Fearful of the Holidays

As much as my Mom loves "updated" pictures of me and my brother for Christmas, nothing scares me more than having to stand next to a tree and act happy.  It isn't that I am not happy or that I don't want to make my Mom's Christmas wish come true, it is just that I hate posing for pictures.  It feels so fake to me.  I would much rather hang out at a family gathering, laugh, smile and talk all while some impartial observer takes candid photos of the us doing what we do best, being a family.   

Turn on the lights

Love at First Sight

These are my two cats that I love very much.  Pickles is the first cat and she is, clearly, in love with Bob Dylan.  Scarlet is the second cat, no longer a kitten, and she is in love with my 12" Apple Powerbook G4.  Unfortunately, neither of them will be able to possess the objects of their desire but it isn't stopping them from trying.  And who am I to get in their way? 

Self loathing

From Solitude to Community

More pictures from my trip to Glendalough, Ireland.  As you can tell, I am not very photogenic and am much more comfortable on the other side of the camera.  

A Wonderful Day at the Beach

My boyfriend and I live about a fifteen minute walk away from the beach and one afternoon before I left for Europe, we decided to take a walk to the beach and spend the day together.  I had just purchased a Nikon D50 and 70-300mm lens.  I felt kind of like a paparazzo taking pictures from so far away; it was really fun.  We had a really great day sitting in the sun, taking pictures of each other, taking pictures of the people and nature surrounding us, but most of all it was great spending the day together, just the two of us.  These are a few of my favorite shots from that day.  

Famous Irish Hillside

This is a famous hillside in Glendalough, Ireland.  Glendalough was a famous monastery from hundreds of years ago.  While I was in Dublin I had the privilege of taking a side trip out to the countryside to see this beautiful place.  The weather was a little bit cold and rainy but I was excited nonetheless.  My group got to go on a tour which was informative, but I was honestly more excited to photograph the scenery.  At one point my tour director told me to pay attention so I left the tour.  Perhaps not the most polite action but I wanted the most time possible to take pictures, not just the fifteen minutes we were given after the tour.  Every time I look up Glendalough on the internet, there are photographs of this hillside.  Being honest, mine is not very unique compared to the rest, but it does hold a special place in my heart.  I will never forget how the sun broke through the clouds and allowed for some beautiful shots.  The only editing I did on this photo was the cropping, Nature did the rest!   

Red Roses

While on the overnight ferry from London to Amsterdam, the girls and I had a great time staying up late, drinking, talking and of course, I was taking pictures.  I was trying to get a picture of the ladies walking down the hallway but Alexa turned around and I got this picture of her.  The cropping was close to this when I took it and I later exaggerated it just a little.  I used the vintage preset in Aperture again so that it gave the picture a lot of purples and reds.  I also intensified the reds and diminished the other colors in this photo. I also used the dodge brush on some of the lights in the back so that they blurred a little.   

Peaceful Flower Child

While waiting in the hotel lobby in London, I was having some fun taking pictures of the people in my tour group.  Alexa just looked so content and peaceful that I had to take this picture.  The flower next to her was part of a display and added just a little bit extra to the shot.  I took quite a few pictures, some with the flower in focus and some without the flower in focus, but this one ended up being my favorite.  I took down the saturation levels of the photo and then brightened the flower using a dodge brush in Aperture to give it an airy feeling.   

Band Portrait

My boyfriend and friends are in a band and I am their "official" band photographer.  I love taking pictures at their shows and was really excited to do a photo shoot for their group shot.  I made this picture black and white and then adjusted the black point and contrast.  Plus, each member is doing something different so they are maintaining personality while still being a group. I also enjoy how each member's location in the shot helps draw the viewer into the "center" of the image.

Think Green

This picture was taken on an over night ferry from England to the Netherlands.  All of us who were part of the tour group were staying up late drinking in the lounges and on the patios.  It was a lot of fun and I was having even more fun taking candid shots of my tour mates.  This is one that I took of Lauren.  I exaggerated the cropping in this photo so that she is all the way to the left.  I also took out almost all of the color saturation and then re-added in the color of her ring.  I also adjusted the green levels so that her ring would pop out of the image even more than it did.  This picture was a lot of fun to take and perfect.  

Somber Love

This is one of my favorite pictures.  A large group of us were hanging out in my backyard, anxiously awaiting one of Freako Suave's first live shows.  While the guys were all drinking to take the edge off, the girls were hanging out.  I was taking random pictures of everyone and I am sure that I was annoying my friends, but I knew that I would get a good one.  I happened to snap this picture at the perfect moment and with the exact cropping.  I used a vintage preset in Aperture to get the purple color, but then played around with other adjustments to get the final product.