Test strips

A friend once told me to never throw away my test strips. Since then I never have.

Winter Film

I've been promising people these photos soon and finally here they are. 

Mid-December. Fancy pants day. Elissa and Kate. Cold bare feet. Stuck in mud. Rubble.

All images are black and white film taken with a Nikon film camera with macro lens.

Prints

Many projects going on right now. Very little sleep. But good friends are big blessings. And my strength comes from the Lord. Heading out to the Southwestern Photojournalism Conference in a couple hours. (Yes, it's 2:30 A.M. now and we leave at 4:45 A.M.) Thankful for God's mercy and the blessings that come from him.

Semester's Film: Downtown

I went and picked up three rolls of film photos at Target today. They were taken over the entire fall semester, and many I had completely forgotten about. I looked at them all at the counter before I left and was standing there by myself laughing at some of the great memories captured. The guy behind the counter looks at me and says, "Are you okay?" I told him yes and that the pictures were just so funny. He said, "Oh, those pictures make you really happy." Haha, yes. Yes they do.

Here are a few that were taken right at the beginning of the semester before and after church.

Featured in watermelon skirt and blouse combo: Kathleen
Featured in groovy plaid tie: Kyle
Crazy awesome kids: Eli and Hannah Kate
Photos taken with a Minolta XE-7 (May it rest in peace)

Photo House

There were a few select locations that I spent a great majority of my time at this semester. The photo house was one of them. This house and I have a love-hate relationship. 'Tis a lovely part of campus to slip over to for a few hours to get away from the hub of campus life. That is, during the day. At night...well, it has the tendency to freak people out a bit. Though, I was fortunate enough to have some pals that enjoyed going over there with me to keep me company. This day was actually one of the two snow days we had this semester. Such a treat!

Working with film photography was the cause of many challenges, trials, and even sorrows. When you are responsible for a photo from the time the film is placed into the camera to the time you hold the print in your hands, there is a lot of room for error. Even tiny mistakes can lead to a disastrous end. But I will tell you that I've learned a lot about photos through this. It really isn't the end of the world if you lose some of them. You might have an awful sick feeling in your stomach for a while knowing you will never see them but it will go away. I've learned that the memory of something is not the most important part. It's that it actually happened in the first place.

Trains and Dinosaurs

There's one quiet little boy at my church whom I've always loved. If you ever try to talk to him, he immediately stops what he's doing, looks at you with his little brown eyes, backs up, and finds someone or something to hide behind. But he is just so little and cute that you can't help but long to be his friend.
Yesterday I went to his house to take pictures of him, Julie Blackmon style, for a photo assignment. At first he just hid, peeked out with his little eyes, hid again, and peeked out again. He did this for a little while. Then he started to talk. And once he started to talk, he talked. I didn't know what in the world he was saying but it was one of the best things. After filling up the roll of film, I sat at his train table and played with him for a while. We carried the cargo to the other side of town, provided transportation for a cow, and crashed quite frequently. Next was a game of hide and seek. You had until the count of 7 to hide, which was really about 3 seconds long. And if you took more than 60 seconds to find him, he would run out to you with a little snaggle tooth smile.

Knowing that as soon as I left his home, Kaplan would probably act like I was a complete stranger, I enjoyed the moments that I got to be his friend. But later that night at church, the little boy that never spoke saw me from a short distance and called out, "Hey," as he turned to continue running around with the boys. Even if next time he shies away, that unexpected greeting from this tiny guy was a big highlight of my day.

Film Friday

Kathleen. Portrait Project.

Film Friday: Disposable

The February snow march.

Film Friday

Josh and Ryan. Green Frog Fall Festival 2011.

Film Friday: Julie's Holga

This is Julie. This weekend I'm in St. Louis with her and her family, along with friends Kathleen and Ellen. Hers is a friendship I am entirely grateful for. She continually inspires and encourages me and many others. These are some photos from her Holga camera. She took the bottom two and our friend Amanda took the top two (featuring Julie herself!) Definitely check out Julie's blog here. It will be worth your while.

Film Friday

Since I never posted film friday last week, this week you get twice the usual amount of photos! So here are eight film shots, all from the lovely Minolta XE-7.

1. The old back room
2. Changing of seasons
3. The new basement
4. The new dust
5. Farmer's market
6. Walking shoes
7. The old cloth
8. Dorm room furnishings

I also just wanted to speak of God's faithfulness. How great it is. In times of chaos and distractions and things pulling me in every direction, he is the anchor. He is the firm foundation. He will not withhold any good thing from his children. And to call myself a child of God! What a mysterious and wonderful thing. What a glorious life he has given me! Too often I forget.