What started off as a trip to the sunflower fields turned into a photo shoot in downtown Lawrence. My friend Danielle, always the willing model, came along for the fun. We did make it to the sunflower fields, but after baking in the sun, breaking a part of my speedlight, bees coming out in full effect, and my allergies flaring up (I forgot to take my medicine), we decided to relocate, lol.
I’ve been trying as much as possible to toy around with different lighting situations so I can practice. We ended up in an alley area that was nicely shaded by the buildings of Mass St.
I figured I’d post my camera settings for these different shots.
For the left hand shot, 50 mm, f/5, 1/100, ISO 200, and two external flashes (ETTL setting).
For the right hand shot, 50 mm, f/2.5, 1/160, ISO 100, no flash.
For the left hand shot, 50 mm, f/7.1, 1/1000, ISO 100 and external flash on manual setting at full power.
For the right hand shot, 50 mm, f/5, 1/100, ISO 200, and two external flashes (ETTL setting).
For all four of these shots, the settings were 50 mm, f/2.5, 1/100, ISO 100, no flash.
For these two shots, my settings were 50 mm, f/1.4, 1/200, ISO 100, no flash. Since the aperture was so wide open (f/1.4) I focused on her face so it wouldn’t be blurry.
So I was Skyping one of my closest friends last night and we were talking about if we would have ever guessed that we would be where we are right now in our lives. Seven years removed from high school, doing the things we love most–her using her remarkable talent in writing fiction and my photography. Her being an up and coming author was pretty much inevitable. Sophomore year, she was carrying around her first drafts of her writing in our science class. Me and photography though? It was a little out of left field. In the process of our conversation, I realized that I could identify the EXACT moment when I fell in love with photography. And the more I thought about it, my being a photographer wasn’t SO much out of left field as once thought. Memories of my first encounter with photography all came back to me. You’d think I was suppressing it or something, lol. I had completely forgotten!
Growing up, my mom had a simple little Kodak camera that she would take to Wal-Mart every so often so she could get the film developed. I always wanted to try to take a picture with her camera but she would never let me. She would always say that she didn’t want me breaking her camera. So shortly before my sixteenth birthday, I bought a Polaroid I-Zone camera.
I began taking pictures of everything and everyone. I felt like I had SO much power in my hands that I was able to take events in my life at that time and immortalize them. I was in love. That winter, my mom finally allowed me to touch her camera, lol. So what did I do? I took pictures right after a typical Kansas snow/ice storm. I loved the way the sun was hitting the ice on the power lines and trees and I was so happy I got to capture it. When my mom got the film developed, I was amazed at the picture I made! This is what I got:
In early 2006 I bought my first digital camera (after my mom and brother bought their own digital cameras a couple of years prior–I was behind the times, I know!) and later that year, I began taking a serious look at photography. And now here I am; loving photography and looking forward to all that I am going to learn!
So here’s to my apparent deep-seated desire to rebel by picking up a camera. I love you mom!
We met up in Lawrence on Mass Street on a beautiful Sunday evening. Right in between the Free State Brewery (which has GREAT food by the way) and Liberty Hall, we found a nice little bench. Armond and Marina sat down, I told them to pretend like I wasn’t there and with that began one of the most fun and entertaining sessions I’ve ever been part of.
Armond and Marina met while they were students at KU. Armond somehow got Marina’s number (and to this day, she still doesn’t know how he got it) and they went out on a date to see “Blue Streak” at the movies. They’ve been together ever since! They are expecting are expecting their daughter Amari at the end of October. I can’t wait until she gets here! I know she is going to be a beautiful baby!
This was around the time I jokingly asked Armond to whisper “sweet nothings” in her ear. I think he whispered, “nothing”. LOL
I had so much trouble choosing which images I wanted to post here because I loved them all! Armond and Marina were so awesome to work with and the kind of fun they have together was translated very clearly to my camera.
I had so much fun guys! I can’t wait to be there for Amari’s birth!
