Happenings

New Blog Site!!

2008-09-18T14:45:00.000-07:00

I'm tired of fighting with the technical difficulties of this blog site. Below is my new blog link. Come by and visit :)

Steph

new blog: to take place

playing with light

2008-08-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ms. Heidi Mock. We were contemplating a game of mission impossible
while I was trying to light paint this image.

Simply a pool light and cold water. She was such a sport!

Heidi was smart ... she moved from margaritas to red wine:)

for kelsey

2008-08-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

Kelsey wanted to see this one something awful
so here it is in all its glory.

Michelle. AKA: my sister, my assistant, and "light girl"

Kelsey took this. I was sitting on the court trying to come up with
another idea for a portrait. It was quite bright out there!

Portraits of an athlete - Kelsey Lauren

2008-08-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

2008-08-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

I am in a portrait class this term. I can honestly say it is the most stressful class I have taken so far at Brooks. Lighting and posing people just isn't my thing. Here are a few examples of my attempt at portraiture. Is it evident which shoots I completely shut down in? Hopefully not :)

Mark Curtis - Attorney at Law

Ruthie - Manager at Cafe Fiore

Surfers: Brain Brantley, Tom Kranzle, and Jessy Bateman

generations

2008-07-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

2G + 3G
(tutu being the sole representative of her generation)

5G
( the three oldest boys, the other little ones were on a hay ride)

2008-07-25T18:30:00.000-07:00

Bridget Grace

A-BAR-A RANCH GIRLS

2008-07-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

*Malia*

the perfect coppertone kid

*Libby*
she is the most articulate 4 year old out there

*Kenna*
my new favorite hiking partner :)

A-BAR-A RANCH

2008-07-22T22:56:00.000-07:00

The first of a few postings of this little awesome place in Wyoming

A little hike in Ojai

2008-07-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there were three kids, two boys and one girl, who decided to go for an innocent little hike to a lake up in Ojai.

For some reason they took an off the beaten path track. The first obstacle, a steep dam incline, was a dead end. The three kids got a good leg workout on this segment of the adventure however, so all was not lost.

They discovered the only way up was a vertical hill with concrete on one side. They decided to scale it like professional rock climbers.

At this point, as they tried to get around the razor wire wall, the three understood the "No Trespassing" signs about a mile back, meant no trespassing.

They were almost home free, as the lake was on the other side of a final concrete wall down another steep hill. It didn't take them long to figure out that crab walking was their best bet on the decent, as many rocks slid down the hill with the slightest bit of pressure.

The lake was serene, the view was gorgeous, and others were already there equipped with coolers, etc. The three wondered what type of magic these other people preformed in order to get themselves as well as food, beer, fishing pools, and inner tubes up, down, over, and through all the obstacles they encountered. They worked up the courage to ask. This was when they learned that if they drove a mile further up the road from where they parked, there was a clear dirt trail down to the lake.

Oh well. I think our way was more fun :)

2008-07-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

THE BARNETT FIRE
thursday, june 19th 2008
ventura, california

2008-07-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

My blog is finally working. I decided to post a handful of my Egypt images, just because ...

A guy simply minding his own business

Ruby soaking up the Egyptian culture

Cooper would be proud :)

At least they are efficient

While on our way to Banana Island to see the Nubians.

A little hookah, a little soapy water ...

I only saw the license plate because I squatted to take an image of the woman in the distance.

Some worry beads hanging in Sayed's car.

These boys made a game out of running back and forth from Ruby to me.

My camel's head while venturing to the pyramids.

Going about daily business in the park.

I have no clue, yet I am still intrigued.

I saw it, therefore, I took it.

It reminded me of The Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland.

He didn't even blink yet try to swat them away.

The boys Ruby and I referred to as the "camera hams."

Egyptian children have such large beautiful eyes.

On Banana Island.

Golden hour.

My hookah dude.

Sayed reads up on the news while at home.

Child worker at the family business.

Markings left on a street side wall.

Circular reflection.

Noticing the small things.

Disgusting invasion of Western culture.

One boy's playground / One boy's resting place.

EGYPT - fisheye

2008-05-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is simply the start of the postings of my Egypt photos. I have edited and edited and toned and re-toned. At this point I am down to about 130 images I want to share. Some are humorous and some are journalistic. I have tried to group them into 'posting categories.' This first post will be the one with the least amount of images.

