I am taking a break from writing that I've been hired to do in order to do a little post on here.

In other words, I am procrastinating.

I've only recently realized that I didn't take advantage of having a photo blog to post what may be one of the best photo opportunities one could have. Last summer, I went to Europe for three weeks. And I took many, many, MANY pictures.

Don't worry, I won't post them all, especially since most of the people who look at this site are also Facebook friends with me and have probably seen them already.

That said, I have to share just one picture with you tonight. It is of a place I didn't know existed until I was doing my trip research, looking for cheap places to stay, that sort of thing. One of the islands in the lagoons of Venezia is called Murano. It's quite a bit less expensive to stay there, though you do have to take the waterbus to get to Venice proper. This is a rather large bonus for me, not a hardship. More time on the water? Don't mind if I do!

I went. And I fell madly, deeply in love. I'm not sure I've ever given my heart away to a place so thoroughly, and I didn't even decide to do so. It just...went. Whoosh. There goes my heart. And there part of it stays.

I'm writing a story set here with the working title of "Venezia." Someday, I hope it will be published and you'll get to read it. Until then, though, I'd like to offer you a picture of Murano from one of their beautiful bridges.

Be still, my heart.

Is anyone still out there? Just waiting for me to slide up on your blog roll? Or have you drifted away like this balloon, never to return?

If you're still there (Hullo! *waves*), feel free to run over to my other blog. Click on the profile and look for Musings and Meanderings. And I might drop in here from time to time as well.

It won't be too dramatic, I promise.

No Death Star trying to escape like a giant cephalopod or anything.

lalala

Sometimes accidents end up being my favorite things. Like this shot here in which I am attempting to track flight. That white blur at the bottom right is the heron in my last post.




What is not my favorite thing is the making of decisions. For example, I like both incarnations of this shot, all watercolored and impressionistic.



Which do you like, if either?

In flight

The semester started today. My first class isn't until tomorrow evening, but I'm already overwhelmed. I think once I'm really into it and know what to expect from my schedule, I'll be just fine.

But at the moment, I want to flee a bit. You know...grab a buddy and fly away.

Like these guys.




Also, it's reassuring to know that scenes like this will always exist in this world whether I fail out of grad school or not. That's really not a bad world in which to live, you know?

Oiseaux des fantaisie

Birds at Lake Mayer in Savannah.




There's something about this picture...I was thinking it was moody, but now it kind of reminds me of an illustration in a children's book. I'm not sure why, but it does.

Emotions

Sad tree cries hearts. Is very sad.

Playing with effects

You know, I'm really not a baby person. Really. But I have a LOT of recent Charlotte pics and I spent a couple of hours editing them instead of doing homework last night.

Anyway, so this is all about effects I love. I usually love really true, really saturated color in my pictures--that or a very clean, sharp black-and-whites.

Last night, I went a...different direction.




Okay, full disclosure. That one started as an accident. I was trying to color-correct for white in a shadowy shot and it blew out the rest of the picture instead. And for some reason, I loved it.

This next one was on purpose. I wanted sort of an overly dramatic, graphic, superhero shot that was still, you know, baby and fun.



This next one feels a bit vintage and dreamy to me. I kind of want to see what it looks like on canvas.




And finally, we have the mama. I like the sort of lost space of the majority of the shot. It's dreamy in a different way and I think it's fab.



That's me playing! What do you think?