he said. she said.

I recently got my hands on a whole stack of images of me from my summer in Missoula. Looking through them was so much fun because it was like a scrapbook of 6 key months of my life seen through the eyes of a camera other than mine. They were moments I experienced but also photographed as well. It took me back to a time when my camera was an appendage of myself.  I was entranced to capture the light, the moment, at all times- night and day. I feel ashamed to say that I have fallen away from that habit lately. I don't know if it's the weather, the lack of contagious energy from my other 80 classmates, or if the other trillion things on my mind and to-do lists (yes, I said lists) have taken over my photographic creativity. I haven't put my camera down by all means. I just feel like I've been chewing gum that finally lost it's flavor. And it's about time for a new piece.

So, I've been open to letting my creativity flow in other ways, knowing that sometimes my photography gets sparked by something totally unrelated. I took up knitting recently, and spent days crafting fabric flower hair pieces for all of my girlfriends at Christmas (more photos on that later!) I've been digging through all my recipes to find new foods I've never cooked before. I started finding life in old photographs. And I've done some traveling, putting my camera down, just enjoying the experience without feeling the pressure of capturing it.


So here's a tribute to Missoula, whom I miss terribly lately. And to my third eye, the camera. Each photo is me, paired with the shot I was taking at that moment. Pretty self explanatory, and pretty fun I think.


p.s. this is a good example that the beauty of an image does not reflect the beauty behind the camera. Excuse my appearance. ahem.

special thanks to my boyfriend Chad, for all the shots of me.
chadneufeld.blogspot.com

Tiff and Tim.

I find it a tad frustrating that school finished at a time when the weather isn't quite ideal for an outdoor portrait photographer to begin her career. It's cold and the days are short. This didn't stop Tiffanie though, not one little bit. The minute she found out I was back in town she was ecstatic, and scheduled a session with me right away. This, of course, made me feel amazing. What made me feel even more amazing though, was finding out that these photographs of her and her new husband, Tim, would be the first they'd ever had together as a married couple, and maybe more! I had a lot of shoes to fill in a couple hours. I felt like I was taking their engagement, wedding, Christmas, and just "together" pictures all in one afternoon. But, i was more than honored to do so! I had such an amazing time, and probably laughed more than I ever have on any shoot. Thank you Tiff and Tim, for being so much fun and letting me be such an important part of this amazing time in your life.

Let me just start off by saying, Tiff, you laugh more than anyone I know...

and I LOVE it.

:)

eve.

I didn't ask for anything this Christmas.

Obviously I have an endless list of photography equipment I lust over on a daily basis, but I didn't say a word to Santa about it. It's funny though, because the gift I never could of even expected ended up being what I got, and I didn't even know I wanted it.

I grew up a southern girl. In a way I'm terribly thankful for this because I never took a snow day for granted. Being so few and far between, how could I? I'm 23 and still get butterflies when I wake up to a world of white. I usually love the calm stillness it brings. The peace. The clean slate. This Christmas Eve, I woke up with butterflies and excitement, but with winds at 60mph the calm wasn't necessarily outside, but in.

Thank you Santa, for such a beautiful gift. I loved the adventure of being snowed in for two days in a tiny place of warmth, baked goods, hot chocolate, peppermint tea, and Christmas movies. I loved watching my dog stumble through the snow, and the Cardinals hang on for dear life to the tree branches as they eyed their holiday feast below (my sprinkled bird feed!) And as much as I hate being cold, I made a promise to myself I'd get out and get a few pictures...