My Summer of 2013

Last summer I was hardly ever home...or in the state of Wisconsin at that. My first trip was to St. Louis, Missouri for mission trip. It was by far the greatest experience I've ever had in my life! I was assigned to work with less fortunate kids at a soccer camp. The kids were amazing. We also made great friends with people from Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky who we became very close with after living together for a week. My second trip was to Mackinac Island/Michigan/Green Bay! I went with my girl cousins on my dad's side, my grandma, my aunt, and my mom. It was the most beautiful place I've ever visited. The weather was nice and there was so much to see and do! Finally, my last trip was to Oregon. My cousins go on a trip every summer with their dad, but for some reason they either couldn't or didn't want to this summer. Except Brielle, that is...who also happens to be my best friend! She asked me to join her and her dad and it was soooo fun. The people there were so much different than people I've seen anywhere else in the country. It's so calm there, and the people are so chill. Here are a few pictures to sum up my summer!

St. Louis

We rode the bus and stayed with a group of kids from Spencer. Some of them became some of our best friends!

The kids were so affectionate towards all of us. They were really glad we were helping them. It made the entire experience that much better! The day we left was a very emotional one.

It's the back of the bus group! These were the people that Claire and I became closest with: Matt from Kentucky, Madie from Illinois, Sammy from Spencer, and Parker from MinneSNOWta. Miss them all so much!

Mackinac Island/Michigan/Green Bay

All the girl cousins in front of Lake Huron!

Taking a break at Bay Beach in Green Bay! We also watched Packer Training Camp.

Biking is the best way to see the entire island. Here's the whole group!

 Oregon

This would probably be my favorite picture from the trip.

Portland was my favorite part! 

The mountains were so beautiful and so different from anything you can see around Wisconsin.

Self Portrait

This is a self portrait taken at Wildcat Mound. I absolutely love love LOVE the background! I also like the way the sun is hitting me. Usually I don't like to be alone in pictures of just me...so it really surprises me how much I like this picture! I can't really think of much else to say about a picture of myself...

Bubbles

This was probably one of my favorite assignments. I like how they are portraits, and they still kind of show action. In some pictures the bubbles are in focus, and in some the person's face is in focus. I also looked for pictures where the person was showing personality! Emma :) Haha. I liked finding different backgrounds and areas to take the pictures and it was overall a really fun assignment.

Personality Portraits

It was interesting to take pictures of my friend Meghann for this assignment. She isn't exactly used to just having her picture taken and couldn't really take it seriously. I'm surprised I got the shots that I did! I like the top one because it shows her personality as she was just laughing, not looking too seriously. My reflection was in both lenses of her glasses, so it took some work in photoshop to make that look a little better. I also like the bottom one because she is laughing and it also shows how she's not very comfortable being a model. I also like the bottom one because it is kind of high key, the top right corner is washed out.

Portrait examples

"Low Key"

"High Key"

Portrait with background

Portrait with simple background

Portrait with no background

Self Portrait

Open Theme

Rain rain go away...

The subjects of this photo would be the wind chime and the rain. I like that the rain is moving and the bottom of the wind chime is blurry, and the top is in focus. I also like it better in black and white because the color of the sky was kind of blah.

The main subject of this photo would be the bird feeder. It was right after it rained and the sun came out and I love the water droplets on it and it's kind of foggy on the inside. I also like how the colors are bright and the grass actually looks super green.

This is a picture of the rain hitting the ground hard. I like that you can see some drops hitting it right at the time the picture was taken. I don't know what it is, but there is something right in the shot and it makes it kind of blurry. I wish that could have been avoided.

Arboretum

I like this picture of this tree with spots on it because it is in focus, and the background isn't. The colors are also great. 

This picture took a lot of tries to get the water drops in focus. I like the way the light is hitting it.

I like this picture because of the shadows.

I like this picture because it is clear and in focus, and I like the shadows it is making on itself.

When we went on this walk, I looked for interesting shots that other people might not see. I looked for shadows, interesting patterns, and good lighting. I think it turned out very successful and I will probably go to the arboretum to take pictures again!