Capitol Sunset

Well, it's been a very long time since I've updated.  A lack of a good view and general busyness in my life kept me from having much to share.  Since my last update, I graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, got a job, and moved into an apartment in Lincoln.  After living a solid four years in a dorm room as a student, conference assistant, or resident assistant, the transition to apartment life has felt a little strange.  It's so bizarre to not have to carry a tote and towel with you to a public restroom when you need to shower or to not just walk over to a dining hall where food is pre-made for you.   Additionally, it has taken me awhile to wrap my head around the fact that I won't have classes starting any time soon.  In my college career, I never had more than two or three weeks off of classes or job training of some kind, so it's weird to think that, come August, I don't have to buy textbooks or do any homework.  To be honest, it actually makes me a little sad.  School was my life for 17 years and that fact that it's over--unless I go to grad school someday, which I'm not even going to get into right now--makes me feel nostalgic.

What HAS helped the shock of the transition to an apartment and working life is that I live very close to campus and downtown Lincoln.  I'm still in my prime photography and walking path area, so I do get to maintain a little consistency in my life for the time being. 

The other night I noticed a pretty sunset as I was taking out the trash at my apartment.  I can't say that I have the most amazing view from my window, but I'm in close walking distance of the Lincoln skyline, so I should be able to manage to snap a few awesome shots occasionally. I only wish that the Capitol Building was open at night because you could get some amazing sunset and cloud photos from that high.

 

Since I've "discovered" that I can manage interesting shots from my parking lot, I'm going to make an effort to keep updating this blog a little more.  Even if no one reads it, it's something for me to do when I'm NOT studying at night. :)

Snowpocalypse 2013

After days and days of weather forecasters predicting some kind of apocalyptic snowstorm today, the pictures above illustrate what is actually happening.  All the threats of 10+ inches of snow seem pretty lame right about now.  Public schools and universities all over Lincoln shut down...for this.  At least there's a little white on the ground now.  Everyone was looking pretty silly when there wasn't a single flake of snow on the ground this morning.  It finally started to lightly snow around 11 a.m., but we're still nowhere near the huge snowfall amount predicted.   We are supposed to see more snow overnight, but it seems like the predicted snowfall totals drop every time I check the weather.  My already poor impression of the National Weather Service has only gotten poorer after all this hooplah over a pretty typical snowstorm.    Maybe things will get really nasty after midnight and help them save face.

Omaha Skyline--January 26, 2013

In an effort to put something on here since I did a pathetic job of posting photos for the past year, I decided to break a little from tradition and post Omaha skyline photos.  They are the only recent skyline photos I have to offer!  These were taken while I was visiting some friends in Omaha.  We decided to venture down towards the Old Market to see what kind of photo ops we could find!

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.