Print Giveaway!

To celebrate the end of my 365, I’m hosting a print giveaway to say thank you!
To win one print of your choice from my flickr (flickr.com/photos/-laurenparker) (size ~5x8, 6 winners total), all you have to do is:

1. Follow this blog via google friend connect or bloglovin
2. Comment with your name and one thing you’re looking forward to in 2013

You can gain multiple entries by also entering on my flickr and facebook.

Also, if you were in any of my 365 photos and choose to enter the giveaway, you automatically get an extra entry for taking the time out of your day to model for me.

Giveaway ends on Monday, January 14, at 11:59 pm EST

Good luck!

2012 in review

Since I'm already a couple days late with this whole review of the year thing, I'm just going to jump right in. I've been reading all of my posts from the last year (all 500+ of them ... sheesh Lauren) and man, I was so nerdy back then! Hah, of course my current nerdy self is one to talk, and I'm sure by this time next year I'll look back on this post and think the same thing (hey future me, wassup? ... I'm gonna regret not backspacing on that one), but since keeping this blog, I've become so infinitely better at taking outfit pictures and writing up posts. For me, it's all a matter of elaborating on things, and I've become a lot better at doing it throughout the year.

Speaking of the year, here are some highlights:
January: I officially started blogging! (Which also means, Introvert's Introduction is officially one year old!); went on a date with Matt to the zoo; played in the snow; became a math tutor; turned 18 and opened a letter my freshman self sent to me; got a gold key in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards; got a part in the school play; went to an Owl City concert; and danced with a handsome man at homecoming.

February: I traveled to Oregon for the first time and participated in my college's scholarship competition; celebrated Matt and mine's one year anniversary; babysat some precious kids; and won a photography contest.

March: I went bowling with awesome people; did my very first blogger spotlight; received my first piece of clothing from a company; saw the northern lights; held my first blog giveaway; went on a photo adventure; was caught with my camera; and performed in the school play.

April: I took some senior portraits; watched improvaganza; bought my first business cards; made a camera strap; helped Matt with his video; and took engagement photos.

May: I kicked off the 30 day dress challenge; went to a bridal shower; was voted outstanding lead actress; participated in the senior prank; GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL; and dressed up as a vampire for a 48-hour film challenge.

June: I used my tablet for the first time; went on a photo adventure; went camping; went camping again; took pictures of miss alaska and miss teen alaska; shot my very first wedding; and changed the design of my blog.

July: I hung out with Matt; celebrated the 4th of July; took pictures for a week long camp; had one of my best friends visit me; and went to the air show.

August: I finally began talking about introverts; showed some of my editing process; made a behind the scenes video; went on a photo date; said 'see you soon' to Matt; went to college; and fell in love with a beautiful city.

September: I dyed my hair for the first time ever; went to the beach and made some beautiful friends; held a hummingbird; talked about college; and went to my first meetup (and met some of my biggest inspirations).

October: I wrote my first article for the school newspaper; took college street style photos; explored an abandoned building; went to the Bombay Bicycle Club concert; and went to the pumpkin patch.

November: I hiked Multnomah Falls; dyed all of my hair; took my first successful RAW photo; and introduced film friday.

December: I celebrated the end of the semester; took my favorite 365 photo; returned to Alaska; looked back on my first semester at college; wrote some thoughts on photography; showed off my ceramics haul; went to a New Year's retreat; and took my last 365 photo!
Wow, it's been such a crazy year. Some of the things I did in January, I could have sworn I did years ago and not just a few months ago. It's crazy how fast time flies and how memories seem like they happened a lifetime ago. It's been a crazy year full of a lot of struggles and successes, and I think I've matured a lot in these few short months.

365 day project: 2012 from Lauren Parker on Vimeo.

And here is photographic evidence of my year in (nearly) 365 photos. This video makes me so happy because even though I didn't give any effort much of the time, I made it a whole year and I have grown so so much as a photographer, even in the days that I didn't care to take a picture. I think now that the 365 is over, my work will get exponentially better because I'll have more time and I'll be able to share only things I'm proud of. But I am glad I decided to do another 365 and I will always look on these photos with fondness.






