Marblehead Lighthouse State Park!

My best friend (left), Me, and my boyfriend, Joe.

It isn't often I get to have my two closest friends in the same place at the same time.  My best friend came up to see me and my boyfriend for the weekend!  Last time we were all together was New Years. 

Considering my boyfriend may be moving away in the near future, I am taking this summer to show him all the neat things in Ohio has to offer.  Considering his job, the past two years he knows a lot of Northern Ohio better than I do! But it is nice to take him out to see something new!
 
 Sunday morning we all got up early to meet my parents for a fun-filled day at Marblehead Lighthouse State Park.

A former prison and confederate cemetery on Johnson Island.  If you look closely in the background you can see some of the roller coasters from Cedar Point.

 Marblehead has always been a summer-time highlight growing up.  It is usually accompanied by good people, a nice view, and food on the grill. 

Each time we visit, we get to see something new.  Whether it is visiting an Alpaca farm, Geo-caching, visiting a new restaurant, or just the company I get to visit with; each time is a different experience with just as much nostalgia as the first time. 

Although, I do consider myself to be a professional photographer; I still take plenty of silly snapshots with little or no composition just when I am with my friends.

The ride home after sipping on a blue raspberry freezee. 

Personal Inspiration in Personal Branding!

 

This week, I hunkered down and completely reconstructed my resume.  My resume before was fine, but I don’t think anyone in a creative industry would have taken it seriously. 

After some debate and sketches I started in a vague direction.   My inspiration came from my History of Graphic Arts class we learned about Alexey Brodovitch.  Born in 1898 he lived into his 70’s. He fought in the Russian Civil War with the White Army, which later lost to the Red Army and communism.   Long story, short; after the war, he became a commercial artist after the war.

 He eventually became the art director for Harper's Bazaar Magazine.

"...When you look in your camera, you see an image you have ever seen before, don't click the shutter."

--NIRO, a fashion photographer once taught by Brodovitch.  

 
 Anyhow, Brodovitch contributed to the inspiration of my resume and ultimately my current "personal branding."  Flipping through my book,  Megg's History or Graphic Design, I found an editorial spread in Harper's Bazaar Magazine where the text was on a slant.  

 Athough Brodovitch was known for his serif fonts, I did not use one.  After I completed a resume, I realized, what good is an awesome resume, if I don't have some personal branding; I need to make my style and ME consistent!!!!  Recreating my blog is a great start! 

As for the title, I really needed a signature statement.  My name is WAY too common to help me stand out for the crowd (side-note: If I ever have kids, they are having unique names!!!!).  So I chose a phrase, I use all too often.  "Wait. What?"
  

Back in the blogging world!

After a LONG two year hiatus, I am back in the blogging world!  I am taking in so much to try and get myself and my name out there!

Self promotion doesn't come naturally for me.  Therefore, I am thinking of self promotion as a journey;  you can never really be done with it.  And because promoting myself doesn't come easily, my approach is to promote as many other people as I can with the hopes of promoting myself.  -Yup, all my cards are on the table.

This week I had my first photo feature on the Flickr Explore page!  I was pretty excited to start my day off on explore!

My boyfriend, Joe, and I went on a date.  He let the camera and lensbaby tag along for the day.

4/20 also happens to be National Record Day!  We went to the record store for a look around.

I lost my buddy today.

Saturday (yesterday's post) I went home for the weekend and took Falcon out to the lake.  Today Falcon past away of what we think was a heart attack.  -He was my buddy, and a buddy to my Mom, Dad, and brothers.  He could only do one trick and didn't play fetch.  -But if we said, "Taco Bell" he would tilt his head in an that adorably-cute-way-that-is-impossible-for-you-not-to-smile.

I can't believe he is gone.  I already miss him so much.  -We got Falcon about 4 years ago.  He was a great buddy.  -He was there for the good times, and bad times, and quite often made the bad times better or much more bearable.  -He was playful, an invincible coward sometimes, he made us smile, made us feel safe.

Above are two photos from the first time we got to meet Falcon.  He had no trouble warming up to us.

Falcon sits on Aaron's lap- I think because something scared him.  -Despite his size, he was pretty much a lap dog.

I tried getting a picture of me and Falcon a few years ago.  He was more interested in socializing with the girl behind the camera.

Falcon looked like an intimidating animal- but even the smallest things could scare him.  In this picture something scared him so bad he ran and hid in my parents closet.

Falcon and I play at a dog park.

Two dogs at a dog park and butt heads... Falcon comes in to break it up.

Christmas 2009

Sandy and Falcon out at the lake- Christmas Break 2009

Falcon and Sandy play fight.

Spring Break 2010.  This is one my favorite pictures of Falcon.

This is one of the last photographs I took of him before he died.  He was such a beautiful creature.  I am going to miss him so much.  His time with us was too short -but I am so thankful I had this dog.