I took a fisheye lens with me. It was the first time I have ever played with this lens. Overall it was cool, but I kinda didn't know what to do with it. Anyway, these five images are from the airplanes and airports going to Cairo and the street images are from the first day in Cairo (they were taken from the car).

This is walking onto the plane in Heathrow on our way to Cairo.

At least I can hold a camera steady while on airplane anxiety meds :)

Ryan (aka Ruby) documents something :)

I think I will blame the anxiety meds for the amount I laughed when

taking this image. At least Ruby humored me!

Cairo street

I will do my best to add photos on an every other day basis. Any comments, critiques, etc. are more then welcome :)

Thanks for looking!

Steph

The Power of Make-Up

2008-05-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

Special Effects Make-up Artist Megan V. Brown
completes a make-up demo on Tyler Olsen

With Love

2008-05-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

This story has been requested a couple times in the past two months. I completed it in Photo 208 this past December. It is a picture story on my Mother, Margie Newell. I have become attached to this story because it really depicts my Mother. I am now working on a photo story on my sister, Michelle, at the moment.

I'm a genius, I know.

2008-04-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow Ryan and I leave for Egypt. Today was to be spent playing tennis in the morning, packing, and taking care of odds and ends. Apparently some higher power had other intentions because I spent my morning at Urgent Care. No, no, no it wasn't food allergy based for once. Instead I managed to slice the sh*t out of my left index finger with a peeler. I'm not a wimp, I promise (remember I'm the one who walked around on a fractured ankle with a torn ligament for a couple months without realizing it). I'll spare you the details and just say that now part of my afternoon will be spent cleaning up blood that I managed to get everywhere (and I mean everywhere). Urgent Care cleaned it out (which hurt like a you know what), bandaged the crap out of it, and gave me a shot. The Doc said one more mm deep and I would have been stitched up. Moral of the story ... watch out for those peelers ... they bite!

Just a few of the tissues used in attempt to clot my finger.

The damn pen tool!

2008-04-02T14:44:00.001-07:00

This term I am in a digital illustration class which is required. The first three weeks of the term I was in a constant fight with the new program we were learning. I am now, however, starting to climb over the hurdle known as Adobe Illustrator and the damn pen tool. I know the image is small so you all will think I am an anul perfectionist (ok, well that's kinda true) when I tell you it took me six plus hours to create the tennis player. If you could see it blown up, then you would understand.

devilish egg hiding

2008-03-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

EASTER

My cousins and I are now all in our teens and 20's, so a "normal" egg hunt seems a little juvenile. My Grandmother adjusted to her maturing grandkids and now puts money in the eggs. A $20 bill is in each egg and everyone gets to find one. For the past few years my Grandmother has asked me to hide the Easter eggs for her. My philosophy is, "If you are getting free money in an easter egg, you should have to work to find it." I am ruthless, I admit it. Last year I hid Ashley's egg in the middle of a bag of compost fertilizer. I find it funny and am always thoroughly amused at my cousins' utter frustration after five minutes of searching through everything. This year my hiding skills slacked a bit because it only took 30 minutes for everyone to be done.

Let the games begin!

Michelle needed a Mermosa in order to tolerate the egg hunt.

About 20 minutes into the festivities Michelle started hitting trees with
a rake to see if any eggs would fall out ... cheater. Meanwhile Ashley and Evan watch.

And this is what Ashley thinks of my Easter egg hiding.
For some reason she is always one of the last to find an egg!

Corey camped out in the TV room.
(yes those are my feet)

Kolbe stretches in the background.

Birthday wishes a week late.

Tournament in the Desert

2008-03-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

Pacific Life Open - Indian Wells, CA

TENNIS
passion. life. vigor. exhilaration. love. happiness.
... i miss it ...

La Quinta as a backdrop never hurt.

He cares more about his tan then the match.

Service

Ms. Vania King ... one of my old training partners
from Saltz Tennis Academy.

2008-03-15T23:21:00.001-07:00

On March 14th, my sister, Michelle, turned 25. We, along with her boyfriend Steve and a few of her good friends went to the Yard House for dinner and drinks, followed by some craziness at Gameworks. Don't know what Gameworks is? Imagine a Chucky Cheese for for those over 21. Only instead of pizza, they have a bar!

Michelle tests her birthday cake

Shell attempts some alternate palm reading.
Actually I have no idea what is going on here.

