If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! First, I want to say that I am extraordinarily blessed. Since August, I have:
- decided to turn my passion for photography into a professional endeavor.
- accumulated new lenses, a flash, studio lighting, pricing magazines, business cards, a website, a blog, and a new camera body
- booked my first official wedding for June 5th with a GORGEOUS couple (including a groom from SCOTLAND! SWEET!)
- hooked up with the COOLEST group of photographers around, the X/Stop Group.
This last one has blessed me immeasurably. Although I’ve only met with them twice now, this group of photographers in the northern Indiana area is SO supportive, really encouraging me (and other newbies) and teaching us valuable skills. Tonight, we had a group photoshoot. 4 sets, a bajillion models, studio strobes, softboxes, and reflectors all over the place, and individual time slots to shoot our models. I was blessed to be able to dabble with a high fashion bridal couple once my friend Andrew finished early, and then I shot Brooke and Jake, two stunning people from Purdue North Central.
Disclaimer: This is my FIRST exploration into off-camera lighting. Most of them were already set up and had proper settings dialed in, and I just moved them around a little and posed the couples.
The first couple was intense. They’d married just two months before, so the bride was wearing her actual gown… but she had some CRAZY hair and makeup going on! I told her she looked like she should be wearing an Alexander McQueen ensemble!
      
Brooke and Jake were FABULOUS. Everything was running a little behind so I only got about 20 minutes of actual shooting time with them, but we made the best of it. Brooke totally knows how to rock it in front of a camera (if you’ve ever heard Tyra talk about always having fierce eyes on America’s Next Top Model, that’s what I’m talking about!) and Jake couldn’t look bad if he tried. They aren’t a couple in real life, but they definitely play the part.
Oh, and check out Brooke’s outfit! Is that SEXY or what!? 
 
          
Thanks to everyone involved who helped organize, set up, mentor, and model!  It was a blast and I can’t WAIT to start playing with my strobes once they get here!
“It’s like straight down!” my friend Jon said as he stood, blindfolded, on top of a 4.5 foot-high pile of frozen leaves. It was true, the slope of the icy mound upon which he stood was pretty steep, but it didn’t help that he couldn’t see the bottom. For all he knew, he’d start sliding down the side, flip over on his face, tumble a few miles, and land, bruised and broken, at the bottom. That’s how it feels when you can’t see where you’re going.
I have to admit, I’ve always loathed trust exercises. From falling back into a partner’s arms to having some stranger lead you around trees, down steps, and over sticks, to me they were not only nerve-wracking, but cheesy and stupid. How would falling a few inches back into somebody’s arms help me in life? The person catching me isn’t going to let me fall, and if they do try to pull something funny like catching me at the last second, it’s just out of irony. But this weekend, as I was on retreat with a bunch of my Notre Dame friends, my Trust Walk with Jon taught me something different.
Jon is an extreme guy, rocking dreads and a penchant for snowboarding, so I knew he’d be up for an out-of-the-ordinary walk. He climbed over park benches and walked across broken logs as I said things like ‘left!’ ‘right!’ ’stop!’ ‘duck!’ and had just finished traversing through a bunch of dinky saplings when I saw it. It was a mound of snow and leaves about chest-high, with steep edges but just enough room to stand. So I directed him over and he inched up the side of the slick mini-mountain. His feet inched around, feeling out the narrow strip upon which he stood, and he knew there wasn’t much wiggle room. “What next?” he asked. I said, “slide down! plant your feet on the steep side, and slide down.” He cried, “What!? I can’t see the bottom! I’m gonna fall.” I told him I’d catch him and to just do it, and a minute later he was safely at the bottom, beating a tree with a branch he’d found (it was hilarious). He was fine, he didn’t fall, and I was only a few feet away in case he did.
Later, when we’d finished, I took him back to show him the route we’d taken. We got to the mound and he climbed to the top and said something I’ll never forget… “I don’t think I would’ve done that with my eyes open!”
