The Cross

The Cross
July 2007

I have multiple things to say pertaining to this photo:

1. I took it in Sweden, which automatically makes it awesome. :)

2. Story time: I bought this really awesome cross necklace from a Chinese woman at a Kiosk in the mall the other day. I love the reminder it is to me of the church's responsibility to bring the gospel to the whole world. I was wearing it tonight at work and a customer told me she really liked it. She then asked if I was Christian and if I went to church. I said yes and that I go to Providence Presbyterian. Her response: "That's awesome! Keep up the faith, sister." Seriously. It made my night. I love the body of Christ.

3. Tomorrow is the start of 31 days of prayer for global missions {sponsored by Mission to the World.} I'm going to commit to it and I challenge you to do it with me! Here is the link to the calendar.

Tomorrow's prayer focus is on China! :)

Pumpkins

Pumpkins

September 2008

Basically everyone remotely involved with RTCS never wants to hear the word "pumpkin" ever again. The soccer team picked somewhere around 350 pumpkins last weekend to sell as a fundraiser. Most of the pumpkins are lined up along the back of the school building...so obviously I had to snag some shots during study hall. :)

p.s. Have I mentioned that I love fall?? :)

See You at the Pole

See You at the Pool
September 2008

I'm back!! Ah! It feels like I haven't blogged in 6 years! I've missed it. I have been so insanely busy though. I'm actually completely free tomorrow night {other than the season 5 premier of The Office :)}, so I'm hoping to work on several posts and time them out for the next week.

Today was See You at the Pole! For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, here's what their website says:

See You at the Pole™ is a great place to connect with God, connect with other believers, and connect with your campus in the name of Christ.

SYATP connects believers together at the beginning of the school year, so you can stand strong together throughout the year.

See You at the Pole™ is all about prayer. It's about you coming together and laying aside all the labels and groups for one day, to simply connect with God in prayer and connect with fellow Christians in unity around the flag pole—whether jocks, preps, geeks, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics, sophomores, or seniors.

So are you ready to connect? Are you ready to say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening?

Join your generation Wednesday, September 24, at 7 a.m., GATHER at your school flagpole. PRAY for your school, friends, families, and world. CONNECT. Listen as He speaks to you.

It's a really awesome ministry and is definitely something I look forward to every year. How amazing is it to think that thousands of other students across the country are all lifting up their voices as one?? Ah. I love the church.

p.s. I love the natural morning mist in this shot.

Idea

Idea
September 2008

I took this picture of my best friend, Jessie, while we were having coffee at Starbucks today. You can probably tell just from this picture why we're friends. I'm pretty sure she completes me. :) We love just meeting for coffee and discussing what we learned at school that day, the books we're reading, new music, random ideas, you name it. Lots of awesome nerdiness occurs in our relationship. :) Right before I took this, she was reading me a quote about literature from her journal. She's studying English Literature and Writing at Pitt and she keeps an awesome blog. Check it out.

I decided to play around with some of Alice's editing features today. I was mostly testing out different filters--black&white, sepia, warm tones, cool tones, etc. I think the 2nd version is my favorite. Thoughts?

Cafe

Cafe
June 2008

This is a shot of the wall paper in a cafe that I went to with my dear friend, Annie, in Charlotte, NC. It was such a fun & quirky place--I loved the way it was decorated. I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for cafes {considering I work in one!} I especially love small, privately owned ones, like the Beaver Falls Coffee & Tea Company {just off my future college campus.} I just love meeting friends for coffee ({like you!} or sitting by myself with a good book {especially in the dead of winter.} There's just something oddly calming about the scent of freshly brewed coffee. :)

p.s. My drink of choice is a Hazelnut Mocha, if you were wondering. :)

This is Art

This is Art
May 2008

I wanted to share a brief conversation my friend, Alena, and I had during art class this week:

{While sketching a still life of bottles/jars/boxes}
Jamie: "So we have to sketch all of these?!"
Alena: "Just sketch what you see from the angle you're at."
Jamie: "Well what if I choose not to see those bottles?"
Alena: "That is called art."

I thought her response was absolutely hilarious and in a way, very true. An artist can choose to see what he or she wants to see. An artist creates. With photography however, you are slightly more limited. You can't completely create something from scratch--you are capturing something as it is. However, you can choose to view it in a different way than most would or alter its color and texture. Anyway, long explanation just to say: I strive to create art by capturing what is already there.

The shoes in the above photo belong to Alena. She is a wonderful artist {can you tell from the doodling?} and is actually working on a logo for Pilgrim! Yay! I can't wait to show it to everyone! :)

Bowling

Bowling
September 2008

I heart bowling. And I'm actually pretty good at it. The end. :)

Speed Limit

Speed Limit
September 2008

I've gotten several requests for some black&white shots...so here you are! I love b&w, but I honestly haven't done many shots I really like. I feel like I haven't found many suitable locations or objects yet. Hopefully my black & white muse will visit me soon. :)

The contrast of the modern sign vs. rustic fence really struck me in this picture. It makes it interesting. :)

p.s.

I'm officially accepted to Geneva College. :)

Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven
July 2007

I was inspired by my friend, Grant's photo blog, Indie. Lens, and decided to show off my own Stairway to Heaven photo. I took this in Sweden at this awesome waterfall we visited. My friend, Eric, is the one coming down the seemingly never-ending stairs here. I had actually forgotten about this picture until today...but I really like it! Great angle, if I do say so myself. :)

I'm not a huge Led Zeppelin fan, but I do love this song. I mean who doesn't? I especially like it though because my Dad has always played and sung this song to me since I was little. Ha. Some parents sing "Rock-a-by-Baby"...but not the Stuarts. :)

"There's a lady who's sure
all that glitters is gold,
and she's buying a
stairway to heaven.."

