dari and her entourage

my assignment for my photography class this week was to take a portrait of someone i know using only natural light and shooting in manual mode. my beautiful friend and former roomate, dari, was gracious enough to let me use up a couple of hours of her time this morning to take some shots of her and her entourage, including her horse, smoke, and her puppies, strom (great dane) and sloan (doberman).

like i've heard from reading about taking portraits online, it takes a few minutes for both the photographer and the subject to get warmed up.  that was true this morning, but once we got going, i think we got a few good images!  this spot in front of the barn was the 'money spot' of the day!  it was awesome!

since my 30-day lightroom trial has run out and i haven't purchased the full program yet, i tried editing these in photoshop.  then i decided that i was doing more harm than good, so i scrapped that idea and just posted these straight out of camera.  enjoy!

dari rode smoke in the arena for a little bit. i really loved this photo and i thought i'd also give it a whirl in the vintage finish.  like usual, i think i like the vintage better.

and speaking of vintage, here are three glamour shots that i did in a vintage finish...  her outfit was to. die. for.  

that said... yes, i know the light is far too bright!!  as soon as i put all the photos from the shoot up on my computer, i started thinking about all of the things i would have done differently throughout the morning.  i guess that's why they call it 'practice,' right? 

showing smoke a little love... 

when i was looking at this on the camera screen, i commented that smoke looked a bit like a camel here - LOL.  but i actually really like this shot.  

her is dari with her fur baby, strom.  despite what you might think from his massive size, he really is a sweetie!!

here is the whole johnson clan... andrew, dari, sebastian, strom and sloan.  

this little piggy went to market

i have two very talented friends, bubba and sarah king, who are going to rule the food world one day (soon!).  in attemping to list everything culinary that they are involved in, i'm sure i'll miss something...but here it goes:  canning, cheese-making, gardening, beekeeping, brewing, baking bread, making pasta from scratch, and raising pigs.  yes, there must be more to that list.

they are in the process of putting together a business called the collective and are very excited to have one of their pigs being used at the cochon 555 event in seattle in 9 short days.  yes, one of these pretty piggies will be used at that event - the spotted guy.  sad face.

bubba was gracious enough to let me come out this afternoon and take some photos before the rain starts again tomorrow and before... well... you know... 

without further ado, i introduce you to the pigs of the collective: 

 18mm, 1/60 sec, f/4.5

 58mm, 1/20 sec, f/5

this pic is my favorite!   35mm, 1/30 sec, f/4.5

 32 mm, 1/30 sec, f/4.5

 24mm, 1/60 sec, f/4.5

 28mm, 1/100 sec, f/4.5

28mm, 1/125 sec, f/4.5

28mm, 1/200 sec, f/4.5

18mm, 1/250 sec, f/3.5

 24 mm, 1/30 sec, f/4.5

hazelnut-finished pork = sweet flavor to the meat + other health benefits that other pork doesn't have (i had to google 'hazelnut finished pork' for this line -- you might want to do that, too, to find out more).   32mm, f/9, 1/30 sec

42 mm, 1/60 sec, f/4.8

to learn more about the collective, visit their website or their facebook page. 

why i love baz luhrmann

i don't even know where to begin tonight because i have a gazillion and one thoughts going on in my head right now.

the first thing i'll say is that our team in training workout tonight ROCKED! i remember experiencing a runner's high in high school cross country, but i forgot what it felt like. for the last 12 years, i've been an on-again-off-again runner, never quite having the motivation to stick to a schedule and run by myself. well, all that has changed with team in training. this week just feels downright amazing. i feel like rocky balboa -- fist pumps and all!! i can feel all of this sweat and hard work paying off. my body is getting stronger. i'm getting faster. i'm running further. and it. feels. darn. good!!

so, not only that, but i was listening to 94.7 in the car on the way home and they were playing songs from 1998, which brought me right back to manton high school. we had the verve, third eye blind, green day, barenaked ladies, the beastie boys, and -- one of my all time favorites -- baz luhrmann, everybody's free (to wear sunscreen). some of life's most amazing pieces of advice are in that song.

• Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….
• Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
• Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
• one point that is especially true for me -- Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
  lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
• one my mom always taught me -- Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
  might run out.
• my favorite -- Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own...

seriously. amazing stuff. i'm not afraid to share that i literally had tears in my eyes listening to it. i don't know if it was because i was on such a high after my workout... or if it's because i'm getting older and realizing just how true all of these points are... or just simply feeling nostalgic for a time when i wasn't becoming so "adult."

but, truthfully, i think it was the point about being young and having so much possiblity before you. i think about where i thought i was heading in life when i graduated from college and compare it with where i have ended up. they are such different places, but that's ok. you know why? it's because i have a wonderful life. and you know what else? the possiblities are still endless. they will continue to be. we must all constantly grow and change and adapt. life is too short to let opportunities pass us by and it is too short to ever let our imaginations shut down.

with that, i should mention that i'm meeting with the director of global soul international (coincidentially named chad) next week to talk about volunteer opportunities. i'm excited to see what he has to say!!

oh, internet

the power of the internet literally astounds me. on one hand, i think it's fantastic that we can look up anything we want about anyone or anything in the world and have answers within seconds.

on the other hand, i think it's sad how we're all so connected electronically that it takes away from actually connecting with people in more personal ways. we all carry cell phones around like they're a third arm, but do we actually ever call anyone on it? and if someone does call you, do you answer it? do people still stop by each others houses just to say hi and have a cup of tea? do we remember anything that is going on in someone's life without being prompted by facebook to remember? i think not. the internet completely takes away any and all brain activity that existed in pre-internet life. i, for one, can barely remember 5 phone numbers now. why is that? it's because i don't have to.

it's also scary how someone can post something about your or your company that is so completely misrepresentative of the truth. but at least the comment box lets you reply in real time and hopefully clear up whatever the misrepresentation is. i can't imagine being a teenager today, though. imagine if all the clique-y mean things that happened in high school extended into the wider online world.... how awful. anyone can say anything they want at any time - which is not necessarily a good thing.

in all honesty, sometimes i wish i grew up in the 60's and 70's when rotary phones were still around. wouldn't it be great to go out to eat in a restaurant and not have your whole table on their cell phones checking facebook? socializing in person... what a novel idea!

i have some pretty incredible friends

people truly amaze me. while sometimes - i'm being honest here - they can be annoying, rude, and just generally drive me crazy, there are many, many people in this world that truly inspire me - my friends.

let's start with my friends from college - yes, all of them are beautiful, smart, driven and doing amazing things in life. but i specifically want to mention dr. jamie sage (dr. wachtor before she got married last year). she and i did our undergrad together at ferris and then she went on to become a dentist and today graduated (again!) this time with her degree in orthodontics. she has been in college for eleven years - ELEVEN YEARS! she is one smart cookie and i'm so excited and proud to know that she has accomplished something so great.

then there's my friend lindy, who is moving to mexico in a week where her husband is going to work with the state department. if i had one regret in my life (and i don't really believe in regrets because it was always what we wanted at the time), it would be that i left the opportunity to work at the u.s. embassy in bangkok in 2003 and never again got to follow my dream of being in international relations or diplomacy. i will be living vicariously through lindy and travis. i am so excited for them (and very excited that they will have a guest room, a pool, and a 30 minute drive to the beach!). vacation anyone?

while we're on the academia topic, let's also mention my friend carolyn who started her phd in economics last year. let's also mention that she just spent several years living in france working for one of the biggest french banks. currently, she is going to school, practically living at the library, and planning a wedding at the same time.

there are so many more people i could mention, but then this post would be a hundred pages long.

it is truly amazing to have met so many wonderful, smart, driven people in my short years on this earth. i love the power of social media and that it allows me to follow them, vicariously, in their exciting life adventures. i only wish we were all closer so i could see them more than once every 3, or 5, or 7 years or so.