July 18, 2012

Well, it has been literally months since I have posted any kind of update, so I'll do it now since I actually have free time.  The combination of having a dorm room with a horrible view (the back of a fraternity) and one of the most excruciatingly boring summers for weather ever has left me little "skyline" material to post.  I was busy all of June with an awful chemistry class--I would NEVER recommend taking a science class in the summer--so I didn't have tons of time for photography.  It's not like I was missing anything spectacular, though...  This summer has been dry, hot, and a little dull as far as the weather goes.  I don't think it's really rained here for two or three weeks.  Instead, it's just baking hot and clear. Every. Single. Day.  

Below are a few pictures I felt somewhat matched with the mood of the blog.  The top pic is of downtown Lincoln as viewed from the top of the Capitol Building, the second two are of the Platte River/Mahoney area, and the last one is the only (mediocre) sunset I've been able to photograph this summer.  I have a few weeks of free time before RA training hits and I have zero photography time, so maybe something interesting will happen and there will actually be something to take a picture of in the Lincoln area.

April 15, 2012

I felt like I was due for another post, so here you go.  The remarkably nice weather continued throughout March and into April.  Everything is freakishly green today (as it has been for the past few weeks) probably due to the 3 inches of rain we got yesterday.  The Red and White Spring game was cancelled due to the constant storming yesterday.  We even managed to have a tornado warning a little before midnight, which sent everyone running for the basement.  Fortunately, everything nasty was north of us, and we were only stuck down there for about 30 minutes.  I wish I had taken a few pics yesterday of the line of cars coming to campus in the pouring rain.  Considering the fact that the National Weather Service acted like the apocalypse was about to occur all day Friday and into Saturday, I don't think I would have bothered to drive to Lincoln for a glorified scrimmage....

Changes for Summer 2012

Well, the beginning of March has brought good news, but it's news that will change my summer plans for this blog.  I found out that I will be taking a slightly different job this summer.  Rather than my customary job as a CA, I will be a summer RA.  Due to the fact that I'm taking a rather nasty summer chemistry class, the RA job just seemed like the more reasonable option.  I can't imagine going to a five and a half hour chem lab after having worked a night shift.  That has nightmare written all over it.  The only disappointing thing is that the job switch will make the daily shots of Lincoln's skyline impossible.  The building I am moving to this summer is not a tall one, and I have no idea which direction my window will face.  Even if I had maintained my CA job, they switched to an adjacent building, and the chance that I would face downtown was slim. 

Though this saddens me a little (it was a fun little project, after all), I'm more than happy to try to get creative with this.  Rather than always doing the skyline from the same window, I might parking garage hop to get elevated shots of downtown or sunsets to post.  Besides sunsets/downtown shots, I may widen the focus to storms and all other campus or Lincoln photography.  In any case, if I want to continue with this little hobby, something will have to change.  This is also the first summer I'll have to experiment with my new DSLR camera in depth, so we'll see how it all goes. :)

Finally, I don't like to not include pictures with a post.  It weirds me out.  So, here are some random pics I've taken within the last month.  Since Christmas break I've used my camera pitifully small amount.  Mainly because the mild winter has given me nothing to photograph outdoors.  Sure, it's warm, but brown grass and no flowers isn't too attractive...

This is the only skyline I have to offer at the moment.  It was just a crappy little photo I snapped while visiting my friends in Omaha.  I must admit that it would be pretty cool to be able to photograph this skyline again (or better yet, a skyline of a "real" city.)

This isn't an outdoor shot at all, but I'm sharing it anyway...  My first "froyo".  We had coupons that required you to get up to $10 worth of toppings or frozen yogurt, and even then it was only $7.50-ish when I checked out.  I had to buy a water to get it up to $10.  Even about $2.50 short, this was the most obscenely unhealthy thing I have ever eaten...

This is another completely unrelated photo.  This one was taken with my DSLR.  I think the difference is obvious between this pic and the previous two, which were taken with my little Fujifilm point-and-shoot.  I can't wait until I have time to really experiment with my fancy DSLR and get used to all of the bells and whistles.

February 3, 2012

Welcome to February in Nebraska...this year, at least.  It is raining in the middle of winter.  Granted, it's happened before, and it's supposed to turn into snow overnight, but no one can deny that it's weird.  This little weather system is the first sign of winter weather we've had around here in a long time.  A few days ago, it was 70 degrees and everyone on campus was wearing shorts to staff.  It's bizarre, but it's the best winter we've had in a long time...  I can definitely live with having weather this warm in the dead of winter.

Anyway, other than the weird weather, there's not a ton to talk about.  I've mostly been really busy with RA responsibilities, getting used to all of my new classes, interviewing people/preparing to be interviewed, etc.  My health has been moderately crappy this month, unfortunately.  I spent the few weeks generally not feeling well (random flu/colds), and then last Saturday I fainted in the shower, split open my chin, and cracked a molar.  Good times.  Fortunately, the fainting seems to have been a freak thing (it was the first--and hopefully the last--time I have ever fainted), and the stitches were removed from my chin just a couple hours ago.  My tooth is still a work in progress, but it'll get fixed eventually. 

My main focus for the next couple weeks will be midterms, job interviews, and other school/work-related duties.  I haven't spent any time at all on photography recently, which is very disappointing, but there also hasn't been much to photograph.  I like nature photography, and nothing is green or particularly attractive at this point in the year, so I guess I'm not missing much...  Well, with any luck I'll be able to gradually start posting more often again.  We'll just have to see.

December 30, 2011

Well, I haven't had much for out-of-window shots recently.  My dorm view isn't spectacular, and there really hasn't been any kind of interesting weather to photograph.  In fact, it's been the mildest winter we've had in a long, long time thus far.  I'm on Christmas break right now (though it's nearly over), and we haven't had a single snowflake fall the entire time.  It's been in the 60's at times.  I'm certainly not complaining.  This is my kind of winter.

Anyway, just to post something, I thought I'd share a couple sunset photos from the Christmas on my mom's side of the family.  It was a really gorgeous sunset out on the farm.  It's one of the best I've ever seen to be honest...