Miri & Matil, Part II

I was excited to shoot Miriam again this weekend. We had been talking about different ideas since September, so two in one month is great! Her and Matilda were joined by Garth - Miriam's boyfriend. I got a handful of good ones of all three of them. Smiley ones that they can send to family members in a Christmas card, if they wish. I got some of Matilda by herself on a table that Miriam set up with a tiny trees, cloud fluff and empty presents. Others were in front of a wall covered with festive wrapping paper, garland stockings and snowflakes. The one I've decided to post was me, at the end, attempting to play with the sunset. I think they turned out very well. I've decided that I visually enjoy the results of keeping the sun just out of frame, compared to using her body to block the sun to create a back light. The golden glow feels much more professional.

~ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ~

Update, August 2016: Most of these photos (the more obvious edits) were done in 2011. Isn't it just the nicest when our boyfriends/ fiances and husbands pose in pictures with us? They should know it's to be expected with creative girls who love having photo shoots! And although it states that Miriam and Garth were dating during Christmas 2011, they have now been married for almost three years. 

Girl's Night In

Tuesdays are pretty wonderful to me. Thank goodness for Glee to bring us all together. Julie and Ryan came over again tonight. I liked the Christmas episode. One of the better ones since the Season 3 premiere. Afterward, we had a much needed hour-long chat about each of our futures. Michael and I have been talking a lot about money lately and how we will "survive" after this month. His parent's have been so gracious to us, supporting us financially, but there comes a time when we need to ween off and learn how to be responsible adults. Michael doesn't agree with my drastic suggestion of moving into a smaller, less expensive apartment..  

I    N  E  E  D    T  O    P  R  A  Y

Here is my frog comparison that I promised you from yesterday. In these two photos, I favor the shot using the Fujifilm, probably because of the angle and how there were still raindrops on the leaves. The water had dried up a few hours later when I was able to use the Canon. Although it is obvious that the detail is more "crispy".

Edits & Lost

I feel naked without the T2i. Michael took it to work so he could take pictures of the Who's he put noses on. I had a photo idea and ended up using my old pink Fujifilm camera. When Michael comes home I will probably try to take the same pictures with the good camera and compare the two in a post later. Tonight, maybe tomorrow?
 My work days are slowing down. Nothing yet to take pictures of. So I have to find new things. I edited some more pictures of Miriam, when I wasn't at Kirkland's or watching Lost on Netflix. I have a bunch to go, but added some of Francesca doing her Hulk make up. I think its better for me to take lots of pictures of different people. Because then all of the people they are friends with can see the pictures of whoever was tagged. I am currently up to 113 "likes" on my Wild Photography page.

Miri & Matil

During my four-hour shift at Kirkland's, I got to smash up a mirror. That was pretty cool. Luck, schmuck. At noon I drove home, ate lunch, took a mini-nap with Sasha and made it to Miriam's house before 3pm. I am very glad that it stopped raining once I got off the Interstate. This portrait session was a new experience for me. One that I needed. Normally I am telling people how I want them to pose and what facial expressions to make. But Miriam - being the creative genius that she is - had a lot of good ideas in mind and I took pictures how she wanted me to. I was the one taking direction. I liked that. One big idea that I had from the beginning, was to have her new puppy in some of the pictures with her. Matilda is sooo cute! A 10-week-old Boston Terrier. (I really wish I had been around Sasha when Michael first adopted her, about 4 years ago. More today than ever.)
After the shoot I stopped by Full Sail because I was told that someone was filming a music video. I believe it was more like a make-up montage put to music.. Not what I was expecting. I only stayed for about 30 minutes because my friend, Francesca, was there. I got a few good pictures of her making some guy look like a mix between Shrek & the Hulk. I work again tomorrow. After that, the near future is open for more business.

 ~ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ✩ ✬ ✭ ✬ ✩ ☆ ~

Update, August 2016: I had 50 cute pictures in this folder and I only posted one.. Even with such a cute puppy! Here are some more to enjoy. I left them edited the way they were from 2011. I remember I liked the original photo (above) because her face kind of made her look like Jennifer Aniston.

