Austin K

I met Austin through my church. We went to this park with outdoor public pool (there's a few of those around Austin). I have never been there before, so it was a new experience for me. When we got to the site, I learned from Austin that the place was actually where the church held baptisms a year ago. There was a dock leading out to the river. While we were shooting, UT rowers were practicing and came by. They were practicing for a regatta and actually asked us who won because it was so close. Sadly we weren't paying enough attention to it. I now found one of my new favorite places to shoot in Austin.

Holly C

Holly is in my Photo 1 Film class. For our final projects we took portraits of each other as part of it. It's a tit-for-tat thing. When I asked Holly to not smile and just look serious, she jumped right into the character! Most others that I shot for the project kept laughing and could not stay serious, which I understand. When Holly took my photos, I kept laughing. We walked around campus for a bit and she took me down to a place that I have never been before. It was a little alcove with a cross and some candles. It was like a little prayer area.

Everyone in class sees the photos during the critique. This will be interesting since they know one of the models in my project.

Ashley R

Sunset provides the perfect lighting. Sadly sunset is always changing, and you have to adjust in order to shoot in that perfect light. Luckily, I was able to shoot Ashley in this light. We met during Transfer Student Orientation and just started hanging out. She became one of my closest friends here in Austin. Ashley is a photo major, so being in front of the camera was a little different for her. :D I wish I could post some of things we say and joke about, but they're too random to try and organize it into this post.

Alex H

This is Alex, he is the brother of Josie (who I posted about a little before). I met them both through the same Bible study. I took him to the graffiti park in Austin. It is the only place in Austin where it is legal to actually do graffiti. Personally, I believe graffiti is wonderful artwork. Sadly it's associated with acts of violence or illegal activity. This place has many levels and you can actually try and climb up it. At the very top is an amazing view of downtown that ill take your breath away. Once a week graffiti artists come together and change the entire landscape. It is amazing.

That is where I took Alex. I would like to warn anyone who tries to go after reading this, there is no parking lot and you have to park on the side of the street. This is not too bad, but it is hazardous for those of us who can not parallel park easily and efficiently.

We just climbed around for about an hour. Actually Alex was more interested in exploring the area rather than me taking his picture. Haha. I had to be very careful though because I was carrying to cameras around my neck and did not something to happen to them. Overall it was very successful and we made it almost all the way to the top.

I went back to the graffiti park before Thanksgiving and made it to the very top. The view is amazing and you feel like anything is possible while you're on top  of the hill.

Josie H

So for my final film photography project, I chose to do portraits (surprise right?). I enlisted my friends to help and bribed them with candy. Josie was one of those lucky friends. For her shoot, I chose to go to the Austin Botanical Gardens. It pleased me that it only cost $2 to get into the gardens. The Dallas Botanical Gardens cost $15 to get in. There is a huge difference though. From what I can tell, Dallas Botanical Gardens is much more extravagant than Austin's, but I am completely ok with that since admission is only $2. Right before I started taking her pictures, Josie told me she was so bad at having her picture taken. She lied and these pictures show how she is a natural.

John W

Here are some pictures of my friend John. I took some pictures of him for my film class and brought my DSLR with me to our shoot. He would not stop laughing! It's ok though cause the photos look more like him.

Pumpkin Head Regatta

For the Hilltop Views I picked up the Pumpkin Head Regatta assignment. I have never been to a rowing competition before, so I thought it would be exciting. Later on, after receiving the assignment, I found out that the rowing competition started at 8:00 in the morning and that was when St. Edward's would start. Luckily, my awesome friends Ashley and Vinny came with me to the regatta to keep me company and to make sure I did not get hit by one of the boats being carried down to the river.

It was a very cold morning. Austin weather is weird. So far, we've only gotten random weeks of cold weather. It would last for a few days then go back to 80s and sunshine. Sadly, this morning was not sunshine and high of 80. It was around 40-50 degrees. I was so cold.

The regatta lasted all day, but I only stayed a few hours. First the boys rowed, then the girls were about an hour later, but somehow the event ran behind. I had to leave before the girls went to race because I could feel my body growing numb.

Yvan and Kimberly Homecoming Portraits

It's that time of year again. Games, floats, and mums. High school homecoming is here once agin in the great state of Texas. If you don't know much about Texas, one thing you have to know is that we take our high school football seriously. We take football seriously, but high school is extra special. Homecoming is fun and lasts an entire week (with spirit days and getting pumped for the game and dance) or it lasts for a few months if you're a girl who picks out her dress way ahead of time. Personally my favorite part of homecoming were the mums. I still have both of mine that I got junior and senior year. In the Plano School District, homecoming was only really for juniors and seniors. Of course if an upperclassman asked you to the dance, you were allowed to go. It was mostly about the excitement and the energy. Looking back, I can't believe I allowed my date to spend $20 on a ticket to dance in our cafeteria. But it's the memories that are made that count.

I was given the opportunity to photograph these two girls before they went to their first homecoming. I like to think of how this opportunity came up as God intervening. I am based in Austin during the school year as I work to get my bachelors in Graphic Design. I was planning on going back home to Dallas, one weekend because we got a day off.

That Thursday morning, I was sitting in my computer science class. My professor was re-going over stuff from three class periods ago, and I knew the material so I went on Facebook. That is when I noticed a message was sent to my photography page Flying Lantern Photography. Yvan wanted me to take homecoming portraits of her and her friend that very weekend. This was amazing because I was planning on returning home right after class ended. I quickly replied yes, sent her to my website, and we started making plans from there.

