Four Point Oh? I Think So!

So I know it's only the beginning of the semester, and things will only go downhill from here, but I just saw this and it made me smile. :) 

I dropped my 5th class yesterday, because I found out I don't actually need it. So now I just have 10 credits to worry about. I'm working about twenty hours a week, so I'm still a little busy bee, but so far I'm pretty much stress free. And that's a very good thing.

Here's to a 4.0 my final semester!

Have a good weekend everyone! I'm headed down to Utah for TWO photo shoots. Plus, I get to see my family! We'll all be in the same place at the same time. I don't mind.

15 More Minutes

Health.

It's something that most of us take for granted.

I haven't been completely healthy in a long time. I haven't written much about it, because I don't like to dwell on the negative. But my thyroid is all whacked up, and my heart has some issues as well. I've switched doctors about 5 times because none of them knew what to do with me.

I went to see a specialist [endocrinologist] last week, and he acted like he knew exactly what was going on, and told me to go down a road I've already been down before. It didn't really work last time, but he is convinced it will work this time.

Last time it helped the situation for a couple months, but in the end it made things worse instead of better [I'm not just going off of how I felt, I'm going off of blood test results, so it wasn't just all in my head, promise].

I made him do a bunch of tests that he thought were unnecessary, because he was so sure he knew what my problem was. I'm still waiting for him to call me back to discuss my test results...

Sometimes I wish doctors wouldn't act like they know everything when they really don't. Maybe I would trust them a little more. But maybe he is right. Maybe it will work this time.

I've been taking synthroid [little white pills] for a week now. They don't really have any side effects, which is great. The only problem is, I have to take them in the morning an hour before I eat anything.

Eating is usually the first thing I do after I wake up. I hate waiting! Usually I go back to sleep after I take it so I'm not conscious of my hunger, but I couldn't fall back to sleep this morning. When I started writing this post, I had fifteen minutes left before I could eat.

Now I have three. :]

I like to have photos in every post. This one isn't really related to this post, but it's a good memory. I've been missing my family a little bit lately, so here's a fun photo of me with my sisters in good old California:

Just An Average Day

It's amazing to me how much beauty the world has to offer.

I see it everywhere I look.

And since I've been carrying a camera with me everywhere, I've been able to capture that beauty.

And since I have this awesome blog, I get to share that beauty with you.

:]

Oh how I love the slow shutter speed.

Vintage Photo Contest

I'm an officer in the Photographics Society here at school, and we're having a photo contest on Tuesday. The theme is vintage.

I wish I had more things that look vintage–my apartment would be cuter, and that would have made this project easier. I decided to take a photo that didn't look vintage, and tried to make it look like it was.

Original Photo:

Edited–Vintage Style:

How did I do?

All Set!

I found this little message in my inbox yesterday morning:

"Student,

Your graduation application has been received and reviewed. As long as you pass the classes you are currently enrolled in you should be eligible for graduation. Your application will still go through your faculty mentor, department chairman, the Dean of the College and graduation office for final review. You will be notified if there are any concerns or problems.

Congratulations on making it this far!

Business and Communications Advising"

I'm really graduating!

It's really going to happen.

I don't mind.

In honor of graduations, here is a photo of me after my high school graduation:

Just Savoring The Last of Summer

There has been a chill in the air lately, but today has been such a beautiful day. I got to school a little early this morning, and I didn't even need a jacket. I was loving the sun on my skin, and so I decided to stay outside and enjoy it while it lasts. Don't worry, I busted out my new point-and-shoot camera to test it out and to capture some of the things that made me smile.

[Side note: There will be a whole post coming up soon. It will be all about my new camera and what I plan to do with it :]

I know, I'm getting spoiled. Be prepared to see pictures of snow next week. "When in Rexburg, prepare for the worst..." That's my motto!

Re-Design

Tonight, I started the dreaded blog re-design. It's been the same forever, and I got really sick of the old heading. So here's to a new and improved Life. Photography. Adventure!

At the moment, the tabs are mostly empty, but I'll be adding content soon. Anyone know how to modify and adjust tabs? I swear blogger loves to mess with my alignments!

Even though right now my blog isn't getting a HUGE readership, [which I'm okay with, btw] I figure I'll make it look more professional. I'll make it look like it is getting lots of readers, and then maybe the readers will come. A little self fulfillment prophecy? Possibly.

What do you guys think? Any suggestions? You like the new look?

Time for bed :)

P.S. There isn't really a photo to go with this post, but the page looks weird without one, so here's a gem from way back when my love for just was just barely beginning to grow a tiny blossom:

Aren't we so cuuuuuute? :]

Self Portrait

Just in case you wanted to see my final self portrait:

It's actually four pictures put together in Photoshop, mostly using masks. I didn't alter or destroy any of the actual pixels.