Portraits ~ Sharanya

Michael and I went on another date tonight. Perhaps we can make it a weekly tradition? *Hint, hint*. We had dinner at J. Alexander's. A heaping side of Orzo came with my salmon. It was very interesting with all the different ingredients. I'll have to get it again and/or try to make some myself! We're about to leave to see Breaking Dawn.

Backtrack ~ Tuesday was my second day on set of "Mystic Rain". I didn't get as many pictures that day since I got there at 4pm and they didn't start shooting til the sun went down around 6pm. A lot of people were just standing around, and when I held the camera up to my eye, I didn't look like it would make an interesting picture. I took more once the actors got to set.

Wednesday I worked and editing more pictures. Yesterday my friend, Sharanya, drove down for the day. I feel like we got a lot done. We went to Target for a few items - hair props and make up. The liquid eyeliner she purchased was not very friendly to us. Learn from your mistakes, right? I took her to Michael's GoreFX shop so she could see all the different things he has been working on, including a "secret project". Then the three of us had a delicious lunch at Jason's Deli. Sharanya's photo shoot took place at Dickson Azalea Park (where my Full Sail class shot our 35mm project, Gruff's Bridge, back in January). Sharanya seemed quite hesitant at first, but once she started playing music from her phone and dancing, that seemed to relax her nerves. We got a handful of good shots. On the way home we stopped by CVS and Target again - I bought groceries. I was very worn out last night and went to sleep around 10:30pm. I have another long day tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it.

Cigarettes & Water

Although I spent close to 90% of my life between July 2009 and March 2011 at the same place, I somehow keep forgetting about the smell of potential lung cancer that lingers in the parking lots.  I felt more confident today, doing on-set BTS photography. This time I'm working on "Mystic Rain". I'll be there tomorrow afternoon as well. On my way to the restroom, before I began shooting, I noticed another class in production of their Digital Cinematography project. My curiosity stayed in mind and after three hours on the 35mm sound stage, I stood in front of the DC window again. The door was unlocked and I awkwardly introduced myself to who I needed to, in order to get permission to take BTS pictures. I found it very funny that one of the actors there, Chris de Padua, was also one of the main characters in Blood Widow.

Two nights ago Michael talked to me about needing to find something that motivates me and put my all into that career path. I believe I have found it. I have come up with a few reasons of why God may have planned from the start for me to become an On-Set Photographer. I won't list them now, but I had very strong, positive feelings toward it tonight. Aside from accidentally losing the viewfinder eyecup somewhere on the 35 sound stage (luckily, the replacement is only five bucks), my ride home was incredibly enjoyable.  I won't forget that feeling.

Murder of Crows, Day 3

I didn't make the second day of filming. I was confused about the carpool situation, figured I was running too late to meet everyone and went home. Plus since the location was about 40 minutes away (with terrible morning traffic that I'm not accustomed to), I worried I would run out of gas on the way back and didn't have my card to fill up. "An excuse is just a reason wrapped in a lie." That seems to be the only quote of Joyce Meyers' that I have memorized. I feel like its stuck for a reason..

Anyway, I made sure to leave extra early yesterday and took BTS for about 4 hours. Everyone was nice. The director, Damon, said "hi" to me when I got there. I felt more relaxed yesterday, maybe because I knew the students just a bit better, but there is still a part of me that holds back. I feel like I'm stalking the crew members and actors, trying to capture still frames of their personal "down time" between takes, since I can't shoot during rehearsals or actual takes. My shutter is far too loud and distracting for that. If only I were invisible.. I need to be more open and introduce myself. I did have a couple guys by the sound mixer who asked me to take their pictures. This particular fellow, Joshua, was half posing for me, but it ended up being one of my favorite shots. I did like the location shots far better than on the sound stage. More area to move around, more characters, a full ballroom and not limited to a hallway. You can see the rest of my Behind the Scenes photos here.