A little drunken skiball. Steve, Michelle, and Erica.

Birthday girl and a beer.

Lindsay before she fell asleep sitting at a race car game.

Miss Heidi ... aka my surrogate sister.

Will watching Steve play dance dance revolution.

The two of them were ridiculous in this photo booth.

This was right before Michelle spilled her beer down her leg.
Apparently laughing too hard affects your hand holding skills.

Good Morning Denver

2008-03-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

A couple pictures of Denver in the morning. I could so easily live in this city. It has that "comfortable home" feeling for me. That, 'I've been here my whole life' feeling.

Shuttles and Busses

2008-03-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

A little mid week jaunt to Denver, CO -- aka my second home -- for a couple of days. I decided to pull out my camera while on my "airplane happy pills" as I road on shuttles before and after my flight there, haha.

A few more drops of knowledge ...

2008-03-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

A few more drops of knowledge to add to all the insight I've gathered since living in Ventura.

- That "Adultery my mistress" and "real men don't eat kiesh" are apparently expressions.
- It is possible to effectively bubble wrap just about everything.
- My quirks make me, me.
- My days of participating in the tradition of fondu before Christmas are becoming numbered. This year not only did I have to have my own pot with broth instead of peanut oil, but my Mom put a barricade up around me so no peanut oil could splatter near me. Yes, I am an alien from another planet who's body cannot handle peanut oil ... sigh.
- When you are suffering from vertigo, don't get out of bed too quickly because you will fall over.
- Speaking of falling over, it isn't the best idea for you and your friend to try and hold up each other's legs in a photo when you both have on heels and have had a couple glasses of wine. The result again, is falling over.

- Everyone is in your life for a reason.
- On that note ... People come and go throughout your life. At times someone who was a best friend drifts away and someone you never knew earns your trust and figures out how to make you laugh and smile.
- Those in New Hampshire and Boston have a limited vocabulary mainly consisting of this phrase/question: "You all set?"
- Even though my health insurance is over $300 a month, it covers jack sh*t.
- I am now "sensitive" to eggplant ... which is the first step to becoming allergic, fantabulous!
- How much I really miss tennis and how incomplete I feel without it.

(photo by Andrea Johnston)

- I can easily drive around Hawaii, yet when I get out of the car and walk into a department store, I manage to get lost trying to find the door.
- Ginger Mojitos rock my world!!
- I have inherited my Mother's "nursing" talents. Taking care of someone when they are sick, timing multiple medication dosages, and pumping vitamins into their body is like second nature. Just no throwing up please.
- On that note. Matt and I discovered a free form of entertainment ... Give Grant Dayquil, lay back, and watch and listen. It is pretty damn funny to say the least.
- You are not going to perfectly adjust to every situation / place / experience you have in your life. All you can do is give it your all, learn what you can, and move on.

A little bit of February

2008-03-06T13:45:00.000-08:00

~ Just a few little visuals of the past month ~

Ms. Andrea Lynn Johnston pauses on the stage
at graduation to take a photo of her projected photo

Andrea and Kiwi didn't get the memo that Brooks decided
to forgo actual diplomas in order to further their budget cuts.

Dustin had a little too much fun playing
with this image of Kirsten in Photoshop.

Eddie at The Sewer

At The Naked Fish in South Lake Tahoe right before my phone
became victim to Kranzle's excitement over after dinner treats.
It was priveledged to a little ice water bath!

Attack of the Tripod

2008-02-09T11:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was playing with dynalites. In the set-up process I managed to have a "run in" with my tripod. I realize I bruise easily, however, when I woke up this morning I wasn't exactly expecting to have a partially black and blue foot. So the lesson ... watch those tripods, they can bite!

Amusing myself during the Superbowl.

2008-02-03T23:03:00.001-08:00

I love college football (fight on!!). But when it comes to the NFL, I couldn't care less. I am generally one of those who "watches it for the commercials." This year however, I decided to play around with my camera in-between bites of chips and guacamole.

My sister, Michelle, intensely watching the game.

Ashley touches up her makeup before she left for work.

Uncle Jeff watching the action.

Kolbe icing his ankle. He sprained it while skateboarding.

Jeffy, with his "surfer's hair" watches the game.

