Book Reads | The Reckless Series

There are books that capture your heart in the very first chapter, when the characters take you away within their first few words uttered between the pages. Books that you savor, letting the plot sit in your bones for days, cherishing the quiet moments you spend with it on spring afternoons like this one...

 

I am not what you would call a book blogger. That is a whole different world in its entirety, a world that I enjoy perusing and gaining from the knowledgeable writers who diligently work at critique and staying up to date with the book world, but I am certainly not of this awesome people. I am, however, a consumer of ink on paper and I think I'll write my own thoughts on books periodically in my little corner here.

  

Reckless By Cornelia Funke. -There are books that capture your heart in the very first chapter, when the characters take you away within their first few words uttered between the pages. Books that you savor, letting the plot sit in your bones for days, cherishing the quiet moments you spend with it on spring afternoons. These books were just of that kind. 

 I took my time with this book, and quite honestly with the other two as well, reading them in the soft spring light, usually accompanied by tea or coffee. Tales about a mirror that led to another world where every fairy tale you have heard in our world is true in that one. Characters with secrets, fairies with potent names that must never be spoken aloud, and a shapeshifter that may become your favorite character. This book was so entirely intriguing and I enjoyed every chapter behind the mirror. 

Each book in the series had new adventures and added so much to this world I wish I could visit. I thought for sure that this was a trilogy, but I have recently found out that another one is on the way. So now I am forced to wait for the fourth one, and thank goodness that there is another after how the third one ended.

I hope you all are having a good week! If you want, I would love to hear what you are currently reading!

Nathan + Kaitlian | Engagement Photos

The sun was slowly slipping into slumber as they hiked high up in the sequoias, the big trees as their canopy, wild flowers nodding at them as they walked by. Nathan saw the sun setting and thought that it was time. He asked if they could go up to a rock that would be perfect to watch the sun fall asleep. Agreeing that this was a wonderful idea, Kaitlin obliged, but needed a break and some water. I can only imagine the feelings going on in Nathan's mind at this point. Maybe he was reminiscing the first time they said a word to each other, when she bummed his foot while on a bus in San Fransisco and said sorry.

They made it to the rock as the sun painted the sky. He turned to her, bent his knee, and asked her to marry him in the midst of God's artistry.

She said yes.

And now, they blossom; the prince and the princess. Sharing glances across large rooms, faces beaming. Conversations about the Bible over coffee. Hiking in the woods. Volunteering at church functions. Together. 

I was so excited and honored that these two wanted me to take their engagement photos. We adventured through groves of trees and hidden corners, slipping through crooked fences to pose along well worn paths and balance on river stones. Hart Park is one of my favorite places to be in Bakersfield, and I was thrilled they wanted to take photos there, even though I am still pulling cat tales (is that what they're called?) out of my shoe from our stint in the tall grass.

Also, this was my first session that I drove myself too. Just me. No one else. In a car. I was a little excited. 

I must say, the only thing I had to do was ask them to look at each other and they would glow, their love bursting from their faces and the adorableness was just explosive. They were truly amazing people to work with, and I can not wait for the wedding!

Bunches of Flowers | Thoughts On Spring

Those small, soft, delicious moments of the day's eve, still and quiet. I almost think they were made for listening. To close the eyes and feel the earth sway, to shift; the changing of light to dark. But it is too special a moment to keep from sight, the light of the sun and moon colliding, mingling but for a breath of time in their exchange of reign. These are the things that sit in our bones after the sun's farewell, the lullaby of the earth. 

Spring. Those few young months of the new year that are so fleeting. The sun, in its haste, flies past wishing for summer; the prime of its command.

But, there is a breath. An inhale, before the sting of summer. Of growth, of color, the life returning after death; the metaphor of Christ, the promise to the Christian. It is a time of rejoice, of laughter and dancing in the young light. For planting, not just of seed, but of feet also, I think, in the warm earth. Letting our hearts stretch and grow like the wild flowers reaching toward the sun.

