Flower Power!

**Update: This post is dedicated to my friend Jamie who is currently ill and in the hospital. Jamie, just imagine these flowers in a vase in your hospital room. I hope this post has brightened your day! I love you and I hope you get well soon!!!**

I don't have anything really wise to say today (at least not yet...it's too early in the morning). I just haven't blogged in a while (sorry, it's been a busy month!) and thought that I better get back into the swing of things. So...for now, enjoy these photos I took of the flowers that I was growing.....before, I accidentally killed them all. I'm not sure how, but they sure don't look like this anymore!

I didn't grow this rose...but thanks to Publix grocery store, I was still able to enjoy it's beauty in my home. :)

I promise, I'll be back with more photos and blogs (hopefully, I'll have something good to say next time, but if not, please just enjoy the photos....there, that's my disclaimer) and I promise you won't have to wait 4 more weeks for another post.

I Play with my Food.

Not only is food fun to eat, but it's fun to play with, and of course, shoot photos of. It's even better if you can combine the three---especially, when you have something as special and as fun as dog-bone shaped birthday cookies, made with love (at least, I hope they were!) by a great friend who recognizes my passion for just about everything dog-related. And of course, the fact that she remembered my birthday (April 3...incase anyone is wondering) is an added bonus!

I love my birthday, and although I don't always expect presents, I of course accept presents without any problem. So I was super excited to find a gift on my chair at work the morning of my birthday. Yup, I was already a giddy little girl...ok ok, 26 year old young woman. I opened my gift bag, where I found part one of my present---a dog-bone cookie cutter! Wow, did this ever add to the giddy-ness! I've been wanting a dog-bone cookie cutter for a while, but just haven't found one yet. It's something that I don't really think about when I'm in the kitchen aisle of a department store or whatever. And then, I opened part two of my gift...homemade, dog-bone shaped cookies covered in sprinkles!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I was overwhelmed with giddy-ness at this point! I was so excited, and felt like a birthday girl should---very special!

So my friend (I will refer to her as "Erin") who made the cookies, has a food blog, and I knew that this would be a perfect opportunity to:

1.) practice my photography

2.) practice with the new external flash I had just purchased for myself...*cue music*...happy birthday to me...happy birthday to me.....

3.) give her some shots to use for her blog

and

4.) PLAY WITH MY FOOD!

A few weeks ago, Erin told me that she had submitted a photo of the cookies to this website's food photo event of the month (May 2009). The subject was cookies. The photo below got 9th place overall (out of 66)....

I say, yippee! Looks like the photoshoot was a success that night! :) The theme this month is "stacks" ....I'm still trying to find the perfect subject for this one. Be on the lookout for updates on this!

If you want to try to make these amazing cookies, you can find the recipe at Erin's Food Files . Oh, and please keep in mind that she is much more critical of food than I am. Although, she doesn't think these cookies were "earth-shattering" delicious....I think they were fantastic! Feel free to let me know what you think of my photos, and let her know what you think of the recipe! Thanks again Erin for the great birthday cookies!

My first post!

Well here it goes everyone--my very first "blog". How exciting! I'm FINALLY doing it! YIPPEE!

For quite some time, I've had a few friends (mainly Erin and Liesl) tell me that I need to start a photography blog, and although I have wanted to, the world of blogging kind of terrified me. I'm not afraid of technology or anything like that, but I just hope that I can keep this blog up to date like I should. Plus, I'm a little modest about my photography. Although I've always enjoyed being in front of or behind the camera, I've only been really "shooting" creatively for about a year now.

In June 2008, I took the plunge and bought my first digitial SLR (I LOVE my little Canon Rebel XTi), enrolled in some classes at Watkins College of Art, Design, and Film then I shot, shot, shot away, and here I am. Who knows where my photography may lead me...all I know is, I love being able to capture moments of all kinds with my camera, and I hope to share a lot of those moments with you all!

This first photo I have posted is from an in-class abstract shoot, which was one of the most fun shoots I've ever had. I personally love the edginess and vibrant colors of this photo. Stay tuned, you may see more photos from this shoot in the future--after all, it was one of my favorite shoots so far.

So, bear with me as I figure out this blogging thing...and enjoy the view "Through Kristen's Viewfinder" :)