All work & No Play

The fall semester of my last year in photography school is finally winding down…I have a couple more assignments to get done but I’m almost there. I’m not going to lie, this semester has been a test for me in so many ways. I wanted to quit, I wanted to give up, I wanted to just lay in bed and not do anything. However, it’s times like that when I have to remember why I came to school in the first place. I love photography! It’s my passion and it’s what I want to do with the rest of my life. All of these deadlines and all of this stress is just temporary and I’ll get through it.

My support system at home and around me is what got me through this time. I want to thank my Heavenly father for always having my back (even when I don’t deserve it), my daughter Lily, my parents and my friends for pushing me through it and helping me keep my eye on the big prize!

Internship is next semester and I’m super excited!

I’m posting the link to my Portfolio slideshow so you can see what I’ve put together this semester…

 

 

Hope you all enjoy!

Loyal to Doyle

It was a beautiful weekend for a wedding at the Duplin Winery in Snow Hill, NC. Haley (a good friend of mine from high school) & her new husband Sean spent a lot of time putting together a great wedding to remember. Also, their daughter McKenna was such a cutie in her flower girl dress! I had been excited for a long time to photograph this wedding & I’m so honored they chose me.

 

 

I hope everyone enjoys the photos Sean & Haley!

Panoramas

 

So I missed our lecture this past Monday on taking Panoramic photos so I kind of had to figure it out on my own. You start out by shooting multiple photos of the same scene but move your camera in each shot. You then compile them all into one image in Photoshop. I went out around my apartment complex to look for different opportunities to shoot. I started on my deck outside because the leaves are starting to change colors and I thought I’d like to show what I see every morning from my window. I also liked the different perspective on the second photo I’ve posted. I wanted to do a horizontal panoramic and a vertical panoramic. I look forward to playing around with this some more when I have the opportunity to go somewhere more interesting than my apartment. (Maybe the engagement shoot I have coming up at Hanging Rock!)

Working with Photoshop

 

 

This week in my portrait retouching class we learned about fixing blemishes, whitening the eyes, perfecting smiles & fixing skin discoloration. I actually love learning about these things because it allows me to enhance my photos without making my subjects look like “barbies.” Since I plan to start my own photography business and mainly focus on weddings and portrait photography, all of these skills will definitely come in handy. Thanks to David Peng & Ashley Tomlin for allowing me to use you for practice this week. You both made it difficult to “fix” your images because you both have naturally good-looking skin. I can’t wait to learn more in Photoshop!

Back to School..

I can’t believe our three week summer vacation is already over. I’m still getting adjusted to being back in school but I’m pretty excited for the most part. We have a new instructor this semester in our Digital Image Technology class, Joshua Pugh. (If you haven’t checked out his work, you should.)  We learned how to tether this week with our DSLR’s and our Mac Computers in the studio setting. Although I’m going into the Portrait Studio Management concentration here at RCC, I think learning how to tether will still come in handy later in my career as a portrait photographer.

I’m excited to see what I will learn this semester. Stay tuned for more weekly blog posts!