Goin' Shooting - photos that is!

“ Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph." – Matt Hardy

My first tries at quality photos. I love the different shirts in and the symmetry of
them all under umbrellas and broken only by the
lone rock.

While everybody and their dog seems to own the latest fit-in-your-pocket camera or more recently the pin-hole camera that comes standard with a smart phone, these novice photographers lack the finesse from what makes a real photograph. They know it too. We all recognize an amazing shot from the typical Facebook gallery one. But what adds to an amazing photograph. This was my curiosity when I met up with Kacee to learn from an expert how to use a quality camera and the tricks of contemporary photographers.

Zumbalicious

This is Becky. She teaches Zumba.

She's stoked about it.

This is me. I am about to learn Zumba.

I'm nervous because I'm about to learn Zumba.

Fear

Anxiety. That's what characterizes the hours before ten o'clock every Monday and Wednesday morning. For shortly, I will be taking a "long walk off a short pier," a "short drop with a surprising stop," a "leap of faith." That's what it seems like when I go to learn springboard diving, anyway. Death by flopping.

Diving began centuries ago as gymnasts moved their equipment to the beaches during the summer months in an effort to beat the heat. Put enough competitive people that close to the water, and something is bound to come out of it. And thus, the sport of diving emerged.

Conventions

When was the last time you thanked your lucky stars for the conventions of Western music? 

The following clip might help you appreciate this forgotten bit of folk knowledge you've been learning since the cradle:

That excerpt, taken from the Red Maid Opera, illustrates some differences between Western  and Chinese music. How did the music from this famous opera make you feel? If your reaction was anything like mine, the clip made you feel at least a little uncomfortable. As I studied more about the music of China, I realized that what sounds right or correct to our Western-tuned ears is a result of years and years of learning-- learning we did without even realizing it.

Violin Anyone?

So this is my friend Natalie. She is pretty much amazing and a better musician than I could ever hope to be. Doesn't she have an aura of professionalism?

And this is me. I have no Idea what I’m doing and I just walked into the HFAC, BYU’s performing arts headquarters, for the first time. Deer in the headlights? I think yes.

(trying not to go cross-eyed)

This little adventure has taught a few things

1. finding a quiet, secluded place to practice is next to impossible. We walked through a few floors in the HFAC and finally decided to just play in the stairwell (this provided the uncomfortable component, as I would rather not have witnesses to my embarrassment, but you do what you gotta do).
2. a violin is not held perpendicular to the shoulder bone, it’s at a slight angle
3. when they say rest your chin on the violin, they don’t mean lay half your face on it
4. holding a violin’s bow is more complicated than holding a baseball bat, and nothing like holding a cello’s bow (my brother plays the cello, so I tried to mimic that, but it didn’t work)
5. putting your finger lower on the string make the pitch higher (I already knew this in theory, but in practice, my brain died)
6. It doesn’t work if you move the bow over the wrong string
7. it’s difficult to differentiate strings when your crossed eyed
8. even holding a violin for a few minutes makes your arm hurt because people don’t usually use the muscles in that way

(Oh look, now I'm smiling)

I definitely have a renewed respect for musicians. I was able to make my way through “Hot Cross Buns” because it’s a very simple piece with only three notes that only requires one string, but people like Natalie use all the strings and work through difficult pieces everyday. Right now, I couldn't show you how to hold a bow. Natalie had to correct me over and over, by physically moving my fingers into the right position, with the right amount of bending. I had her get the camera out of my backpack, so I didn't have to start all over again with just holding the bow. Needless to say, you probably won’t be seeing me play in an orchestra anytime soon.

(My apologies, the page break icon doesn't appear on my list of icons)

What's the best gift...

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.  ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

In the pandemonium of shuffling classes around and juggling homework, it hit me early last week that my mom's birthday was Saturday. After a quick lunch, I hurried to the bookstore where I could collect some ideas. Every book passed and decoration on display made me less and less sure of what she would like. I realized that gift giving is something that takes a lot of thought and time, and giving the right gift means a lot to the sender as well as the receiver.

Sharing the Dance

Neither the Mantic, nor the Sophic can adequately describe the impossibly intricate and incomprehensible beauty of the performing arts. As an active participant, patron, and perpetuator of the performing arts, I have come to find that, while not wholly owned by either school of thought, the performing arts can be considered the marriage of the Mantic and the Sophic, a place where clashing ideals come together in an illogical, yet completely wonderful way. I love it.

In my last post, I discussed my time as a student in the performing arts, namely my experiences as a dancer. Learning the generation-bridging folk knowledge of ballet shaped nearly the first 18 years of my life. But on January 12, 2011, I discovered that more important than the acquisition of folk knowledge is the imparting of folk knowledge. On that day, I learned that folk knowledge really only has meaning to me if I can share it with others. On that day, I became a choreographer.

Demonstrating a step from "Fortune Favors the Brave" (Aida 2011)