horn tootin'

I thought I'd share some photos from some of the photoshoots I've had over the past six weeks. A wise man said, "If I don't toot my own horn, who will?!"

Jackson:


Alice:


And of course, the Famous Amys Family:






My brother and his adorable girlfriend:


Brit:




Willie:


And a quick look at last weekend's session with Alex (my first completely random photoshoot with someone I had never met before!)

I've got an engagement shoot this weekend I'm super excited for, and so many wonderful things coming up in 2012 for Young South Photography, including a new business/marketing manager, website, price lists, etc.!

lately

One of the best things from the Clark's birthday care package.


Lots of Sunday Jeep rides.


Fall showers.


Leaves changing.


Lots and lots and lots of time outside.


Petals falling.


Many Fall Photo Shoots




Shooting stupid guns.


Instagram photos


Getting over sicknesses and getting lots of use out of my "alien boots"


A new batch of fall wildflowers


Candy season commences.


My current accessories I never take off (book included.) I am obsessed with the Song of Ice and Fire series of books by George R.R. Martin. If any of you saw the Game of Thrones series on HBO, it is based on these books. I am currently 300 pages into Book 3, and have read a total of about 2,000 pages of these books since mid-August. The Hunger Games was awesome, yes, and I read all three of those in two weeks, but this series is different. It takes me back to Narnia, to Lord of the Rings, to the Merlin Trilogies. It's amazing. I am so excited about reading again. I feel like six-year-old Libba who discovered the Little House on the Prairie Books!

30-Day Photo Challenge

With all the wedding photo editing I had going on, I was lacking motivation to continue on with my 365 photo project...enter Pinterest. I found a great 30-Day Photo Challenge to inspire me to keep on keeping on. It's been a great way to stay inspired, and also to learn some new tricks. I'm on Day 20 right now, and here are some photos from the highlight reel:

Day 8 - A Bad Habit

I think texting counts.

Day 10 - A Childhood Memory

I wore my dollhouse out as a kid. I created all sorts of different dramas and scenarios that were played out here. I even made family trees for the residents and drew pictures of them, trimmed them in ric-rac and hung them up in the living room as "family portraits." The storyline of my dollhouse play closely resembled that of All My Children circa 1990. This is not my original dollhouse, that one was beyond repair, so Daddy made an exact replica.

Day 9 - Something You Love

Fresh Mint For Mojitos.

I threw some mint seeds in the ground last year and now I ave a ton of mint hanging out in the backyard.

Day 12 - Sunset

I was stressed leading up to this day's challenge, because it POURED all day long. I was thinking of sunset-colored drinks I could photograph, Sunset Streets I could find to photograph, and then, this happened. I love the Universe. Seriously. I have also been working with textures, so that's why it looks a little funky. Just something fun.

Day 14 - Eyes

These eyes have been around for 91 years (tomorrow.)

Day 15 - Silhouette

"Not naive," Conch Shell had corrected him. "He simply has not been taught to fear the things you fear." Inspired by one of my favorite books of all time, "Skinny Legs & All" by Tom Robbins.

Day 16 - Long Exposure

"But what if, either by choice or by reluctant necessity, you end up not participating in this comforting cycle of family and continuity? What if you step out? Where do you sit at the reunion? How do you mark time's passage without the fear that you've just frittered away your time on earth without being relevant? You'll need to find another purpose, another measure by which to judge whether or not you have been a successful human being. I love children, but what if I don't have any? What kind of person does that make me?" from "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Day 18 - Your Shoes

They still fit like a glove.

Day 19 - Something Orange

Piper's Cyndi Lauper-style ears.

Only 10 days left of this fun challenge!

The Evolution of my 365 Project

When I first started this project, I thought, "Wow. This will be such an interesting way to reflect on my year." An entire year in photos. One photo per day. Originally, I tried to take photographs that were able to sum up each day. I quickly became bored with this. Because there is a lot of monotony in my life (I'm not complaining), but trying to find something interesting to photograph every single day is TOUGH! Especially when you really want to try to take different sorts of photos. The thing is, I've come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to be a landscape photographer right now. Because I don't have many sweeping landscapes around me (darn these trees!)

Chap is very diligent about inspiring me to branch out, and while I love his ideas, I tend to think on them and think on them, and never execute. Because while I want to take pictures that he's proud of, I see the world in a completely different way than other people, and THAT is what I strive to capture. Photography, to me, is an extention of my perspective, and my perspective is a result of my vision.

I am near-sighted. I've worn glasses since I was 10, and I don't know what my vision was like before that, necessarily. It's not a severe impairment, I can focus perfectly on subjects up to a foot and a half or so away from me without any sort of corrective lenses, and it occurred to me the other day that this is probably why I take the sorts of photos that I take. Because I notice the details.

After the Eyes of Sauron disease (this is how I refer to those few months when I had that creepy eye disease) left my eyes permanently sapped of moisture, I've been wearing glasses almost permanently. They can hinder my view through my camera's viewfinder, so I usually compose a shot, push my glasses up on my head, and shoot. Kind of like shooting blind. I guess this is one of the reasons I like to take detail shots, because I can be sure of the focus! Ha!

My 365 project has pretty much evolved into 365 Days of the Vacant Lot Next Door. Who knew that vacant lot would become so important to me?! Aside from a place to run the crap out of the golden girls, it's my go-to for my 365 photos.

So here you go:









I've been dreading my photos until recently, when I had the revelation that this is MY project, and I'm going to have to find inspiration where I can, so I'll stick to what I love to capture (for now) which is dogs, kiddos, and details, and I'll allow myself to branch out when the mood strikes my fancy.

life of pi

"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive" -Yann Martel "Life of Pi"

frozen

On Monday, I experienced my first "snow day" since 1999. It was awesome. Here are some photos I managed to capture while sliding around on the "wintry mix" of snow/ice.

The Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) by Arcade Fire

This week's Theme from the Bottom was Lyrical Photography...interpreting the lyrics of a song through photographs.

So first, listen to the song I chose:


And then, see how I interpreted the lyrics, with the help of my homegirl Mary Claire:

They heard me singing and they told me to stop.
Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock.
These days my life I feel it has no purpose
But late at night the feelings swim to the surface.
'Cause on the surface, the city lights shine
They're calling at me, come and find your kind
Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small
That we can never get away from the sprawl.
Living in the sprawl
Dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains
And there's no end in sight.
I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights.