Getting My Head Back in the Game

It looks like I may be going a few weeks without eating but I'm ok with that because I've just made a huge investment that I've been putting off for a few years now.

Camera equipment!

I've always been a strong advocator of the belief that the camera equipment doesn't make the photographer. And maybe it's got to do with more of a lack of strength on my part but I've always tried to travel as light as possible, the fewer the lenses the better. But over the past year or two of working with my kit lens, the 18-105 mm VR Nikkor, I finally began to admit its drawbacks in certain shooting situations and I miss the luxury of being able to rent out this equipment from the Communications building or really any paper I've worked with.

So I did my research, read the reviews and this is what I came up with:

Nikon 70-200 mm F2.7G ED VR II AFS Nikkor Telephoto

Nikon AFS NIKKOR 50mm f1.8 G 

Nikon SB 700 AF Speedlight

Between work and the dreary freezing cold weather (we were just out of power for three days due to an ice storm) I've had a hard time getting motivated. Lately I've felt like I've been pulling myself in all sorts of different directions and I need to focus a little more on what really matters to me.

So I've come up with a few ideas to stay on top of myself.

• Get the right gear (check)

• Get organized

• Continue to educate self

• Leave the iPhone at home!

• Look for (and create) opportunities

It is so hard to stay motivated during the coldest, darkest time of the year. But even now, there are opportunities (cough beautiful snow shots) that I need to be making more of a conscious effort to take.

DIY Quotes on Canvas

I absolutely love wall art, especially wall art you can read. So our two year anniversary is tomorrow and I thought I'd make him something special, a DIY canvas with the lyrics to our first song (to be).

It turned out so fantastically I decided to post a tutorial.

Supplies:
Spray paint (you could really use any paint but this is what I went with)
Scrapbook paper
canvas
vinyl letters
glue (I used gorilla glue but I would like Elmer's would do fine)
scissors
cardboard


Step 1: Cover canvas in scrapbook paper. I chose bright music note paper to pop against the reddish brown paint I chose.

Step 2: Cut out vinyl letters, position the letters on the canvas the way you want them before peeling off the paper and sticking them down. Oh yeah, don't forget to trace a heart and cut that out with the cardboard.

 Step 3: Take canvas outside and spray paint thoroughly until you cannot see the canvas/paper. (This is my friend, she also made one for her boyfriend.)

 Step 4: Allow to dry. This took only about 10 minutes for my canvas. 

Step 5: Here's the fun part, carefully peel off the lettering!

Oh yeah, remove the heart too.

And viola! Better and more personalized artwork than you could find in your local Bed, Bath and Beyond.

And if you really want to get into it, you can do what I did and put the song on while you make it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y

Holy Moley Me Oh My You're the Apple of My Eye

 

 Meeting with wedding photographers over the past few weeks has really made me ache to get back to photography. I miss so many aspects of it, from being out shooting, down to the post production and editing process. 

The strange thing was, when I quit the newspaper to become an editor, I was almost relieved to put away my equipment, in fact it'd had been weeks since I'd picked up my camera. But visiting these studios has left me inspired to seek out what I'm really passionate about.

Anyways, my fiance and I went out to an apple orchard this morning with my friend and her boyfriend and decided to do some exploring, as our tractor driver encouraged us to do. So here are a few pictures from the day.

Dog Park on a Snowy Saturday

Help me!

Ouch..that's got to hurt.

Bailey loves eating the snow.

This one is my favorite.

Here I am!

Penn State representing

When we told our parents and our friends we wanted to get a dog we were met with a lot of doubt and negativity. "You know they're a lot of responsibility right?" or "You know they're really expensive." "You can't just get a dog because you think it will be all fun." Really? I had no idea, thank you for those words of wisdom. 

At the risk of sounding like one of those old ladies that treats her pets like they're her children...Bailey has transformed my life. He's introduced me to places, people, and animals I'd never meet or speak to otherwise. 

Everyone in Pet Smart knows his name, people randomly stop us on the street to coo and pet him. At the dog park, we swap stories back and forth and laugh while our dogs wrestle with each other.

The minute I held Bailey for the first time in my arms and we began to head home I almost had a panic attack. I am responsible for this living, breathing creature! All of the warnings we had been given started racing through my head. 

All of those worries have been put to rest, now that my motherly instincts have kicked in. I really do love taking care of him, even when it comes to cleaning up after him and paying his vet bills.

Taking care of him has brought Evan and I closer together too. We spend hours together, playing with him, teaching him new tricks. He's so smart! This week we're working on 'stay' and 'paw' during training class. We take him to the dog park every weekend, rain or shine.

I guess the moral of this blog post is: Do what you want to do, regardless of anyone else's opinion. If it feels right to you, go for it. Don't let anyone hold you back from making the decisions you want to make. If I listened to my parents every time they told me I shouldn't do something, I wouldn't have two of the most important things in my life; Evan and Bailey.

Reorganizing My Lie Goals.

Back in college, I had a professor that almost ruined the joy of writing for me. The class was called Comm260w, Reporting Methods. I majored in journalism because I like to write (mostly about myself through personal essays because what else do I know more about than my own life). Anyways, journalism right? Wrong. Inverted pyramids, nut grafs, datelines. I wanted to pull my hair out by spring break. It wasn't about giving our readers some entertaining little story, it was about informing them. Every time I tried to add my own spin on a story, I was literally reprimanded for adding any bit of creativity. Stick to the facts, I was told, nothing more.

