Behind the Scenes: Blooming Variety

This post has been 3 months in the making, but it's finally here. Back in May I tagged along with the wonderful Abby Ott, who was doing a project involving a fashion shoot. We sort of have a partnership in this type of thing. We have done a few shoots together in the past few years; she helps me and I help her. (Previous shoot)

Abby asked if I would be willing to sharpen my video skills on her project, and I happily agreed. I have only experimented with video a few times, but I love it! I am planning on practicing a lot more in the near future, especially since I'm shooting footage for a wedding video in January. But without further...rambling...here's the behind the scenes video I shot for Blooming Variety:

This video was quite a learning process for me. I couldn't do what I wanted to do with my safety net, imovie, so I had to transition to Final Cut Express. It was so great learning how to use the program! I will definitely be using it more in future projects because you can do so much more with it. I would also like to showcase Abby's talent. Here are just a few of the images she took for her project. She shot all film, and I'm super impressed with the results.

more on her blog

I took an interest in Abby's photography when she was just starting out in one of our classes at Union. I think it may have been her freshman or sophomore year? I can't remember...I'm so old. Anyway, I still remember the project we were working on when I thought "hey, this girl's pretty good." It was supposed to mimic a shoot that would appear in a magazine, and she took pictures in this store in Nashville. I loved all the details she got and the way she used the light. It's been amazing to see this budding young photographer grow and advance in her skills. I can't wait to see what she does with her photography after she graduates next year!

I'd love hear your feedback on the video, if you have some critique for me. I haven't had a good old fashioned critique since graphic design 4!  I hope you all enjoyed it. It was a really fun project and I feel like I learned a lot through the process. Thanks, Abby, for working with me. Let's start planning our next collaboration :)

4th of July in South Carolina

Well, folks, this is my last South Caroline post. Are you bummed? Ok, I didn't think so. Our last day there was the 4th of July and also the day we happened to go to the beach. We ended up going to Foley beach, and I really loved it there! It wasn't terribly crowded because we drove pretty far down before we parked. The sand was nice and packed from the tide, so I didn't get a lot sand in my things, and it was just all around a great beach.

We spent about 3 hours on the beach and then decided to go get something to eat. We found a place on the corner called Crab Shack. Besides the extremely loud family at the next table, it was a great place!  I got some delicious grilled shrimp with veggies and potatoes. YUM! The shrimp also came with this interesting sauce. I don't really even know how to describe it, but trust me it was good.

Later we went to a huge fireworks show. It.was.amazing. I can't even...I don't...I don't even know how to describe it other than amazing. I'm from a pretty small area of Tennessee, so fireworks shows here are just people shooting roman candles and the occasional artillery shell. This show was like a million times more exciting and elaborate! I think my mouth was wide open during the entire thing.

Here are some pictures from the night, and make sure to watch the video at the bottom (if you enjoy fireworks). Be aware that I "woo hoo" quite loudly during the finale, so you might want to turn the volume down. ha!

I love this bridge. The fireworks were just across the bridge.

 we were red white and blue without even planning it!

 Ana and Mallory

getting dark...almost time!

what...a night

Check out more posts from my vacation here

Snowy Church Gathering

I attend a home church each Sunday that actually meets in my living room! We have four families plus me and my cousin, and we have wonderful visitors occasionally. One great thing about having such a tight knit church is that we are all very close. For Christmas this year, we decided to have a get-together at one of the other members' home, and it happened to be the first day we got snow this winter! I made a short little video showing a few clips of the snow with some clips of our gathering.

Doesn't it look so fun?! It's actually a little deceiving...the music makes it seem much more calm than it really is. With all the children we have there, it's rarely calm! But we love it that way :)

 The snow back at my house. It didn't stick, but it was so pretty!

Mike making our coffee for the day...French press yummmmmm

He got to go around this year and say all he wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth! 

 Had to include this adorable little booger. The baby...not Mike :)

This is what I contributed to the meal. I just bought a bundle of asparagus and baked it with olive oil, basil, and Parmesan cheese.  It was really yummy! Tabitha made this amazing butternut squash soup that was possibly the best soup I've EVER EATEN!

Mike and Tab have some interesting Mary and Joseph sculptures from a nativity scene( i think.) They are pretty much the ultimate conversation piece! Angelia does a pretty good job imitating Joseph, don't you think?

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and video from our Christmas gathering! I certainly enjoy each moment that we all spend together.

On a separate note, it snowed again! Today is REAL snow, though. It's a few inches deep, so there's no school (or work for me!) and I'm going to be shooting a Survivor audition video for a friend! I have no idea what to do for the video, but I think it'll be loads of fun shooting in the snow.

YouTube Play

I stumbled upon this contest that the Guggenheim did a few months back. People submitted videos and they narrowed it down to the top 25. Well, once I started watching them, I had to watch them all! There were certainly some that I wouldn't have chosen, but there were a few that just blew me away.

From the Guggenheim website:
On October 21, the top videos selected by the YouTube Play jury were revealed and celebrated at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The videos, which can be viewed below and on youtube.com/play, were presented at the Guggenheim Museums in New York, Bilbao, Berlin, and Venice on October 22–24, 2010. They comprise the ultimate YouTube playlist: a selection of the most unique, innovative, groundbreaking video work being created and distributed online during the past two years.

Here are some of my favorites:

Bathtub IV by Keith Loutit


I Met the Walrus by Josh Raskin


Noteboek by Evelien Lohbeck


Synthesia by Terri Timely


Words by Everynone

Well, I'm sure that's enough to keep you busy for a while! If you want to see the whole Top 25 you can go to the Guggenheim website. 

Happy Friday, everyone!

The Mousetrap

Part of my new job is to resurrect "Union Stories", which is a series of stories from Union (go figure...)

I have zero experience with video or audio so I'm trying to ease my way into it, and I'm planning on failing miserably a few times. My first attempt is about the newest Union theatre production of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. I combined some photos that I took through the process of building the set, rehearsing, etc., with some audio that I gathered. Here's a link to the slideshow: http://www.uu.edu/theatre/media/mousetrap-sp10/

I will gladly accept some critique! I need to improve, for sure. If you around Jackson this week, you MUST come see the show. It's going to be epic!