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Love,

Mabyn

Lately i’ve been addicted to Flickr. There are so many wonderful photographers showing off their work it’s easy to get lost in the Flickr world! A fairly new phenominon (at least to me) that seems to be popular throughout Flickr is the wide world of self portraiture. Sure, anyone can turn a camera around and snap a shot, but the images/artists i’ve discovered have a whole new spin on things. They create these surreal images full of significance. Two artists that i’m very fond of are Aaron Nace and Miss Aniela. Both have taken self portraiture to another level. I encourage you all to check them out!

So, i’ve decided to dip my toes in the selfie waters and see if I have what it takes. We’re starting off simple, stretching my conseptual muscles and playing with my meager photoshop skills. So here are 2 images, one artistic, one surreal.

Waiting for the rain.

Yesterday was damp and crisp. I waited for the rain to fall all day. It finally came and all I wanted to do was curl up in a cozy blanket and watch it fall. Unfortunately responsibilities didn’t allow for such luxuries.

Incomplete

Somedays I feel like a rough draft, unfinished, incomplete…

Sierra

Stephanie

Resa

Meghan and Nate

Lillian

Donna

See? Aren’t they just brilliantly beautiful!?

Usually in the chilly months I get asked quite frequently to document different church events for Faith Chapel.

On this particuar occasion I didn’t need asking. Over the summer one of my very best friends, Amber Messina, went to Korea for a missions trip. It turned into a career opportunity and when she came home for her 3 month break she was ordained as a minister! It was such an amazing honor to be able to capture this significant moment in Ambers life. She means the world to me and I know that she has already changed lives in Korea. I can’t even comprehend how much God will bless her works when she’s there full time. So though my friend is offically moving to Korea in about a month, I know that our friendship will continue to be as meaningful and fulfilling oceans away.

At the end of January I went to Mystic Connecticut for a 2 day wedding photo conference put on by Walter van Dusen. It was a wonderful experience filled to the brim with information and inspiration! I left having met some fantastic photographers, motivated, and revved up!
Ben Chrisman and George Weirreally gave me a lot to think about. I very much appreciate their philosophies about their work.

Ben Chrisman also documented some of the events at Mystic 4. Check out his blog!

Also check out Vladimir Chaloupka’a blog for a fantastically made trailer of the 2 day event. He shot the whole thing with his new 5D MarkII and I’m so in love with this camera! If you look closely at the video you can see me rockin out the Karaoke!

I tend to have a take it or leave it personality. Don’t get me wrong, I am passionate about many things but it takes a lot for me to be committed. Some of my friends are fiercely passionate about things like music, movies, or what shampoo they recommend. I love all of these things but I am also very open to new options and don’t form a concrete opinion.
One of the biggest banes of my existence has been coffee. You see for 24 years of my life I didn’t drink it. I thought it was gross. I even enjoyed the looks of shock and disgust I would get when someone would ask me if I wanted some coffee and I told them I didn’t like it.
I was known as the tea drinker in my inner circle. Up until last summer I had a large array of Teavana teas on my kitchen shelf.

I also like to try new things. So one day I decided that I should give coffee a second chance.

It was on my way down to South Carolina to shoot my good friend Bethy’s wedding that it occurred. My group of friends and I stopped at a Panera Bread to have breakfast and they conveniently had some Frappichinos available. My adventurous side prevailed and I ordered.

I was shocked at how good the drink was. Were my taste buds deceiving me? Or did I really enjoy the carmely bitter concoction? I finished the whole thing, thoroughly satisfied.

Since that day in July, I have been learning the wonders of coffee and completely enjoy myself….except on days like today.

You see tea has caffeine but not in the high doses that coffee offers. I use to get up easily in the morning, refreshed. Now I drag myself out of bed and quickly brew a cup for my survival.

Then days like today happen. I had to get up earlier than normal to open the tire shop and I didn’t have the time to drink my morning brew. So I made it and put it in my wonderful to-go-thermal mug. In the  world that is Upstate New York, January is usually cold and snowy. This morning was no exception, so in my winter routine I had to scrape off the snow and ice from the poor automobile. While doing so I placed my mug on top of my car and conveniently left it there while I drove off.

So this left me 7:30am, at work, with no caffeine.

I didn’t get caffeine in my system until 11:30am.

It was a loooooooooooooong morning.

It fascinates me that something as trivial as a liquid can really influence my day and how centered my day is around that little bit of liquid. I don’t even drink a lot, maybe 2 cups a day.

I haven’t made up my mind if I should cut coffee out of my routine and go back to tea, but I really don’t enjoy not functioning properly. It’s just not a good thing.

I met Trisha and Travis this fall when we got together for their couples session. They are so fantastic! Travis didn’t really want to get his picture taken but I’m pretty sure by the end of the session I had won him over. He even got into the “saucy” shots. Hah! They’re getting married this coming summer in Ithaca and I am so excited! It is going to be a great time!

Christmas was spent with my family opening gifts and enjoying each others company. Our Chirstmas is always quiet and serene.

Next was New Years, my friends Seth, Chris, Kar-Lai threw together an amazing bash very short notice. I was quite amazed at their hard work and brilliant results!

On new years day my good friend Seth and I traveled 7 hours to Harrisonburg Virginia to visit our favorite Ford family and enjoy a brief holiday vacation full of sleep, laughter, amazing food, and LOTS of pictures!