T: Ok so I lied in the last post, my photo is on the right this time.  Compositionally, the photographs just looked better this way.  Sorry for the confusion.  Still going along with the iSpy theme.  I spy cured olives…. can anyone guess where? Yeah that’s right, on top of that chocolate wafer cookie.  The crispy. flaky cookie from Goodie Goodie Bakery and Café is something to be tasted.  First bite you might be thinking: “Well, now that was weird.” But in all seriousness, it is a strange combination of sinfully decadent bitter chocolate and tart and salty olive crunch.  I don’t care who you are, this is definitely a genius pair.

J: Looks like I need to make anyother trip out to Cali to try that out!  It sounds like a bizarre combination… It’s funny to me how the textures in our two photos are so similar.  Yours definitely sounds more delicious than the rock crumbles which I photographed.  The castle itself, could have had an erie feel to it, but  the vibrant bursts of colors altered that mood drastically.  Rather, colorful rays spilled through the stone walls and the castle felt like a small treasure in the mountainside. 

T:  Finally, I was hiding behind the counter of my favorite local coffee shop (as mentioned in previous posts….Remedy Coffee in Oakland) during a short photo shoot session with a few of the staff and I noticed these two classic salt and pepper shakers.  Wanting to remember how much I liked those shakers, I snapped a photo of them.  When I was downloading photos later that day, I realized the interaction I captured in the background.  Honest happenstance.  Love those moments.

Oh and J, this photo has a Sangrada Familia feel to it.  The church in Barcelona has this kind of brightness and vibrance that you captured here.  Google it.

J:  Well first of all T, I’m so impressed by your use of the word happenstance, defined as “a chance of circumstance” or happen + (circum)stance.  The majority of my friends (unlike me), all seem to be wizards when it comes to the english language, and you seem to be no exception.  And the fact that the use of the word happenstance impresses me so much, shows that I am no literary master.  Once again, the color burst completely changes the mood of the room, which without would appear dark and gloomy.  The detail of the castle was incredible– from the stained glass, to the spiral staircase, and the different stones.  This was my first full weekend as a Colorado citizen, and I was happy to spend it here.  Lots of girls were pretending they were their favorite Disney princess– maybe, I was slightly as well.

T: So this is sort of an iSpy kind of series of photographs on my side (which for these three posts Tara’s photos are on the left).  I was admiring this guitar at a friends’ house.  The kitty came along with a side of afternoon acoustic company.  I’ve been simplifying how I  take  photos until recently.  Although I haven’t totally strayed away from simple imagery, I’m trying to make more complex, thoughtful photos these days.  I just imagine this lil’ guy saying to himself, “if only I had opposable thumbs.” (youtube: cravendale milk commercial, you’ll see what I mean) J, this photo makes me think of a contact sheet behind illuminated plexi-glass.  Little thumbnails if you will.

J: T, you are a lady after my heart.  I am often made fun of for being obsessed with reflective photos– whether in sunglasses, a mirror, or a pool of water.  So the fact that you are using reflection, but on top of that, the reflection in a guitar makes me melt.    This photo series of mine is taken at Bishop’s Castle in Colorado (my new home!)  It is definitely worth googling because there is a pseudo complex story behind it.  Basically, this ‘castle’ was a one man project, and the man seems to be an interesting character.  I want to go back and talk with him– maybe do a portraiture series, if I can muster up enough courage to ask.  I was so impressed that this man had a vision and jumped on it– it is always inspiring to me when one follows their dreams, even if it is a little off-kilter from the average person’s reality.  I wanted to capture the subtle details and components that I found to be the most impacting — and as you can see that would include the stained glass. 

T: Same deal here, there were so many different kinds of people all crowded at the city’s center (and all throughout other parts of the city too).  This was just before all the players came onto the jumbotron and said hi to everyone back in the Bay.  There were signs, street performers, musicians, dancers, DJs and vendors everywhere.  This was all on a Monday night too!  I picked this photo because I noticed this boy on his father’s shoulders and thought about how that kid was going to remember that moment probably for the rest of his life.  The fact that he is able to enjoy a simple game in life like baseball is something I think we all take for granted.  We have the luxury to escape our responsibilities for a few hours at a time together and really our small part of the world stops in that moment.