Yet, for me, it is a time of restlessness. A stirring inside of me, to fly, to grow, to be with the flowers and birds and trees. But it is in the moments that I take to be still, to be quiet, to breath; on afternoons watching the sun, or the mornings spent watering the lavender and rosemary. Taking photos in small corners of the house or Bible studies in the dwindling spring light. These are the little things that keep the restlessness at bay, and as the earth returns from winter slumber, I will purpose to be content.

What are the things you most enjoy about spring? 

Senior Portrait Project: The Hidden Storm

Is it considered a portrait if ones face is not actually featured in the photo? Well, I guess I'll include a photo with the face of one caught in the act of creativity, the words, "how long have you been there?" about to grace my lips...

I often imagine what it would be like to jump into my photos and continue the story. To begin within the moment captured, but then to breath in the life of an untold, continuing story. To become the character that often has such an elusive face at the moment the photo is captured. To feel their heart's beat in my veins, the life they live inside my bones, the quests they go on or, perhaps, the simplistic lives I imagine they live. I wish for the poetry of their lives when I am feeling the darkness of this world.

I suppose indeed I do, in a sense, live their lives, but only in the fleeting moment of a camera's shutter. Yet I know that they live somewhere in the corners of my being, in my dreams, even roaming in a nightmare times. And so they do live. And I can only hope to bring a manifestation in photograph, to portray the metaphor of their beings in a solitary form.

Sometimes I do not succeed, and that's okay. Sometimes they never make it to the internet, and that's okay too. Those are hidden in a secret library of abstract thought, but they live, those little misfits. But if, through a photo that does grace my page, a fellow human sees even a hinting reflection of their soul, if they view a hidden storm within them, then I have succeeded.

My strange ending question for the day: do any of you creatives out there turn your heads when viewing your work, shifting it side to side and up and down? I suppose this is a technique better applied to, perhaps, a sculptor of things, rather than a photo- taker, but that did not stop me from using the maneuvers in attempts of maximum viewing capacity.

I wish you all an inspiring week!

I Survived.

Guys. I just deleted my original draft of this post. My gosh, the irritation. I tried very hard not to explode when I conducted a frustrated waltz around the living room, aggressively sipping my tea. Erg...

Well, I'll try to remember what my abstract writings were about.

There were many different difficulties in creating this photo. An ambiguous concept that was hastily written down the night before the shoot, not saying much other than the general pose, then I shot this on a very white background, knowing that I wanted to change that to a black backdrop later in Photoshop. The dress needed to be reconstructed, the blindfold needed major surgery, light sources had to be established (still not sure if that worked) and two photos I used were out of focus... so yeah, editing was just a joy.

But I don't see these things when I look at this image. I see hilarious moments of wrapping my friends head up in a slightly suffocating knot, then vigorously tossing the scarf around as we all giggled... "oh and you have to swing this lantern." I see the joy of having things work and slide into place while editing, after the beginning moments of how on earth am I supposed to do this subsided.

I see an accomplishment.

However, I also see the night of anxiety before the shoot, a struggle in the darkness within myself, the piercing doubt that lurked in my head. Yet despite this, there is a light that I see which is much greater than my fears. Good memories despite the twilight of my thoughts, friendship bound by trust that helped me walk down this obscure path that was this photo adventure, not knowing what I was doing or if the the path would lead anywhere... and this photo, this image that encapsulates such a strong juxtaposition that I have felt inside myself lately.

I hope to do more of these photo shoots. Honestly, this was one of the most rewarding shoots I have done. It was something really different for me, something that I wanted to do because I knew I had to. I knew that I needed to get over the fear of collaboration, the fear of the unknown that I struggle with so often, the poison of what I think a failure would be. I knew I needed to push myself. And... I made it.

Perhaps that is the greatest victory I find in this photo. I survived.

 

We all have our fears that blind us. But will you choose to follow the light?

Senior Portrait Project: Take Me Away.

I have been staring at a computer for too long today. Website research (?!), attempts at writing, editing photos. I can feel the restlessness creep into my being. A need to get up and do something. Irritation at everything is crawling just under my skin.  Yet here I am, trying to write a blog post that has been sitting in my draft box for days...

