Chronicles of My Atlanta Livin'

R.I.P. GMC Jimmy...You've Been Replaced!!!

2009-04-01T19:22:00.006-04:00

I can't believe I bought a new car!!! YAY!!! For those of you who know me well, know that I've had the Jimmy my parents gave me (I'm not spoiled, they just got a new car and gave me their old one) for quite some time. Probably since 2002 or 2003? It had been having some serious issues with it lately, and we tried to nurse it as long as we could. It was a '96 with 217,000 miles on it ha. Recently the turn signals failed. I tried to fix it but it ended up being the actual lever in the car nothing simple. My radiator is also busted with a hole somewhere. I constantly had to put coolant in it every time I got in the car. With all the weddings I have coming up, I knew it would be more and more costly to rely on Jimmy to get me everywhere. So...we got it replaced! It was quite an ordeal.

I went to Nashville for part of my break from grad school and figured I'd look for a new car while I was there so I could return to Atlanta in the new ride. I had wanted a Mazda3 Hatchback for quite some time. Dad had read how highly rated they are and reliable and great gas mileage, etc (about 33mph on the highway...Jimmy was like 22 haha). So I found two I was interested in in Nashville and drove to look at them both. One was a 2005 going for $11,900. The other was a 2007 going for $16,000. Clearly the 2005 would've had to be the one because it was more affordable, etc. The people at the dealership; however, were unwilling to work with us. Were kind of rude too actually. Then I went and looked at the 2007 and everyone was so nice there and I was more worried about affording it. Low and behold, I got the dealership to come down to the $11,9 asking price of the 2005 AND they were going to give me an additional $1,500 for the Jimmy to put towards the new car! So after consulting with Dad back in VA on the phone (this happened numerous times) we knew it was a no-brainer and went with the 2007. YAY!! I had to get mom and dad to cosign because my credit had no depth. They said I had a great credit score, just nothing really on it. I'm beyond grateful that mom and dad stepped up for me. I was able to get my payments down to like $275/mo for it. I couldn't be more thrilled! A replacement car for Jimmy had been a hope of mine for a while...I will honestly miss Jimmy though. Lots of memories in there. :) So here is what my 2007 Mazda3 Hatchback looks like...

Yeah I'm pretty excited about it...as you can probably imagine ha. Things have been pretty busy. I was able to go to Nashville like I said to visit my brother and his family. Plus get to see my niece Carson and nephew Jadd. Here they are...(since I know some want to see pictures of them).

Aren't they just adorable?! I could hold them forever. One night I was reading Carson to bed and she was like "snuggle me now, Buddy." It was too tender. I can't wait to go back Easter weekend. The whole family will be together (minus Rachel who is still serving in the Philippines...sad.) Christina is going out there with me to meet everyone...she already met mom and dad. So it should be fun. I tried to warn her we're a huge family, but she is excited.

This Saturday we're going to Greenville because I have to do some Bridal Portraits. So I'm also going to show Christina my school and all of that jazz. But things are going really well with her. We're becoming concert pros here in Atlanta. By the end of the summer we'll be hitting these concerts: Hillsong United, Gavin DeGraw, No Doubt/Paramore, Coldplay and Rascal Flatts. Crazy! In May I'm taking her home to Lynchburg for a weekend to show her there and I have a wedding to shoot. Then the following weekend is my only weekend off of the entire Summer practically minus one other one, so I'm going with her to a friend's wedding in Orlando and we're also going to go to DisneyWorld. WOO HOO! Wedding season is getting crazy, but I'm not complaining at all. My next wedding is April 25th and after that I don't have a weekend free until end of July. Wow! What a blessing! I've gotten 2 emails today asking for other weddings. All I'm saying is keep it up God! :) I guess I'm doing great work.

I've been trying to work on my Kenya support letters to mail out to people. It costs $3,500 and I need to have half of it by the middle of April. I know God will provide...or I'll be writing a check ha. Keep that in your prayers. And send me your address if you'd like to receive a letter :) Or ask me how to give online.

Grad school 3rd quarter begins on Monday. I can't believe how fast things are going. I'm really looking forward to learning what classes I'll have. I will definitely keep you all updated. Thanks so much for your continued prayer and support. I hope you are all doing extremely well! Here is an updated finished photo of my Jesus shot from this past quarter. I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It isn't perfect, but still better than I thought ha. I hope everyone is doing well. GOD BLESS!

More to come...

A Hike of a Week

2009-03-09T13:07:00.004-04:00

Hey guys! Look I'm getting better at posting sooner. Not that you guys read anyways haha. This has been the most beautiful weather of the year so far here in Atlanta. It was low 70s and nice and cool. Oh yes. Christina and I decided to take advantage of it by going to Stone Mountain on Saturday. She had never been. So we packed a few PB&Js and chips and grapes and set our course for the big rock. I kinda felt like a kid on a field trip with his PB&J but it was yummy. It costs like $8 each to ride the tram to the top. We decided to hike it, rugged style. Let's just say we dominated that mountain on our feet. Definitely worth the experience. I hadn't been since high school. There are some gorgeous views from up there. Downtown Atlanta and Buckhead and the surrounding counties. Just very pleasant. It was definitely quite a steep hike towards the top. We thought it was funny that trying to talk to each other got harder since we also tried to capture oxygen to breathe. Here is a sample... "Christina, I think...that to...night....we should...watch...a movie." Yeah the pauses are reserved for big gasps of air haha. Ok maybe it wasn't that extreme, but you get the idea. Here we are after the hike in front of the mountain.

It's just weird cause not even a week ago it was snowing here and we got 3 inches. We even made a snowman to enjoy it. It made me miss home and Virginia snow. It never snows down here, so this was rare.

We're having a really great time together so far. It feels like we've been out longer than a few weeks. The first weekend in April I have to go to North Greenville for a photo shoot and she is going to go with me and I'll show her my college. Then she is going to Nashville with me for Easter with the entire family. That should be a joy!

This summer is going to be crazy busy I think. I'll have weddings just about every weekend in May and June. Not to mention my trip to Kenya June 18-27. Plus balancing school on top of it all. Yeah I like the challenge. The one weekend in May I have free is Memorial Day weekend, but Christina is going to a wedding in Orlando and wants me to go. So we're also going to hit Disney World before we come back! I'm stoked about that cause I haven't been since maybe 8th grade. As long as we get to see Goofy I'll be set for life. But I couldn't be happier about things right now. I felt like such a dork because I cried in front of Christina the other night just sharing about how blessed I feel and how far I've come since graduating from NGU. I just never would've thought I'd be here in Atlanta in school and with this amazing woman. You'd just have to understand I guess to know why I cried. I just feel like 100% different. Christina is so similar to me in that we're both very open and understand one another. It's so great! So far...hahaha just kidding. We're just taking it day by day and week by week. God knows what will happen. We're just along for the journey together.

This week is Studio Week at school. I feel like I'm halfway done with everything. Should be done with a lot more today and tomorrow. I'm honestly thrilled the end of the quarter is here. 3rd quarter should be awesome...I hope. One assignment that is proving to be a headache is my composite image for Photoshop class. This is where I have to shoot a background and people individually and then put them all together to make it seem like it was shot in one photo. My story idea for the shot is Jesus washing people's feet on the street corner. This is what it looks like so far.

So let me explain the tiring process of the photo haha. First I shot this wall downtown Atlanta. Then I had to shoot everyone in the studio separately. Jesus with his bowl of water. I shot him with his hand out and open so I could place the girl's foot in his hand on the computer. Then the soldier is pouring sand out of his boot from Iraq onto the sidewalk. Then the business woman (Christina) who is getting impatient with things to do. It's going to be awesome when it's finished, but I have to go in and match the lighting color to the same tones as the wall, add their shadows in and spruce up all of the other details. Very detailed, but I think it will be cool when it is finished.

The other tiring assignment is my 12-page brochure I am designing for my computer design class. It's been my favorite class of the quarter. Just frustrating because I don't know much about design, but it's getting there. We'll see haha. I should be done Wednesday with everything but the printing and framing to do, and that takes no time at all. Praise God! I'm not sure when my Critiques are yet next week, but I'll have 3 this quarter. One for writing, one for photography and the other for my computer design. Should be fun! I'll keep you guys posted. Have a great week!

More to come.

A Lot Has Happened

2009-03-04T19:37:00.003-05:00

Wow! Almost a month since I've posted on here. Crazy! I'm honestly at a loss of where to begin with this update. The most exciting thing that has happened, to me anyway, is I am now in the beautiful company of a new girlfriend! :) Her name is Christina. We met through church groups here and it's been going really well. It kinda surprised us both. We participate in Fusion which is kinda like a small group of sorts from the church of people our age. We met there as volunteers and kinda just slowly talked. Then about two weeks ago, I was trying to find someone to go to Cirque du Soleil with me and my parents who were coming down. So, being the outgoing random soul I am, I emailed a bunch of girls from church to prod the waters and see if anyone was interested in going. Apparently she was interested the whole time, but waited til last minute to say so because she didn't want to seem eager haha. So she braved the night with me and my parents and the four of us went to see Cirque here in Atlanta. It was awesome! (Cirque wasn't bad either ha). We even went out to eat at Maggiano's. Yum yum. We just hit it off amazingly well (and quick too). The next night she went with me to the Dave Barnes concert and that was great. Held hands ha. I know I sound like a middle schooler. Don't judge me ha. But yeah we've just been taking it really slow. We knew we would be together and made it official while we go slow. Still hang out in groups just as much as we're alone. We both shared so much about our past and our lessons learned. It's just nice to be on the same page and happy together. I'm overwhelmed and blessed to say the least. It's been great. She is from Florida. Went to University of Floria. (Already has given me underlying messages that I need to start being a Gator fan haha). She is in Atlanta now as a student at Emory where she is getting a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. But we're very similar. Very happy. God has just really shown me some amazing things over the past year. I love the learning. :)

Second quarter of grad school, believe it or not, ends this week. We're in our final week of classes. Next week is "Studio Week" which is basically a week of free time to get your assignments done, and the week after that is Critique Week. The dreaded week I call it. I can't believe school is almost over again. It has seriously flown by. I have a lot of stuff to get done over the next week. Nothing like last minute pressure, amen? I think my writing has gotten a lot stronger since last quarter. My photography, on the other hand, I don't feel good about. It's a long story that has been promised to be resolved next quarter. I'm really excited for next quarter.

Over the break I'm going to Nashville for about a week to visit some friends out there and stay with my brother and his family. I love family! I'm really excited cause I love and miss Nashville. Also at the beginning of April I'm going to Greenville to shoot some Bridal Portraits for my friend Brittany. Christina is going to go with me so I can show her my college (polar opposite of her's ha) and maybe even hang around a bit before coming back here to Atlanta. She also gets to go with me back to Nashville when I go Easter weekend! Yay! Like I said. I love family!

