My Emulation Project

  In Digital Photography 2, we were given an assignment to select a famous photographer and to emulate some of their characteristics, or images, into our own style. I chose Sally Gall.

  Sally Gall is a pretty interesting photographer, but I had never heard of her before. She doesn't really stick to one kind of photography (i.e. portraits, landscape, still life), and from the grassy ground to the the restless ocean to the sky above she has given an artistic perspective. Her strongest compositions are found in her landscape images, where she pays specific attention to lighting and contrast. In my emulation project, my goal was to copy a couple images she took. I really wanted to take cave images like she did, but I never found the time to go out exploring the vast Idaho mountains . Nonetheless, I believe I was successful in taking some of her ideas, and making it my own. When presenting, my teacher was flabbergasted by how well I did, and actually mentioned that i had a better composition then she did!! Goal achieved!

  The big take-away from the emulation was that I learned how to keep an eye out for contrast and for special lighting. I'm so inspired to bike around at six in the morning and eight in the evening, like I did for this project, and find beautiful things in the nice light.

Fall Photography

    Now that I am in Photo 2 this year, I have been working more on manual techniques with a DSLR versus last year on a point-and-shoot. And it is AMAZING! I love love love the Nikon D3000 that the school provided me, I don't ever want to give it back! Recently I have been shooting in Aperture Priority Mode, and it has helped me a lot in figuring out how f-stops and ISO, and shutter speeds work. Although AV mode takes control of alot of the functions, it is pretty cool having more creative freedom in that setting. Here are some fall images I have taken  in AV mode ;)

This was actually taken Labor Day weekend, and I have a bunch more that I am going to post, but this was one of my favorite pictures I've taken with the DSLR

 I was just walking outside after school and this leaf just caught my eye

This was an assignment I had this week, we were photographing peppers and veggies!

A while ago, I went over to the Meridian Raceway to watch my step Uncle race

A motion picture at the Raceway

Sunflowers I found at the edge of a hay field by my neighborhood

A selfie I took at the edge of the hay field ;)

When In Summer

  This summer 2014 has been crazy awesome, and it's only halfway over! From going to festivals with my best friends to being brave enough to eat a cricket, this has definitely been a time of  "firsts" and fun!

  And that's what so great about summer, you have the opportunity to try new things, and become a new person. That's why summer is my favorite time of the year.

So here's a list of just some of the things I've gotten to do already this year-

• Staying at a cabin with my parents friends- It was an amazing time, we made smores, and I actually tried a Reeces buttercup smore, and OHMYGOODNESS I can't believe I've never tried it before!

• Graveyard Hide-N-Seek - Middle of the night, with just glow sticks. Pretty scary, I even fell into a sunken grave site! It's okay though, I only screamed a little.

• Eastern Oregon Livestock Show- I go to the rodeo in Union , Oregon every year, so it was no surprise that I went this year, but instead of just staying in the VIP area I was "bet girl" for the horse races and I volunteered to work at the food stand in the Clubhouse til 3 in the morning!It was so incredibly fun, I can't wait to do it next year!

• Sleep out under the stars- Yep! It was over at my grandmas house, right on her porch! The moon was full and the stars were out, it was amazing. We stayed up until like 1 in the morning watching movies and stargazing.

• Cherry Festival with my best friend-  The festival turned out to be a lot bigger than I anticipated, it was pretty much a Fair!It was so fun walking around the booths and spending time with my best friend. I love her family and the fun I always have when I come over! We stayed for almost the whole day and left after the parade. Best summer day ever!

• Sun Splash- Almost as soon as I got off my plane in Sacramento, I was taken to one of the awesomest water parks I have ever been to, Sun Splash. My cousins and I went on a lot of slides, including this taco-looking one called "Stealth", and lounged around the "Lazy River". That place is a splash!

