Although I was not the photographer for my cousin Lenny's wedding, I still brought my little baby along (sweet little 50D) to get some snippits of the rehearsal, ceremony, and reception :) All these here are completely RAW and unedited. How do I feel about that? Almost like I've thrown myself naked into the middle of a busy road shaken with nervousness and pumped with adrenaline from the fear of it all.
HA. Just kidding. It's actually quite rejuvenating to know that some of these turned out perfect in such ways I didn't feel need to edit! Congrats to you Lenny :) I hope you and Ashley the best of luck in your lives together! (*play cheesy drum roll*)
During the midweek last week on my vacation in Florida, I had the privilege to learn about a place in Florida called the Ocala Nation Forest which holds the location of Juniper Springs. Their website describes the place better than I could:
"The setting is unlike any other found in the United States. With hundreds of tiny bubbling springs and massive springs gushing out of crevices in the earth beneath a dense canopy of palms and oaks, an oasis within the heart of the desert-like Big Scrub."
And walking along a beautiful trail, we came to a small bridge that reached over one of the beautiful bubbling springs giving me the sight of the clearest, natural blue water I have ever laid my eyes on. To get some decent shots, I climbed over the bridge and climbed down a very narrow path of rocks putting myself in the small spring of water.
I looooove tropical climates. Although it can be very hot and uncomfortable at times, the plant and animal life is absolutely amazing to stumble upon. It's so different than what I've grown up with here in the midwest it's always refreshing http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifto escape into.
And randomness for the night: My uncle showed me a band recently that I have fallen in love with called Middle Class Rut. One of their later songs called New Low has been stuck in my head today. And also, my uncle can make a mean steak. One of these days I want to cook with him because he used to be a chef in one of the biggest resturaunts in Louisville. He knows a thing or two I could learn :)
I've decided to do something a little differently ((while on this 16 hour journey home I neeeeeed entertainment!!)). I usually never post cell phone pictures anywhere other than my personal facebook but if I do say so myself, I am pretty amazed at how beautiful some of them turned out. Cell phone cameras have come such a long way since their creation and I really do admire it having a phone that's on the leading end of it right now. I remember when my first camera phone took 3 seconds to actually take a very crappy, badly colored, and blurred photo. Now, my camera phone is better than my first digital camera from only a few years ago.
So, here are a few of the lovelies my little cell phone snipped to capture my short bits of curiosity when my lovely DSLR wasn't around.
Last night my family and I collected ourselves together around midnight to venture forth our 12 hour journey driving trip to Florida. It happens to be for my oldest cousin's wedding but I am just happy to be able to hit the beach and explore new areas, as always :)
Although this drive is very tedious, it is one of the easiest drives you could imagine. Interstate 75 is one of the main arteries connecting the midwest to the south and with it running straight through Cincinnati, we have followed the highway all the way to the border of Florida, where we are now. And we could continue all the way to Miami. The American highway system is one of the most beautiful things to me. If you have a good pair of wheels, you can get yourself into any corner of these glorious states.
Following this same highway, you can witness the types of trees change like a gradient scale. The new GPS navigator echoes through the morning rain as we hit the weird tropical type thunderstorms that only last a few minutes at a time. My phone has provided maximum entertainment in the dull moments inbetween uncomfortable sleep and long fields of flat, plain countryside. And as achy, antsy, impatient, and curious I feel... I absolutely adore long drives like this. Pushing yourself through the night just for that extra bit of fun time in your destination. Its almost like the journey is more fun that way too. And more appreciated.
It makes me realize that one of these days, I need to go on a massive roadtrip somewhere. Maybe do something like Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman did on motorcycles in Long Way Round. Kudos to those guys hardcore. I love them <3
Ok, so I'm super stoked to announce that I set up a gallery feature wall downtown in Newport's Art on the Levee! The plan goes that I'll be there for the next 3 months and I'll be able to sell prints to anyone that wants to purchase during the busiest months of the year for the gallery :) Honestly, even if no profit ends up being made, I'm happy to have just a little bit more recognition and the fact the Gallery was excited to feature my work. For all you Cincinnatians/Newportians/Kentuckians/Ohioians check it out anytime! You'll not only love to see local art in the Gallery but Newport is an amazing place to visit (one of my favorites to visit on a monthly basis).
Speaking of how amazing Newport is.... you'll always get a fantastic view of Cincinnati.
