Photo Project: February

As I said in a post previous, I wanted to get behind my camera again.

I didn't think I would make it out this month but lucky me there is an extra day in February! Yay leap year right?

{Even though I was sick pretty much all day, I had to get out there, just for a few minutes.}

So it snowed like crazy today. 

It was freezing cold

AND

The wind was blowing like mad

However, when I looked outside...it was absolutely breath taking

I wanted to try and use all of my lenses this trip but because it was so cold I didn't have the patience for my lens baby :(

So yes, back to my little excursion 

I got all my winter gear on (seeing as it was cold enough to make my eyes water)

Then I set off and this was the result:

I found these BEAUTIFUL horses that were standing in the midst of all the blowing snow. PERFECT!

But then I couldn't decide between the color and the sepia...

And no the horse isn't really grainy, that would be the fantastic Rexburg wind blowing snow all over the place

And then there's this one, I don't think I like it as much but I had to get one image of the whole landscape and the clump of horses. 

Fish Eye magic :)

So there's February. Pretty, but I am glad it's over.

I want spring!

Hi My Name Is Cassie, And I have A "Father Of The Bride" Problem.

We all have our addictions.
We all have our go-to movies that pick us up when we're having a bad day...right?

Or at least I have convinced myself that everyone has the same problem I do so that I don't feel bad.

My go-to movie is Father Of The Bride I & II

I watch it at least once a day.
Isn't that sad?

Devon has threatened to hide it, so I stopped watching it.

I have been Father Of The Bride clean for about 1 week now.
What an accomplishment?...

well glad I got that off my chest

Devon and I haven't been up to anything exciting lately just livin' the life of two young married folk

{Taken with my I-pod, don't judge}

We were putting the sheets on the bed the other day and, it doesn't look like it in the photo but, he looked like a tiny human with his body covered and I was like cracking up.
Unfortunately you can't tell here, but I tried. It makes me laugh whenever I see it

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Relax. Breathe. Shoot.

So upon writing my last post I had one distinct thought come to mind, "you need to get behind your camera again".

When I really got into photography in high school, my dad would take me out on little "photo adventures". We would wake up early in the morning, or go out before the sunset. My dad would ask me "right or left?" Then we would just drive until the good light was gone stopping to take photos along the way.

{This photograph is probably my favorite picture that I have ever taken. I took this when I was starting to really get into photography, so it's not perfect but it was on one of our photo adventures. I absolutely love deserted barns and ruined windows.}

I felt like I took my best photos when I was with my dad on those random trips because I was completely in my element. I was with someone who didn't care how long I took focusing on a broken piece of wood, or how long I took adjusting my settings. No one else was around. There was no pressure, or competition. I had no reason for taking the photos except that I just wanted to. They weren't for a project or for anyone, just for me. 

{ugh! Blogger made this one blurry for some reason! But this was an early morning trip, it was absolutely beautiful outside}

I desperately want to get back to this.

Don't get me wrong, I love my little photo business that I have started up. I love making people happy through photographing their precious moments. But I want to get back to my roots, and remind myself why I wanted to do this in the first place. 

So after writing my last post I decided I am going to devote at least one day a month to shooting. I'm going to start my own little "photo adventures" (and if any photographers want to join me I would be more than thrilled to not adventure on my own :)) and I will post the pictures here at the end of each month. I decided to devote a post to this so that I will actually do it. when I put a goal in writing...especially on the internet...I tend to actually do it. 

I might not be able to fit it in this month, but I am so excited to be doing this again. Even if I had to force myself :)

Picture Perfect Obsession

From day one I grew up surrounded by art.

(Actually I could probably still only produce a painting that is as good as whatever it is I am doing right there.)

And I owe it all to this guy...

Yeah the funny looking gentlemen in the really big glasses :). You see, he's an artist and mighty fine one at that, and because he's an artist I was constantly enveloped in the art world. He paints for galleries and the church mostly now, but he used to paint for hallmark cards too. (actually i'm on a few of those cards...not to brag or anything).

 (This wasn't one that ended up on a card but just to give you an example...)

Whenever he would have an art show at a gallery he used to take one of us girls with him. At the time I just loved it because it meant we got to go on a trip to another place and get daddy all to ourselves, but now I see how much culture we were exposed to. I guess it was those experiences, and the many trips to the art museums, that instilled a love of art in me. I assume these opportunities were the moments that helped me have to desire to take up photography.


I was never really good at drawing/painting...i'm still not in fact. I just don't have the patience for it to be honest. My sisters are both pros and I was pretty darn jealous let me tell ya. I was, and still am, a huge daddy's girl. I always wanted to do things that would impress my dad. One time I had every NASCAR driver's name, sponsor, and number memorized all because my dad thought it was impressive haha. Anyways, because I was a daddy's girl and couldn't draw worth crap, I was always trying to find something that he would think I was good at.


