Monochrome

This assignment was pretty good. I would've done much better if I had more time. Not Slade's fault, I'm not asking for another week or two, I just need more time devoted to photo that I simply don't have fall term. It's a shame, but photo isn't a priority for me right now. I didn't have a lot of options here. I didn't have many images to choose from so taking that into consideration, I think I did alright! I fulfilled the assignment, which was my goal. I loved a couple of these shots which is a bonus, ones that I'd be proud to show off. But I liked my classmates' work a LOT better. I think when I'm old and my passion for photography still lives, I'll give myself assignments. And I'll try this again. Maybe in the summer. Same with numbers. But for now, I can't be outstanding. So this is what we got.


I LOVE AUTUMN. This tree is beautiful. Goodbye chlorophyll.



Shoes. This is my favorite shot. I wear these shoes all the time. They're not the cutest but they're comfy, old fashioned, me. :) I love this shot cause somehow it reminds me of myself. I actually shot this originally this summer, then reshot it for this assignment. I love it. This is my favorite.


Blurry = flaw. I like the rest tho. This is busy, but clearly monochrome since each utensil is of metallic essence. I'll reshoot it.



Wheat. I like wheat. I want to be a farmer so I can harvest my own wheat. I think it's pretty.



This is a bench. I love the focus. Love the shadows. This is strong.



I tried so hard to make this work. I put my high heels my beautiful new grand piano, with a little black flower. It looked great, but my camera was being defiant. It wouldn't focus close enough to get the green wall out of there. The light wasn't great enough and my camera wouldn't adjust. I couldn't fit the tripod where needed so everything is either blurry, or focused on something I didn't want it focused on. Like the flower. I wanted the heels and flower to be the same, but you can't even see high heels in this shot. Oh well. It's still monochromatic.


Don't love. Don't hate. It's definitely monochrome, so there you go. The focus is sweet. The contrast alright. The angle individual. So I'll take it.




Playground. Reminds me of chocolate cookie crackers. Shrug-- it's alright.



Also at a playground. I love these. Looker throughers. They're great for spying. I like this color. It's in the running for my wedding color. This shot was in the running for my favorite image, but then I got better.



Here is a playground climb thinger and the sky. I was laying on the ground. That shows I'm legit. I still have woodchips in my shirt. Ouch. I don't love this.



Different Playground. Lovely sunlight. Wood, wood and wood. I love the shadows.



Here is an apple on a placemat. The lighting isn't that great, and that's why the bite in the apple is so yellow. Also, that's the color of the inside of apples. I love the bite.. but I don't even really like this. Everyone else just loves it. Maybe my taste is off because I don't love this. I like it a little better since I muted the green a little, so if the light was better I'd prolly like it much better.

I like this shot. It reminds me of my childhood. It reminds me of the rush of butterflies you get before rushing down that steep slide. The thought process that goes through your head: "Do I really want to do this?" Then after you go, you realize it was completely worth the adrenaline rush and you climb back up to the top; only to have that same though process once again.

Before and After

At first I was discouraged when we could do absolutely zero editing. But then I was grateful! Because I dealt with what I had, I appreciated things the orginal shots had that edited ones wouldn't. For example my M&M shot, is SO colorful and bright! And it's right out of the lens! If I had edited it, I wouldn't appreciate it so. But now that I appreciate everything, I'd like to make my pretty pictures, prettier.
Before:

After:

Taryn Simon

She interests me. She is a photographer that proved that photographs can lie. Most photographs tell a story. But are the stories true? Must they be? In issues of crime, accusation and trial, yes they must be true. When identifying a criminal, it is not okay to get a picture of a certain person at an earlier point in history, long before the crime was commited, and use that picture to prove the accused is a rapist and kidnapper. It is not okay to use look-alikes of people, to ensure that the public is safe and the rapist has been caught, when you're lying. And even further it is not okay to sentence these innocent 'criminals' to a death sentence over 3,000 years. Taryn Simon photographed these innocent false convicts at the scene of the crime, to carry a point across. She's promoting fairness through her talents, but this doesn't mean the prosecuters will change anything no matter how wrong it is. And they can convince the jury and judge of just about anything. Still--kudos to Taryn Simon.

Numbers

0-I love this. I love hands. This shot looks like she should be presenting something, but there's nothing there. Therefore, ZERO.