•  Thursday Market- In Grass Valley there are these extremely fun street markets on Thursday. There are musicians and performers on every corner, and booths all Downtown. Its really amazing, you meet a lot of great people there.In fact, while we were walking we met a lady who had a anaconda snake wrapped around her neck. His name was Neo, and he was just, beautiful. I was able to hold him and ask her questions, and all I can say is that I am in love with him! I want to take care of a snake now!

• Scotts Flat Lake- Just on a whim we decided that we wanted to go swimming on this extremely hot day, so we went to Scotts Flat Lake! It was so cool.

•  Culture Shock- It' my favorite froyo shop of all time!

• Books, Books, Books- I've read a lot of books this summer. My favorite ones were Eleanor & Park, Go Ask Alice ,and Butter. Currently I am reading Nick of Time.

• I ate a cricket- yep! Today in fact, we played a Bible trivia game in youth group and the losing team had to eat a cricket. Even though I had been on the winning team, I just felt brave, so I ate one too! And, it tasted great! I actually liked it! It was like a sunflower seed, but with no shell =P

• I introduced myself to a new person- She's new to our youth group, and no one was really interacting with her so I went over and introduced myself. I remember feeling like an outsider for a long time with my youth group, and I NEVER want anyone else to feel that way, so next Sunday I am going to sit next to her and try to keep her company, I'm also going to try to include this in my everyday life also, because I am tired of being shy and seeing someone else feeling left out.

 So these are just a few of the things I've done this summer. I still a lot of summer left, with more possibilities like a pool party and even my first date(which I am super-duper-extremely-outta-control nervous about)!

 I am trying to change my life and the way I look at the world by being more confident, by being fearless. 

Soon I am planning on writing a book review for Butter, so stay tuned, Thanks!

Notes to Myself

  I remember getting my first yearbook. It was new, shiny, and mine. It was incredibly ridiculous, radial tie dye with our uniform viking centered on the cover. I loved it.
  Sixth grade had been a crazy, unusual year for me; the new middle school experience and routine, Getting my first F's in math, and transfering to and from a charter school within a couple of weeks. I was not in elementary school anymore. It was the year that I felt good about myself, when I made code names with my bestfriends and learned about the tropical rainforest layers. All in all, an amazing experience.
  I had made so many friends, and I wanted every single one to sign that yearbook. When the last day was over, all the signings were done, I saw that one page was blank. I decided that day that I, my 6th grade self, would sign my yearbook. I told my future self about the great ventures I had endured and what I expected myself to improve on next year. I have written to myself every year since. Every year that is, until last year. My first year of High School.

  I hadn't even realized that I had not signed my own Freshman yearbook until I got my Sophomore yearbook. I  had realized this was the first year that my uniform viking was not centered on the cover. My strong Royal Blue and Golden Yellow Viking, my favorite mascot. A maverick had stolen his place. My yearbook was at least an inch thick, and in those pages I only knew about 10% of my fellow students. I had no one to sign it, and I didn't want anyone to. In the index, I found that I was only on two pages, tennis and the sophomore student listings. For the first time in my whole education experience I was so disappointed in myself. And I hated my yearbook.
  I keep all my yearbooks on my top shelf, its very dusty with memories. I got my freshman book down, flipped to the blank page I always keep to sign, and found it blank. I had forgotten to sign it, in all the commotion of moving and saying goodbye to my friends I had forgotten to write to myself. How could I do that? The one thing I needed most was to hear from my past self, and I had let myself down.

  I am never going to let myself down again. I wrote to myself in my Maverick yearbook, about this year, about how disappointed and proud I was of myself, and what I expected I do better next year. I wasted a year, an entire year living in the past. Wanting to go back, to represent the Viking I am. I wanted my friends and I wanted to be happy, and I made myself  miserable wanting something I used to have. I could have had friends, and I could have been happy, as a maverick.  It is heartbreakingly sad that it took me an entire school year to figure this out, but I believe some life lessons take longer than others, hurt more than others, and teach more than other life lessons. And that's okay. I'm okay.
  I have signatures in my yearbook, I have so many friends, I am very happy now, and I am so excited to be a Maverick next year =)

I am ready to take Junior year by the horns, pun intended!

