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coolestqcumber · 6 years

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Through the Viewfinder (Jisung - Stray Kids)

Word Count: Apprx. 2.4k

Summary: “Through the viewfinder, I found you” : The Story of How I Fell In Love Through 10 Pictures

Inspired by the AO3 Changlix Fic “Falling: a photo essay by Lee Felix” (guys read this it is so beautiful I love it)

Photo #1 - Annoying

“Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease,” you beg your friend. You literally have your palms pressed together in prayer and Jisung still refuses your request. He scoffs and rolls his eyes, “Didn’t your professor assign this project a month ago? I would’ve thought that Ms. Photography-Goddess would’ve been halfway done with it already. Yet here you are, wanting me to model for something that’s due tomorrow.”

You pout, “I was halfway done! But the project states that our muse has to be consistent throughout the entire semester. And I used my ex as my muse and I would rather throw myself off the clock tower rather than ever talk to him again.” Jisung’s annoyed expression softened. He knew you had a rough split with your boyfriend a few days ago. But his still didn’t agree. You let out an exasperated sigh and whipped your camera out of your bag. “Look! You don’t even have to do anything!” You peek through the viewfinder and adjust the focus before holding down the shutter button, lens clicking furiously.

You only stopped snapping pictures after the peeved library assistant, Minho, threatened to throw you out if you made anymore noise with your camera. Letting out a content hum, you scrolled through the shots you had taken. You grinned and selected a few pictures of your best friend reading his books with a disgruntled look on his face. His expression suggested he was clearly not amused by you choosing him as the subject of your photos.

Photo #2 - Immature

You stick your elbows out, trying to keep your camera steady in the jostling crowd. Jisung and a couple of his friends were having a show a few streets away from the university and you wanted to seize the opportunity to get some more shots for your photo assignment.

Jisung had always been a hyper kid and he bounced around constantly to the rhythm of his rap. Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem for you. However, combined with the swarms of fangirls shoving around from all sides, most of your pictures came out blurred and unusable.

You tsked irritably as you sorted through the pictures you had taken earlier that day. “I just don’t get it,” you seethed as you deleted another photo from your camera roll. Jisung peeled his attention away from his snacks and asked, “Get what?” Another picture deleted. “How you have so many girls thirsting after your dumb a$$.”

Jisung looked offended. “I will have you know that while I may be a dumba$$, my a$$ is a cute a$$.” Your eyes took a roll. “Oh! I finally found one that wasn’t ruined!” you exclaimed excitedly. Then you scowled down at the high-def picture of your best friend dabbing and groaned. “Han Jisung, you are something else.” The idiot had the nerve to look proud and reply, “Thank you.”

Photo #3 - The Fool

Finals were coming up so you and Jisung were in the library again. The two of you studied for exactly 10 minutes before starting to goof off. However, it all went downhill when one of the paper airplanes you were tossing at one another sailed off course and onto the desk of one very miffed library assistant. And Minho was now in the process of chewing out Jisung.

Jisung looked like a kicked puppy. And even though he was taller than Minho, the fire burning in the assistant’s eyes made him slouch over in attempts to make himself a smaller target. You giggled quietly and slipped your camera out. Click.

Uh oh. Now Minho’s furious glare was now directed towards you. You smiled sheepishly and shoved your all things into your bag before high-tailing out of there, leaving Jisung to take Minho’s wrath. (That guy was seriously scary.)

Photo #4 - Hot Model

Finals were finally over. Jisung had pulled an all-nighter cramming for his physics test and was now knocked out on your bed. You wrinkled your nose at the sight of him drooling, but didn’t wake him. He just looked so innocent slumbering through the day. His face was clear of blemishes and worry. There was no loud exclamations coming from his mouth. And (dare you say it?) he almost looked cute.

You smiled softly and the camera was in your hands before you knew it. The shutter clicked a few times before you set the device back down. While it wasn’t the most attractive photo you could’ve taken of him, it captured the purity of Jisung’s character. There was something about the way his hair was carelessly being crushed into the pillow, the way his hands curled to his chest in a childlike manner, and the way his full lips slightly drooped open that made the picture captivating.

Using your thumb, you gently wiped the saliva from the corner of your best friend’s mouth. You grimaced at the wet sensation and wiped your hand on Jisung’s shirt. Jisung let out a breathy exhale and flopped about in his sleep. You fought the laughter bubbling in your throat. He did look really cute.

Photo #5 - Butterflies

“Too candid? What does that even mean? How can a picture possibly be ‘too candid’?” You practically screamed the last few words at the TA and he winced. You almost felt bad for Woojin. You were quite scary when you got angry. “All the pictures you’re taking are in places and situations your muse would normally be in. If you want to add more variety to your photos, you need to put your muse in an unusual setting. Perhaps something with more color.”

You sighed and nodded in agreement. All the pictures you’d taken so far were pretty drab. Woojin patted your shoulder awkwardly, “Don’t take it the wrong way. You’re a very talented in photographer. But you have a lot of potential for growth, so try challenging yourself. Yeah?” You gripped the strap of your camera bag. “Yeah.”

Which is how you ended up surrounded by massive flowers at the local botanical garden. You tried not to panic as another bee buzzed by your ear. “Y/N! Look!” Jisung whisper shouted. There was a butterfly resting on the center of his palm, lazily fanning its wings open and shut. Jisung’s eyes were wide with wonderment and he was grinning like a little kid.

This was the picture you were looking for. You pressed your eye up to the viewfinder and snapped away. When the butterfly finally grew tired of Jisung’s staring, you captured the look of awe on your best friend’s face as his eyes followed the butterfly’s flight up up up into the open sky.

Then, he turned his attention to you. Jisung’s eyes met yours and suddenly you thought you were seeing a different kind of butterfly. Or rather feeling it.

Photo #6 - Chance

You were trying to teach Jisung how to play a card game. He was looking quizzically at his cards, contemplating which one to use. His brows were furrowed and his lips were in the most adorable pout which disturbed the butterfly that had taken up residence in your stomach since the day in the garden, causing it to flutter about.

Unconsciously, your fingers found their familiar grip around your camera. Jisung noticed you lifting your camera up to eye level and his expression quickly morphed into a flirtatious one. You were about to complain how he ruined the candid shot when you saw the picture you had taken. One of Jisung’s eyebrows was lifted and his eyes twinkled suggestively. The cards held in his hands were fanned out and covering the bottom half of his face. But you could somehow still tell he was smirking. It made him look more mature. And it made the lone butterfly explode into a cloud of butterflies.

Photo #7 - Change

You went to another one of Jisung’s street corner performances. This time you brought a tripod and he rapped while staring intensely into your camera lense. This Jisung brought a fiercer tone to the image captured. His eyes burned with a fiery passion and you could almost feel the powerful rhythm of his rap just by looking at the picture.