Here are some of my favorite outfits from 2012! It's so fun to look back and see how my (practically nonexistent) style evolved into what it is today. Even in such a short amount of time (relatively, of course, because this year has seemed really long), it's crazy how much I've grown fashionably alone. I'd say it wasn't until about summer before my senior year in high school that I really started to get interested in fashion. I mean, I liked dressing nice but I didn't know that much about personal style and I certainly didn't have one of my own (if you don't count jeans and shirts as a personal style). Only after did Matt (my boyfriend) show me his sister's blog were my eyes opened to personal style and a world of blogging I had never even known about. My whole life I've had some sort of diary or blog (I kept a neopets blogspot in elementary school, that's how cool I was), but I never knew people could blog about things other than random diary crap (not saying that stuff is actually crap, because we all know how much I like to post about my life, but let's be honest, my elementary stuff probably was not the best). So after posting some outfits to my tumblr, I decided to start blogging January 1, 2012 to document my last half of senior year and journey into college. Who would have even thought it would turn into so much more than that? I have made so many friends through blogging and have grown so much because of it, not only in personal style but just in general. You guys give me a lot of good perspective on life and I want to give you good perspective on life as well. I used to be so depressed and unmotivated but from blogging (which includes dressing nicely and taking photos and making new friends) I have so much more joy in life, and I hope whenever you guys read my blog that you get a little bit more joy in yours. If I don't do that, then there's no point in me continuing on. But it's a fabulous journey and I plan to stay in the game for many years to come. It's funny, I started this blog to document a major turning point in my life, but I think every single day can be a major turning point, and I don't want to miss a moment of it.

Thank you guys so so much for reading this little blog of mine. You are seriously seriously seriously the best ever and I love you so much! Let's make 2013 an awesome year.

to enter the light

day 365

Counting down to the new year always makes me emotional. A year's worth of pain, struggle, happiness, success; a thousand actions, a million thoughts, a billion memories, all finally fall behind my back as fireworks ring in a fresh beginning. I'm starting to think that New Years is my favorite holiday because it holds the greatest emotion for me. It's just so monumental to put another milestone in your life. I knew 2012 would be a roller coaster year, and it definitely did not disappoint. Tomorrow I'm doing a big year in review post, so I won't talk about all the things that happened in 2012 right now, but even just looking back through my memory, this year has been so insane. And to think that I was able to document it with (nearly) 365 photos is equally as insane.

You may or may not have noticed that I had a series going on within my 365 project, and this photo is the final image in the series. At first I was really frustrated that I would have to shoot in an unknown location with no internet for my last photo, but this one ended up even better than I could have imagined.

day one: to leave the atmosphere
day one hundred: tearing down our foundations
day two hundred: halfway home
day three hundred: and as the fog clears

Day one I wasn't in love with photography any longer and I didn't really know what I was doing with the 365 project. I felt like I was in a fog and couldn't see where I was going or what I was supposed to do. (I actually won a contest with that photo, which I find so ironic because I felt lost in regards to photography.) Day one hundred found me inspired again, thinking I could never top that photo at all. The fog was beginning to clear but I was still timid about what my personal style was and if I even had a place as a photographer. Day two hundred found me with my first wedding under my belt, with my first major photoshoot with miss alaska and miss teen alaska behind me. It found me searching and pushing through that fog. Day three hundred found me in a new place, a new state (state of mind and geographical state), with models and photographers and friends and a lot of growing up. I was trudging through the forest and I was starting to see things clearly. And day three hundred and sixty five has found me finally entering the light, finally feeling at peace with who I am currently, finding joy in pushing my boundaries and doing things I never thought I would do. I think if I were to redo this project, I would have worked even harder on it. I would have given myself more guidelines in what I could and could not create, because many days I was lazy and gave no effort, which left me frustrated and ready to quit. But now I know it is in doing the scary things that bring me the most joy. My favorite photo in the entire project would be this one, and not necessarily because it was the most well done or popular photo. It was because that photo was where I went against everything in me and did something I previously thought I would never have been able to do. I want every photo I take to make me feel the way this photo did: absolutely terrified but so so accomplished. I know that just because I write "day 365" doesn't mean my journey is done. But now I feel a little bit more enlightened and I am in love with photography again. And don't worry, I will be taking a lot of pictures in 2013.

