M + J Engagement Shoot

For every shoot I do, I like to learn as much as I can about the person or people I am photographing. This is only natural of course. By understanding your subject you as a photographer are able to gain a bit of insight into their life to better capture their essence and beauty in your image.

As soon as they began to tell me about their relationship I was instantly inspired. Being an active and outdoorsy couple, I could easily relate to their appreciation of nature. When it was mentioned that the two of them loved water, my mind began to race with ideas for possible shots to do. A few locations were recommended to me but a waterfall was a must. I scouted out the different shooting locations before deciding on the perfect spot for them.

But as with all things, the shoot did not go completely as planned. When I arrived, as the sun was rising, I took a quick walk through the park once more to test the lighting in each area. Unfortunately the beautiful waterfall that I specifically picked this particular location for was not currently flowing. The water was very low that day which surprised me because of all the rain we had received that week. It was also a bit of a surprise because I had just been there a few days before when it was flowing perfectly. 

Even with this small setback we as artists must do our best to achieve our vision. I wanted this shoot to go well for this adorable couple so I went to work with what we were given. I am pleased with the outcome even if it wasn’t as I had initially intended it. I believe that this is not only an important part of being an artist but also just as human beings in general. We must learn to go with the flow (no pun intended) and tackle challenges head on.  

Click Here to see the full shoot.

Job Hunt and Game Polish

Looking for a job is hard. Although I have been spending countless hours with my eyes glued to my computer screen in hopes that I may find a job opening in a field I will enjoy, it hasn't stopped me in my search. With graduation coming up I need to have some idea of what I am going to do to pay my student loans. In the meantime, I continue on with my class work and honing some photography skills.

Along side that there is obviously still FireFight. This game is scheduled to be finished some time in May. So hold tight! Below is a picture of our new level select screen. We are really excited to work on polishing the game and making it the best that it can be with our given time frame.

Game Festival

Submitting your game to a festival can be scary. A lot of pressure is being put on you to have the best and most fun game out of all the other submissions. It can also be pretty interesting and informative, especially if you're sending your game to another country.

We did not toss aside the idea of sending our game into the Brazilian Indie Game festival (BIG). With some research we found out that a lot of Brazilians are actually learning English from American video games. So why not? We will take any chance we have to get our game out there and recognized. We are definitely looking for some great feed back after the festival.

Although we will not be flying out their ourselves, it is still a chance to spread the word about our game. Hopefully this will be an enriching experience for us as a team; working together with a set deadline in mind and specific requirements and polish.

Surviving Class Registration

It's that time of year again (no not Christmas)! Class registration is one of the most frustrating and hernia-inducing things about college (at least from my own experience). Not only do you have to battle your friends and classmates for a spot in that particular class that is only offered spring semester but you also have to fight the rush on the registration site. That means staying up until midnight sitting on that site, refreshing the page every 2 minutes waiting to be able to press that "register for sections" button.

The key to this is to get a good nights sleep the night before if you do not stay up until midnght on a regular basis (like myself). Eating well is also important. A dinner with lots of carbs, like rice and pasta, will give your body an extra boost of energy to help you reach your midnight goal. Fruits are great to snack on while you wait as well. Around 10:30 - 11, you might find yourself getting a bit hungry, bananas and apples are great, healthy foods that will help you power through.

(Here are some more good examples --> Energy Foods)

Being a senior, class registration is very important. This is your last chance to fill up your schedule with classes required to graduate. One of two magical things are about to happen to you. Either A) you're going to have loads of open electives left and are going to enjoy your relaxing (yet productive) last semester of college or B) you're going to be stuck taking all those classes you've been putting off because they didn't seem like any fun.

To avoid a stressful and packed last semester, a good plan is to space your least-liked classes throughout each semester of your college career. Another strategy is to get them out of the way as soon as you can. I've seen it done either way. The choice is up to you. 

