#30. mcdonalds bike

On our way back from class Amanda and I spotted this Mcdonaled (yes I made Mcdonalds an adjective) colored bike.

And then Amanda.. being the AMAZING friend that she is, nicely held the umbrella over my head so I could get this picture..and not get wet!

Full umbrella holding credit goes to Mandy Mae! ;)

#29. booths

So there's this cafe called Food.com, in addition to tables, this cafe also has booths. Now if you're a Newhouse student you can relate with me in saying.. obtaining one of these booths is equivalent to finding GOLD. Pure gold. Because these booths have an outlet right next to the table, they are spacious, comfortable..and 9 times out of 10 these booths are occupied.
So my friend Young and I were sitting at a boring table.. when all of a sudden I look over and see an EMPTY booth... I immediately alerted Young, ran over to the table with the book I was reading, placed the book on the table to hold our spot, and ran back over to pack up my stuff.. all the while watching the table like a hawk so no one would take it.

This is Young.. sitting in our booth. SUCCESS!

#28. stairwell

- To get a good picture today I forced myself to walk a new way home (versus the fast way home).
- These are the stairs coming down from the law building.
- Shallow depth of field (the blurriness in the background) is quite possibly my most favorite thing ever.

#27. autumn

Autumn is my absolute favorite season.
Every year as soon as the leaves change colors (or as soon as I notice) I take a picture of a tree.

 Syracuse rain, I'm generally annoyed by you.. but you made this picture prettier.

#26. not stressing out this week.

I had a few pictures from the last day of fall retreat... but I think I'll share this one from when I got back on campus, instead. (Scroll down to day 25 & 24 for fall retreat photos)

Last Thursday if you were to ask me to pick one word to describe my senior year thus far it would be "stress." My days have completely been filled with classes and various meetings from morning to night, I have a to-do list that could fill the pages of an encyclopedia, I moved in over a month ago, and my room is still an unpacked hott-mess,  I'm pretty sure I've lost 2 pounds walking from building to building visiting records offices to solidify my major to minor switch/know how many credits I need to graduate, and most nights my homework until around 10:00. Yes, I'm busy.. but to be honest, I'm never not busy. But these past three weeks, in addition to my "busyness".. I have lived, breathed, and eaten stress.  But not this week, and not next week, and not for the REST of the school year. I'm faithfully asking the Lord to take my stress away while giving me the strength/ability to complete everything I have to do.Yeah, it sounds pretty simple.. but to be honest, trusting that God will take care of me & my never ending to do list, is a humongo leap of faith for me.

Here's a cell phone picture to what may be the beginning of a long night of work at the library/long night at home knocking some things off my to do list. The last Thursday version of me would have listed out every single thing that needs to get done tonight, and then wallow in my annoyance/stress. But today.. I'm just going to begin reading what I need to read, listen to some Josh Garrels, and pray my way through everything.
PS- I'm not perfect.. so if you see me "super stressing" at anytime during the semester... feel free to remind me not to/pray for me!

#25. fall retreat (day two)

A few from Day 2!

Slacklining

I took a few girls on a mini photo shoot.

And we found a tractor..

And an empty field

Heidi's ahmazing chucks.

Jen wanted Abby to be part of my 365 day project!

How ADORABLE is she?!

Football

We all dressed up in togas to watch the talent show..

And then, those sheets were our entertainment for a good hour..

And then we played game after game until we got tired and went to bed around 4am!
Going to put most of the 740 photos on Facebook sometime early this week (hopefully).. so keep an eye out!

(These photos were taken on September 25th)

#24. fall retreat (day one)

 As promised.. here are the photos I took everyday while I had no access to internet..

CRU Fall Retreat was this weekend. This is my fourth year at fall retreat, and while I've had fun every year... this year was by far the BEST retreat yet!It was the absolute perfect weekend to get away from campus, laugh until I cried, and hear all that God had to teach me.

Although I took a whopping 740 photos over the course of the weekend.. I only took a few on Friday night. Here's my favorite..

Photo taken on September 24th

#23. road cloased

 

Here's the truth

1. I settled for this picture. I'm not the hugest fan of it.

2. I did something really fun today (Lindsay and I hosted a dessert night for the underclass-women in CRU) and totally & completely forgot to pull out my camera

3. Not to mention forgetting to pull it out during my entire day..

4. So I took this on the walk home at 11:30 at night.

5. I think I want to make a pact with myself to take a picture every hour some day next week. 

PS- Going to FALL RETREAT this weekend!! I wont have any internet service. I will be taking tons of pictures daily.... so I'll upload them when I get back!

#22. stadium lights

My residents created an intermural soccer team and today was their first game of the season!

And because I haven't ordered my sweet zoom lens.. I couldn't capture any up close action shots so  I took pictures of stadium lights instead!

