Photography, camping, and grief

We're now a couple of weeks into the fall semester. I'm taking Digital Photography I, Black & White Photography I, and History of Photography. I've done my first darkroom assignment, which was really cool because we (my B&W Film class) used paint cans to make pinhole cameras. We then used pinhole cameras to take negative images directly on photo paper, which we developed in the darkroom. I've discovered I really enjoy seeing my images slowly come to life under the hazy red lights.

This is my pinhole camera:

Basically, you get a quart-sized paint can and using very basic supplies, you turn it into a camera. We took several shots each, which takes some time because it is one at a time, then each one gets developed separately. But it was a whole lot of fun, and I got some cool shots, like this one:

I did another scavenger hunt for my Digital class, too. I did one for the same teacher over the summer, but our list of items was different this time. One of the items on the list was birds. I really like the movement in this shot:

We spent this weekend camping with the Cub Scouts pack up at Camp Cheseborough. It was a riot of scheduled activities, ceremonies, and meals. The kids of the pack had an absolute blast running around with each other, and Zach and I really enjoyed getting to know the other parents in the pack better. It's nice to have friends with kids who have become good friends to our kids. We've sort of jumped all in to the scouting thing at this point, and the littles are all about it. I even got the pack to take a shot at light painting.

It was a great weekend. I always have some trouble sleeping in the woods, and the mountains are a challenge for me, but mentally and emotionally, I felt pretty good this weekend. For two days, I found some peace and genuine happiness. This morning, though, I woke up from dreams of Hannah feeling the lack of her very strongly. I miss her every day, but this morning was hard. It really is strange how and when the stronger aspects of grief will hit me. I don't know if I will ever get used to it.

I'm adding some more pictures to some of the other pages, and once I start getting my prints back, I'll scan those into the site, too. I'm finding peace, and even some joy in using my two cameras, Hannah's and the one I bought for the film class. The loss of my bug resulted in this new thing I enjoy, almost like it was her final gift to me. I like to think of it that way. It makes me feel a little less left behind.