Multnomah Falls

day 314

Got to visit Multnomah Falls for the first time ever today. I am so blessed to live in such a beautiful place.



Jenna, Amy, Ivy, Tabatha, Rebekah, and Me

I'll see you soon

day 311

Since because of the time change it is dark by the time I get out of work, I'm having to take my 365 photo in the morning. We shall see how many creative ideas I can chug out at nine am.

detail shot here.

out of my element

day 310

I spent my free time exploring around town, walking through all the leaf-covered neighborhoods and taking pictures of possible photoshoot locations on my phone. Even if I didn't get a successful photo (i.e. this was not my original idea), the walk was perfect.

protection

day 308

Long time no see. I've been pretty busy with school, but hope to get back into the swing of things soon. This was taken yesterday. My town has all sorts of crazy things set up like this giant ball made out of twigs that you can crawl into, and it was only by chance that I saw it in the distance.

Model is Ivy.

blink

day 305

If yesterday's picture was taken early in the morning, then today's picture had to be taken at the last possible minute. My original night shoot idea didn't quite work out, but I think I like this one better. Though, I am still no good at shooting concepts at night. What can I say? I like my light and my 100 iso.

Everyone must be getting on the same wavelengths, because today was so lazy for my friends and I. Everyone was asleep after lunchtime! I don't know what it was (the rain, perhaps?) that made us sleepy, but I certainly won't complain. What else happened that is worth sharing? Hmm ... we watched Boy Meets World. Man, flashback Thursday! That was such a hilariously cheesy show. Oh the nineties. I feel sorry for anybody who can't appreciate the nineties. Furbies, scrunchies, shrinky dinks, Kids Bop number one, oh yes, those were the days.

the listener

day 304

detail//before/after

model is Alysha

I am so so proud of this photo, I'll just come out and say it. It's very rare that a photo comes out even better than what I had envisioned it in my head, so I am really excited to post this photo. Plus, I took it at 9am! That basically never happens. But today was going to be a busy day and it was the only time Alysha and I could do it. She bought the dress from Goodwill yesterday and today we were already utilizing it for photos. I also went to Goodwill today and bought some other fun props, because I feel like that is incredibly lacking in my photos and I want to explore the usage of props more.

But enough of my ramblings. Today was Halloween! I woke up early for the aforementioned photoshoot, then we headed to Goodwill and Walgreens to buy props and costumes, then I remembered I actually go to school and sat through some classes, and finally it was time for us to get into costume! My little gang and I passed out candy to all the dorms and then we went to the East Side Halloween party (lol I sound so gangster), but it was kind of lame so we left to chill out again in the dorms, which is always fun in of itself. And now the next holiday to look forward to is Thanksgiving! Also I've been counting down the days to that ever since I moved to Oregon.

wishing for winter

day 303

Not much to say about today. The usual occurred: I had an okay idea for a 365 but then I accidentally slept until it was already dark outside. Thankfully Mai was walking in our hallway and agreed to let me take a picture of her. So at least it's not me in a photo. That's a plus, at least. But anyways, tomorrow is Halloween!

carry on, my dear

day 302



Model is Abby. She kindly agreed to model for my 365 today!

I think I'm finally starting to figure out how to create photos in the style that I love the most. That's not to say I'm going to force myself to stick to one photographic style, but I'm just happy I can finally pinpoint the aspects I love the most.

a civil war

day 301

Yesterday my friends and I volunteered at the Light the Night leukemia walk in Portland, so of course I had to snap some photos of Ivy in the sea of balloons we filled.

and as the fog clears

it's day 300!

(this picture also looks way better here)

detail shot here.

1. I can't believe I've taken 300 pictures for this project.
2. I can't believe I only have 65 photos to go.
3. I can't believe there's only 65 days left in the year.

My friend asked me today if I was going to do another 365 project next year. In 2010 I did the 365 on a whim and it completely changed my life. In 2011 I did a 52 week project because I was scared I would stop doing photography if I didn't do a project. And this year I did it to document senior year and college. That's three years in a row of doing a year-long project. So I don't think I'm going to do another project for a while. But as I told my friend, I have so many photo ideas that I'm sure won't make it into the 365 that I'll still have a lot of things that I want to photograph. Plus, I want to broaden my client work and I love the creative process and photography itself that I'll never be able to stop. And I don't want to anyways. I love writing and art, but photography (and especially digital) has an instant gratification that not many things has. It will never cease to blow my mind how emotional and cinematic photos can be and how powerful they are. I have been thinking a lot about what my purpose in life is, and while I love doing a lot of artistic things, writing and photography are definitely my two passions. I feel bad for the writing side as that was my first love and my first calling, and I hardly ever do it (save for this blog) and I hardly ever talk about it. Once the 365 is over I definitely want to incorporate my writing into my photography, because I don't want to be neglectful of one and focus solely on the other.

That paragraph didn't really have a particular conclusion, I'm just voicing my thoughts. Other than revealing the deep inner workings of Lauren, I felt super awkward taking this photo. The tree was right in our dorm's "backyard," so all of the girls and guys dorms that were facing the woods (three floors of dorms) could see a crazy girl standing in a tree with a camera right in front of her face. But that's the story of my life. Other things about my life? I got an A- for my psychology midsemester grade, which I'm super excited about, and tomorrow my friends and I are volunteering for a Leukemia walk. I'm just hoping it doesn't rain.

witching hour

day 299

And here is today's photo! This is my RA, Cortney. She is super gorgeous and was more than willing to model for a creepy halloween-y shoot. We went to a cemetery nearby and took the above photo and just enjoyed the Oregon terrain. I can't believe I'm already at day 299!

strawberry swing

day 298

The colors are so beautiful in fall. I could live in autumn forever.

it doesn't matter whether you win or lose

day 297

Sorry for the crazy onslaught of posts today. I have only yesterday's and today's photo left to post and then I will be all caught up!

