Starting Off

My name is Lydia Wilwert and I am blessed to have 6 siblings. (5 of which are married!) I also have a niece and 2 nephews and they're a lot of fun. I am a freshman in highschool and I'm homeschooled. I will (hopefully and prayerfully) be graduating (early) in the year of 2017 at 16 years old! I love music, photography, writing, running, eating, sleeping, and being with my beloved family and friends. In all I do, I purpose to honor God and allow myself to be used as an instrument by Him. 
xoxo, Lyd

Music: Listening To Silence

Listening to Silence

    4' 33" (pronounced "Four minutes, thirty-three seconds" or just "Four thirty-three) is a 3 movement piano piece, composed by John Cage in 1952 in which there are literally 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. The piece is composed of the sounds of silence. It is also composed of the sounds of the audience when played at a concert; wrappers crinkling, people blowing their nose, a heartbeat, a car honking outside, someone shuffling in their seat, a child crying, someone coughing, the quiet hum of the air conditioning, and also hearing it kick on and off. Anything and everything imaginable. I love it because it has a sense of peace, but then again you never know what you're going to hear in the silence of 4' 33". The music is different for every person and how they interpret it.

    The American composer who wrote 4' 33" lived on New York's Sixth Avenue," the noisiest block in Manhattan." Clearly, noise influenced his music. He once wrote: "Which is more musical, a truck passing by a factory, or a truck passing by a music school?" The piece can be performed on any instrument, but even though it is silence, it will never sound the same. The two main points of the piece are to 1). Listen to sounds that would normally be ignored, and 2). Try to make those sounds music.

    Listening to silence can be fun. It's not always quiet because your mind could racing when everything around you is perfectly still. Your mind is thinking so loudly, that maybe it's all you hear and you are about to go crazy, and then you begin to listen to the silence. I think it's fun because it's different every time. You never  know what the silence is going to sound like. I never sit down and think, "I'm going to listen to the silence," but I rather am just thinking and then begin to hear the silence.

    I love listening to silence. It probably sounds a little bit strange and silly, but I love it. I love it because there is nothing to hear but there is actually so much to hear. It feels so good for my soul and it is so restful. The thoughts that you have when you listen to silence can be so different than when you are just going on your day thinking. You think more deeply and you are more open to different ideas when you listen to silence.

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I wrote this paper for a school project and I very much enjoyed writing it. My piano teacher, Karen Burgman, told me about the piece and I immediately looked it up and wrote about it. Please take 4 minutes and 33 seconds of your time and listen to it! Think, listen, and open your mind to ideas that you wouldn't normally open your mind up to! It's amazing what can happen to a single person in 4 minutes and 33 seconds! 

http://youtu.be/JTEFKFiXSx4

Please comment, follow, and give any input!! I appreciate your time and energy :)
xoxo, Lyd

Photography: Making Progress

These are a bunch of photos that I've taken over this past month!! It's been crazy and I haven't had time to post, but I want to show you all my progress. I hope I'm getting somewhere :) Also, I'm doing my first REAL Photography Session! Good friends of mine are getting married, and they asked me to take their Engagement Pictures. I can't wait! Praise God!

Please Comment, and give advice and tips!
xoxo, Lydia

Photography: Piano, More Aperture, and Shutter Speed

I was messing around with Shutter Speed and Aperture this afternoon, and here are some photos I've taken:

 Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-stop 5.6

 Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-Stop 5

 Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-stop 5

 Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-stop 5

 Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-stop 5 

 Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-stop 5 

  Shutter Speed 1/15 and F-stop 5.6

1/15 Shutter Speed and F-Stop5

 Shutter Speed 1/30 and F-stop 5.6

 Shutter Speed 1/30 and F-stop 5.3

I am really enjoying taking photos, and I know I'm not amazing, but it's a working progress. I think that photography is a very big gift from God and I hope and pray that I honor Him in and through it! Any tips woule be great :)
xoxo, Lydia

Photography: Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, Focus, and more.

My friend, who took 3 years of Photography, showed me a bunch of stuff about the Nikon D3100 and he wrote it all down for me, so I'll copy it onto here!

Shutter speed = how fast the shutter goes (opens up). The higher the speed the less light it lets in, but it Will Freeze Motion, so if you want to take sports pictures, you will want a fast shutter speed and a low F-Stop (Aperture).

Aperture (or F-stop) = Controls how much light is let in and then depth of field. Lower is short depth of fiens, hight is long depth of field.

ISO = Light sensitivity. The lower the number, the less sensitive the camera will be the light. The higher, the more.

Focus = Keep lens on Auto (Manuel), it makes lfe esasier. Hold down the button half way to focus.

Image Overlay:

Photo Credit: Chapman Whitted

It's really cool how you take two pictures and you almost make one part like a ghost. It's really cool! Thanks for everything you showed/taught me, Chapman! You're the man :) #ThanksChap

xoxo, Lydia