2-This is probably my favorite. I love shadows, this was the best light everrrrrrrr and I think it's clever/kinda funny. That's my camera strap, and you can barely see my iPod headphones, my curly hair(i wish was natural) and personally I think this tells alot about me if you break it down.


6-I love this. I love Ikea. I love the light that produces those shadows. I love the focus. I love the number of plates. I love the shadows. I wish it was a little bit more contrasty, but editing isn't allowed so this is pretty great I guess.


9-I like this shot. I like shoes. I like how I didn't tell anybody I was photographing. It's like a candid of feet. And I like it. They're all relaxed just standing in a hall. Awesome.



2- two swings. I admit, this wasn't meant to be part of this assignment. I just liked the shot, but then I realized it could resemble the number two. I like the lighting. It feels so good knowing that this is the shot right out of the camera! and no fake editing was added. :)


84-This is fine, exactly what Slade wanted, but I don't think it's very great. I like other people's numbers much better.


70-This is the same as above. Cool shot yeah, but typical. And not WAY fun to look at. doesn't really capture my attention though It might catch someone elses.



8-I love this shot. It was on a mailbox! Cute huh. I stumbled upon it while looking for numbers on my street. At first I just shot it cause it was interesting and I thought I'd use it eventually, until I realized it was an eight! WOW. I like the focus, contrasted color, I just wish I didn't cut off the top. Oh well.


52-I'm so clever. I love cards. I love this focus. Not very original though. But it's 52 cards. I altso like Jacks.


17-I like this as a photo, but it almost doesn't pertain to the assignment. I did shoot it after counting how many there were, but it wouldn't be your first thought. Maybe sixth or seventh after you counted. I like the colors--bright even though I did zero editing!!


3-I like this shot, because it's colorful and happy. Puts a smile on your face and makes your mouth water just a little. It doesn't show three right away, but after a few guesses I think you'd catch on. I think it's fine that I cut off the tins, I did it on purpose.


4-This is my favorite shot. Slade likes it too. The lighting is great, I even like the focus on only two cups instead of all four. You can easily see that this resembles the number four so it got the point of the assignment across, and it's fun to look at. I like how it's not centered, and I like how you can see in the upper righthand corner that the pan continues. I like how you can see the detailed messy pan:)
I'll blog later. I have no time to discuss my photos right now. Sorryyy

Numbers

I hated this assignment. I liked numbers 1-15, but after that I got fed up. At first I didn't fully understand what was wanted; I thought cool shots was priority over the assignment being finished. I LOVE a lot of my classmates' shots, but I'm not pleased with mine. I'd like another chance to shoot this, and I think I will on my own as a personal project at a later date. I wish I would've found cool numbers, instead of just multiple subjects resembling numbers which is basically all I did. Slade tricked me. I feel for it:P But I like a few of the shots that turned out.

Kara

Silly Boys, Trucks are for Girls.

There's simply a special bond between a girl and her truck. This old beat up dump that I simply adore, and like to call Big Red, is my pride and joy. It's candy apple red (hence Big Red)and shines like diamonds.

SUmmmma

In June I went over to Europe. TWAS GREAT!! Truly, I loved it. I enjoyed London...










France...








and Denmark.













I didn't have a favorite place. They were alllllll amazing. I'll never forget that experience!! I could talk about it for hours.. but I'm sure you'd rather not read it here. We'll chat later. Part of the greatness was.. I bought myself a camera!! I hurried to get it specifically for my trip, but with the expectation I'd be using it in the fall. Yesssssssssssssssss. It changed the trip for me, and made it a million times better. I'm so happy I could capture all my favorite moments. In addition to family fun memories, I also did artistic photos (obviously). I love them all, and I'm planning on blowing them up on canvas and displaying them around the house. PRFCT

I also went to Lake Powell with my best friends. Best trip of my life. I am a senior. Tubing and jetskiing alllll day long:) sunburns, bruises from the tube, LOST, wheat THICKS, cliff jumping, best friends, greatness.

I also worked at a pool.

Played volleyball.

The end.