I can't remember if I told everyone, but I'm going to Kenya in June. I think I told everyone. We had our first team meeting a week ago. There are 29 of us signed up to go. I'm the unofficial photographer for the trip. You'd better believe I'm going to photograph the junk out of that place, too! Not to mention it'll allow me to get another global phrase tattoo on my arm. Score. I'm really praying about if I can go though. Trying to juggle the finances for school plus the $3500 needed for the trip with church and also emergency money for car issues or anything else that might come up. So please keep me in prayer. I appreciate it. Some of you might be getting a support letter too. I hope you can help me financially during this bad economy we're in. I know God provides for every calling.

Well I'm actually typing this in class, so I better get back to business. I hope you guys are well, and I'll be sure to update you guys sooner than a month. As well as post a picture of Christina and I (which you can see already on my Facebook). Have a good weekend! God Bless!

More to come...

My Blah Story

2009-02-10T14:42:00.002-05:00

Hey guys. I thought I would post my final copy of my story for writing class. We had to write about the word "Blah." I wrote about loneliness. Enjoy.

"Pixie Dust"

Suicide brings a list of pros and cons. I only considered it once. I hadn’t changed clothes in three days. I was using a steak knife to cut a microwave pizza into four pieces and I wondered how easily the knife would pierce my skin. Am I as penetrable as melted cheese? Instead of experimenting with variables, I dropped the knife, threw away the pizza and burrowed myself in the couch.
When people are lonely a vast percentage of us would settle for being anywhere else. I always thought of Neverland. Imagining Tinker Bell fluttering into my apartment, casting a soft light in my face. I squinted, feeling a pinch of warmth being emitted from her fragile wings. My fragile wings sure didn’t bring warmth. She sprinkled me with pixie dust. It felt like a beach breeze casting tiny grains of sand on my body. Nothing happened. Peter Pan was nowhere in sight. Is he lost? It’s the third apartment building to the left and straight on ‘til sorrow. Tinker Bell’s glow dimmed. I think even she was worried and confused. She eventually let herself out.
Peter Pan is selfish. A brutal truth I learned. As sure as God made green apples. It was fall and the leaves had changed to colors of sunsets. I had the love of a woman that disappeared too suddenly. I was alone.
Since when does Peter Pan get to play Neverland god? Did I do something wrong? Was I supposed to have a teddy bear like Michael did? Nothing happened, and the magic pixie dust barely made my wings flinch. Peter Pan never came. There is no anecdote for loneliness. My personal Captain Hook would be battled with time.
Through the time, I felt like an Olympian clearing hurdles in my path. Sometimes the hurdles fell and other hurdles were cleared with ease. There were days when I dreamed of her. I’d awaken to the thought of seeing her in my room, but it was shadow games. It was the closest I came to become Pan. I was chasing a shadow. Every time my phone would ring I’d think it’s a second chance calling, but it was a wrong number.
The loneliest part of my life was one giant sword fight. Hook can really brawl. I returned each volley with sharp, double-edged technique while the crocodile waited to consume my nemesis. I became a witness that time, and a little faith, will defeat him. That only you can carry you to Neverland. The magical pixie dust will finally bring flight.

So there you have it. Haha. Not too bad. I had a good time coming up with Peter Pan references.

I met with the Photography head professor today just to show some of my work this quarter so far, which isn't much. It was a nice talk. I was able to express some concerns I had about the school and how I personally feel really behind and not as good as other students. He just explained that it is a natural feeling and probably a good feeling to have because it'll either push you to produce better images and ideas or it'll push you further away from your craft. I don't believe in failure in anything, so I know it'll only push me to be better. It's just difficult this quarter since I'm not used to these assignments, etc. But I know I'll get it eventually. That's why I'm in school, right? :)

Next Wednesday I have my quarterly meeting with Hank, the president of the school. He and I decided to meet once a quarter to talk about my future plans and ideas. He is super helpful. So by next week I need to type out a list of ideas for my magazine and what I want it to be and show and tell. That should be a nice assignment for this weekend. I can't believe second quarter will be over in about 3 weeks. I'm kinda looking forward to it.

Church groups are going well. I'm slowly coming out of my shell and making good friends. I asked a few ladies if they wanted to take me up on my extra ticket to Cirque du Soleil and Dave Barnes concert. We'll see how that turns out haha. But I'm really blessed to be involved in an awesome church and finally meet people my age who share the same love for our Creator. I know thats cheesy, but Im just thrilled about it. I'll keep you guys updated as things continue.

Have a great week. God Bless!!

More to come

Kenya, Philippines, the World!

2009-02-08T15:27:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! Look at that. I didn't update for a whole week! I don't know how the weather is where you are, but here in Atlanta it is high 60s to low 70s. It feels awesome! But anyways...I have some exciting news.

When I started joining my church down here, Buckhead Church, I signed up for information on a few global impact teams they have. I applied for a few that happen during breaks from school. I got an e-mail the other day saying I've been accepted onto the team to Kenya! I'm so psyched! The trip is June 18-27th. It costs $3,500 though, but that shouldn't be too big an issue. I have dozens of weddings to help pay for the cost. Plus the Lord will provide. The reason I wanted to go was because I have a strong passion to impact the world around me, and not only that, document things I see with my lens. Heck yes! Here is a rundown of what we'll be doing:

"Team members will work alongside the people of a 410 Bridge community, focusing on service projects and discipleship programs that have been identified as strategic priorities by the community. These include water projects, building construction and renovation, teaching in schools, and more. You will have the opportunity to interact with local leaders, community members, and children while building relationships throughout the week. On the back end of the trip, you will enjoy a safari day at a Kenyan national park where you will see a variety of animals and enjoy the Kenyan landscape. More details will be provided as you get closer to the trip dates. This will be a life-changing week, serving and building relationships with our brothers and sisters in Kenya and sharing the love of Christ!"

Amazing right? I can't wait to get more details and get started. We have a meeting in 2 weeks at church where I'll get to meet everyone going with me on the trip. Not sure if it is a varied group of ages or what. Then, next Summer I'm going to Manila, Philippines for 10 days with my Aunt and friend Amy. We'll be going to visit my sister Rachel who is a missionary. I can't be more stoked about that trip too! Just amazing the places God takes you in this world. Even more exciting serious news...

An opportunity has come to me involving traveling the world for an organization documenting what I see with my photography and writing. When I went to Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, our guide for the journey was a really awesome Godly man. It has been at least 2 years since I've heard from him. About a week or so ago I got word from a school friend in Greece that he was looking to get in contact with me. He had seen some of my photos and wanted to see how I am. So I finally got a hold of him on the phone. When I told him who it is he like screamed in the phone and said "Evan how are you man?!" Hahaha so funny. You'd have to know him. Anyway, I told him about Atlanta and my dreams for afterwards, etc. He asked me if I wanted to see the world, and I was like uh yeah. Basically he now heads an organization based out of Nashville. They are in need of a Photographer. Only problem is finances and funding. (Something we talked long about and he is supposed to email me this week). He said he also knows people who work for International Mission Board, etc and there might be a way there. We were talking about how awesome an opportunity for me it would be to get started on my magazine now using the stories I see and hear over there wherever I go.

BUT Im comfortable here in Atlanta. So, unless the finances get sorted through another outlet, I won't be able to take this opportunity. I wouldn't be able to afford it without worry. Especially with school loan payments. But God has a way of working things out. So for right now, I'm still putting 110% into school and waiting to see what happens. But it is potentially one of the biggest opportunities of my life. If it works out, I'll have no reason to say no and get going. I'll let you know more as I do. Keep that in your prayers.

I'm entering week 6 of second quarter in grad school right now. We're just over halfway done with this session. Time has flown by. The last half is when things get busier it seems as people get cracking on final projects. I have a few to do this week. Thank God for my 4-day weekends this quarter.

I have another wedding this weekend on V-Day up in North Georgia. I am actually looking forward to it. Gotta love that money! My sister did my taxes for me and I'm getting back about $1,300. I've decided to put that money towards something I have been needing/wanting. An external monitor display for my laptop. That way it'll make editing wedding pictures and other assignments a whole lot easier on a bigger screen. Tax refund well spent haha. So all in all things are going well down here. Church is going well, school going well, the weather is awesome. I might try and jump up and click my heels if it gets any better. Thank you Lord for guiding me on this journey even when I was unwilling to walk it. I'm ready to pick up the pace. :)

More to come...

Capturing "Blah"

2009-02-01T00:08:00.002-05:00

So the new word for my writing class assignment is "Blah." It can be on anything and everything we think of to express the word. For some reason, loneliness was the first thing that came to mind. Weird right? Of all the topics. So I decided to jot down a few sentences on paper to see where it takes me. And, naturally, the loneliest part of my life started taking shape. I know a lot of people have heard it time and time again, but I've been trying to write it in a way I've never expressed it before. What loneliness does to a person. Somehow, don't ask me why, Peter Pan got involved. Hahaha you'll see when you read it in a week after class Tuesday. It starts off "I didn't get my first kiss until ninth grade." And it goes on about first loves and ultimately what the loss of that love does to a person. Could be good or really bad. Time will tell.

I've been having a lot of thoughts this week about school in general. After talking with some fellow Photography students, I've decided to give it til the Fall, after I've been here a full year, and start to weigh my options. See if I feel like the Lord needs me to stay the final year. And don't get me wrong, I love it here. I truly do. It's a terrific program. Only thing is...am I here to learn something from the school, or does the Lord want me to learn something outside of the walls? It's been a thought on my mind for a few days now.

I came across something interesting in my reading. "Only a life lived for others is worth living." And it struck a chord because helping others is the main area of my dream with my magazine. Oh gosh it's like if I had the opportunity to start it now I totally would. I miss Nashville more and more too. No matter all that happened out there for me it was a terrific place to live. I miss my friends and family out there. I was telling my mom if an opportunity came up for employment out there, I wouldn't give it a second thought and would begin packing. But, on the other hand, if I don't stay and pursue my dream and NYC, I know I'll always wonder "what if?" later on. So thoughts are, as always, heavy on my mind.

One day last week my iPhone rang (I specify "iPhone" because it always makes my Dad jealous haha) and it was my niece Carson on the phone. Always a nice surprise. She said "Buddy guess what? Jadd (my nephew) just said your name." How tender is that? Apparently he actually just made a noise that sounded like my name, and Carson said "He just said Evan." So her mom asked if she wanted to tell me and she said "Yeah!" Oh I miss her so much. Jadd too of course. And my nephew Gavin back in VA.

This is probably me jumping the shark in a huge way, but I think there is a tiny chance I might get asked to do some photography work overseas. This is the reason I think this...Abraham was our guide on the college trips to Greece and Turkey/Cyprus. I got a Facebook message from a friend over there saying that he wanted to get in contact with me regarding photography, etc. So naturally my passion for capturing the world rushed to my mind, and I started hoping that was it. I haven't heard from him yet. Haha it's probably some random question like "My camera won't focus. Any idea why?" Oh but how awesome it would be to travel the world and show the world what I see. Gosh! AHHH!! Hahaha. Anyway....

