasional drawing), photography, and design....and commissions. :)