I am a very random person. As I sit here editing images from last week’s maternity session I had photographed (which was incredibly awesome by the way), I am fully starting to realize that lol. But you know what? It’s okay! It suits me. To a T. I haven’t blogged in nearly two weeks (so sue me! Okay, no, actually–don’t. That would suck.) so I figured that I would update with a blog post all about yours truly. And the things that I have thought about in the past week. So be prepared! Consider this a mild warning as we dive into my mind.
•I need a new computer! If you’ve read my status updates on Facebook, you too know the headache that my Dell Studio 15 laptop gives me with its super slowness and the fan’s shredding noises. Like right at this moment. I want a Mac! I think I’m ready to make that switch from the PC world to the Mac world.
•My favorite American actors are Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, and Alec Baldwin. If there is anyway to get all 5 of them in a movie together, it.would.be.EPIC.
•AsukaBook has wonderful customer service.
•The eyes have it.
•In my pre-full time photography life (which was all of two months ago) I was a college recruiter. You know, I was one of those people who stood behind the table at college fairs. It’s almost September, and I’m going to kind of miss my counselors I worked with.
•Happy times for me can be summed up with one example: last Friday I was at home, on the computer with my Memaw (my 87 year old grandma) sitting nearby on the futon. She said she wanted to hear something on YouTube. I knew that to mean one thing. She wanted to hear her favorite song which is this:
Her wanting to hear one song turned into two hours listening to different songs on YouTube which included “Oh What A Night” by the Dells, “My Girl” by the Temptations (and many other Temptations songs), a little Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, “Grazing in the Grass” by Friends of Distinction and even Robbie Williams’s “Have You Met Ms. Jones?” (I love that song).
•I love my family. I think they are the coolest. My Memaw, my parents, and my brother. Extended fam, y’all are cool too lol. I would and quite often do ditch my friends in order to hang out with my parents.
•On Tuesday, on a whim, I visited IndiaWeekly.com in hopes that they had the movie I’ve been itching to watch for the last 5 months. And to my great surprise (and joy) they had it available to order! I went on and bought it and sometime tomorrow or early next week, I will be the proud owner of a copy of I Hate Luv Storys! YESS! Consider me one HAPPY camper. Very happy.
•On a more serious note, treasure each moment you have and live each day like it’s your last. It’s really unnerving to hear of an innocent person having their life taken. Please pray for the family and friends of Chris Dotson!
•Here is a sneak peek of my next blog post:
Get excited!
And I will end this post on my new favorite song of the moment: “Have You Met Ms. Jones?” by Robbie Williams.
You know what the bad thing about going to Las Vegas is? Coming back home and realizing you’re not in Las Vegas anymore.I had so much fun during my three days attending Skip’s Summer School, which was a workshop featuring a diverse line up of some of the industry’s most talented photographers. Yervant, Jasmine Star, Jonathan Canlas, Scott Bourne, Stacy Pearsall, and Kevin Kubota were a few of the photographers that spoke to us during the workshop.
I learned a lot, met a lot of new photographer friends and I can’t wait until next year!
Some of the funniest moments during the workshop occurred during Kevin Kubota’s segment. Everytime someone’s cell phone went off during the workshop, he wouldl make them come up on stage and dance in front of the entire audience. And I got to get some shots of it!
Skip Cohen decided to make announcements lying down on the stage in honor of Kevin Kubota’s challenge to us to do the “Laying Down” game. The laying down game is basically just finding random places in public, lying face down, and getting a picture of it. lol
This is the mousepad I got whacked in the head with as they were getting passed out like frisbees. But hey, at least I got a free mousepad for showing up early! And I got a picture of a camera…that someone had just finished using to take a picture.
A few friends and I met up after one of the days’ workshops and had a photo excursion on the Strip. We started off in front of the MGM Grand, where the workshop was being held. Right across the street was the Excalibur. Every time I see it, I feel like I’m stuck in the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game. You know, the “Las Venturas” part? I used to be so addicted to that game.
Yep, that’s Elmo.
Elmo up close! I got really excited when I saw Elmo, because I love, love, love, love Elmo.
The laying down game in action!
A man and his acoustic guitar, late night on the Strip, playing for the passersby.
I can’t wait until I can go to Vegas again. Is 2011 here yet?
I had so much fun during my three days attending 
no comments