speak easy/px lounge

So on friday we went to a little place in old towne that is a "speak easy" type bar where you need reservations and it only seats 30 and they make everything from scratch, yes, even the cranberry juice. They have like 6 different kinds of ice... it's awesome. very very dark, only candle and a few dim chandeliers, so i pumped up my film speed and shot a few of natalie and david.

Mandy and Wayne Wylie

I've known Mandy a while from TNT back in Augusta, but honestly yesterday was the most we've ever chatted. They were so much fun together and super cute :) They live in Crystal City and I was able to photograph from the roof, so, here's some cute-ness that is Mandy and Wayne, and their roof that was full of awesomeness! Thanks you guys! Here's some of their beautiful smiles and one photo from their awesome roof!

A day in the life.... step by step

So, I woke up today to an urgent call from doctor... my cholesterol has skyrocketed, and i needed to go see the doctor asap... go there, get sent to a dietician, blah blah blah 425, hereditary.... basically I need to make some serious changes in my life. Diet, exercise, life.... everything must change... so, tonight I spent as normal, with pickle and marsh-mellow (computer and phone) and my arm's completely asleep....

BUT..... I'm slowly accomplishing things, step by step....

As with everything in life, baby steps are pretty much key, until someone threatens you with heart disease and death at the ripe age of 26. So, today I spent visualizing my life... what i need to do, where i need to go, see, but mostly create....

first on the list, the website will get a whole new twist very soon, in fact i would say within the next two weeks...

secondly, Alexander Reed Winery..... in full effect....(the photo i posted is NOT the final product.... but the final product will be amazing!)

third, and possibly most importantly... I can't create if my heart isn't pumping and I can't walk.. (well, maybe photographing from a wheelchair would be possible, but much less interesting) so i must learn to take full care of myself.... counting calories, doing the gym thing and just down right realizing my own actions.

So, here it goes... I have 90 days to lower my cholesterol before they put me on medicine that will change my life forever.... fighting genes.... step by step.

Natalie's Graduation

My roommate Natalie and her family.

Today Natalie graduated with a dual masters, and her family of three brothers and Dad were in town from Michigan, so what better time to photograph? I'm hoping to shoot photos of David again soon! Maybe some fashion-type stuff..

Congrats Natalie! It was nice meeting and hanging out with your family and friends.

Police Week/Candlelight Vigil

So, I went to a piece of the Law Enforcement week, and chose to shoot some photos of the candlelight vigil. Basically the Memorial is to honor fallen officers. On the walls of the memorial there are over 19,000 names. There were many things going on, it was just difficult to shoot without flash, and I felt like shooting a flash at people in this time wasn't exactly very pleasing. I wanted to shoot intimate, close, and try to get the feel of the people. Hope you enjoy seeing a glimpse into the vigil. It was fun to be there alone, shooting photos of people who were bound together by a loss. The poliec family is a similar bond to Navy, so I kind of felt at home with all of them. Also, I've never seen so many people in uniforms from all of the US.

alternative processes

What used to be the way to actually photograph something, shooting with film, without instantaneous results, is basically what this class I'm taking is all about. I'm picking up my film today from the holga, and I have no clue what will come out of them, not only is it film, but a holga toy camera, but also a pinhole that we made. we'll see what happens. Like I said, I have NO clue how it will work out. anyway.

Here's the end result of my collodian wet plate negative, printed in gum bichromate style. What that means in simple terms is, it is totally done in photoshop and printed on a regular photo printer.... but, it is made to resemble a huge 8x10 camera that actually had glass sheets covered in photo chemicals, expose those chemicals to light and you have a negative, make that negative, then you coat a piece of paper with light sensitive chemicals.... lay your negative onto the paper and expose it to sunlight and wherever you painted those light sensitive chemicals, you will have an image. this is what it would have taken to make a shot similar to this...

so, the bubbles would be cause by the collodian wet negative, the brushstrokes are similar to what it would look like if someone were very sloppy with their light sensitive material they painted onto the paper.

Excited to be going out shooting tonight with Sarah, the candlelight vigil is tonight in Judiciary Square for all of the law enforcement who have died in the line of duty this year. Should lend some awesome photos, we'll see. But, it will be neat to see it either way.

pinholga

So, I won't have the photos for a while,m because I need to develop them, and quite honestly I have no clue how they will turn out, but, hopefully i get some kind of results from my two rolls of film I shot today. I was trying to work with depth of field and figuring out exposures. So, after using a $40 camera on a $400 tripod, I should be able to get something right? hahha... maybe.

Anyway, here's some pinholes I took using my camera without a lense, but only a body cap on it, and also some funny ones of me just playing around. this is a pretty fun class so far, I'm excited to have it this quarter alongside my advanced lighting class.

I will post the actual results once i get them developed :)

air force memorial

So, Sunday Zac and I got up early to go to the air force memorial and photograph, I had a few shots turn out fun. We had a good time photographing around DC and Arlington together... hopefully we do more soon :)

this is the landmark.... you can see this memorial from lots of places around DC... and this is where I call home, it's only about a mile from my house. It's so weird to see it from the opposite side of DC and realize... "there's my home"

on that note, kris will be gone until June sometime, so I will probably write a bit more daily to keep him up to date in case he is able to get internet while out. Or, to give him a way to catch up once he returns.

Air force memorial

I dropped by the air force memorial today to nap a shot of these wonderful clouds. they were so beautiful. So, here's a photo of some cirrus/cumulus clouds.. at least I think that's what they're called. been a while since like 5th grade. okay, off to bed, was going to stay up and help kris stay awake for the ride home, but he decided to drive at like 2 am... this girl needs sleepies before then! goodnight world. happy mothers day, or whats left of it.