Karis | Waynesboro, Virginia Senior Portrait Photographer

I've been given so many opportunities the past two years and I can't even begin to explain in words how honored it makes me feel. And when Karis asked me to do her senior pictures about a month ago, I felt even more honored. That's because I didn't know her! Karis is the first person I didn't know to ask me for pictures. I was so excited when she Facebooked me and ever since we picked a day, I've been looking forward to photographing her.

Well, yesterday arrived and I woke up to sun. I was so thrilled and thought that the rain in the forecast was going to hold off. I was wrong. It started pouring sometime before noon and I didn't think it was going to stop. It finally did stop sometime around three but the clouds were just looming over the sun and it was dark. Photographers don't like the dark. So, I got a message from Karis wondering if we were going to cancel and I had to make a decision right then. After some thought, I took a chance and told her we should still go but that we should go early. You'll learn something about me if you're around me enough. That is, I hate being challenged but I love to challenge myself. I've worked in a lot of different types of light and finally feel confident that I can take a good picture in any light. It's just that, I don't LOVE using my reflector for every picture so I was hoping for some sun.

So anyway, I prayed for a while and then, guess what? The sun came out! The sun came out about twenty minutes before I took her pictures and stayed out until the last bit of her session. It was perfect! Although it was a bit cold towards the end, we had such a good time!

After spending an hour with Karis, I made a new friend and I got to enjoy her wonderful, glowing personality. Karis is one of the nicest people I've ever met and we have more in common than I could've possibly imagined. Karis, thank you for letting me take your pictures! You're gorgeous, so photogenic, and it was an easy task. I hope you love your pictures and good luck with college! :)

Karis | Sneak Peek

A New Instagram

Okay, so if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm pretty much always on my phone. I'm not that person who is oblivious of this fact, though. I do get off it when I need to be and I realize it's completely inconsiderate to text while people are talking to me. BUT, because I love my iPhone and I love photography, combining the two is just perfect and I end up on my iPhone a lot of the day. And what do I mean by combining the two? Well, the wonderful camera on the 4S of course!

I've been a fan of Instagram for a few years now and I still love it! Props to Instagram. But I'm always looking for new photography apps and I just never seem to find any I like. Well, I can no longer say that!! I just heard about an app called VSCO Cam yesterday so I went to check out the video on VSCO's website and decided is was worth buying. VSCO also makes a product for Lightroom, ACR, and Aperture that I wish I had but for now, I'll enjoy my 99 cent app! This app is a lot like Instagram but in my opinion, there are certain things I like more. I love how the filters make the pictures look like film, which is what the company was aiming for, I do believe. I love film and since the art of it is slowly dying, it's neat to watch a digital photo have a look of film. It may never be exact but it's close. I also love VSCO Cam because the pictures can be larger. You don't have to crop them to a square. You do if you upload the photo to Instagram, of course, but if you're just keeping it in your gallery or uploading it to Facebook, the photo can be a normal rectangle. Don't get me wrong, though. I do love squares. Haha.

But anyway, if you're looking for a new app, go buy VSCO Cam. It's only available for the iPhone but it's totally worth the dollar!

Wishing, Hoping, Planning

I'm a dreamer. I love to wish, to hope, to plan. I also know most of my dreams won't come true. I don't usually share them but dreaming is just a part of my personality. I haven't had the most perfect life so I am constantly desiring for a beautiful life in the future. It's fun. It can be a let down sometimes but mostly, it's enjoyable, especially since I have my whole life ahead of me. I often consider not going to college and just starting my photography business. I dream of living in a large house that sits up on a hill surrounded by trees with windows covering every wall. I dream of leaving town on a whim and traveling to the most beautiful cities.

Mom and I have been spending a lot of time in Staunton lately because I'm working on a project for a car dealership so exploring is something we've gotten really good at. On Tuesday, after I had finished working, we rode around the area near the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind and admired all the manicured, perfect houses. Staunton has always been beautiful and I've always thought living there would be nice but after exploring this new neighborhood, I'd do most anything to live there. I didn't even feel like I was in Staunton. What a beautiful place. Living in that neighborhood has become a new dream added to my list.

Starbucks Gift Card and Spoon Ring Giveaway Winner

Today's the day!! I finally picked the random winner of the Starbucks gift card and spoon ring giveaway and the winner is.....

Congratulations, Grace. If you would please email me at meredithsledge@yahoo.com with your address, I will be able to send you your gifts. :) If I do not receive an email from you before April 28th, I will unfortunately have to crown a new winner. Thanks!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered. I appreciate it so much and trust me, there will be more giveaways in the future! I love doing these and I'm honored to be able to! Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Edited: Mary Ann just reminded me that I totally forgot to tell you my favorite drink!!! My favorite drink is the salted caramel mocha frappuccino!! I was kind of surprised anyone guessed that! Buuut, because that was a limited time drink and they aren't selling it right now, my favorite is the sweetened raspberry passion tea. :) 

The Week In a Nutshell

This week feels both long and short at the same time. I can't remember what I did two days ago but I feel like all I've done is work. I spent Monday touring a college, which I am now going to! WOO. Tuesday I caught up on my work from Monday, yesterday I wrote a paper, and today I spent about two hours riding around town taking candid photos on my film camera of random people. It's been a blur filled with a million emotions like usual, but it's been good.

Speaking of good, pineapple has been my obsession lately. It always has but I have been consuming a whole pineapple every five days recently. I just don't understand how a fruit can be so delicious.

 And like I said, I went out today and photographed random people. One thing I learned from doing this is that moms don't like when you photograph their kids. I asked numerous people if I could take a quick shot of their kid for a school project and most of the time, I got straight denied. Okay, fine. Have it your way. Haha. My sadness was made up for when a hitchhiker allowed me to take his picture in the laundromat and a father holding hands with his baby girl let me take a picture of them. After realizing people didn't like to be photographed without knowing what was going on, I ended up asking and the responses I received were literally hilarious. If I could've recorded them all, I would have. Some people laughed, some were beyond confused, some just said they were leaving, some smiled and said yes. It was an awesome experience and I'm so excited to develop this roll of film that I can barely stand it!! I hope I somehow get to share the photos with you lovelies!

Also, I'm currently enrolled in college, as I mentioned earlier. I've never really wanted to attend college so to be completely honest, I can't guarantee I'll stay there, but I'm hoping I love it. We'll see! I'm excited as of now!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and don't forget to enter the giveaway for the Starbucks gift card! You only have five more days! And one more thing. I now have a "Pin It" button thanks to Hannah so if you'd like to pin my work on your Pinterest boards, please do so!!!

Alina | Waynesboro, Virginia Portrait Photographer

Spring is finally here and all the photographing begins. People are inspired to get out their cameras, to take pictures, and to go on photoshoots since it's warm. All I did all last week was scroll through pages and pages of portraits people had taken. Some were engagements, some were just for fun. But all I knew after looking through so many pictures was that I had to go out and have a photoshoot. I don't usually have random photoshoots but this time, it was a must. I ended up going with my good friend Alina and we rocked a mini-shoot. It took me about thirty minutes to get forty pictures and I'm so incredibly excited to share this beautiful girl on the blog today. Here are my favorites from the day.