an update

A small update. I don't have much to say right now. I have so many blog drafts, and so many drafts that start with me saying that I have so many drafts, so if I actually publish this one it might be a miracle. All in all, it's been a good school year. The semester has flown by faster than I could imagine, and it's been a challenge keeping on top of everything--school, work, friendships, and my own personal well-being. I've been focusing so much on making art and it's been so wonderful to explore different ideas and mediums. My first installation show is in December. I've been painting with oil. The wood shop may quickly become my second home, and drawing is my escape. I'm also writing more too, and I'm actually working on a book of sorts.

This weekend my best friends and I are celebrating twenty first birthdays with middle school indulgences, and I'm trying to enjoy my youth and breathe a little bit.

I also bleached my hair, in case you didn't notice from the picture.

And I'm also happy to announce that my website has finally been updated, focusing on images shot over this summer. It would mean the world if you took a look here!

:)

camping // crooked creek

August 9, 2014



































It seemed appropriate that we had one camping trip at the beginning of summer, and our second at the end of summer (my dad broke part of his arm, which left us unable to camp for all the time in between). This place was where the freshwater Crooked Creek met with saltwater Kenai River, which allowed for the water to be two different shades of blue. My brother swam in two rivers at once, baby salmon nibbled at our toes, we played too many board games in the tent, fell asleep and woke up to rain, but got to play in the sun during the day. I love being able to just explore and play and not have to worry about the outside world, with its emails and social media and responsibilities, and instead just really live in the moment, live off what we have, live in the land.

It was a beautiful end to summer.

beluga point + library // guitar shoot

August 6 & 7, 2014















Most of these photos were taken at Beluga Point, and most of them were taken before my shoot with Cody. I try to scout out a location before the shoot, to not only figure out where I want to execute my ideas, but also get some new ones. Beluga Point is one of those places that, even though it's a fairly small part of the Seward Highway, one can explore for hours and hours. I love it so much and I don't find myself there too often. So needless to say, Cody and I got a lot of really awesome images. His family and my family basically grew up together, both of us being military and moving to the same location multiple times, so it was really great to catch up with him now that we are both "adults".

Then the very next night we shot at the local library, the same place where I photographed Miss Alaska United States and Miss Teen Alaska United States, way back in 2012. (Yikes, some of those photos were not my best.) It's fun to see my photographic style evolve even from what it was two years ago. The room we went into was as awesome as I remembered it, and I better say a special thanks to library security for unlocking the room and letting us go into it after hours.

eagle river // flute shoot

August 5, 2014


Since last summer (I think), Heather and I have wanted to get together to do a photoshoot. I've mentioned it in the past, but I really wanted to build up my portfolio with some musician photos, so when we began planning for this shoot, things all came together. She brought her flute and wardrobe, I brought some ideas, her mom acted as the assistant, and some magic was made! We went to an awesome little creek in Eagle River, a space that I now want to explore more since it's only about 45 minutes away.

One thing in particular I love about mobile photography and photo editing apps is the ability to quickly see how a photo looks when different adjustments are made. I will oftentimes photograph different parts of a shoot on my phone, and then look at it with different filters applied to it to see how I actually want to process the photo. So for this shoot, I really experimented with the colors, and I can't wait to share the results of it! It's something slightly different than how I usually work with photos, but I really love it. Sometimes you just have to mix things up.