Putting together bits and pieces of what I hope to be a decent portfolio.

Portfolio building is a phrase very well known to any art student, but when it comes down to it I'm really just another lost amateur with a stack of photos and nothing to accompany them with.

If I was to conjure up a statement about what I think of photography, or pictures that I have taken, or whatever you'd call it, this would be it.

I love faces, and people, but with that comes the fear of not doing them justice. If I'm taking a portrait, I want the whole person, not some fake version. I want to focus on what is real and beautiful and natural. I'll have my experiments in a studio (a nice, ghetto set up in the garage) but I'd rather go on a hike any day.

On another note, I will always be portfolio building, photography is constantly growing and updating and I'm merely along for the ride. However as of this summer I'm going to be officially opening up for business. For a low, reasonable price (well, I think so, I) I'll be taking portraits.

I am really excited to jump start an actual business. I don't want to bombard people with this, because I know it's a weird shift from let's just go on a fun photo day to oh, well now she's asking for money. Therefore I want to make it a nice, clean shift. Now that I am getting an apartment and have more and more responsibilities that unfortunately require money, I simply have to start charging. I promise to still remain reasonable and negotiable, though. I've always been iffy about prices in the past, but I'll be making a set price sheet for portraits, couples, families, etc. for those interested.

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My crazy clever friend Harrison asked if we could do some cigarette photos for a poster he had to make for a graphic design course. After many attempts of cigarette dropping, this was his result. He definitely deserves all the credit, but I was compelled to show his awesome handiwork.

Speaking of, it's funny how I've had multiple photos centered around smoking recently. For the record, I don't smoke, but I'l slip these in for the sake of the post.

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My loverly friend Morgan told me about a project she wanted to do for the girls in her dorm. She wanted to put inspirational quotes on her floor's bulletin board, and I couldn't be more flattered that she asked if she could use my photos. These are a couple of what she chose.

Thanks again for asking, Morgan! You're the sweetest :)

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Space

I have always been caught up in the various aspects of space. It seems that space is a dominant force in my life that I'm just now trying to control.

There is the physical and the emotional facets of space.

Physical. The other day I was looking around my dorm room when I thought about the physicality of space. The idea of dorms in general instantly bring forth a mental image of an old, weathered billboard I drive by on my trips to Houston. The billboard was yellow at some point in time, but now is chipped and faded, advertising apartments with the slogan "Live like people, not like bees!"

There's also a statement my grandmother told me once when we were playing a game of pool on a miniature Playskool set up when I was a kid. I don't think it was meant to be deep by any means, it was a sweet and simple passerby thought, and yet it pops into my mind every so often (you know those funny little things that just stick to you?). I believe I asked her something along the lines of how to clean carpeted staircases (why? I have no idea) which led to the subject of houses in general, whereupon she said, "Well. You're born into a family with a big house, then you're on your own and move to a little house. Eventually you have your own family, and move into a nice big house until your children move away, and then you move into a little house again."

At the time, I simply shrugged and proceeded with our Playskool pool game, but now it ties into my idea of space and the way it dominates our lives. In a sense, phases of our lives are measured by the four walls that surround us. My Nonnie's big house/little house proclamation led me to realize this.

But what to fill up this physical space? Nice, foreign furniture to obsess over like Fight Club's unnamed narrator?

This leads me to aspect of space number two: The Emotional.

I have to say, with much excitement, I'm about to move into an apartment with Mowski that exceeds the cubicle-esque space that now surrounds us. Every time we talk about the apartment, I've realized there always seems to be a common factor: people.

Let's have the drawings and paintings of friends and family fill our walls, let's create a place where people will want to feel comfortable and relaxed.

Chuck Palahniuk gets it. The narrator is practically nothing with his furniture, but becomes everything when Tyler Durden comes into play. Where there's people, the emotional space is filled. For a long time now, I have felt like The Narrator (or the beautiful Edward Norton, if we're going by movie) Pre-Tyler, merely cleaning unused furniture all day. I'm in the little house phase of my life, but why can't I make the emotional space big?

This is merely a resolution, and I have no intention of starting a Fight Club myself, but from now on I plan on filling any and every aspect of space possible.

Besides, who needs a couch when there's no one there to sit next to you on it?

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Near

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College Station

(below: sooc)

I was fortunate to go to College Station this weekend and saw some great old friends of mine (and met some new ones). Lauren and Ian are both people that just feel like home to me, and it was refreshing to see them. Although it was raining when Matt and I drove in, the city and the people were really wonderful. All in all, made for a good facet of my weekend.

The drive home was good for my camera and I. I realized I need to let go of the pesky thoughts of am I good enough? and the fear of being washed out amongst the competition. I love to take pictures, but have had trouble letting go of such measly concerns.

During the drive home, a group of horses were standing leisurely behind their fence. I felt like a five year old begging Matt to pull over, but it was far too tempting to drive past. I took a couple snap shots and then decided I wasn't going to let those insecurities get to me anymore.

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Sara+Thom+Digital

I went on an editing spree with these, it was really hard not to.

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