In my life, I like to have control. Big time. I like to know what I want and how to get it, where I’m going and what chances I have of succeeding. These past few months, that’s been difficult. I’m making decisions that are huge leaps of faith, and I have no idea what’s coming next. But Jon reminded me that perhaps there’s a purpose to that. If God showed us all the plans He has for our lives and the things He holds for us, we would likely stand there and say, “oh HECK no. That’s too much for me.” So maybe, just maybe, God keeps us in the dark sometimes because seeing the future would be so much more daunting.
I need to remember to keep this in mind.
  
And a few more pictures I randomly feel like sharing:
^Ninja, a game my friends and I play obsessively^
^J. You’ve all seen him before. I just loved the artsy focus on this one.^
^The Metro in Washington DC. My friends and I even played Ninja while waiting for our train!^
^My favorite mural in the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. Stunning!^
Look at meeeee, blogging thrice in one week! It’s a freakin miracle! And I’m actually writing Things I Love Thursday ON Thursday! And you’ll be able to read it ON Thursday! Isn’t this incredible? We’re such champs. So, let’s get rolling with things I’m lovin’, shall we?
1. The new blog.
I would post a picture of this one, but… um… you’re looking at it. So that would be pretty silly. As everyone has figured out by now, I am constantly refining my vision of my brand as an expression of who I am and what I do, and this blog has endured thousands of mind-changings and ‘executive design decisions.’ It will probably be tweaked a little in the future, especially in the sidebar area. What do you guys think? Seriously, let me know! Too dark? Too boring? Too cluttered? Feedback is the best way to make it more excellent, so lay it on me!
2. I finally picked an album supplier!
Okay, well, I picked two. Edit: I was mistaken on pricing. I had calculated incorrectly, they are not similar in price. However, I will probably still offer both.
The first is a beautiful handcrafted album, with near limitless cover options and upgrades. Faux-leather, real leather, cloth, brocades, you name it. It’s classic, clean, and meticulously crafted here in the US.
 image courtesy of Finao.com
The other album is my FAVORITE. It speaks volumes to my soul, and really captures the magic and romance of life perfectly. If you’re looking for a more artistic, ECO-FRIENDLY album, this would be for you! Hand-crafted in Santa Monica without the use of large machines, this album just looks like a fairytale! It boasts of three paper options: Sugar Cane paper, which uses the byproduct of sugar cane production, is thick and slightly textured, Eco-matte, which is 100% post-consumer recycled paper, and Fine Art watercolor paper, which is beautifully textured and 100% cotton.
They also come in these GORGEOUS reclaimed leather or linen bags!
 images courtesy of Barrett Meeker Photography via wildmagnoliadesign.com
3. My new pricing guide!
It’s taking me foreverrrr to get it printed, but I’ve finally finished my Pricing Guide! This will be printed as a softcover 11×8.5 book, magazine-style. It contains everything from who I am and my style, to pricing, products, and frequently asked questions. I can’t WAIT for my clients to see it!
4. Bookbook.
Somebody buy this for meeeee! This hardcover leather case for Macbooks by TwelveSouth that looks like an old-style vintage bound book! OooOoh, right up my alley.
image courtesy of TwelveSouth.com
5. Tangerines.
I know, this is a really really weird addition to the post, seeing as everything else is all business/tech related. But they are SO GOOD! I had never eaten a tangerine before last week (I am allergic to some types of oranges more than others, so I’m always a little wary), and now I’m obsessed. These little bursts of delight are perfectly sized, not messy, and ten times yummier than regular oranges. NOMNOMNOM!
Guhhh, I think I’m gonna go eat one now. Have a FABULOUS day, Interwebz!
I bought this magnet on a whim from Barnes & Noble about 3 years ago. It was sitting on the little rack of bookmarks and magnets and other doo-dahs with quaint little sayings and quotes on them. To be honest, I really just loved the typography, the design, and the way it reminded me of my mother, so I tossed it in with my other purchases (probably a C.S. Lewis book or another new journal).