So anyways, after months of searching for my dream job, I have been offered a compromise. Starting two weeks from this past Monday, I am hanging up my Nikon equipment and trading it for the AP Stylebook. I've been offered a job as an Associate Editor (is that not supposed to be capitalized? Oh well, I want it to be) with, wait for it, Construction Equipment Guide.

Now I know what you're thinking because I've been thinking the same thing. Yes I didn't get into the world of writing and editing so that I could tell stories about excavators. BUT, for right now I'm ok with that. Not only am I being given a normal Monday-Friday 9-5 ish shift, but I can finally afford to move out! Thank God I have finally found a company that is willing to pay me enough to financially sustain myself.

Those are the two non-related career perks. OTHER perks include the fact that I really do believe I am going to grow as a writer and an editor. And a manager! I'm actually managing freelancers on the West Cost and in the Midwest. Of this country. And I'm going to get to write headlines and lay out the publication. It'll be just like all that scrapbooking I did back in middle school, except replacing Justin Timberlake with...well I don't know yet, considering I know nothing about construction.

I am 23 years old. This is my time to put myself out there and decide what I want. Do I want to be a photographer, a blogger, a writer, an SEO expert, a designer? How about I dabble in everything I can right now while I have the chance. Am I giving up photography? Of course not. I've just photographed enough borough township meetings and high school football games to last a lifetime. It's time to give something else a shot at consuming my 40 hour work week.

Maybe this is turning more into an online diary but I'll try to not sound whiny and actually offer substance. I just want to throw it out there that I'm feeling kind of inspired lately and that maybe my writing skills are going to start coming out of the woodwork.

Cancer Survivors Participate in LiveSTRONG Challenge

There are some technical difficulties, such as having to shoot directly into the sun, that took away a lot from this package. I'm also going to defend myself by saying it was a really busy Saturday and the time allotted just didn't allow for me to do it justice, but since I haven't updated in a while, I think I'll throw it up anyways because it was a well deserved event.

by Christine Reckner

creckner@timesherald.com

WHITPAIN — “For me, everyone crossing the finish line has a story,” Mary Danielsen said as she handed a cancer survivor a yellow rose and congratulated him. 

 “This part of the race is always very passionate."

On Saturday, Aug. 18, approximately 4300 individuals participated in the first half of the LiveSTRONG Challenge, hosted by Montgomery County Community College. Saturday’s portion of the challenge included a 5k walk/run and a 10k walk/run; many participants didn’t choose one or the other, but both.

“What makes this event unique is 100 percent of the proceeds raised by participants goes directly to support our programs to improve the lives of all people affected by cancer,” said Rae Bazzarre, Director of Communications for the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Participants raised an estimated $2 million, all of which will go toward people affected by cancer, including friends, loved ones, caregivers and health care providers.

Bazzare states one of the reasons for the strong turnout is almost everyone is affected by cancer in some way.

“This is a disease that doesn’t discrimate between age, gender, ethnicity. It’s a disease that crosses all boundaries,” said Bazzare.

The runners and walkers, many sporting bright, yellow shirts with the slogan “Pick a Fight” were cheered on by the crowd in a course that began in the Morris Road lot and proceeded through Blue Bell Knoll, onto Plymouth Road Road into Lower Gwynedd Township and then back to the college via Normandy Drive.

Every cancer survivor that completed the race was handed a yellow rose at the finish line.

Sunday, Aug. 19, features 45- and 100-mile bike rides, as well as an appearance by Lance Armstrong.

A Change of Scenery, Break to Wild-wood

A friend recently pointed out to me that I hadn't updated my blog in about a month. After my first thought (which was 'wow people actually read this?') I realized that I hadn't come across anything really blog worthy lately.

Over the past few weeks, I'll be honest, I've started to feel a little burnt out, mechanical even. Hop in the car, speed off to an assignment, take a couple quick shots, jump back in the car, sit in traffic, take some more shots, interview, video, hop back in car, repeat. Looking at my photos, I'm unhappy with the lighting, the settings, the shutter speed, sometimes even the subject. What it ultimately comes down to is my lack of time, which inhibits my ability to get closer to my subjects.

Over the past year or two I have gained an incredible amount of respect for photo journalists. Not to downplay what a wedding or portrait photographer does, but this is seriously tough work. I have found myself in front of burning houses, against caution tape, on top of roofs, under playgrounds, down the shadiest streets. I have stood in pouring rain, snowstorms, and sweltering 105 degree heat.

 I want to be able to sit down and write more, edit more, take more time with my work. I don't want to be someone just cranking out work until I'm spent. I want each article, each photo, each video, to be a work of art, with real quality.

The skills I've gained are going to be invaluable, the ability to multi-task, to write on deadline, to quickly and efficiently conduct, process, and transcribe interviews, to play well with others, etc. They are going to take me to the places in this world I want to go..

Anyways, rant over. This photo up above is my boyfriend at Wild-wood Beach last Saturday. Needless to say, it was an amazing feeling to get away from deadlines for a week. On our last night we, along with my sister and her boyfriend, got a little dressed up and walked down to the beach. I set my camera settings, told them where and how I wanted us to pose and my sister's boyfriend clicked.