greens & blues

a few sneaks of an afternoon photo adventure I took with my lovely friend Megan last week. I am no photographer, not by any means...I hardly know what I'm doing, in any way, from composition to camera settings to editing...but it is fun to capture moments in such beautiful peoples' lives now & then, isn't it? I often dream of a better camera, different lenses, Photoshop, more knowledge of the camera; but for now I just love the feel of my Nikon in my hands and the world dancing in front of my eyes. 

More coming later this week, I just love the washington-winter feel of this small set. 

what are your feelings on your photography skills? do you, like me, find it hard not to compare your photo quality with other bloggers? how do you find happiness in your capabilities?

afternoon portraits

Last a week, Erin, who attends the college ministry I intern for, asked if I would take a photo of her to send to her boyfriend who just started basic training in Texas. The only communication they have is a 15 minute phone call once a week, which she unfortunately missed last week, so she has taken to writing him a letter every day and sending them all once a week (tres sweet). I, of course, got way too excited about it and offered to style her outfit & do a little photoshoot on my favorite path in Bellingham. She agreed!

Erin's style is a touch more badass than my closet can handle, but she said that her boyfriend likes simple style & that she likes lace--which instantly made me happy on two accounts: one, there's  nothing I love more than the pairing of tattoos + a girly dress and two, I just bought this adorable white lace dress from Buffalo Exchange last week. She wanted to keep it a little tougher, so I grabbed my favorite worn-in combat boots & topped it off with a pop of color in the form of my newest garden & sea cowl. We did these shots in about 20 minutes and it felt reaaal good to have someone in front of my camera again, especially for such a sweet reason. 

ps: the necklace she is wearing was a gift from her boyfriend before he left. awwwwwww. 

can I graduate?

Some senior pictures I took for my younger sister's friend last weekend at a park in my hometown. She was so sweet and not awkward in front of the camera at all! We took about 400 pictures and she was able to have a genuine smile the whole time--I was jealous, because my smile tends to look fake in pictures sometimes! I hate it. She also has beautiful hair, which was blowing in the wind constantly--love it! Anyway, I had a great time taking & editing these, and hope to do more in the future.

Remember when you were about to graduate high school? For me, it was the best feeling in the world. It signals the end of the time when you're life is all figured out for you and is the first time you get a chance to decide your own fate. Scary, but so freeing.

Ghosts of Manhattan

I did some more practice shots over winter break with my boyfriend's current music project, called Ghosts of Manhattan. I've never taken band pictures before these, and it took me a while to get used to taking pictures of boys with such serious looks on their faces! Making music is serious business, I suppose. The boys liked the setting of the pictures I took of my sister (below post) so we went to the same place. I also tried out my new fisheye lens on some of them, and I was happy with how they turned out.

my little sister & portrait experimenting

While home for winter break, I took some pictures of my younger sister to get some practice with portraits. I don't consider myself a photographer by any means, but I do want to get better and perhaps do some of her friends' senior pictures in the spring. Not to mention, she likes the attention! I styled her, except she chose the tank top. All of the coats are mine, as well as the shoes. We took the pictures at about an hour before dusk, at a place called Howe Farm which is part dog park, part agricultural project, and part wetland. It was fun! Enjoy.