wrath

Hello all! I'm trying out something a bit different with blogging, and have decided to move all my photography related topics to my website. But don't worry, Introvert's Introduction will continue to be a diary/lifestyle sort of place and I will always create a post linking to my website when I post something new.

So if you want to check out some behind the scenes photos and the story behind this picture, be sure to check out my photo website here!

in my studio

undershirt/shorts: forever 21 // striped shirt: thrifted




Okay, the title is a little misleading because my "studio" was actually me momentarily taking over my roommate's room to take these photos ... but guys, I am so excited about this. My photo department at my university got brand new lighting equipment, and I finally got to try it out! I was beginning to feel like I was stuck with progressing in my photography, but now with actual lights to play with, I'm finally learning something new! With that in mind, these photos certainly aren't the best lighting in the world. But it was my first try, and it was sort of like seeing your favorite celebrity in real life--I was just a little starstruck with beautiful, glorious softboxes in front of me. Man, I am just so excited!




As for my outfit, I think I had three different people make some sort of referee comment, but whatever. Over spring break I found this shirt at a thrift store, and I've already worn it too many times to count. It's such a versatile piece and I'm starting to get an obsession for stripes, so this might not come off of my body for a while.

Happy Thursday everyone!

fashion shoot // josi

A week ago I got to do a really fun photoshoot the the beautiful Josi! She is a fashion major and has a great sense of style, and I've been wanting to photograph her for a while. For my photography class, our weekly prompt was "at wit's end", which I interpreted as a quirky, grungy location since I really wanted to do a fashion shoot. At Wit's End, the people are really cool and like to match their environment, so Josi and I shot with colors in mind (specifically different hair colors), and I think they turned out quite nicely. This is certainly a bit different from what I usually do, simply because I haven't done a shoot that was exclusively fashion before (I mean, I've done senior shoots, which are pretty similar, and after doing this shoot I will definitely incorporate some things I learned into those). It was incredibly fun to hang out with Josi and make some cool images together!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

spring vibes

dress/tights: forever 21 // weird short things: borrowed from my housemate // shoes: target // photos by Matt





Oh look, an outfit post! We Oregonians have had a bout of of sunshine and it's like a switch has been turned. You know those quintessential college photos that colleges use for advertisement? Well when the sun appears, the campus literally looks like that. Professors teaching their class on the quad, people laughing while laying on the grass, people playing frisbee ... it's pretty laughable how everyone flocks to the light. And you can bet that I was one of those people, braving the slight breeze in only a tank top (but chickening out with tights--which ended up being a good thing as Matt and I snapped these photos before our night classes and that walk home in the dark was cold!).

In other news:

1. I got a new backpack, which is a momentous occasion considering I've had the same backpack for like three years. My breaking point in purchasing a new one? A. I spilled hot chocolate all over the inside of my old one and didn't notice until it had dried up and was gross and I didn't want to wash it. B. I got an amazon giftcard and really wanted to waste three hours of my life reading countless backpack reviews on the internet.

2. Two of my pieces made it into the Student Art Show! One was this photo, and the other is yet to be released to the public (but will be shortly. And by shortly I actually mean next month. Maybe.)

3. I booked my first wedding of the summer! I'm so excited to be shooting another wedding. On top of that it is with an adorable and gorgeous couple, and on top of that I get to fly down and experience a taste of the Oregon summer. I'm so thankful that the couple is taking a chance on me, and I seriously cannot wait to spend the day documenting their big event!

4. Other than that, school is chugging along as usual. Spring break is in a mere week and a half, I'm getting my schedule for next year nailed down, and life is pretty cool.

(for study) film friday: beyond

Varanasi, India: "Beyond" from Cale Glendening on Vimeo.

If you don't do anything else this week, please watch this beautiful film about India's holy men. Though I do not identify myself with their religion, there are still many beautiful truths to take from what they believe.

First of all, there is the idea of disregarding consumerism and materialism. Though I myself don't feel it necessary to distance myself from this materialistic world, nor do I believe I am called to do that as an individual, it still is an important idea to not get caught up in all of the rush of technology and products. Not only is it true that new products will quickly become old and the current technology become obsolete, but it is also true that the earth and the natural world has been around for a while and will remain for a while yet. I would rather immerse myself in things that will last longer than things that are fleeting.

And second of all, they continually talk about being a light to the world. There is so much darkness and it does no good to continue to harbor hurtful or selfish concepts. It is so much better to spread joy and kindness to others, everyone, even those who do not deserve it. Especially those who do not deserve it. I want nothing more in life than to be a light to those around me, to spread understanding and comfort and knowledge, and to help those who need it. And really, everyone needs help. We are all broken people in need of companionship and I want to bring that companionship as best I know how.

So I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

(for study) film friday: lightspin

LightSpin Documentary Film from Eric Pare on Vimeo.

I haven't done a film friday in three months, but this video makes me want to bring the feature back. These photographs reminded me immediately of my own experiments with light in dark, though not even close to as amazing as Pare's work. (I can only imagine how emotional and unbelievably exciting it would have been to create this project!)

In my Philosophy of the Arts class, we are constantly debating about art, what makes art art, what it means, and how it affects people. It's one of my favorite classes because I love higher thinking and don't always get to talk about or listen to it, and it's higher thinking about art, no less. A couple days ago we talked about whether photography is art or not, and read one philosopher who was adamant about it not being art. His main argument was that where paintings are all about representation of the general (ie a painting of a woman is seen as a painting of Venus), a photograph is only a photograph of a representation (ie a photograph of a woman is seen as a photograph of a woman representing Venus). Since the photograph depicts a specific woman, and since there is no way for the photographer to generalize her appearance to become the representation, rather than just represent it, then photography is not art.

Of course, he is absolutely wrong, and the entire class agreed, and I think this film is an excellent example of how a photographer is really not limited in the things he can achieve. He is not limited to a specific person or a specific place, or even a specific way of looking at the world (scientifically, we cannot see at night). He is not limited to reality, as the philosopher in question would say that photographers are limited to. Where a painter paints with colors, photographers paint in light.

As my own photography professor would say over and over again, "It's all about the light." And each day I learn more about how that statement is true. I love light. I love studying the way light filters through tree leaves, how rays are formed from the tops of buildings, how even a laptop light can illuminate the face. And I'm fascinated by internal light. Those things that make us content and joyful. The reason for our existence. It really is all about the light.

Life Update

Here is a little life update for you all, as I haven't posted too much about my personal life in a while. Things are busy, but good. If it wasn't required for class, I would probably take a blog hiatus due to all the things going on. The biggest thing is our school's yearbook, which is being transformed this year by myself and a team of amazing, creative people. I have been so blessed by getting to work on this project, and with the print deadline coming up very quickly, I am barely swimming above water to get everything done. Contacting businesses and teams, gathering instagram photos, taking photos, interviewing, and writing articles, it has been and will be a hectic couple of weeks! But the wonderful thing is, everyone on our team is very invested and we won't rest (literally. We have scheduled a couple all nighters to work on the book) until it is amazing. If you want to watch a cool video about the yearbook, you should look here.

Another big thing is getting my university's Art and Design Blog underway. It's slowed down a bit due to technicalities in getting it set up, but I am very excited about it. Hand-in-hand with that is a design agency that we are trying to found, but that is still in the pre-production stage.

Then, and I am very excited to announce this, I got an internship! A couple weeks ago I mentioned going for an interview on instagram, but didn't say anything else about it because I wasn't sure I would get it. But I did, so here we are. It's during this school year, for a wedding photographer, and I'll be doing stock photography for him--keywording things, setting up photoshoots, making money, all that jazz. I am very excited for this opportunity and can't wait to start it in the next few weeks!


Other random things in my life:

1. Matt and I celebrated our three year anniversary yesterday, and I love him more every single day.
2. For my photography class, I have to take pictures of strangers, and it's been stretching me in the best way. (Doesn't make it any less terrifying!)
3. Today I got to hold a sugar glider! Now I have to figure out a way to get one for myself.


Other than that, it's the daily grind of schoolwork, photography work, and trying to get a nap in any time I can. But life is good. And I am happy.

for study // all things grow

(the moment I knew what I wanted to do with my life)



I've actually been writing this post over several months, and requiring it for class only gives me the push to actually finish.

