Photo Adventures

We went to Snowbird this past week. 

This cute kid has gotten into photography and proud of it!

Unfortunately he one upped me and got a nicer camera than me. 

...Still jealous about that. 

During our stay we had some fun checking out Oktoberfest—minus the booze

nutella dipped waffles on a stick!

Mark is better than I thought he would be

working on some long exposure

We had tons of fun!

I am so jealous of Mark's camera.  

Hers: Canon Rebel T3

His: Canon Rebel T3i

Not much a difference, but at the same time, I like his way better than mine. 

The flip out screen, the faster shutter, it takes cleaner photos, it's awesome.

I may need to upgrade. 

After all, I am the photographer in this family, right? ;)

I love this kid. 

See You In Two!

"The Catholic Church is the fastest growing church in Chile....or at least until I get there."

My brother-in-law Adam said this in his farewell talk on Sunday...

 We all died. 

What an awesome kid.

Adam was called to serve in the Santiago, Chile mission for the 

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

He left for the Missionary Training Center in Mexico on Wednesday.

(talk about being immersed in the language)

Adam is such an awesome kid.

I have only known him for almost 3 years, but I am proud to call him family.

What a

resilient

funny

tough

dedicated

picky eater

family oriented 

optimistic dude 

Lily was able to say her goodbyes, too

Mark's family is extremely competitive. 

So it is a good thing I am not too far behind them in that respect. 

Adam and me have been battling in tennis whenever we all get together because we are about the same skill level. 

During his farewell talk, Adam made sure to state (clearly knowing that though I lost the day before, but we had a match Monday end on) "It looks like I'll be holding the tennis belt from Shannah for 2 years!"

-_-

Don't worry, I beat him.

In that picture I made sure to say, "say I love losing at tennis!"

I am so grateful for the gospel and for Mark's family and how kind, supportive, hilarious, spiritual, competitive, and loving they are. 

I know this one will take all of those traits to Chile with him. 

Top Spin

Mark played tennis in high school so he is pretty darn good. 

I hadn't done more than try bump a ball over the net with family members until I got tired.

I hadn't had any proper practice, so the number of balls I have sky rocketed over fences (and lost) in my career is well over any number I'd be comfortable sharing. 

I've been working on my game quite a bit with Mark and he
has taught me so much!

Top spin has changed my life. 

But there is so much more to learn.  I still end up smacking the net because I don't finish high enough or don't hit it hard enough.  But it has been a lot of fun!

Lily tags along every time we go

Tennis is fun.  I can agree to that. 

But I like to think it is almost like golf....

they both make me so angry, I feel like chucking the racket/club from time to time.

Since I use Mark's old (but preferred) racket every time we play, 

he decided to invest in a new one!

Slightly jelly...

We [I mainly] enjoy being odd on the court as well. 

What hobby are you picking up?

Keep On Keepin' On

Week 438...

I mean Week 7

Believe me, I disappointed myself. 

Frankly, I got discouraged with taking photos because I was 

comparing myself to everybody else's.

"Why don't mine look like that?"

"How do I do what they did??"

So I said, "Self....it takes practice. Get over it,"

after a few weeks of anti-camera.

I'm still working on the 'get over it' part, but I'm trying, right?

What I Wore Today

Mark and I got some new hiking boots. 

Well, Mark and I got our very first pair of hiking boots. 

Week 8

Black and White

Any ideas on how to Keep on Keepin' On?

High and Low Angle

Week 5

From a Low Angle

This is a photo I took in Bryce Canyon. 

One big reason I like this is the variation in colors. 

Week 6

From a High Angle

Remember when I mentioned cliché photographs?

On my list right after food pictures and jumping poses, pictures of Chucks is right there in 3rd place.

But here I am....with a Chucks photo...

No judgement please. 

What I Wore Today is on its way!

Dinner

Week 3

Dinner

This topic was pretty boring to me. 

Hense why I am a week late.   Whoops!

Not only was I not intrigued by the subject, I also didn't have very many tasty things for dinner. 

They weren't pretty and I mostly ate out.

Lots of pizza this last week for some reason....

It surprised me that I thought it was boring because I normally really like detailed photographs. 

Where you get right up in its grill and *click*!

Love it.  

I blame it on my lack of good dinner planning. 

Whilst going about this assignment, I realized something:

I am going to invest in a wooden cutting board.

much more photogenic than my plastic blue, purple, and yellow ones.

From a high angle

is coming soon!

