Thursday, September 29, 2011

Make the Best of It

My week has been fantastic. Busy like the last, but still great. Today was a half day so I got to eat Purple Foot with some friends and then get ice cream at Willy's! :D And I also have all of tomorrow off. WOO! The time seems to be flying by and although that's sad, I'm enjoying the slight craziness of my life.

I have two study halls every other day after my second period so it's been really nice to come home, get work done, and do other things such as work out, blog, and TAKE PICTURES. I think I mentioned this in another post but my mom and I just got a gym membership and not only is the gym nice, but I have access to an indoor pool!! I love to swim but swimming competitively is not my thing so I can't wait to make use of that pool! That will for sure keep me busy.

I've also been busy with work for my English class. I haven't been taking very challenging courses the past two years so I decided this year I would get some college credits and take a Blue Ridge class. It's a 3-hour night class and it gets a bit long at times, but getting good grades on college papers makes me feel accomplished. Sooo, it's worth it.

Also, the other day I got senior pictures taken. Of myself. Being in front of the camera is quite different than what I'm used to. I set up my tripod and take pictures of myself all the time but there's no one telling me what to do. That sounds negative but actually, it made me appreciate photographers even more just because they are always thinking on their toes and coming up with something new, whether it be a pose or a location or how to get better light. I just saw my pictures yesterday and I'm really pleased. If only it wasn't so expensive to get prints!!!

And speaking of senior pictures, I have three people's to take in the next month and I legitimately am dying of excitement. They are all girls and I love taking girls' photos because I can relate better, so I'm excited! I can't wait to go to some different locations and use my reflector! WOOO!

In addition to the greatness of my life lately, all my favorite shows are on!! I might get judged for this but ANTM, Jersey Shore, the Lying Game, and the Vampire Diaries are all on right now!! The Vampire Diaries and the Lying Game are my top two out of those but I still have to catch up each week with everything that's going on in those four shows!

But anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my new pictures. I didn't realize my yard had anything but grass in it so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked out to take these. Hahaha. And even though these rainy days are depressing as everything, they make me glad when the sun comes out!! Like it is right now!! It makes me want to run outside, frolic under the trees, and take pictures while I have the chance!! So perhaps some of you will be challenged to take more pictures, even in between scattered showers, if you've been having dreary days like Waynesboro! 










Wednesday, September 28, 2011

In Honor

I took pictures and I really want to share some but rather than blogging about my life or something that recently happened, I thought I would suggest some great songs, old and new. I absolutely adore music and as I've said before, I will love you if you recommend some songs to me. I will most likely buy them. And if you're really awesome, you'll make me a CD. :D But anyway, in honor of all the new, great albums that have recently come out, I have linked my favorite songs as of right now. 

















Friday, September 23, 2011

Busy Lives

This week has been one of my busiest weeks of my 2011 year. I'm the type of person who not only gets stressed out easily, but I need routine. I need to go to bed at 9:30 every night and I need to do other various things that complete my daily routine. It just makes me feel better and I have no idea why. But sadly, this week has been hectic and routine was out of the question.

Starting on Monday, I was incredibly sick. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. I just had a terrible cold that refused to go away. Soooo, I stayed home. I absolutely hate staying home from school but sleep was essential if I wanted to get better.

On Tuesday, I was out of school pretty early because of my study halls and since Mom and I just recently got a gym membership and I was feeling a bit better, we went and worked out together. And that was just plain old fun. Gyms make exercise fun. I can't believe I've been missing out on this. But after working out, I went to my BRCC English class out at AMC. Yeah, it's three hours long.... I don't  need to explain any further.