Final Project Journal

I loved my project!! I thought of the idea even before I started photo this year so I really enjoyed shooting. I loved finding different circles out of all kinds of things. I shot pots, candles, decorations, fences, mouths, eyes, steering wheels; all kinds of things!! It was easy because there were circles all over; I didn't have to search too long or too hard before I found one. The challenge was symbolizing the meaning of my circles. I was trying to symbolize the cycle of time and how, like a circle, it's never ending. I didn't do very well showing this meaning in my prints; if someone looked at them I doubt time would even cross their minds. But personally, I sense time there. My circles aren't all perfect. My sisters mouth isn't symmetrical, there are flaws. Well I kind of think this represents life. Not everything always works out as planned; as humans we come across barriers in our plans, where we make mistakes or go through trials. I see this told in my circles. This is the first assignment that I have actually been pleased with. I love my diversity between the ring, the fence and the mouth; they have absolutely nothing in common except their geometrical shape. Circles are so common, and that's not something people automatically recognize. That's why I love my project because it brings circles to the viewers attention. The other challenge was making each image unique. I love the diversity between my prints not only in the subject, but the angle the circle is looked at. I love the perfectly symmetrical muffin print looked at straight on, in comparison to the angle of the fence. I'm just so pleased!! Their a little dusty, and not perfect, but I'm finally happy with my work. Even the lighting and more technical points of my project I'm happy with. For instance, the ketchup one, I love the shadows :) The peace ring was taken in the same place, and the shadow showing the peace sign too is all due to the angle the light hits the table and object. I love the composition of my muffin too because even without seeing the person's expression, you get a feeling of what she is thinking. My color contrast of the gate is probably the best one of the bunch as far as color goes if I remember correctly. I loved my classmates work also. Every single one of them were so different but incredible, yet all related by one subject, time. I truly enjoyed this class and can't wait to start working next year!

Journal#3

Before:
I'm a bit frightened for this assignment. It sounds interesting but I'm afraid I'll getthe exposures all wrong. I'll use a tripod and try super hard, but I don't know if it will turn out. Also I don't really know what to shoot. Maybe water with the reflection of the moon in the puddle. Probably lots of objects just showing thier shadows to prove that it's night. I'm scared.

After:
This assignment was the worst of all. It was an intruiging idea, but it didn't work out for me. I went outside to my front yard and found nothing to shoot. I tried a few but they were blurry due to camera shake and two slow of an apature. There were no puddles. I wasn't really capable of going anywhere else, so I'm disappointed in this roll. I love my colleague's work, and the favorite of mine is either the candle with the background of a brick wall, or my rocking chair with the night sky in the background but enough light from the inside window so it's completely in focus-- the apature was fine. I wish I could redo this assignment.

Dorothea Lange

She was born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1985. At age seven, Dorothea developed polio, impairing her right leg and ability to walk-- she lived her whole life with a permanent limp. But this impairment didn't stop her from becoming successful. She started her education in photography in New York, and later moved to San Francisco in her early 20's and opened her own portrait studio. She loved California and lived in Berkeley for the rest of her life. She got married at age 25 to a painter by the name of Maynard Dixon. They had two sons, Daniel and John. She ended up divorcing Dixon in 1935 and married Paul Taylor, a professor at University of California, Berkeley.
Dorothea Lange is famous mostly for her shots of the Great Depression. As this ordeal arose all around her, she decided to stop working in her studio, and move to the streets and the people. She captured shots of the hungry and homeless both recording history and bringing the surrounding poverty to public attention. Together with her second husband, she documented this poverty and economic struggle; Paul gathering data and Dorothea photographing. She worked with federal companies like the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration, making her work icons of this era of depression.
She won many awards and recognitions due to this work, also for her work of wars and their effects. She died of esophageal cancer at age 70, but left behind an unforgettable legacy.


This photo shows physically and emotionally the state of not only this woman, but of many people during the time. Both the dirt and concern on her face tell a story and genuinely represents the Depression.


This frame also represents exactly what people were going through. It shows how men are searching for work and supplies to provide for their family, while others have given up hope. It tells the story intended through its great composition and contrast not in color, but in expression.