You pulled your cap lower over your eyes, trying to shield yourself from the jealous glares of the fangirls surrounding you. Some of them had brought cameras too, but Jisung only paid attention to yours. “Why you?” a girl asked. She was wearing a skirt which was insanely short for the chilly fall weather and you briefly wondered if she ever worried about flashing the public whenever the wind blew. Her eyes raked down your figure, filled with judgement. “Um, I’m just a friend who takes pictures for his social media.” You made up lamely, not in the mood for a lengthy explanation.

Later, you were nervously running your fingers up and down the strap of your bag as Woojin silently evaluated your new pictures. “Looks like you tried some new concepts.” Your fingers twisted the strap violently. “And…” Woojin smiled softly, “And it totally worked out for you. The professor will be proud.” The TA turned his attention back to the pictures splayed out on the desk and hummed thoughtfully. “So what do you think?” you asked, relaxing visibly. “About what?” You shrugged, “About the subject? The project is supposed to tell a story. What story are my pictures telling you?” Woojin rubbed his chin.

The TA didn’t answer directly at first. He placed the two pictures you had taken on Jisung during his street performance (one of him dabbing and the other of him rapping). “Do you sense a shift between these pictures? It’s almost as if the photographer is viewing her muse from a different perspective,” Woojin said carefully. Your brow furrowed as you analyzed the pictures with your eyes. The first one felt more casual while the other was definitely more intimate. “So…” you pressed. “You’re totally whipped,” Woojin deadpanned and your heart missed a beat. You pursed your lips. “Maybe I am.”

Photo #8 - Flower Boy

“Flowers? Again?” Jisung whines as you push him down to lay on the grass. “Yes, I want to try experimenting with some photoshop elements this time. And I think flowers would make a pretty good theme.” You pull out container of flower clippings from your bag and dump it unceremoniously over his face, causing him to groan in protest under the mound of blossoms.

You laugh and sweep most of flowers off, revealing his pouty expression underneath. Colorful petals dot Jisung’s hair and your breath catches in your throat because he is just so damn beautiful. “Okay, now close your eyes. And try to make it seem like you’re having a good dream.” Jisung’s eyes fluttered shut and a the faintest smile graced his face.

You blinked several times and reminded yourself that you were here to take pictures for your assignment, not to indulge yourself in your best friend’s good looks. You cleared your throat and peered through the viewfinder.

After editing the picture you had taken, you sought out the TA again. “Dang girl, you’re getting insanely good,” Woojin complimented as his eyes scanned the photo. The grass in the background of the original picture had turned out to be a bad choice due to the school’s lack of proper lawn care. You decided to turn the background into water, making it seem like Jisung was floating in a bath of flowers. You beamed at the TA’s praise as you did spend a lot of time creating the final product.

“So what’s the deal? You two together yet?” Woojin asked, handing the picture back to you. You gingerly slid the photo into a folder, “No. I mean I don’t know if we’ll ever be ‘together’. He’s my best friend and I wouldn’t want to lose him just because of a stupid crush.”

Woojin chuckled, “Do you know why I love photography so much?” You tilted your head in curiosity. “It gives me that opportunity to turn something others see as plain into something awe-inspiring. You’re literally creating beauty.” Woojin crossed his arms and leaned comfortably on the desk, his eyes smiled. “Won’t you give yourself the opportunity to create something beautiful?” You knew he wasn’t talking about your photographs.

Photo #9 - Handsome

You have never wanted to hit a person so bad before. “I am NOT wearing makeup!” Jisung screeched, dancing out of your grasp. “I am a man! Men don’t wear makeup!” You finally managed to get a firm grasp on his shirt and wrestled him into a sitting position. “Says the guy who spends 15 minutes putting BB cream on every morning.”

Jisung went still with shock. “Minho, that traitor. He said he wouldn’t tell.” You shrugged and picked up your makeup brush. Jisung narrowed his eyes, “And since when have you gotten so buddy-buddy with that library nerd?” You rolled your eyes and opened your mouth to make some smart retort when you caught his expression. His tone was playful, but his demeanor seemed a bit deflated. Was he...jealous?

You turned to set your brush back down in order to hide the smirk on your face. “If you’re gonna be all prissy about it, I guess you don’t have to do makeup. But this time I’m focusing on emotion and I wanted a bashful vibe, so you need to find a way to blush naturally.” Jisung tapped his fingers rhythmically against his legs, thinking hard of solutions that didn’t result in him having to sacrifice his dignity.

“You’re hot,” you suddenly blurted out. As soon as the words left your mouth, you felt yourself freezing up with utter mortification. This was probably not what Woojin has described. In fact, it was the exact opposite. This wasn’t beautiful. This was ugly, and it was going to end ugly with lots of ugly tears.

But the effect your blunt statement had on Jisung was immediate. His gaze automatically dropped down to his lap, refusing to let you see how embarrassingly pleased your words made him feel. Pink spread across his cheeks like paint being smeared across a white canvas. You gulped and your camera flashed.

When you were done, Jisung asked to see the photos you had taken which surprised you because he was never interested in looking at the pictures before. You crossed the room to where he was sitting. His arms snaked around your waist and pulled you down to sit on his lap. Jisung nestled his chin on your shoulder, peering over at the image on the camera screen. It was your turn to blush.

Photo #10 - Together

A simple picture of intertwined hands.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a long one. I always start them but then taper off because the ideas just start drying up. Such a shame. I literally have drafts I started writing 3 years ago that just sit there.

#stray kids #stray kids scenarios #stray kids han #han jisung #han jisung scenarios #jisung scenarios #han #jisung #kpop #kpop scenarios

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hennythejetsmith · 6 years

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Window Part One

Water raced down the glass as the storm ensued. I likened the drops to stars as I peered through the window toward the sky. A reflection of heaven in the form of her tears as I created my own constellations. This four-sided room repelled summer’s petrichor; it was the first rain of the season. The rain drummed ever so slightly on the pane as if it waited for Miles Davis’ trumpet to accompany the lulling rhythm; where were the aristocrats & lovers of jazz to slow dance the night away. Ironically, Jim Hall’s Concierto De Aranjuez played on in the background & I cherished the lasting memory of her I had; a lone orchid catty-corner the looking glass aka my escape. A crack of the window was okay for fresh air every so often, but I preferred her fragrance, he flower that is. As if it were the rose & I were the beast, the glow mustn’t ever die out, even as she went on to love another. I still love her y’know? Of course, I’d never muster the strength to mutter out a single indication of such for wallowing in this unrequited torment truly is a pastime of mine.

The lavender futon held many a soul captive that fell victim to its underappreciated comfort. Through a torrential downpour, you could see a young man, maybe in his early 20s, rise into view & disappear into what looked like a college kid’s dorm or contemporary minimalist coffee shop. From ground level, you could vaguely see strung up lightbulbs, thumbtacked polaroid photos, & what looked like an unfinished canvas. The neighbors knew little of this “millennial,” though he subscribed to ideal of unsubscribing to labels. Placing citizens in categories based on their birthyear may work for some on a literal level, but the soul itself, transcends the confines of any linear time period. A quick gander outside & he turned his back as he vanished from eyesight of any bystander. A quiet little suburban area is where he’d come home to rest at night. He never really uttered much but a “hello, how are you?” to those that lived aside him. If you were quiet enough, the keys of a piano would faintly soothe the mind & relieve you of the bustle of real life between the drywall that separated the humble town home from the others.

