I drove back to my grandparents’ house in Tennessee this morning, then we spent the day driving through the Smoky Mountains. We had a wonderful time! Here are two photos I took. More will follow in a few days when I am back home and have reliable internet access again.
Tonight I met up with Michelle Wood and her friend (a.k.a. Night Lights on Flickr) to do some light graffiti. Michelle take photos in the Gwinnett, GA area, which is a little less than an hour away from my aunt and uncle’s house, so we decided me meet up while I was down here. We only had a few hours free tonight, and unfortunately tonight was the only night we could meet, so we were only able to take a few shots after we explored the area and got everything set up.
We took the photos at an abandoned fun park with a go-kart track and pond. It was very cool, and we had to take a short trek through the woods to get there. As you will see from the photos, there was actual graffiti everywhere, but we only did light graffiti.
We had a lot of fun doing light graffiti, and it was wonderful for me to meet her and her friends!
Here are four of the shots we took. (You can also view the photos on the Flickr pages of Illum and Night Lights). As always, click on the photos to view them at a larger size.
* A note for Emily Fisher (a friend of mine from Hillsdale) : I retro-dated this blog post. I did not get back to my aunt and uncle’s house until 1:30 a.m., and I did not get the photos sorted and posted until after 2 a.m. I did not post anything else earlier in the day, because I was excited about this photo shoot and I was waiting to post photos from it. I just thought I would let you know, since you would have figured it out and called to scold me about retro-dating anyway 🙂
Check out the photo gallery from my day in downtown Atlanta.
I decided to spend the day in downtown Atlanta. I first only wanted to go to the World of Coca-Cola, but that quickly turned into spending the day around a good amount of the downtown area. My GPS took me to the old site of the World of Coke, which is more than a 20 minute walk from the new one. I already parked, so I decided to walk. I found a panhandler and paid him to give me directions, and then spent some time around the Atlanta Underground (an underground mall). As I made my way over to the World of Coca-Cola, I took a stroll through Olympic Park, and found a Moe’s Southwest Grill for lunch.
When I finally made it to Coca-Cola, I went through the two hour tour, which was really interesting. I got over to the Georgia Aquarium too late to go through there, so I walked around downtown a little more. I ran into a little trouble taking photos of people preaching on the street, but I got out of it without a big hassle.
Overall, I had a pretty eventful and exciting day, but I have had enough of downtown Atlanta for a little while.
Here are a few of the photos from the gallery. Click on the photos to view them at a larger size:
Today, my aunt and uncle had a party today and they did a “low country boil.” Basically, they threw potatoes, onions, corn, sausage, and shrimp in a pot and boil it for a couple hours, then dumped it out on the table and everyone dug in. It tasted great! (I am, of course, speaking for everything except the shrimp, which I did not eat.)
Click on the photo to view it at a larger size.
It was raining in Birmingham today, so I did not get any more shots of campus. I did, however, take some photos of the graduation ceremony.
Here is my uncle receiving his diploma:
Here is my uncle, now Dr. Higgins, getting hooded:
Here is the president of Samford University addressing the students and their families:
Correction: My post yesterday said that my uncle is getting his PhD from the University of Alabama. This is wrong. He is getting it from Samford University.
The campus at Samford is beautiful! I had a little time to walk around and take some photos. More will follow tomorrow if I have some time after the commencement ceremonies.
My uncle did a public presentation of his dissertation today. Great job, Uncle Kevin (now, Dr. Higgins)!
Three shots of some of the buildings on campus:
My aunt, uncle, and their two children:
My uncle Kevin (the PhD graduate) on the right and his dad on the left:
My younger cousin Wyatt (I should have used fill flash on this, but I shot it at the spur of the moment when he was gazing at something in the distance):
I had a nice drive down to my grandparents’ house in Tennessee on Wednesday. Today I am on my way to the Atlanta area, then off to Birmingham, AL for the weekend. My uncle Kevin is getting his PhD at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, so I am driving down for his ceremonies.
I had some free time after I arrived at my grandparents’ house to drive around town and take photos. I took the three above at Fort Southwest Point on one of the TVA lakes, about 3 minutes from their house. Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.
I am on my way to Tennessee today. I will be passing the exact place where I took this photo around 9 a.m. I took this three years ago on Valentine’s Day weekend. The Amherst Tech Team was returning from a conference in Columbus during a bad snowstorm, and I had Mr. Strohm stop his van so I could take this shot.
This photo was featured in the Ozarks Mountaineer magazine in the Nov/Dec 2007 edition.
This is a photo of Mount Moran at Grand Teton National Park. I shot this photo two summers ago.
