Thursday, August 30, 2007

just be you, it works.

i've been wonderfully reminded lately how lucky I am to be part of such a talented family. I'm the oldest of five kids, and all of us are so different! My mom's birthday was a few weeks ago, and I gave her these photos of each of us. We barely have any recent ones, which had to change. So, I secretly took each kid's photo in our backyard and gave them to her for her birthday.

>>the leith family

Jason, one of the few family members without a blog, is the silly funny kid in the family. He plays the keyboard in Sun From Shadow, his band. PLUS: he's a fine artist: He draws and paints! he is so so so good. it's incredible. He's a senior in high school. carson. we look alike, and are called the Brownies of the family. He's a sophomore in high school and is the lead singer for his band Sun From Shadow. Read his poetry on his blog. He's so good.
Heather, the 14 year old actress who has the quirkiest sense of humor I've ever encountered. She's the youngest, and somehow has survived having 3 older brothers and an older sister. Along with acting, she's a writer!
Here's Ryan, the film-maker/musician with two tattoos, plugs, and cool jeans. He's in his second year at Biola, so we see each other all the time! (well, we see each other mostly because we share a car. Ryyyyyy, where's the carrrrrrrrrrrr is one example of a typical interaction.) I've always wanted glasses like his. And a fauxhawk like his.
and then me. Ryan took it. the 20 year old senior at Biola art major who likes photographing life!
i like how our parents didnt make us do any sports or anything like that: we all chose what we wanted to do, and its been cool to see each person pursuing things they love.

i'll post about my parents soon, when i have a chance to take a photo of them. they are both business people. ha-- how did they get all these art/music/film kids?

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

secret facts!

{the road leading up to my house}
eight small details about myself
that you might not have known.

the lovely Lauren Hillary tagged me, this little game is happening among all the photographers' blogs, and now its my turn to share!

WELL.
number one. i didn't like art until my senior year of high school. I wanted to be a 4th grade teacher up until I took a trip to Kenya and fell in love with exploring the world through art and photographs. i had never even drawn until a few months ago! i'm new in this art-world. i love it, but i'm definitely new.

two: my favorite color has never been a color, it was black a few years ago, then grey, and now it's white!

three. berries taste good with everything! i eat them on pasta, in sandwiches, sprinkled on salads... oh, speaking of sprinkles: have you ever tried rainbow sprinkles on pizza? SO GOOD!

4. I read backwards. From the bottom of the page up. A little bit psychotic? yes. but-- it does help me get the main idea quicker. And, I don't like doing things the boring way. haa

5. sometimes i don't shave my legs or do my laundry for months at a time, and no, i'm not exaggerating. {can we still be friends?}

sixx-- directions and i don't mix. i've lived in La Mirada for 3 years and and got lost going to the highway the other day. *sigh*

7. I'm 5'10", wear size 10 shoes, weigh 145 pounds.
(Is that one boring?)

eight: i cut my own hair when i see an area that needs a little spice. also regarding haircuts: I never go to the same person twice. Two haircuts ago I told the guy to "just do some fun hair-art" and to be "led by the spirit" and I walked out with a real mullet. i had him recut it. Ahhh! I'm not that brave!


now its time for lindsey, blx, el, mr. robbie commenter, brady, and hollie to write some secret facts. for those of you without blogs, commentt!

Monday, August 27, 2007

just trying things...

this is the first time i used my polaroid without a flash! it seeped in all this light, and turned orange, and i am in love with it.



love, shan

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Apartment Necessities: asparagus and bowtie pasta




i went shopping for apartment-groceries for the first time
i was so excited that i shopped for about an hour and a half,
picking out just the right things.

apples
spelt
bowtie pasta (MY FAVORITE!)
cheese
marinara sauce
golean crunch!
honey yogurt
avocados
tomatoes
bread
bagels
animal crackers!
babycarrots
white macaroni and cheese
coffeeeeeeee
mustard
CHICKEN, mmm.
frozen corn
basil !!!
milk
spelt (a grain, kind of like rice)
chocolate.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

photos from a field that i love



This summer I discovered a wide open field next to my track-home, Southern-Californian neighborhood. Seriously, I never knew about it, and it's literally right around the corner from my house.