“My hair is a mess,” a quiet thought to myself staring at the looking glass. The bronze & gold finish around the mirror is a bit tacky; I could’ve done without this.

He shrugged his shoulders in complacency & carried on.

Vivacious, just as it was when she first brought you in here, my love. Just like her, beauty unparallel. I imagine right now, she has nestled up under her sill as her rosy lips are kissed ever so gently by summer’s breeze. How am I to compete as nature nurtures her very being? A love affair where I quietly, yet graciously, am on the outside as the third wheel.

His mind rarely took the time to be sit by itself, even as he did externally. The image of she & he had internally been etched onto his consciousness’s wallpaper.

The inkwell seems to be refilling, where have my pen & notebook ran off to? They too, in some sort of flirtatious dalliance & I am nothing but the conduit for their interaction; not that it bothers me.

He reached for a string to lower the shutters in his room. A sense of intimacy was needed that the world could not witness, according to him at least. The surrounding periwinkle paint provided a calm as a neon “Good Vibes” shone light juxtaposed the outer gloomy sky blocking out the moon. The clean-cut young adult reached to the right of his futon alongside the right wall of his room & grabbed a green notebook. “CVS” adorned on the bottom right of the pad really did not mean much alone but intertwined with the midnight trips for juice & snacks, his heart would skip a beat as his eyes skirted across the cover. It truly was the simple things that would get him. He really loved her. He flipped open to a random page with a ball point pen resting on the coiled bounds of the book. One last stare at the orchid that rest in the corner of his room & his lids covered his eyes. Reaching for his pen, he seemed to be in some sort of trance, becoming a body chattel for some higher being as words begun to scribble across the college-ruled paper.

Your silence is deafening.

Am I to be at fault

For knowing not that to gift you with my heart

Would leave me in joyous ruin?

An endless current; yet presentably stoic. No one shall ever know of the affinity I have for you still. Deceit is my greatest weapon & these pages remain privy to myself only. Short & sweet this time I see; reminiscent to the inevitable beginning & end of our fiery passion.

_______________________________________________

Coins clink together, sirens ring non-stop, lights flicker on & off like some rave, but all I see is her flowing cinnamon hair & feel the soft touch of her hand. She told me she had always wanted to play Ms. Pac-Man in a genuine arcade, but never had the chance. I cannot seem to remember her name, but the crescent inked on the back of her neck, Luna could be a moniker until my memory decides to refresh itself. I have doomed myself to be labeled some male chauvinist pig objectifying her for the night. Fuck, I must think of somethi-

“Hey, so are you ready to lose?”

“I really do not think you know what you are getting yourself into Luna. Sorry, I saw the tattoo on the back of your neck & couldn’t help it. I hope you do not take offense.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay.” Whew, dodged one bullet, now to remem-

“My name, by the way, is Ana. That was your last chance to forget.”

Despite the fluorescent bulbs incessant flashing, my eyes are fixated on you Ana. Subtle, yet sent straight to my spine; forget your name, never again will I.

“How did you know?”

As Ana chuckles, she responds,

“Because you just told me.” She laughs again & proceeds past the row to what seems to be an endless amount of ski ball tables. With all the calamity surrounding us, all I could hear was the sound of her voice. Softly fluttering atop my ear drums akin to the late great Amy Winehouse.

“Really a shame what has to happen here. You sure you don’t want to hop in the Jurassic Park game? That’ll be fairer considering I haven’t played that since my Chuck E. Cheese days.” No response as we traverse the litter of children & adolescence. I can hear the chains rattling from the basketball games in the corner; I watch the tickets fall out of the Whack-A-Mole; I wonder how many tries before that bonus tickets slot is hit on that one game all the kids want to play. 500 tickets for the bonus is pretty good, I’m sure someone will be lucky enough.

There was no line for the Ms. Pac-Man placed in the back corner. Most kids were more concerned not with the classics but winning the prizes behind the counter. Playstation 4s & the new Xboxes were for the top ticket getters alongside the motor scooter that seemed to have been collecting dust for quite some time. It was a bit smoky in Kat’s 24-hour arcade. Marijuana smoke was a lot less bothersome to her than tobacco though. Whenever she smelt a hint of cigarette, the lights came on & the games shut down until the culprit was found & removed hastily. Some nights, she closed early because no one wanted to come forward. She made sure the kids were out by 9 o’clock pm, some snuck around after, because she knew that grown folks too, loved to play video games to escape the endless cycles that left so many of her regulars entrapped. Their cynicism & vitriol toward their very own lives brought tears to her eyes every so often. So, she decided to invest in giving others a chance to relive their childhoods. Kat always sat in the back on her wooden stool next to the NBA JAM, her favorite. You wouldn’t know that she was a huge Orlando magic fan living up north in the Big Apple. Always a chip on her shoulder from the “what if” with Shaq & Penny. Tonight, was no different; she was sitting in the back, watching highlights from their golden era as a couple zoomed right by headed straight for Ms. Pac-Man. For a second, she was distracted due to how young they looked.

“Hmph, at least some of these ‘millennials’ know a little bit about nothing,” she thought to herself as she refocused back to “The Youtube.”

I really underestimated her. All I hear is waka-waka-waka-waka; all I see are intermissions & level design changes; & I feel that I am about to lose! Maintaining composure is key, but she has not lost a single life & now a random assortment of fruits is dispersing through maze openings like an opened pack of Runts. She has absolute control of the screen & it’s as if she flows effortlessly with the ghosts; she is one with Ms. Pac-Man.

“It’s your turn. You don’t have to be astonished anymore. I tried to warn you, but you didn’t want to listen. Sol.”

She slid to the side as it was my turn. No way that I take an early loss. She’s at about 43,000 already before my first go around.

“Sol?”

“Well, it would only be right to call you Sol, considering you named me Luna. Or are you unaware of the moon’s opposite Shawn?”

“I mean, it seems you haven’t forgotten my name.”

“It would be rude to do so. We all can’t be you, now can we?”

Is she being serious? Or is this a sarcastic barrage to distract me fro-well that is the end of my turn.

“Well played. Ana.”

She smiled in a snark manner. Who are you & what is this fluttery feeling in my stomach?

