what a wicked game to play

This week was rain and car troubles, stress and excitement. This week was finality and spontaneity, bright colors and muted ideas. Rachael has been a model for me before and I think we work really well together. Each time, the images come out exactly how I want them to and I barely had to touch these photos other than some contrast and color correction. What more can photographer ask for? Rachael inspired these photos, actually. She posted a shot of butterfly wings that literally blew into her life a few days ago and I, being the mega-creep that I am, asked if I could put them on her face and take headshots. Totally normal. I picked up the vintage dress at a thrift shop and this shoot ended up taking a creepy turn but it still holds the idea I was going for.

It was nice to be able to do a shoot with someone. I've been shooting a lot of self portraits lately and it was nice to be behind the camera this time. The top image and the one directly above to the right are almost completely straight out of camera. I tweaked the contrast a bit and upped the brightness.

The butterfly wings were so delicate and beautiful. We ended up choosing one with bright colors and Rachael matched the makeup perfectly. As we were walking out, my dad mentioned a deer skull he had in the shed. He went and got it for us before we set out on our golf cart adventures:

And, lastly, an outtake that I really enjoyed because of the focus on the stray hair and dress:

I'm really happy with this shoot. Tomorrow I'm off to Pittsburgh for a couple of days to visit and then next Tuesday, I embark on my Iceland/London/Ireland/Paris adventure until the end of September.

Sorry the writing was so boring this time around. My mind is already falling asleep.

Goodnight,

K

The lives we dream about living,

and the dreams we live.

If I think about it long enough, I start missing people I shouldn't miss. Then, when I'm all caught up in that, I start thinking I deserved more from the people I'm missing and that's why I miss them. When I get knee deep in that, I realize my thinking is wrong.

It's like when you were young and your parents used to tell you, "but if you dig a hole deep enough, you'll get to China." And you started digging. You started digging that hole thinking you were doing the most rational thing possible. Inch by inch, the rationality turned into obligation. You deserved to get to China after all that damn digging. Soon enough, you either reached China or realized you couldn't do it and went in for a glass of lemonade to sooth your muscles and your pride.

Regardless, you started thinking rationally again. You didn't deserve China. Hell, you didn't even want to GO to China! But the thought of digging yourself to a new place with new people to miss sure is nice. 

See, it wasn't my nostalgia or the fact that I miss people I shouldn't; it's that I left when I found out it was as easy as digging a hole. I've always been good at building empty.