July Photos

Best Friends Club


Carrie & Brandon's wedding


Song of the Everglade


Universe Travelers

Here are some photos posted during the month of July. I've gotten really bad at putting my work online quickly, so this is only a very small showing of work that I actually did this month. On top of shoots, editing, work, and a lot of adventures, I also hosted my first First Friday reception for my August gallery show at a local coffee shop here in Anchorage. It was amazing getting to hang up real-life versions of my art for people to see for the whole month of August, and also having a lot of people come out and say hi (and even buy prints!) during the reception. You can see an online version of the show here, complete with commentary on the photos and ways to buy prints. In the coming months, I'll slowly upload those previously unpublished show pieces to the internet, so you'll see them again in future monthly photo posts.

I also have a backlog of some blog posts in my mind, but you probably won't read any of them until I am back in Oregon for school. So until then, I hope everyone has a great rest of their summer!

First Friday Show: Anchorage

Get ready everyone! Because I'm officially showing my very first, First Friday show for the month of August! The show is called "Inspire" and features twenty two images, twelve of which have never been seen before, of talented people who are huge inspirations because of their passions, dreams, and their drive to achieve them.

The show will be up for the entire month of August in Anchorage, but there is a special opening and reception happening THIS FRIDAY at 12100 Coffee (that's 12100 Old Seward Highway) from 6-9pm. I'll be there hanging out, passing out free cookies, and maybe even answering any questions you may have. A selection of the pieces will also be up for sale, hand signed with love.

I would love to be able to see you all there!

TO OUT OF STATE PEOPLE: While you're all more than welcome to come to Alaska (it's an awesome place!), I understand that some people can't make it. If that is the case with you, on August 2, I will be releasing an online link of the gallery where you can see and purchase the images. You'll also be able to read all the writings and behind-the-scenes stories of each photograph and get nearly the same experience online as you would in real life. If you pour yourself some coffee, it will be nearly identical.

I'm really excited to have this show and be able to share it with you all, and especially honor the people in the photographs who inspire me. Thank you all so much for your continued support. You guys are the best!

So once more, August 1, 12100 Coffee, 6-9pm, party time.

You can join the event and get all the details (even though at this point in time is was mostly a copy and paste sort of thing) right here! I would love to see you all there!

into the wild unknown

June 24, 2014 I hopped into the car and drove for two hours to a brand new location. Talkeetna was the destination, and I was so excited to see something new in Alaska. It definitely did not disappoint, and the drive with all its sights of Denali and other mountains and rivers and lakes were so breathtaking. This was a new kind of adventure, as I was driving to shoot some conceptual photos for the Emma Hill band (I will write more about it in detail when I show the final products). When I arrived to their location, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought how crazy this whole situation was, to be able to take creative photos for a band. It was crazy to think that me, Lauren, was going to shoot with talented people I had never met before. Occasionally I speak of my introversion and shyness, and every day I am stepping out of my comfort zone to do some awesome things.

Shooting bands is something that I want to happen more regularly. I've always had a close connection with music, from playing it myself when I was younger, as well as my younger brother who is pursuing it in high school and soon college, to often feeling deep connections to songs, and I have a special respect for musical artists. Emma and Bryan (and their videographer, as well as the Gentlemen Callers) were simply wonderful and it was too much fun walking around the town of Talkeetna with them, searching for cool locations.

I stuck my feet in freezing water, trespassed on a grass airstrip, and fed goats, all while walking around wide eyed and in awe of the quaint town in the middle of the woods.

On the drive back to Anchorage we read funny lame jokes and listened to Ira Glass--so beautiful and relaxing. And that evening I went to Emma's house to shoot a portrait of the full band as well as some candid photos of their practice.

It was crazy and insane and absolutely amazing, and I am thankful every day for the unique opportunities I am given.

the 4th

Long time no outfit post, huh? Yesterday I happened to find myself with a bit of free time, no access to a computer to work on client photos, and a need to get out of the house, so for old time's sake I grabbed my tripod and remote (and camera, of course), and took some photos of what I wore for July 4th. And no, this doesn't mean a resurgence of outfit posts. My camera/lens is starting to show wear and tear and doesn't really auto focus very well anymore, so even if I did want to take photos of myself all the time, I would get too tired of the soft focus that these photos have. But I digress ...

As everything, this post is a documentation--of my style evolution, of my confidence, of my hair growth, of my general youth to look back on in later years.

Of my style evolution; I'm starting to be drawn towards simpler, modern designs. Androgynous with a feminine twist. Also occasionally with some of the 90's resurgence. This outfit isn't particularly a mirror of that, but it is certainly a step away from my old, girly ice-cream dress, hair bow, past. (Though I'm not going to ever put myself in a box.) Of course, deciding to change your entire style is no easy process, but I'm finding ways to cut corners a bit--making my own clothes (like these mom-jeans turned shorts), looking through bags of clothes I hated in junior high and love now, and reworking the things I already own in new ways.

Of my confidence; It's taken a long time for me to become generally confident with myself look-wise, and it continues to get better every day. People can say that looks don't matter, but I'll be honest, I love feeling pretty. And American society is a very visual society, so outward appearance is important to an extent. But I won't get too into that ... I'm actually attempting to grow out my bangs, which I have had since eighth grade. I got bangs because I hated my forehead and my eyebrows, and they were great and I love them,but I just want to try something else out for a change. So for now I'm rocking the elementary school 90's middle bang part and I feel fabulous. And it's awesome! Also I'm gearing up the courage to bleach my hair and try blonde. I used to have blonde hair when I was little, and my mom, brother, and sister all have blonde hair. That's what I keep telling myself to convince myself that I won't look ridiculous with it. Either I'll go dirty blonde, or bleach it to a pinkish white, ooor maybe have it light purple. We'll see. But now is the perfect time for me to be totally irresponsible with my hair, since it would be a bit unprofessional after college, so might as well!

Anyways, these words are just for me to remember. Ever since I was a little girl, I would write in my diary and imagine myself (and a million other people because I was going to publish my diaries, haha) looking back after all those years and reading it again. I found a couple of those diaries, and let's just say it's not going to get published--nor is anyone ever going to see it. But at least now that I am a little bit more aware of myself, these silly little blog posts will be interesting (and hopefully not embarrassing) to read when I'm a lot older.

So with that, I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July, whether you were celebrating America or otherwise.

June Photos

Here are the photos I've posted for the month of June. There were certainly others that I created, but they either aren't completed, or the timing hasn't been good to put them up.

I hope everyone had a wonderful June.

sunburns + warm hearts

My heart has been filled to the brim with love and joy and happiness, tired knees, cameras in both hands, and iced coffees. I flew down to Oregon to photograph a wedding, and returned home with so many photos of love--not just from the wedding itself, but from dear friends, assistants, couples, family ... it was truly an amazing experience and I still am trying to process it all.

I arrived in Oregon on the morning of the 18th, Wednesday, and after settling into my friend Megan's home, which she and her housemates graciously opened to me, I roamed around town, found food to eat and coffee to drink (what else in Oregon?), and ended the evening with doing a beautiful friend photoshoot with my bride and two of her bridesmaids who flew in from out of town. I fell in love with them and their friendship, not to mention the photos we created! I'm so excited to post the final products.

Then the 19th was a relaxing day, filled with barbecues and catching up with friends and eating way too many hot dogs and cupcakes. We discussed the future school year, with its events and projects and memories, and I am so excited to be able to be a part of it all. It reminds me of how lucky I am to go to such an amazing college and be a small part of the leadership there.

The 20th held the wedding rehearsal. I fell in love with the venue and Oregon (as usual), ate pizza, met the bridal party, and went home with tired eyes and a full heart. Of course I hardly slept that night, for my thoughts were filled with the wedding in just a few hours--what could go wrong, what could go right, etc. I can only imagine what the bride and groom were feeling.

Then the big day came. My second shooters and I went to grab coffee, then drove to the venue. Thankfully we were the first ones there, so I showed them around, led them through the day's events, and we set up laptops and a workflow to get all the photos backed up (which ended up not working out--we ended up being a bit more disorganized than I intended, but lesson learned for next time!). Then people began arriving and it was time to get down to business. The previous (and first) wedding I shot was in 2012 (almost to the exact day), so I forgot how exhausting shooting one was. We arrived at 9:30 am and didn't leave until 6:30 pm, and all that time was spent on our toes (I was sore for a couple days afterwards--which shows you how athletic I really am, haha!), but every step was absolutely worth it.

I am definitely a hopeless romantic at heart, and the day was so full of love and friendship I nearly burst. I fell in love with Carrie and Brandon just by seeing the love that their friends and family had for them, and more so by seeing how in love with each other they were. It was a huge, huge honor to be able to capture that love, and I only hope I did an adequate job of doing so. I left with a sunburn and a heart that was overflowing.

Then the 22nd I headed into Portland. Went to church, ate yummy food from the natural pantry, and sat in the park amongst beautiful people. There aren't any words to describe the feeling that Portland gives me, but I love it with all my heart. It was sad to leave that evening, but I was also happy to return home for even more adventure.

If my future holds more days like these that I experienced, and the people that I shared them with, then I think I will have done okay in life.

May Photos

Read the full blog post here ...



Read the full blog post here ...



Read the full blog post here ...

origami series

If you follow me on social media, then this is the last post about this series, I promise! I just wanted to also share the images here because I love them so much. It was an amazing experience to be able to create them, and I hope for many more fun projects like this in the future.

If you want to read more about this series, you can get all the details on my photography blog here.