My Photo Picks

      

       For this week's post I thought I'd share what I consider my top highlights of my photography collection from my years before & in school for photography and painting. 

       I was always super into photography, but started out with a point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix. The timeframe of these photos goes from that time through the beginnings of art school when I had a serious camera, so some of the quality isn't fantastic in some of these and the reason why they're not in my final portfolio.
       I hope you enjoy these as much as I do, as pictures and also as snapshots into my journey and travels as a young artist!

This first one was taken while camping on the Kancamagus highway in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

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If I ever did pet portraits, this would be the picture I'd advertise with. His name was Eddie, and he taught me not to be afraid of Dachshunds by demanding I pet him and napping with me on the couch.

(I was bitten on the face by a dachshund when I was younger which left me with a scar I still have today. I still prefer the fluffy ones but will tolerate the plain sausagey ones. 

P.S. That poor dog dog bit like two other kids and the last I knew before moving away, he had gone blind and would end up running into my mailbox and we'd have to say "Frank, go home.")

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 I was standing at least 100+ yards from this bird (Osprey?), which was perched atop a dead tree in an area of Florida that had been swept by a hurricane recently.
I was standing on one of the back seats in a van, sticking out the sun roof and pushing my camera to maximum zoom to get a look at this beautiful bird.
I'm really grateful I got to capture a few shots of it and that the person driving was patient enough to stop and wait for me to stop hanging out of her sun roof like a maniac trying to get a picture.

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This shot taken in Boston reminds me of the house from Up. It looks ready to float away at any second.

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 Taken when practicing using studio equipment with my classmates. For some reason at the time I also snapped a picture of the setup we were using, so here's a peek behind the curtain- er, backdrop. 

 A big, eerily beautiful house in the middle of a field in Florida. The house itself was lightly warped from age & weather but magnified with the tilt shift effect here.

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Fairy staircases in the forest that surrounds the dirt road where I grew up and where I started my journey with photography.

Below is a rare shot of yours truly, not taken by me but showcasing the beautiful scenery and its effect on me.  

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Easter treats and color schemes on the kitchen table in my hometown.

A pretty rock tumble captured in a New England mill town. The long brick buildings still line the rivers and stand with their empty windows looking lonely.

Swans on the Thames. They were very accommodating models.

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New York , New York. As a gift for my sixteenth birthday, my brother took me to New York city for a day, where I went snap-happy with my photography and he took in the sights.

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A photo from my "ice cave adventure" that led to some good shots but ultimately none that really convey what the space was like behind the wall of ice. Here's a semi decent pic of the toe of my boot for scale and some of the icicles for some reference. 

And finally, after the 700+ step climb up the spire we went on a ramble outside Salisbury Cathedral and I had to stop and get this Constable-esque (Constabulary?) shot of the cathedral. 

By the way, the Bunker Hill monument can bite me after that! 

The way I framed it reminds me of this painting by another landscape artist of the time- 
Mantes, View of the Cathedral and Town through the Trees 
by artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot