Tuesday, October 22, 2013

bellarive + digital age concert







bellarive + the digital age

There's just something about going to a concert, being surrounded by other people, and feeling completely washed over by the music. It's a little bit different to run around as the photographer, like you're looking on the outside of a department store window set up, only you can still hear the music and feel the energy. You even dance around a little bit as you run from one end of the stage to the other, snapping away photos and being so energized you don't even look to see if they're coming out or not. You just look through the viewfinder and you know the picture is perfect. Concerts are always a strange way of escapism. All the world's problems can't break into the throng of people jumping up and down, and your own thoughts are drowned out by music and bass notes. And even when it's over, the energy still lingers on like a haze, giving you courage to talk to strangers and strength to stay up late and process photos.

Ah yes, the photographer life. It's a good one.



Sunday, October 20, 2013

my week in instagram #60



My face after learning that my time as an intern has paid off ... a cell phone company purchased a stock photo of me laughing on a cell phone. Gotta love stock photos. //

A trip to the Portland Art Museum. I could spend all day in that place. There were so many beautiful and interesting pieces. //

A foggy Oregon morning. Even when covered in clouds, this place is still absolutely gorgeous. //

The woes of being left handed. I get charcoal all over my hand. //

Got to pet animals! Matt and I went to a friend's house for dinner and I finally got my furry fix. //

Late night fast food runs, which usually includes some fun music to sing to, a sun roof, and a pretty moon. //

Goats at the Pumpkin Patch! They were soo cuuute! //

Cows during the drive. It took everything in me to refrain from playing the cow game. //

This has been a very good week.





Friday, October 18, 2013

film friday: adventure is calling

Adventure Is Calling from Shane Black on Vimeo.


I had the privilege of meeting Shane about a year ago, and this year he set out on an adventure to create some really fantastic art. On his vimeo page:

"This summer, two friends and myself all left our comfortable jobs of six years to spend two months traveling across the country and teaching photography workshops along the way. We all felt that it was time to take a risk and get out of our comfort zones... adventure was calling us. It was a trip filled with endless hours cooped up in a van, exploring breathtaking landscapes, sharing stories and laughs, meeting some of the nicest people, making new friends, getting to meet old friends from around the country, and sharing our love of photography with others.
This trip was a constant test for me, as we had such short and limited time in nearly all of the spots we visited. In most cases, I'd have to hurry out of the van with all of my gear and find a decent composition in a very short amount of time as soon as we would arrive at the location. It was a constant race against the light.
During those 2 months, we traveled across 32 states , visited 13 national and state parks, and drove nearly 13,000 miles in a (somewhat) trusty old Dodge Caravan... with no cruise control. It was an adventure that gave us many memories that we will all hold onto for many years to come. I think that everybody needs to take a trip and have their eyes opened to just how beautiful this world is and how much is really out there."

Ever since I was little I've wanted to explore like this. Just hop in a car and not know where I'm going and spend months and months on the road. Thankfully my family has been able to do that a couple of times, traveling across America and Canada, but I would love to do it again, just driving along back roads and couch surfing and creating beautiful art and exploring my country. It's videos like this and stories like Shane's that give me hope that that is possible and that I can do whatever I set myself to do.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

blog update



You may or may not have noticed by now, but I updated the look of my blog a little bit. Not that I didn't like the old design scheme, but I want a more seamless transition from this blog to my photography website, which meant incorporating the paper crane and crisp whiteness. I may or may not keep the background, we'll see. At this point in time I'm too busy to mess with the HTML (or learn HTML5 and responsive web pages), but for now, this will do quite nicely. Plus I just felt like I needed a bit of a change of scenery, since I've been feeling a bit bleh about blogging recently. In the past I've tried to focus a lot on sponsors and generating some sort of income, and while that sort of thing is always nice, it's something I can't control, so I'm not going to stress about it. For all intents and purposes, sponsorship and advertising are done, at least my advertizing of accepting it (except for the Modcloth ad because I'm part of their affiliate program and plus I just love the company a lot ... so click on the ad and buy something to support me and them!).

Not to say that I haven't done this in the past, but from here on out I want to focus more on the quality of my content rather than quantity. At one point I was posting every day and it was great, but now I don't have time for that and pushing myself to do it no longer makes it fun. Don't worry though, I'm not going to disappear or anything, the whole "diary" idea of a blog is too tempting for me to stay away from for very long. Even now I'm just writing what comes to my mind and hoping for the best.

Love you all so much. Hope you have a great day!