Monarch

Landing
September 2008

Ok. Picture me running in circles in a field, with Alice around my neck, in the middle of gym class. That pretty much sums up how I got this picture. I basically chased the thing down until it finally landed. Hey, nobody ever said the life of a photographer was easy.

Monarch

2006

I also took this shot at school during Field Biology class my sophomore year. Honestly, that class is really what sparked my interest in photography--as funny as that sounds. We spent a lot of time outside and I always took my camera. When I happened to get shots like this one, my love for the art grew exponentially. This is another one I took with my old Nikon. That little camera really is impressive--it's the main reason I decided to stick with Nikon. I'm glad I have Alice though. :)

Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm
July 2007

This is the first of many pictures I'll be posting over the next few months from my trip to Sweden last summer. I went with a group of students from my church to serve another church in the city of Tranas, Sweden. We spent a week in Tranas doing all sorts of different odd jobs around the church {weeding, babysitting, cooking, cleaning, building score boards, etc.} We were able to spend a day as tourists in Stockholm before we came home.

Stockholm is such a beautiful city. It is surrounded by water and full of intricate architecture, beautifully colored buildings, brick roads, boutiques, and lots of bicycles! I completely fell in love with it. This photo captures the European charm of the entire city. It's my favorite photo from our day there {and possibly the entire trip!}

My Project

I thought it would be beneficial to take a little time to explain my actual senior project and what it's going to entail. Everything I explain below is subject to change, but you'll get the main ideas.
The senior project has two basic components--the physical project and the 5 "disciplines."

My physical project:
I will be having a gallery showing of my work at The Sewickley Gallery & Frame Shop this upcoming April. I will be responsible for advertising & planning the show, as well as refreshments, decorations, etc. Over the next 7 months, I will work with Mrs. Ingram on preparing and perfecting images for the show. I'm hoping to be able to sell my photos and other products (cards/calendars/etc.) throughout the year as well. I'm really excited about this and I hope I will see all of you there! (I will know the official date for the show very soon...)

The Disciplines:
1. Math- I will work with Mrs. Ingram on preparing a budget for my "business." We will plan out all of my finances and I'll be making some sort of spreadsheet to hand in to our math teacher.
2. Science- I'm going to be reading a book on photography and studying the physics and science behind it. I will learn about aperture, exposure, lighting, you name it (all with Mrs. Ingram's assisstance of course.) I'm hoping to teach a class on the science of photography to the Chemistry class at our school.
3. History- I will be reading and researching the life and work of Dorothea Lang, a well known photographer during the Great Depression. I will write a paper summarizing her life and analyzing her work & the effect it had on society.
4. Biblical Ethics- I will be writing a paper addressing the issue of photography as an art form from a Biblical perspective. This one should be interesting... ;)
5. Literature- I will focus on photojournalism, specifically during a time of war. I will study the way photos can add to, change, or effect the way people read an article. I will {most likely} give a presentation to a literature class on the topic.

These disciplines are spread through out the year and I will be working with one of my teachers on each of them. I will have all the exact details ironed out once I propose my ideas to the staff and meet with them each personally.

I'm sure I'll be giving you updates on my project, and not just posting pictures, throughout the year. I'd love for any suggestions or input...I have to write my proposal speech this weekend and any response would be helpful! :)

ps. I'm writing this from the computer lab at my school and I just noticed that my photo, "Orange," is the desktop background on a computer across the room. That makes me happy. :)

Silver Ring

Silver Ring
2006

First off, I really love this ring. I think I just love words and writing and it makes me happy to have a ring with writing on it. If that makes any sense. I got this ring a few years ago at an Abstinence program called The Silver Ring Thing. It's a pretty solid ministry that was started at Christ Church at Grove Farm and has spread across the country. The basic idea is to make a commitment to remain pure until marriage and to use the silver ring as a reminder of your commitment. It's also been a pretty good conversation starter and witnessing tool.

If you haven't figured this out already, my ring is placed directly on top of the verse printed on it-- 1 Thess. 4:3-4.

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from ual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor..."

Reasons I really like this picture:
1. Obviously, what it represents and means.
2. The "artistic blur" and special focus on the specific verses.
3. The fact that the verse is highlighted.
4. That it's my Bible and my ring. It makes it very personal.
5. That you can see the title of the chapter: "Please God."

This is also the first really good picture I took. I did it with my old camera {impressive, no?} The fact that it turned out so well and was rather thought provoking inspired me to continue pursuing my discovered interest in photography. I'm pretty sure this will always be one of my favorite photos ever.

Meet the Stuart Kids

Jamie Lynn, 17

John James, 15

Jared Martin, 12

Jillian Lee, 8

Aren't we lovely? :) The picture of me was taken by my good friend, Christine {with Alice}, on the first day of our senior year! Yay! Normally I prefer to be behind the camera instead of in front of it, but I absolutely love that picture. I took the portraits of my sibs this past spring to give to my mom for Mother's Day. I'm pretty sure they all enjoyed themselves during their personal photo shoots {I know I did.} I really tried to capture each of their personalities in the photos I took. For example, I took some of John with his guitar, Jillian smelling fresh flowers, and Jared up in a tree. We all had fun coming up with creative poses. The above pictures are my personal favorites and the ones displayed in our family room. :)

The Dandelions

The Dandelions
May 2008

I love dandelions--at all stages of their existence. I'm not really sure what it is about them that I love so much. Maybe it's the rich golden color. Maybe it's blowing the seeds into the spring air. Maybe it's because they remind me of myself--a helpless weed that God chose to create and love. Maybe. :)

Keuka Lake

Keuka Lake
July 2007

I visited Keuka Lake, in New York, last summer with some family friends. It's absolutely beautiful there! This was my favorite picture from the trip. I just love sunsets over water. :)