 It’s been on my family’s yellowing 1970’s refrigerator ever since, and my mother indeed took quite a liking to it, reminding me of it often. But for me, it never bore much personal resonance… until recently.
This past year has been critical for me as far as finding direction for my passion. My whole life I have been a sort of wild fusion of drive, chaos, and curiosity. I want to experience everything, see everything, and change everything around me for the better- but for a very, very long time, I wasn’t sure how to do it. Then, things slowly started creeping into place. A summer as a photography intern in Nepal, a year at IUSB feeling isolated and disconnected, a great youth group and a family get-together, and here I am. And Internet, I’m scared.
I’ve made many mistakes in the past, from not doing homework in high school to not following through on going to Africa for 6 months; I’ve had many plans that simply have not materialized. I’ve tried to listen to what God wants for my life, but I think I often miss the mark. It makes me worry: what if I fail yet again, or choose to go a different direction again? I don’t want to be the little girl who cried plans, but I feel like there must be others who know this feeling- this tumultuous exhilaration and nervous concern… (and if you do, let me know in the comments! I’ll keep you in my prayers!)
I am one of those people who usually hopes to a fault, but this one thing is so paramount to the direction of my future that I hardly want to speak of the possibility for fear of snuffing it out. It has come at the end of a long, confusion process of discerning where I should transfer to in the fall. First, I cried ‘IU Bloomington!’ because I thought it was my only option. Then, I cried ‘Steubenville!’ since I had long wanted to go there. But after making my 6th visit to the latter campus, I realized that neither school offers what I so desperately desire: an academic setting close to home that is committed to excellence and built on the foundations of the Catholic faith. After a lot of inner turmoil trying to decide between spirituality and academic quality, an answer hit me like a brick wall at 70 mph.
I’m not their ideal candidate- my GPA is a 3.5, not a 3.7, I didn’t have stellar SAT scores and my parents weren’t alumni (in fact, they never went to college). But I think that’s the very reason that I need to be there. The school has plenty of cutouts: girls in short skirts and Uggs who just want to party, folks just in it for the prestigious degree, people who are there because it’s free for them. But I, I want to be there in order to be throttled forward. I want the challenge, the community, the aesthetic. Like my favorite old Apple commercial says:
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the rou nd pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
So tonight, I did one thing that scared me. I started my application to the University of Notre Dame. Because anything that scares me this much is probably something I should be doing.
I am SO excited to write this post. Seriously.
I’ve known Nate since I was a freshman in high school. We were both in Antioch, the big Catholic youth group in my area, and he was two years older than me. We worked on retreats together, and I’m pretty sure at some point I wrote him a note saying I had a crush on him… but I had a crush on everybody back then! Aside from being a part of the same team, though, we never really talked. All I knew was that he was nerdy, he had mastered the art of facial expressions, and he could make you laugh instantaneously because he was SO ridiculous. I specifically remember Nate reenacting the story of Job in a skit, and every time something bad would happen (sheep dying, kids dying, wife dying), he would let out the most hilarious bloodcurdling scream I have ever heard. Everybody who knew him always joked that if any woman ever decided to marry him, she would be a very interesting character indeed.
Well, we were right! Nate went off to college in Ohio and met Christa. This girl is all sorts of crazy. Her facial expressions are priceless, her jokes are silly, and her personality is ohhhh so cute. She has the kind of beauty that you’d see in old movies, such a refined face and sparkling eyes. She’s seriously beautiful, kind, funny and I love her to bits.
Last year, Nate moved back to South Bend to finish school and we bonded over our mutual love of indie music, good movies, and all things Apple. He’s now one of my best friends, so I was SO SO SO thrilled to hear that he’d finally proposed, and it’s been such a blessing hearing all of Christa’s wedding-planning details. I can’t wait to see them vow to be ridiculous together forever.
They were both SUCH troopers yesterday. With the windchill it was about 8 degrees, but they braved the bitter cold and rocked it out!
So without further ado, the amazing Nate and Christa!
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We can’t let that happen again 
. Hope all is well with you. God Bless!
by erinmariehall
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