Tomorrow I am on my way to Tennessee, where I will stay with my grandparents over night, then drive to my aunt and uncle’s house in Georgia on Thursday. I will be down there for a week.
Sean Nelson and I made this long exposure shot last summer right before I left for college. It was an invasion of red spiders from the water (that looked more like red crabs). If you like this shot, check out more from our Illum Flickr account.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
I am sorry that I am not always as loving as you deserve. I can get caught up in everything I do and forget to call or neglect to spend time with you when I am home. I am sorry that I am frequently difficult to be around. You do much more than words can explain for Dad and me, who sometimes forget to stop and thank you for everything.
I want you to know that I love you more than you know, even if I do not express it (which, by the way, I promise to work on). Happy Mother’s Day, Mom. I love you.
This photo was taken on Christmas Day at my grandma’s house. I have very few photos of my family, whether all together or separate. That is also something I need to work on. I take photos of so many other things, but rarely take the time to document the most important part of my life: my family.
Hillsdale’s Commencement for the class of 2009 was today! There were lots of hugs, laughs, and smiles.
Today Richard, David, and I went to South Haven, a beautiful little town on Lake Michigan. (It is the same place I went to back in January.) Above are photos I took while we were there. Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.
William, Zach, Adam, and Trevor (L to R) were suitemates this year in Simpson, but Adam is switching dorms next semester, so they wanted a photo taken. They are all wonderful guys and I am very thankful to have met them this year.
Will Clayton gave me lessons today on how to use off-camera flash. His brother John was in town visiting him, so I used him as a model. There are still some harsh shadows around his neck from the shirt, but overall I think this photo came out okay. (There is also a distracting sign in front of the tree above his shoulder.)
Megan, Jason, and Jeff playing music out on the quad after finals
I have one final left-Calc II at 8 a.m.
I took this shot at the outdoor theatre performance yesterday. This little kid was giggling and having a wonderful time while his mother was watching the performance.
I went to a production of The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare in the Arb when I drove back to Hillsdale this afternoon.
I made a trip home this weekend, between finals, to go with Amanda to her senior prom. She looked so beautiful!
I took this shot of Dr. Raney, a history professor at Hillsdale, during the honors trip to Charleston.
Two final exams down, three to go.
I took this photo last summer on Chautauqua Lake while visiting my friend Brad. I took this from his boat while we were out on the lake one beautiful day. Click the photo to view it large.
I took the first of five exams today–American Heritage. It was the one that I think will be most difficult, so I am glad to have it out of the way. Tomorrow is poly econ, Tuesday is Dr. Jackson’s freshman honors English and Dr. Steele’s microecon, and Wednesday is Dr. Treloar’s calc II. I will not be home until Saturday, May 9, though, because I have a few things to do on campus.
Last night, a fraternity on campus threw a “Club Euro” themed dance party to celebrate the end of classes. In between studying, I went to take some photos. I tried out a few new techniques, so I thought I would post the results. The photos below are not edited. They are straight out of my camera. What I did: 1/2 second exposure at f/5 and a rear-sync flash. In one of the shots, I twisted the camera while the shutter was open. Click on the photos to view them larger.
The magnolia trees in Hillsdale are blooming! Most of the other trees are as well. It is a beautiful sight! I can see why students here look forward to spring.
Today was my last day of classes for the spring semester. I only slept for two hours last night, but I finished my final paper for Dr. Jackson. Now it is time to start studying for finals. I am doing preliminary work tonight so I can get a good night’s sleep and get started right away in the morning. My first exam is Thursday at 1, and I think it will be the most difficult one.
On an unrelated note, we discussed Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince for our last English class. It is a children’s book, but great for all ages to read. If you have not read it, I recommend doing so. It is a quick read, but full of things to think about. Three of my favorite quotes from it:
“You are not at all like my rose,” the little prince said. “As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world.”
“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”
“Men have forgotten this truth,” said the fox. “But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose . . .”
…this is what it would have seen in the last week. A tired Charles A. Grimmett, drinking coffee and typing. After tomorrow, this magnificent view will no longer be owned by my computer, but my American Heritage notes.
Photo taken with Photo Booth.
This morning I did a short photoshoot with my friends Gennady and Wendy. They are getting married shortly after they graduate from Hillsdale in a few weeks and wanted some semi-casual photos taken before the wedding. Luckily, it turned out to be a beautiful day, despite the threats of rain early in the morning. It was a little windy, but I think the photos came out well despite this. Above are my favorite shots.
They have been wonderful to spend time with during my first two semesters at Hillsdale, and I am going to miss them. I wish you the best, Gennady and Wendy!
I am still developing my portrait skills, so let me know what you think and where I can improve. Click on the photos to view them at a larger size.
