Ana Goni-Lessan / Foto blog

Remnants of a story still unfinished...

2009-11-17T19:50:00.001-08:00

Some old stuff: butterflies, guitars, cilantro popsicles, etc.

2009-09-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is the first of my butterflies that hatched. It posed for me.

I tried to save some fresh cilantro in my fridge, and it froze. Look at all the air bubbles.

Hair cut time.

Follow up on the band photos from two weeks ago.

Labor Day!!!

2009-09-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

2009-08-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tutus and Tiaras

2009-07-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Really proud of this photo gallery I made. Props to the dance instructor who kept these 2 to 5-year-olds in line.

Tutus and Tiaras Dance Camp

Haven't updated in a while...

2009-06-10T22:45:00.000-07:00

I'm interning with the Tallahassee Democrat this summer, and I really haven't found the time to update this thing. But I'll post a couple of photos now and will link to some of my galleries on the newspaper's Web site.

Enhanced the contrast on this one, cropped it, and made the background flat so you can't see the ugly condos. I like it a lot.

My version of American Gothic....

He was hangin' on the antenna of my car. So cute.

Blood Drive Gallery

City Pools Open Gallery (Only some of the photos are mine...)

Leon High School Graduation Gallery (My old high school, represent!)

Rock the Dock Fishing Tournament Gallery

Rusted cables are pretty sweet.

2009-05-14T22:27:00.000-07:00

There's a park in Tallahassee called Tom Brown Park, and it has baseball fields, a BMX park, a dog park and lots of trails. The other day, Keith and I decided to go out and take pictures. I found some cool textures to mess around with and also these really awesome rusted cables rolled into cylinders. Ashley and I drove out there today and decided to have some fun.

The last one was me trying to figure out layers in Photoshop. I just got CS4, I'm trying to teach myself more stuff. It looks amateur, but hey, I think it's pretty good for my first try.

Promoting Myself

2009-04-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Fashion?

2009-04-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

Fashion

Portrait

Fashion

Studio fun in JOU4603

2009-04-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

They're sort of blurry because I wasn't shooting with the flash radio, just for fun. Probably the best time I've had in JOU4603 so far this year. Thanks to all the models.

Lions and tigers and alligators, oh my!

2009-04-07T21:01:00.001-07:00

Warm weather welcomes alligators

By ANA GONI–LESSAN, Alligator Contributing Writer

People jogging around Lake Alice have more to worry about than a sunburn now that the weather is warming up.

Alligators in north Florida come out of hibernation in March, said Tony Young, the media relations coordinator for The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“They’re hungry, they’re looking for food and mating season is just around the corner,” Young said. “You just need to be aware.”

Young said that male alligators become more aggressive around mating season.

Parents with small children should not let them play near water without supervision, he said. Dogs are also at risk.

“Dogs are definitely some of the favorite prey of alligators,” Young said.

Brandon Moore, a UF biology graduate student who has studied alligators for seven years, said there are two important rules to remain safe while in the presence of alligators.

“Never feed an alligator, ever,” Moore said.

Alligators have a natural disposition to move away when approached by people, but this can change when they’re fed.

Also, give the alligator distance, he said, and let it go about its way.

If people find themselves in a threatening situation, they should move away slowly and quietly.

“Running is rarely a good thing to do in the wild,” Moore said. Running makes a person look like prey, which can provoke the animal.

Since 1948, there have been more than 275 unprovoked attacks in Florida, and 17 people have been killed, according to an alligator safety brochure on the commission’s Web site.

The first alligator attack of the year happened in Lake Worth in January, when an alligator injured a man’s hand and pulled him under water, according to an article in the Palm Beach Post.

Joe Fiore, a UF alumnus, visits Lake Alice to unwind after work and sees people feeding the turtles.

He said he thinks that the alligators aren’t afraid of people because of it.

“It’s not good for them,” he said. “Just let them be.”

Story found here at The Independent Florida Alligator Web Site

Weather

2009-04-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Gainesville may experience record low

By ANA GONI–LESSAN, Alligator Contributing Writer

Weather analysts predict that Gainesville will see a record temperature drop to 33 degrees early Wednesday morning.

A cold front is expected to move into northwest Florida, followed by a cold air mass from Canada.

“The air coming behind the cold front is going to be even colder because of where it’s coming from,” said Phil Peterson, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Jacksonville.

The previous record cold for April 8 was in 2007, with a morning temperature of 35 degrees, according to the National Weather Service Web site.

Gainesville has already experienced record heat, a dry spell and record rainfall this year, Peterson said.

“The whole year has been very strange,” he said.

Frankie Hall, the director of the agriculture policy division of the Federal Farm Bureau Federation, said some vegetables like watermelon, peppers and green beans might be damaged by the cold weather.

“A late frost could hurt these tender crops,” Hall said.

Farmers in North Florida do not have irrigation systems that farmers in South Florida have, which also can be used to blanket the crops with ice to protect them from freezing.

“At this time, we’re at Mother Nature’s hand,” he said. “We just hope and pray that it is not as bad as they predicted it to be.”

Story found here at The Independent Florida Alligator Web Site

F.O.O.D. food food

2009-04-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here's me trying to make you want to eat sushi. Yumm. Notice the gold flakes on the piece of tuna? I should have focused on it more, so it's not your fault if you don't.

Half-assed Nazis

2009-04-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I was sent on a wild goose chase to photograph a swastika that was spray painted on the AEPi house on Fraternity Row on campus. Being that it's a Jewish fraternity, I believe this is being considered a hate crime (which it should be). I know I'm probably not supposed to have an opinion, but as the photo didn't run in the paper today, I'm just going to talk anyways. The swastika was located on the back left corner of the building (currently in construction). Also, the window he or she broke is in the back; pussy. You had to go traversing through the construction mounds of sand to find this thing. Whoever did this is infinite amounts of lame. He or she just wanted to hurt the AEPi frat, not make a statement. That's what the front of the building is for. Shame on you for being a coward, and a bad one at that.

Anyways. screw antisemitism. I'm sad this didn't run in the paper. I think it should have.

Here's the story

Edit: A friend just told me the swastika is backwards. WAY TO GO. Idiots.

Out and About

2009-04-05T19:42:00.001-07:00

Here's a photo I took of Keith, my boyfriend, at Cross Creek about two weeks ago.

This is my spring break assignment for my photojournalism class. Thanks to Heather Drew for modeling and wearing a really tiny bathing suit.

First post

2009-04-05T19:30:00.001-07:00

Just e-mailed this to a friend of mine. I took her photo for my JOU4306 class; specialized photojournalism. Her hair blends in with the background. I didn't have any hair stuff with me in the studio, so it was either ultimate frizz party or a disappearing head. I went with the latter.