April - Architecture [Aaron]

Architecture.

My journey to Columbus, Ohio.

March - Poem [Aaron]

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree. 

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest 

Against the earth's sweet flowering breast;

A tree that looks at God all day

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me, 

But only God can make a tree.

Personal Project - 'Picture This' Series [Aaron]

Spring is finally here!

It's definitely been a long winter;

I hope these pictures get you excited to be outside.

Can I get a hallelujah for green grass please?

Personal Project - 'Picture This' Series [Aaron]

After being encouraged to post personal projects along with the regular monthly projects here at the Visualization Project, I decided to invent the Picture This series as another way to creatively share my photography. My goal in this series is to transform ordinary pictures into special portraits of people and landscapes through capturing the shot inside a simple frame. I've only just started working on this, but hope to have many good ideas to share with you guys. 

My first take in the Picture This series was in effort to capture the silhouette of a barren tree with the reflection of a sunset in the glassy ice that had frozen in an open country field. Even in the midst of the lifeless season of winter, this shot shows that God still shows us beauty through a sunset's glorious array of colors. 

In my second take of the series I decided to take some serious snowfall pictures. Since there is so much of it here in the Midwest and it's so beautiful I thought, "why not?". I immediately fell in love with the bokeh that was created in the background thanks to my wonderful 50mm lens, and continued to capture as many shots as I could. 

As I conclude this post I'd like to thank both of my amazing sisters for assisting me in creating these pictures; and I'd also like to thank all of you who are following the blog for stopping by and showing your support through all your comments. Thank you again, and I hope to share many more pictures in the Picture This series with you all this year here at the Visualization Project.

January - Self Portrait [Aaron]

Hello all! 

My name is Aaron and this will be my second year here at the Visualization Project. I am very excited to share my photos with you guys this year as we progress throughout the months, and am happy to hear feedback from you all as you view my work! 

Before I share a little bit about myself, I'd like to apologize in advance for my tardiness in posting January's self-portrait project. Last month I had an unfortunate incident where my camera fell, causing the lens to somehow become stuck. So right now I have my recent Christmas gift, Canon's 50mm lens, firmly fixated to my camera, which definitely made self-portrait difficult. Thankfully I was still able to use it to take some pictures though. So again, sorry about that; I hope you enjoy the following posts I have this year!

This is me.

I have a strong appreciation for photography, and the endless styles in which a plain image can be transformed into a masterpiece of art. 

Capturing an image is like freezing time. It's taking a moment of the present and pausing it to reflect on for the rest of time. 

This is perhaps one of my favorite things about photography.

I also love finding the perfect lighting to capture a moment you can remember forever. 

Basketball is another creative outlet that I enjoy. Although I have never played competitive basketball before, I am now in my second year of playing on Monclova Christian Academy's varsity basketball team, and have decided that I will definitely be staying for the rest of my high school career.  

Music is also one of my passions. For over seven years I have played the piano, and enjoy playing in my youth group service every Wednesday, as well as playing at local and state-wide competitions. 

 Lastly, I'd like to give all the glory of everything I am capable of doing to God. Although I love many things this world has to offer, nothing comes close to how much I love the Bible and my Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Him I would be nothing, and I am proud to be able to do everything I can for Him and His glory. 

A New Visualization

Hello, friends!

We are excited to let you know that The Visualization Project is getting a few new changes for the new year!

Perhaps one of the most exciting changes is that we are adding another member, Madeleine Drees! Maddie is a talented artist with a unique eye, but as the realm of photographic art is new to her, we're all excited to see how The Visualization Project grows her strength in this area. Welcome to the blog, Maddie!

The next change in The Visualization Project is that we will only be posting once a month. Before you howl in dismay, let us explain. Last year, while we started out strong, we got bogged down by the weekly assignments, as you can see by the lack of posts in November and December. This year, we will be doing one project, not word, a month. These projects vary, but they will be like the Summer Movie Visualization that Rebekah did last year. One project is a movie; another is replicating a famous work of art. They will require a bit more thought and effort, but since there is only one a month, we will have more time to prepare. And, not being bogged down by missing previous weeks, we will have more energy for completing our tasks well and with creativity instead of scrambling to find pictures that only slightly work for the word, simply so we can be done with it.

In addition to the monthly project, each photographer may post individual projects throughout the month. These projects are whatever the photographers wish. We might post some pictures that perfectly portray a certain word, similar to last year. We might post about the colors of spring, or a new concept in photography we've been working at, or anything at all on which we've been inspired. Thus, there will be more going on at The Visualization Project than just the monthly projects.

We hope that these new changes here at the blog will encourage us to persevere by giving us a little more freedom. We also hope you find much enjoyment in our productions. If they are something that you enjoy, let us know! Visit each month and comment to tell us which is your favorite photo, or what you would have done for that project, or how surprised you were by someone's take on it. Tell us what we could have improved. Share our work with others. Post it on your Facebook page. Knowing that people are enjoying our work is a great encouragement to us to continue and to do our best!

We're looking forward to this new year, 2014!

The Photographers at The Visualization Project

Week 26 - Hidden [Aaron]

Hidden was a challenge to capture this week, basically because everything that is hidden is hidden. This makes things much more difficult to find and therefore harder to photograph.
But the harder weeks is what this blog is all about...to help all of us grow, both in thinking and photography.

Black, empty holes often remind me of "hidden" because they can easily keep something in the dark and hidden from view.

Week 25 - Doubt [Aaron]

I took a little different spin on this week's word by 

taking the "impossible" version of doubt and making it a "reality."

Look at this amazing water-bottle bush! This plant has gone through lots of different tests by prestigious scientists all over the globe until the final modifications have been made to produced clean and filtered water from a simple seed. It even grows a completely recycled container for storage!
And the best part is... no watering is required! 

Now who said money can't grow on trees? Well, this picture clearly mis-proves that myth. With the perfect conditions, this money tree can most definitely yield any investor a profit. 

Week 24 - Freedom [Aaron]

Freedom is...

a valued gift
a treasured emotion

an inward passion

It's open fields and open skies

It's a priceless liberty

It's taking that extra leap of faith and not worrying about the past, but looking to the future! 

Week 23 - Wait [Aaron]

After a long time of waiting...

...they finally hatched!