And I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who supports me. I ended the year succeeding my goal of reaching 25,000 views on flickr and 365 likes on facebook. That to me is unbelievably amazing and I cannot thank you guys enough. You are the best ever. In a couple days I'm having a big huge print giveaway to say thank you, and in a few more days I'll pick up my camera again to make some more awesome images, but in the mean time, I'm taking a much needed break.

I just want to nod my head in the direction of the end of my first 365 project, because that was when I first fell in love with photography and my eyes were opened to this fantastic world of awesome people, many of which are my friends today. I still look on my first 365 with fondness, and it's great to see just how much I've improved. And let's not even try to imagine what I'm going to say at the end of 2013 that I thought I would never be able to do today! But let's make the end of 2013 be really proud and blown away by what we did in the year.

All I can say is thank you, and it's going to be awesome.

life in a frozen house

day 364

Hey everyone! I hope you had a wonderful new year. I just got back from no internet, so things shall resume around here as normal. I'll post day 365 in a few hours to give this one a little bit of time to shine. :)

december in review

Here are some of my favorite posts from the month of December! You can click on the photo to go straight to the blog post to relive some of the fun times from this month. Tomorrow I'll have a big fun year in review post to celebrate what an awesome year this has been, so stay tuned for that!

my week in instagram #29

Oscar and I formed a special bond when he sat on my lap and watched me play Legend of Zelda // I finally finished wrapping all my Christmas presents // The Big Man himself chilled out on my computer all Christmas eve // Oscar got exactly what he wanted for Christmas: a giant box! // Just me. Hola. // Waking up to snow falling from the sky // Mindy living it up in the middle of the floor // My present from Jacob slash the bane of my existence for about two hours until I figured it out. And then it was a glorious success // My thrift store haul + Oscar being envious over clothes taking up his time in the spotlight

You can find more of my adventures if you follow me on instagram @impulsings.

Hope you have a wonderful week!

the universe at my fingertips

day 363

my original idea for today failed as Alaska decided to have 45 degree weather today and 50 mph winds. Go home Alaska, you are drunk.

But I wanted to show off this gift my friend Jacob got for me! I built this baby myself. And we shall see in a few weeks when I'm done with the first roll of film if it actually works right, hah.

Also, I'm heading out of town for new years this year to a location that may or may not have internet, in which case if it doesn't, I'll post my last two 365 days whenever I get back, and will do all the sappy year end stuff then. And if I don't get to talk to you before the end of the year, have a wonderful time celebrating!

ceramics haul

I'm not really one to share what I got for Christmas in a giant post, since I feel like Christmas should be more about giving to others than showing off what you got for yourself, but I do want to share with you a few presents that I gave to people, because several of you have wanted to see everything I made in my ceramics class at school. This still isn't all the stuff I made, but they are most of the things I gave as gifts to people. Ever since I was really little, I loved making gifts for people, and I think it's safe to say that these were the best handmade gifts to date.



I will be so much more appreciative any time I eat off of a plate or drink from a mug, because there is a lot of effort that goes into making a piece of pottery. If you're making something on the wheel (which most of my pieces were), you have to be extremely careful with the clay, especially if you're making a tall piece. I mostly used recycled clay because I didn't want to spend extra money buying new clay, so little air bubbles or pieces of gravel made working with the clay extra hard. Plus you always have to keep in mind that the form will eventually shrink, so you always need to make your pieces a little bit bigger than what you actually want. And if you're crazy like me and are wanting to make a ton of pieces exactly the same, you're up for quite the challenge.




Once you get the top of the piece formed, you have to wait several days until it's mostly dried, and then you take it back to the wheel to form the bottom. After doing that (and not poking a giant hole through your mug or bowl), then it has to dry completely before it goes into the bisk. After the piece comes out of the bisk, you can then glaze it! This is my favorite/least favorite part. Least favorite because you never really know how the colors will turn out, even after doing sample pieces and a million different combinations (and different ways of painting it on the clay ... I learned the hard way that hand painting a color on will make it be a completely different color from just dipping the piece in the liquid). It's my favorite part though because the piece is totally transformed after it comes out of the kiln after being glazed. I've made some ugly pieces that I ended up liking after they were changed by the glazes.



