1 week

I had an assignment for photography this last weekend. Going off advice from my teacher on this photo:

I waited ALL weekend for a chance to reshoot it. This was the result:

Clearly 2 different moods because the snow stopped as I was shooting. Curse you weather. But I can't complain too much since I did get a pretty good shot...I think. In class today, it looked like Andrew became part of the wall...but to me right now (and as I was editing it), that was not the case. All the same, I used my extensive knowledge of dodging and burning and added that little rim of light to his right side. I still like the rain in the other one, but I think this is the one that is going into my portfolio. (Which PS closes NEXT FRIDAY!)

Thoughts?

Eaten Alive

Sounds morbid enough, right?

Well I'm sure everyone in their life experiences the exact feelings I am right now.

This photography application thing is absolutely eating me alive. It's so much pressure, I'm not even sure I'll make it sometimes. I just wanna throw in the towel and curl up with a good book.

I'm so stressed out that I spend each day absolutely uninspired. It's like every time I pick up my camera, I feel physically ill and I want to hide it away somewhere.

Only one more week. The application closes next Friday and then I can be rid of the stupid thing. After that, the next anyone will hear of it will be a post that looks something like this:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The tonality of the post will be dependent upon the letter I get in the mail. =P

And now, I have to stop talking about it because I can already feel my pulse quickening.

Busy Busy Me

Guess what? I reactivated my facebook page.

Then I immediately deactivated it again.

I'm so fickle. =P

Anyhow, I haven't had much to do at work lately so that leads me to planning out exactly how I am going to spend my weekend. I am not sure what happened to me between high school and now, but I've developed OCD or something. I plan and organize to the point that sometimes...its all I do. Maybe I should talk to my therapist about that...

Aaaaaaaaaaanyhow, ignoring the fact that I'm almost certainly insane, I discovered that I'm pretty booked this weekend. I have a Japanese paper to write...but that's really the only homework I have. The rest is all fun...but its all on Saturday too. I have pictures from an anniversary shoot to edit, an engagement shoot to do on Saturday, lunch with friends, and I promised our friend we would go see his play. You guessed it, Saturday is the only day we can fit that in.

I guess the editing can be done on Friday after school. But everything else is planned for Saturday. Looks like I'll only be sleeping in til 9...but who says that's a bad thing.

It's gonna be a fun weekend!

Oh, and did I mention, this engagement session marks my first paid session?! :)

Oh and also, I've got my garden almost all the way planned out. This year is gonna be AMAZING! :)

Random Cravings

I want onion rings. Particularly the onion rings one might find at say....Goodwood.

JCWs will work as well.

Dancing in my sweats

It wasn't a laze around in my sweats day, it was actually a very busy day. And so, I have decided that now it is a laze around in my sweats day. The weather was great today and I got many good things done so I deserve it.

 Dinner is ready and Andrew isn't even home yet (should be any moment) so in the meantime, I'm having fun just rocking out to everything from Death Cab for Cute to Disney to Bryan Adams and AHA....in my tiny kitchen...in my sweats. The music is so loud I probably won't hear Andrew come in. Won't that be a surprise for both of us.

It's also something only Andrew ever gets the privilege to see...because I don't dance. =P

Life is fantastic! :)

Nothing of Substance

I don't really post anything interesting about my life on this blog anymore. Mostly just cooking adventures and photography adventures.

Oh wait. That IS my life lately =P

Anyhow, yeah...this post has really nothing to say either. I am just waiting for Andrew to finish his reading for class so we can go to bed. I'm beat. I woke up feeling gross today so I skipped most of my classes. Actually, all my classes except for photography because who skips photography?

Speaking of photography, I've only got about 3 more weeks to get my portfolio together. My life is like a roller coaster of emotions. Some days I feel really confident and ready to take on the world, and other days I sink into this hole and wish I could cover myself with a rock because there is no way I'll ever get into the photo program. It's fun. Lemme tell ya.

This last weekend was more of a hole and a rock weekend, but it got better on Sunday when the weather was nice enough for Andrew and I to take a walk. And Monday I was back to being able to take on the world. I showed my teacher my portfolio and he especially liked 5 of the pictures and was on the fence about 2 or 3 of them. That means I just need 2 or 3 more solid photos and I should be ready to submit. *crosses fingers* I'm not gonna think about that right now though because I can feel myself sinking back into my hole and I have midterms to focus on right now anyhow.

Man, this month is gonna be rough. But here are the pictures I submitted for my latest assignment. I originally liked the warmer photo but I think now I like the more balanced photo due to the complementary colors in it. I should have had Ali sit really still though, since it was a longer exposure. Whoops.

I spent an entire hour setting up the shot and paying strict attention to the rule of thirds and then you know what? I ended up cropping the whole image down in lightroom, big time. =P Oh well.

Speaking of lightroom. Lightroom 4 just came out! just in time too, because my trial for 3.6 just ran out! =P Yep, still living from trial to trial. But, as soon as finances clear up, we're actually going to buy lightroom! Buy it! I'm as giddy as a school girl just thinking about it!

And with the new iPad out, I can get an iPad2 for only 399 now! Granted that screen on the new iPad ALMOST makes it worth the extra 100 dollars but...

Ha. Yeah right, I talk like I'm actually getting an iPad. =P

Anyhow, here are those pictures.

Oh, and here is a re-edit of a picture that I took a long time ago. We had to do a black and white for class, so this is what I did. It's so going into my portfolio.

This book changed my life

If anyone knows me at all, I'm sure they know I'm a little bit obsessed with America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated. It started with a video game I bought myself for my birthday, and quickly escalated from there when I bought this book.

I read it as a bedtime story every night until I got married. I think my roommates laughed at me. Actually I know at least one of my roommates laughed at me. It was a cold November evening and she was just settling into bed when I exclaimed, "BRILLIANT! I know how to make moist pork chops now!"

And I do. Not because the recipe told me how, but because science told me how.

Those who may be unfamiliar with America's Test Kitchen won't know it, but not only are the recipes tried and true, all the science and reasoning behind everything is also written in the cookbook. It wasn't recipes I was reading as bedtime stories, it was science.

Now, I hate science as much as the next person...in school...but once you find the science that suits you, I guess it just turns into magic!

If anyone knows me at all, they will also know that on Pinterest, I pin food almost exclusively. Again, just a tad bit obsessed.

But recipes online aren't necessarily tried and true. Sometimes, crappy cooks post recipes and they need a little more science to make them actually work. *cough cough* allrecipes.com *cough*  I can't tell you how many recipes I've tried off that site that were lacking on so many levels. (to be fair, I don't think anyone is silly enough to pin those recipes...but maybe I just don't even look at them)

But I just had an epiphany last night! I can pin all I want and be confident in the result (when I actually get around to making it). I know how they WHY behind everything that goes on in my kitchen! I learned principles from that book that I can now apply to anything! I know how to cook!!! :)

I know, you're all laughing at me just like my roommates did when I bought that cookbook. But trust me, there is a reason America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated hold prominent places on my bookshelves.

Andrew, who eats my food every night,  isn't laughing. Except when I do stupid things like get jalapeno oil in my nose and my eyes water so bad that I turn off the oven and turn on the stove instead of the other way around...and then put my oven mitt on the stove and catch it on fire.

Hey, cookbooks can't teach me EVERYTHING, ok?! =P

Anyhow, I highly recommend at least checking one of the ATK cookbooks out at the library. I currently have 9 out and 3 on reserve =P