On Wednesday, I started noticing something weird going on with my computer. I recently bought a portable hard drive thinking it would be easier to take with me places. Well, something went seriously wrong with it because my iTunes music started skipping and when it was plugged in, everything on my computer was slow as molasses. Thinking this would be an easy fix, I decided I would transfer my music (and pictures) back to my regular external hard drive. In the process, it would refuse to transfer some of my pictures and would corrupt them as I did so. It was not a fun time for me. Let's just say I hyperventilated that night. We took it to a few tech places trying to fix it but no one really knew what was wrong and we definitely didn't want to pay tons of money. Sooooo, I just decided I would try to fix it on my own. I finally finished transferring everything I could last night and although I lost a few pictures, I'm happy my computer is pretty much back to normal. :D

Yesterday, on Thursday, I felt like I had a million things to do. That was the day I spent most of my time working with my hard drive but I also went to school, wrote a paper for my BRCC class (that is horrible), read for Small Group, helped my mom put McAfee on her computer, went to Charlottesville for a meeting for Yearbook, and barely remembered to eat. HAHA. I love being busy, especially since I didn't do much over the summer but I need my relaxation days. So I'm glad the weekend is here!

Today, which is Friday, I have been deprived of sleep, gone to school, helped my one of my elementary school teachers with random things in her classroom and worked on designing yearbook pages with a friend. Today has definitely been good, though. I feel refreshed, energized, glad to have my pictures/music back, and am ready for a good night's rest. :D

So, that's an update from my week. I'm sorry for being a bit absent lately. As you can tell, my busy life is very.... well.... busy. Hope you all had a fantastic week and I will hopefully be sharing more pictures this weekend or next week!! Adios, friends!

And here's a photo because a post is never fun without one.


Monday, September 19, 2011

Erick | Waynesboro, Virginia Senior Portrait Photographer

On Saturday, I got the honor of taking Erick's senior pictures!! Wooo! I hadn't taken any portraits in SOOOOOO long and I felt all out of sorts because of it. But thankfully, Mrs. Biggs asked me to take her son's photos and I was so excited. 

I had actually never done a guy's pictures before so I was kind of nervous but it went really well!! The pictures turned out how I wanted and my reflector was a huge help! Thank you Scout for being my assistant and holding that! :D Saturday was the first time I had used it so it was good to have a helper. And I'm officially in love with how well it works! Say goodbye to shadows and editing! Because of the reflector, most of these photos are SOOC (straight out of the camera) and that's pretty crazy. :D

Anyway, Erick is awesome and incredibly photogenic so taking his pictures was an easy task. He was the perfect introduction into my senior photography season. I have a few more senior sessions coming up that I can't wait for but just so you know, if you're interested in getting senior pictures done and have procrastinated to call a photographer, please call me! I seriously have plenty of time and I'd love to do yours! :D 

And finally, here are my favorites from Erick's session.


















Saturday, September 17, 2011

Raven's Roost

I'll be the first to say Virginia is one of the prettiest places on the east coast, if you actually get out of the town you live in and explore. We see the same scenery every day and sometimes that's unhealthy, so I love going on roadtrips, especially ones that involve the mountains.

Yesterday, around 4:00, I got a text from one of my friends asking me if I wanted to go watch the sunset on the parkway with her and a few other people. Ummm... YES. That's one of my favorite things to do and I don't get to do it enough.

So the six of us set out to get snacks at Wal Mart and then headed up the mountain to an overlook called Ravens Roost. We picked this particular overlook because not only is it facing west, but it has a place where you can climb down on the rocks. The rocks called our names so we brought our coats, blankets, food, and drinks and snuggled up.

As the sun was setting over the mountains, creating brilliant colors through the clouds, we had a photoshoot and just enjoyed life. What else can you do when you're given a moment like that?

My last year of high school has begun, so as my days are filled with activities such as working out and doing homework, I sometimes miss my friends -- especially my senior friends who I never see because I don't have class with them. So the picture of me and a few of my senior friends makes me so happy. I was thankful someone was there to capture the moment.

We later walked back up the mountain to another little overlook about a hundred feet from where we were. The sun was about to officially say goodnight and the pictures towards the end of the post are the pictures that will help me remember the time we spent watching God reveal his creation of the sunset and just simply being together.