For My Best Friend.

     Do you know what's amazing? The fact that at the age of 22, I can already say that I have had the 2 best friends in the world, and they've been a staple in my life for over 10 years already. Since the beginning of 6th grade we swooned over really dumb guys and ate way to much junk food together, we've lost loved ones together, started new steps in our lives together, and were able to find our individual selves together without fear of judgement or close mindedness. We weren't anything alike to begin with but managed to fit perfectly while we grew up. I started calling them my sisters very early on, and the feeling has grown stronger since. In college we separated to 3 different colleges. But with only a two hour drive apart from each of us, we were able to function and see each other when we needed it.
      That is about to change. One of my best friends (and favorite models to use) is taking a big step in her life to make her dreams happen. She is leaving in exactly a week to New York City to find a job in the fashion photography business. And she's going to do it, and be amazing. She will no longer be 2 hours from me, but I know she will be in the city she has wanted to call home for a long time. As you can imagine, I am going to be a wreck. I will probably be spending way too much money to see our other sister Nicole in Morrisville, and buy way too many tickets to go visit NYC when times get tough.  

     I was lucky enough to have her here in Charlotte for the entire summer, a 15 minute drive away from my house, but I know that will make it harder when she leaves. I got depressed while doing homework today and decided to go through old photos of use we put on facebook back in 2006 (isn't it sad that I've had a facebook for that long?). I thought I'd share a few since they make my so happy. Please keep her in your thoughts as she leaves next week, and keep me in your thoughts, since I'm not going to know what to do with myself.

Mountain Memories

First off, SHAZAAM:

I believe I'm done with it, I may go back and tweak it some, but nothing too big. Don't have have an awesome best friend?
Ok, moving on.

I probably think about Asheville everyday. And when I do, my heart hurts. It was a hard place to leave, but in the long run, I feel better about the direction my life is going in now. Luckily I get to visit this weekend! I won't be up there for long, and probably won't have much free time, but regardless I'm going to try to see as many people as possible. I'm very excited to see my nephews!! I don't have much to post about, but here are some old photos I took during my happy 3 years of living there, some of which have been on this blog before!

Self Portrait Progress

      It's a lovely monday in Davidson, I've been here for hours working on homework and photos. I've gotten a lot done, so I decided to reward myself by putting the finishing touches on my latest self portrait, and I'm done! Here it is:

      I went out to Latta Plantation early one morning because I wanted to test out my fancy new wireless remote. Because I had to hold the remote, and well, I needed to be headless, I took quite a few,  adjusting my arms, legs, dress movement, and neck. That way it wasn't too complicated when I composited them in photoshop. The weirdness of it, but the beautiful dress and landscape made me think of Brooke Shaden's work, so I tried to experiment and see if I could edit in a similar way. I'm really happy with the way it looks and would like to edit more with these color tones and soft shadows. Here's the shot I used for my dress movement, and a random test shot where I look really excited:

      Also, my best friend is a champ, and a great model. The other day, I asked her if I could spray her with the hose and take a picture. She said yes, and did a lovely job, despite me almost drowning her a couple times. True friendship right there. I'm picking out a couple to work on. Here's a little sneak preview of one I'm almost happy with!

     Oh, and FYI, I feel kinda lame with just a Facebook page, so I'm currently working on a website. Nothing too great, especially when it comes to the quality of my photos. But it is free, and I like free! I'll post it on here and on Facebook as soon as everything is complete. 

      It's absolutely lovely outside, it feels like fall! Because of this, I'm going to stay here a little longer, but lounge outside with my best friend. We both need a little vitamin D to boost our moods and catch up. Have a wonderful evening!

Buh.

I'm not really a fan of being sick and in bed. After about 12 hours, I'm ready to get out of bed and out of the house. I've been in bed for a good day and a half with no sign of getting better tomorrow. I currently look like this:

I doubt cookies are a healthy food choice for being sick, but I made some and they were delicious.

Despite being sick, I did manage to take some photos. It poured rain for quite some time here, and it looked pretty beautiful through the windows, so I grabbed the camera and took a few photos. I love love love rain, and I love taking pictures of it, especially at a fast shutter speed. It's beautiful when you can capture rain in its tracks.

I'm off to take more drugs and hopefully sleep. Night!

Life Lately...

Hey dudes.
It's been a while huh? Like a month. Whoops. I'm sorry, I got a little busy, but in positive ways, except for that whole school thing. I'm pretty convinced that I won't be sad in December when I graduate. I'm ready to make stuff happen. And get paid money.
I've also been very busy thinking about photography. I realize that's a very vague statement, but I seriously can go on the internet or sit in a coffee shop (holding a book so I don't look lonely), brainstorming for hours for conceptual shoots I want to do. Last semester I bought a friggin cute notebook for myself and dubbed it "Amy's Epic Idea Book". Within the past 2 months, I have written down details or sketched out around 40 or 50 completely different shots that I am dying to do. But I should probably do something about that. My drawings aren't that impressive so I'm really wanting to bring a few to life in the next few weeks. I've gotten some extra equipment with my summer moola including my new favorite toy, a wireless camera remote. Now all I need are a few trips to a thrift store, and more importantly, models. I don't like being a model, hence me being behind a camera, but I have no money to hire anyone! So, if anyone reading this has any desire to be a model please feel free to message me on facebook, comment here, or email me at amyellisphoto@gmail.com. Some concepts I'm planning on doing soon are pretty particular about what the models look like, but I would be eternally grateful to whoever is willing to step in front of the camera, especially for weird stuff. I'm an art kid, after all. It may or may not be the sexiest  photo of you. Unless you define sexy as epic. I'm pretty sure I can make you look awesome. Maybe I'll get you something cool from Value Village?
So here has been my life lately in pictures. I played with my wireless remote, captured some musical moments in Davidson, took photos at my previous workplace; Gilcrest Natural Farm (you should look for them at the Charlotte and Davidson Farmers' Markets, and get their seriously delicious hotdogs), was visited by my nephews (who are dogs fyi), and finally, I had a cupcake at some point with my best friend. It was delicious, and definitely picture worthy.
Reading back, this post it totally scattered with 5 thoughts going on at once and I apologize. This is why I'm a photographer and not a writer.