I chose this image because of the movement and repetition present within the composition. Since the focus is a compilation of many of the same form, it starts to create another shape entirely other than the shape of the individual straws themselves. It shows that even though there can be smaller elements that have variation within them, together they can create a completely different emphasis point.
This image is important because it shows that when the many of the same kind are put together, the dynamics and focus change. The same is true with people. While you may act the same no matter who you are around, the dynamics of a group change depending on who is there and how many there are. Together, objects can make more of an impact. Together, people can inspire and make a bigger difference. Together, we can become more than what we are as individuals.

This chestnut is a symbol of my friendship with my new grandma Elaine from Milton Wisconsin. She loves these nuts, and now I do too.

On a more serious photography note, they sure make for interesting subject matter. It reminds me of the photographer who shoots peppers. There's a lot of intrigue and movement in the image.

Alpaca

I went to visit a friend who lives just a few miles away from here. To my surprise, when I got there, her mom was rolling fur onto a a device I had never seen before. Their backyard is home to a small Alpaca farm and they use their fur to spin into scarves.

I think this photo just reminded me that even in the nearby neighborhoods there are people who spend their time on hobbies I would never even imagine.

I love the different colors shown in the fur in this photo and the normalcy of doing this at her kitchen table.

Untitled

I've been taking a series of photos like this, with more to come, as a fun experiment and to convey a message. I spend a semester in Uganda last spring and learned that rather than being consumed by the family and friends around us, American's seem to be consumed and motivated by money. Maybe it's not even just money, but there is always that "diamond" in sight that we're striving so hard for that we forget the loved ones around us. In Africa, they have nothing compared to us, and they're definitely happier and more content. They don't need anything more, and we think we do. Their primary motivation is family and friends.

This project has been a real study of a persons face, intimately working with a person (a couple hours of staring at their face), learning how different people react to what I'm doing, and to get an abstract example of what I've been feeling.

Skittles

I'm not sure how I came up with this, I've been thinking really out of the box lately and wanting to just play with certain things. This arrangement of skittles follows the pattern of the previous image I posted on here. Reasons for taking a photo like this: yellow is my favorite color, I like round objects, I liked the idea of arranging skittles on a white tabletop-like thing (I thought it sounded fun) so that's what I did.

A Face of Wilson

I had to recently update some of the firmware in my flash equipment and I grabbed a couple of guys from the dorm as test subjects. This particular picture stuck out to me because of the symmetry. It's not perfect, but the line that is formed from his "frohawk" really draws me in.

It's Inevitable

Living in Lindner, for the past year and a half we have had these flags that some of the students represent up on the walls. Personally, I like the idea, but what I noticed is that most of these flags were donated because they have seen their fair share of weathering. From another point of view, it is somewhat a reminder that, even though these nations may exist now, nations will eventually fall for one reason or another. So I guess through understanding this, sometimes it is easy to forget that all things will fail that exist on this Earth sooner or later, and we must find our solace elsewhere.