Backtracking for a moment, once you pick your classes you then have to meet with your adviser. That is, if you have trained in the arts of bounty hunting and can successfully track down another human being. Of course I'm only kidding, but it can be a bit of a pain. More often than not, if your schedule does not match up with this particular person who holds the key to your registration success then you're stuck waiting in line for hours on end. 

I tend to be on my game about these things. I will literally ask to be let out of class early just so I can meet up with my adviser during these times (class registration is really important to me). There is this cool thing my school recently implemented (that sadly, not many students take advantage of) where you can register for office hours online. It seems to be working fairly well (especially since I scheduled an appointment the day after we were told our class registration date). 

After successfully meeting with your adviser, checking off what classes you've already taken and which ones would be in your best interest for the future, all you have to do is wait for you class' scheduled registration day then you're set (granted none of the classes you wanted filled before you could register for it). Seniors have to do an extra step. Seniors get to fill out a little form entitled "intent to graduate". Apparently this needs to be filled out in order for you to graduate.

I can't believe it took this one simple form for it to finally hit me. I've seen it on the website before and I have always said to myself "oh I don't have to worry about that, that's for seniors"...well it's finally my turn. It finally hit me that I'm going to graduate. All of this hard work and dedication is coming down to this one thing: my "intent to graduate." Yes I DO intend on graduating! This is a very exciting time for me and I worked hard to get here.

It will be worth it in the end I'd say. The degree I'll be handed is a Bachelors of Arts. So I have a really great feeling I'll be able to have a decent upper hand when it comes to getting a job in any type of creative field. I was worried at first that I wouldn't find a job once I was out of college but now that the end is drawing closer I am not as scared. 

All of the work I have done throughout my college career has only helped solidify my good work ethic which I can bring to any job setting. I can do anything!

 

Sick Ramble

Being sick makes even the most mundane tasks unmanageable. This week has been no fun for me at all. I've been sick. Not even the regular kind of sick where you have an annoying runny nose that lasts a week, but the miserable kind of sick where every muscle aches and you can hardly talk because your throat hurts so much. But luckily I did not have to be on my own.

Being sick at school is tough. Of course my dorm has to be the furthest from the dinning hall. Normally I would not complain about this because I love the exercise (even though there are often scary homeless people throwing insults at anyone who walks by) but these are not normal circumstances. When you can hardly move, walking a couple of blocks up hill just isn't going to work. I had to call someone.

I am so lucky to have someone special in my life who would drive 2 hours just to come pick me up from school. Stuffy and sniffling, miserable me waiting in my sweatpants, hardly able to carry my own bag of clothing for the weekend; it was definitely a sad sight. But that didn't matter. He gave me a huge hug and helped me with my bags. He just wanted to do what ever he could to help me, even if there was a chance of him getting sick too. I can't thank him enough.

We went back to my house. It was much more comfortable there than at school. I got to rest and eat soup and watch movies all day (and since this blog is all about life tips I'll throw this in as well: when you're sick it is key to stay hydrated). It would have been an amazing mini-vacation if I hadn't been so sick. Waking up at 5 in the morning with a coughing fit just stinks. But I'm getting better, I don't feel as achy. I had to return to school because I couldn't miss any more days of class. Luckily for me it was a Wednesday when I got sick. Usually this would have been an issue to go home in the middle of the week but thanks to optional midterms I only missed two classes.

I don't like missing my photography class but I really wasn't feeling well. I did some practice at home for a big project that I'm working on (surprises! You'll have to wait and see!). I don't like missing classes in general. Not only am I paying for them, I also don't like letting people down. I felt bad having to tell my group for my cultures & heroes class that I couldn't make it. We were doing a group presentation. I sent in my work of course but I wasn't there to help present (I couldn't have anyway, I could hardly talk).

So now I'm back to school (even though I wish I could still be home snuggled warm on the couch). But I have work to do and obligations to keep. I will push through this sickness the best that I can and stay positive all the way.