European Excursion

Ah, it's been awhile. Since my last blog entry, I've succeeded in becoming both a high school graduate and a world traveler.

For those of you who didn't know, I spent the past two weeks traversing across Italy, France, and Spain. It was an amazing experience, and something that I will never forget.

Of the 45 travelers, 17 (myself included) got short-sticked into almost 24 hours of flights, delays, and layovers. Though I'll admit, I did enjoy hearing all of the British accents in London Heathrow. It was my first time on a plane and I loved it. There's something about actually being in the sky that makes you think of it differently. The way the clouds just suspend in the sky, they reminded me of iceberg tips floating in the ocean. With the help of some dramamine I slept over the Altantic, and honestly, that was the last time that I felt truly rested for the remainder of the trip. As Mrs. Wilson said, "We're on an adventure, not a vacation." In other words, you can sleep when you get home!

We began in Rome and I got my first dose of Italian cuisine. And I know that eating the food is half of the experience when in a foreign country--and I did try to eat it--but after about three days of hard bread, hard pasta, lukewarm water, dressingless salads. . . well, let's just say that I was praying for some Mickey D's. Never will I take that greasy fatty food for granted again. Not to mention that when you pay around 10 euros for a meal (that's about $15.00--the U.S. economy blows, at the moment), it's bit of a peeve when it's gross. Fast food was a safe zone, and at least I was paying for something I could/would eat.

The sights were amazing. I loved Sorrento. Capri was awesome, until it started raining. I didn't care much for the tours or the "Whisper" headphones, and I had mine turned off most of the time. It was much easier for me to absorb everything when it was my own thoughts bouncing in my head, and not someone else's. Florence and Nice were my two favorites, I think. Caroline and I swam in the Mediterranean in Nice (pronounced like niece) and it was simply exhilarating. The salty waves, the chilling water, the smooth rocks beneath my feet. . . I just loved it. Not to mention: Nice was the first place where we could get crêpes. Mmmm, crêpe du chocolat, how I love thee. Plus, it was France, meaning I could actually converse somewhat with the people in their native tongue. Florence was chock-full of culture. Enough said. We spent an entire day there and I bought three beautiful Venetian masks. When we were in Rome, I saw Tom Hanks. Yes, the Tom Hanks. They were filming Angels & Demons while we were touring the Pantheon, and THERE HE WAS. To the tour guide's horror we were more interested in scrambling up the sides of the pillars to catch a glimpse (and a photograph) of him, rather than listen to her tell about the history of the building. But really, it was TOM HANKS.

Anyway, I got sick in Pisa and I've still not recovered. My throat and ears are sore and I've lost my voice. I saw so many Catholic cathedrals that I could die. Overall, I loved the trip and brought back lots of memories, photography props, and pictographs. The people on the trip really made it memorable. The Dubin sisters and their "Dubinisms"; Callen just being Callen; Ashley falling into the sea; Caroline's obsession with the bus driver, Eugert, a.k.a. "Fabio"; our wonderful tour guide Alessia whom I miss terribly now that we're back. Plus, there was another photographer aboard, Brad, so I had someone to talk photo-lingo with. He let me borrow his 24-70 for a few hours and I'm totally jealous of his gear. You can see his stuff here. He's got a good eye and I learned quite a bit from him. It was cool.

I'm so glad to be back home, though. I missed Justin and American food and these forsaken mountains.

Now that I'm home I'm trying to pretend that I don't have a million things to do. The next few weeks are packed for me with shoots, editing, and preparation for my move to Nashville. Will I ever have time to breathe?

P to the S: I'll be posting pictures soon!

I had a wonderful creative shoot yesterday with some awesome people. Jessie & Ashley modeled and the lovely Isabelle was the make-up artist. We all had a fantastic time and came away with some spectacular photographs. We were out and about from 1 o'clock to almost 7, and my shoulders are terribly sunburned. It was worth it, though. It was the first time that I'd worked with Isabelle, and she's an amazing make-up artist. Her prices are very reasonable and I recommend her to anyone looking to have some unique make-up for prom or anything else.

Here's a few teasers from the shoot:





I finally got my website set up, at long last. HTML is a nasty booger. It took me about three weeks to get it the way I wanted, but I'm very pleased with it. Also, I have my first hater (see guestbook comments). Woo! Criticism is one thing, but come on! Way to be completely immature and rude.

One last thing: A pair of cardinals nested in a holly bush just outside of Justin's window. I was ecstatic when I discovered them and have been playing bird-paparazzi ever since.







Adieu for now!

April's Foolish.

I have roughly 700 pictures to edit, 400 of which need to be completed by the end of the week. My reflective piece for my portfolio needs to be written and emailed to Ms.Leach sometime during the next 24 hours, lest I be forbid to go on Senior Trip.

Tell me, where does the time go?

I'm on Spring Break, and I'd intended to get caught up on everything. It's already Tuesday, however, and I've barely done a thing. Sheesh. At least I got my trip to Europe paid off today--it's a relief not to have to worry about it anymore. Things just seem to keep piling up. There's still my passport and my prom dress; I have to get all of my photography work caught up and get everything packed for my trip to New York next week. Not to mention: I have to decide (ultimately) what I want to do with myself after I graduate.

Sigh.

Danielle C. and I had a photoshoot today--and I also got to snap a few personal photos. The weather was lovely: warm and sunny. And to think, they'd called for rain.

Moi! I'm loving my pink hair.

I'm also loving my new zoom lens ♥ (Tamron 18-250mm)

See how close it gets?

Cindy & Nikki: A sample from the shoot I'm currently editing.

Bienvenue!

I decided to add this blog to my list of online ipseities because my passion in photography took root years ago, when I would make several "picture posts" of my snapshots on my LiveJournal account. I hope to pick up the habit back up with this blog. Here, you'll find several picture posts, updates about my photography, as well as any rant that I deem appropriate to post. I do hope that I don't bore you too badly.

Saturday, I went to Vonda & Aaron's wedding. We missed nearly the entire service, due to some horrid drama that I'd rather not discuss. For once, I wasn't there to take pictures. It was refreshing just to mingle and sample the delicious wedding food. I did capture this adorable moment as they were walking down the isle, though.