This photo shows the depression from a different perspective. It doesn't tell us about the concern of the people, but about what causes this concern. This officer represents the unfairness that some had to deal with.

journal #2

Before:
I'm excited about this assignment. I like how i'll tell a story with multiple frames instead of one-- it increases my number of options. Before and after: i could do an unmade bed and, then the same bed made. or maybe a full dish, and the plate after it's eaten. maybe someone right when they wake up, and after they're ready for the day. I'll think of better ones later. I also like the close closer and closest. The first will be boring, and i won't change the angle from straight on. The second will be the same, just with the subject taking up the entire frame instead of having a background. And lastly, I'll do an abstract one from a new angle; but you'll still be able to tell what the subject is. The end.

After:
Hmm. This didn't work out as planned. I liked my ideas, just not so much the execution. For example, my door. I photographed a house, then just the door, then just the handle. Loved the idea, hated how it turned out. Oh well. Then I did a clock for the far away and then close. The first image of a far away clock is awful. Horrendous. I can hardly believe it was me who photographed it. Probably worse than any eighth grader's first photograph ever. Sighhhhhhh oh well. The second on is great and abstract. That is what I printed. I also printed a picture of my little sister right out of bed, one when she was doing her hair, and one when she was all ready. These were not great photographs. They told the story they were supposed to but awful composition. I wish I could reshoot. Actually just the first is awful. Maybe I just don't like it cause it's the part of the day when she's ugliest, cause I love the other too when she's cute. Baha. Really though those have great focus with a mirror, and not so much the first. I also shot an apple and cutter, and then one of the sliced apple. I liked this best, but ended up not printing it. Hmm. Maybe I will later. It worked out pretty great. Mediocre idea but good composition. Hopefully next assignment will go better. The end.

Annie Leibovitz

She was born in 1949 in Connecticut, as the third child of six. Her parents were not her influence to go into photography, her mother was a dancer and her father in the airforce. Just like Ansel Adams, music was a big part of her life. She attended the San Fransisco Art Institute because of her endeavors to write and play music, and also to paint. But after she merely put her toes in the water, she was hooked to photography. After a trip with her parents where she discovered her love and talent for photo, she returned and immediately started some classes at the institute, and was encouraged to continue in that career.
Since she loved the arts, much of her photography is portraits of actors, musicians, and writers. Her first big project, with Rolling Stones magazine, was to shoot the one and only John Lennon. It was her first try, and her first success! She held on to this opportunity and shot many more musicians such as: Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Bob Marley, Keith Richards, and Mick Jagger. She later went on to even more celebrities, but more actors. For example: Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Brad Pitt, Keira Knightly, Nicole Kidman, Scarlett Johannson, Ellen DeGeneres, Angelina Jolie, even Suri Cruise with her parents Tom and Katie. More politically famous people she shot were Michael Moore, George Bush and Bill Clinton. Even recently, she photographed Michelle Obama. These portraits showed up in magazines such as New York Times magazine, Vogue, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker and even more.
Leibovitz is an example of a photographer that took a different road than the ones we've studied. She is the more stereotypical version of a big shot photographer, and I researched her to look into the options open to anyone interested in photo.

The photos represented below are of the more famous images that helped Leobovitz climb the ladder. However, most of her strongest works of nude portraits, that would not be appropriate to present here; I'll show the images of celebrities that are clothed.


Bob Marley. The expression on his face mixed with the reputation of his name shows exactly what Rolling Stones was looking for; his passion for music.



Brad Pitt. She coordinated the color of his pants, the couch, and even his skin and hair tone all to match. His pose and expression represents the typical personality of famous actors.



Suri Cruise. This photo contradicts the one before; it shows that these celebrites are actually human and can love their child. The photograph represents the love from each parent to the child in their expressions and ways of holding her.


Michelle Obama. This shows her motherly, responsible, confident and supporting nature.


Angelina Jolie. Perfect portrait-- represents her reputation. (slut)

Lastly,

Keith Richards. Again, typical. Perfect representation.

Annie Leibovitz, as presented above, photographs each portrait telling a story, sending a message, explaining the person.

Project Proposal

Circles. That is my plan for this final project. I'll photograph all kinds of circles from rings to floor patterns to playgrounds to clocks-- lots of different circles. This relates to time in that it is never ending. Time goes on forever, just like a circle. The course of the day is often looked at as a circle, as the routine is similar from day to day, so voila. The end.