A friend contacted me to donate some of my prints to an art auction to raise money for Boys & Girls Club of America. I said definitely. I even thought it might be a good idea to maybe have a free Photography session auctioned off and see if anyone bids on it. Might be a good way to get my name out there and offer my talents for a good cause at the same time. We'll see what develops out of that. I'm not sure the full story. Was just asked tonight. Keep you guys posted.

I must get to bed now. Today will be a fun day, hopefully, Super Bowl party at church tonight with the Fusion gang. The Varsity is catering. Yum. Keep me in prayer as I'm getting more involved with this church group. I'll post an update sometime this week. Hope everyone has a good one. Keep my sister Rachel in prayer as she is now boarding the ship in the Philippines. God Bless!

More to come...

A New Horizon

2009-01-26T16:25:00.003-05:00

Last week held a historical day. That much is certain. No matter what anyone says about it, Barack H Obama officially became the nation's 44th President, and the nation's 1st African-American President. For that I give my applause and my pride. For the next 4 years, he'll have my support. He should have all of our support. For some it'll be a day like 9/11. They'll be able to tell their children's children where they were when his right hand was raised and the oath was taken. I was at a restaurant/pub with everyone in my writing class. All 5 of us plus the professor. We had class there because we're told it's a place where a lot of writer's go and it's sort of like a creative center. The place was crammed full of Obama supporters (most acting like idiots) and then myself, the only non-Obama voter in the place, wearing my "Obamunism" shirt for all to see. The following is a true story. (Haha I feel like I should insert that little Law & Order sound effect. Clink clink!)

So we get there early for class so we can get stuff accomplished before the main ceremony started. As I took my jacket off to display my Obama shirt for everyone, I made sure to turn a full 360 while I got my arms out of the sleeves. Subtle right? I'm sure I got attention. The ceremony began about an hour or so after we arrived. Those who know me know I rarely shy away from my beliefs and will defend them when I feel they're threatened. I'll be 12-years-old and give a little "They started it" line. The first time it shows George W Bush on screen, people started booing. Not only that, the table next to us all stuck out the middle finger to the screen as if we were at some live Nascar race and there was redneck tension. Very sad to witness. It was at that moment I decided I wanted to play this fun game too. So I stand up and start applauding and hollering "I love you George!" This is when I started to make friends there.

The ceremony progresses. All the former presidents were there. Every time the crowd booed, I applauded loudly. And vice versa. Jimmy Carter walked out and I shouted "They wasted the Nobel Prize on him!" Bill Clinton walked out and I said, "Alright! 9/11 happened because of him. What a leader!" George W. Bush and his father walk out and I'm standing up whistling and cheering haha. It was great fun. When Obama's and Biden's wives walked out, someone behind me actually said "Oh that's his wife?" Hahahaha I mean, if you're going to vote for a man at least know about him that much! Unbelievable.

When Rick Warren got up to give the opening prayer everyone booed. Apparently he had a hand in stopping the gay marriage amendment in California. So I started cheering and probably said something along the lines of "Hallelujah Jesus!" It's just unbelievable to me the way people are. Now, sure, I was acting this way in clean fun like a court jester in ancient times. But these people actually hold this malice and injustice in their hearts. It's amazing to me.

The problem I have with people is that no one cares for one another anymore. There could be a serious wreck with people dead in the road, and people in their cars will honk and do everything they can to get where they need to be in a hurry. You get all of these people who say "Oh we need to support our new president; however, these are the same people flicking off our former leader on the television screen. Where was your support for HIM?! Granted people, not just politicians, do things we don't approve of. Does that mean I should flick off the person at the mall who cuts me off? Do I need to stick the bird where the sun don't shine on the people who carry the complete opposite beliefs of mine? No. We've all become pigheaded.

As the ceremony ended, the closing prayer had a cute little 3rd grade rhyme to it, mentioning all of the different races in the world. "For the yellow to me mellow. For the red to get ahead." And then he says "And for the white to always do what's right." Hahaha it was extremely offensive to me. When have I not been doing what's right? Why do the red people need to get ahead and the brown to get around? I mean if they're here as citizens then awesome! Let's all sing koombayah and hold hands. If they're here on illegal terms they need a swift kick out of our borders. They'll get ahead and around real quick!

The main thing I'm tired of is the appearance that slavery and oppression of people is still continuing today. It's extremely discomforting to me. I can name hundreds of African-Americans out there who are better off than me. And I don't mean athletes. I mean the mailman has a job and I don't. That's one right there. Give me a break! I'm thrilled beyond words for the impact of this historical achievement and what it means, but do the wretched whitemen need to have our noses rubbed in it? Was I around when their ancestors we're getting hanged? No! I'm trying to make a difference in this world as much as the next person, no matter the skintone. It's just tiring that the race card is always played to the opponent's advantage. That card should've been filed in the Smithsonian decades ago!

Obama is looking to signing the Freedom of Choice Act. It's going to be remembered as the saddest day in our nation's history. We might as well have him sign the Freedom of Murder Act. There is NO difference. I don't want this baby. I want it taken care of. I know, I'll have it killed by the doctor or just let it lay in a corner by itself with no medical attention so it dies. Now let's say this guy at the grocery store takes the last box of cereal. You motherf---. That was the last box. I don't want to have to deal with you. I don't want you around, sir. I know, I'll take out my gun and shoot you in the head. Great taken care of. That's the exact same principle underlying the abortion issue. Feel free to debate me otherwise. They say abortion is for population control. Well then so is me wanting my box of cereal. I'm taking him out. You're taking the baby out. Same thing! Abortion is murder. If you want to control population, practice abstinence or safe sex. Quit sleeping and dicking around. I'm sorry to sound so heartless on the matter, but is abortion not heartless?

I think people are in for a rude awakening these next 4 years. Obama is NOT our messiah. He is not going to hoist the country above our heads out of the ashes. I must say I respect the man for the tasks ahead of him. I WILL be giving him my support and do my part. Because no matter what disagreements I have with him and his leadership it is true that we are ALL in this TOGETHER. That's right. Everyone. The person you honk at, flick off, curse at, snicker at, laugh at, spit at, are snobby at, the baby you abort or decide to have, etc. We must work together to help ourselves and each other. This is why my dream resonates so much more powerfully in my mind. There is no greater time than now for all of us to achieve the impossible in ourselves.

The problem with politics is the aspect of fear. You need to follow politics yourself. Develop your beliefs and stick to them. Don't let anyone sway you. The more clueless you are, the more you listen to others. The others have a natural ability to inflict fear in our hearts and souls. So we'll look to our politicians instead of realizing we have it in ourselves to make things better. Politicians know we are scared and they thrive on it. It's not only cheesy sounding, but it's as true as the written word of God. We have the tools in our lives already. We have each other. We need to give our talents and knowledge to one another.

I know this whole blog might upset people (as tends to happen when I get hot-headed) and I'm apologizing to those people. However, truth hurts. I'm sorry. I get hurt when truth is brought to my attention. We just have to deal with it. We have to all realize these tasks for ourselves and our country are not solely for those who lead, but for each of us. Chase your dream until you reach that horizon. We're all in a new horizon in each of our lives. Last year taught me that more than anything else. We have the ability to get things done, to work together and support our country...our heritage...our patriotism. Sure this is just my opinion and I have a strict moral character. All of us do. That's what makes us unique. We need to put some differences aside and, as cheesy as it sounds, come to the table and get things done. If we can't work together today, we'll continue to fight together tomorow.

That Word

2009-01-26T15:39:00.003-05:00

Hey so I had mentioned in a previous post my writing assignment based off of my non-favorite word, the F word. So here is the final copy of that story. Enjoy!

That Word

Cold showers suck. A non-stop give and take with water temperature. A half turn with the cold knob and a three-second turn with the hot.
Perfect.
The water pressure fades to a drizzle barely besting a water fountain.
Darn neighbor must’ve flushed.
The morning goose bumps diminish as water streaks over my body. Steam builds a light haze on the shower window, and I fight the child-like urge to doodle with my fingers.
Reaching for the loofah, my fingers become captive by strands of rabid, dark hair. Luckily, they aren’t curly.
Ugh, my freaking roommate sheds like dang Sasquatch.
I scrub each sector and toned muscle, spending an extra minute or two on the Man-ganistan region. A vital step. The water temperature plunges.
Shoot! I’m in a hurry! I thought I had the knob angles down to a science.
I speed up the shower checklist, lunging for the shampoo bottle. The loofah lather on my hands causes the bottle to slip from my grip, up and over the shower door. I coincidentally leave a Rose Dawson, Titanic-like handprint on the steamed glass while I rush to retrieve the Pert Plus. The settled goose bumps awaken.
The lack of a bath mat-covered floor sends my callused feet zipping from underneath me and I slam onto the filthy tile. The previous rabid hairs were the least of my worries. It has become an infestation.
God…dangit!! I don’t have motherfriggin’ time for this!
I leap back into the lack-luster warmth of the shower to rescrub myself. New body hair swirls down the drain. Re-working the Pert Plus with both hands, I luckily form a nice lather into my manly locks. Rinse and repeat has no time. A tiny water droplet carrying a deadly dose of suds falls down my face, rests on the corner of my eye and explodes on my cornea.
Ouch! Oh, my God! Piece of s…crap!
I bury my face in the cotton-polyester blend of the towel like a child seeking comfort in their mother’s bosom. The sting refuses to settle. It’s become a taunting irritation, dancing on my eyeball. I decide to “man-up” and try a procedure taught in high school Chemistry, eyewash.
I take a deep breath, hold open my eyelids and creep my face under the nozzle. It’s no wonder we didn’t physically try it in high school. It increases the irritating eye dance to Irish jig level.
Ugh! Motherf…ugh!
I stumble out of the shower door, and stub my pinky toe on the trashcan. My face is steaming with frustration. All the morning shower episodes flood my mind at once. I can’t stop my body from releasing the one word I hate.
F@%&!

There you have it. What did you think? Hahaha I know it's kinda sketch, but I tried to be creative.

Best Foot Forward

2009-01-23T12:55:00.003-05:00

Well the third week of classes is over. It's crazy because I feel like this quarter is flying by. I'll post my new short story this coming week sometime (I know you guys are dying to read it haha). This one we had a choice to write on our favorite word (contribute) or our non-favorite word (F---). As I wrote on my favorite word it was coming out very cheesy, so I decided to experiment with my non-favorite. It came out pretty well. Its this guy in the shower and all of this bad stuff happens to him. He is like me and doesn't cuss, so he uses words like shoot and dangit, etc. By the end something small happens to set him off completely and he says the F-word. But no worries I typed it like F@%&! Hahaha. The class enjoyed it.

For my still life class we had to turn in our "impossible shot" assignment this week. It's basically photographing something that can't be done (i.e. a feather holding up a bowling ball). I decided to shoot a baseball bat holding up a big stack of books. It came out really nice. Take a look.

I have to reshoot it though so that it all relates to one another. The balls will become apples. The bat will become a giant-sized No. 2 pencil and the books will be school text books and dictionaries. The teacher said it was great it just all needs to relate to each other...and I need to blur out the background some too. But not too bad. I'm really enjoying the challenges of the quarter so far. I feel bad for one of my friend's, Erika, who got her camera fried accidentally by the equipment. Her camera started smoking. Scary stuff if that happened to me.