_______________________________________________

“To play into a stalemate is the goal here. I am at a severe disadvantage right now,” Shawn thought to himself as he eyed the dual-colored board. Erratic sleep patterns would leave him in states of melancholy that were relieved with doses of chess: mano y mano. His opponent, usually visible not to the naked eye, unless a photographer had photoshopped a still image of himself imposed on the wall. Each piece calculated & moved while simultaneously calculating how many moves would no longer stall his inner peace before sunrise. The shadows on his wall were not envious as they watched with morose endurance. They murmured amongst themselves questioning if she were to ever return, but not even the remnants of her no longer played on the periwinkle walls in his sleep. Piece after piece was removed from the board as the stars laid down to rest. His eyes never wavered until 2 Kings remained atop the wooden square. The moon peaked through the blinders, shed a tear, & blew a kiss before she too, disappeared in the morning. Sometimes, she kept an eye on him & the sun was a bit jealous of their connection. He did not know what the moon saw in Shawn. The megastar’s bitterness brought forth a chilly June day. A purple windbreaker & sweat shorts were enough to combat back. A bit unusual, but no deterrence as Shawn strolled past the emerald green lawns & lush trees; much the same to some family-oriented television sitcom. Shawn was unaware that a smile crept up on his face, but the neighbors took notice & waved as he quickened his pace down the side walk. Blue jays harmonized in the air above him as he eyed butterflies frolic through the air & he suddenly stopped in his tracks…

_______________________________________________

Melted together where the colors of the carnival as Shawn felt Ana clinch onto his arm & the body-sized tiger that came between them as the teacup frantically span the three into a muzzy state of joy.

“You two look like a real-time version of Calvin & Hobbs. Carmen & Hobbs is what I’ll call you two.”

Shawn had gotten a little more comfortable with Ana after a few dates. She scornfully stared a hole into his forehead.

“You still haven’t gotten over that Ms. Pac-Man beating have you? It’s okay, one day the shattered ego you have will finally be content. Until that day, I will starve that small little man that screams inside of your mind until it is victory you concede & you melt into the putty I envision you to mold you into the sculpted man I truly desire. Right now, this is just the waiting game. You were distracted too easily to converse when we were in the heat of war. Your loss.”

Her tongue was paint, or acid, her choice. He, simply, was a blank canvas for her liking at this very moment.

“Maybe, its more so that you’ve chosen to indulge a bit too deeply in the appetizer that I handfed you with the victory I allowed you to have. Whose to say your victory wasn’t fixed?”

“All speculation. Of course, this type of allegation you would lean on to save face. Very Tim Donaghy of you Shawn. I’m disappointed.”

“I mean, since that point, your victories have become few & far between. Even that night, pinball, clear-cut win in my column. Air Hockey was a 7-0 skunk. Basketball wasn’t even a challenge. Donaghy? Really?”

“See how two of those three play to your advantage, with maybe the exception of air hockey because the table is even, but your physical strength gives you an advantage when you decide that my whole became a target & your…whatever they are called, because an AK-47 as you fired the puck with no restraint? How does fried victory taste? Hopefully as nutritious as a microwavable patty covered in barbecue sauce people clamor on about.”

“Doesn’t matter its value, because in that moment it tastes so fucking good, I care not for the bigger picture there, but enjoying the RIGHT NOW!”

The two had not noticed that all eyes in the carnival had locked onto their jawing match. That did not matter now, Ana’s curly brown & auburn hair had become vibrant & through her glasses, he glared directly into her darkened eyes & she too, was magnetized by his. Tension in the air was still as many were frozen, not knowing what was next. A vein in his neck pulsated as sweat trickled down her brow. Both, instantaneously after realizing what this was, scurried off to the closest blackened corridor. They found an absent alley by a Ferris Wheel ridden by many. Ana dropped her Hobbs in withered grass & turned her back to the wall as Shawn gripped her hip & both their full lips met in passion. Onlookers cheered from the skyline as they snapped back to reality, simmering their immature fervor.

“Really? Our first kiss comes from your antagonistic… never mind. You wi… oh wait, you won’t get me that easily.”

“I’ve already won,” she responded. “The moment I led you through Kat’s doors. I felt it. That doesn’t matter now, shut up & kiss me.”

_______________________________________________

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dailybiblelessons · 4 years

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Thursday: Preparation for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Revised Common Lectionary Proper 13 Roman Catholic Proper 18

Complementary Hebrew Scripture: Proverbs 10:1-5

The Proverbs of Solomon.

A wise child makes a glad father, but a foolish child is a mother's grief. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. A child who gathers in summer is prudent, but a child who sleeps in harvest brings shame.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture Lesson from the Latter Prophets: Isaiah 14:1-2

But the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land; and aliens will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. And the nations will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess the nations as male and female slaves in the Lord's land; they will take captive those who were their captors, and rule over those who oppressed them.

Complementary Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down.

Their eyes look to you, and you give them food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Semi-continuous Psalm 17:1-7, 15

CONFIRMED

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. From you let my vindication come; let your eyes see the right.

If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress. As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Philippians 4:10-15

I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress.

You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone.

Year A Ordinary 18, RCL Proper 13, Catholic Proper 18 Thursday

Bible verses from The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All right reserved. Selections from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright 1985 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Image Credit: Prison Cell by Aapo Haapanen via Flickr. Text was added to the original image by Michael Gilbertson using Photoshop. The original image is licensed under Creative Commons 2.0. The combined image may be used under the same terms.

#A Ordinary 18 Thursday #Solomon's proverbs #God's compassion #gracious and merciful #contentment #joy #simplicity

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sophronisba · 4 years

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2019 could have been written by Gary Shteyngart. The president tried to buy Greenland this year. Who could have imagined reading that sentence four years ago? In 2019 the septuagenarian president’s staff photoshopped his head onto the body of a young Sylvester Stallone and then got all huffy when none of us believed it was real. In 2019 an Oscar-nominated actress went to prison for paying someone to sweeten her daughter’s SAT score. 2019 gave us an eight-way tie for first in the National Spelling Bee. Twenty-eight different people decided to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2019.1 In 2019 Jeffrey Epstein–credibly accused of sex-trafficking minors to a number of high-profile men–died while in police custody, spawning a thousand different conspiracy theories that spanned the entire political spectrum.2 Britain and Israel both spent most of 2019 trying to sort out who should run the countries and neither of them seem to have come up with a satisfactory answer, although Britain did manage to find time in its busy schedule to yell at its newest duchess–a biracial divorced American–for various imagined transgressions. In 2019 someone inexplicably agreed to marry Stephen Miller.3 And it wasn’t just the news that was weird: in 2019 my personal life was also extremely–well, let’s just say eventful. In April, right before the Game of Thrones premiere, my husband and I were smugly congratulating ourselves on weathering some family medical storms when we got a phone call that sent everything spiraling into chaos all over again.4 And still there was more: If you had told me on January 1 of 2019 that in less than a year I would be living in a different house in a different city with a different job, I would not have believed you. And yet here we are. And so in 2019 I used reading mostly as an escape: with a couple of exceptions, I responded most strongly to non-fiction that allowed me to imagine a different reality and fiction that held out the prospect of a happy ending or, failing that, that offered me a pleasantly whimsical world to inhabit for a few hours. 2019 was not a year when I went in search of deep character development or narrative realism or emotional truth. In 2019 I wanted to play pretend. Do not take that to mean that my favorite books of the year offered nothing more than escapism. No, the best books gave me everything: a different world, yes, but also beautiful prose and vividly drawn characters and original thoughts that made me put the book down and stare dreamily into the distance. What these books all have in common is that I’m still thinking about them now, weeks or months after I read them. The list, in the order that I read the books:

Bowlaway, by Elizabeth McCracken. It’s about candlepin bowling, and family, and marriage, and love. Some people didn’t like it because it isn’t super-plotty, but I loved hanging out with McCracken’s characters

L. E. L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated “Female Byron”, by Lucasta Miller. If you read Miller’s The Bronte Myth, then you know to expect great things from her latest. I have never been a scandalous woman, to my eternal regret, but this book let me imagine what it might be like to be one.

