I'm Back

     "July 16," my last post reads. That means that over a month has passed since I last wrote on here. Photo World did not cease to carry on, not by any means. Rather, it took on a different form than normal. I travelled and went to a few different camps, and nearly every time my camera went with me. In addition, another really neat opportunity came up in the middle of August. My photo teacher, who taught the classes at my homeschool group, allowed me to shadow him on two different photo shoots. I was able to see what he does on a shoot, and learn from him how he handles different lighting scenarios and such camera things. Although it was all incredibly helpful to learn, it took me a few days to process all the new tips and information, and to learn how to put it to use. The week after I shadowed him, I went to a summer camp with two of my brothers, still processing all that my teacher had showed me. I played and played with my camera, trying to perfect my lighting with every picture. Even now, I am continuing to learn and experiment with everything he taught me.
     I learned another thing this summer about photography. There is no "right" way to do it. I shadowed another photographer this spring, who does things very differently from my photo teacher. In addition, I have photographers within my extended family, who do things very differently from either of the previous two that I mentioned. With each photographer that I encounter, I admire their work, the quality and the style of their photos. And with each one I learn something new and different that I had not learned before. At the end of the day, though, the best way that I learn about photography is by experimenting and playing. Over and over again.
     I could go on and on about everything I learned about photography this summer, and about everyone who has aided me in this journey. But... that wouldn't be quite so much fun as showing you, through photos. Late this August, about a week and a half ago, I finally did another photo shoot. I didn't realize how much I had missed doing shoots until I got back into it. This time, I did a 4-year-old little girl, who is... how should I say it... adorable? Precious? Only photos can really describe her accurately  :)

Hoping to have some more photo shoot/posts for you soon!  

Newborn Photos :)

     Between finishing school and my trip to Seattle, very little organized photo-shooting has been happening. This week was my first shoot since my "day in the life" shoot back in the middle of June. Feels like a long time. As I sat down to open up my photo folders on the computer, I realized how much I had missed it. Not only did I get to jump back in this week, but I got to do newborn photos, which are just so fun :)
     This photo shoot actually took course over a few days. One night we met at the park to do family pictures, and a few days later we met to do individual baby pics. Both turned out better than I could have asked for.
     That being said - I have one more thought to add before I share some photos. This is rather random - but I just LOVE summer photos. The ability to do all of my photos outdoors - even newborn photos - is incredible. All natural lighting, no worrying about flash and too-high-ISO and lightbulbs that make all your pictures look yellow - none of that. Of course, learning outdoor lighting is not without it's challenges, but I would take outdoor over indoor any day. No question.
     Now that I am done ranting...   enjoy!

Seattle

   I finally did it. After months of studying, practicing, fundraising, photo-shooting as a fundraiser, and more studying, I went all the way across the country to Seattle, Washington. I went with the Bible Quiz Team from my church, and we met at Seattle Pacific University to compete with teams from churches across the country. To those of you who are not familiar with Bible Quizzing, it is a youth ministry where teams compete on biblical knowledge, using questions and memory verses to test knowledge. It is an fun way to incorporate competition and Bible memorization all in one, and the amount of Scripture stored in the minds and hearts of the youth has had life changing impact on kids and adults alike. If you are still confused, you can check out an article that was done on quizzing a few years ago, at the link below: 

 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/july-18-2003/bible-quizzing/5136/ 

    This is my sixth year being involved in quizzing, and my fifth year going to Bible Quiz Nationals. This year was so different from any other before it (and also the farthest away), and I loved every minute. Everything - flights, sight seeing, fellowship, and quizzing - went extremely well. I think that I am in love with the city of Seattle - it is just a beautiful place to be. And yes, my camera went with me. Everywhere we went during the past week, my camera went with me. I thought maybe you might like to see what we did throughout the week - especially if you did photo shoots as a part of my fundraiser for the trip. So here they are, and with them is a big "thank you" to all of the people who helped make the trip possible. 

From the plane...

Finally there

[No caption needed]

Fun views from the city

Love those mountains!

From the boat...

The aquarium - and my shoes

Touching the Sea Anemone 

From Gas Works Park

The Space Needle

At the top of the Needle

The Needle and Experience Music Project all in one

Back on campus...

The material we studied for quizzing this year

Coach/Quizzer/Father/Son pep talk 

And quizzing... the most important part!

So thankful for the ministry of Bible Quizzing and for the opportunity to go on this incredible trip! 