#21. campbell soup

Here's a story for ya..
Yesterday I thought I was sick. I woke up with throat pains, a sure sign for my body that a cold is around the corner. I went through a day of cold medicine, orange juice, tea and for dinner I decided to buy Campbell Soup At Hand (in addition to my pizza bagels). Well I never got around to eating the soup.... but this morning I woke up feeling FINE and not sick anymore! I don't really eat soup unless its french onion (made by Emily of course) or if I'm sick. So now this soup just sits and stares at me on my desk.

Why this story? Well I was out of my room from 11-9pm today and it was about 8pm that I realized I forgot my camera in my room... and I was just going to post another photobooth picture but then I saw this tweet from my AMAZING sister....."My sister is a photographer, and she's very good." Besides making me being ridiculously happy/grateful for her compliment.. it inspired me to actually use my SLR today, and not settle for photobooth.


So thank you Aisha, Campbell soup, and Andy Warhol for the inspiration for this photo! 
PS- Yes. Yes I did create a mini studio in my room complete with printer paper and a tank top.. to capture this photo 
PSx2- GLEE second season aired tonight! I've already danced/re-listened to all of the song's from tonight's episode.

#20. construction by night

#19. self potrait.

I've been choosing editing photos for the past 6 1/2 hours.
and I took a break midway through to self potrait myself using photobooth.

Yay editing!
(is what what going through my brain)
Yes, I know I'm cheesy.

So this is not a picture with my SLR.. but I've officially decided I can post any picture I want up here, as long as I take it on THAT day. And I've decided to stop "belittling" my photos.. this project is so my photography gets better on a whole. Some will be good, and some will be not so good.. but by the end of the year looking back on how I've improved will be worth it!
(yeah...I'm basically having this talk/decision making with myself.. time for bed SOON)

#18. shooting my first wedding!

My mom & Jenny met at CBC when they were in the same Sunday School class. I was a small one year old at the time. Fast forward 20 years.. through acting in Christmas musicals with Jenny as the director, through Jenny's oldest daughter and I becoming friends, through countless pioneer club and youth group meetings led by Jenny, through my mom and Jenny becoming great friends... and you land (more or less) on today, when I had the AMAZING honor of shooting Jenny's wedding! Jenny went to school to study fine arts and film, so naturally Jenny has picked up photography over the years. And when she began to see that I took an interest in photography over the past year.. she immediately took me under my wing, allowing me to photograph her youngest daughter, giving me great advice, and just being an all around great photo mentor. It was such a blessing & compliment when Jenny asked me to photograph her wedding.. to know that she had confidence in my skill as a "photographer" is just absolutely amazing. I had been praying about doing my photography on a more "formal/professional" basis.. and Jenny opened up HUGE doors for that opportunity.

Thank you and Congratulations Jenny & John!

 

I'll hopefully be putting all the photos on facebook in the next week...and eventually on a future online portfolio!

PS- I'm trying out a new watermark!

photos will be up tomorrow

So here's the deal.
I've been photographing/driving from location to location/downloading photos for the past 12 hours.
I am exhausted (but so happy!)
And I begin my journey back to school at 5:30am tomorrow...
So, long story short.. I will post day #18 photos (aka the WEDDING photos) tomorrow.

#17. home sweet NJ

This was waiting on the dining room table when I arrived home today! And guess what's in that UPS box behind my mom's lovely note.... MY BRAND SPANKIN NEW 50mm LENS, with 1.8 F-STOP! Now this may not sound THAT exciting to most of you... but this lens is going to allow me to shoot my absolute FAVORITE "feature" of photography (shallow depth of field). AH! So pumped to use this TOMORROW.. when I photograph my first WEDDING! (did I "OD" on the caps there?)

And now I shall open the box, try out my new lens, and get some much needed relax/sleep time after a super stressful week and before an amazing day tomorrow! ..

 - Stay tuned for tomorrow!! YAY!
<3 Imani

#16. dinner with e.gillis

My friend Emily is one of the BEST cooks I know. The very best! And she's super hospitable and has me over for dinner pretty often. Every time she always lets me pick what we'll eat....and this time we agreed upon a soup & sandwich.. Panera style! When she asked me what kind of sandwich I wouled like, I literally looked up my favorite one from Panera, and texted her the exact ingredients!
Dear Panera, Emily is a WAY better cook than you will ever be, plus you're overpriced, PLUS you can't give me future housewife lessons.. like Emily can.
(Disclaimer- Emily's not really married... but she still gives great lessons!)

Yum! French Onion Soup..

Our dinner table

<3 Imani

PS-  IN ONE DAY, I'M PHOTOGRAPHING MY FIRST WEDDING!

#15. tabling

I helped table on the quad today.

I pull out my camera to take the picture above, and DC says.. "Can I be your 18th picture?" I say, "Yes." And Drew poses..

PS- Drew.. you asked to be the 18th. I'm actually at 15, but I'll still post you today! 

#14. Emily is 22

One of my best friends turned twenty-two today! 

[Happy Birthday Emily!]

Bonus Picture:

 [When I was readjusting the settings, I accidentally hit the shutter button..and this is the picture that came out. I'm not sure if anything is in focus, but I love this photo!]