My family and I headed down to Newport to check out my wall together to see it all completely finished on Friday night. Afterwards, we walked all around downtown Newport after a brutle storm passed to get a few shots of the skyline. I've taken quite a few photos of the skyline and it seems every time I do, it always looks a little different.
And before reading anymore of this long-ended description, let me say this is the most Epic sight I was ever granted to witness. Nothing short of a m a z i n g.
Absolutely extraordinary. There was a storm moving in with a cold front from the Kentucky side. The hardest part of the rain had already passed and we were in the last part of the storm. But lightning was still going strong and it was sketching across the sky in patterns I've only ever seen in movies. I tried to get pictures but they failed miserably D: With the sun setting, it perfectly lined up behind the city and it made it look like it was on fire. In a way, it looked straight out of an apocalyptic movie. And in saying so, I felt nothing but excitement walking around through it. The rain chased all the weekend rushers away, too, so it was like the place was all to myself. Which is always one of my favorites things to experience. I got to explore the weekend's Italian Festival where a lot of booths were trying to sell me a lot of stuff I didn't want lol. But, the carnival rides added quite an atmosphere to the storming chaos. It felt like I was eating cotton candy during a zombie apocalypse where the zombies were completely unaware of the fact I was even there. The delightful colors were magnificent to look at through the raging sky and then you'd hear the carnies stumbling around out of sheer boredom wanting to kick Mother Nature in the face for chasing away all their Friday night customers.
It was pretty amazing.
Also, something random, I adore this song by Amy Macdonald. I've been listening to it all night.
"He felt he could forgive anything to anyone because happiness was the greatest agent of purification."
"--these were the things that had come to white heat, had melted and fused within him, and their alloy was a stranger, quiet feeling that made him smile at the countryside in the darkness and he wondered why happiness could hurt."
Ok, so this is a cry out to the world for me. Thrown in a little cheesy, overused dialogue but mixed with a viewpoint that has been plaguing my mind all week long. I have to get this out.
^Picture I drew inspired by Witchblade. Never run. Always fight.
I try to live life in the most unusual way possible. I take pride in knowing that I do things a little differently than the rest. And I have done so through my short years thus far. But the older I get, the more people I see accepting failure as their reality. That they will see nothing more than huge sums of debt..... chaotic relationships.... broken promises.... reliving the lifestyles of their parents that they grew up hating....
Instead, they seem to embrace only what they've known their entire life rather than setting forth on a new road and seeing what they can discover in the unknown ways of life. Why do so many people let fear consume them?
Why is it easier to put all your minds efforts into thinking about reasons you cant do something when you could be thinking about what you can do? Why is it considered easier to lurk in the shadows rather than standing in a beaming light? What is everyone so afraid of?
This is just like a lesson I learned when I was a kid. Whenever I saw a bug or insect of some kind, I used to get the heeby jeebies to an extreme level. I was always told that the little bugs were more scared of me than I was of it and I should never be afraid of anything of the sort. Well.... I kind of see life's problems like little bugs. Sure they look creepy, but they will always exist, and that's ok. Just try to accept their existence and realize that without them, life on this planet would be soooo different. In my opinion it would be boring. Tedious. And predictably perfect. How would adventure ever be allowed? What about spontaneity? To me, living life to its fullest is by doing. And by these doings we develop character. Character makes or breaks us and everyone has the ability to make it. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.
Follow your dreams. Give wings to your ideas. Take flight into the life you always dreamed of. Live with strong curiosity and don't let fear be the wind in your sails. Let passion, love, and curiosity be your driving force through every decision you make. Then, you'd be amazed at how much you'll find out about yourself, where you can go, and what you'll accomplish.
Be true to yourself and always welcome change... but never be changed.
So the lovely couple, Lauren and Chris, got in touch with me back in the winter time and booked a photoshoot for May 29th for some engagement photos. They were such a wonderful couple to work with!! Not to mention they were so easy-going, fun, absolutely stunning people, and arrived ON TIME they were totally open to any and all of my ideas to what I wanted them to do in their 2 hour session and made my job really easy : ) And then, Mother Nature was good to me and stopped PSM-ing throwing tornado weather around at me. So *curtsey* to Mother Nature.
So anyways, here are some of my favorites :)
Congrats once again to Lauren & Chris and thank you sooooo very much for letting me be the photographer for your engagement :)! I feel honored.