Journal Assignment #1

Before:
I hope I'm not just sitting at home during this assignment. I hope I'm out and about on a regular busy day, and I'll simply bring my camera with me. A few of my photographs will be outside, a couple from home, maybe some at a friend's house, some in stores. I originally thought I would represent what I was doing at each half hour interval but now I think I'll just find an interesting photograph at each place. But, my roll will start and end similarly, in my room, closing the sequence of the day.

After:
My plan didn't exactly work out. I did in fact sit at home all day. It was probably the most boring day I've had in months. So most of my images were simply of the decorations and objects that reside in my house. It was definitely not my best roll, but it'll do. No purple hearts.. yay!! And just a few dust spots. I did find a way to make each frame interesting using depth of field and such, and focusing on the closer main object, but it still was not a great roll. I could have done it better, but I am pleased.

p.s. Sorry, I once again found this in my drafts. Twas done on time though, I just forgot to post it.

Ansel Adams

"A photograph is made, not taken."

Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902 in San Fransico. Though throughout his life Adams' mother was too worried to support, his father always encouraged and bolstered Ansel, in every aspect of his life. He always had trouble in school, ever since he was a child. He was shy and unusually genius which excluded him from fitting in, and on top of that had almost a deformity. As a four year old, he fell during an earthquake. This literally scarred him for life- his nose that is. He may have been dyslexic or hyperactive, but he never succeeded in school. He eventually was homeschooled, and eventually was educated to the equivalent of finishing the eighth grade. As a result of having no friends, Ansel showed much interest in nature as a child. This admiration is clearly shown in his work as an adult. When Adams was 12, he taught himself to read music and play the piano. He persued this career for quite sometime and although he gave it up later, there is no doubt his passion for music influenced him photography. Also, the self discipline and artistry he learned as a musician absolutley helped him succeed in photography.
Ansel's parents gave him a Kodak No. 1 box brownie as his first camera and he went straight to the Yosemite to use it. His love of nature was evident here. As he hiked, explored, climbed and photographed, he gained confidence in himself. He returned at least once a year after this, until the day he died. Yosemite is where he met Virginia Best; they were married in 1928. In 1934, Adams officially gave up the ambition of being a concert pianist, and devoted his life to photography. This decision was encouraged by the Sierra Club (of Nevada) as he was elected on the board of directors and named artist of Sierra Nevada and defender of Yosemite.
Ansel Adams only soared from here. He moved on to bigger projects and was influenced by other photographers. His confidence was boosted high for the rest of his life as he became a legend.


This photograph shows Adams' skill in timing, which is everything. He shot when the light was just perfect, portraying the highlights and the darks exactly how he wanted them.


Here Adams shows his passion for nature. He worked hard to get this specific angle, up so high, and intensified the beauty of nature.


Again, Ansel timed this photograph with perfection. The way the sun hits the water shows the feeling of walking on a peaceful beach and captures the essence of the pier at sunset. This is probably my favorite, because that's my favorite feeling.


This is my second favorite. For the billionth time, Ansel shows his love for nature. The way he has gotten close and focused directly on each petal, the light on the outside of the flower contrasted with darks of the depth, and the background of ripples as if it were water; Ansel planned this all out so it all corresponds exactly the way he wanted.


I love this photograph. Though it seems a bit cliche showing a journey ahead, Adams has made it his own. It is as though this is his original shot, and every shot like it was based off of this. The depth of field sends the message that there is a journey ahead, but he does it so it actually means something. This is not a cheesy photograph, it is actually significant to the history of photography!

Extra Credit

I am taking this opportunity to get more points since I am not pleased with my work this term. It is not that I feel I was graded unfairly, I just wish I would've worked a little harder, and never been satisfied. I also want to take this opportunity to tell anyone who reads this (cause I have so many fans) about one of the many things I regret from photo this term. I don't just deplore absolutely everything I've done, don't get me wrong, this is the most I've ever loved a class! (no, I'm not just sucking up to Slade, I'm actually serious.) There are just some things I wish I'd improved. Anyway, this is one thing I regret not taking the time to do:

