Merry Christmas Little Knights!

I love quick little shoots--ones that end up being under an hour, and involve super flexible and quick-moving subjects (like me)!
Super quick, snapsnapsnap!

April and Robert wanted some Christmas photos and so we met up last minute and went to this great abandoned house that was dilapidated and beautiful. (Note: I did Christmas photos of the two about a year ago, check them out here.)
The weather that day was around 30 degrees and it was absolutely AWFUL (even they won't deny it). We were only outside for about thirty minutes or so and by that point, I couldn't feel the buttons anymore. Gah!
Lots of snaps to you two being so brave and cold-you're just the best, best, BEST!





























This is what happened majority of the time we were outside


April looked so beautiful in this yummy lighting. And she was ridiculous.






I wish you could all know April and Robert, they are just so great!

Happenings

Here's what up my people:
-I absolutely love printmaking. Although some of my prints have turned out backward in a non-intentional way, I've been pulling the artistic card to pretend that it was supposed to happen.
-The flowers my friend Erin brought me are still alive and kickin. Pretty impressed.
-Exams are over and my house creaks of joy because of it.
-The weather is completely ridiculous. Charleston weather means 13 degrees one day and the next, I'm wearing shorts on Christmas (that has happened). Due to the constant wind chill that makes me groan in public and the fact that my 1900 house is poorly insulated, I spend most time in my bed under five layers of covers (no joke). I sleep, edit, study and have serious conversations...all while sitting in my bed. On Saturday, Julia crawled under the covers with me and after some quick daytime pillowtalk, we were both out like lights.
So, so great.
Because photoblog posts are silly without photos, here's proof to the latter statement. Exhibit A: Jessica in agreement over best bed





I'm taking requests for the use of my bed for naps--use the contact page on my website.

Simplicity

This is what my friend Erin brought me for my birthday.

A photo of a llama and a tin jar of purple lilies.
Underneath the jar is a journal that Kate got me--I'm so glad she did because I've always wanted to be good at journaling.


For my birthday, as a gift to myself (I am getting better at doing things for myself...) I bought these wonderful and seriously cool actions that I'd been seeing around for a while. A photographer that I follow, Bobby Earle, (He's so great. Everyone should follow him) always raves about them and I finally caved. These actions, called Totally Rad Actions, can do some pretty cool stuff! I don't think that many people realize that the processing part of photography is where most of photographers' time goes and having simple little filters or actions to throw ontop of photos makes the world. Take these photos from Erin and Adam's shoot a while back as an example.

This is the original


And here are some options you can get with the new actions






It's so cold here that I slept for about eleven hours today--it was glorious.
So, I hope you're warm and inside and felt loved today.
Now go and listen to this and love it as much as I did.

Prints, weddings and whistles

When I moved into the house I'm currently in, I told myself that since I'd be doing a lot of editing and computer work, I wanted to like my room. Like my room enough to be okay with spending the hours upon hours I do inside of it.
So, saying that, since August, I've wanted to print out some really awesome photos that I'm proud of and that I love the stories behind them. Considering how competitive this industry can get and how stressed out I can make myself, its so important to remind yourself that you can DO it, that you can overcome whatever is telling you that you can't. In the end, I think its really important to be reminded of why you do what you do. I'm printing over 50 photos and am going to collage them, but here are some of my favorites over the last while.



















On another note, I'm so excited for weddings to pick up! Come May and June, I'm crazy! I've started doing some associate work for my friend, Juliet of Juliet Elizabeth Photography.
We're so funny together, and for that, I love it.

On a second note, Falling Whistles is coming! Based out of Los Angeles, Falling Whistles is a non-profit creating awareness of the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Causing the second largest amount of deaths since WWII, this is definitely an issue that needs attention. After emailing their coordinator about their upcoming visit to Charleston, I had been thrown into their Charleston visit and stay. My roommates and I are housing some of the roadies and are hosting a community dinner on Wednesday, November 17 if anybody is interested in talking about change.

'Open your Eyes' by Snow Patrol is on Pandora and I love it.