My roommate told me that someone asked in his class who his roommate is. When he said, "Evan" they were like "Oh is that that tall guy that dresses really nice?" Hahaha yup! Sure is, ladies. Tell your friends.

Sunday night will be the first night of Fusion at Buckhead Church. Basically like small groups for people my age. It meets 5 times every three months. We get together a few hours one night and do different things out and about to be together. Sounds like it'll be a great opportunity for me. I'll let you know how it goes.

Not bad for a short little blog entry huh? I'll be posting my experience with one of my classes at the coffeehouse watching the inauguration sometime this weekend. Get excited for that haha. Until then have an awesome weekend and I'll talk to you guys soon.

More to come...

A Rundown of Thoughts

2009-01-18T22:20:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! It's winding down to the end of a freezing weekend! I don't know what the weather has been like where you guys are, but the south can get pretty frigid. I had a great weekend! A few friends, Lauren and Bethany paid me a visit. I went to see the movie Defiance which was so great. And I have some news about church...but first, I mentioned last time that I wrote a piece about "abortion" for my class last week. I thought I would share with you my final copy. (It's edited down short because all of our pieces can be no shorter than 400 words and no longer than 500). Enjoy!

An Empty Silence

Thump thump. Thump thump. The two separate heartbeats pulsated together with rhythmic precision like they were keeping a beat for the Philharmonic. The tone of the ultrasound echoed in her mind constantly since she discovered her pregnancy. Tears flowed from her face, slowly forming a soaked spot on the hospital gown that got bigger with each teardrop. She was alone in the room with all of her nerves and support grasped onto the handle on the side of the surgical chair, while the tissue paper she laid on crinkled with every movement.
Nothing could prepare her for this moment. She tried to recite Bible verses that would calm the tension, but nothing came to mind. She felt even more alone while the ultrasound continued to echo. Thump thump. Her parents didn’t know. Couldn’t know. Their knowledge and resulting disapproval would only make her feel more abandoned. She tried to ignore the fact that abandoning someone is exactly what she is about to do.
The nurse stepped in. The needle punctured her arm. She visualized a stab into the second heartbeat within. Snapping the glove tight against his wrist, the doctor looked her in the eyes with a comforting gaze. Her feet started to slide out of the stirrups. She was struggling to hold on with her hands, and now her feet.
The doctor sat on the stool and rolled towards her to position himself between her legs. Her grip clinched even tighter. The doctor grabbed the curette, and slid it in her cervix. He began to slowly scrape along the wall of her uterus to dislodge the tiny life inside. The shot wasn’t helping her fall asleep. She could feel, and will remember everything. The doctor then slid the forceps into position to collapse the baby’s skull and pull the tiny life out through her cervix. The procedure was finished.
Was it a boy or a girl? Either way, the Philharmonic duo had come to an abrupt end. There was no musical coda that would continue the beautiful harmony into another stanza. The soaked stain on the hospital gown increased in diameter as she lay there burying her face in her hands. The tiny heartbeat echo would resound evermore in her thoughts. It is a lifeless melody, but in reality an empty silence. Thump thump.

So yeah, that's that. This week, our assignment was to take our favorite word and write a similar story around that word. My word is "contribute," and I think I'll be writing about how we all have something to give to each other. Might be cheesy, but I'm going to do my best for it not to be.

A lot has been on my mind lately regarding where I fit in down here in Atlanta. Since moving here in September, it has been a struggle to fit in at a liberal school when the majority of people are not believers in faith like I am. There are maybe a handful of us who try to practice Biblical principles in our lives. It can get very discomforting. I do my best to fit in around the school, but I don't believe personally that I need to abandon my morals and personal judgment to do so. I have made a lot of friends, but on most weekends a lot of them like to go out to bars/restuarants/clubs to drink and let loose. Or parties at other people's apartments. I want to say upfront that I personally don't judge people like this. I have drank a time or two, but I don't personally enjoy it. I think going further by getting drunk is completely immature and confusing. In most cases, not everyone is even getting drunk. Mostly just a hangout with alcohol involved. Even still, I'm not a party kind of guy if all they were drinking is Dr. Pepper. I'm much more of a board game party person than dancing around each other and all of that. Call me crazy, but I find more excitement in a fierce competition of Hungry Hungry Hippos than I do over a game of poker. Granted, that qualifies me to be between the age of 7-12, and also highly illegal and classified as a child molestor if I play with those kids. There lies the hurdle haha. I do try and go hang out more with people from school, and everyone is well aware of my beliefs and personal choices. No one forces me to do anything I don't want to, which is quite a relief. I guess I just enjoy staying in my apartment and watching a movie. But I promised a few people I would socialize more and come t parties. They are aware that the moment I get uncomfortable I'm leaving.

The main thing has been trying to find a group of friends who are believers like I am. It was very easy in college since I attended a flippin' Christian institution. Now it's like that world completely flipped over. And don't get me wrong, everyone at school is a lot of fun. There is not one person at school who I don't get along with and bond with, etc. It's just I really want a group of friends also that I can go to church with and build Christian fellowship. The hard thing is trying not to appear snobbish or that I'm better than everyone at school. I'm not. I DO have a better spiritual life in my heart and soul that I hope everyone sees. I just don't believe I need to sacrifice myself in order to make deep friendships at school and fit in. Success comes to those who are passionate and pursuit it wholeheartedly.

At church this evening...since I missed the morning service (Buckhead Church...a satellite church of North Point with Andy Stanley) I got information on Fusion and GroupLink, which are two outlets of small groups at church for people who want to connect and get more involved. It's definitely something I have been longing to do there. There seem to be a lot of people my age in there. The first gathering I think is this coming Sunday. I should get a call this week with more details. I pray that it works out. Like I said, nothing against school people...zero judgments. I just want to also find other friends who can keep me in my roots at the same time.

In other church news, I have a friend who knows someone who works at the church on the media team who might be able to offer me a chance to take photos every now and then or be a part of the media team. I don't know much more detail than that, but it sounds awesome! I'll keep you posted.

That's all for now. I hope you guys have a wonderful week! God Bless!

More to come...

Weddings & Change

2009-01-14T16:56:00.004-05:00

Well the first wedding of 2009 has come and gone. Reo and Shawn, you guys looked amazing! Thanks so much for letting me be part of your special day. Glad to do it. To those who want to see some photos....too bad! Well, I posted some on Facebook and also my site Red Bulb Photography. So go there and take a look. But I guess out of the kindness of my heart I can post a few of them on here...

Here is the beautiful bride with her girls, and then Reo putting on his Converse for the ceremony

Then of course me with my good friends and a photo of their VERY different shoes haha.

It was awesome to be able to see a lot of my good friends at the wedding from school. It stunk a little cause I have been battling a cold...often losing...so during the wedding I was losing my voice. Giving direction and stuff is not fun when you can't speak. Luckily I'm a craftsman at charades haha. I can't believe how well my Photography business for weddings is taking off. Since this weekend, I've had two additional requests for this year. Making my total number of 2009 weddings at 17 so far. I'm approaching half the weekends of the entire year! Haha, well not quite, but still. Crazy! I'm truly blessed. My next wedding is on V-Day so that should be fun. A friend from college, Slim, is singing at that wedding and we'll be rooming together. A different Valentine's indeed hahaha.

School is still going strong. For my writing class our first assignment was based on the word "Empty." I decided to write about abortion. It starts off with two separate heartbeats and ends with just one. The class thought it was really good and shocking. We all have to make edits and stuff so once the final copy is done I'll be sure to post it. In my design class last night we had to show our 50 logos sketches. My teacher asked me if I had any design background or architectural drawing background at all. I said no and he said my logos were beautiful. So that was pretty shocking and cool. It'll be a fun class that'll definitely help me when it comes time to designing my magazine. Gosh I still can't believe it that I'm here and pursuing this. I feel like such an ecstatic geek hahaha.

Thanks for keeping my sister Rachel in your prayers. She made it to Germany for training and will be departing for her ship to travel around the world in a month or less. I'll give you updates as much as I can or you can go here. For now I need to get ready for my class tonight. I hope everyone is doing well. Keep me updated!

More to come...

First Week, Second Quarter

2009-01-09T10:51:00.002-05:00

Well the first week of the new quarter has officially come to a close, and I know you people are dying to know what my classes are like. So...here we go. I'll start with Tuesday since I have no classes Mondays :)

Writing Workshop: I think this class will be very very beneficial to me. It's basically going to be a practice on learning to edit masterfully your own work and others. We will spend class time reading our assignments to each other, editing our pieces and also explaining why it should be changed to this or that for a more powerful story for the reader. It'll be great for me and my writing. Cause quite honestly I dont think Im that great of a writer, I just love to. Our first assignment we were given the word "Empty" and we have to write a story in any form except poetry using this one word as our subject. So I spent some time thinking about it and I kept thinking of cheesy stuff like an empty heart, etc. The dictionary had a definition for the word that said "Absence of signs of life." So it made me think of the topic of "abortion." :) Which should be great since I love controversy haha. So I'm going to work on it this weekend. It'll probably start off with two heartbeats and end with just one. All of our assignments have to have 3 drafts. We have to write, read, edit, repeat all of that and then turn in one final copy. Should be fun.
Digital Design: I thought this computer class was just on the InDesign program like learning how to use it, etc. Which it kind of is, but to a grand extent. Our assignment this quarter is each of us has to design a 12-page brochure for a Drug and Alcohol Rehab Center. Even redesigning their logo. Each of us got a different location. Mine is Bridge House in New Orleans. So I had to research their place and start coming up with ideas. Not only that, but by this next class we have to have 50 rough sketches of logo ideas. Should be a nice change of pace for me to take a design class. The teacher is very cool, but seems like he will be brutal if he has to. I heard he likes to try and make students cry haha.

Wednesday:
Printing/Photoshop: This class I think will be really awesome! The teacher is a former student here and he will be teaching us a little bit about using the printer's at school to our advantage when it comes to making eye-popping prints of our work, but mostly the class is like an Advanced Photoshop class. Our assignment in that class is we have to make 3 or 4 photos into one. It's very hard to explain. You can look at the teacher's website here and look at one photo he has of a few mobsters beating up a guy in a chair. It looks like one shot, but it's actually five I think he said. You basically take a photo of the background, each person individually and do a lot of photoshop work. It's basically something we're going to learn. Interesting.

