one of the most beautiful places i've seen.

this was in a Malawian village called Herema.
it was breathtaking,
we were surrounded by mountains,
and we got to meet so many beautiful people who lived here.
eeeeee. loved it.


- shan

Rice Sale---------

On the way to one of the villages, we stopped at the market for groceries. This man was selling rice, and his family was off to the side watching. I asked if I could take a photo of his family, he agreed, and then we talked for a while.

i love the simplicity of the life they live.
growing the rice, selling the rice...

rice sale,
Shannon

Hike! (((((GRIFFITH PARK!!)))))))

A bunch of people who all live in my apartment building went on a hike. AT GRIFFITH PARK!! My favorite place!!! I think that Los Angeles is beautiful, and I love that we can take a random hike in the middle of the city.

Here's Ro and I eating rice krispie squares.
i had five, which to me, seemed normal,

just doing stretches because of how difficult the hike was,

la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

ohh hikes.
i love them,
when there's rice krispie squares.

kind of athletically challenged,
------------------shan

Prepare to be sicked out.

Yes, sicked out.

I learned that term from my friend Heidi, and I think it's especially appropriate for what I'm about to share:

MICE ON A STICK.

While I was in Malawi, our translator, Edwin, wanted to stop and buy a snack. He had our driver stop in the middle of a little village, and he got out of the van and bought some mice. You know how we buy.... hotdogs? Well, Malawians buy mice. And they eat them as casually as we eat Twix bars. Just, a little snack. No prob.

They were perched on the dashboard of our van for the next two days. Two, days. Bouncing along, as we drove for hours along the bumpy dirt roads of Malawi.

we got used to the smell after a while, i think

possibly

here's to new experiences. :)

anybody have a gross food experience they'd like to share?

some more Tropicana 4x5 photos-----

Here's my next exploration of Tropicana with the 4x5 camera, complete with my digital proofs. If I could encourage you with one bit of insight, it's to be open with your expectations.

All of these photos came out differently than I envisioned, but they all ended up with qualities that I absolutely love. I am learning to not get caught up in fear, but to just go for it. In this case... I had total fear of a new piece of equipment that I wasn't very familiar with, but since this was a project for my photography class, there was no option! I had to do it!

Here's the first example of a completely different outcome that I had intended. These got exposed to a bit of extra light, and therefore: yellow! ha--- i totally love it.

here's the digital. i think the yellow actually makes the photo better by highlighting the shadows. and to me, its unbelievable that they are done on FILM--- with no photoshop. Natural weirdness. love it.

i hate this one, it's boring to me,

here's our nice pool-centerpiece.

clearly quite underexposed
or--- i could call it NIGHT.

also underexposed, but love it love it

and ha--- here's the digital version. the light meter was broken i think... either that, or I'm deficient... but like I said up there--- the weird mess-ups are intriguing to me.---sunrise---

here's my setup for those two shots,

MY FAVORITE ONE OF THE DAY!
(well, battling the 2nd yellow one)

and--- the setup.
now. see that window on the top right? a guy was in a shower singing opera while i was taking the shot, so i tiptoed around and tried not to make noise so i didn't creep him out.

film

digital

setup

film!

digital!

love!

now--- what i DON'T want to communicate... is that a lack of technical skill is okay. I think that I should get better at exposure... and get better at not exposing my film to light.

but,

since I sincerely tried my best, I can have two attitudes to the yellow, underexposed outcome.

one, hate the photos, reshoot, feel bad about myself,

or two, embrace the photos, love them, learn how to improve next time, and have rockin naturally yellow photos that would never be seen unless i saw potential in them.


this is where my optimism comes into play very well,
because i choose option two.




can you comment and tell me an option two situation you've encountered this week?
please?

love to you,
shannon

Heather and David----- Dana Point to the max

I love Heather and David.

I had never met them before their engagement session, and we had an absolute blast. These two are such a perfect match, and hearing their story was so fun for me. They're getting married in December after dating for two and a half years, and they couldn't be more excited!

I totally loved Dana Point, because we were so close to the water, but were able to find all of these neat places. It was perfect!

and i think that this is my favorite. you guys look SO HOT!

oooo- and i love this next series. they are beautiful people,

this photo may or may not be the three of us
making fun of beach engagement photos

they took me to the gazebo where they got engaged

rock on!!! you guys are awesome.

so much love,
shannon