Golden State, by Ben Winters. I have been a Ben Winters fan since his Last Policeman trilogy. In this book he pays as much attention to plot and story as he does to world-building and the result is a captivating thriller in a world where lying is one of the most serious crimes you can commit.

City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Look, I get it, Gilbert is not everyone’s cup of tea. But I love her characters and I found this book wildly engaging, a story about a fun, naughty girl who unashamedly loves sex. It reminded me a bit of Sarah Waters’s Tipping the Velvet, but to be totally honest, I enjoyed this one more.

The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation, by Brenda Wineapple. Does impeachment even matter if the president is not removed? In this account of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, Wineapple makes the case that it does. She must have started this book before January 2017, because there’s a lot of research here — but it still made for awfully comforting reading while the debate over the current president’s impeachment swirled.

The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood. A follow-up to Atwood’s classic novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Is there a bit too much fan service in this novel? Does Atwood channel Katniss Everdeen to an excessive degree? Yes and yes. I loved it anyway. I liked the way Atwood bounced off the television series, making some plot points canon while refashioning others, and you know what, the hopeful ending may not be realistic but I’ll take it.

Sontag: Her Life and Work, by Benjamin Moser. There are few things I love more than big fat literary biographies. This one is smart and insightful and well-written, and will make you–as Jamaica Kincaid says–never want to be great. Sontag was a marvelous writer who was also a toxic parent, friend, and lover, and this book will make you consider, among other things, whether the one was worth the other.

Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout. OK, this one wasn’t escapism so much. On the other hand I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a best book list with two sequels on it.5 Maybe in 2019 I was trying to travel back in time? At any rate, this is Strout’s follow-up to Olive Kitteridge, a collection of short stories centering on one difficult woman that was my favorite book of 2008. The first book was insightful about love and marriage; this one is insightful about old age, loneliness, and coming to terms with yourself as you approach the end of your life.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe. This is a pretty amazing account of a murder in 1972 that would only be solved thirty-plus years later. I cared about the victim, and I especially cared about her children, and I even found myself caring for the murderers. Along the way I learned a great deal about the IRA and “The Troubles,” about which I knew virtually nothing before.

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, by Corey Robin. I have been angry at Clarence Thomas since I watched his hearings in my dorm room in 1991.6 Now that I have read Robin’s analysis of Thomas’s judicial philosophy, I am not less angry, but I do take Thomas more seriously as a thinker. Robin’s argument is that far from being a faint echo of Antonin Scalia, Thomas has developed his own strain of conservatism grounded in black nationalism. Maybe this is not an uncommon thesis among Supreme Court watchers–I don’t read legal journals so I don’t know–but it was new to me and I found it fascinating. Another book that wasn’t really an escape to a different world, but there’s nothing I like more than a fresh perspective on a subject I thought I’d made up my mind about.

1 Although that may seem like a humorous exaggeration, it is the actual number. 2 I have to be honest, you guys, I think he probably killed himself. 3 This seems like a life mistake on par with marrying Anthony Weiner, but the heart wants what it wants. 4 Pro tip: Never smugly congratulate yourself on weathering a storm! It only tempts the universe. 5 It’s probably also the first time my list has featured three Elizabeths, but I haven’t actually checked. 6 I am also still mad at Joe Biden for the way those hearings were run, but that’s a story for another day.

My very favorite books that were published in 2019, featuring two sequels and three Elizabeths. 2019 could have been written by Gary Shteyngart. The president tried to buy Greenland this year. Who could have imagined reading that sentence four years ago?

#Ben Winters #Benjamin Moser #Brenda Wineapple #Corey Robin #Elizabeth Gilbert #Elizabeth McCracken #Elizabeth Strout #Lucasta Miller #Margaret Atwood #Patrick Radden Keefe

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cassandroidandroid · 6 years

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fashion photography synopsis

‘The Superpower in You’ is a fashion photography series exploring practices of self-care through science fiction and fantasy themes. A study by charity ‘Mind’ reported that, although the number of people with mental health problems has not changed significantly in recent years, it appears that how people cope with mental health problems is getting worse. Self-help books lend a helping hand to the many of us left feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by life in our stressed-out modern society. They do this by offering practical advice that encourages us to look after ourselves better. Personally, I feel that although self-help books contain all the information you need to live a positive and bright life the layout and presentation of these books are quite the opposite. By providing a depiction of different life skills presented as superpowers I aim to visually show how you can live your best life in an exciting and captivating way.

My intention is to provide a creative interpretation of a self-help book containing fashion imagery photographed, styled and edited by myself, reminding the reader of different ways they can look after themselves and unlock their own superpowers that they possess. My personal vision is to offer young people a fresh approach to self-care whilst empowering them and detaching negative connotations to self-love claiming it to be necessary rather than selfish.

To illustrate the outcome of practicing these life skills I explored superpowers, as superheroes are held in high regards all around the many worlds. I’m a self-proclaimed lover of fantasy and science fiction, however sometimes it seemed a little out of reach, as there are little relatable characters. Growing up I had never seen superheroes that looked like myself; Black British and female. Marvel’s “Black Panther” has become the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time, demonstrating a need and desire for representation in contemporary genres. I have decided to photograph all models of colour and using cultural aspects to influence the styling and concepts of my shoots.

Referring back to my personal vision I would additionally like to create relatable content for people that are underrepresented in these settings. I will show people of colour looking like superheroes with special powers, except the powers are attainable for every human being. I want the audience to realise they are capable of being superheroes too. By creating empowering and inspirational material that documents the quest to be seen and celebrated within fashion and fantasy, I believe I am responding to a void in the market that needs to be filled.

After developing my concept, I focus on model selection. It’s important for me to choose the right models and to make the story believable. I tried to select people that I feel encompass the life skills and superpowers already, this worked successfully as they delivered an honest portrayal of the self-care practise and they enjoyed the shoot too. I made the choice to photograph unsigned people to further push the fact that anyone can be a superhero without looking a certain way.

I have drawn inspiration for this project from photographers such as David LaChapelle, Tim Walker and David Uzochukwu. They are artists that blur the lines between real life and fantasy but still attaining a strong fashion aesthetic. I have kept this in mind when creating my images.

