Pirates and Whip Cream Pies

So this past weekend I was fortunate enough to take pictures of my adorable Niece and Nephew, Bree and Ian at Pirate Cove in Elk Grove in celebration of there second birthday! I was so excited because I was able to REALLY test out my new camera and lenses and get a good feel of what real life situations will bring me I came to the conclusion of two things.

1. my next investment is a wide angle zoom or prime lens
2. investment after one is to get a vertical grip or flash

After taking hundreds of photos from that day and lots of editing I finally got them finished and was so happy with the end result <3 But then It Dawned on me, if it took me this long to edit around 100 photos what about a wedding!!? hmmm.... maybe that's why they charge so much... well either way thanks Sis for letting me take pictures of the twins AND letting me have a slice of cake :)

*On a side note* My last day of work was Sunday. It was definitely a very bittersweet moment.I will miss everyone there so much, except this one person, and you know who you are if you're reading this! just kidding! I really will miss all the good times we had, whether we were bashing guest about there terrible tips or Vultures in the back whenever there was dead food (mainly me lol)!

But how does my coworkers depart with me leaving? by smacking the Fridays out of me with a whip cream pie! and man o' man were they dead on with the aim, completely caught me off guard and the best part about it? they stole my camera and came around the corner busting out with pictures! BEST way to leave by far :) and with that being said I am definitely looking forward to this party their having for me tonight, these guys were the best really <3

Here's a few from the weekend, Happy Tuesday!

Memories in the Attic

So yesterday I helped my Mom clean out my part of the attic since the Official-Move-to- Florida is coming at me faster than the angry Rhino from James and the Giant Peach (anyone remember that underrated movie??)

The closer I got to the top of the stairs to my attic you could see that nothing has been touched for quiet some time, maybe it was the dust that gave it away?

Behind all the spider webs, dust bunnies, boxes, and bags, lied memories of my childhood. Whether they were the good memories or the bad ones, the funny ones or the sad ones, it was definitely an emotional time to see how I've grown and become the 20 year old Florida bound guy I've become. Growing up in this house my whole life, it was definitely hard to part with some things, others not so much. I went from clothes like my Woody from Toy Story one piece pajama outfit, to my Pokemon collection of cards, to pictures.... pictures of me as a child up until about 6th grade.

I noticed that after around 6th grade the pictures slowly started to fade.... there were less pictures as I got older and I didn't understand why... the more I looked the more I noticed. I'm not sure if they were just placed somewhere else or if less pictures were taken... the thing is although I don't really care to remember my junior high years because of bullying and rude children, I wish I saw pictures of at least my family more...

I decided that whether or not the pictures of my earlier teen years are found, I vow to always take pictures with my camera not only for myself personally but for my family too, because not only can my camera create beautiful art, but it can also create memories and capture moments.... moments you can never get back

Here's some photos from Fathers Day

Illinois State Univeristy: Unlimited Dance Team

When I had first came to the conclusion I wanted to get into photography I had told my friends and was always willing to do a photo shoot with others:

1. to get experience
2. so people would take me serious

and within a couple weeks I had spoken to my friend Bianca whose apart of ISU UDT (Unlimited Dance Team) and she had asked me to do a photo shoot for her and her girls..... SO OF COURSE I JUMPED ON IT :D

So after the very long wait the time came and just 2 whole days ago I did my first ever photo shoot!! the catch was that because it was summer, a lot of the girls weren't able to make it due to some being seniors, on coming freshmen not knowing about the team or girls simply enjoying there vacation out of town, but did I care??? nope! I would have been excited if just one girl had showed but I was fortunate enough to work with 3 beautiful ladies!

feelings of the day included: nervousness, pumped, shocked (in a good way), happy, excited, curious, and overall proud :)

On this beautiful day one of my friends, Patty, came with to give a helping hand, and man o' man it was definitely a plus to have another fellow photographer to take great pictures on a beautiful day with beautiful subjects, and overall just have fun!

Thank you Emilie, Alyssa and Ceara for being awesome :)

Happy Monday!

Cars + NFL player + Dad = Happy Camper

On this beautiful day my dad requested that my family and I went to church at Willow Creek which brought a huge crowd!! and of course there was a catch to my dad wanting to get his daily in take of spiritualist at Willow creek... there was for one, the car show afterward ;) and secondly Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears was a guest speaker for how religion and being a father has impacted his life and career.