Photo #1: Me on the right, you know the Photographer...

Photo #2: The me on the left, model extraordinaire...NOT :)

Photo #3: The me in the middle, the master Mac user/editor/writer...

Photo #4: The me on the right's shadow [when I took that picture, the sun went behind a cloud so my shadow disappeared. It looked unnatural without it, so I went out and took a shadow photo around the same time on another day to try and recreate it]... Does it look realistic? Hopefully you didn't notice. I made it a little lighter than the others, because I didn't want it to distract from the lovely me-in-the-middle...

I'm A Sleeper

Here's the thing... I'm not the brightest morning person. I'm not really a night owl either.

I prefer to go to bed before eleven or twelve, and I don't like getting up before eight. This morning, I had my first and second to last 7:45 [A.M] class of my college career. I avoided these early morning classes like the plague, but my senior project class didn't offer any other times. I didn't get my 9 hours of sleep last night.

Luckily, we only meet twice in the semester, and one of them was this morning. Thank goodness for that!

I know. I'm a sleep baby. Don't worry about it.

My classes/daily festivities don't start until around 10. So naturally, I'm stuck on campus until my first class starts at 10:15. Since it's the first week of school, I don't have much homework to do. So here I sit, blogging, and watching the rain fall outside.

Here's a little something I'm working on for Advanced Visual Media. It's a self portrait photo montage:

It has to have text on it, but I had a hard time figuring out where to put it/what to write. I still don't know if I'm happy with the transparent bar. Any ideas/suggestions?

Project Photoshop

Wow. What a week!

There is no way for me to tell you about everything I learned, or to explain the inspiration I feel after Photoshop World. Meeting all those professionals and hearing their stories and motives has made me a better photographer. Yes, I've gained skills and learned editing techniques, but I've also realized some super important things about myself and where I want to go with this photo stuff.

My favorite instructors where probably Jeremy Cowart [look him up, seriously], and Jay Maisel. They are both pretty amazing people.

First I'll tell you about Jeremy. One of the classes he taught was called "Making A Difference." He encouraged us to use our photography skills for good. To make a difference in the world. He showed us his work from Rawanda, where the government is encouraging victims of the genocide to forgive the people who murdered their families.

He also went to Haiti after the earthquake, and photographed the people there in way no one else had thought to do. It was amazing. I might have cried. He told us that he does celebrity photo shoots to provide him with the means to go out and serve the world with his skills as a photographer.

Hearing all the things that he had to say gave me hope. It made me realize that I can use my talents to make the world a better place. I have always had a deep desire to make a difference, and now I feel like I know a great way to do it.

You can find Jeremy's work here [this link will take you to his photos from Haiti].

Jay Maisel was my other favorite because of his philosophy. He loves, lives, and breathes photography. He doesn't go anywhere without a camera, and doesn't believe in lens caps. He's all about catching the small but beautiful moments that happen every day. They are gifts to us, but we have to train ourselves to see them. You can't capture those moments if you don't have your camera ready, and the skills to set up the shot correctly on a moments notice.

So you know how I've had the same quote of the month for like 8 months? Well I'm changing it this month to a quote by Jay Maisel, "Always carry a camera. It will make you look. It will make you see." There is beauty everywhere, we just have to be willing to open up our eyes to see it.

I'm planning on buying a point and shoot with manual settings, and I'm going to carry it with me everywhere I go, so that I am more aware of the beauty around me. I might even start taking at least one photo a day to capture life as I know it. Maybe I'll even share those photos here! We'll see :)

To see Jay Maisel's work click here.

Okay, sorry, I'm not trying to write a book. I'm just so glad I was given the opportunity to go. I want to thank BYU-Idaho for making that trip possible. It was amazing.

Here are some of the photos I took on the trip:

[click to enlarge]

Vegas!

Photoshop World has been amazing so far. I'm learning so many things and meeting awesome people. We've been keeping ourselves super busy, so I haven't had much time to give updates, or even edit very many of the pictures I've taken. I took a few minutes tonight to download and edit a few:

Self Promotions

Is it just me, or does everyone have trouble designing for themselves? When I tutor or critique others, I feel like I have so many more ideas and suggestions. It's like I automatically know what looks good, what looks bad, and how to improve things to help others. But when I'm designing for myself, like say a portfolio cover image, or business cards, I get lost...

I worked all morning on the two things listed above, and finally got fed up with the process. So I went to Alphagraphics and printed them! I think I'm happy with the final turn out, but I probably could have done better. Ah well. Maybe next time I'll pretend like I'm doing it for someone else?

Here is a look at my self promotional projects. Don't worry, I'll be taking them to Photoshop World with me! :)

So... you like?