I roamed around a bit after my original location was taken over by guys throwing a football around, and I was NOT about to go crazy with a camera and tripod with them watching me. So I stumbled upon this area where baseball athleticy type people are seen in their natural habitat. Definitely wouldn't see me here of my own free will unless it was for pictures! I'd say I had a pretty good strike of inspiration after walking around having no idea what I was going to do for a photo.

breathe in

day 296

This was taken on Monday. Rain seems to be never ending now and I am okay with that, because it makes for gorgeous reflections. I feel so powerful when I take photos of people in public places, and vice versa, but if I'm by myself I'm terrified. Thankfully Jenna is always willing to model and/or pretend to take my photo for me.

pumpkin patched

day 295






On Sunday my friends and I went to a pumpkin patch! I've been to a pumpkin patch once or twice before, but this one was insane! They had huge pumpkin cannons and a giant corn maze that we got lost in for at least half an hour and pumpkins as far as the eye can see.







I don't know if every person experiences this, but I feel like I'm sort of getting a chance to redo my childhood, only this time I'm actually willing to appreciate it. I can remember times when I didn't want to do something fun like go to a pumpkin patch, and even when my parents made me go I had the most miserable time, simply because of the fact that I am stubborn and if I am in a bad mood then I want to be in a bad mood, if that makes sense.






But now that I am in college, and it may be because I have friends to do it with, or because experiencing it on my own is something I've never done before, I really love doing things like this. Maybe it's because I'm just *ahem* growing up, but that seems like an oxymoron to me because I feel like I'm looking at the world with brand new baby eyes.







I certainly hope growing up means getting baby eyes, because I really don't want to lose this outlook on life. I guess the way to do that is the way to do anything: hold on to it. Remind me to always make a conscious effort to try to look at the world with new eyes every day, like every day is my last day to see.







Also, I love my beautiful friends. From left to right: Tabatha, me, Ivy, Rebekah, Annette

I love how college brings people from all over the country together. If it weren't for college, I would have never known of the existence of these beautiful, talented girls.

a different kind of fix

day 294





Hey guys! Long time no see! It's been a busy week, but never fear, I have a ton of photos and stories to tell you. The reason I haven't uploaded was mostly because of a psychology test that I had on Monday, and I'm happy to report that I got a 93% on it! And then on Tuesday I might have gotten carried away in the pottery lab and spent the entire evening making a freaking teapot. It took three hours and many components and much sitting around waiting for everything to dry, but I'd say it looks pretty good so far.

But on to the blog post at hand. Because I really love all my 365 photos that I was too busy to actually post, I'm going to stretch out posting them so that each one gets the credit it deserves. These photos in particular were taken on Saturday. My friend Ivy and I bought tickets to go see Bombay Bicycle Club in Portland and man oh man, it was the best concert I've ever been to.





Portland itself is so gorgeous and it feels like every street is alive with music. Ivy and I ate dinner at a random street corner restaurant and I felt like if my parents knew what I was doing at the time, they would have killed me. Probably not actually, but I mean, Ivy and I were in a strange place eating dinner and then going to a concert surrounded by random other people. Okay, even when I say it like that it doesn't sound that bad, but at the time, I felt like such a rebel and it was an awesome feeling.





Then we stood outside for the doors to open, then we waited inside another hour for the concert to start. The opening band was Vacation and they were super chill (they would be proud of me for using that word, because the lead person said it a lot throughout the night). All the colors were so magical (actually, the whole show was magical), I just wanted to bathe in them all night long (and take them home with me for awesome pictures).





Finally Bombay Bicycle Club came on stage and everyone reveled in the music. After the event was over, Ivy made the statement that she felt God in the midst of the music, and it was so insane because I had that exact same thought. It's so beautiful to feel God even in a place where you wouldn't be looking for Him or expect Him to be in, and that night it was such a potent feeling I just wanted to laugh and cry and dance around because of it. To be honest, before coming to Oregon, I had all but given up on the idea of God just because I was tired of the whole Christian thing (our chapel topic today was about this too) and tired of God. But He knew that going to a building every Sunday morning wouldn't bring me back to Him. It's been through people and nature. We have been learning in our Bible class that to be a righteous person is to be in right relationships, and I have made such beautiful relationships in the short months that I've been in Oregon that I have fallen back in love with God just a little bit. And the same goes with Oregon itself. Who knew I could fall so madly in love with a place? The very ground I walk reminds me of God and I am constantly in awe of the beauty of the land. That beauty has made me fall in love with God too. I am so thankful that He is bringing me back slowly through people and through nature; it's as if I didn't even notice I was falling back in love with Him. It's a slow process though, but I'm not so tired of the whole Christian thing anymore.





But anyways, back to the retelling of events ... after the concert Ivy and I decided to drive to Washington just for the heck of it. It totally baffles me that it only takes a few hours to drive through the state. Alaska has rubbed off on me in the fact that we truly are secluded from the rest of the United States and can't just jump in a car and drive to a different state. Well we drove over the bridge into Washington--and then turned right back around to drive home.




It was an unbelievably, fantastically magical night, to say the very least.