Yvan and Kimberly both attend Plano East Senior High School. They are both juniors and are on the drill team. It was a pleasure working with them!

Jose

These are pictures from my shoot with Jose for the Hilltop Views! Jose plays on the men's golf team at St. Edward's University. He was featured in the sports profile in the Wednesday October 10, 2012 edition. You can read his full interview here.

Jenna: a Cyclist

I am starting to really enjoy shooting for the Hilltop Views. It's another thing to keep me busy and off Pinterest (hehe). This shoot was with Jenna and she is a cyclist. She re-started the cycling club on campus. You can read her entire interview here about the cycling club and about her life on the hilltop.

"I have always been really curious about downhill riding in British Colombia, although it seems a little too dangerous for 

me."

Joe Saldana: Basketball Inspiration

After my second week in my new college, I joined the St. Edward's University newspaper, the Hilltop Views. I am one of the freelance photographers the staff has. Each week I am emailed possible assignments and we ask for ones we want and hope they haven't already been taken. For my first assignment, I chose to do a portrait on Joe Saldana. We met for lunch before our mini shoot and he told me his story. It truly is a miraculous story about a college student playing intramural basketball and gets picked up by one of the coaches.

Here is an excerpt from the story written by Tyler Eldredge:

"With sweat dripping down his back, he lines the ball up with the basket. He takes a breath before bending his knees, exhaling and sending the ball soaring through the air to swish effortlessly through the net. Senior Joseph Saldana found a place on the St. Edward's University NCAA basketball team in a way unlike many of his peers—through an informal game as a member of an intramural basketball team." 

You can read the full story on the Hilltop Views website.

Ashley and Shannon: Sisterly love

I've taken pictures of these two separately and now together. It was labor day weekend. It was a hot Sunday afternoon and they were so awesome about doing a quick shoot together! These sisters are so close it's adorable.

Ashley

Here is one of my oldest and dearest friends, Ashley. We basically grew up together. Her sister is Shannon (which I took pictures of earlier for prom and seniors). Ashley currently dances for the Los Angeles Ballet. She is amazing, people. Her schedule is completely different from us college folk, since she doesn't get the same breaks as we do. During Christmas she is still working and doing the Nutcracker this means that she doesn't get to come home till after Christmas (if she is even able to) just for a few weeks. Then summer is also different since she has performances all throughout the year. She got to come home for two months this time though! So of course we got together! It was wonderful to see this girl again.

For pictures we just went to a little "park" in my neighborhood. This park we've been to a lot. Ashley brought up the time when us and our younger sisters held a funeral for a dead rabbit. I just remember Emily (my sister) making a very moving speech and a small mound of grass and dandelions. This was one of the wild rabbits that flock the neighborhood. After taking pictures for 15 minutes we were ready to get back inside to the AC. It was so brutally hot. I feel that we got some good shots in :)

                                 

            Ashley and I :)

What happens when I can work in a studio...

My sister needed headshots done before she started her first semester at Texas State (eeeeee!!!!). Marlene Rostami of Standing Ovation Studios allowed us to work in her studio for an afternoon. This was amazing because I had access to an indoor location with lights. I was able to control how the light looked on my sister and didn't need to worry about any outside elements. I love how these turned out to have a nice "glowy" feel and her eyes stand out.

Red Lipstick Steps Up Any Outfit

Emily wanted to do some "glam" shots just because. She put on a white lace dress, brown booties, and of course red lipstick. I have hardly ever seen my sister wear lipstick. Of course she's worn lip gloss or lip stains, but lipstick? I didn't even know she had a good shade (she normally steals my mom's make up). After attempting to curl her hair and pin it up -which ended in disaster- we decided to just pin back part with bobby pins and flowers.

Apparently it was supposed to rain last night - it never did - so I kept driving away from the dark clouds overhead in hopes of finding refuge. Originally I wanted to go by this nice lake in this neighborhood, but since the storm was in that direction I had to just drive east. We didn't know exactly where to go, but as I was heading down Spring Creek I passed a church on my right. I quickly turned into the parking lot and decided that is where we would shoot. The clouds were moving east and Emily swore she saw lightning in the west so we had to work fast. It was getting humid and nasty, but Emily pulled off the look.

After we got home, she threw on her PJs but still had on her lipstick. I then told her to throw on her PINK hoodie and we took some more pictures outside (the rain never came even though the clouds looked ominous). Just because of her red lips, she looked like she was posing for Victoria's Secret. So lesson learned, wear red lipstick to make a statement.

July 4th with Megan

This is my best friend, Megan. I met her right before we started our freshman year. I was in Girl Scouts since I was a daisy, and I was part of the same troop all the way up to middle school. Before starting high school though, the troop decided to disband and quit the whole Girl Scout thing. My mom didn't want me quitting, mostly because she wanted me to get my Gold Award eventually (and I did). So she started looking around for a troop for me to join. This was easy for her cause my mom was a Girl Scout leader for my sister's troop. There were two troops in the area with girls my age. One of the troops was with girls that I already knew. Personally I didn't want to join that one because I didn't really like those girls. They were a little superficial to me, but in general a 14 year old girl can be like that.

That left the other troop with girls that I did not know at all. One girl, Megan went to the same middle school as me and we were band together. We played different instruments though, so we didn't really have any contact at all. So, that summer before starting freshman year, I went over to their swim party just to get to know them. Immediately I was accepted. We stayed together for four years, but since then we've all gone our own ways. Megan and I have stayed best friends since I joined her troop back in 2007 (or was it 2006?). Much has changed since back then, but I have a good idea that Megan and I will be friends for a very long time.