Thursday:
Art + Commerce: Thursday is going to be a long day. Before these two classes we have seminar. Ugh. This class will be a new course for me personally because it teaches us about Fine Art Photography and the market out there for it. We'll be taking a lot of field trips to museums, print shops, studios, etc to learn all about it as well as take photos ourselves for potential selling in this dept. of Photography. It's basically like all the artwork you see in hotels, building lobbies, you name it. It'll be a stretch for me just because I never really thought about this aspect to Photography before. But the teacher is pretty cool. His website can be found here. He told me I have a good Photojournalistic eye which is nice to hear since that's something I want to keep doing once I start my magazine.
Still Life: I think this has potential to be my favorite class of the quarter. Not only is the teacher really funny (which will keep me awake), he also has a very addictive laugh that makes you want to laugh when you hear it. Like nice and bellowy haha. The class is basically teaching us studio photography but with inanimate objects. Our first assignment we have to shoot the impossible (i.e. a feather holding up a bowling ball). We're allowed to shoot it creatively in the studio, or manipulate it in Photoshop after we shoot all the items for our shot. There is a lot of criteria for the assignment. It has to work for advetisements on billboards, transit ads, be educational and most importantly inspire the imagination. It also has to be something simple so it's understood when looked at. He gave an example of a wire wastebasket being full with balled up paper, but the shadow of it makes it still look empty. Something like that that is catchy and impossible. We took turns giving ideas and for some reason all I could think of was walking on water. Even though the Lord did it, I know we couldn't. He loved the idea but we can't use anything living, so it would have to be a car sitting on top of a lake or something. Ugh. My mind is still stumped. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

But that's pretty much it. Should be an interesting quarter and I'm looking forward to the challenge. It'll also be good practice of balancing school projects with weddings on the weekend. For instance, I'm getting ready to leave in two hours for Spartanburg to shoot my friend's wedding this weekend. That's time I won't have to work on school stuff. So needless to say, Sunday and Monday I'll be busy busy busy with school work. In other wedding news, I picked up two more weddings. One in March and one in August. The makes the total of weddings this year to 15 so far. I'm very pumped and excited about that! Please be praying that my car will hold on and last through these weddings and after.

Keep praying for my sister Rachel who leaves on Monday and will be gone for two years. You can keep track of her life also by visiting her site here. Thanks for the encouragement and prayers you guys. That's all for now. I hope 2009 is off to a bang for all of you! God Bless!

More to come...

New Year, New School Quarter

2009-01-05T12:45:00.006-05:00

Kinda long...read when you can :)

I can't believe it's 2009. I don't know why every time the new year rolls around it's something completely hard to fathom. I look back over 2008 and I really am amazed and blessed with God's provision and guidance in my life more than ever before. I went from having no hope in myself to now having endless hope and possibilities for the future road. I'm incredibly thankful! And definitely thankful for friends like you guys who support me and pray for me through each and every hurdle and curve in the road. Thanks so much for staying with me on this journey. :) As Winston Churchill said, "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it."

I got back to Atlanta from a terrific break at home in Virginia this past Saturday night. Yesterday was a nice day to just relax and get prepared for another quarter of work. This morning I went to the school to pay my tuition and get my schedule. At first the lady told me I owe $4,200 for the quarter. (Yeah, this school is expensive haha) But she forgot to factor in my financial aid, so luckily I only had to pay a little more than a grand. Talk about dodging a bullet. I then got my schedule for this Winter quarter. Here it is:

Monday: NO CLASSES!!
Tuesday: 1p - 5p Writing Workshop
6p - 10p InDesign
Wednesday: 6:30p - 10p Printing
Thursday: 10a Seminar
1p - 5p Art & Commerce
6p - 10p Still Life Photography
Friday: NO CLASSES!!

There you have it. No morning classes except the usual Seminar on Thursday mornings. So it will be a huge change of pace from last quarter when I had all morning classes. Crazy! I'd tell you about each class, but I honestly have no clue what I'll be doing in any class. Except maybe InDesign, which is the computer software we used in undergrad to put the newspaper together. But rest assured, I'll be keeping you updated on the classes. Feel blessed, it's ok haha.

I also finally got my critique scores for last quarter on all of my work. They give you a grade between 1 and 10. I got the same overall grade for both Photography and Writing. And that score is...... 8.6 out of 10! Not bad at all. It's just where I wanted to be first quarter. Not perfect and not crappy. Just above average and a little under radar so where I can gradually build from there and amaze everyone at the end of my time here at Portfolio Center haha. At least thats the plan. On the critique sheets, each person who was on the presentation panel leaves comments about each photo or writing piece so you know what you have to work on. I got a lot of great feedback. Really encouraging and nothing like "this sucks!" haha. The general notes from each person is that I have very strong work and an eye for photography, great variation on my perspective and all of my concepts have terrific potential and I just need to push them a little bit more. So I'm very pleased. It seems like their favorite photos were the bowling fruit one and the WWII widow shot by the window. (I'm not entirely sure why my shot of my head on the Abercrombie model didn't make the grade, but whatever hahaha). I'm very much looking forward to seeing what I can do this quarter.

Break at home was very great! There is nothing like being at home. My sister Rachel leaves a week from today (Jan 12) for two years, so the holiday break was a little bittersweet. Definitely a tear fest this past weekend when we all had to say goodbye. I was also able to take a few photos for some friends in Greenville on my way home. First here is a few of my friend Whitney's portraits.

The others of Whitney are on my Facebook. Then I got to take Engagement Photos of my friend Brittany and her man.

While I was at home I had a nice time doing nothing productive at all. I went and saw a bunch of movies. Seven Pounds with Will Smith...cried both times I saw it haha. Really really good. I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and that was so beautifully amazing and well done. I would love to see it again. Then I went with all the guys in the family to see Valkyrie and that was actually very awesome as well. I had no idea that happened in real life. Movies didn't disappoint this holiday. We didn't get to celebrate Christmas until New Year's Eve because we were waiting on all of my siblings to be in town. So we actually celebrated two holidays in one night. Pretty cool. Our family is too big, so for Christmas we always draw names for gifts. My sister Hannah drew my name and she got me the new Fall Out Boy CD, and a few older movies on DVD which I didn't have copies of. Clear and Present Danger and Mrs. Doubtfire. As well as the first season of Burn Notice which is a show on USA. We got to also set off illegal fireworks (Virginia has stupid rules regarding fireworks so my brother bought some on their way from SC to see us). Here are some photos from New Years.

(It was sparkling cider we drank)

I have more photos from home on Facebook (including our 15ft. tall Christmas tree) I love our big trees every year! I leave you now with a photo of all of us Hampton kids and siblings-in-law and babies. I love my family and miss home already! Real life calls now and I can't wait to see how it turns out in March when this quarter is over. Thanks for the prayers and God Bless!

More to come... (update on school this first week as well as my first wedding of '09 this weekend, Reo Hoots and Shawn Tripam)

One Quarter Down...Seven To Go

2008-12-10T18:11:00.006-05:00

Hey guys! Well the first quarter of grad school is officially over. Before I get to all that happened at my final presentation critiques, I'll go ahead and fill you all in a little update of other things. First of all, thank you to all of your prayers and support for my Father. To those who didn't know, Saturday night late, my Dad was feeling pains in his chest and my Mom took him to the hospital. At first I thought it was a heart attack, but luckily his blood work and tests came back ok. They then identified it as an intestinal issue that might have been causing the pains. Then, they found a few lumps on his lungs. The tests from those came back ok, and my Dad was released! :) Praise the Lord! He has to go back in a month just for a brief checkup, but he is in fine spirits and sounds like Dad :) It was such a weird feeling because I picture my Dad as this indestructible Superman. He still is! Thank you, Jesus.

My roommate Eric and I decided to rearrange the living room of our townhome apt. I know that sounds really "metro" of us haha, but we wanted to let more room in. And it worked well. Moved the flat screen TV to a different wall and arranged the furniture differently and now there is enough room in there to move around when we jam out to Rock Band on Wii or whatever.

I got rid of my Verizon Wireless account a week ago because I had had issues with my new Blackberry that I bought. It wouldn't let me check email, and when I called to get support they didn't really have any advice except to send it back to them and let them fix it. And I need my phone. Of course I tried to get a deal sorted out since it wasn't my fault and I just got the run around. So a fellow classmate was telling me about AT&T, so I checked their plans and rates out on my way to the Verizon store. It turns out, I can save $20 a month by switiching to AT&T and keeping my number and all my options. So I switched and got a new phone. But not just any new phone, mind you...the iPhone!!!!

Yeah it's pretty much the best thing EVER!!! It has GPS, Games, I can check up to 10 different e-mail accounts, find local cheap gas and restaurants, check my bank account, check my Facebook, watch videos, Instant messenger, make a grocery list, manage my calendar for weddings and other events, make restuarant reservations, monitor my health, etc. It does everything but brush my teeth and bathe me pretty much. I love it! The best part is a lot of the options are in an Application format that work super fast, so I rarely have to use my internet...even though that is fast...but more time consuming. I can check movie showtimes and order tickets. Just so much. I don't know why I didn't do this to begin with. Plus I'm saving $20 a month! My Blackberry couldn't do all of that. So yeah, needless to say I'm excited. Thank you, Apple iPhone haha.

This weekend I'm going home for Christmas break. Second Quarter doesn't start until Jan. 5! On my way home, I'm stopping in Greenville for the weekend to hang out with Andy, go on a "date" with my friend Meredith, and shoot some engagement photos for my friend Brittany. Then I'll keep driving North on home to Virginia on Sunday. YAY! I love home...plus we need to go get our Christmas tree. I think I've been listening to holiday music since Halloween.

Without further wait, I'll now go over my grad school critique. My Photography one was Monday night and it went really well! I think I made a great impression. I was kinda bummed though I had to go first of the seven of us. Oh well. They wanted to start out with an awesome photographer I assume :) I'll try and post all 12 of my final shots on here so you can see my final results. Some of them you have seen, and others you haven't. I think the favorite ones they seemed to love the best were my murder scene, fruit bowling, my roommate shot of him playing the guitar in the middle of the street and definitly my WWII widow shot. My professor actually said "I absolutely love this!" for that shot. :) My Writing critique was last night and it wasn't bad but not great either. I have a lot to work on as far as keeping the reader engaged and writing with deeper emotion, etc. But its ok. They could tell I was used to blog writing and also editorial writing in college. I'll post the photos in the next day or so. To those of you who have Facebook, you can see my work there. Or on my grad school photo page on my website www.redbulbphotography.com. Enjoy!! We won't find out our number grade for our work and critique until we get back in Januray. Which kinda sucks.

Keep praying for my sister Rachel as she prepares to leave the US Jan 12 for missionary training in Germany before heading to the Phillipines. I'm so excited for her! Also, I've been in talks with the International Mission Board regarding freelance photography assignments that maybe I can be involved with overseas on breaks from school. I'm waiting to hear back of any opportunities. Until then, I'll be keeping all of you in my thoughts and prayers and hope the holiday season is off to a great start. God Bless!

More to come...

Giving Thanks & Getting Prepared

2008-12-03T00:27:00.007-05:00

What a nice battery charge I received at home this past weekend for Thanksgiving break from life in Atlanta. (Not that I'm not loving it down here). But I'm pretty sure about 85% of the people out there will agree that there is just nothing like going home.

