like a ::postcard::

This was the scene outside while I was photographing Tina getting ready at the Waterbury Marriott. When I saw it on my camera I figured it would just be the one random shot to show the scene of the day. In reviewing it in Lightroom though I realized my focus was on the bottom of the screen and with the depth of field it looks like a lovely new england post card!

I have over 3,000 photos to go through from Tina's wedding. I'm guessing it will be narrowed down to 1,500-2,000. It sounds like I'm discarding a lot, but most of them will be repeat reception photos or duplicate portraits that aren't necessary. Although who knows... maybe I'll end up keeping more and Tina will hate me for overwhelming her. haha 

<3

so many ::lists::

It's probably a good thing that I never cease to find new ways to keep my life moving at a wonderful pace. I think I'm going to print this and tape it to my planner. Then when I need a creativity boost I can find a great idea with a simple flip and go to town on it!

Here's hoping your weekend was as lovely as mine! 

Speaking of lovely - I found a super cute yellow shoulder/messenger bag at Marshall's for $25 that I'm going to change into a cute, every day camera bag. It's time my Mark II made more regular appearances in my life! yay!

<3

::follow the day:: and the horcrux shuffle!

I can't help but say that Kb and I continue to top our brilliant vacation videos. If you weren't aware - Krystal Brown and I started making vacation videos in 2009 when I first went out (with Christina) to visit her in Utah. Since then we've made a ton of awesome videos that show just how nerdy we are and just how awesome the places we visit are.

This winter we didn't end up traveling anywhere other than to her cousin's house an hour away. Instead of our usual adventure we settled in my apartment, made a fort, and watched all 8 Harry Potter movies in a row! During the two day event we had several people stop by to watch with us, made a ton of delicious food, and came up with the main idea for our video: the horcux shuffle. 

Before you watch the video I've made a simple photo log of all of the dances involved in the horcrux shuffle. The dances can be done out of order - as they are during the main part of the video - or in a row - as Kb demonstrates at the end of the video. 

And now that you have the moves down - check them out in "Follow the Day"::


<3

tuesday inspiration ::hope::

Watch John speak the words in the video below::

I promise that at some point I will stop posting John Green quotes all of the time... although I do think he is brilliant... and I do identify myself as a nerdfighter. Ok the John Green quotes won't stop, but I will try and spread them out a bit.

I'm about to finally put together my KB & JF video from over the holidays. I'm insanely excited about it. 

p.s. anyone know who did the illustration above? stupid image sharing site it was linked to didn't link back. let me know if you know!

<3

sneak peek ::tina & her bridesmaids::

Hello backlighting...

I love snow, but it put me a little bit out of my element this past Saturday while photographing Tina's wedding. Luckily I purchased a radio sync for my flash and was able to create a bit of dramatic flair! The only downside - the excessive need for photoshop.

I left the carpet in the above two photos above, but when it came to large photos of Tina in her dress I could not keep that carpet. Of course trying to create a new carpet that is at least a little bit realistic is not the easiest thing in the entire world. I've already sent a test to Kb and her response was essentially letting me know that I failed. haha I will make it work, it will just take time.

I'm off to be productive and come up with content for my new website. I'm being proactive!

<3

::26 before 27::

Following the path of what I can only assume is hundreds of other bloggers (everyone blogs now apparently), I've decided to set 26 goals for myself to complete before I turn 27 (AH). I was AH-ing the age, not the goals.

I came up with the majority of the goals in the week following my 26th birthday, but it wasn't until I watched the video about the 30 days project that I finished the list.

Setting goals for yourself isn't necessarily easy. They have to be attainable, but challenging. Plus, a lot of goals I have are more personal and not really things you put on a list. Or they're hard to put into terms of an accomplishment. I needed to find goals that I could clearly calculate and mark as completed - otherwise I just wouldn't do them (I'm good like that).

Without further ado, here are my 26 goals before I'm 27::

I'll explain a couple of things, so they seem less weird, and or generic.

#12 - please note that my goal is to exercise regularly. when I say exercise I mean do an activity that lasts 20+ minutes that is different from my day to day activities. this could mean cleaning more often and vigorously, dance around my apartment (which I love to do), walk around the block, or do a full scale workout. exercise is something that should come naturally with our every day lives, but has been replaced with sitting around on the internet (oh, pinterest), I'm trying to change that for myself.

#15 - my universe journal is a really pretty journal from Anthropologie that I bought 2 years ago and wrote in twice in the last 4 months. the goal is very generic, but I essentially would like to physically write more about my life and my goals and my accomplishments. I call them notes to the universe, since I don't believe in a higher power. if it's easier you can imagine them as notes to myself. they could be specific notes about what I want to do in my life, or just thoughts from the day that I don't feel like blogging about.  it's relaxing and definitive, and I like those two things together.

#18 - my current personal style is dirty jeans (who washes their jeans after one use??), and a hoodie. sometimes I wear cute cardigans with a cute tank top. sometimes. I do dress a hell of a lot better when it's warm out, but even then I don't really have any kind of style or fashion sense. in fact, my photography has more style than i do... maybe i'll start a style blog with a similar title. spectacular photographs + bad fashion = every hipster's dream blog.

#25 - I bought a super cute bathing suit last year and wore it once. this year I plan on rocking that pink retro suit until it wears out... or at least use it more than once.

#26 - see post from a couple of days ago.

So friends, what goals are you setting for yourself? Do we have any in common?

Next week I'll be starting my 30 day project for February. I'm still debating what particular goals I'll be setting, but I have a few ideas that I'm excited for.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

<3

::full-width::

Yay! My blog is now full-width... well full-width in the sense that it doesn't have a sidebar anymore. Sidebars are generally used for self promotion and advertising and considering I'm horrible at self promotion and not blogging for advertising purposes, so it seemed irrelevant!

I also added a tumblr tab at the top. I'm not a great tumblr-er, but I love the ability to quick post and share photos without dedicating an entire blog post to it. So, go ahead and follow me there for random bits and pieces of life and inspiration!

Alright I'm off to get ready to meet Christina at the movies to see The Beauty & The Beast 3D. haha We are reliving our tiny youths.

p.s. The photo above is of Sami's tra-la-las and I could eat those every day forever and ever.

<3