Yay it's Friday!

Hey all.  Today I am going to be shooting in the commercial studio.  And then me and Vanessa have another shoot tomorrow with this guy she knows.  But I am glad that the weekend will have some time for relaxation.  Here are a couple of pictures I took over Christmas break!

My grandma

My daddy

A little Thursday inspiration

Everyday I drive the 13 minute journey to school.  I take the same route  and I see the same car dealerships and gas stations.  But I also drive by this tire/mechanical shop. Instead of posting different messages on their sign to try and entice customers to come to their shop, they post little inspirational words.  Today the message posted was:

"You can be perfect, or you can be happy"

I smiled when I drove by the shop and read this message this morning.  And next time I am feeling the pressure and stress of everything that life brings, I'm definitely going to try and remember those words.

And since a post is always better with a picture......

Just an image.

Here is a little series of Karen.  Have a good day.  I know I will......Greys Anatomy and Project Runway is on tonight :)

Wedding Wednesday

So here is Karen and Mitch: Part Deux.  I have sooo many pictures that I love from this wedding that there might even be a Part 3 next week.

Exhausted!

Wow!  This past week has just been a huge blur of busyness.  I have done 6ish shoots and gotten some pictures that I love, and then some pictures that I don't so much love.  haha.  But tonight I am going to assist Vanessa with one of her shoots so I am just glad to have a day off.  You wouldn't think that being a photographer is an exhausting job, but let me tell you, IT IS!!  After every shoot I feel completely mentally and physically exhausted.  My back always aches and no matter what I wear or how I do my hair, at the end of the shoot I will be super hot, and yes, sweaty.  And its a for sure that my hair will be in a pony tail.

Last night I did my first maternity shoot!!  It went super well and I think I got a few good shots.  I definitely feel that I could have done better, but then again it was my first session like this.  The couple I shot were super nice and so open to my ideas!!!!

So finally, here is an image of my sisters that I took over Christmas break.  I freakin love this picture.

Art Historical Reference Self Portrait.

Wowza that was a long title.  So for school we had an assignment where we had to find a piece of art that we liked, and recreate it in a photograph.  I feel okay about how mine turned out.  Here is the original:

And here is my self portrait:

Wedding Wednesday/Friday

Hey all!!!  So as you know, I forgot to post Wedding Wednesday this week. But I think this wedding will make up for it.  This wedding was my 2nd wedding EVER and featured the fabulous Karen and Mitch.  They were both so fun and outgoing.  I'm pretty sure I could have photographed Karen ALL DAY!  So here are a few of my favorites.  I have a lot of favorites from this wedding so look for the rest next Wednesday in Part 2!

Please forgive me.

I'm sorry all of you blog followers of mine.   I can't even believe I forgot my 2nd Wedding Wednesday post.  But don't worry, I'm determined to make it up to you tomorrow with a totally awesome WEDDING WEDNESDAY post!!!!  In my defense, I've been super busy this week.  We got handed 15 shooting assignments on Tuesday, plus a career business plan that includes many different types of documents such as a resume, a business card, a cover letter, a net worth statement, a promo piece and much more!!!  Today me and Vanessa shot a couple of commercial assignments, so hopefully they turned out well!  We haven't had a chance to look at them in Lightroom or Photoshop.  And since I feel bad about forgetting Wedding Wednesday, here is a sneak peek at the last wedding I did this past summer.

I hate Dell.

For all of you who read this blog, please take this piece of advice.  Never buy a Dell. 

As for school, today we got a whopping 15 shooting assignments!!!  I am going to be busy, busy, busy for the next 5.5 weeks!!!!  We also have to complete a career business plan which includes things like our goals for the future, a resume, a personal net worth statement, a price list, a business card, a promo piece and so on and so forth.  Everyone say a little prayer that everything goes smoothly for me these last months!!!

*this picture has not been edited.

5 THINGS I LOVE

Hey guys.  Thought I would share a few things that I can't get enough of at the moment.  Enjoy!

1.  TV.  I'm sure most of you already know that I love TV, but I am especially in love with it since all my favorite shows have started again!  The Bachelor, Project Runway, and Biggest Loser.....yup, can't get enough of them!

2.  Mint M&Ms.  Have you guys tried these???  I tried them for the first time over Christmas break and they are AMAZING.

3.  Scooter, the dog.  Scooter is my sister, Kristin's, dog.  And I suppose Shawn is also a partial owner.  But, I like to think that I am a partial owner too.  Everyone knows that he likes me the best but for now I am ok with shared custody.  Maybe in the future I will fight for full custody.  But anyway, over Christmas break Scooter stayed with me the whole time.  We went on lots of walks and runs and I miss him lots and lots.

