More Than My Backyard

I live in a 4 apartment building that was once a single family house until the '70's when it was split into what it is now. 

Before hurricane Katrina it also had 2 other apartments underneath, but those have been remained untouched and are now storage for the landlords.

 In the back of the building we have 3 designated parking spots, a small area that was once grassy, and then a small storage shed. Which I swear that thing is being held up by the vines themselves. The rest is of the area is wild & unmanaged foliage and the items that are not covered in untamed nature are pretty much unrecognizable from the extent of rust. 

So one day I decided to submerse myself in this neglected world and try to capture the beauty, which I fully believe there is beauty in the ugliest of places, and people. 

                                            

 

    

True Self

I have decided to share one of my very photogenic friends.

I do have to say when I met J'mal I couldn't stand him.

He was loud, obnoxious, and demanded the attention of the entire building.

It didn't take long for me to over come my aggravation towards him and to realize and appreciate that he is someone who would never be ashamed of showing his true self in front of anyone.

I guess that's what drew me towards him after all.

We quickly became friends.

Soon enough I asked if I could photograph him, I knew that his presence and personality could easily transfer through the lens.

Which I'm finding out that shooting people is harder than it seems. A lot of individuals are shy and come off awkward in photographs, I knew that wouldn't be a problem with J'mal.

An Isolated Weekend

This past weekend my fiance, brother, his girlfriend, and I flew to Denver,CO to enjoy some time in the snow and do a little snowboarding. She was the one who's father owned the cabin we would be staying in for 4days.

The car ride to the cabin was projected to take about 4hrs. but because we were driving into one of the biggest snow storm of the season it took us 9hrs to get there. We had to drive 20-25mph the entire time up various mountain roads and across valleys between mountain ranges. None the less we were very excited once we reached the cabin destination at the base of the mountain. It wasn't until the 3rd day when the snow stopped and we realized just how close to the mountain we actually were.

We toasted to making it up the mountain alive and to making it a great weekend!

Then we made a fire because it was our only source of heat.





Our plans were to enjoy the snow the first full day, which we did, with snowball fights and drunk frolicking. Then to spend our Sunday learning to snowboard at Wolf Creek lodge. It was every one's first time on a snowboard, besides my brother's girlfriend, she had snowboarded about 4 or 5 times and was actually a great coach for us beginners.

My first run was filled with more frustration than I had anticipated, I had been a dancer for most of my life and figured my sense of balance and center would help me...nope, apparently that doesn't transfer over.

                                                                                                                                                            

This was probably the best second I had on my run!

My brother to the right and his girlfriend in red.

My fiance right before he completely wiped out!