As I grew more comfortable with the camera, I brought it to more places, including: Sarku Japan, Baldwin Wallace University, and my church.
I was able to catch the last moments of Fall before the transition into Winter began.
A theme of this set is emptiness; a majority of the pictures show scenes of empty buildings, classrooms, and public outdoor areas.
It's only till the end do we see where all the people are: the Jack Frost Parade! Looking through these pictures gives me conflicting feeling of loneliness and holiday warmth.
Sarku Japan
Location: North Olmsted; Sarku Japan
About: While waiting for my order to complete I took this picture. This used to be a restaurant called Brown Bag Burger, but it closed and was replaced with this place, Sarku. I always remember there being a lot of people inside Brown Bag Burger, so to see the interior mostly empty every time I pick up food makes me a bit sad. The walls also used to be hand painted showing a farm with a tornado passing through, now those walls are just plain color.
Conservatory of Music
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: At BW, the Conservatory is a massive building that's very easy to get lost in. It's actually like three or four different buildings fused together, but with many paths, hallways, and nooks to find and explore. I found this small courtyard space while wondering through the halls one day; I think areas like this are really neat.
Conservatory of Music II
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: Another area within the Conservatory. Notice the two differing buildings on opposite sides and the funky windows straight across.
Conservatory of Music III
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: This is one of the many classrooms within the building. I was exploring the building on a day when no one was on campus, so nearly all the rooms were empty like this. On a normal school day this building is packed, with music radiating from all corners.
Conservatory of Music IV
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: Deep within the Conservatory is the main auditorium where concerts and performances are held. This was taken from the balcony seating on the second floor; I'm glad they left the door unlocked!
Conservatory of Music V
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: A better focused shot from a few rows higher up. The lone chair on stage with the two music stands gives a lonely feel to this image, but even more so from it being in the center of all the light; everything else around it is darker, putting the attention on this chair.
Conservatory of Music VI
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: Now on the first floor of the auditorium, this looks straight at the stage with a random music stand in the middle of the rows. This picture obviously didn't turn out as well, due to multiple errors on my part, but ultimately because of the low lighting in the room; I'm also unsure if having flash turned on helped or made it worse.
Looking out to Front Street
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: This image looks out to some shops on Front Street: A pinball game room, a nerdy collectables shop, a bar, and a restaurant. The view is from a classroom on one of the higher floors of the Conservatory.
Conservatory of Music VII
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Conservatory of Music
About: In the main lobby of the Conservatory. Decorated with Christmas ornaments.
Marting Hall
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Marting Hall
About: This is the front entrance to the English building; I spent a lot of time in here for class and to study. This might be one of the oldest buildings on campus, which shows especially on the inside.
Outside the Conservatory
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Outside Marting Hall
About: This pictures a building that likely used to function as a church, now part of the Conservatory. The red truck in front helps brighten the image away from the dull colors and white sky.
Parking Lot
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Outside the Student Union
About: In the distance you can see the top of Marting Hall, and might be a nice picture if it wasn't taken from the parking lot. I don't know what I was seeing when I took this picture, but is a good example of me being trigger happy with the camera, excited to take pictures of as much as possible (while still being conscious of how much film I'm spending).
Student Dorms
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; South Campus Dorms
About: Notice the three orange traffic cones on top of the light poles. I wonder if those were tossed up by students or marked by campus staff. Regardless, I love the look of this building, especially with the snow falling and the sky completely white.
Student Union in Winter
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Outside the Student Union
About: The building poorly framed here is the Student Union, Strosacker Hall. I'm not sure why I didn't spend a bit longer trying to center in the building, the image would have turned out much better.
Dorm Building next to Marting Hall
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; South Campus
About: This is a dorm building right next to where Marting Hall is. With a similar style to Marting Hall, the old stones and architecture is amazing and very skillfully made. The snow and the empty seats also capture a feeling of loneliness. I took this picture roaming around waiting for class to start.
Heavy Snow on Campus
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Marting Hall
About: Looking outside from a classroom on the second floor of Marting Hall. I got to class early because of the heavy snow we were getting, making the view outside beautiful. What I enjoy most about this image is the snow frozen in time covering the entire picture; this really captures the Winter season.
Before English Class
Location: Baldwin Wallace University; Marting Hall
About: A picture from inside the Marting Hall classroom. With it being so snowy outside, most people were skipping class to stay home, causing campus to feel totally empty.
Jack Frost Festival
Location: Berea; Front Street
About: The Jack Frost Festival is an event in Berea where they have a parade, food trucks, fireworks, and so much more. This picture was taken by the clock tower (pictured left) of some lights they had set up on the trees.
Jack Frost Festival II
Location: Berea; Coe Lake
About: Down by Coe Lake looking at the gazebo. This was taken from the top of a tree fort.
Jack Frost Festival III
Location: Berea; Coe Lake
About: A better view of the tree fort and large crowds of people attending this event.
Jack Frost Festival IV
Location: Berea; Coe Lake
About: Here you can see some of the food stands on the left and the lights lining the water. It's very impressive how much effort they put into decorating Coe Lake and the surrounding area.
Jack Frost Festival V
Location: Berea; Coe Lake
About: This image shows people from below the tree fort. There's a lot of motion blur of the people going about their night, but no too much as to be hard to interpret. This gives a look of action and busyness, which captures what this event is like.
Jack Frost Festival V
Location: Home; Foyer
About: Jake the dog sitting by the front door, taken from the second floor looking down.
Jake Wanting to go Outside
Location: Home; Foyer
About: What I really like about this picture is the sunlight coming through the front door. The long shadows of Jake, the house and trees outside show that the day is reaching it's end, a time to take a break from work.
Jake the Sun Dog
Location: Home; Foyer
About: I'm not sure what he was looking at, but the long ray of light shining through is like a spot like on Jake; everything else is kept more in the shadow to keep the focus on him.
Me at Church
Location: Olmsted Falls; Grace Church
About: Taken by my brother, this was taken at our church after a christmas service; we were waiting for our parents to finish talking with their friends. I'm really happy with how this picture turned out, I have such a happy look!
