Sharing The Views

Well hello again my minions,

This rainy Saturday afternoon, I’ve been in the conference room of my dad’s office. Editing photos and transcribing new poetry into my notebook; I find recently that I’ve been realizing how to deal with some emotions that’ve been weighing on my mind. Of course that means I’ll likely be posting some new material soon. While I’ve been vacationing at my hometown in Indiana I’ve also done just a little bit of traveling; last weekend my dad, brother and I took a day trip to Nashville.

Once we got to The Music City we went to a local attraction and one that was startlingly beautiful to me. The Parthenon. A full scale replica of the original parthenon in Greece; complete with massive 42 foot tall statue of the Goddess Athena. As I ascended the stairs into the atrium housing Lady Athena I felt a sense that I was about to be in awe. I wasn’t disappointed in the slightest.

This statue is covered in gold leaf and literally glimmered under the modern lights of this Replica of The Parthenon. As I was laying on my back taking this shot I had a moment where I just laid there and wondered… If this is the glimmer she cast from modern lighting, him much more majestic would she have looked could we have seen her lit by torches and embered braziers? I felt like there should have been incense burning inside.

This place was majestic in every sense of the word. Featured in the movie Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief (even though the books are better) As we were leaving I turned around and saw my brother taking a couple pictures himself. I took a short walk back towards him and got a few myself.

This one I shot with a black and red filter feature built into my camera. A Fujifilm X~T1 is what I shoot with and though I’m always learning new things and tricks I DO love my Fuji. Once we were done at The Parthenon we drove a little bit before we checked into our hotel at The Grand Sheraton in downtown Nashville. If y’all are ever in the area and are able to I highly recommend a possible stay here. Literally as soon as I stepped into the lobby I saw at LEAST several magazine worthy photography shots.

Once we’d checked in we headed upstairs to our room and got everything settled. I took the hotel elevator back down to get some more pictures I’d seen inside my head. While on the way down I had a shot of opportunity and by God I took it.

Sometimes you just have to take the shot. This one was shot once again with that red + black filter as were the following photos.

There’s still more photos I’m working through but I thought I’d give y’all a little sampling of my work. Share with y’all a little of my vacation. I realize that not everyone gets to travel as often or to the places I’ve been. That’s part of the reason for my blog in the first place y’all. To share my adventures with THE WORLD. I mean I’m on the internet right? Everyone can see my thoughts and to be honest that’s pretty damn freeing. While I’ve been on vacation here I’ve been doing a little more writing. I started back up while I was in the airport in Boise the 9th of this month.

Two weeks later I’ve completed two more poems and added them to my manuscript. Soon I’ll be getting new photo editing software which will allow me to affix my photos with an updated watermark. This is helpful for a few reasons, the most important of which is that I can update several photos I’ve previously shot which will serve as illustrations for this poetry project. I’ll also be able to edit some photos I’ve previously shot and make them look much better.

Big things are coming y’all. I’m looking forward to the future and eager to see what it brings.

As always my friends… Rapha Yada

~Richard