Ashley really wasn't into the game either.

i do not heart blue cross

2008-01-29T12:23:00.001-08:00

IRONY -- it bit me in the ass

Last October I had the pleasure of trying to find new health insurance coverage. It was a battle I was dreading because I am more or less a medical disaster. After a few weeks of beating my head against a wall, crying from frustration, and stressing out, I landed coverage through Blue Cross's HIPPA. This not so fabulous plan only covered about half of my medications. I had to pick my battles, in other words chose which meds were worth the fight. I ended up dropping one of my allergy medications because I figured I could survive being on only one.

I went to Hawaii with my Mom at the beginning of this year. When I was younger my allergies always had a party in Hawaii. This was the first time I was there in quite some years while only being on one allergy med. Well, it is confirmed, I am most definitely allergic to Hawaii. I spent half of the time sneezing, rubbing my eyes, and somewhat miserable. If you are wondering how it is possible to be even slightly miserable in Hawaii, well then, you have not had the pleasure of allergy attacks.

I then made my way back east to visit some friends. The last full day I was there, my ears decided they wanted to cause havoc and rearrange their fluids thus giving me vertigo. This was the first experience I have had with vertigo; I hope it was also my last. After a couple days of missing doorways, looking constantly drunk as I walked, and falling over one time when I stood up too quickly, I decided it was time to pay a visit to my favorite place here in Ventucky ... Urgent Care.

After talking to the Doc for 15 minutes and being flung around to see what would make me really dizzy, I was given a prescription for some anti-dizzy meds. The doc told me my vertigo was most likely caused by my intense allergies in Hawaii combined with the 5 airplanes I had been on in a week and a halfs time. I dropped my prescription off at the pharmacy (my second favorite place in Ventucky) only to be told that my insurance doesn't cover that medication!! Honest to God. I wouldn't have been in that position in the first place if my insurance covered my other allergy med. So, in conclusion, my insurance is making me sicker and making me pay more. Woo hoo for health care!!

Collection of "What I've Learned" emails

2008-01-21T16:55:00.000-08:00

Over the past year I have sent out email updates simply consisting of "what I've learned." I keep getting funny comments regrading these emails, so I thought I'd post them. Personally it was fun going back and reading them :)

12-6-2006
A few things I have learned after five weeks at Brooks ...

~ Sleeping is overrated
~ Re-shooting multiple times is essential
~ Midnight swimming in the ocean is pretty fun
~ Nature Valley granola bars do indeed have nuts (and on that note ...)
~ County hospitals are not ideal and epipens do in fact go through jeans
~ Random people on the Third Street Promenade will put you on their shoulders so you can get a birds eye view of what you are shooting.
~ A 300 telephoto lens gives you one hell of an upper body workout
~ Having wine before accounting class is a wonderful idea
~ Strip football is not such a hot idea (especially when USC loses)

3-25-07
A few things I have learned after two and a half terms at Brooks ...

- There is no such thing as life outside of Brooks. It is its own bubble, its own world, and you better hope you love your classmates otherwise you are up you know what creek without a paddle. Luckily I have some absolutely amazing friends here who I feel like I have known my whole life.
- The Nikon vs. Canon debate is worse then the Democrat vs. Republican or Coke vs. Pepsi debate. It is best to keep one's mouth shut and just show up the other side with your awesome images ... haha.
- Moving really really sucks and I am sick of it
- White wine is amazing
- Hives are the bane of my existence

(a fabulous self portrait when I had hives for about a week)

- Photoshop is more complicated then surgery
- 7am finance class two days a week is not at all cool
- Living with boys = a kick ass pool table in the garage :-)
- All hospitals in Ventura are worthless but the nurses as Urgent Care rock my world

(in the ER waiting room with Dustin. Andrea got bored and starting taking photos)

- When you live next door to someone with three chickens running around their backyard (in the city nonetheless) it is extremely important to shut your windows at night if you don't want a 6am wake up call
- When you miss place your keys and cannot find them for 12 hours make sure you check the refrigerator especially if your hands were full when you walked into the house and unloaded groceries ... you never know where you might put something down!
- St. Patrick's Day is made for beer and a ridiculous game of slosh ball with people falling over themselves by 3pm and Irish Car Bombs curdle if you are not quick enough
- Eating any type of dessert unless I know exactly what is in it (and that is only if I spoke with the person who made) it is now out of the question.

7-7-07
What I've learned after eight months at Brooks ...