"Get up get out get away from these liars
Cause they don't get your soul or your fire"

ro

Halloween and happenings

Besides dressing up as a rainbow for our high schoolers, most of my weekend was spent catching up with some friends in town on their break, watching terrible horror movies and hanging out with some cute babes! (babes are below)

I've been watching Ben and Henry for a couple of years now and seriously love them. There are some kids that I really don't want to spend my weekends with, but these ones...I get so giddy when I learn my schedule lets me see them. I got to watch 'The Brave Little Toaster' most recently and learned that if a stranger tries to give you candy, you 'punch em in the FACE!' And of course, we dressed up in our Halloween costumes a good three weeks before Halloween even ensued.









And then you might remember Georgi from some wonderful portraits I snapped a bit back. Mary Jo, Georgi and I went trick-or-treating on Sunday night. I'm simply ending it right there. These photos are enough proof at how I was just giggling at how adorable Georgi was the entire night.










And finally...Marco and Lorenzo. For those of you who are frequent visitors to our house, they've been out sick for a bit, but don't you fret, we brought the little guys back home last week. Jessica had to clean their cage so I snapped some photos of them freaking out in their little tank. We are a little worried though because Lorenzo is missing a finger on each hand that was definitely not missing a couple of weeks ago. Jessica said that she'd had to break up some fights in the past. I hope this isn't a reflection of our parenting.



I pulled back on this photo to show the boys sitting on my desk, but also because I realized how many things I love are on my desk!
(Starting from the left) There's my hard drives, which I am lost without, then the candles, which represent my new obsession of burning candles nonstop. Then my MUSC badge, my ipod, the painting of the hand which was painted by my friend, Erin (who is also in the photo on the far right). And then there's a package ontop of the dvd case of some super top secret photos that must be sent off. I think I just keep it there to show myself that I'm productive. And finally, the quote on my wall which I adore and was mentioned in a post a while back.




Notes:
1. I think I do these 'notes' in different ways each time.
2. I am going to Savannah this weekend with the roomies and am sooooper excited. The kind of excited that requires you to put your mouth in a little 'oh' like spelled above
3. Woodcuts might just be some of the coolest things ever. I spent three hours and carved about a 1/3 of a board today. Totally worth it.
4. It's been getting COLDER out! I put my jacket in the dryer before heading out tonight. So toasty!
5. I've never known how to get the bold and italics to work right on these blogs
6. I got to photograph a 300 guest birthday party this weekend out on Wadmalaw and had so many wonderful conversations with cute old ladies.
7. I checked off six things on my to-do list today. Go me!

I hope you felt loved today,
ro

Love and Lilies

Erin and I were in the same first grade class.
We played softball together, where of course, I cried.
Her mom was my third grade teacher.
We were penpals (from the far, far seven minute drive we lived from one another) where Erin decorated her envelopes with thumbprints to make a caterpillar.
We went to high school together and now are in college together, living life together.
I can't even express how much this woman means to me, how she is truly one of my best friends and how we can be weird around each other and we can desire simplicity together instead of being forced into it. I've had some of the most raw conversations with this friend and share my visions as a photographer with her and only her because she too, is an artist in so many different ways.
And now Erin is getting married.
I treat Adam like he's Erin because they're so similar. He wants to know about me, who I am as a person, not as the friend of his future wife. And his heart and perseverance for the Lord is something I truly have never experienced in a person at this young of an age. As his bride says, Adam makes Erin feel like she can be something other than the (her) color yellow. I've been thinking about marriage and relationships a lot lately and Mumford & Sons puts it right for this season.

"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears.
And love will not break your heart, but dismiss your fears.
Get over your hill and see what you find there
With grace in your heart and flowers in your hair."

We pulled over to a field on the side of the road and spent our time there. The bugs were absolutely awful. So awful that we're going to have a second shoot when its colder, but for the circumstances...we did well. REALLY well.





























I spent last night on Erin's porch eating pizza and ranch, wrapped up in a blanket. She told me how she believes God tells us to create because He first created.
As artists, we're doing something right. We're revealing the fact that it is okay to be a creator and invent something that wasn't here yesterday. I am so thankful for the impact their story has had on me.
This is why I do what I do.

As Erin would say-
love and lilies,

ro