Wait, I Don't Want to Grow Up

Okay everyone, brace yourselves. This could get a little bumpy. I've never really just written about anything other than a shoot on this blog so I don't really know how this is going to turn out. But hey, whatever (right back at you mel).

So yesterday just so happened to be my 17th birthday. It was such a great day and I wanna thank everyone who made it rock and wished me a happy birthday. It really made me smile throughout the whole day! Seventeen is such a weird age. It's right in between two of the greatest ages, so its just kind of there. Don't get me wrong, I am in no hurry to turn 18. I'd rather stay a youthful child for another ten years, but unfortunately thats not how it works.

Everything is kind of just hitting me now. Like honestly, it feels like I'm getting hit with a pile of bricks. Where has my life gone? Seventeen year already gone? What. It doesn't even seem possible that I could have been alive for this long. All I can think of now is the future. ACT scores, college, my mission, finances, its unreal. To put this in perspective, I have been driving 25 mph in residential areas for the last 16 years. And as of this year, I am now driving 90 mph on the autobahn. I want to slow down.

Lately, I've just been trying to make sure that I make myself slow down and appreciate every moment I have to make the best of it. I'm trying to make everyday count and make this last year and a half of high school really memorable. Because if I don't make it meaningful now, I know I will regret it in the future.

But thats really whats been racing through my crazy teenager mind lately. Just a little personal shoutout to all of the high school students out there. You all know what I mean when I say "its all going too fast". We got this though guys. If any high school students, recent graduates, parents or anyone else, have any thoughts on the transition from childhood to adulthood, please please please comment, email, or message me. I would love to share any advice you wiser individuals have for us confused and hormonal teens (contact information is at the top left of the blog, right under the "home" tab).

Hope you all have a great rest of this week. You all rock my world. Thanks for reading and being such amazing people.

Cool Happenings in the City

*click on and open photos for better quality and resolution


Well hello everybody, its been a long time hasn't it? I have been so busy these last couple weeks with the end of the term and just working on a lot of new things. Today I set some new projects into motion, so over the course of these next few weeks I will be sharing those things with you! I hope everyone is doing well and is having a great year so far! I know I am.

Okay, so after weeks of no photography, I finally got to go up to Salt Lake City with my best friend Melia and one of my close friends Ani. A little intro to these two: Melia has been one of my closest friends since junior high and basically we are brown siblings know as the BrownSibs. She probably the most artsy, fashionable person ever. I've known Ani since elementary school and she is just rad. Anyways, we decided last minute that we were going to take a rad adventure up to the city on our day off from school, and work on some cool photos. As you can see above, Melia was our model (and a dang good one in fact), and Ani and I were behind the cameras. We really had no idea where we were going, but ended up finding a really cool, run down, urban backlot behind some old brick buildings. The walls were stained yellow and we experimented on a fire escape behind an office building. It was a very small space but had so much diversity and was really fun to work with.

After lingering that sketchy area, we decided to make our way up to the capitol building for some sunset photos. If you have never been up close and personal to the capitol, I would definitely recommend it. The backdrop of the sunset sky/pearly white of the capitol made for some pretty amazing photos. Overall, it was just a really beautiful location inside and outside of the building.

Feel free to leave comments on your opinion, check out my other social medias, or send me an email just to say hi. If your interested in going and taking pictures, definitely email me. I've had a lot of people comment on my pictures and say they want to but its hard to keep track of who wants to. So email is the way to go! Also, I am going to try to start posting once a week with just a though or a little update on whats happening in my life! Hope you guys have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping on by!

Guest: My Amazing Cousin Colby

Hi! My name is Colby. I love to write, read, and have fun! I started my blog a few weeks ago and I'm super excited about it! I write about anything going on in my life and things that bring hope and inspiration to others. I want people to know that they can always find hope no matter what is going on in their lives. I have been able to find lots of hope in life despite having a disability.

