Del Dios

I went to visit the poppy fields on Del Dios highway although most of the poppy's were gone... very sad. However, the long and strenuous walk up the hill was not a total failure. Once I got to the top, I suddenly realized that I was the only one there and I was in the middle of nowhere, but I still got some good shots of some wildflowers. The view from the top is really pretty and I managed to get a nice pano of the lake and the surrounding hills. It was cool to see some of the remaining damage to the area from the wildfires of last year and the combination of dead, burnt plants next to beautiful, colorful plants was something kind of interesting. Here are some of the pictures that I got from the top of Del Dios:

Indian Rock

The field trip to Indian Rock was something that was totally unexpected to me and my knowledge of the San Diego area. I found the sight to be historically interesting and the information given about native flowers and plants was something that I never knew existed. i was able to capture a
variety of images from different angles of the rock which has unfortunately been vandalized by gang graffiti and of some different native flowers that are slowly coming up in the area. Our experts were very helpful about the subject matter and their vast knowledge of the native plants and the rock made the sight much more interesting to learn about. I would say that probably the biggest shocker about the whole scene is that it is surrounded by track homes, schools, streets, and churches. This was something that I did not expect to find while on my way to the sight that is so historically significant to the native tribes of the area.

James Nachtwey

The images and story told by this artist were stunning. Although i have seen and heard of most of these stories, a good photograph can really intensify our feelings. The images shown by James Nachtwey bring so many questions to mind about why on earth we want to inflict so much damage on each other and the presence of seeing all of these incidents is so overwhelming that it makes one forget about anything good within the world. Seeing these images really allows us to feel so lucky to be living where we live. And when compared to other things that go on in this world, how can we possibly complain about the idiosyncrasies in life.

Janelle's Video

The video that Janelle made was visually impressive. I thought that the quality of the video was well done and some of the editing was really cool. A part that specifically caught my attention was when the charcoal images that were drawn by Janelle came off of the wall and started to move, as well as some of the rapid editing that was happening towards the end of the song. The way the video was produced definitely matched the style of the song. That being said, I think that the quality of the music could have been seriously improved upon. It was clear that the subject matter of destruction, abuse, and war is something that comes from the heart and although the lyrics were bold and upfront, the music took away from the possible affect of the song. The hard core, "kick ass" kind of rock came off as being cheesy and in turn decreased the quality of the entire video.

Blurb

A particular book that caught my attention in blurb was a photo journal in Amsterdam. The text was dutch... I think.... but the photos were really beautiful. Having been to Amsterdam myself last year I found out the city gets a huge mis-representation due to the fact that there are plenty of legal drugs and prostitution for one to be a part of. The infamous red light district of Amsterdam is well known to people all over the world. What most people may not know is that Amsterdam has some of the most beautiful sights to see in all of Europe. The city is far more than a legal 24 hour party. The architecture, friendly people, and narrow streets lined by flowing rivers and streams all give much more to the experience of Amsterdam than is expected upon arrival for a first time visitor. I thought that this book featured on blurb did a good job of capturing some rarely seen images of the city and giving Amsterdam something more than what is commonly thought of. I liked it.