But with all the complications, ceramics is definitely a very fulfilling medium. I'll have to show you guys the other things I made that are back in Oregon, like my teapot and matching teacup. Sadly, Intermediate Ceramics didn't fit into my schedule this upcoming semester, but hopefully next year I'll be able to take another class, because I'm now obsessed and want to make pottery for the rest of my life.

we dwell in stars

day 362

This photo goes quite nicely with this one and this one.

Have a marvelous day!

film friday: into the mind

Into The Mind - Official Teaser from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

Yep. This video makes me want to rethink my life and learn how to snowboard and travel the world and have tea with monks.

the apocalypse

day 361

This is totally inspired by a dream I had a few years ago. I don't remember most of it but the part I do remember involved a rainbow that when you stepped into it or even touched it, you would instantly die. There was a car that was completely upturned, sparkling inside the rainbow, with a corpse sitting in the drivers seat.

Yeah, I have weird dreams. Perhaps when I am better at compositing I'll turn them into photos. But until then, I should at least write down whenever I save the world from giants or go inside video games or get eaten by giant water snakes because people thought I lied about being a mermaid.

Hmm, I wonder what my subconscious is trying to tell me.

before and after on my facebook page!

in times of trouble a light shall come

day 359

This is directly inspired by my never ending love of Legend of Zelda. I love everything about it--the stories, the characters, the puzzles, and of course the sword fighting. My Christmas break has been filled with the latest game and I cannot get enough. I've been playing these games since I was in junior high and the legend will always hold a special place in my heart.

Also, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! I got a lot of wonderful things from even more wonderful people and my day was spent relaxing and eating yummy food and spending it with my awesome family.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

shirt: forever 21 // jean shirt: ebay // lace shirt: from a friend jeans/shoes: target // coat: sugarlips




Merry Christmas everyone! I'm so so excited that it's Christmas once more. The snow is falling, the fire is crackling, the presents are waiting to be opened, and I cannot wait to see everyone's faces when they open their presents! That's one of my favorite things about Christmas, being able to give people gifts. It just makes me so happy giving things that make others happy.




As for my outfit, I often hang multiple things on one hanger because my closet has always been super small, and these three shirts ended up on top of one another and I really loved how it turned out. I don't think I would have thought to wear this lace top as more of a cardigan, but now that I know of its existence, I'll definitely be wearing more of it in the future!




Well, I hope you have a safe and wonderful Christmas and that this post meets you with a lot of joy and happiness in your life. I love you guys so much; you definitely deserve to have a super awesome day!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

day 258

Something a little different for today! I spent my day doing some last minute Christmas shopping, listening to Christmas music, wrapping presents, and doing all sorts of Christmasy things! I haven't really been in the Christmas spirit, to be honest it kind of snuck up on me, so I've been doing everything I can to get in the mood. I think it worked!

I hope you have a very merry Christmas and happy holidays!

walking in a winter wonderland

dress/tights: forever 21 // boots: target // coat: from a friend shirt: thrifted




First of all, thank you guys so much for your positive response on my post about photography! I'm always kind of nervous to post my opinions just because they could be taken the wrong way, so I'm glad you guys enjoyed it! I definitely love instagram and sharing pictures; that's one reason I love blogging! It's so fun to share a little bit of my life with you guys and to get to learn a little bit about yours!




Life is really all about sharing, and I'm super glad this blog can be that kind of place. My friend Annika sent me this video talking about how many pictures have been taken and how connected people are, and it's insane to think how closely we really are connected. It just blows my mind how small the earth really is (because I know it's vastly huge, which equally blows my mind) and how people really aren't that disconnected from each other. All it takes is one person to step outside and say hello to someone else for that bond of separation to break.




I hope you guys have a super fantastic Christmas Eve!

encounters

day 356 & 357

90% of this photo was taken yesterday, and all of it was edited today, so it definitely counts for two days worth of photos.

Also you shouldn't actually try to pet a moose in real life. They're really dangerous, believe it or not.

And this isn't my favorite photo ever. It's really only cool because there's a moose in it. I had to shoot through our kitchen window since, ya know, I couldn't really go outside with a moose chilling in our yard, but if we lived in a perfect world I would have used my 50mm. But I'm rambling now.