I took the Amtrak train home because A it was cheaper, B I didn't want to deal with traffic in this crazy city and C I could sleep. A normal drive home to Virginia is about 8 hours, but the train took 10 due to stops and stuff. The train left Wednesday night at 8p but didn't arrive in Lynchburg til a little after 6a Thanksgiving morning. The train ride up there was not pleasant. It was so crowded because of the holiday I take it and it made it almost impossible to sleep the first several hours. I sat next to some guy up until the stop in Charlotte and then at that point this African-American man sat next to me and he was quite an interesting character. He decided to use his cell phone and drop the F-bomb to his friend about everything imaginable. When he hung up, I noticed the wallpaper of his cell was a naked black chick hahahahaha. I literally started laughing out loud. Luckily, I was watching Fred Claus on my laptop so he probably assumed I was laughing at that. Little did he know... So yeah he finally moved to his own seat once the train cleared up, but by that time it was already 3a and I couldn't fall asleep. The ride back overnight Sun into Mon morning was much smoother.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorites simply because my whole family is together. With five children my parents had a hand in creating, it's hard to get us all together a lot. There was about 20 people at the table Thursday night. My immediate family including siblings-in-law, my brother-in-law's folks, my aunt, three niece and nephews, a friend of my sister's and three friends of another sister. Yeah it was crazy but that's why we love it. Not to mention it's the time of year when we make chocolate eclair cake, but that is a blog in itself. Also that Sunday morning I was thrilled to be in town at the time of my sister's commissioning service in front of the entire Thomas Road Baptist Church. She is leaving in January to be a missionary for two years with Wycliffe and the church took up an offering and also had a moment of prayer over her with all of us on stage in support. It's weird to think that she won't be with us until 2011. I'll be done with grad school by then, or maybe even married. Weird indeed. This Christmas and New Year will be bittersweet. That same Sunday was also baby dedication, and my nephew Gavin got dedicated! I was very fortunate to be in town. Gosh, I love my family! We also haven't had an updated family photo since last Thanksgiving, so I provided my Nikon D700 to the cause of a new family photo we took at the church. Here are a few for you to enjoy. (More photos from the weekend are on Facebook).

These were our formal family photo and then of course our signature Hampton sense of humor. Here is one of us 5 siblings...and us picking on the youngest.

Yeah, the Hampton sarcasm and humor is something in itself to be thankful for.

This week is Studio Week here at school. It basically is a week of no classes so you have immense free time to work on your due projects. I think I expressed the whole critique and deliverables thing in the last blog. I have 15 total final projects to show for critique, and of those I have 11 completed. Just 4 to go! Tonight I finished my mailer for Photoshop class which is basically a mock postcard for your business front and back. It looks really nice I think and I'll post it on here next week when all assignments are done. I also finished the window assignment for Photoshop class. We're to take a photo of any window we want on a building and then place a separate photo within that window. I captured a window at a church and then placed a sunrise picture in the window. You'll see that soon as well. Finally, I finished my "Up High" assignment for Photoshop class where we were told to shoot something up high in the sky or at a certain vantage point, etc and then place stuff in that photo to make it look like it was already there. My original idea was a photo of Atlanta skyline and then I would put a dozen planes in the sky. Then I thought of a better idea with this Abercrombie billboard near my apartment. I shot the billboard and decided to put my head on the guy's body to make it seem like I was on the billboard hahahaha. I just have to show it to you now...

Hahaha I think it turned out pretty well. I hope this at least brightens your day if nothing else does.

I got my critique presentation times and I ask that you keep me in prayer for those. My Photography critique presentation is Monday Dec. 8 @ 6:30p and my Writing one is Tuesday Dec. 9 @ 6:30p. After that I'm finished for the quarter! I'll hang around Atlanta several days before going to Greenville that weekend of the 11th to shoot Engagement Photos, see some friends like Andy and Meredith, and visit the school etc on my way home to Virginia for break. Then second quarter begins Jan. 5.

Last thing, keep mentioning my business to any friends you may know getting married. I'm up to 13 weddings now, including one in Houston, TX. It's really going well. How I'll balance school in the summer with wedding season will soon be revealed. www.redbulbphotography.com. That is all for now. I hope everyone is doing well and keeps me posted on their own life's chronicles. God Bless!

More to come...

The End is Coming...School, not the World.

2008-11-14T00:22:00.004-05:00

So it's been a while since I've actually updated about school life and how things are going for me. And quite honestly, I couldn't be more thrilled! At the start it was a little hard to find my place and to get in the flow and get over personal hurdles I needed to. But here I am and I am absolutely loving it and feeling blessed that God has brought me so incredibly far. Looking back over this last year seriously just floors me. I'm so encouraged.

School has been terrific. I can see why people have said Portfolio Center is the best part of their life. It's not just that I'm getting valuable training here for my future, but I'm meeting some amazing people and making great friendships...even with teachers...that I know will last forever after these two years here in the program. I'm really enjoying the challenges and obstacles certain assignments create. I'm doing my best to rise to the challenge too. For one class one assignment (which I have yet to shoot) is "motion." We basically have to capture motion in our shot. A lot of the students in the class seem to just be turning in this abstract-looking photographs. And thats really fine and their stuff looks great, but really all that's going on is they are opening their shutter speeds for a long exposure and shaking their camera in the process to get a blurry photo. And the stuff looks cool, but Im just not that abstract kind of person. So I've been coming up with an idea for mine to try and have a story. So this weekend I'll be shooting my friend Eric at the train station and I'm hoping that he will be in focus while people walking around him and on/off the train will be blurry. And I'll have him listening to an iPod or something. My other shoot went really well! We were assigned a year and told to shoot a subject with natural window light. I got 1945 and chose to shoot a WWII widow. Here is the final result...

I really love this shot idea too. I got all of these props from online and shot it at my apartment. Unfortunately I have to reshoot because I'm an idiot and didn't pay attention to certain detail, but my professor really loved my concept and idea and composition. So I'm looking forward to nailing it even more at the reshoot in a week or so. For one of my other classes we had an assignment called "Fruit" and we are to make fruit be something else. I chose to do bowling...

I made the bowling alley out of graham crackers, the bowling pins are summer squash and then I used a watermelon as the bowling ball. My professor for this class really loved my concept and idea too. A lot of the other students had really awesome ideas for theirs too. One student had radishes cut and painted to look like sperm and then a tangerine as an egg hahaha. It looks awesome!

Critique week is kinda like finals week and it is coming very fast. We're pretty much done with this quarter. Once we come back from Thanksgiving that week is called Studio Week where we finalize all of our projects and make sure everything is perfect and then that following week is Critique Week where you are assigned a time and you go in a room in front of a panel of outside professionals in the industry and they judge your work, or "Deliverables" that you present to be judged/critiqued. Sounds intense, I know haha. Of the four classes I have, I have 16 total Deliverables to present. 12 of which are different photo assignments and the other 4 are writing assignments from my writing class. Of the 16, I have roughly 3 of them completed and ready to print. A lot of the other work for the other deliverables is shot and stuff, it's just a matter of tweaking and adjusting to perfection. So crunch time is upon me.

I met with the head instructor for the writing dept. this morning just to dicuss my future goals regarding my magazine and my long-term dreams and vision I have. He was really amazingly supportive and encouraging about it and had a lot of great advice. It's something that blows my mind getting used to the fact that all of the instructors here are really here for us at any time of the day and they seriously bend over backwards to help us out. He was basically telling me they may have to create a separate curriculum for me because they have never had a Portfolio Center student want to do something that I want to do. Which is really cool to hear, but at the same time a little nervous knowing I'll be a guinea pig in a lot of ways. But I'm very open-minded about it and looking forward to what these next quarters have to offer. I have a feeling these two years here is going to fly by! Continue to keep me in your prayers as I know you will be. 1 Quarter just about over and 7 more to go haha.

I'm really looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving in two weeks! I'm taking an Amtrak train home because it's actually cheaper than driving. So that should be fun. I can't wait to see my family and my niece and nephews! I freakin' love my family and the holidays! This year will be a little bittersweet because my sister Rachel will be leaving us at the New Year to be a missionary for two years and we won't really see her until she returns. Weird feeling. I'm so proud of her though. It's weird to think that when she returns, I'll be done with school and working Lord knows where! Awesome! The Hamptons are taking over! Hahaha. But I'm very much looking forward to the holiday season and recharging my batteries. I really want to find work or something over the break to make a little cash. Hey I can always "wrap" presents at the mall haha. Luckily wedding season is upon me. The first one in January. I have about 12 weddings in 2009 so far and I'm very blessed that is going so well. If you guys havent checked out my site, www.redbulbphotography.com please do so. I keep some other grad school shots on there also.

For now I think thats about all the update that I have. Keep me posted on how all of you are doing and I look forward to seeing you all soon! God Bless and thanks so much for your continued prayer and support!

More to come...

A New Dawn: Where is My America?

2008-11-05T18:05:00.002-05:00

Well the election is over. That fact is the only thing I was praising. Somehow I had no doubt that the people in this country are a big bunch of idiots. It was just proven more accurate when they elected Osama Obama as our 44th President. And yes, I'll say that I think it's awesome to witness this historic event of our first Black president. (Don't any of you dare correct me and say "African-American" or I'll start making you refer to us crackers and whiteys as "Caucasian Americans"). I think it's so cool to see how far we've come as a collective race of people. So I do applaud this new dawn for only that reason. But that is only so cool for a while. It's just like saying, "Oh look, a rainbow!" and so you pull over to look at it but eventually you have to keep driving and get back to the real world. That's what this "race card" election is to me. One big amazing rainbow. Now let's hope that rainbow has got a mother load of good solutions.

I can't help but think that I'm scared. This whole election race has irritated the crap out of me. First of all, if I hear one more person speak about "change," I'm going to hit them in the face. I'm also sick of all of the Obama supporters with their "Yes, we can!!!" Well friends you very well could've been ALREADY. It's called respecting your country and leader and doing your part to support. What exactly "can" "we" do? I'm waiting for the first person to enlighten me on this. I'll get to my opinion of what we all can do in a moment. Right now I'm just venting before the air gets sucked from the sky and the world blows up. Black people say they aren't voting for Obama just because he is black. I apologize for this, even though I do know a few friends who gave me good reasons why they voted for him, but as a majority I'm going to call out a big BULL to that one. Of course you voted for him based on his race. The moment he won all I could see online and people's away messages among my black friends was "We did it! The first black President!" and similar anecdotes. Well, yes you did do it. You got so blinded by the change in history that you forgot about the more important changes for our children's history. Like I said...a rainbow is only so beautiful...and then it disappears.

I'm not happy about this at all. I've had to say goodbye to a lot in my life. But seriously the funerals are going to get worse! We will be saying goodbye to our freedoms. I don't mean freedoms you think you should have. I mean freedoms that were guaranteed to us by our founding fathers and by the good Lord in scripture. Homosexual marriage is no freedom. Abortion is no freedom. I'm talking about freedoms that matter. Like keeping our faith in this country without fear of persecution. (Hope you enjoy your final Christmas before we can't call it that anymore). Like keeping our well-earned wages and not having them deposited to the trash living out there milking the welfare tit who don't need it. I'm talking about our right to free speech! Now if some of you guys love Russia, then you're good. No need to worry about life in the U.S. By all means, get settled for that lifestyle. But for the rest of us who aren't dead from the heart up, we need to fight for our freedoms and the rights we have come to believe in.