My style of photography is bold, conceptual and unapologetic, it hints references to past decades like the 70’s/80’s and 90’s whilst harnessing a contemporary feel. I mostly work in the studio, creating my own sets or preparing the right backdrops and lighting for later retouching. I let my creativity go wild in post-production and enhance the images so they possess an intergalactic look. Photoshop and Lightroom are my main tools and assist me in creating the elaborate locations in my shoots. I try to use all my own images when editing and collaging, for example in the teamwork shoot I made a mini set with sand and rocks and edited it as the floor.

I photograph my models looking regal, angelic and powerful, always making them main focal point of the image. I want to create fashion images that resemble carefully crafted paintings and for the models to want to hang the photographs up in their homes after. This series is something I wish I had when I was younger, but something that is still useful and relevant to my life now. Although the idea for my project is conceptual I hope for the outcome to be commercial. I feel the content of these images can appeal to a wide audience.

These images are from the Equanimity chapter, equanimity is all about practising a calm mental state. The first image depicts a clouded mind full of worry, stress and other negative emotions. In the second image the model Maryam is becoming at one with nature, she is practising yoga and meditation to ease her mind. In the third image Maryam acquires the superpower of levitation from exercising the life skill of equanimity.

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larissacampbellcomponent1 · 7 years

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Personal memories shoot

In this photo-shoot, I will use previous experimental photographs and project them onto a diary in a variety of directions and ways with the owner of the diary holding it up and clutching onto the pages throughout, clutching her memories on the pages. I will place the images onto a portable projector and have someone hold it up to face it onto the diary being held up by another person, moving the projector and diary into different positions to produce unique images and slightly edit it using photoshop to improve the composition of the images.

I am ecstatic with the outcome of this photo-shoot, using the projector to place the photographs onto paper was very risky but it paid off, in the end, to create these captivating images using techniques and equipment I am not used to. The photographs taken were composed very well and capture the feeling of memories and privacy of the mind while looking into the diary and illustrated by the mixed up parts of peoples faces they are connected to and forming into one. The final outcome was a brilliant shoot and a great step forward, using already changed images and pushing them to create other ideas and designs and produce a different feeling than the original, placing them down as memories in a book. I would have liked to produce more images using this method if I had enough time as it was mostly based on three separate photographs that were of very good quality but the use of the projector is something I would like to come back to in my later shoots.

in the next set of photographs, I want to base this shoot on the idea of life passing by while you are not paying attention as if you had blocked out the world and not noticing the scenery and changes around you. To do this I want to produce this style on a film or Gif to properly capture the feeling of a dreamlike state, blurring out the screen and walking down interesting places so you can't quite see the surroundings and looping it continuously to signify how the person cant even notice the world on a continuous loop around them and carries on walking forward.

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photomaniacs · 7 years

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I Gave Up Painting to Do Photography, And It Shows in My Work http://ift.tt/2vghCyn

Painting and photography are often considered similar artistic expressions. Henri Cartier-Bresson was a painter before he became a photographer, and became a painter again in his retirement. While his artistic sense informed his photography in terms of his ability to see the world in constantly changing light and compositional potential, he never considered photography as art.

I can only wonder: if HCB had lived to see the full potential of digital and how it has afforded us the ability to paint and create with light as never before, might he have come to change his mind?

Brush Strokes

As a painter, I always cherished the gentle friction of brush over canvas, the pressure used to create those sparkling nuances that brought my imagination to life. I would always begin with a brush but would quickly find my fingers smudging the colors. This technique has often provided an additional depth and added an element of life in my paintings

As I gradually embraced photography, I could experience a similar feeling while experimenting with slow shutter smudging techniques. The camera as brush or thumb, light as paint or charcoal. A photographer would normally adjust shutter speed as a part of his exposure triangle and play around with it. A painter-photographer would do the same, but in my case, I am often thinking about smudging. This is done with slow shutter, or slow shutter combined with camera movement.

I photograph on the street all over India, but mostly in Mumbai where I now live, and Kolkata where I am from and often visit. The street, especially the Indian street, is a whirling canvas of colors in motion. For me, it’s a kind of motion picture flashing frame by frame until it smashes into my imagination and triggers my shutter. And if I am lucky, that motion, that whirl, is captured in a way that others find captivating. Or at least interesting…

Streets of Manali, India. 1/5, 28mm, f2.8, ISO 200, Manual Mode

While most street photographers venture out to discover and shoot an unimagined frame or series of frames — only later finding a particular thematic thread — a painter turned street photographer will have already imagined those frames, as if he were to paint them. This cannot always be the case of course, and it’s not a precision process. There is always the element of chance and chance discoveries are part of the thrill, but even then, mind and imagination mesh to determine just how to capture the moment. Of course visualizing your frame “live” is vitally important, and something many amateur photographers in their haste to capture a subject often forget to do.

Below are three photographs taken at Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors. They illustrate well this collision of imagination and chance — the brightness, the riot of colors, the banter and playfulness all so vivid and mesmerizing. Photographing here comes closest to the feeling I used to get while holding a brush instead of a camera when I would sing and chant and playfully “riot” across the canvas.

Dancers during Holi, Banki Bihari temple, Barsana, India. 1/5, 35mm, f20, ISO 100, Shutter Priority

Rangili Galli, Barsana, India, during Holi. 1/6, 35mm, f2.8, ISO 3000, Manual Mode

This image was a case of imagining a painting first, then having it appear in living colour before me. I used an ultra-wide lens to show the man’s hand exaggerated larger than reality. Shot at Rangili Galli, Barsana, India, during Holi. 1/40, 17mm, f8, ISO 3000

The Transformation

Children have great imaginations. Most have their imaginings subdued as they get educated in the reality of worldly affairs and become members of workaday society. Children with imaginations not subdued become artists! At least that’s how it was for me. A painter is always imagining, always obsessed with expressing their inner vision in tangible form. The journey can take hours, days, months or years.

A photographer works at a much faster pace, mostly in fractions of seconds. This was a definite attraction for me, as it was for HCB back in the day. More expressing, less time. Another attraction – no paints to mix, brushes to clean, or heavy canvases to lug to the post office and send off to the next exhibition. And no monthly storage fees to house them all!

The more I thought about it the more I felt a certain sense of relief and lightness in leaving traditional painting behind (although I still dabble digitally) and excited about becoming a photographer. Photography held its own particular set of challenges, and I had a lot of learning to do, which of course is ever ongoing. Initially, the changeover was more practical and logistical than intuitive. But an artist is born with certain instincts that continue to live within. Eventually, I began to feel a similar creative energy to painting, and I realized the passionate painter in me had never left. He’d only changed tools.

Charcoal on Sensor

Charcoal on paper is an amazing gift to the artist. A charcoal offers incredible shades of gray if applied rightly, deftly, with the smudging thumb. The photograph of the horse statue below gives you a good idea of the charcoal effect with camera. For me, it was like using the charcoal on handmade paper and smudging it to add that element of life, of movement. It took 40 or 50 frames of “smudging while shooting” to get the look I wanted, swiftly moving the camera as if to draw a horse in motion. This I always do free hand.

