Thursday, November 1, 2012

october in review


























Whew, what a crazy month it's been! October has been so good. You can click through the pictures to see some of my favorite posts from this month. But now it is November! This will also be a good month because of all my countdowns. The countdown to Thanksgiving when I get to see Matt and his family again, and then it's almost Christmas time! My dad bought my plane ticket yesterday and I'm so excited to visit my family for a whole month. But in the meantime, thanks to October I have completely fallen in love with autumn, and I can't wait to discover what November holds!




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.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

painted walls



dress/lace scarf: borrowed // cardigan: target // floral scarf/pokemon badge: matt // eevee brooch c/o denton's inventions




Since getting my Eevee brooch, I figured it would be a marvelous idea to wear it with my pokemon badge! When I was little, my brothers and I would sit around our little 12 inch tv and watch pokemon, and only after we were hooked did our mom not let us watch it. As little kids are though, we kept watching it, but only when she ran errands or when we snuck out of the room late at night. Man, we were rebels. We even had some pokemon action figures and I would play in their room and we would go on fantastic adventures of saving the world as Swampert or Charizard. Of course, now that my little sister is old enough to watch it my mom lets her (the youngest kid always gets away with everything), but I get to watch the newer episodes with her. It's not like the original though. *sigh* Nothing beats the classics!




Nowadays, the only time I'm even near a tv is early in the morning for my fitness class, and even though only sports or the news comes on, everyone is glued to the glowing light, probably because they're exhausted and it's their only connection to the outside world. My friends and I have managed to stay sane all thanks to hulu and netflix. We've already finished watching Sherlock and are still working through Community, with a little bit of X Factor and The Voice thrown in. I just love late nights in the dorm room when we are all gathered around the laptop laughing or crying at some tv show.





Well, it's another holiday today! I'm planning on going to my first Halloween party ever and I can't wait! It's going to be a blast. I hope you guys have a great and safe holiday.




Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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!


I choose you



shirt/tights: borrowed // tank top (undershirt)/shoes: target // skirt: forever 21 // eevee brooch: c/o denton's inventions // earrings: thrifted




And another brooch has been added to my ever expanding collection! This little pokemon was sent to me by my Michael's cashier in Alaska, of all places. Denton makes really awesome knitted and crocheted things that just blow my mind. You can check out his blog here to see his other creations and even request an item!

As for me, I really love my little Eevee. Every time I look down and see him, he makes me smile. It's like carrying a real pokemon with you everywhere!




And aren't those earrings just the craziest things you've ever seen? I'm pretty sure the previous owner was a crazy cat lady grandma, and every time she wore those earrings her cats would bat at them. I like them because they are just crazy enough for me, but still not too crazy.




Hope you guys have a fantastic Tuesday!




Monday, October 29, 2012

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.


Sunday, October 28, 2012

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.


Saturday, October 27, 2012

outfit: pumpkin patched



dress/shirt/shoes: borrowed // tights: mom's // socks: target // brooch: thrifted // coat: forever 21






Check out this absolutely perfect brooch! I found it for $4 at my town's brand new Goodwill and I couldn't be more happy about it. In light of yesterday's post about writing, it's a fun way to express my love for the written word. I've recently gotten into collecting brooches and I really love the fun, quirky ones. I can't wait to expand my collection and see what treasures are out there.

These pictures were taken at the pumpkin patch, and while I was trying to dress in fall colors, I definitely did not intend to blend into the sea of pumpkins! But I think this outfit was perfect for the occasion. Orange, denim, cowgirl-esque boots, I definitely felt like a country princess weaving through the corn mazes, petting cows, and picking out pumpkins.






I hope you guys have a great weekend!


Friday, October 26, 2012

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.


starry eyed



sweater: borrowed // shirt: thrifted // shorts: forever 21 // tights: diy // shoes: target





Hooray for another outfit! I forget if I mentioned this on the blog before, but this is basically my first fall of being fashionable. Haha, it's funny to say, but until around the end of junior year I didn't really know much about personal style or how to dress. It was just because I was ignorant of the possibilities of clothing combinations. Gosh, I sound so horribly shallow talking about how awesome putting together outfits is, but I guess a way to justify it is the fact that your clothes are the first first impression people have of you, so you want to represent your personality accurately. I'd say that's pretty awesome that people get a chance to know something about you just by looking at the way you dress.





I hope you have a great Friday!