<3 Imani

#13. flowers still alive

I've been 21 for almost two weeks now. And the flowers my mom & sister sent me on my birthday are still alive!

Yes, I know this is a lame excuse for a picture..
but I didn't really have any time today to take anything else..
and my mom asked me two weeks ago for a picture of them.
So there ya go...  (if you ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, hopefully you caught that reference)

PS- Why is it exciting my flowers are still alive? 1) Because there WERE roses in this bouquet..and they died the second day after I got them 2) I have the exact opposite of a green thumb (clearly)

#12. no cameras allowed at Juice Jam.

Every year Syracuse University has an outdoor concert called Juice Jam.  This year   Mouth's Cradle (two Syracuse University students), Super Mash Bros, Passion Pit, and Lupe Fiasco performed. Oh my goodness, AH-MAZING, AH-MAZING, AH-MAZING! Definitely one of the best concerts I've been to in a long time!

Now, I have brought a camera to each & every Juice Jam since my freshmen year... so imagine my surprise when (now that I'm finally taking my photography seriously,) I find out cameras are NOT allowed at Juice Jam. I sadly left my SLR camera in a friends car, and prepared to sneak in my tiny point and shoot camera. I was successful.. but a small problem arose when I realized I left my memory cards for that camera in my room.
So I was forced to take a cell phone picture.. which surprisingly came out decent..

[Mouth's Cradle]

[And then Sarah saved the day by lending me her memory card for my camera. So I was able to get some other pics...]

Alyssa (x2) and Tony.. nice dance moves!

Lesson learned from today.. For concerts, I either need a zoom lens or need to be super close to the stage. (Hence most of the pictures being of my friends around me).

#11. ithaca gorges

Went hiking in the Ithaca Gorges today! And after I learned what a "gorge" actually was, I  learned that I don't really like shooting "landscape" photos. It's just not my thing. I shot a ton today, looked at them, and just wasn't really a fan..
...BUT we did have a great time!

Amanda's Toms (as she hung from a tree)

I guess I'll post one "landscape" photo.. just to give you guys an idea what we were hiking next to.

I took alot more photos.. but I'm super lazy right now and I think I'll just post all of them on facebook tomorrow.

But here's one last one (that a nice man took for us)

Yay! 

<3 Imani

#10. meeting intersting people

Rachel & I ventured downtown today! Rach was taking photos for a class, I was taking photos just because, we met a ton of "interesting" people and had a great time! 
I guess technically this 365 project is supposed to be "one" photo a day.. but I couldn't decide which "one" today.. so here's a few... plus captions to explain how our day went! This post is a bit long, but you should really just read it.. because, you just should.

 I've realized when I'm in an "urban" setting.. how much I like taking pictures of everyday things that we tend to ignore..

The next picture marks the beginning of long line strangers that chose to talk to Rachel and myself today. I don't know if it was because we had our cameras out, or because we just look so dang personable.. but we had some pretty "interesting" conversations with the fine folks of Syracuse today!

[While walking around we realized Irish Fest was going on. So we're passing through and these two guys start to talk to us. In our conversation we realized they may have had a BIT too many when they began to ask us some REALLY awkward questions.. but we asked to snap a photo of them anyway they said yes!]

[They had a stand to advertise some beer brewing company. To be honest we didnt stick around long enough to find out more.. the questions got THAT awkward.]

[ Cool break in the road and Rach's shoes.]

[Biker guy]

Fun fact about me, I absolutely LOVE take photos of strangers... you know, "photo journalism" type photos. And there's two kinds I love taking, the candid kind.. where I try to sneak a shot in before they realize I'm taking it...

OR the kind where I strike up an interesting conversation with said stranger, and then ask to take a photo of them. So its essentially a portrait shot. I actually love this kind the MOST, it's just a bit more challenging.

Funny story about this guy below. He works at the french restaurant. We were outside taking a few photos.. he walks out and says "bonjur" and like a fool I respond "HOLA" (it honestly just slipped out) I was really hoping he didn't hear me, but he did and laughed at me. We got in a conversation. Rach asked to take a picture of him, and I did too!

And then literally 10 seconds later, ANOTHER stranger strikes up a conversation with us. This guy owned a hair store.

 And then we saw a Italian restaurant and Rach wanted to get a photo of a person in an apron. Rach was able to get one without him noticing..and as soon as I put my camera to my face, he looked at me. So I had to ask him.. he was hesitant but eventually said yes! I told him to keep doing what he was doing, hence it not being a "portrait"

And then we went to a Water Street Cafe (a coffee shop I've never heard of before) and we got in a great conversation with the owner. I did ask him if I could take a picture and he politely declined. So I took a picture of some signs instead. (After we bought coffee from him)

Below the "Think Local Drink Local" sign.. there was a sticker that says "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks" HA! I agree.. wholeheartedly. Minus the few times I'm forced to go to starbucks.

And that was our day more or less!
Rach, you're the best! 


PS- If you want to laugh ALOT.. you should watch this video. I've watched it 4 times, and I'm pretty sure I laugh harder EVERY time.