Black Horse of Mumbai. This statue stands at Kala Ghoda, and shows the result of the “smudging” technique mentioned above, only as charcoal on paper. The open sky background conveniently provided the “paper”. 1 sec, f2.8, ISO 200, Manual Mode.

An old man carries food for his camels. Shot at Pushkar, India during the camel fair. Dodged & burned in post. 1/125, f2.8, ISO 100, Shutter Priority.

Imagination

Since my earliest recollections, I have spent much of my life traveling the virtual world of my imagination. I have always derived my energy to survive as well as create from elements found in this phantasmal space. Trance for me is a spontaneous and effortless way of seeing more deeply, where the existing becomes imaginary and the imaginary existing. It’s like living inside an illusion in a way, and yet this “illusion” almost invariably energizes, informs, and clarifies my everyday reality.

The painting below and the photograph beside it, are an example of imagination expressed in contrasting artistic approaches. On the left is a digital painting (oil on canvas) where I imagined a lifeless town with the sole survivor carrying an umbrella through the street. Monochrome for me is the apt color for isolation. The photograph on the right taken on a foggy Kolkata morning two years after the painting was done, is the nearest I have come to capturing a similar sense of isolation. I returned to this same spot three consecutive mornings until the lone cyclist finally made his appearance. Trust me, with a population of 1.3 billion it’s not easy to shoot wide and find anyone alone!

Drawn Digitally in Monochrome using Procreate

Maidan, Kolkata, India. 1/125, f2.8, ISO 100, Shutter Priority

Extreme Expressions

As an artist, I have always been moved by extreme states of human being, especially the more esoteric states of trance and ecstasy. Both are instrumental aspects of Hindu mythology. These states of being are connected but not the same. Trance has a distance to it, a solemnity, while ecstasy is very present and inclusive. The former I see in monochrome, the latter in vivid colors.

Disowned & Alone – Barsana, India. 1/125, f3.5, ISO 300

Ganja – Sacramental Trance. Varanasi, India. 1/50, f2.8, 24mm, ISO 1200

Sacramental Trance II, Varanasi, India. 1/50, f2.8, 24mm, ISO 1200

Holi Ecstasy, Barsana, India during Holi. Here I used the zoom-blast technique with my ultra-wide, where I was able to maintain sharpness on the subject’s eyes. Background slightly enhanced with radial blur in Photoshop. Overall I wanted to induce an effect of emitting sound and ecstasy from the images. 1/8, f7.1, 16mm, ISO 400, Shutter Priority. Below: 1/250, f3.5, 16mm, ISO 1250, Shutter Priority

And there you have it, my brief story of a painter turned photographer. As you can tell, I must respectfully disagree with the great Cartier-Bresson on the matter of art versus photography. He was a fine artist as a painter, but he was a great artist as a photographer, even if he never intended to be. He was a photojournalist, a documentarian, so one can certainly understand his position.

As for me, not bound by the rules of journalism, I am free to interpret the world not only as I see it, but as I imagine it. Art should have no restrictions, so perhaps this is where HCB drew his line.

About the author: Swarup Chatterjee is an award winning painter turned award winning photographer based in Mumbai, India. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Swarup conducts regular photo workshops in Mumbai, as well as travel photography tours around India. You can reach him via email here, and see more on his website.

Go to Source Author: Swarup Chatterjee If you’d like us to remove any content please send us a message here CHECK OUT THE TOP SELLING CAMERAS!

The post I Gave Up Painting to Do Photography, And It Shows in My Work appeared first on CameraFreaks.

August 08, 2017 at 11:01PM

#photo photography art camera cameras

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design-yourself · 7 years

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University of Derby Internship Programme

My CV has a lot of room for improvements in terms of the overall design where I should style it creatively or shorten my lengthy paragraphs down and most importantly, have a lot more working experience in a design field. To make my CV better, I decided to apply for internships via DIP, a selection of paid internships shown by University’s career hub. I applied for 4 positions and received an interview with ‘I’m Savvy’ soon. I am awaiting replies from the other 3 positions. I have listed the 3 of the submissions/ cover letters out of my 4 internships applications below.

I’m Savvy

https://imsavvy.co.uk/

There are several beneficial advantages this role delivers to aid my evolvement as a creative student. The role provides a prospect of gaining experience and skills within the magazine industry which I have been fond of as to possibly pursue as a career choice for the future. The internship has also piqued my interest as it provides an opportunity to build my portfolio. As a graphic design student, I have met the person specifications including proficient knowledge of Microsoft Office and Adobe Software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Muse. The magazine encourages and inspires beginners to put their skills into use, and this interest me as a beginner in the media industry myself where I could further develop my skills. For one of my first-year modules, I was assigned to create 3 double spreads for my magazine via InDesign. This intrigued me to further enhance my skills within a magazine based design which is why this internship is an excellent choice to expand myself as a graphic designer. As the position offers the experience of working with real clients and projects, I would gain knowledge and relevant skills that I can utilise within my course as well as in a working environment.

As a graphic design student, I find myself fit for the role as I meet all the requested requirements. As mentioned previously, I had to create double spreads for a magazine we had to make up using InDesign. I chose to produce a unique personal magazine in an editorial fashion manner displaying my own cultural dress which are Nepalese attires and other various cultural traditional apparels such as India with their Sarees and Japan with their Kimonos. In terms of designing, I also recently produced a manifesto poster using Photoshop for a friend who was a candidate for the Student Union elections. I additionally helped with her campaign using verbal and non-verbal communication through social media or face to face conversations to gain votes for the elections which she ended up winning her role with over 500 votes. For our Visual Culture History module, we were put into groups of 5 to create a presentation on the Feminist Movement through posters throughout the decades. We were just classmates at first but eventually became acquainted and stayed friends even after the project ended. I created a group chat on Facebook for the members to all communicate on and I also organised meetings every week for us to put our work together, update the presentation and rehearse. Overall, I enjoyed working as a group and developed my leadership and communication skills.

As part of my modules, I had to create an art exhibition catalogue with InDesign for Eleanor Watson, a known artist who was our client. From the assignment, I gained experience in working with Adobe InDesign to a competent level. We were given 3 weeks’ time to complete the project. I managed my time carefully, organised tasks to successfully meet the deadline and individually presented the final mock up to the artist and other judges from her management. For the Sequential Illustration module, I had to execute my researching skills effectively when exploring different styles of graphic novels to inspire innovative ideas to experiment with and to produce an A3 sized, comic-styled graphic novel of my own. I researched varieties of character designs from existing animations, focusing on details in depth such as various characteristics of figures, postures, eyes, hairstyles and hand positions for both genders to combine and draw my own characters. After applying my researching skills, I passed the module with good results.

The Smallprint Co

http://www.smallprintcompany.co.uk/

There are several beneficial advantages this role offers to aid my evolvement as a creative student. The role provides a prospect of gaining experience and skills within the typography/ letterpress industry which I have been fond of as to possibly pursue as a career choice for the future. The internship has piqued my interest as in the first year of Graphic Design, we had the opportunity to experiment with different forms of letterpress printing which I found fascinating and wanted to further develop my letterpress skills for publications or posters as it produces captivating textures which I find to be more engaging with the printout. The position will enable me to enhance my letterpress skills as the role offers to partake in the full process of design and letterpress print within an artisan studio setting. During the first year of Graphic Design, in one of the modules, we explored typography in full depth from standard fonts to unique creative fonts found online where we applied various typefaces to suit the meaning the word held. With this role, I am hoping to refresh and evolve my typography skills to a greater level.

As a graphic design student, I find myself fit for the role as I meet all the requested requirements including proficient knowledge of Adobe Suite programmes such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Muse. An example of when I used the software abundantly was for one of my module where I had to create an artist catalogue with InDesign for Eleanor Watson, a known artist who was our client. I had to use Photoshop and Illustrator effectively to design the front cover, intricate areas where it was difficult to do in InDesign and focus on the attention to details to each spread of the artist catalogue. In our Graphic Design Practice module, we created typography compositions using only letterforms, focusing on the shape of the typeface to create innovative designs. We also explored Monograms by working as a group of two where you interview each other’s interests and personality to then use your partner’s initials with the appropriate typeface to produce a monogram signifying their personality. For example I used bubble font to represent their bubbly attribute and a slanted speed font to depict the person being sporty or a runner. For our module, we had the opportunity to partake in a workshop delivering the techniques and demonstration for using an antique tabletop letterpress machine as well as a sheetfed flatbed letterpress machine. We experimented with both machines where I used metal types on the metal plate while securing it in place to letterpress onto card using the tabletop letterpress machine. We then used wooden letter blocks, rolled paint over it and carefully placed it on the plate of the sheetfed flatbed machine to then place the paper on top to roll the impression cylinder through. Overall, I found the antique machine with small metal type interesting as it created a firm depth imprint encouraging a sense of touch upon the texture for engagement in contrast to a flat digital print. I also enjoyed the sheetfed flatbed machine as I found it more easier and quicker to produce in comparison to the small metal type method.

As part of my module, I was assigned to create an art exhibition catalogue for the artist, Eleanor Watson. As we were given 3 weeks’ time to complete the project, I managed my time carefully, organised tasks to successfully meet the deadline and individually presented the final mock up to the artist and other judges from her management. We also had to include a risograph print of Eleanor’s work with an appropriate quote or text across the her painting which is another form of digital print using the printer to produce a solid coloured tone when printing. I found this technique extremely straightforward, fast and efficient to experiment with in batches without concerning about the economical aspect as it is cheaper than the photocopier, laser printer, or inkjet printer. I also have proficient experienced customer service skills developed and adapted from working as a waitress where I would respond to the customer’s need immediately. For example, when a customer complained that the soda machine was empty, I would inform the bartender or the higher management to replace it as soon as possible.

Neo Elegance

http://www.neoelegance.co.uk/

There are several benefits this role offers as a creative student looking to possibly work within the creative marketing field as a career choice. The role provides a prospect of gaining direct marketing experience and skills within a beauty industry which intrigues me as I am tremendously interested in makeup and beauty related products personally as an individual. I experiment with makeup looks regularly and apply makeup on friends as a hobby. The internship has also piqued my interest as it provides an opportunity to gain PR experience and National/ International Campaign experience which could be applied within my studies as well as in a working environment. The beauty gadgets from Neo Elegance appealed to me as I suffer from acne, acne scars myself and would be fond of owning the products. Since I understand the turmoil of having acne, I would want to market products such as the light therapy device to other individuals suffering from acne prone skin to finally feel comfortable within their own skin.

I find myself fit for the role as I meet all the requested requirements. As I have taken media studies from GCSEs to A Levels, I have an understanding of marketing and targeting key demographic target audience to sell the products effectively. During A level media studies, we were assigned to research how products such as perfumes, men's deodorant and clothing were marketed towards the right audience. I discovered that it was effectively sold through the sexualization of the male and female body or the glamorised attraction from the opposing gender when wearing the product. I will be able to apply the researching skill developed from this for this role. In terms of the social media aspect of marketing, I have sold items on Depop (a platform where you are able to sell your clothes or products to customers on the app) using Instagram to market my product through posting an image of the product, uploading it as a story and inserting the depop link display on my biography description on my profile for potential buyers to be directed to. I also have proficient experienced customer service skills developed and adapted from working as a waitress where I would respond to the customer's need immediately, for example, when a customer complained that the soda machine was empty, I would inform the bartender or the higher management to replace it as soon as possible. I have in-depth experience with the Mac OS as I have used this system since school while also adept with using Adobe Software such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Muse.

As part of my modules, I had to create an art exhibition catalogue with InDesign for Eleanor Watson, a known artist who was our client. From the assignment, I gained experience in communicating with the client to gather information on her needs. She particularly asked for contemporary, simple layouts with excessive white spaces for a modern aesthetic and a soft mute colour palette to go along with it, nothing loud or neon. I produced the catalogue based on her specifications and received great feedback from Eleanor and her management team when I presented the final mock up. Since we were given 3 weeks’ time to complete the project, I managed my time carefully and organised tasks to successfully meet the deadline. For my current Professional Practice module, we are assigned to create a blog (tumblr) about our journey as a graphic designer in our desired specific field, research into our interests and posts our learning outcomes from each lecture every week. I gained time management, organisational skills as well as experience in writing blogs to an up-to-date schedule which would aid what I am needed to do from this position of writing press releases and blogs. For my other current Directed Projects module, we have to create a website of our own choice and style from scratch using Adobe Muse where I am able to easily insert widgets such as interactive buttons, gallery slideshow, youtube video playing as a background layout and many more. From this experience, I am able to adapt the skills learnt for working on web-related marketing campaigns.

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dailybiblelessons · 7 years

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Thursday: Preparation for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Thursday: Preparation for the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Revised Common Lectionary Proper 13 Roman Catholic Proper 18

Complementary Hebrew Scripture:Proverbs 10:1-5

The Proverbs of Solomon. A wise child makes a glad father, but a foolish child is a mother's grief. Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. A child who gathers in summer is prudent, but a child who sleeps in harvest brings shame.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture: Isaiah 14:1-2

Complementary Psalm 145:8-9,14-21

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.

The Lord upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Semi-continuous Psalm 17:1-7, 15

Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit. From you let my vindication come; let your eyes see the right.

If you try my heart, if you visit me by night, if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me; my mouth does not transgress.

As for what others do, by the word of your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent. My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Philippians 4:10-15

Year A Ordinary 18, RCL Proper 13, Catholic Proper 18 Thursday

#A Ordinary 18 Thursday #Solomon's proverbs #God's compassion #gracious and merciful #contentment #joy #simplicity

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