RawPoetry

Hey! I had a birthday... three and a half weeks ago. Just wanted to say a very belated thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I was on the 3rd of four 12-hour shifts and it brightened my day. 

A few weeks ago, I thought I was actually going to start posting things here more than once a month. Then I got smacked in the face with reality when I started both my final semester of my undergrad and a second job at the same time. Not to complain, these are all very good things, just massively time consuming and I am tired and please send food. 

I will finally get a shiny Bachelor's degree in just 7 more weeks, and at that time I will rejoin the world of the living. It's my plan to make this my summer of photography, and actually immerse myself in learning and improving again instead of just coasting along. 

I hope all you internet people are doing well. Feel free to let me know if anything interesting is happening in your life or if you made a particularly tasty food recently or if you have any good theories on how Avengers: Endgame is going to go down. 

I climbed a big mountain! 

These past few months, I've fallen in love with mountaineering. I set a goal this year of climbing Washington's "introductory" volcano, Mount Adams. I put photography on hold for a few months as I was spending a lot of time in the gym and pushing myself through conditioning hikes in preparation for climbing said big mountain. Here's a photo of me at the top: 



That mountain in the background is Rainier. Hopefully I can't stand on top of that one next year. But for now, I'm switching back to actually carrying my camera with me on hikes and maybe will be able to take some new photos here soon. 

I've got well over 12,000 watch notifications piled up, so I apologize that I haven't been viewing your wonderful art. If you submitted a piece that you're proud of over the past few months, send me a link to it! 

Here's a bonus picture of watching the shadow of the mountain form as the sun rose on our ascent: 



I hope everyone is well! Let me know how life is going, if you feel like it!

- Carly 

Thanks y'all for wishing me a happy birthday. Hitting my quarter life crisis and trying to figure out what the hell I'm doing with my life. 

Thankfully my shift at work was low censused on my actual birthday, it was a birthday miracle. It was followed up by a trainwreck shift of incredibly sick patients, but oh well, I'll take what I can get. 

Anyway, continuing eternal thanks for the love and support of my pictures. Here's to another year of learning, growing, and trying to get my shit together. 

- Carly 

(P.S. I wrote a blog post about a semi-disastrous hiking trip I went on once. If you are bored and feel like reading it, you can find it here)

When you want to do All The Things, but only have the time/energy/motivation for Some of The Things. 

I haven't taken any new photos in months, and I'm feeling like I've hit a massive wall. Trying to push through the wall is tough when work/school/other pursuits/unexpected complications/etc. make finding time for photography a stressful task. This is especially annoying as I just recently accepted that good landscape photography depends so critically on looots of time and patience, of which I currently have neither. 

So, unsure as to when I'll be able to create/share any new stuff. In the meantime, enjoy some old mediocre bits and pieces that I initially didn't feel met my standards enough to share. 
 
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with a responsible amount of booze and party times,
- Carly 

I received a Daily Deviation! That's pretty dang cool!
pulbern suggested it, and JenFruzz featured it, so my endless thanks to both of them!

Ever since I started photography when I was 16, it has always had a tendency to come in bursts, punctuated with long hiatuses. I inevitably reach a point where the stereotypical artist in me hates everything I'm creating and calls it quits. 
During nursing school I had to give it up for a long, long time. It's only been a few months since I've started pursuing it actively again. (In a career riddled with anxiety, it's becoming more and more integral to my sanity.)

I know that a Daily Deviation isn't exactly an indicator that you've reached the pinnacle of artistic achievement. But it means other people liked your work enough to give it a special nod. And as I've recently felt like I've hit a huge annoying wall where improvement is earned in slow, grueling steps, it feels pretty good to receive that nod. Maybe I don't suck!  

So, my eternal gratitude to everyone who has ever taken the time to look at, compliment, critique, or support my photography. I truly, deeply appreciate it more than words can say. Here's to all of the successes, failures, and growth that the future still holds!

- Carly