You have no idea the change we're all in for. None of us do! I'd like to give Obama the benefit of the doubt, but I just have far too many doubts and not enough giving spirit. You might as well write down abortion kits on your grocery list because that's what its going to come down to. Over the counter baby killers right next to the Tylenol. But don't mix those up we wouldn't want to hurt you. Just the living...breathing...healthy baby living inside of you. I do support a woman's right to choose, and that choice should be to keep your legs closed! And if you can't do that, give that baby to someone who will love it in the adoption world and not the leftover Sunday dinners in the garbage can. And while I do respect all of my homosexual friends, I do NOT respect their lifestyle. I know some of them from back home and some new ones here in Atlanta at school. They are all very terrific people and very excellent friends. However, I just don't think their lifestyle should become a part of law. Yes, love them, be friends with them, but by God don't say "Hooray for gay marriage!" I do recall God crying with happiness in scripture when he created woman out of man. Because he had given us a gift. I'm not trying to start a gay debate, nor am I lighting a pitchfork and taking matters into my hands. I love my gay friends (and if you have problem with the word gay, then get over it.) The one thing we have forgotten is we are all people. ALL of us were created by God to do His works and wonders for His glory here on this earth. The challenge has just increased ten fold.

We just welcomed a new dawn. But how many dawns will we greet in the days to come? I don't know if this is the end of the world, and I don't quite care. I don't know if Obama is the anti-Christ and I also don't quite care. All I know is we as believers have been given a task. It's the reason we all still breathe. In my personal opinion, the church has gotten just as backwards as the government, but what a time for the church to take this opportunity...come together...and we have this moment to be helping steer this hand of change in the right direction. If there is one thing that angers me more than anything it is casual believers. I can't stand it. A lot of them are my friends. After the results came in last night, I heard a lot of people telling each other "let's calm down." Calm down?! To me this is just like 9/11. I want rage! Rage for what was done in this country. I'm not saying let's bomb the capitol haha I'm just saying we are allowed to be upset. God got upset before. Remember the flood? This is a time for us to pray. To live. To fight. To be on the forefront of this new dawn and guarantee our future. Help those who don't believe to guarantee their future. It's so hard, but we can do it. Don't you dare tell me to calm down. As believers, none of us should be calm.

Here at school is such a hard adjustment because I'm in a vast minority. A conservative. I think I tend to be more moderate in my politics, but everyone is saying Obama this and that and how "cool" he is. Which is fine. You're supporting your candidate and it's allowed. "Cool" is when you can save money, or get to the next level on a video game, NOT give an inexperienced man a brand new job. That's like promoting a known struggling alcoholic in the office as the new CEO. What I will NOT tolerate is the Bush bashing, the name calling and the childish pointing of fingers. I have to listen to people at school go on and on and on about this new age, peace in the world bull crap and it's like hearing a constant ringing in the ears that is ok at first but after a while it's like "PLEASE SHUT THAT NOISE UP!" So I have been told by a few people to be careful what I say at school. I'm sorry, what?! Be careful? Why in God's name should I be concerned with treading softly? If you'll recall, Jesus was a radical! All I can promise is, if people at school boast about crap and rant and rave about this, they better be prepared to hear the opposite comin from the tall, dimpled, skinny kid in the glasses. I'm just not one of those Christians who wants to let the tide wash over them, smooth them out and dull their edges. We are called to be like the Solid Rock not a smooth average pebble. We are all allowed our opinion...for a while at least. If I'm not getting respect for mine, don't expect me to scoop out respect for theirs. We need to be drawing our swords and fighting for His glory til the trumpet sounds. I'm just not one of those people who relies on prayer alone. yes, by all means, PRAY! Sweet Lord was I praying a lot this week. But you need to realize God instilled in us everything we need to act ourselves while we wait for His answer to our prayer. If you want to be on your knees in prayer, awesome, but at least be praying with an alert attitude! And I apologize if this is offensive, but if you are a believer who plays it safe and flies under the radar, you need to WAKE UP!

I'm not happy about this new dawn, but I will say this. I am a man of God. I am a loving person. I do my best to love everyone around me and respect them as God's creation. As much as I don't agree with our new President-elect, I will do my part to help him in this new day. We all have a part to play. And it's not a job description that requires sitting down. Get up! Fight! Live! Breathe! Do all things for His glory and in His name. What did God say about love? Among all things He created, the greatest of these is love. Here are some lyrics to a terrific Josh Kelley song, "More than love"

It's never been a simple equation
To figure out what we believe
And its far from a celebration
Were all searching for relief
Theres a world beyond the mirror
But sometimes all I see is me
Getting lost in my reflection
Losing touch. falling out of reach
It really is a wonder
How weve come so far
It seems that all we really care about is who we are

What if love is not enough to keep the world from breaking up?
If we're all out of touch will we ever know what is enough?
Whats more than love?
Whats more than love?

Its an empty ambition
examining philosophy
falling for the inqusition
of what its all supposed to mean
theres a dream around the corner
but no one goes down that street
its not an obvious decision
But it can lead to everything
It really is a wonder how we've come so far
Searching for a better way to play our part

What if love is not enough
to keep the world from breaking up?
If we're all out of touch
will we ever know what is enough?
Whats more than love?

As blind as we are. The truth can still be seen
Beneath all these scars youll find a heart that still beleves that

Love is enough to keep the world from breaking up
If we're all out of touch will we ever know what is enough?
Whats more than love?
Whats more than love?

As much as I rant and rave about this I will do my part. I will fight with love. I've really got nothing against anyone, just sheer disbelief that we were blinded by someone's cool factor. I could care less if my next president knows cool hand shakes with his wife or can relate to the youth of the country. What I care about is that the youth of the country still have a country we can leave to them in one piece. Like I said, I have my doubts. Where is my America? The one I used to be proud of. The one I used to be allowed to sing about and take pledge to in public schools. The one that used to care about me in return. I have a feeling we are in for a long haul. Any of you fellow believers not up for the challenge? If that's the case, sit back down let the tide smooth you over. It's time to be rough. It's time to be bold. It's time to be more like Jesus than ever before.

Final Class Day

2008-10-02T00:01:00.005-04:00

Ok, so this will probably be the last post for a while. You're welcome for this little reading break after this. Today was my last day of new classes and all the experiences that come with the "first day." I, once again, got up around 6:30a to shoot the sunrise. (Hopefully you guys saw the last post and my photos I put with it.) I decided to ride my bike, again, down to Piedmont Park and shoot some photos but at a different area of the park than the other day. And this morning was the first cold morning so I had to put long sleeves on. I'm thinking I can sleep in another 15-20 minutes each day simply because I get to my destination and then I feel like I have all this time to kill before the sun actually shows its ugly face. If you are dying to see the photos from that, I guess I can be a nice guy and show them to you. BUT, after this, no more previews. I dont want anyone else to see these shots that could go to my school. Im not even sure Im allowed to post them. Oh well, so this is the last time. These are my sunrise shots from today.

Yeah so those are the five top picks for this morning. Not bad really, but not as great as yesterday. So then I peddled my skinny tail back to my apartment in downtown to get ready for my class at 9a. This class was Intro to Photoshop. I was afraid I would have to get bumped to a intermediate level class, because I felt I knew a lot of Photoshop already. But most of it was self-taught and I did end up noticing that the syllabus mentioned a lot of areas we would cover that I wasn't 100% on. So I decided it best to stay in the class for a good refresh of the memory, plus get to learn new ways to do things and new things all together. I think it will be a really fun class! I then had maybe 45 minutes at most to go back to my place for some lunch before my 1p class started. This class is Emotive Writing. It's basically a creative writing class. There are only 3 of us in the class. Me and two girls. I think it'll be an incredibly helpful class. Definitely help me brush up on my creativity and be more descriptive with writing the surroundings and descriptions of places and characters. We did a few in-class assignments. Our homework, believe it or not, is to actually go to a type of bar this weekend, take in the surroundings and what we see, touch, feel, etc. Our homework is to write a personal essay, very descriptive, about our experience. Hahaha it sounds interesting enough. So I'm goin to drag my roommate with me to this "bar" partly so I'm not completely alone like a dork and also so we can get away from the school some and relax, even though I'm "on assignment." It'll be a fun class.Who am I kidding? This whole experience and all my classes is going to be amazing, and has already proven to be true.

After class I went to the Professional Photographer's Resources place and bought a tripod, which came highly recommended. It came to about $240 with a student discount. Yeah, it hurts my heart too. But its a great brand and top-of-the-line. I'm sure through the years it will pay for itself and then some.

Tonight those of us in the Natural Light class were given an option to either shoot the sunset or attend a lecture at the High Museum of Art. The lecture was being given by Gregory Heisler, www.gregoryheisler.com He is the photographer that actually is freakin' incredible. DO check his site. He is speaking at the school tomorrow for our weekly seminar. He has shot 73 covers for Time magazine. I mean the things he has shot blows my mind. The lecture tonight was about a great photographer, Arnold Newman. Mr Heisler was Mr. Newman's assistant for 10 months, who has since passed away. So it was a whole lecture about who he was, his style and his legacy. It was amazing! I couldn't help but sit there and think about how in the future, there could be lectures about me and my work I left to the world. It's crazy to think about, and yet, just as possible of happening. He touched on a little about the importance of individuality in your work and how it is sort of like your true personal style. Where someone will look at a shot and be able to say "That looks like a Hampton original" or something like that. It was good to hear, because my whole purpose is to really shoot things other people might not have seen normally themselves, or other photographers might not have seen themselves for that matter. To really stand out among the crowd. Like a specific needle in a stack of needles. Like that needle I need to be sharp, and leave my creative mark forever. Definitely something to be keeping in mind as I'm going to be shooting everyday.

Thats about it for my first week of grad school. Tomorrow is just seminar, so I doubt I'll be updating with how that went. This weekend I will be trying to find some great places to shoot and some creative places and angles to do that. I was thinking maybe the airport for some reason. We'll see. Use my resources and don't ever settle. Keep pushing the envelope and break the seal. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. I can't wait to see some of you soon.

More to come...

P.S. - I got my school photo I.D....what do you think? Haha

Another Day...

2008-09-30T22:08:00.006-04:00

Ok guys, I promise not to keep these updates every day and bother you. I just had another report for my second day of classes, and my first official day on my sunrise/sunset photo shoot. I got up around 6am...let's all let out a sad groan together, ok?...I grabbed a bite to eat real quick and rode my bike about 20 blocks give or take a few to Piedmont Park downtown Atlanta. It was a really nice bikeride and my calves and thighs of thunder thank me right now. (Shots of the day at the end of this post).

