So small update...life is crazy. I'm working like a son of a gun. Stupid retail job during the holidays...but it keeps me busy. I got my hair done, I haven't posted pictures yet because it's a little too crazy for me, so I'm getting it fixed tomorrow. My sister might get out of jail tomorrow, I don't know how I feel about it. Oliver is freaking cute, but my dad took him to get his hair cut at Walmart, now it looks like someone took a weedwacker to the poor kids hair. I'm still waiting on a cd of pictures from my trip to Thailand last year, so that I can start posting about that trip.
I got an A in photo 1 and an A- in Photo Vision. Yay for me. I forgot what it was like to wait for grades. I have a photo shoot on the 27th, and I'm excited for that. Yeah, so that's about it. I'm still here, I'm going to have a real post soon...
But congrats to me for making it to 100 posts!! Even if it's a lame post. hahahaha
So, I've been debating about talking about this on my blog, but since it is in fact my blog, I am going to. I'm going to explain the family drama that I have alluded to the last few posts. My sister is a prescription drug addict and an alcoholic. She was arrested and is in jail for stealing prescription drugs. She is as bad as they get. I love her and I miss the real her. As a result of this my life has been consumed with worry, and driving out to Dugway a lot. I have to help with my nephew, since my brother in law works full time. Plus, I have work (Retail in the holiday season), and school. When I do have a few hours to myself, I tend to vegitate. My house is a disaster, there is always something that is causing stress, and I'm worried about my family.
There are some really good things, though. That we now know how bad my sister really is. We've always known that she had a problem, but she hid it very well. We thought she had gotten better. So now we have been learning all that we can, so that we can help her. My nephew is getting better. He has suffered from this as well, but he is resilient and I can already tell a difference since he has moved to my parents with my brother in law. I've seen a side of my Dad that I have never seen before, and that is amazing. I've also been so grateful for school and photography. It has given me a positive outlet for my stress. I'm also grateful for my sister, Jaynie. She is only 21, and she is shouldering a lot of the responsibility of helping with Oliver because her schedule is a lot more free than mine is.
I'm not looking forward to the future right now. It's going to be really hard. My sister is still refusing to admit that she has harmed anyone and that she has a major problem. This is so hard to deal with, but I feel confident that we can overcome this. It just sucks that it had to happen on the holiday season, when it's supposed to be about family and love. Not stress, jail, and addiction. Oh well, what is life without trials and heartache? I know that not all of my readers are religious, but I just want to say that it helps me to know that Jesus Christ has felt all of these sorrows and heartaches of me, my family, and even my sister. And he knows exactly how we feel and he is there for us. I am most grateful for that.
Now, I don't want this post to be only about negative things, so here is some pictures from my final projects. I'm still working on them, and there will be more, but I just want to give you a taste, plus I can't post without pictures...
So our assignment in photo 1 was to find a famous photographer and one of their pictures and then either copy it or interpret it. I had a lot of fun with this shoot. I called my friend Kasey, (the girl I shot bridals and her wedding this summer) and then found some pictures I wanted to copy.
I really have no desire to blog right now, but I don't want to let it go weeks and weeks without blogging. Real life just sucks sometimes, you know? Dealing with very troubled family members tends to take it out of you. I don't even know what it's like to have free time any more. So here are some more assignment photo's. I wasn't feeling these two assignments that much. I loved my color photo's and my abstract and conceptual photo's, but these ones just were kind of blah...oh well, here you go and you can be the judge!
I swear this blog is turning into my assignment blog, but I have no time to even experience anything else in life. Basically I go to school, shoot assignments or commissions, edit said pictures, work, tend to family drama, and if I have any time left I read or watch tv or maybe even hang out with friends. I have no life, but hey! at least there are pictures, right?
Just posted some more family pictures on my photo blog...go here. They are of my old boss, Matthew, and his family. Love them!! (the family...well, and the pictures, too)
I am very VERY proud of this image. This is the first time since I've started this photography thing that I have succeeded in something important. I have successfully created an image that matched exactly what was in my head. I needed photoshop to do it, but I have since learned that with Conceptual Photography, this is often the case. You don't need photoshop, but it helps a lot. So here it is. The before and after. Like I said. I'm so incredibly proud of this image. It could suck, people could hate it. I don't care. It represents sooo much hard work and dedication. I can't wait to see where I'm at in a year and compare it to now. Because when I compare my images from last year to now, it's insane how much better I have become. Here's a toast to a great photographic year!!
Go check out some family picture I took for my old roommate, Kari at my photo blog. I think they turned out great!
So our next assignment in Photo Vision is Abstract, Minimalism, and Conceptual photography. What do you, my loyal readers think. Are these abstract? I have no clue! Hahahahaha! I'm not a very abstract person. I'm all about absolutes. Is it okay that most of them are blurry? You can't tell what they are, I think that's the point. So do you love them? Which one? Hate them? Do they suck? Why? Let me know. I need some outside opinions.
Friday, my mom, sister, brother, and I took Oliver trunk or treating at my mom's ward. It was the first time we got to see Oliver in his Yo Gabba Gabba costume. This kid loves Yo Gabba Gabba. When he was a baby, it was the only show he would show any interest in. He still loves it. I personally wanted to spray paint it blue because his new favorite word is cookie. He walks around saying, "cookie cookie cookie". I think it would have been more appropriate for him to go as Cookie Monster. Though, I have since found out that Cookie Monster only eats vegetables now. My childhood is slowly being killed, yo.
I'm learning photoshop in class today. This is a film image I scanned in, and I cloned and retouched. This is a big day for me! Now I can clone out the bugs in a recent family shot I did for my old roommate. If I had known it was this easy, I would have learned this a long time ago. Ps...I love Oliver and I love how the film looks.
So real life right now is really stressful and I hate it. Addiction is evil, friends. Avoid addictive stuff at all costs, it only will ruin your life. There is my Public Service Announcement for the day. As a result of this, I'm blogging. I'm kind of living for my photography right now. That and Oliver are the only things that even bring a smile to my face right now. So thank goodness for school. I need the distraction.
Our assignment in Photo Vision is about breaking the rules. I don't really understand the "rules", so I hope I actually did the assignment and didn't just take a random picture. I like them anyways. The rules I tried to break are "Fill the frame with the subject", "Do not shoot against the light," "Follow the rule of thirds," Obey the light meter," "Photograph children/pets at their eye level," "Avoid lens flare," and "keep the camera level with the horizon." I tried to get three of these in every picture, but they aren't all in every picture. Funny story, I couldn't use some of them because my dad was flipping the camera off. He's special. This is the one I really like, the rest of them I am getting printed off just in case I like them better on paper.
Here are some of my film assignments that I promised. The first four our photograms. Just light, objects, and photo paper. They were a lot of fun. These aren't the ones I turned in. They were way cooler, but I forgot them at my house. (I don't have a scanner, my parents do.)