J: This photo was taken when walking through the market of Santiago, D.R.  Many of the individuals selling the produce were Haitian and make a living off of their daily sales.  Individuals were selling everything from small packages of toothpaste, clothing sold from the back of a truck, to pig carcasses.  When I look back on my experiences I am flooded with emotion and it’s hard to express them in a short paragraph.  So I will let this powerful portrait speak for itself.  Just look into his eyes….

T: I don’t know if there are two more opposite photos in our collection.  I think this might tell a little bit about both of our lives at the moment, but I could be totally wrong so call me out J if that’s true.  My life this semester has been a whirlwind and so much fun amidst all the chaos.  I loved listening and watching this guy sing while playing the drums in the mass of people celebrating that night of the World Series Win.  Although I was by myself, it never felt that way because we were all there as fans together.  As everyone danced in circles, jumped, shoved and screamed around the singer/drummer, he never looked anything less than sublimely content with life.  So even though the situations in each of these photos is totally different I get the same feeling from looking at them, just in completely different context.

J: I think you put that ever-so-beautifully, T.  These both seem to exemplify “living in the moment” to me, but in a different sense.  Pretty cool how the randomness here seems to click.  This was in the Sosua, Dominican Republic a coastal city known for beautiful beaches and legalized prostitution.  I was content with fully enjoying just the former of the two.  While I was walking around shooting, my friend Nate was out in the middle of the ocean floating atop the clear water that allowed you to see to the bottom.  He was floating, just floating.  After I snapped this shot, I was inspired to do the same.  There was something about the hot sun on my face, the cool water on my skin, and the calming whistling of the water… it was totally worth sunburn.

T: I began to follow faithfully.  The Giants that is.  Its hard not to when the entire San Francisco Bay Area is covered in orange and black (Halloween was at the perfect time here).  Well, my story for this set of photos is: I watched the first three games at various bars around the city and then the last game was right when I was working on an assignment for class.  So I sat and watched the game with my assignment in front of me.  As the game went on and no one had scored, I made a deal to myself that if we were up in the 7th I was bolting to Civic Center where they had a huge jumbotron set up for watching the game.  They did it, Renteria hit a homerun and I was out the door.  My thirty minute ride into the city put me at Civic Center just as the announcer was shouting his congrats to the World Series Champs.  So, like every other able body-ed person, I sprinted up the escalator pulling out my camera and checking its settings while running towards the action.  It was well worth it and so much fun seeing a city come together over a craze like the Giants.  I definitely think although there is a lot of politics and wasteful spending that goes into big time sports teams, the fact that people from every class and status can celebrate a victory together is a great result of our competitive nature.

J:  I took absolutely no interest in baseball this season… I only went to one Brewer’s game (even though Miller Park is only 5 minutes from my apartment) and I went to work a beer stand for a fundraiser.  I guess I’m happy to see this American pastime is still being enjoyed by many. 

This photo is from my trip to Santiago, Dominican Republic which was a PDT (Professional Development Training) for Air Force ROTC.  I attended a Spanish language course Monday through Friday and then we had our weekends free.  My favorite part of the experience was getting to know some Dominicans.  We befriended our Spanish professors neighbors who were our age and spent a lot of time hanging out in their neighborhood playing basketball and with the kids.  These two little boys made tops out of Gatorade caps and nails and were teaching me how to spin it- but I kept failing.    While I failed at spinning the tops, I still impressed my Dominican friends with playing basketball (because apparently girls don’t play there) and by speaking Spanish (because who would have thought a blonde could speak Spanish?!)

T: Wow its definitely been a while.  Life got moving and the dipstychs got left behind or swept up in it I think it might have to depend on the moment for me.  The summer in San Francisco is of course not the warmest in California but it is for certain a lot of fun.  This summer and early fall was a rollercoaster of amusement.  Music festivals, peace rallies and adventures as always.  That term seems too overused now to me, but nonetheless they were had.  Adventures to the beach, adventures in new foods, adventures in friendships, adventures on land and in water. My friend, Quin taught us the game 10,000 in dice and as a result we took dice with us to the beach and of course the boys had to throw a frisbee.  With their powers combined we had a playing board and a little relaxing competition.  One small sidenote, more often than not the temp at the beach was never really above the 70′s and the water was frigid.  All in all though, life was a simple diversion from the norm.

J: It’s funny how when I get “caught up” in something it really changes my pace of life.  When I’m caught up in studying, I forget to have fun and my friendships take a backseat; when I’m caught up in fun, my studies are put off until the last minute- more so than per usual.  Let’s just say with being a super senior and having graduation approaching mid-December, the latter has been happening a lot more than the former.    Early fall I went out for a camping weekend with some friends where we were able to enjoy the last few days of warmth and divert from our rigorous academics.  We were spoiled by the beautiful color changes and the calming silence, which can only be found far away from the city limits.  In Spanish, when leaves change colors the phrase “se ponen colores” is used which means “to put on colors.”  I love this!  It’s almost as if saying the leaves are dressing up and putting on their best show for us to enjoy!

T: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOh pretty.  Oddly enough these two came together really nicely.  The movement in the photos somewhat mirror each other and the spots on the leaf with the bubbles on the beach are similar.  Once again, back to the beach. But I can’t get away from it and I don’t want to.  The light is beautiful right at this time of day and its no exception when you are sitting at Stinson Beach with a blanket wrapped around you watching the sun set over the coastal cliffs. What can I say, I still love it everytime and it will never get old when I’m there.

Also, Jill I want that little guy for my friend.  I want to be Alice and shrink to the size of that fuzz and be chummy.  Beautiful girl, just beautiful.

J: As the camping trip continued, we made some amazing discoveries- one being this beautiful little fuzz-of-a-guy.  Usually I feel like when I see caterpillars, I’m surprised they could become something as beautiful as a butterfly.  But with this one, I liked him just the way he was.  One of the things I love about being outisde and exploring the many little discoveries is  feeling like a little kid all over again.  The energy I feel  by running on a beach, noticing textures, and befriending little creatures is something which I feel is often lost once we outgrow our childhood innocence.  Needless to say, it was nice having it back.

T: Nom Nom Nom.  So I may have a slight obsession with food. Yes, you all know it.  These oh-so-phenomenally delicious looking pancakes were made by Quin.  I provided the fresh market strawberries but he whipped up the rest.  There’s something in the sauce, (ha pun intended) he puts apple sauce in the batter and I’m sold right there.  Top them off with maple greek yogurt, blueberries and strawberries galore and I didn’t need to eat for days after that.  Just look at the little blueboulders rolling down the slope of yogurt goop. And the moat of berry juice trickling behind the fluff of the carefully constructed monstrocity.  Ok I got carried away.  I have a problem, you can find me at Overthinking-about-food-and-loving-it-to-death-anonymous everyday of the week.

J: Wow.  I officially am hungry and I am hungry for blueberry pancakes… wait, make that chocolate chip… wait, make that strawberry… am I allowed to do all three?  Well by the looks of the monstrous stack above- I think I am!  As I talked about the childlike innocence and the discoveries one makes- that is how I felt about this plant- it looked as if it was almost reaching out to grab me with its spiky-thornlike-thistles.  It’s amazing how something so small could have so much texture and detail.  While this isn’t as delicious as what Tara has presented us with, hopefully you’re still able to appreciate it none-the-less.

T: Those were darn good nuts, but Ill leave that story for you to tell cuz.  The photo on the left is one of my favorite shots from this quick jaunt up to Muir Woods because of the rays of sunshine falling into the forest between the tall sequoias.  I had a lot of fun playing with the light and where it fell on my camera, on the ground, through the trees, into my lens.  Lets just say I was crazy for rays. We spent obnoxious amounts of time walking the trails that were really only supposed to take a normal person like an hour to walk along. I think one thing Jill had ingrained deeper in her brain this trip was my sloth like tendencies when it comes to observing the world around me.

J: Nuts 4 Nuts! (that was the name of my favorite roasted nut stand when I was studying abroad in Chile… I was amused when I saw the “Nuts 5 Nuts!” stand- they clearly didn’t get the pun. ha!)  We were driving around, windows down, singing to the radio (or iPod) and POW!  A stand of nuts along the side of the road and we took full advantage.  A bag of almonds and a bag of macadamia nuts with two “complimentary” oranges we were worth the XXX amount (I’m embarrassed to admit how much I paid- but I was living in the moment!) of dollars spent for our forestry snacks.   But it truly did add to the ambiance, so I was okay with it.