I had a very traumatic birth, and as a result I have cerebral palsy. My disability affects the right of my body. Sometimes it's hard (especially when I was younger) not being able to do some of the things that other kids can do. But I've realized that we are all different and we all have strengths and weaknesses. We shouldn't spend time comparing ourselves to others. Instead we should focus on getting more strengths and serving others. 

I hope people who read my blog will realize we can always find hope in life no matter what is going on in our lives. All we need to do is just look for the positive in the things that are going on. There is a positive side to everything-- sometimes we just have to look for it. 

I hope you will take the opportunity to read my blog. I really try post things that people can relate to and that will inspire others. 

I'm thrilled that Makei has started his own blog! He is a great photographer and has so many amazing things to share with the world. I am grateful for all he has done for me and the support he has given me. I am very happy he's my cousin and I love spending time with him. 

The Adventures of Cool Kids and a Frozen Reservoir

Yay! This is my first really photography blog post! My past two posts have been more intro posts, but this is the real deal people. Okay, so this week is my first week back from Christmas break (and let me tell you it has been rough), but over the break I had the awesome chance to go up to American Fork canyon with some good friends. If you live in Utah and haven't been up the canyon in American Fork, I definitely recommend putting it on your bucket list. It is unbelievably beautiful and there are so many diverse locations up there that offer so much!

We went up just this past saturday and decided to head up to Tibble Fork Reservoir. I'm telling you guys, this particular spot is absolutely breathtaking. No matter what time of year it is. It is a large reservoir that has a backdrop of hundreds of pines and beautiful mountains. At this time of year, the reservoir is frozen over and you are actually able to walk across it!

My friends and I decided to try out a new location also right behind the reservoir. We found a trail along a small river that led back into a very quiet little wood. The pines were absolutely amazing. They were untouched and were covered in snow. It was a perfect location for a winter shoot. We were able to get some awesome shots and have a great time while we were up there! Also, I was actually very successful this time with aperture priority. I really started to get the hang of it while I was up there and could really tell the difference in my photos. If anyone is having a hard time with settings on their camera, do NOT give up. It takes time and is so worth it once you finally get it down.

We also took some really fun shots on the frozen body of water (which could have possibly been a fatal adventure, but luckily I am boy scout haha). It was really cool and the first time i've ever done something like that! Overall, it was a really great photo adventure and a great way to end off our break with the gorgeous surrounding and absolutely wonderful people. I'm really looking forward to doing more adventurous photo shoots with new people this upcoming year! Hopefully i'll be able to take some more photos in another beyond beautiful location this weekend.

P.s. In two days, on friday, my amazing cousin Colby will be posting on my blog! So everyone get pumped because she is awesome and such an inspiration to my family and so many others. Make sure you check back then because it is going to be great.

Intro to My Photography

Okay, so these are some of my favorite photos from the shoots that I have done in the last 4 months. I only got my Nikon in September so I haven't had the chance to do a ton of shoots, but I am definitely looking forward filling 2015 with lots and lots of photo taking!

Just looking back on my first photos I took in September, and comparing them to photos I took yesterday, I can see improvement (which is good because those September photos were a complete mess!). In this last week I have especially found a new light in my photography and my preferences with my photos. At first, I was trying to mimic the actions of other photographers I admired. Now, I feel like I am finally getting my own ideas on who I want to be and what I want my photos to look like.

I am also super grateful for all of the photographers I have recently met through instagram, twitter, school, and just in person! They have been so willing to take a look at my work and give me pointers and advice to help me better my talent. So basically they all rock the world!

Alright, so I hope you guys can enjoy some of those photos above! Feel free to email me, comment, or message me with questions or comments. If you want to see some other past photos I have plenty more on my Instagram, including the really bad ones! Just yesterday I did a shoot of two of my best friends up in the Alpine area, so hopefully I will have that shoot posted in the next couple days. Happy New Year everyone! Lets make it better than ever!