Sunday, August 29, 2010

Fall Is Nearing

OH MY GOSH. It's such a pretty day today!!! I don't think we've had a day like this in weeks! It's perfect. The wind is blowing, there isn't a cloud in sight, and the sky is a bright blue. Ahhh. I love these days. Right now, it feels like fall. YAY! I used to hate fall but now, I think it's one of my favorite seasons. I love the colors fall brings. And I love the weather. 

Today I just wanted to be outside but I wasn't about to just sit on the ground or something, so I brought my camera. =D. I challenged myself to get a good photo when the sun was really harsh. When I was outside, the sun was right above me and it was super bright. Taking pictures, especially of people, in really bright sun, is incredibly hard. And even though I didn't have a person to practice with, I still went out and experimented. So see what you think. =).


Saturday, August 28, 2010

Jasmine Star

Wow. This week, I have been watching a Creative Live course with Jasmine Star, a photographer that I put on my favorite blog list. Oh my gosh. This course has been going on for the past four days (tomorrow is the last day) and it's all live. Everything that they film is happening while you watch it, in Seattle, Washington. And yesterday they filmed a real wedding, live, that Jasmine photographed. It was really neat. I learned so much because since it is a teaching course for the purpose of learning, she would narrate a lot during the wedding and say what she was doing. Also, the days before the wedding, she was in a classroom answering tons of questions. And she took the bride and groom out for pictures and showed how she posed them and all that good stuff. I seriously have been sitting at my computer for the past four days watching it for hours on end. HAHA. It's reallllly helpful. And incredibly interesting. I feel like I know Jasmine Star now. Haha. She's so personable. I can just tell what a likable person she is and I've never even met her.

But this has really helped me to see how stressful wedding photography is. DUDE. It's insane. I have no idea how she remembers to do everything and how she knows where to be all the time. I guess it takes a lot of practice. But you would NEVER imagine all the things she has to do. Seriously. I can't even name them all because it makes me tired. Hahaha! It's so cool though. And as stressful and tiring as it is, it just looks like a ton of fun.

But today, as Jasmine showed the images she had taken for the wedding and first look, I realized I missed my camera and hadn't taken pictures in a while. Soooo, I just took some jewelry pictures. Nothing too exciting, but still a little creative. I had fun. So here ya goooooo.


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Photography

I am so lucky to have finally found something I love. For fifteen years, I really never knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. I just never could give an answer. I'd say stuff like, "Oh, yeah, I want to be a nurse or a marine biologist." But we all knew that probably wasn't going to happen. Neither of those things involve something I enjoy. Well, that's a lie. I love anything that has to do with marine animals or the ocean, but I don't want to do anything associated with that for a living.

About eight months ago, when I was at Rockbridge Alum Springs Young Life camp for Fall Weekend, my wonderful friend Jessie Wheatley (who has been in my blog a few times) had just gotten a Nikon D3000 and had it with her. I had never used a DSLR camera before, although I was always jealous of people that had one. Haha. I went over to where she was, taking pictures of friends, and just talked to her about it for a while. She even let me take some pictures. And that's when I fell in love. Oh my gosh. So much fun. I had no idea about cameras at that time. All I knew how to do was press the shutter button to take a picture. And zoom. =). But seriously, it was the greatest thing ever. I didn't want to give it back. 

So....... after some research and discussions with my older brother (who loves photography and knows a ton about cameras), I talked to mom and dad. Then one day while mom and I were in Charlottesville, we went to Best Buy and I craftily and sneakily talked her into buying me one for Christmas. Mwahahaha. Okay, but really, they know now that it is the best gift I've ever received. Half my life would be me doing nothing if I didn't have that camera. But anyways, I ended up buying the Canon Rebel XSi and getting the kit lens (18-55mm) and the 55-250mm telephoto. The funny and kind of sad part about this story is that they were out of the telephoto lens when I decided I wanted it. And guess why? Because I let someone else that was waiting for a sales person in front of me. And since I was waiting for my sales guy to check on the lens, the person I let in front of me got it......... HAHA. Note to self: Be mean and selfish and don't ever let anyone in front of you. Haha. Buuuuut thankfully they ordered me one. =). I had to wait until Christmas for it anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. It just took FOREVER. And my patience slowly deteriorated.

Okay, that's enough of me talking about absolutely nothing. But I am really blessed to finally have something to do that I love. Even if when I get to college I decide to take a totally different career path, at least this is a great hobby that I'll carry with me forever. I love mi cámara.

And finally, here are some pictures. =D. Get ready for extreme randomness. 





Saturday, August 21, 2010

Goodbyes

A few weeks ago, Becca asked me if I could take pictures of her and her boyfriend Justin sometime. I said sure but it just never happened within those few weeks. We both had a lot going on and school was starting. But a couple of days ago, she asked me again and of course we had to make it happen since Justin was leaving for college!!!

Sooo, we went out to the park yesterday to take some. =). I was really happy with how they turned out! They're too cute. And I'm really glad they'll have these memories to look at and think about when they're in different cities missing each other. It makes me happy that I got to be a part of it and I just hope you two enjoy these pictures!!! Thanks for letting me do this and Justin, I hope your year at Lynchburg is great!!! Good luck. =).

Okay, here are my favorites!!!