I've always been planning on shooting something that told a personal story. Not a story like Humpty Dumpty (though I loved your work Chan) and not a pointless story to simply entertain viewers. I want a photograph that resembles me. I want to capture the things I love in life, right now, in one image. One of the reasons I didn't shoot it this term was because I don't quite know what to shoot. I don't know what this picture will look like.. because I'm still figuring myself out. This photo, if I ever take it, will be for me. Not for an audience, not for Slade, not for Chan or for my parents, but for me. I want to look back on this one photograph, and remember the things I thought about at this age. The things I did, what I loved, because I want to capture the memory of my life right now. One reason why I want to do this is because I see myself loving photo in the future, not just now. It might not be my profession, but I'm sure it will always be at least a hobby. And as I'm building my foundation right now, taking these classes, learning lessons and gaining skills, and it is just the beginning of my life as a photographer. When I'm old, hopefully still into photography, I want to see what my work looked like when I was just starting out. When I research professional photographers, I've always wanted to see what their first print looked like. What their photos looked like at my age. This would give me hope that maybe I could one day be as great as they were. Yes, this entire paragraph is cheesy with finding myself, and capturing memories, but I honestly hope to soon find out what this photograph will look like, and when I find out I will shoot it.

Josef Koudelka

At first I just liked this guy cause he was named after my favorite printer. (Maybe it was the other way around.....) but in my research, I have learned that he is much more than a printer. That printer is very very fortunate to have a pleasure and honor, of being named after such an artist. Here is just one favorite:



I really like this one, because you can see into the head of this hand. You can tell, by just the subject of the image, that this man is either bored or in a hurry. But then as we look at the background, a busy city with people with places to go, we see that this man is in a hurry. One small side element of vantage point simply shows us how great a photographer he is, and it also tells us that this man has a long way to go, and not a long time to get there. I love the story this tells.

William Eggleston

This one also is great. It's full of wonder, why did he take this picture? What is this significance? What was he thinking? Maybe it was just great light, maybe it was his favorite car, favorite drink, who knows? But I think he wanted to leave us wondering. The reflection is awesome. It is what caught my eye, and it adds so much to the picture. By the style of both the cars and the bottle, you can tell what year/era this is. Maybe it's just the great representation of light, but this photo is great.

William Eggleston

So at first, I thought his work wasn't so great. It wasn't bad, but I didn't understand what the big deal was. This was last term, during my project of this guy. Well after I did some research on him, I started to understand what was so great, and I appreciated his work. Now, at the end of digital term I've learned a lot, and I appreciate him even more. Here, Eggleston has used the 'hero angle' on a tricycle. Though it is usually used on a person for a portrait, I can see the hero angle here. He has made with tricycle look big, powerful, almighty, heroic. Whether it is a child's dream toy, or his favorite toy, as I look at this photo I hear glorified voices singing. This is great.

Joel Sternfeld

I respect Joel Sternfeld, along with many. These are just a few of my favorites.



I like how he has color coordinated the pumpkins with the fire, and how both the smashed pumpkins and the burning building symbolize destruction.




This one's great because he has coordinated her shirt with the sheet, and her face with the pole. This color coordination is pleasing to the eye. Also The sheet is dirty, as is her face. This coordination leaves the mind wondering.


Joel is great icause he always has a message to go along with the photo. He inspires me to send messages through my photographs too. He always coordinates two subjects, or a subject with the background, and this is great.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project I'm thinking playgrounds. Originally I was going to do nursery rhymes, because over the break I told the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' using photography. It was a good idea, but the actual photos weren't that great, so I was going to reshoot that. Chan's idea was playgrounds. Well as I heard hers, I fell in love with the idea. During film last term, I shot playgrounds, and they were some of my favorite images. I was so jealous, I wanted to do playgrounds so badly! Then I found out that Chan had fallen in love with my idea, as I had hers. It was perfect!! We switched. Now I'm very excited, she's excited, we're all excited. I'm looking at old antique ones made of wood and iron and trying to avoid the new futuristic plastic ones. Yay! I can't wait.

Okay. I wrote that Friday the 6th, and I shot all weekend. Now it is Monday the 9th, and I like my shots! But I don't like the slides and just swings and climbing sets, I like all of the shots where I got very very close, and focused hard and sharply. Well it just so happens and these shots, my favorites, are all of metal. My close-up bolt and my chain from a swing, these are my favorites! So I've changed my subject to metal. I don't even like my playground shots. But I love the metal ones. I'll go shoot some more this week, and I may even have some shots from past assignments I could use. I have almost two full weeks until this is due, so hopefully it's exceptional. Yay!! I can't wait. I hope it turns out!