How I Got Started

     A few days ago, when I blogged about my "day in the life" photo shoot, I promised to come back and do a post about how I got into photography. I often get the question "How long have you been doing photography?" My answer is "Not long; only about a year or so." In my head, I quietly remember the story that lies behind that answer, and it often makes me smile. So while it is on my brain, I am sitting down to share it with you.
     Almost two years ago, my family made the desicion to breed our dog. In October, 2010, she gave birth to a litter of nine puppies. Around Christmastime, they were about eight weeks old and all set to go to their new families. All of them had wonderful homes, and much as we loved the pups, we were all ready to see them go and to regain some form of "normal life" around our home. That being said, it was still a little sad to see them go and know that this short season of our life was drawing to a close. One night, the oldest pup was scheduled to go home to his family. I was up in my room when I heard the doors open downstairs. I heard voices that I did not recognize. And I heard whoever was downstairs making an exit from our house. I sat in my room and cried, because this puppy that I had helped raise for eight weeks had left and I had not said goodbye, and I probably would not see him again in the near future. After a few minutes, I went downstairs to the basement, where the pups lived while they were with us. And there, to my astonishment was the very puppy which I thought had left. It turned out that my neighbors, and not the puppy's new family, had been the people that I heard leaving. At any rate, I was still a bit disheartened. My mom saw this, and so she took her camera and put it in my hands. She told me to go take pictures of the puppies, because it would make me feel better. I did.
     I had never had any interest in photography before that night. My mom had gotten a DSLR camera the spring before that, and had pursued some interest in photography. She had handed me her camera on several occasions, but I never had any interest. I didn't picture myself doing anything with photography. Ever.
     Back to that night with the puppies. I went down to my basement and climbed into the puppy pen, as we often did. As they moved about me, I just started catching moments as they happened. It amazed me how much you can catch with a camera. I had been around the pups for nearly eight weeks now, but never noticed some of the things that I saw with that camera. That night, I got some of my favorite puppy pictures from the entire experience.
     There was no magic button. I did not suddenly become passionately in love with photography. But something happened that night that got me started on a learning process. That spring, as the flowers started coming up and everything started changing, I went out several times a week with my mom's camera and went around my yard and my neighborhood and took pictures of every tree, flower, and rock that I came across. It was a way of holding on when everything was changing so quickly around me.
     I continued, that summer, to take pictures of everything around me. I volunteered (actually, my mom volunteered me) to do pictures for a non-for-profit organization that I was involved with. I would go and take pictures every week during their weekly lessons - documentary photography at it's best. After that, I was pretty hooked.
     That fall, my homeschool group offered a photography class. That was my first real intro into how how to actually use a camera (other than automatic settings). At that point I was still using my mom's camera - I put so many pictures on her poor camera, that I really owe her a new one... someday... That fall, I got my own camera, which I fell in love with immediately. To this day, my camera rarely leaves my side.
     This spring, I was having a normal school day, when my mom walked into my room. She said to me, "Kaela, I did something really bad." She showed me her facebook wall. She had asked on her wall if anyone wanted to volunteer for me to practice photos on them or their family. Within minutes, several people had responded already. So began my intro to portrait photography. The rest is pretty much all written on here - on my blog. The past few months have included another photo/design class, many portrait sessions, documentary photo shoots, a couple of art shows, and hours and hours of photo editing (not to mention photo blogging). You get the general idea.
     I know this has been a long post, so if you made it through the whole thing, I sincerely congratulate you. I am not sure at this point if photography is something that I will pursue long term, or if it is just something that I can enjoy now. But this story, this whole experience, has been worth every minute, and I can't wait to see where it goes next.

My Favorite

     I love photography. Have I mentioned that before? Even before I loved photography, I loved photos. Sometime I will sit down and actually blog about how I got into photography... but that's another blog post in and of itself.
     My favorite form of photography is documentary photography. I love the art of blending into the background and capturing moments that may only appear once in all the course of history. For whatever reason, I really enjoy that. I think somewhere within my introverted self, I like the solitude of just sort of closing myself into my own little world and focusing on the event at hand, and seeing life through my lens. During any sort of portrait session with kids or with a family, there is a time and place for the smiling, staged photos, but my favorite photos are the ones with the natural smiles, expressions, and interactions.
      So when a friend asked me to come do a "day in the life" photo shoot with her and her family, I was pretty excited. We did end up getting a few nice ones where everyone smiled and looked at the camera, but mostly I was able to just follow them around and catch photos as they played out. Then I came home and played with them on the computer... only slightly distracting :) So, here I shall share with you some of my favorites.