WOW

I received a scholarship in photography, which is exciting,  it's been two months since I found out.  ( I still haven't seen any money yet though). The exciting thing? They chose my picture to be on the front of the awards ceremony:  It's kind of scary.

My family is an important part of my life, which is why I find it easy to connect with them while taking their portraits.  My mom and I like to go travel through the country side looking for interesting pictures, but I like catching her off guard sometimes.  With my papa, he is so delicate and set in his ways, any picture of him seems perplexing to me.  I took a portrait series of my dad the accountant because he is so serious at work so I wanted to have a serious portrait of him.  I kinda like it :)  It was hard for him to keep a straight face.

Mom in a big field of something...hay?corn?  I don't know?  next to the iron horse.

Papa just after dinner in his big comfy chair using a toothpick.

Dad so serious about to bust a laugh, pretty window light though.

FORGOTTEN

Sometimes memories and past surroundings are hard to forget, so I decided to give my childhood memories a little jolt when I took pictures of my grandparent's old house.  They sold many acres of land with their house and barns on it, however, there is now a building company taking over the property, while they are still renting out the house.  But the memories I most wanted to capture were from childhood, the big bird swing set bought for the grandkids, the handmade seesaw, and the outdoor sinks used to clean their recently caught fish.  The experience was a little somber because all the memories I have include the very things that are not taken care of...forgotten.    

The infamous wedding photography--I will share a few of my pics now and then from weddings.  Weddings are much more difficult than people let on to be, but I am happy when the couple looks over their pictures and are thrilled to see all the memories that were so quickly forgotten.  These are just a few.

Lauren's beautiful tiered dress looking out onto campus.

The men with the sunglasses, automatic hotness!

Blushing bride Lauren getting ready for the big day, the plaid button down was priceless!

Jennifer's beautiful ring...Cody did good!

Priceless!  The lighting was beautiful here, and the sun acted as another person in the photograph! I love it.

One of Jamie's pics from her bridal portrait session.  This was a beautiful place, and I have many more. 

Cheryl and Josh on their first dance.

Marilyn project

When Mary Ruth gave us the project to dress up as someone we want to be or don't want to be in history, one person came to my mind: Marilyn Monroe.  All photographs of her are stunning.  I thought about the word "Marilyn" and what people present day may think when they heard that, perhaps Marilyn Manson.  Completely opposite cultural figures, but still sharing the same name.  That's when I decided to dress up as both Marilyn's and double expose a few shots to make it look like they were interacting, even though they never did.  The experience was fun, hard sometimes to get it focused and time it right, I especially enjoyed "playing dress up", but the photographs I hope tell a story of the name "Marilyn" and the striking difference of the two names from fifty years ago to today.