Hope you have a great day! :)

my week in instagram #28

stargazing // sunrise // sleeping kitty // two amazing guys // kitten saying good morning // words to live by // wrapping presents // moose photographer // derpy Christmas cookies

Hope your week was super wonderful! I spent it playing Legend of Zelda, freezing to death, having coffee with people and never actually buying coffee, and playing way too many card games. (And as always, you can follow my shenanigans on instagram @impulsings!)

thoughts on photography

I recently read an article about how our phones have changed photography, and it really got me thinking about what I want to be as a photographer and how all of us are affected by this technology.

I learned once in some class a long time ago (or I might have read it in a Time magazine) that technology is growing exponentially. When I was a little kid my parents had a giant video camera that recorded everything on those big tapes that you could stick into VCRs, and now I have a video camera that slips into my back pocket. The same goes with cameras. They used to carve everything on rocks and ride dinosaurs and now film photography is seen as a novelty sort of thing (seriously, when was the last time you bought even a disposable camera, much less tinkered with a film camera?). We live in the digital age, and I am definitely all for it. Our cameras are smaller and better, we get instant gratification, we share, upload, download. Photography is no longer this novelty sort of thing, it's documenting and sharing our experiences (and I loved how the article talked about this).

That's largely why I'm a photographer, to document my life and the lives of those around me, be that through weddings, senior photos, you name it. It's all about documentation. The definition of photography has changed dramatically over the years, I think. Part of me thinks that way too many people call themselves photographers because of how available it is. Now I've seen some fantastic work that was done solely with an iphone in a studio, but it seems like every person with a camera phone calls themselves a photographer (or at least thinks they could do it). In one sense, it's awesome that this art form is so popular. There are a lot of creative minds out there who are brilliant photographers and extremely talented at what they do and I love their passion and creativity and how easily I can look at their work. Had it not been for them and the fact that photography was and is so readily available, I would have never dreamed of myself being a photographer. But in another sense, it leaves me worried (or curious, I suppose would have a better mindset to this) that the availability of the art form has cheapened it. If anyone can snap a picture of a flower or a person and call it art, is it really art? Perhaps, to borrow from Disney, the saying "anyone can cook" really means a great chef can come from anyone. Sure anyone can take photos, but great art is not limited to a select few, and even though the availability of photography does open the doors to anyone messing around with it, it also allows that one special person to discover it and do amazing things.

But with photography being so available today, it does make the market incredibly difficult. I guess it still goes back to "anyone can cook." I'd hate to sound rude or uppity, but not everyone should be a photographer. Even though the definition of photography has changed from being purely art to also documentation, that doesn't mean the art side of it has disappeared completely. You still have to have a little bit of creativity inside of you to truly be great. But I have also read that, like a lot of things in life, it's 90% learned skill and only 10% natural talent (that's not a real scientific statistic, but you get my point). There are so many classes and online articles and tutorials that are available to the public. It's that cookbook for the beginning chef. He just has to follow a set of ingredients to become awesome. It all takes time and learning and patience. But I do think this has caused people to become hasty in giving themselves titles and creating makeshift businesses and charging people for photos that could have been better had they taken the time to learn and grow in the art side of photography rather than jumping into the document and experience side of it.

As for me, I truly believe that anyone can be a photographer. I love photography because I can document my life. I also love it because I can create art with the tools available to me. I love it because it's an art form that is instantly gratifying and I love it because I can share it. I love it because you really don't need fancy, expensive equipment to create. I love it because instagram came from it and opened this new world of sharing and the planting of ideas in people's heads (thoughts like, "Hey, this photo isn't so bad, maybe I should look deeper into this photography thing."). I love it because anyone can pick up a camera or a phone and feel the same way I feel.

If you want to be a photographer for whatever reason (to document, to share, to create), I would say go for it one hundred million percent. Taking the plunge has changed my life completely, and for the better too. All the tools are available. You don't even need a fancy Digital SLR camera (I did my entire first 365 project using only a $75 point and shoot camera, so I know there are no excuses). All you need is a desire, a crazy desire to create, to document, to share your life with others, because I have learned that photography is so much more than just instagram and an iphone, it's this insane community of creative, beautiful people all with a desire to create something amazing.