Bold Colors

Week 3

Bold Colors

I had a few ideas for this one.  

The lighting in my home pretty much made the decision for me and I 

had to lessen my options. 

What's wrong with the lighting in my house..?

Oh, you know....we live in a basement apartment. 

Our only windows face north and south.

It is just way too dark in here, so unless I choose to use my flash every 

time, I gotta find somewhere else. 

Let me start with,  I love silhouette photos. 

I have a thing for them, especially if trees are the subject. 

I really wanted to spend more time taking these. 

More nights, and different locations. 

But...ya know...life.

I'll be sure to do that next time.  We already found a cool place to do it for the future!

I chose two again.  

cliché jump photo always necessary. 

I hope those of you reading are enjoying checking these out. 

I'm having fun experimenting and growing!

Next week?

Dinner

the most overdone photograph of all time, right there above the jumping one. 

Hopefully I can make it look as un-like an iPhone snapshot as possible. 

What Makes Me Smile

Week Two

What Makes Me Smile

This specific one was also tough.  Not in regards to the photo taking process, but I couldn't decide what I wanted my subject to be. 

Quite a few things make me smile!

The other day I was home alone talking to Lily (which is totally normal in this house), and she looked up at me with her ears all skiwampus.

She jumps around and they get all bent, folded, and sometimes they even stick straight out like wings when she is impatient for a treat. 

I smiled at Lil's ears(of all things), in all of their floppy glory.  

Even though I am supposed to choose one, I chose two.

These aren't super artistic or photoshopped in any way, but they got me taking photos and practicing with exposure and taming my subject.

And this is what the challenges are about right?

Though this one is underexposed and I am not a fan of the background, her expression and double folded ears made me throw it in for good measure. 

Do you think you've seen enough photos of my dog yet?

Didn't think so. 

Bold Colors are on their way for Week 3!

Self Portrait

Week 1

Self Portrait

When I started this project, I had a lot of images in my head of what I wanted to create. 

I was pumped!
I wanted maybe some crazy, fun, glittery outrageous makeup, or a beautiful morning light with nature background, or something that popped.

Let's just say it didn't go quite as planned. 

It was incredibly difficult. 

I couldn't use my tripod because the part that connects the camera to the tripod was in Mark's car, so I improvised and stabled it on a table.
Why was it in his car? I haven't got the slighted clue. 

This is what I came up with.
I kind of like it.  I have always loved the black and white photos with accentuated
freckles and wrinkles you see from time to time.

I tried to do that with a bit of editing and it worked for the most part!

I call it:

I Am Over Taking Self-Portraits

Next up...
2. What makes me smile

20 Week Challenge

I love when I am given challenges.

Most of the time, I get irritated when someone says I can't do something.  

(Don't even get me started on the "men can do it better than women; girls are weak" crap)

So when I have a chance to prove myself, I will gladly do so.  

I also love photography.  

I have been practicing a lot lately on manual mode and though I am improving, there is

still so much to learn.  It is ridiculous. 

I've have been practicing though:

I have accepted a challenge I saw on Pinterest today. 

If you'd like to see what I come up with, check back every week!

One Year Down, Eternity To Go

On Sunday March 9th, Mark and I celebrated our

1 year wedding anniversary

It is crazy to think it has been one year since we promised to love, take care of, annoy, support, and 

tease each other for eternity!

We had a fantastic day

Mark and I decided to spend the 60 degree weather at the park for a few hours after 9am church.

We brought Lily and had a picnic while we basked in free vitamin D.  

I feel like she knew we were heading to the park

We played with Lily, laughed, enjoyed the weather, and read about our current

 favorite character and set of stories.

When we planned on exchanging gifts, we did not want to spend much money, if not any.  

Let's just say Mark is more creative than he leads on to be. 

I woke up in the morning to a card and this....

The kid I call my husband is a crafting genius!!

It is a Memory Jar. 

His plan was for us to get more popsicle sticks, and when we have another great memory, 

write it down and replace it with one in the jar. 

There is no way I will throw any of them away though. 

He worked on decorating this for hours and hours, and filled it with almost 200 popsicle sticks with memories of our first year of marriage written on them.

....showoff

He bought the beads

Picked out the burlap

Put a key on it, because he knows how much I love them

AND....

he freaking picked out colored string, which matched our wedding colors!

I feel so blessed to have such a caring and thoughtful husband. 

I sure love that guy to death.

I have so much to be thankful for.

One year down, and eternity to go!