Almost over!

This is my last week of classes in my first quarter! I can’t believe it. The quarter is almost over already. It just flew by. I still have so many things to do, and some photos to re-shoot, but I am getting there. Let’s just say I have no life what so ever, but maybe by my third quarter I will start to have a life again. I went home last weekend for Libby’s wedding which was beautiful. This past weekend I pretty much worked on projects all of Saturday and Sunday. But when it was all said and done, I got a few things completed and ready to print out. 3 projects done and 5 to go.

This coming weekend I turn 25! I am going home to Knoxville on Friday for our birthday party on Saturday, so I know it will be a nice break from everything. I can’t wait to just chill for a night. I just wanted to write for a minute and get away from everything. But as soon as I get another chance, I will write more and post some images. Happy Memorial Day by the way!

My 25th Birthday!

It’s official, at the end of May I will be officially a quarter of a century old. Can you believe that? For those of you that don’t know, when I was born, they didn’t think I was going to make it to 24 hours old. So going on 25 is pretty darn good for me. This year is even extra special, because none the less I have an amazing boyfriend and coincidentally we have the same exact birthday. Crazy I know! Since Justin lives in Greeneville SC, and I live in Atlanta, we decided we will venture back home for our birthday to Knoxville TN. Most of our friends live there as well as our families, so we decided why not. On Monday I designed our birthday invite that we sent out this week, and for any of you that would love to celebrate with us, we are going to start out at Barley’s in the Old City on May 31st at around 6:30. I think it will be a lot of fun, and the more the merrier. Here is our invite I designed:

This weekend I am going to my dear friend Libby’s Wedding in Knoxville TN, and I know she will make a beautiful bride. I cannot wait to see her. I will definitely get some pictures from the wedding and post those next week. For now, I hope everyone has a great Thursday, after all, tomorrow is finally Friday!

My New Favorite Thing, Light!

Since Jay Maisel’s presentation last week, I have been trying to see the bigger picture when I take my sunrise/sunset photographs. And I think its working! I have been very lucky with finding some beautiful shadows. It is so rewarding when you look at something, anything, and think, “That’s It,” that is the shot. So I wanted to take the time today and post a few of the shots from the past few days. They may not be spectacular, but they sure are fun to shoot.

Anyways, those are some shots from the past few days! Tonight, I have my first gig. I am a photographing a Family Reunion. I think it will be fun, and hey, you have to start somewhere. By the way, I want to thank the reader the other day for advising me to use Delicious on my bookmarks. I appreciate it so much, and from now on I will have all my bookmarks saved.

I am ending this post with my favorite quote from Peter Pan on Shadows. I thought it was appropriate for the occasion.

“Oh, I knew you’d come back! I saved your shadow for you. Oh I do hope it isn’t rumpled. You know, you look exactly the way I thought you would. Oh, a litter taller perhaps. But then… You can’t stick it on with soap. It needs sewing. That’s the proper way to do it. Although, come to think of it, I’ve never thought about it before. Sewing shadows, I mean. Of course, I knew it was your shadow the minute I saw it. And I said to myself, “I’ll put it away for him until he comes back. He’s sure to come back”. And you did, didn’t you? After all, one can’t leave his shadow lying about… and not miss it sooner or later, don’t you agree?”

Have a good weekend!

Time Flies!

This is the 5th week into the quarter, and we don’t have too much longer to go. Time is just flying by. Before I know it I will be printing off all my projects for critique week. This week has been somewhat less stressful, but the days are still so long. Yesterday, I left my house at about 9 am and I didn’t get home until about 11. I was truly exhausted, and I mean exhausted. My brain was completely dead. However, we have had some cool things going on at school.

Last week we had Rei Inamoto from AKQA come and speak, and that was a fantastic presentation. I really enjoyed it, and while I know I don’t have what it takes to be in that type of Media production, it is so cool to actually see people who do it, and love it. AKQA is a HUGE company with offices in San Francisco, Amsterdam, New York, D.C., London and Shanghai. Take a look at their stuff because guarantee you have seen it before. Here is a list of all their clients.