So here we go. Lord of The Rings music, beverage in hand, wonderful sunlight streaming through the window on this springish day. I can do this.

 I decided to do something a little different for my senior portrait project that I have started. Rather than creating ambiguous characters to be a part of a story or convey a point, I would create how I actually see myself at this age. And so this photo was created to begin that journey. A simple portrait, crafted from how I feel when I get lost in a book, when I forget that I'm reading printed ink on paper, and just let my heart fly away between the pages.

I also see in this photo (and maybe I am the only strange person who sees it) a beginning of adventures, and that is exactly how I feel as this stage in my life is ending and a new one approaches. I know where I am now and I know the One who sees my path clearly, always encouraging me to go on, always knowing exactly what's ahead of me.

And that's all I really need.

 More to come of this fanciful world I live in. Now excuse me as I go detox from technology.

If you could live between the pages of any book, which one would you choose?

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your works to the Lord,
And your thoughts will be established.

From Sketch to Photo

I decided, very much on a whim, that I would do a little behind the scenes post with this photo, all the way from conceptual "sketch" (a horrible rendition of that word) to final image. I have always enjoyed looking at these "revealing of secrets" posts with any form of production whether it be films, paintings, musicals, or heavily edited photos... almost to the extent of liking them more than the final productions. I suppose this could be because I have such a connection to the experiences of things, the journey involved with any great conquering.

So, the beginning. I start the creation of my photos with my beloved idea book and a pencil, scribbling down the things from my inner world, sometimes feeling as if I'm bleeding myself onto the paper. These crazy ideas are usually accompanied by a terrible attempt at a sketch (of which I'm not sure you can clearly see in the photo above.... which I'm totally okay with) and a little description that is more of a reference point for me as I set out to create each photo than it is any sort of help to a model. Often times the photo is slightly or completely different from the sketch anyways. The sketch on the right is the start of the idea for the final image.
 Also pictured is all the other things that are obvious essentials in the creations process, as in my glorious cup of peppermint tea that is currently fogging up my new glasses as I write this (my gosh I had no idea the struggle was so real) and a candle burning at all times, this specific one smells of pine... However I burned it so relentlessly when I devoured the Lord of the Rings books last year, that now every time I smell it I am reminded of places I have never been and I honestly think it will become a family heirloom... it will not surprise me if I chase my kids around screaming CHILDREN, YOU MUST COME AND SMELL THE PRANCING PONY AND GONDOR!
  It is...precious to me, and I will not burn it anymore because I can not allow the smell of middle earth to leave me.

Okay, back to the photo.

Every image I create needs a base photo and this was the image I built from to get to the final creation, adding two other images to make a square frame at the end. Not sure why I have started deeming it the base photo, but really once you add tons of layers on top of one image in Photoshop, it does become the base of the photo. The start of the editing journey.

Derp faced dress fluffer at work. Also, my friend here was a trooper, dealing with my attempts at communication, laughing with me as I maneuvered the self timer (a strange acrobatic experience), struggled through the nature, and at one point agreeing to have her head rapped in a scarf while "levitating." We'll see if that photo ever gets to the blog here, but it is still in the works at the moment. I was quite excited and nervous to work with someone besides myself or my sister as a character in a fine art portrait. But if I could trust anyone to go along with my ideas, to allow me to be clueless if it would actually work or not, to join me on an adventure in my world, it would definitely be her.

Believe it or not, this was the photo I used for the flowing hair. Lots and lots of shifting and stretching happened in post processing. And yes she is in a different dress... I was horribly indecisive. Also, if you need a hair flipper who can sometimes nail the timing with the camera timer, call me.

And so, the final image. The end of the creation journey.  I think the thing that most excites me about this image is that actually worked. I tried something new, had no idea if it would work, and in the end, my imagination was made into something tangible, and that is the greatest goal I can ever achieve with the photos I create.
There are so many things I see in this image, but for now, I will let you read what you will in it's story, for I am already lost in it's many pages.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths

Proverbs 3:5-6