But overall it was a nice morning and I'm glad I could spend it with my Old man doing little things that would make his day :)

Happy Fathers Day to an awesome Dad !

thanks for everything you've done

Oh Baby

I check my email the first day and it just left Pennsylvania...the night before its arrival and its in Ohio... by 3am its made its way through 3 states and found itself in Franklin park IL UPS just waiting to be delivered. 6am strolls around and its left the building for delivery to my house! But of course knowing my luck, it takes 4hours to get to my house!!! when it takes less than 10min to get to Franklin park :(

by that time I had left with my friend Patty to the Shed aquarium to take some photos and such, so after carefully talking my parents through the unboxing and hearing the screaming my parents went through of the shock/ excitement for my package, I had them charge my battery until I FINALLY got back...

when I finally got back I ran to my room and just stared in disbelief.... on the floor to my room in a large box it laid there.

like a monster ready to be tamed, waiting for its owner....
I bought it... the D7000 and a Sigma 50mm 1.4

and O.M.G was it worth the wait and hard earned money! its responsiveness and weight and feel, it's truly is meant for me, and I'm a very happy/ grateful  photographer <3

I really am on my way :')

(well off to finish editing photos from testing my new baby out ;))

Why am I awake?

A couple hours ago I was just at work and I came out.... exhausted to say the least. I make money, yes, BUT it's so very hard to keep up with work and trying to work out and stay in relatively good shape :(

but after speaking to a couple of my friends the fire has been lit under my butt again! why you may ask? because today is the first day of leyden high school cross country practice :) sure it'll be a time trial and probably wont be doing it to not risk getting hurt, but the fact that I can run with a group of people again is such a great feeling since I haven't done it in so long! and I definitely miss my old cross country team so very much....

It's 5am and my body is suffering.... hang in their body only a couple more hours, I promise it'll be worth it <3

I survived

That is all. here are my favorite photos from today! 

Cant wait for the next jump ;)

Road Trip!

So I left the windy city to start my first adventure of the summer, reason being, I wanna get started on my Bucket List! that's another story for another day though :)

Till then I had made it through the Grid Iron state of Indiana, the scenic view of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and the hilly state of New York (the part where I'm at, at least)

I came here to see one of my close friends Hannah, who I had met when I was down in Florida! with that being said the reason on top of my visit is to essentially start my twenties with a bang, or a fall more like it... I'm going Sky Diving!!!!!!!

I feel like its a great way to end my teen years and start my 20th birthday, although I am a little nervous.... now that I think about it, I never really liked Giant drop... or Hollywood tower of terror.... hopefully this jump isnt like those rides or else ill be in trouble...

Maybe that's why I made it to New York in one shot with no rest, the thought of me jumping out a plane was glued to the back of my head, well If I post a blog tomorrow it will most likely mean I survived... or someone stole my account...

till then, happy early birthday to me! (from New York at least) the earlier the better though ;)

The Beginning: Part 6

As I'm sitting at my terminal in the humid but cool state of Florida, I'm just gazing at my new camera, thinking to myself... I just got back from my trip back home and I was curious to know what the last couple months of this adventure will have in store for me... as people are getting picked up and I'm slowly becoming the last person at the terminal I just look at my new Nikon. What kind of secrets does it hold? I wish it would just speak to me to explain how to work it...

As time was moving I was slowly getting better at taking pictures and just having fun with it. It came to a point where if all my friends were working I would still go to the parks by myself and take pictures.

One of those nights where I was roaming the concrete walkway of Epcot, I was one of the last people making my way out of the park when I decided to take a picture of Spaceship Earth (The big Golf ball at the entrance to Epcot) and at first I thought nothing of it, it was night time and the camera was underexposed, so I made a couple adjustments and what I saw on the back of my little tiny 3 inch screen blew me out of the water.

Racing home I was questioning my self whether I was starring at turtle talk with crush to much, or had one to many ice cream cookie sandwiches that I was delirious because I felt that there was no way I had taken this picture... there had to of been something wrong, something must have been out of focus or something... once I got home I uploaded the picture and just starred in disbelief... had I really taken that picture?

while starring at it, my roommates start making their way around me slowly and I had asked Justin to take a look at my picture. "Woww" is what he said while starring at it complimenting me on my work. After he had walked away, he later asked me what my major was? I simply told him that I was undecided and that, that was the reason I was on this internship in the first place. "Why don't you major in photography then? you obviously like it a lot and are pretty good at it for not taking any classes"

...It then dawned on me, why not? I love taking pictures and having people see my work so why not go to school and eventually get paid to do something I love...

The next couple weeks I decided to practice taking pictures not only for me personally, but for other people to see... and by the end of my time at Disney what had happened? I decided follow what makes me happy? which is......

The picture that let my jaw drop

My Niece Eva

Taking pictures, and capturing memories :)

By the end of my Internship I had decided to pursue photography, and with that being said I decided to continue my education down in Florida by the end of the summer 2011, attending University of Central Florida....

It was a heck of a journey taking me from ISU to the Sunshine State... but I figured out what I want to go to school for and met some amazing people along the way over the past 5 months. Here's to all the amazing people I met down at Disney (click it <<<<----)