This week we had the world renowned photographer Jay Maisel come to speak. It is such a great opportunity to really read about the designers or photographers who are coming, and it gives you a great chance to ask any questions. I couldn’t tell you how many images he showed us during his presentation, but each one of them was truly beautiful. He is known for his use of color, and I have to tell you I really do see things differently now. Especially when I am trying to find a shot for my sunrise/sunset photo. Before this week, I would always put too much pressure on myself to find the coolest shot ever. And then yesterday morning, I found the most beautiful shadow and I was so lucky to get the shot. Seeing all his photos really opened up my eyes to patterns, colors, shapes, negative space, all the things I really kept missing I think. While his website is not the most updated site, be sure and check out his stuff or even go to a Borders to get one of his books. It is well worth it. Thank you again so much Rei and Jay for coming to PC!

Since my hard drive died a few weeks ago, I lost all my bookmarked sites. Bummer! I had hundreds and hundreds of my favorite sites bookmarked. Since then, the ones I can remember I have been trying to save them again. Here is one I found the other day and I actually did get to meet the women at the National Stationary Show last year. I just love their stationary, and one place you can purchase it from is Chronicle Books. Peculiar Pair Press is the name of this delightful stationary company. They have been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Lucky Magazine, and Today’s Bride. Here is one of my favorite wedding invites
they did.

Be sure to check out their site. Also, one more thing. I found these on the Chronicle Books Website, and I think they are so cute. These “T is for Thank You” note cards are designed by Jennifer Muller of Lucky Tangerine Studio in Portland Maine.

You know me, I love invitations and stationary, so I always try to find something cool. Be sure to take a look at their site.

That’s all I have for now, but have a great weekend!

It’s Been Too Long!

Man, it has been way too long since I have written on my blog. But to be honest, I am in the middle of my 1st Quarter at PC, and things are a little crazy. It seems like everyday is a really long one, and I am always thinking of what I need to do next. Not to mention, I FINALLY have my Internet working at my house, which is a huge savior!

First of all Lesson Learned, my hard drive crashed about a week ago, and luckily I had everything backed up! I was really lucky. But it sure has been a real pain re-installing everything. And then I think, well I will take that any day over loosing all my files.

School, Wow! I had no idea I would be this busy, but I am really learning so much. Two weeks ago I got the opportunity to go to the Atlanta Zoo to see Stefan Sagmeister speak. For those of you who don’t know who Sagmeister is, he is one of the TOP revolutionary designers of the world. He has worked for clients such as the Rolling Stones, Talking Heads, Adobe, AIGA, and many others. It was a fantastic presentation, and all I can say is he really is a genius. The few examples of his work he showed us were brilliant. Could you imagine being an intern for him? The other thing he talked about during the presentation was his new book, “Things I have Learned in My Life so Far.” It really is a neat book, and I would have bought it had I not been so poor that week. But you should really check out the website, and even buy the book. Here is a glimpse of the actual book, and one cool thing, every book has a different color, but they are all made the same so you can switch them around.

Isn’t it cool?

Also, last week we had the pleasure at PC of having Victor John Penner come speak. What an amazing and funny photographer. He is truly hilarious, and I really enjoyed his presentation. It is so neat to have all these awesome people come speak, because they inspire all of us in so many ways. Check out his stuff here.

It has been quite busy the past few weeks, and I have gone home to Knoxville a few times for some events and a wedding. I also attended my Dad’s semi-retirement party in Knoxville last weekend. That was really fun, and to see all those people show up to honor his career, it was so heartwarming. I know he had a great time. Congrats Dad! I am really happy for you! Here is a few pictures from the party.

It looks like that is about it. But one last thing. Check out this new really cool Map of Texas. Designer and Austin resident DJ Stout has created a “Texas Designer’s Map of the World” as a part of a promotion for Sappi Paper. I just love it, and I want to buy it!

That’s all for now!