Click your heels three times!

So recently I've been looking into how to do product photography... About a month or 6 weeks ago I was commissioned by a local buisness to take some general store and main product photographs for their website and brochures they've been working to update. Throughout the whole project, the experience I had couldn't have been more perfect. It inspired me to learn more about prodcut photography so that when I was commissioned for another project by them or another company, I could continue to give them my absolute best.

The buisness was the Oz Winery out of Wamego, KS. The atmosphere was laid back and fun, with bright colors and lots of natural light.... If you're ever passing through the Wamego area or if youre from a surrounding town and need a great "stay-cation", I would definitely recommend visiting Oz Winery. It's fun to talk with all who work there and (if you're 21 or over) taste a few of their delicious wines! And if you're wanting to add more to your Wizard of Oz experience, Wamego has a museum down the street from the winery and a number of other Wizard of Oz related places to visit, like Toto's Tacoz. Wamego also hosts an Oz themed festival in the first weekend in October, cleverly named Oztoberfest.

All in all, the Oz Winery is a wonderful place that you definitely need to visit.

Here are a few of the photographs I shot for them :)

Here's some photos of a few of the wines you can taste if they're in season when you visit!

(Left column: white wine, middle column: Dessert wine, and right column: red wine)

What I've been up to...

HEY! Let me just tell you right now, its crazy how much you can get done in five months! When I posted last, I was working on my final exhibition for school, doing all kinds of portrait work and basically trying to figure out what it was that I wanted to do with my life once I graduated. Well, the commencement ceremony has come and gone, the party has been planned and executed, the thank you cards have been written and sent out (most of them...), but I still have 3 additional credits I must finish in order to officially graduate. And I couldn't be more excited, yet scared to tell you that I start my final undergraduate class tomorrow morning.

For some reason I thought I'd never have to grow up or really make any sort of plan for my life. I just thought that my "dream job" would be right there for me to grab once I grabbed my diploma but it wasn't. I started to realize that I have no idea what my dream job is. I know its out there and I think for me there could be more than one dream job. I get a special kind of unexplainable thrill from photography, and even though I have no idea where I'm going in life, I know that because of that thrill, no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I'll always be happy as long as I have my camera.

In these past few months I've really been trying to hone my skills and learn to have an open mind when it comes to what I've been commissioned to photograph. While some jobs have been just work to make sure I can survive, others I've really enjoyed and think they could be a nice future possibility for me (I should start a Possibilities book like in the movie The Last Holiday!...Ahhh!). One of these potential routes would be food photography.

I love food, I love photography, so why not join them together? :)

I'm on Pinterest and have already pinned a bunch of recipes (and crafty DIY projects) that I would like to attempt and photograph so I can show you all the different sides to who I am as an artist. Food and product photography are what I'm enjoying right now, and I hope you'll enjoy them with me.

Here are some red, white and blue rice crispy treats I made for my family's 4th of July festivities! Here's the recipe if you're interested :) 

http://lilluna.com/fouth-of-july-rice-krispies-treats/

Rachel, you are absolutely wonderful.

The weekend we spent together eating caramel apples, creating musical breakfasts and having a picnic on the Nelson-Atkins' grassy knoll, will always be in my favorite memories!

I wish you the best of luck finishing up your senior year & can't wait to see where the Lord takes you :)

Temperance Ann- 1 year

These photographs are some that I took for Temperance's 1 year old photos!

She's growing up so fast!

FloRida PanoRamMania.

Beach!

OCEAN!!

Booaaaats!

MORE BEACH!

I seriously need to live near the oceeaaaaan!!! LOVE THE WATER.

Ohhhh my goodness, it's been forever since I've posted anything! And well, a lot has happened since then... Two of the best are that I've presented my BFA Exhibition, and I got to go to Florida for Thanksgiving break! It was a much needed break that couldnt have come at a more perfect time.

I rode on a train from Norman, OK to Dallas. It was my first time on a train, but thanks to the new friend I made, it definitly wont be my last. Her name is Ms. Cynthia and we instantly clicked. I felt like she had been a friend of mine for a while and this was us using every second we could to reconnect. We discovered that we had the same train back, and thought it'd be great to find eachother and sit together again. I was getting a little discouraged when I didnt find her in the Ft Worth train station, but I found her as we were boarding and I couldnt have been happier. She continued to tel me all about her life, including a fun lunch group she goes out with, her photographer husband & family, and the various volunteering positions she's held throughout her life. She was inspiring and very easy to get along with. I saw no judgement in her eyes and loved me for who I was, even though she just met me.

I even got her address to hopefully send her a Christmas card and visit her in the near future :)

More Florida photos to come later!

BFA Shoot: Day 2

Today I finished up my photoshoot for BFA. It was pretty stressful & the stress has not competely gone away, but I'm very pleased with the images I got. Thank you so much to the people who participated in the photos!

Here's more "behind the scenes" photos from today's shoot :)

Kirsten being used for a test shot.

This is my dear friend, Lizbeth!!!

:D

Aaaaaand, a collage of portraits taken by her.