It's amazing what you see when you actually
look
!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

the best emotionally-charged, full of life, mid-moment photo ever.


i just melt at this photo.
so in the moment!
what's going through their heads at that moment?

right now i feel like my world might explode and crush me...
and i know that everything can't be wonderfully full of bliss,
but it seems like its been too long since i've
had one of these mmmmmm life moments, like they're having.

its when my heart audibly screams PAY ATTENTION TO ME!
that i know i have to go drink some iced tea outside or something.
you know?


the really pretty, really fun Alpha girls

this is the RA staff from Alpha Chi.
We fulfilled one of my life visions:
to stroll down Beach Blvd and take photos.
I absolutely love that street because of all the great buildings, colors, textures, light... so I'm excited that they let me take them there to explore!
here's the RD, Dawn.
and her lovely staff.aren't they fun?

{thanks for helping me bring the beach blvd vision to life!}

Sunday, August 19, 2007

art while driving

Joy and Michael's Wedding!

When we first met, Joy told me that her wedding was going to be in Inglewood, but that I'd never know it. Boy was she ever right!! Directly next to LAX, in the middle of run-down LA, was the most beautiful Victorian house that Joy and Michael were married at. Gardens, fountains, antiques... it was absolutely incredible. If anyone needs to know how to plan the classiest Inglewood wedding the world has ever seen, talk to Joy McCoy.

okay, this is possibly one of the most unique wedding day moments I've seen: Grandpa measuring his granddaughter on the day of her wedding!! He has fourteen grandchildren, and this door is covered in names and ages and dates and heights. ahh! I love this!!
her shoes were so precious.
just hanging out on the counter
blythe {my wonderful friend!} was my
assistant and took this one of me in ac-tion.
again, one of my favorite wedding moments.
Ashley, glamorously eating corn on the cob
We were by a wheelbarrow or something and I told Amy, "now you just need a farmer boyfriend!" I already have one! "you DO?" yup
here is the beautiful Joy :)
i couldn't get enough of all the lace!
this window had such great light coming in.
i absolutely loved kim's hair.
side swept curls are the best best best.Michael, looking amazing in his hand-tied (!!) bow tie.
!
they asked if they could fight for their group photos,
i said yes
then they gave me a few smiling ones. :)
these centerpieces ruled. pears! and asparagus!!sweet thing.
they were glowing the entire day
blythe took this rad abstract
and... one last favorite!
thanks for taking me to the place that i now want to copy you and get married at, mainly for the amazing wallpaper, and of course, all the lace.

it was a lovely day :) joy and michael i am glad to know the two of you. family photos when Riley arrives, okay?

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Ellen and Alex and Tropicana

I'm moving in to Tropicana today-- my new apartment, which you will be hearing a lot about this year, because I am absolutely ecstatic about it.

So many good things.
#1, it's completely teal
#2, i will have things like a kitchen and a couch
(luxuries after living in a dorm room!)
#3, i have the best roommates ever ever ever
#4, these are the people who are in charge:el and alex and i collaborated on this little welcome postcard that each person will get when they move in! ahhhh! i'll pretend to be surprised when i find it in as i move in today. we did the photos outside of trop-- I need to post more of them this week, because they are so much fun.

okay, time to go put the boxes that i still haven't unpacked from the beginning of the summer back into the car to move in.

i cant wait
!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Tjepkema Family Photos!

Yesterday I did a family portrait session for the Tjepkema's. We had so much fun together! Being in college-land, it's always fun to hang out with families-- especially when there's little kids!
here's Reagan! she was such a crack up.
sweet Lila.Nate set up his train to show me.
I love this shot.
Kim and Travis!
each of their expressions just makes me melt.
woo-hoo for family photos!