- Guide numbers and power ratios can bite my ass!!
- My friends here are the most awesome people ever and I love them dearly.
- Baseball games and nut allergies do not mix very well.
- My sister is the most amazing person in the world.

(Michelle having a little fun on the beach)

- Trying to get a couch up stairs that turn is extremely difficult, yet funny if you are watching the action as opposed to participating in it.
- Having a best friend move really sucks.
- Murder Ball is one of the best movies / documentaries ever.
- It is possible to cook microwave popcorn on the stove (and it actually tastes better)
- I bruise if I am simply pinched (thanks Dustin!)
- Sulfur turns silver iridescent (so don't wear jewelry when going in the hot springs!)
- If your roommate accidentally sends a stamp pad through the washer and dryer, Lysol it out. Oh and on that note Tropical Lysol DOESN'T smell very tropical after 30 minutes!
- Cats have a third eyelid (who knew??)
- Sometimes letting down your guard, setting aside your stubbornness, and allowing people help you with stuff is a positive thing.
- More terms, testing procedures, conditions, and diseases that deal with the pelvic region of the body then I ever thought possible (I love you shello).
- I am considering moving to Italy so I can get health insurance come October.
- My cat loves me tremendously :-)

(Stormy and me)

9-27-07
What I've learned since last time you heard from me ...

- Pinkberry rocks my world!
- Final Cut Pro is a complicated, bang your head against the wall, awesome program.
- For some odd reason I really like editing videos
- Ambulances are VERY expensive
- If photography doesn't work out I can always try law school (my business law professor recommended it b/c apparently I ask more intelligent questions then most law students do ... my Dad got a kick out of that one).
- Michelle and I really do have mutated genes.
- Hashing is my new favorite past time (if your curious as to what hashing is visit ... http://www.h3sob.com)
- Skydiving gives you such an amazing full body sensation and is insanely awesome.

(Right after diving from the plane on the North Shore of Oahu)

- Two of my guy friends here (Aaron and Tom ... had to call them out) know every word to every Celion Dion song and are not afraid to belt them out in the car.
- Global warming and over fishing could potentially kill all the coral reefs in the world within 30 years.
- Traveling with other photographers is great, no one gets impatient when you stop every five minutes to take pictures.

(Sara, Me, and Tom at Nu'uanu in Hawaii)

- Insomnia really really sucks!!
- I definitely have a "domestic" gene in me. It was confirmed when I purchased tray tables of all things a week ago.
- I heart my sister

(Shell and me at Big Creek at A-A)

- Dresses are my new favorite thing to wear
- Mosquito's love to bite my legs ... and I actually have the scars to prove it (pathetic!)
- When I am sick I have the uncanny ability to sleep for 16 hours straight.
- There is this "stinky" fruit called Durian. First don't EVER go near it. But if you happen to DO NOT have it in the trunk of your car while driving back from Vegas in the summer during traffic without air conditioning. Talk about nauseating!

11-26-07
What I've learned after a year in Ventura ...

- How to change the bag in a vacuum
- Health insurance for those with "pre-existing conditions" is ridiculously expensive.
- Trying to check into the wrong hotel in San Francisco at 1am doesn't exactly work
- Some of the medications and medical devices you can get in the U.S. are not offered in social health care systems
around most of the world.
- Southern California fires = extremely amplified allergies

(The view from my house during the Malibu fire)

- You don't have to use tin foil to cover the opening to your fireplace when you want to prevent ash from So Cal fires from coming in. Fireplaces have these nifty little devices called flumes ... who knew?
- My Trojans are on a re-building year.
- On that note ... when I decide to sh*t talk about a game ... I need to be ready to eat my words, not to mention wear the opposing teams shirt following the game.

(Dylan and me after my Trojans decided to take pity on the Ducks)

- The talking lady on my GPS doesn't know the difference between me getting lost & having to get off the freeway to pee.
- My cat is the ultimate winner at hide-and-go-seek. I am dead serious. Ask anyone in my family who spent hours crawling through bushes, cupboards, etc. to find her. Then she casually walks down the stairs eight hours later.
- Live and raw food is surprisingly good.
- My Dad likes to hide people's car keys in his pocket & after 45 min. of tearing apart the house he realizes he has them.
- When at Starbucks I need to ask for them to pick up any food I get with a napkin, not the tongs they use to pick up everything else.
- It isn't wise to tell your parents that you want to go to Rwanda.