It's so strange and beautiful to me how little, inconsequential things in one's life can build up to giant things; how little actions you took as a child transformed you into the person you are today and prepared you for opportunities and challenges that you could have never dreamed up. For everything that I am passionate about, there was great influence to culture those passions from my childhood--specific, perfectly timed things that are only labeled after looking back.

For photography, I never considered it a possibility for someone to have a job taking photos until I was a junior in high school (about halfway through my first 365 project). I never imagined that the photographic medium would mean so much to me in my "adult" years, and yet I can see so many things leading up to this moment. I can remember spending summers in my grandparents' town when I was in kindergarten and first grade. We would go to the local walmart so I could purchase disposable cameras, and then I would consequently go home with literally hundreds of photos of the alley cats that I sought out. Hundreds. And of course there were the typical junior high dressing room photos and camp photos, and I loved making ridiculous videos with my friends and siblings. It wasn't until January 1st, 2010, that I thought, "I think I'm going to start a 365 project!". It was that insane, impulse decision that changed my life and sparked a passion that I'm seeking to exploit forever. Who knew that the crazy cat photographer would end up being a real photographer? It was because of other photographers who I met in real life after following online for years, the magazine publications, the clients who trusted me to take photos of important events in their lives, and the biggest Triple "S" Award that showed me that maybe I could actually do this. And in this day where everyone is a "photographer", encouragement is absolutely necessary. Photography is for the special few; it is a unique and beautiful opportunity, but it also is a great responsibility to bring along the people who can't be there in person. I want to have that responsibility.

For writing, its always been in my genes. My mother is a freelance writer (and on a separate thought, I recently learned that photography is in my genes as well--my late grandfather was a film photographer), and my little sister is also a writer. It's in our family and was a profession I always dreamed of doing. I've told this story before here, of when I wrote my first "story", but the answer to our assignment is this: I've always wanted to be a writer, and no matter how much I run away from it, it is in my blood. There was the typical elementary school writing assignment, and my teacher was so impressed that she had me read it in front of the class (that is the story I am still dreaming of to this day), then there was a different teacher in seventh grade who encouraged me to submit poetry (and then a short story) to an anthology book, then magazine publications, scholarships for writers conferences and specifically Caleb Breakey, who was one of my mentors and greatly influenced how I write, and the list continues ... Everything is a stepping stone, building up to this moment in life. Everything I've ever done builds up to the moment that I am living in now, and then that moment becomes a stepping stone for the next moment. It goes on and on until my life is complete.

Even with things like graphic design, blogging, and social media that I'm interested in today were stemmed from designing birthday invitations on Microsoft Publisher and creating Neopets layouts with HTML (ten year old Lauren was really popular, let me tell you), and keeping random diaries. Everything I've grown up doing has just been cultivated and honed into what I currently want to do--and what I hope to do in the future.

Recently I had to "defend" my two majors of English and Art in order to get financial aid (it was accepted, just for the record), and every day it seems, there is just one more thing that makes me realize that these two things of Writing and Photography are the two things I'm meant to be doing in life. From teachers and editors and colleagues and publishers and photographers and artists encouraging me, especially in times when I've doubted myself (and trust me, that happens nearly every day), I am reminded that everything in life happens for a reason, and my experiences and struggles and crazy hobbies all have a purpose.



I am so thankful that these things I am interested in are intricately connected. I need writing to portray my photo concepts, discuss methods and give tutorials, let people know about what I'm photographing, email clients, etc.. I need photography to help visualize writing concepts, for cover design, for description. I need blogging for both, to market myself, to show my work, and social media also helps in this way as well.

Okay, well I want to keep talking about this subject of growing passions from childhood, but I'm done talking about myself. I really and truly want to hear about the little things that brought you to this moment in life right now. From you bloggers and fashion people, to the scientists and writers, and everyone in between, let's continue this conversation! I know we've talked about passions before, but now I want to get into everyone's beginnings. Since we are all human and have a story to share--and deserve to have it be shared--let this be the place where it's shared. I would love to hear your thoughts!