Monday, April 4, 2011

Slowly Breaking Through The Daylight

Sooo, that last update post never happened and here's why. I was GOING to show you pictures of my studio that I'm going to have to unwillingly take apart soon, BUT, I lost both of my memory cards and my card reader last week. =( It's quite devastating actually. Mostly since I still have a photo assignment to finish and I needed at least one for our trip to Charleville Castle. Annoying. Actually, lots of things have been getting annoying lately. Nothing having to do with being in Ireland, mostly the usual with me: my incessant problem with having my things broken and lost. Broken computer charger, iPod barely containing any life, lost memory cards/card reader, camera problems making it difficult to take photos, tripod losing a screw, forgetting to bring things that need returning... etc. It looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of money replacing technology when I get home... for now, though, it's nothing I can really worry about since my real worries reside in finishing my paintings and getting my photo assignment done all before our last studio day next week.

It's so crazy that we only have a few more weeks here. SO crazy. As cliche it is for me to say this, time just went so fast. I've had the most incredible time here so far and I couldn't' have asked to share it with better people in a better place. Everything about this semester is exactly what I needed at this point in my life and I'm so glad that study abroad woman approached me outside the office that day when I found out about BCA.

Anyways, as for the memory card problem, it's a bit frustrating since there is no place for me to get memory cards here in Ballyvaughan so I have to wait until I can get somewhere bigger to get one. Also, they are pretty expensive here compared to in the states so I'm going to have to shell out a little bit of money to get one. For now my friend Tilly let me use hers during the castle trip and Mandy has graciously offered to let me use one of hers this week while I'm finishing my Orchard House project. I'm very lucky to have such nice friends here, haha. I'll definitely have to get one before I start traveling though because God knows I'm going to want to take pictures during my travels! Also, the computer charger thing is kind of a problem and I would buy one while I'm here except one of my friends from home bought me one for my birthday and I don't know if it's in the mail or not, another problem. I guess if I don't have one when I'm traveling I'll just have to suck it up, haha.

This week is going to be very busy and I have a feeling the stress level of everyone is going to rise just a teeny bit with people trying to get all of their work done. I'm not too far from having it done. I've almost finished my portrait of Alyssa, I'll have her sit for me once more to get it finished; and I'll have Liam sit for me a couple times this week to finish his up too. I'm excited to finish them because they are coming along so well. I think when I get back to the states I'm going to have to continue painting portraits of people. I really can't let myself let that go because I enjoy it so much and I've gotten so much better at it since I've been here it would just be a shame to let all of that new knowledge disintegrate. I've been thinking about how I could work it into my capstone next semester. I'm a bit stuck figuring it out since I feel like I need to do photo since that is my concentration, but I'll figure it out in due time.

Now, I'm not going to finish this post without talking a little bit about our castle trip! As you guys know we stayed the night in the haunted Charleville Castle this weekend. We left on Saturday morning and came back last night. The trip was pretty fun, it was kind of like a giant sleepover/camping trip only instead of a friend's house/campsite it was a biggo haunted castle, haha. I'll post pictures once I get them edited, but I went in a few different directions with the photos I took. We had to do some kind of self driven assignment while we were there and I chose to do photos of interiors where light was an important factor that determined the feeling of the space. It was a really fun little project especially because the light was so beautiful in the building and out. I got some really great shots, but of course once I saw the light I couldn't' help myself but take photos of people in that light. I was so excited to photograph people there, it was like I was photographing a Vermeer painting, so I got some really great shots that involved people in the light as well. Lastly, aside from a few fun pictures I of course took some self-portraits, because who would I be if I didn't see beautiful light and not want to put myself in it, haha. I just went through them all and overall I got some great shots and I'm excited to show you. If I had access to a place like that all the time I would be photographing people in that light constantly.

As for the trip itself, I had a lot of fun and I think everyone else did too. I don't know how much I believe into the whole haunted business. It's not that I don't believe in ghosts and spirits, I really do actually. I've just never had an experience and this trip was no exception. I'm sure there is some kind of activity when you are walking along the staircase by yourself or checking out the dungeon on your own, but there was SO many of us in the castle that night that I think that has to do with the lack of paranormal activity. I mean, I didn't experience anything anyways. One of the proclaimed most haunted places in the castle is the staircase. The third daughter of the Earl, Harriot, fell to her death from the top of the staircase when she was very young and is said to haunt that area of the castle, but in a playful way. I'll tell you, I sat on the top of that staircase by myself for quite a while in the dark and didn't experience anything. Now, like I said, there were a lot of people in the castle that night, but I dunno. I would have liked to have an experience, I have to be honest. I've always wanted to so I had a stronger reason to believe ghosts exist, but I didn't get one that night, oh well, maybe next time I sleep in a haunted castle... haha.

I stayed up pretty late, not all night though like I said I would. It was just fun to hang out with everyone and experience the place together. It was a very beautiful building and I hope in the future the renovations they do to it help the aesthetic appeal because right now It's a bit in shambles in a majority of the wings.

Well, I guess that's all for now, I'll post some photos soon =)

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