Portraits Again =)

We'll see if Rachel hates me for posting these...but they're going up =)

I finally took her birthday portraits (only a few months late)--and here are the best few!

Rachel's good at...posing. Can ya tell?

 

Wondering yet whether there were any real portraits? Well, for your information, this was quite possibly the fastest photo shoot I've ever done. It literally took us about five minutes. Mostly 'cause we were freezing. And this next photo was the actual result I needed =)

Yes, I'm kinda proud of my camera, for taking it =)

Also, I'm at a hotel a long way from home, for a friend's wedding this weekend...it's a very nice hotel, but the internet's really slow. This happened to remind me of...a very entertaining video.

Yes, I love Julian Smith...I'm sorry if that bothers you. I think he's awesome. Have fun watching =)

More photos will hopefully be coming soon! (But not necessarily today...since this internet is slow...)

Something Different

So I usually post pictures, but I recently rediscovered this poem that I wrote a few years ago, and it made me laugh...so I thought I'd share =)

The Sad Event

While I cleaned out my goldfish bowl—

So that mom would not nag—

To keep him from the sink’s dark hole,

I put him in a bag.

But somehow prison he escaped

While I had looked away.

The sink disposal hole, it gaped

And swallowed up its prey.

My sister then walked in the room

And headed to the sink.

I tried to stop her, avert doom—

She did not even blink.

She flipped the switch, my goldfish died;

We could not get him back.

I left in tears, I sat and cried

For my untimely lack.

So now I’m praying for a dog

To take my fish’s place.

I need a dog, since they don’t fit

Down disposal space.

Of course, another reason to want a dog: 

...they're soooo adorable (and photogenic)! =)

Hope you're having a wonderful day before Christmas Eve!

I'M BACK =D

After my long hiatus (which brought many of you to tears, I'm sure, as you loaded the blog and realized there were no new posts), here are the promised pictures...from November. But they're happy pictures, so maybe you'll forgive me =)

For fall break (when the crazy students among us went out to campaign with lots of teenagers and get next to no sleep), Marjorie invited a bunch of us up to her family's farm to hang out...it was a wonderful time of rest and laughter...as these pictures will attempt to prove...

The wonderful (central-heating-less) newly-painted house: home base =) 

Early morning walks: awesome photo opportunities!

See, we were happy =) 

We found a bunny! (Can you find him?)

The boys wanted to kill it...I didn't.

Amazing views from Eagle's Dare...

The hills are alive... =)

My converse like to go places with me =) 

Nick's favorite spot on the property...

 Exploring new-ish territory.

The views from halfway down the mountain--Marjorie loves the farm =)

I feel like this should have some epic title...but I can't think of one...

It was a perfect time to catch up on devotions...out in the middle of nature, with no cell phones or internet to distract us =)

Proof of our exhaustion: we sat and played with the glow sticks Justin brought for like...two hours. Quite happily =)

And one final proof of the beauty that surrounded us...great thanks to the Somervilles for sharing it with us!

So School Kinda Took Over My Life...

I have photos from November that I haven't finished editing...yeah. And my life has been crazy, and I've been sick...but God has been overwhelmingly good, and really, that's all that matters. Soooo in light of the fact that an awesome friend (check out his blog: Excellent Encounters) put me on his blogroll and I realized people actually do occasionally see this...here's a promise that I will update. TOMORROW. Really. Just not now, 'cause I'm tired...and when I write blog posts/captions when I'm tired...I say slightly moronic things. Mmmhmm. Check back tomorrow =)

But not early. 'Cause it's break...and there's no way I'm getting up before 9 AM.

The "After-Portrait" Session

During most of my portrait sessions, I have an audience that follows me around the property and distracts my subject. At the end, then, I often have to take a few seconds and grab some photos of them, because they want their turn in front of the camera...and sometimes the results are hilarious =)

 Despite the fact that she was dying to get her picture taken, Katherine decided to run away from the camera...

...without watching where she was going =)  

They were all eating onion strings...and pretending to be little country children =)

This series makes me crack up.every. single. time.

And these two are my absolute favorites =) They're just so random and happy...

Okay, and this photo needs an explanation: Amanda and Michael were standing there...and they reminded me of the painting "American Gothic." So I had Anna run to the garage and grab a shovel so I could take my own version of it...and here it is =)

Obviously not perfect, but it does remind me of the painting...so it makes me happy. And there you go =)

It's Break! Oh Yeah, and Here Are Photos of Anna for You =)

So, I love photos. And I love my sisters. But the biggest, and most important-feeling, news of the hour is that FALL BREAK HAS STARTED!! We're all just a little bit excited, in case you couldn't tell. Despite the fact that it's just four days off...it's our first break so far (other than Labor Day). So PHC students are rejoicing right now, and scattering to the four corners of the country to enjoy our short time off...

In other (more photo-related) news, Anna finally got her birthday portraits taken =) I don't have a ton of pictures from this shoot, because I had a lot of ideas that didn't work out quite as well on camera as they did in my mind...but I only needed one official one =) So here's what I ended up with...

This one wasn't super exciting...it was the first photo of the evening, just to test the light. But it turned out to be a very nice photo...but I can get at least a little more creative than that =)

Ahhh, gorgeous sunset light...Anna's so much easier to take pictures of than the youngest kids: when you say "look at the camera and smile," she actually knows what to do! It's great =)

This was the "show some attitude" picture =)

Okay, not really. But I was tired of her hands down in front of her, so we tried this =) 

The glow of the sun is sooo cool...before I edited it, it was way stronger...like you could hardly see Anna for all the glow... 

And this is my favorite, the one we're going to use for her official 11-year-old portrait. Despite the fact that it's obviously fall, and her birthday is in August. Last year's photo has traces of snow behind her, and she's wearing a winter jacket--this is a big improvement =) 

Anyway...I don't have any parting words of wisdom for you...I had a Latin test today, plus homework due (plus lit and work and chapel and other stuff)...so my brain is shot. But I'll post again soon with some other fun photos I took this same day =)

Oh, also--I have too much free time right now, so if you are (for some reason) dedicated enough to read to the bottom of these posts, here is a warning that the look of the blog might change a little. Not sure, but there are cool things I could do. So I might. Sorry if it's confusing =)

(Oh, and look--capital letters came back! Aren't you excited?)

Okay, I'm really done now...

In Which Katherine Gets Her Own Photo Shoot

i.e. prepare for lots of cuteness =)

and in which I am also reminded how hard it is for me to take horizontal portraits that I like. (though the next post will prove that I can, in fact, do it on occasion.)

and in which I apparently become like e.e. cummings and develop an immense distaste for capital letters.

anyway. on to katherine.

isn't she adorable?

she's a little tricky to take pictures of, especially when she has a big audience distracting her...but it's a ton of fun...

...because the results are always just so darn cute =) 

also. white tables make amazing natural reflectors. which I didn't realize till after we were done and I was looking at the photos. but they do. (note to self: have subjects sit/stand on white tables whenever possible) 

plus, the light was beautiful...fall sunsets are (as the last post, I think, pretty well proved) amazing for photographers. I enjoy taking advantage of it with my portrait sessions...the benefit of having subjects who live with you and can be ready in five minutes =)

ah, here's proof of the challenges I dealt with =) this is her "camera smile." she thinks this is what she's supposed to look like...not exactly what I was going for...

but you know, it'll make a great photo for her graduation/wedding slideshow someday =) I hope I get put in charge of that...

(capital letters will return next time (probably). though I really enjoy the look of writing without them...and the idea that I'm like e.e. cummings in some small way...)