I remember my family, my Grandparents, and I were all going to my aunt's house a few hours away from where my grandparents lived. The mountain pass was absolutely gorgeous that day. And naturally my dad wanted to stop and take pictures to paint from. (We stopped a lot on trips taking pictures of cows, horses, and other random things so he could paint from them). We stopped on the side of the road and the grass was absolutely covered in these beautiful violet wildflowers. I asked my dad if I could take some pictures with his big camera, he said yes, and I began snapping away.
When we got back home, my dad and my grandpa were looking through the photos that my dad had taken on the trip when my dad saw the ones that I had taken he was "amazed" (not sure if he was really all that "amazed" because I was only like 10 years old and didn't even know how to properly focus but I still took the compliment).
So I took that compliment and ran with it. I think I still have all the photos I took from that Utah trip somewhere. I was outside for the remainder of the time at my grandparents taking pictures of flowers haha. I took so many. Seriously.

So that's the background of how my passion for photography started. I know it was a lengthy post and I would venture to guess most of you didn't even get to reading this far because you were bored out of your minds haha.

Here's a little before and after for you...or at least a "just starting out photo", and a "where I am now photo"

Blurry as all get out haha but at least I had some good design going on right? haha

(The closest photo I had to a "floral")

And for some reason Blogger is making this one blurry too :( but I promise it's not...That's kind of a sucky before and after if they both look awful haha.

Well either way, I have come a long way. I am by no means perfect, and do not consider myself close to professional level, but I am learning new things every day. And it's awesome!

I still show all my photos to my dad to get his feedback. It's still the the most important thing to me. If he tells me "That's a really good photo Cassie" then I believe it.

No Title Needed

The past few weeks have consisted of a new job, and a couple of sick Thiel's. Winter hit us pretty hard and left us both sick with nasty colds. Literally, all I've wanted to do is cuddle up with my husband and watch Father of The Bride (I thought I would grow out of this Father of The Bride phase after I got married...nope).

So needless to say, nothing too exciting has been happening. The new job is starting to get better because I actually (kinda/mostly) know what I am doing. Devon still going to school, just plugging away at that degree. We don't have pets or babies to report so this is a very boring post.

And that is all.

Happy new week :)

Feeling The Love

I would feel completely ungrateful if I didn't make a post about how truly lucky and blessed I feel today. As some of you might know, Devon and I both lost our jobs at the end of last semester. I lost mine because it was an on campus job and you can't work on campus when you're off track. Devon lost his because his cousin works in the same department and apparently cousins aren't aloud to work in the same department. Yes, I still have my photography gig, but that only makes money when people ask me to photograph them...which isn't often because there are a billion and one photographers out here (can you tell that's kind of a touchy subject? haha). And I don't charge much at all, so it wouldn't pay the rent or the bills. So needless to say, we were stuck. We had the money that we saved and the money that was left in our bank accounts and that was it. I honestly didn't know how we were going to make the following month's rent.
I had been applying everywhere I could think of. Even places that I really didn't want to work, but nothing good was coming of any of it. So we just had to wait, and hope that some miracle might happen.
And today, I am proud to say that that miracle did happen.

I GOT A JOB

And I know it isn't because I was trying really hard, or that my references all cleared the test. I got the job because I have a loving Heavenly Father who knows me and my struggles. I got the job because I had faith in him that he would help us through this scary time. I got the job because Devon and I spent hours on our knees praying for help. I am so grateful to be a member of this church, and to have the knowledge about faith, and hardship, that I do. What a wonderful blessing!

Now of course, Devon still needs to get a job because my job won't cover it all, but it's a start! And I couldn't be happier!

A Few Wanna-be Purple Waffles, and An Enchanted Castle.

So let me just start this post off by saying I have the greatest husband EVER! It's true actually. We woke up this morning and he asked me if I wanted waffles...uh YEAH! (He knows they're my favorite, good boy). So we proceeded to make the waffles. I had a brilliant idea, let's make them PURPLE! Our food coloring just sits in our cupboard getting dusty so I figured why not put it to good use.

The batter only looked somewhat purple, and we couldn't get it to go any brighter. A little defeated, we put the batter in the iron and all our hard work resulted in these bad boys...

Hardly purple. At all. The edges for some reason had a bit more color, but all in all it was a total flop. But they were still yummy.
So after the waffle situation was all said and done, Devon took me to see Beauty and The Beast in 3D! I was super pumped because that is pretty much my favorite movie of all time.

Can't you just see the excitement?

And the 3D glasses were so odd looking. They were very picture worthy.

Then after the movie, I had a meeting to go to. Upon arriving home my sweet husband had a wonderful surprise waiting for me. He vacuumed and picked up the house! How fantastic is he!? But the fun didn't stop there he bought me beautiful flowers! He knows how much I adore daisies. It was really quite fantastic.

I just love them!

He tried to make me lunch but I came home too quickly. Darn my walking skills! But it was a darn good day if you ask me, and I just had to let my few followers in on my excitement haha. Happy Saturday!