We been a'busy making merry, and picking wild mountain berries

This past summer mom and I had a day to go berry picking. The sun blazed down on the numerous rows of blueberry bushes, the bees whizzed around our fingers reaching for berries, and the air hung around our bodies quite humid and still in fashion.

The pair of us, mom and daughter, didn't stay too long in the blistering summer star's shine, but despite our early abandon of the bushes, we managed to accumulate a good four to six quarts from our endeavors of picking.

The day was hot, the insects annoying, but the time spent was treasured. I brought Lola, my faithful sidekick who captured these joyful moments on the black and white roll sitting inside her turquoise frame. 

When we finally did abandon our efforts, we drove through miles upon miles of junk, treasure, and tasty treats. The traffic was dreadful due to the annual yard sale that just happened to coincide with our planned berry picking. Braving the crowds, mom and I ventured over to Thomas Drugs so as not to break tradition and eat a bite at the old timey pharmacy and soda shop. My bacon grilled cheese and milkshake made the journey worth the wait as I reminisced back to the times mom herded all three of her daughters to this special glimpse at the past.

This summer was my last residing at home before I'd stay in Knoxville, near school, church, and my new life as a budding adult. Mom made it extra memorable to me by letting me stop my car to get out and snap some pictures of scenes we nearly passed by at thirty miles an hour, possibly never to be grabbed by Lola's plastic eye.

An extra fun thing about Lola's works from this particular adventure is what I got the idea to do with them. Being a broke college student, I rarely get to develop my film until several months after whatever event at which I snapped my shots. This roll of black and white film waited patiently in a box for four months to see the fruit of its toil. 

In December I posted several of these photos on facebook, but I made sure to exclude a few specific photographs, namely the portraits of my mother. 

Taking these never before seen shots, I painted a canvas with part of Romans 8, my momma's favorite passage, and hung some of these photos beneath the canvas via ribbon. 

These photos incapsulate the nostalgia and love.

Their memories make them beautiful.

Bun done been braided!

How to!

Begin a french brad at the crown of your head on either the right or left side. As you can see, I chose to begin on my left side.

TIP: Swoop pieces into the braid from the level that you are currently braiding. For example, if you are still at the crown of your head, don't grab hair from below your ear. Instead, use hair more toward the top of your head. 

Pull hair to one side as you braid down your head to give it a circular shape. I pulled my hair to the right since I started on the left side of my head. As you reach the bottom of your hair near your neck, make sure to have left hair below the ear to swoop into your braid. If you don't leave enough hair on the side for this part you will end up with loose loops directly above your neck. Once you reach the bottom of your head toward your neck and you have no more hair, braid the rest of your locks normally. Upon completing the braid you can put a small elastic to keep it in place before pinning. I simply held onto the tip to keep it braided. Circle your braid up on your head. Make sure the braid lays flat against your head instead of one side of the braid touching your head. Bobby pin the center of your bun then the top, side and bottom. Continue to add bobby pins as needed.

Tip: For hair with lots of layers try curling your hair prior to braiding. Depending on where you are going and if you have adequate time, you can also braid it while it is wet.

Kept nice and simple in the front. I pulled my bangs back for a more ballerina inspired feel. The pop of color from the headband kept the front from looking too drab. 

Side shot just to show how far the twirled braid comes over without being too noticeable from the front view.

Good luck and enjoy your new updo!

Beach time: Lola's documentation

These are some of my favorite shots I got while I was in St. Petersburg, Fl this summer for vacation.

Check out my article on Hobnob St. Pete about trip.

Double exposures:

Pelican at the Pier

Pinholes:

vignette 

Straight up, plain, and simple:

The side of the Pier

The Pier

Outside this restaurant, called Mazzaro's Italian Market, there was item upon item of decoration littered in the parking lot and surrounding grass lots. There was a bench made of anchors and chains, little clown sized cars, and several other elaborate pieces. I wanted to snap shots with Lola on everything I saw, but the cars sitting in the parking lot got in my way. Inside the actual market, past the shelves of chocolates, racks of wines, and mountains of meat, stood an extensive stretch of glass. Inside this glass case were miniature apple pies, thumbprint cookies, tiramisu, cakes, and cannolis. The spread was beautiful, as well as mouthwatering. 

 Who would expect to see a lovely elderly woman sitting on a completely out of place bench on Treasure Island Beach? I was so happy that she was perched there, for I love this picture.

 Black and Whites:

 

Birds on top of each other... 

In this post, I have used only lomography film. Obviously black and white and color. The color is 100 ISO and 200 ISO. The black and white film is 100 ISO.

Prom do 3, Miss McKenzie

Prom do three 

on McKenzie!

The style McKenzie wanted was inspired by the above photos. 

She was hoping for a touch of a 40's vibe.

One thing I particularly love about this do is that not only is it elegant, but it requires no hair piece, no headband, no ribbon. It can stand alone.

HOW TO: You start by twisting back your bangs and adding sections at a time so that even short layers will stay in. 

Next, do the same thing with the other side.

Keep your twists tight so they don't unravel.

Cross either the right twist or the left over the other and loop the twists into their own individual loose buns.

Pin any unwanted flyaways into the body of the bun.

Finish with spray!

Tip 1: If your final product comes out too tight, simply take two hands and gently pull the twist of the bun away from each other.

Tip 2: I curled McKenzie's hair before I began the twists. This helps the hair hold the twisted shape and the heat gives it texture to stay in place.