My class was right after my morning ride/shoot. I was able to grab a shower to wake up more and head across the street for class. (Not having to drive is freakin' awesome!) The class today was Introduction to Photography. I absolutely love it! The professor is really enthusiastic and really nice. He is a white guy from South Africa and also a believer from what I'm told. Which is cool. But the assignments are going to be really cool for that class and a great opportunity to push the creative envelope. One example to be done by next week is "Worm's Eye-View." We have to shoot all shots from the ground looking up or just from a low point, putting ourselves in the mind of a worm. Sounds exciting...and challenging, but Im set for that challenge.

The shoot tonight was at Centennial Park downtown, but I took the Marta for that. I mean, I bought a city pass, might as well use that bus ticket. The sunset location was not as great as I had hoped. I forgot there were building on both sides, completely blocking direct sunlight. So I had to try my best to improvise. Here are the shots of the day: They are a little mixed up. Five of them are sunrise and the other five are sunset. The first four are sunset as well as number seven with the olympic rings. The ones with the dew/fog and the good orange color are sunrise. Dont get used to seeing my work, but I thought you might want to see first day attempts.

Photoshop class tomorrow. More to come...

Day One Report: Survived!

2008-09-29T22:56:00.002-04:00

I'm in a state of being overwhelmed right now. Not in a bad way really in the slightest, but more so just like one of those things where you are running really fast and I am in that moment of catching my breath after a long sprint. Like the running was good for my soul and body, and now I'm just trying to take it all in and recharge my batteries. We had orientation this morning for Portfolio Center at 9am. Eric and I, being the enthused and eager beavers we are, got there like 30 minutes prior. Rolling stone gathers no moss, my friends.

It started out pretty basic. Here you will learn this and apply it to that and it will help you become him/her. It was honestly really deep and informative more than what I'm making it seem. I think one of the things Eric and I are discovering is that everyone there truly cares about your success in the program and in the career field after words just as much as you do yourself. And that feels good, because it's not like these are people who are just getting paid, and want you to do it a set way so you can be this type of cookie-cutter creative arts person. Not at all! They encourage you to push the envelope, to never settle, hit the ground running, get to know your peers because you will know them forever, etc. It's a really welcoming and calming feeling. One of the staff described it best saying that they take care of each other there just as much as a family would and should. Everyone is there to help you figure stuff out and make sure you are doing what you need to be doing. Like honestly this morning you could just feel the creative juices flowing through everyone and there was like an anxiety to begin. An anxiety that will never dissipate from here on out I'm sure.

We got our schedules...here is mine:
* Mon 9a-12p: Natural Light. This is the Photography course I was talking about already where one assignment is shooting subjects with the lighting at sunrise and sunset everyday for the next 8 weeks...weekends too!
* Tues 9a-12p: Intro to Photography. I really hope this isn't a class that won't teach me anything new. I really want to be pushed in this class and maybe even drive my passion from the start.
* Wed 9a-12p: Intro to Photoshop. Same applies with this course. I really hope it helps me harness the skills in this program that I already know and also learn and adapt some awesome new ones
*Wed 1p-5p: Emotive Writing/Grammar Boot Camp. I have honestly no idea what to expect of this class except that my Wednesdays will be PACKED!
*Thur 10a: Seminar. This is required of all students where people from the industry come in and share. Much like "Chapel" at my undergrad.

But thats my schedule for the first quarter. I know it might not seem like much, but I'm pretty positive my butt will get kicked. I actually had a class today. My Natural Light class met. We got to meet the professor for the first time. He is really cool, Jerry Burns. www.studioburns.com to see his work. He is one of the most well-known photographers, as I understand it, in the Atlanta area. But he seems like a really genuine guy. I know he expects a lot out of us and our work but I can also tell he genuinely wants to help us become a better photographer than we thought possible. It's exciting. In class, we had to take photos of each other. There are 7 of us in the class. The girl I took photos of had a really good sense of humor. She was totally hitting on me too. Kidding...or am I? The professor went over the syllabus, requirements and some assignments to come in the next few weeks. Oh the excitement! Tomorrow is my first day for the Intro to Photography class. I hope that goes well. Be praying for me.

Eric and I went and checked out a church on Sunday. Buckhead Church, www.buckheadchurch.org What an amazing place! I loved it! I will seriously keep going back every week its just a matter of work for school but more so if its a place where I can get connected and really get to know people my age who are also Christians. Especially since I've noticed A LOT of the students at PC are not what Im used to. But this is a fact I have already expected. It's just going to take getting used to. But this church was phenomenal! The worship was great! The message was awesome, and really spoke to me. It was about how God uses the negatives in life to grow us in our faith, and immediately I started thinking about this entire last year with my ex, and Nashville and the job struggle and it really showed me where I've come from. It just made me smile. Knowing that God brought me here on faith alone to PC and Atlanta. That I put my faith fully in Him that this is the route He had prepared for me, and today I started walking it. Like I said...overwhelmed...and I love it! I'm hoping as each day goes by I'll survive it like I did today. With this wit, charm, dimples and faith of course I can hahaha.

More to come...

P.S. Thanks to EVERYONE for their birthday wishes! 25 was a great one!

It's Been One Week...

2008-09-27T23:12:00.004-04:00

Well, a lot has been going on this week as Eric and I have gotten settled into Atlanta living conditions, walking non-stop, waiting on city busses non-stop and praising the fact that we now have our cable and internet...non-stop. The first thing I need to get off my chest is a funny, sad-but-true story. The other night we were decorating our place, and by decorating I mean hanging up the 47 NYC things we have. I decided I was going to take the opportunity and meet a neighbor. She lives right next to us. To be honest, the only reason I said I'd go meet her was because we knew it was a girl living there and we wanted a closer look. No, that isn't the sad-but-true part. So she opens her door and I'm standing there talking to her for a bit. Her name is Connie. She goes to State. She looks as if she is a rocker-type chick who can kick my tail, but then again who can't? She mentioned she works a lot so, naturally, I asked her where. She is a stripper at Tattle Tales hahaha. Now that I know that, we have tickets to the VIP room there and she is planning a special show for my 25th birthday on Sunday! Only kidding...or am I? (insert evil laugh here).

But yeah, on a more serious note. We have mostly been spending the week getting to know our way around Atlanta. Figuring our good routes to get to where on the Marta, finding the library, post office, learning back roads, walking around downtown. I went by myself to the aquarium which was really cool. Feel free to file that into the sad-but-true category also if you desire. I don't, however. Our apartment is completely finished with the set up and that makes us officially moved in as Atlanta residents. This time last year I was saying that for Nashville. Weird how much difference a year makes. Tomorrow is our last official day of "freedom" before grad classes/orientation starts on Monday. We are going to Buckhead Church tomorrow morning (www.buckheadchurch.org) Looks pretty awesome and Eric has heard a lot about it. Also I'll be doing a little something I like to call....CELEBRATING MY 25th BIRTHDAY!!!! Man I cant wait to hit my VIP seat at Tattle Tales! Or is it "tails"? Hmmm...I'll leave that one to question forever. (Don't worry, mom)

I got a syllabus for one of my classes. I take 5 classes (what the other 4 are I wont find out until Monday at orientation). I guess the professor decided to get an early jump. The class is "Natural Light." One of our assignments is every day for the next 8 weeks we get to shoot subjects at both sunrise and sunset. Sounds pretty cool, but to those who know me know the sunrise is going to be a huge adjustment. I'll find out if my clock actually does show anything other than double digits in the morning hours. Im up for the challenge though. We also have to read "Girl With A Pearl Earring" for artsy reasons. I was joking with Eric how it would be funny to take that book out with me places to read like at bus stops, and other embarrassing public outlets.

I got to shoot some photos of our apartment. There are about 24, and if you have Facebook, I suggest you look at all of them in my "Atlanta Living...So Far" album. There are also photos in that album from all over Atlanta and the aquarium too. Here are 4 photos: Living Room; Dining Room; and two photos of my Bedroom.

We are anxiously awaiting the start of the quarter. www.portfoliocenter.com is the school site if you want to look it over. I'm looking forward to this new beginning...with a little bit of excitement and a whole lot of nerves. I'm sure the two will balance out as the week progresses. At least I hope so. I'll let you know how Monday goes, once I survive it :)

More to come...

A New Chapter Begins...

2008-09-21T19:51:00.002-04:00

For some reason when I just typed that Blog title, I thought of As the World Turns...weird. Anyways, I made it to Atlanta!!! Just spend my first night last night in our apartment ("our" meaning Eric and I, who was a friend of mine from NGU, also going to Portfolio Center). My parents, who love me dearly, moved me down here from VA on Friday and we moved everything in Saturday morning. Two flights of stairs can take a toll on you when you're moving furniture. But we're living in a townhome apartment right in Downtown Atlanta near Buckhead. We love it so far!!

Last night we made a much needed Wal-Mart run to get the essentials, wall hooks, groceries, etc. Everything is pretty much set up in our apartment. I decided to paint horizontal stripes around the circumfrance of my room...hard to explain, but Ill post some pictures when its done. We just have wall decorations left. A LOT of NYC themed stuff.

Today we went to the Atlanta Braves v. New York Mets game. It was a lot of fun and Im glad we decided to go. Eric had won free tickets that ended up being in pretty good seats out in the outfield. We chose not to drive, but instead, took a city bus and metro to get there. Helped us become more well acquainted with our home city for the next two years. After the game, we headed back and decided to walk back to the apartment instead of take the bus, because we wanted to see how long a walk would be from our apartment to the metro station. So basically, after an hour had passed we finally arrive at our place haha.

We're currently at Panera Bread a few blocks over using the internet and ordering Comcast cable and internet. I was really hoping for some free wireless internet off of a neighbor, but oh well. But we are loving it so far. Im a big city guy at heart for sure...it became evident in day one. We're both very anxious to get started at Portfolio Center. But classes dont start until a week from tomorrow. I just want to know my schedule, meet new people and form new friendships. I just hope Ill be outgoing and everyone will be very welcoming and not intimidating. Cause Lord knows I'll pop someone's big head ego like a balloon. :) Dont give me that WWJD, because He would use humility to teach a lesson I know it.

I dont feel overwhelmed just yet. Nashville life definitely prepared me for larger cities and living on my own. Im not going to be looking for a job until Jan/Feb when our rent special is over. Right now we get half off the first four months (about $250 each) and then it'll double after that. About $1,000 a month total. Ugh! Hurts my stomach, believe me. But we're in a great location! There is one of my banks, Chick-fil-A, Kroger and many other places all in walking distance. Yay for saving gas! Im not sure if we are going to Six Flags this week because they are only open on weekends and I doubt we will do that until friends or family come for a visit before the park closes Nov. 2nd.

Thats about all of an update for now. Tomorrow I think I might go with Eric and his mom who is coming for a visit to Ikea and some other places. Also I need to work on painting my room so that headache can be over. But now Im headed off of this Panera wifi spot, putting my crumbs of the Roast Beef and Cheddar in the trash, and headed home. 25th Birthday in a week, and I saw a Cheesecake Factory not too far from me...Im thinking I might treat myself to some birthday cheesecake...yes? Indeed! Photos are on the way once we get all settled.