I'm taking a break from writing my final paper, so this post will be kinda short, but I really wanted to get one up today.

Firstly - I got a call last Tuesday that I have been fully admitted/accepted into Columbia College Chicago! Ok, SO totally excited about that! I've decided tho, to give myself a breather and start the Spring semester.

During the 5 months that I'll have off I intend on working on myself. I'll be dedicating a lot of my time to bettering myself in many different ways. I'll reveal that "plan" later so stay tuned..

Secondly- I've spent some time shooting, finally, so I'll be out with a couple new albums of shots.

Thirdly - I've been told that, as soon as all my graduation things are in order, it is quite possible I'll be getting a nice SLR of my own for a graduation present. So, any suggestions on that topic are welcomed and eagerly awaited.

The first NEW album, "Air Show Weekend", is located on my Fotki site * here *. Please feel free to leave me comments there - I love reading what y'all have to say.

Muses : My inspiration

Last week, I was commented by an anonymous photographer asking what my muses are. I realized that I probably haven't talked too much about muses because I figured you could probably tell from looking at my pictures. But I guess maybe not. Or maybe I'm just assuming too much from my audience, so I decided to post on it.

All of my online sources (Wiki, Merriam-Webster, ect..) seem to agree that the definition of a "muse" is as Merriam-Webster puts it: a source of inspiration; especially : a guiding genius. So going off of this definition, I'm determining what they are.

One of my muses, I know definitely, would be children. Something about their innocence. I love capturing their essence; even the most monstrous devil of a child has a soft, sweet side that can only be caught candidly- when they don't realize they're being watched- a challenge I never pass up.

Two would be organic - flowers, leaves, trees, grass, light, clouds, water, the beach ect..

Three is probably my most frequent muse - Details. I absolutely LOVE details. The concept that everything we see, touch, use on a daily basis can be broken down into tiny little parts is fascinating .
A wedding dress, with draping, lace, beads, tulle....
A flower, with it's petals, stamen, pistol, stem, leaves....
I could go on forever! There are so many things to capture that a lot of people don't even pay attention to! These often end up as abstracts.

Four has to be repetition. Oh! How I LOOOOOVE repetition! I'm sure many of you know this, because I constantly point it out in comments. There is just something about it that gets me excited. Something so pleasing to my eye.

Five could be just about anything urban. I love the city and all it's wonders. Architecture is amazing. Lights! Ooh the lights! I always end up looking like a tourist, which my poor sister(who I'm usually with) hates.. Nice cars and all the people! Oh and when it rains at night, everything glitters! I love the long streets with medians filled with trees and flowers. Fire escapes and scaffolding. Tunnels and underpasses. This one is definitely never ending...

Six - pictures! I love photoblog browsing, looking at many of my lovely friends' blogs. Your work inspires, as much as it may not seem like it sometimes - it really, really does. Also, pics in magazines and scenes of movies- visual stimulation is something I look forward to everyday.

Seven, my lucky number ;) Family and friends. Amazingly enough, there are those days when I don't feel like picking up a camera and those are the days that my family and friends turn things around. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate it when I'm pushed and prodded to get out there and take pictures. "It doesn't matter with what, as long as your shooting." - something I'm often told.

I'm basically naming just about everything that comes to mind, so I think maybe that means that LIFE is my muse.

All these things inspire me - I've been writing this in amongst other things for a couple of hours now and I'm basically just jotting down everything that comes to mind. It seems like I'm just writing things I take pictures of, and I am, but at the same time these are things that when I see them, photographically I go nuts with excitement to shoot.

I'm a photogaphy junkie, seriously, I can't be without a camera or pictures.. They're in my core, a part of me, and I think my best advice to those of you, anonymous blog readers, wanting to shoot better is to shoot and often. It's SUPER important - the more you shoot the more in love with photography you'll get and the more amazing your pictures will be.

I think I'll probably go and do that now... ;)

My new collection....

You'd think I was a Film Enthusiast or something with all this -

(left to right : Yashica TLElectro w/a formula5 lens and original 50mm lens (completely manual, from what I can tell) ; a Gossen pilot light meter; a Vivitar 28 (?) flash; a Vivitar PS35 auto point and shoot; a Milolta Maxxum 5000i w/original 35-80mm AF lens and a Samyang AF 70-210mm macro zoom lens; and last but not least a Nikon N2020 base with like 3 lenses- 28 mm, RMC Tokina doubler, 50 mm, and 70-210 mm all AF; a Vivitar 3700 flash; and a couple rolls of film)

Well I'm not not (yes, a double neg = a pos) a film enthusiast - I actually love the thought of taking film shots and developing them myself (tho the darkroom at Columbia is very murder movie-esque)- but I have no idea what I'm doing. With all this stuff though, I figured that I should start figuring it out. SO, with that, I've enlisted the help of a fellow photoblogger, Sebastian a.k.a sull3n, to help me out- actually he offered, but I gladly accepted. He's a true film enthusiast (ok, he just really loves it) and I'm glad because he has passion I can sense when we talk about it that makes me want a taste.

So starting tomorrow I'm going to shoot some film and he's promised he'd pull some film out of the freezer for me and shoot as well. :) 36 exposures, I believe?

I'm VERY excited!

Ok, Sebastian- Ready, Set, GO! :P

A good day...

I woke up today with :
- full 10 hrs of sleep for the first time in like I don't even know how long
- messages in my inbox from three of my favorite photographers (you know who you are!)
- a phone call reminding me that my brother-in-law is on vacation, therefore I wouldn't have babysit(all week)

Not only all that, BUT!

- I got to take my time in the shower
- I have my infamous White Chocolate Coconut Sour Cream Cake in the oven
- I got a request from one of my brother's friends to shoot a wedding on Friday
- And we have a double birthday party tonight!

Today is a Good Day

Oops! Got to Go, cake timer is going off...

Ciao!

"So great is the Father's Love"

I'm sitting here sobbing after having read THIS blog post. For some reason the last picture just totally took me away.
This is something I've been noticing lately - I absolutely LOVE it. I'm not even sure what to say, but someday, I want this.
I want a husband who's everything is his family. Who's love for his children goes beyond disciplining them and beyond a bedtime kiss.
A man who will allow himself to get lost in time with them- forgetting anything and everything-
They'd be his priority.
And while he'd provide for them, wouldn't let providing get in the way of being with them.
God bless the fathers with guts enough to wear pink beaded necklaces their daughters make for them.

Portfolio Additions?

Sorry, y'all, for not being around or really answering to comments lately - I've been so incredibly busy with everything this summer, it's nuts! I'm also still only borrowing Ben's camera on a "when needed" basis, so I'm lacking oodles of pictures this season.

Still, with the lack of camera and the business, I've gotten to take a few pictures that I'm very proud of.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
I present to you- Alyia :)

Nouvelle Couture @ Jedynka

This is it, y'all!
I shot the Nouvelle Couture - Summer '08 Line last Friday. The Designer loved my pictures and has recommended me for another show this Friday! I'm thanking God for all these connections I'm creating already in my career. Only He knows what is in store for me- and from here it's looking pretty sweet!

Thanks also to those of you who told me what equipment to use. It was quite a help, though in the end I had to go with my gut and experience. Most of these were taken with f/3.5 and ISO 800 and the use of the on board flash only. A few had issues with too much light, I need to work on that but over all I was very proud of my product.