And enjoy your special night!

To see more of lovely McKenzie and her wonderfulness, visit her blog! 

Nicole's elegant fishtailed/ braided hair

                   PROM HAIR #2!

My precious friend, Nicole

Such a simple do, but quite a bit elegant.

How to: Start with the bangs or a front section and fish tail it toward the back.

Secure with a hair tie.

Take another section from the other side and braid or fish tail it. 

Continue braiding or fishtailing different sized sections of hair from both sides.

Tip #1: I purposefully kept from doing one section on the right and then one on the left. If you alternate in a set pattern the style will come across as especially uniform.

Tip #2: Just like taking from right sporadically, I did more braids than I did fishtails. This makes the fish tailed sections look more distinguished and yet again, less uniform.

Once you have the desired number of braids or fishtails, cross them over and overlap them to your hearts content until you have a simple maze. 

Take out the hair ties and try to bobby pin the sections where hair will overlap and make a mystery of what is holding the locks in place. 

                            Finish by spraying, add any pins or clips, and enjoy your special night!

Two down, one more prom hair do to post! 

In the mean time, check out McKenzie Truman, my next gal to post about her luxurious lengths.

40's type Prom Hair

 High School Prom this year turned out to be just as fun as if I had attended it.
                   I had three friends who asked if I would be in town and could do their hair and I jumped at the opportunity to do so! Luckily that specific weekend I came back into Nashville to work with a caterer for a wedding.
                            Out of the three girls that I got to play with their hair, here is the first I'll share.
         
                    Meet Jennifer!

                                             She has gorgeous hair.

 To start out, I curled her hair in medium sized ringlets. After spraying the curls in place, I loosely braided both the right and left sides of Jennifer's hair. To ensure the braids would stay very securely, I ponytailed the braids at the center of her head. Taking large curls or grouping small ones together, I swirled them to lay flat like a slinky. Pin each slinky-section with two or three carefully placed bobby pins. Continue to "slinky" curls until none remains down. 

    

                      Shake head.... gently.

After seeing what kind of moves, place a few last minute pins and spray the whole thing.

The shaking is just a fun way to ensure the style will stay. You don't want your client's hair to fall when she starts grooving on the dance floor.

Here is lovely Jennifer in her dress.

Lomography

   Lola the lomo...

                  Lola says hello! 

 redscale lomo 120 film

This was in South Carolina on a trail by Jocassee Lake. Had such a fun time hiking up near my grandpa's cabin and got some of the best shots I've taken thus far. I'm a novice, so that isn't really saying much, but I was proud that this tree and it's scene stuck out to me despite my newness. 

redscale lomo 120 film

 Loved the blurred effect of this.

I definitely don't remember what I intended for this shot to look like, but I am quite pleased with it, nonetheless. The disconnected legs say so much. Perhaps this is a creature telling us its story from the ground's point-of-view.

 color lomo 100 ISO film

I expected this shot to be brighter. It was quite a sunny day. I'm still working on getting the lighting down with my shots, but here I am.

 color lomo 100 ISO film

I find that when I have only one or two shots left on a roll that I'm so anxious to finish the roll, I go looking for a picture instead of letting the picture find me. Usually, such a mentality leads me to disappointing results. I'm happy to say that this was the last shot of my most recently developed roll and I'd say it turned out splendidly.

redscale 120 lomo film
Dark and a bit foreboding. Sitting in the backseat of my parents' van, like I was still in middle school, Lola in hand, I wanted to capture part of the afternoon we had spent that Easter day: church that morning, praising my Savior for dying on the cross and all he's done in my life personally, Easter brunch, and the treasure of family. I raised my lomography camera to my eye, pointed, and released the shutter lever. The sun was shining brightly, and this dark, red, almost angry photo was born. Not quite the idea I had in mind to capture the festivities of the day, but I appreciated this anyways.

 color lomo 100 ISO film

I wanted to capture the bright possibilities of an empty bench in a lovely park, instead Lola snapped a shot of an erie bench that it seems if you sit upon it, something may lurk out of the woods even in the daylight. Lola had a more complex idea about this bench than I did. I like her version better. It shows a different side to the park that sits across the street from my parents' house.

 color lomo 100 ISO film

The reds and yellows that play on the edge of this frame really offset the blues and slight greens on the sky and trees. This shot is from one of my first couple rolls. I am always learning more about lomography, but at this stage, I knew basically nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Glad this shot turned out the way it did, despite my own intentions. This is yet another example of Lola's, and really any lomography camera's, brilliance.

 color lomo 100 ISO film

Little did I know at the time of this shot, but you step through those two doors into a one room shop in which every space other than the path on which you can walk is stacked with things. Things some people would call junk. Things some people would call trash. Things other people would call treasures. I'd call them stories. Every antique plate you see used to have an owner with a life, the dresser set had a specific purpose to it's owner's routines, and each quilt had a particular season it was used. The sweet lady who tends the shop will talk with the curious, but seldom visitor while her radio chatters in the background. 

The sun that shines into this frame on the right side sheds light on the shop that many people don't even notice as they drive past. I adore the story this photo tells.

redscale lomo 120 film

So odd to me how this and the photo above it came out backwards, but for this particular frame, it is so ironically fantastic. It messes with you a bit because the arrow points you to the right and the words suggest you should be traveling in the opposite way. It's quite wonderful how Lola has a mind of her own.