4.  Post Secret.  Most of you probably know what this is, but for those who don't, it's this website where people send postcards with their secrets drawn or written on them.  It is very interesting, but at times can be very depressing.  I was on their blog the other night and I was reading their tour dates, and on February 10th they are coming to Amherst, MA which is only like 30 minutes away from where I live!   I really want to go.  I don't really know what the presentation would be, but I am hoping its like an inspirational speaker.  But anyway, if your bored go and check out their blog!
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

5. Whole Foods.  Whole foods is this awesome grocery store where they sell alot of natural and organic food.  AND they have SAMPLES!  They have a ton of interesting and different stuff so even if I don't need to buy anything, I like to go to see what kind of crazy food they have!  This past weekend I went there and I got some yummy bran muffins, some sourdough bread, and some turkey breast lunch meat.  I am going to have some good sandwiches this week :)

Lexi..

So I have accumulated quite a few pictures of my dearest sister, Alexis.  So I will show you a few!  These images are from my Phase One final as well.

A few oldies

Yesterday at school I shot a TON of pictures!!!! I can't wait to share them with you, but I still have to edit them. So I am going to show you a couple pictures from my Phase One final!!

 

Wedding Wednesday

So I have a super cool announcement. As some of you know, I had the opportunity to second shoot for Katie Lewis this past summer. It was super fun and I learned sooooo much!! I shot about 12 weddings so today I am going to start "Wedding Wednesdays." Every Wednesday I will post a few of my favorite photos from each wedding I did. I will start with my first wedding so hopefully you will see how I improved!

My first wedding was in Fargo with a lovely couple, Anna and Brad. I didn't take too many pictures at this wedding, I think I was too busy getting the hang of everything!!! So here are a few of my favs!

Tuesday

Well I don't have much to say today so i will get right down to business and show you guys a couple of photos I took over Christmas break.

Productive Weekend

Hi everybody!! I hope your weekend is going great so far! Mine has been filled with productivity. I got my oil changed, washed my car, got groceries and ordered a new hard drive for my laptop!!! Now I'm going to do a couple photo shoots with Vanessa!!!!
Here is a PR shot I took of Vanessa before Christmas break:






















And here is an alternative picture I took of her. I've got a lot of mixed reviews on this picture. What do you guys think?

Weekly Recap.

Overall this week was pretty dern good. I worked on the pictures I took over break (which I LOVE) and I also worked in the commercial and portrait studio. Like I mentioned on a previous entry, we shot food in the commercial studio this week. In the portrait studio we were shooting images that would work for magazine covers. I decided to shoot for Seventeen Magazine. Christina, my model, was so great. She definitely had her facial expressions down. I think she practices every night before bed :) So here are my images from this week.

Black & White

Here are a couple images from a class I had yesterday with John Nordell. We talked about visual literacy and how what we look at (websites, magazines, music) affects what we see and what kind of images we make. I try to look at a ton of wedding and portrait blogs to help me get ideas for styles/poses/backgrounds and I think it helps me a lot when I am actually shooting and my mind goes blank for ideas. I then think back to a certain website where an image stood out to me and try to incorporate any of the elements from that image. So anyway, here are a couple black and white pictures!!

Oh, and why do winter scenes always look better in black and white???

Commercial Studio

While at school we not only focus on portrait photography, we also learn about commercial photography. So far we have learned how to photograph silverware and glassware among many other things. There is so much to learn about all the different ways to light objects!! For the most part I have enjoyed working in the commercial studio, but at times it can be a bit frustrating. Here are a couple images from glassware, food, and environmental still life. I shot another food picture today and I really liked how it turned out....so I will post that later this week!

The Lone Tree

Here is a picture I took over break. I saw this tree on my way to Rosen (to visit my grandma) and after driving by it 6 times, I finally journeyed out to capture it (with Scooter, the dog, in tow). I have been meaning to take more landscape pictures because I really admire all the sweet landscape images my classmates take.

Back in Mass.

Hey everyone! Today is my first day back at school from holiday break, and let me tell you, I definitely need to get back in tune with my sleep schedule. I took lots of pictures over break, so now I have a lot of editing to do!!! Here are some pics I took the week before break. They were taken in the portrait studio and the assignment was high key portraiture. My classmate, Kelly, was my model and she was AWESOME. She definitely knows how to work the camera :) I then had Mitchell come over and model as a couple with Kelly. The did a great job looking natural even though they are not dating in real life! I usually don't love the portrait studio, but I was very happy with how these images turned out. And maybe now I like the portrait studio just a little bit more :