The Tennis Team

  I cannot express how much I love my team,  they just make my entire day. I would definitely say that this season of tennis has been the highlight of my Sophomore year, getting to be myself and laugh and have fun is just a really great privilege to be able to experience. My teammates are probably the best friends I've ever had, especially in this past year. So here are some photos of our practices and games we've had this season :)

 This is Will with his game face on

 Frank The Tank with a sick backhand

 Remie kick-starting a volley

 Mitch practicing doubles

 Taryn actually started this year!! She is already becoming a great player!

 One of two of our hipster players, and i would like to say i am in love with his hairstyle! If i was a boy..... =P

Ethan caught mid-swing on his killer serve

 This is our courts! But they need to be resurfaced really bad...

 Coach Sifa ,telling us how its done

Remie and Matt chilling out before their match 

 Katelyn looken determined in her game as she plays net

Ben! Like one of my best friends on the team!

 Will serving like a champ!

 Me! and my serve!

This is just a few members of the team! I love hanging out with each and every one of them =)

Freak Alley

 So Downtown Boise is the most amazing place to hangout in Idaho, like seriously, it is so mainstream! There is literally a coffee place at the end of every street, my favorite one being The Hammer :P . I have only gone there three times, twice for digital photography and the other for choir. The second time I went there was on a fieldtrip in which our assignment was to take  pictures of certain things, like a scavenger hunt! It was fun running around independently with my friends, but the best part about that trip was finding Freak Alley.

   It is a really cool place, it is an alley way where artist go and paint murals. I love it there, I like all the statements the artist express in their art and I just love all the colors! Some are sad, some are happy, some address touchy subjects such as the honesty and integrity of political leaders, and some are just so fun! Every year, new artist get asked to bring in their creative touches. I think its sad that eventually they will be painted over by others art, but at the same time it is really cool that it is always changing. Its like a mosh pot of emotion.

  Recently, I took my sisters and my dad there so that I could do an assignment for photography; portraits! We had a hard time parking at first cause we had literally NO CHANGE in the car to put into the meter so I was really worried we wouldn't get to even go! Luckily, I found a penny. So we only had 20 minutes to walk there, take our pictures, and leave. Sooo not enough time, but sometimes you need to make good with what you got. It was a really fun experience and I am glad we all had a lot of fun. I am also glad I got a lot of fantastic pictures for my class! phew!

  Here are some of the shots I took, my mom liked them so much that we are going to frame them and hang them up :) I particularly like the butterfly wings images because I thought it was such an innovative idea, I used proportion to make it look like the wings were really coming from my sisters and I ! I hope you enjoy them! 

I will be trying to post more often btw, so expect more coming up! ;)

More Photography!

    I took more photos!

   For awhile, I was upset with my camera because it was new and it didn't want to work with me ( probably due to operator error :P ). It was like no matter what setting I used or what F-Stop I adjusted it too, it would not achieve the effect I wanted! I missed my old camera ='( but then the other day, I was like Okay, go outside and take pictures! Maybe it'll work today! And I messed around with it, and finally found the right command! Yes! Now I have amazing jasmine-approved images :) Here are a few of them that I recently took------>

I took my Hot Cocoa outside, and set it in the snow. I just love the way this photo looks &  how it feels to me ; warm and cold all together!

Favorite sport in the world: Tennis! Snow is a very good background and I tried to use it to my advantage

An in class photo shoot of still life objects. I got to control all of it; the backdrop, the objects, light placement, everything! I just really like this composition.

Another in class photo shoot image

My still life assignment, consisting of two apples and the railing of our playhouse :)

This is my favorite image I took, and adding the Photoshop techniques I learned  makes it that much better.

another tennis image

wilson logo :)

Hope you like them!!