Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Day 18: A Photo Depicting an Emotion






I'm slowly coming around to an idea. Life is more than salaries and benefits and 401ks...more than perfect schools and perfect grades and a great neighborhood. Life is more than iPhones and Facebook and Internet. SO much more. I want a radical life...I want something more than this. I'm scared to leave comfort and I'm scared of where it will lead, but it's got to be better than the deadness I feel in my soul. The loneliness, the bitterness, the hopelessness that often creeps in. And materialistically there should be absolutely no reason for that; I have anything I could ever need...a loving family, friends, a place to live, food, and plenty of clothes and toys, just to name a few. It just doesn't make any sense. But joy is becoming harder to find and I feel like entitlement and my desire for the approval of others is poisoning my life and suffocating any feeling of freedom. I'm done. I'm so done. I don't have a clue how to get out of this, but I'm just trying to find God and what he wants to do with me. And my terrified, probably reluctant but anticipatory self will try to follow through. It will probably look like one step forward and two back, but as long as I'm moving in that direction, I feel like I'll be OK.

I don't know what emotion that is...restlessness, defeat? But that's where I'm at.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Day 17: Light

"Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished."
- Michael Strassfeld


I modified this one...it was street lights, but I didn't like how those turned out. This, on the other hand, I like. It reminds me of this post last year. The cobwebs are just a Halloween decoration, otherwise that would be pretty gross. But shining light on the cobwebs is kind of metaphorical...hmmm...do with that what you will.

My realization today: I have no idea what I'm doing or where I'm going. It's simultaneously exciting, terrifying, and incredibly frustrating. But, somehow, always worth it. Need to stop trying to force things to happen in my life.

And that, my friends, is it for tonight...because my head is stuffed with cotton balls, and I'm going to try and sleep it off. Goodnight :)

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Day 16: Light Trails!



Leave the shutter open for awhile, and you can do some pretty fun things. I would love to get better at taking long exposure shots.

But really, on another note...

Jessica Ridgeway. She's been on the news, on the minds, and on the hearts of so many the past week. My heart literally aches for this little girl who had to go through such a horrific experience that no one should EVER have to go through. You can't explain it, and you can't even begin to wrap your mind around it...so you pray for peace and resurrected hope over their family in a life without their daughter. I want peace for her family that comes from the realization that she was in the arms of Jesus the whole time. Peace for everyone else in that, as well. People are broken. But God can work His purposes through any tragedy. Rest in peace, Jessica.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Day 15: Whatever You Please


I LOVE FALL!! Ah. Today was perfect...I'm glad it was chilly, because I wore a sweater. I need to go thrifting for a sweet Halloween costume as well...hmmm. Any ideas? Let me know.

When I got my iPhone recently, I was all worried that I would get sucked into Instagram and ditch my actual camera. And it's cool, but I feel so lame on it. Ha. And I've noticed that all of the hashtags, although I know that they can serve a purpose, are ultimately for looks. I feel like such a poser when I use them, as weird as that sounds. #hashtagsareweird. I also need to be OK when people don't like my pictures. Haha. One step at a time.

For the record, I still love my camera. :)

Monday, October 8, 2012

Day 14: Eyes



"Almost nothing need be said when you have eyes."
-Tarjei Vesaas; The Boat in the Evening

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Day 13: Favorite Photo Edit


The view in the picture is what I wake up to most early weekday mornings...the sun painting the sky on my blinds. Below is what the picture looked like before (still pretty awesome):


As far as editing pictures, I don't like to change much if it's not needed. I like the simple brightness and contrast feature! It's amazing how it can transform a picture. I'm a fan of bold colors, and contrast in moderation. I recently discovered the "curves" feature on photoshop, and I'm in love. It's cool to try and balance out brightness and contrast in order to bring depth to a picture. Anyways, that's my favorite photo edit!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Day 12: Bokeh

I learned what "bokeh" was in my last photo challenge, and I have that definition here. This photo has bokeh towards the top of the picture, so not quite the entire thing. Does that count? :)


I'm pretty excited for Halloween. And need to go costume hunting sometime this weekend! Woo!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

I'm still here, I promise...

Just trying to make some time... :) it has been a crazy busy week. I promise another picture soon!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Day 11: B&W


So I realized that yesterday I also had a black and white picture. Whoops...oh well. :) What a day. That's all that can really be said. Something to look forward to this week: I will be stepping from the land of flip phones into the land of iPhones. Stoked. I'll let you know how it goes.

Goodnight!