This weeks assignment had to include dairy, so I decided to do strawberry milk! I struggled with this assignment a lot. Everything was picking up in the glass and after about 2 hours in the studio (thank you Amber and Sera) we finally got the light the way I wanted. These first two weeks of the second year have not been easy by any means, but I have grown to love the long deluded nights in the studio with my fellow classmates. I am also excited to see how much we all improve in the weeks ahead!
Over the break, Amber and I decided to take another try at natural light photography. This being the only time I actually took my camera out to experiment with some product during the break. I grabbed a couple of random items (including this Instax mini film camera) and some colored computer paper to use for a backdrop, not really knowing what I was going to do when I started to shoot. I forgot how much fun not planning a shoot like this was. It was nice to feel it out and practice some product stuff because it’s something I don’t have a lot of experience with other than when we had our product class. In the end I came out with some fun pictures! Going out and doing more personal ideas and projects is a big goal for me this semester, because I get too caught up sometimes with assignments for class. Hopefully I can find a balance for my personal projects and assignments. (:
Hi friends!
Coming back from break I didn’t know what to expect. I was excited, nervous, and sleep deprived from my horrible sleeping schedule I picked up while out of school. For our first assignment back, I hit a creative block. I hadn’t been practicing my skills as half as much as I should and that definitely showed. I decided to wing it and go with and idea of the playground down the road from school, not really knowing how the final image would turn out. To be honest, I felt really frustrated with myself and I assumed the final image wouldn’t work out the way I wanted it to. Already deciding that I would have to turn in a half-effort looking assignment, I headed back to edit the four images together. I had to flip and adjust the images for a while to fit together right but in the end I decided that I thought it looked pretty cool! Sometimes we can really get into our own heads, remember to be nice to yourself! xx
Frustrated. Drained. Unmotivated. Those are some of the words that describe how I have felt the past couple of weeks. I find myself getting spouts of creativity, but nothing too exiting enough to really give me that nice feeling you get when you’re really excited about what your shooting.
Today while shooting some things for my (very last minute, I know) magazine, I found myself having an exposure issue while trying to get a certain shot. Thinking that I had totally messed the shoot up had me a little bummed. Now looking back on these photos, I kind of dig the dramatic shadows in them with the contrast of her blue eyes. Sometimes I have to remind my self that accidents aren’t always the worst thing in the world!
I’m going to be honest with you guys, finding the motivation to do the plethora of work due in the next coming weeks has been difficult for me. I found myself struggling between taking a mental break, but also getting the work I needed done.
I took these images of Amber for my magazine project where I’ll be going further into experimenting with flowers and portraits! Although My ideas did not come into fruition as I expected them to. It was so hot outside… almost unbearable, considering I burn within two seconds of being out in the sun.
All in all, I ended up having a pretty good break. Could I have gotten a little more work done? Definitely. Would I have gone insane doing said work? Absolutely. Sometimes taking time off can be the best thing you can do for yourself, I hope you all had a wonderful break!
Adelyn’s third birthday party, riding a miniature pony dressed as a unicorn…if that doesn’t tell you how extra this child is I don’t know what to tell you
I was never one for kids. I was always the youngest in the family, so I never had a younger relative to really look after. I always thought babies were cute, but I never felt like having one would impact me; until my niece Adelyn came along. She is the craziest, loudest, most dramatic person I have in my life. But weirdly enough, this crazy three year old has taught me so much about myself.
Having a niece is such a privilege. Watching someone you love grow up and become their own person is an amazing thing. I never knew that having a niece would teach me to have so much patience, and how much better of a person I wanted to be for her. Life can be beautiful in that kind a way.
For my blog this week, I wanted to do something light and fun. Something that would distract me from the overhaul of work we all know too well. While scrolling through Pinterest, I found inspo from a couple of portraits with flowers seemingly stuck on the cheeks of the models. Considering I love both portrait and flowers, I decided to attempt my own interpretation. So I called my sister up, pressed and glued some flowers from her backyard onto her face, and we were good to go! This shoot was so much fun for me, I had almost forgot how much fun photography could be when you are not worried about a certain criteria you have to uphold for your image. It felt good to just go out and shoot and not have to worry about all of the things I usually have to and just have some fun! I had some exposure issues and some blown out highlights, but that just means there is room for more improvement. If you are not already I urge you to go out and shoot things you envision. not for a project or a grade, but for yourself. (:
This week has been a really hard one for me. There have been a lot of hurdles to jump through this week, and I find myself getting into a funk I can’t shake. I can start to become very negative and it’s quite difficult to get out of that when you feel like nothing is going your way. Although, it is important to reflect on the times when things weren’t as difficult. Looking back at these photos, I remembered a time when the weather wasn’t as gloomy, things weren’t as hectic, and that just because I’m having a bad week, it doesn’t mean that things won’t turn around soon. Just remember that beautiful things will always exist, even if it doesn’t exist around you in that moment. my goal going forward in this semester is not to dwell on things that I can’t control, and trying to improve where I can while trying to keep an optimistic point of view.
A couple of weeks ago, I had finally done something I had been wanting to do for a while; go explore something that had been abandoned. I had never gotten around to it due to not really knowing where somewhere cool would be, but also being an absolute scaredy-cat about anything remotely spooky. I had heard of this abandoned school around 20 miles away from where I live from a friend, so I decided to go with her and check it out. 
The high school had caught on fire in the early 2000’s, and was left there to desecrate right in the middle of a neighborhood. I thought about how strange that would be to have to look at everyday, considering this school was gigantic, and was definitely noticeable.
When we walked inside, I started to realize how huge this school really was. There were dozens of rooms with graffiti ridden walls, all deteriorating and green from where nature was starting to take the school back over. This place had reminded me of the abandoned school from the video game Fallout 3, which in return had freaked me out even more. I tried to push that into the back of my head as we went on. 
On the second level as you walked up the stairs, you could tell where the school had set on fire. There were story sized drop off’s where there was nothing left of the foundation that if you peaked over and were afraid of heights, you would have surely fainted. 
As we headed back to the car, I realized that the initial panic had disappeared about 30 minutes in. I’m glad that I had went and overcame that initial anxiety I had when arriving, because I got a cool experience out of it. Although I did run into some issues with balancing the outside light with the inside light and I was a little off with composition, I had a fun experience and hope to improve these issues as I gain more experience! I hope to branch out and explore some other cool places too. Until then, see you next time!
Hello everyone! My name is Brandi Eads. I am 20 years old, and currently a photography student at Randolph Community College. I am starting this blog off initially for school, but I’ve always been interested in the blogging world, and I believe that I could learn something about myself. I have never been the type to put myself out there, or really make my mind up about anything. I would consider myself quite a scatter brain, and this will most definitely mirror what I post. So, enjoy the ride!
Pictures By Brandi 