as tall as a tree...

DSC_0137.JPG, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

At Waterfall Glen in Chicago IL. My first big trip since graduation. Next apply for SAIC!

This Texas Gal is going to the Windy City...

Untitled-18.jpg, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

I'm going to visit my friend David in Chicago. We've got all sorts of things planned while I'm there. I want to see some fancy Chicago art. I'm also going to the E6 Holiday Surprise Tour. This will be first big trip on my own. Dave emailed me yesterday and said he was really excited about me coming. It's nice to have some one be excited to see me for once. I am also going to get to see Jeff and Daniella. Only 4 more days after today. Of course, lots of lovely pictures to come!

The Lovely Bride

jessica9, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

The lovely young woman in the picture is my dear friend Jessica. She got married on Saturday at the Little Chapel in the Woods at TWU. The wedding went really well. Everyone in the wedding looked amazing. Jessica looked beautiful in her dress. It was really interesting being behind the scenes of a wedding. It is really fascinating to see all of the work that goes into it. This was my very first full wedding shoot. I ended up taking well over 500 pictures. There will be a lot of editing to do. I'm looking forward to making some sort of slide show for Jessica to send to friends and family. There are some things I will do differently next time. It would be nice to have an assistant. It would also be nice to have a nice bag for my equipment. and a USB cord. Everything went really smoothly. I am so happy for Jessica and Jonathan. Congrats!!!

If I stopped making art. I would just die!

I found this website that lists journalism photography jobs all over the United States. I've been keeping an eye on it for a while now and I have been considering the option of moving to another state to get the opportunity to do journalism photography. I've always been interested in photographing people interactions and events and even their environments. I decided that this year spent in Denton will be dedicated to saving money for a relocation to another state if I am offered such position. I want to do photography more than anything. So I have to remember my end goal in all of this is to become a better photographer. That is why I must keep taking pictures. Making art. I can't forget who I am even though so much has happened just in the past few months that has changed who I am.

dance1

dance1, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

This photo was taken at the Arts and Jazz Festival in Denton. Joel and Johanna are engaged to be married next summer. This was one of the few pictures we took that night that I actually liked. This Saturday I am doing my first Bridal portrait session with my dear friend Jessica. I'll be sure to post pics. I hope everyone had a labor-less Labor day!

Jelly Belly's - Photo of the day!

Jelly Belly's, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

This photo was taken at "Mom and Pop Corn" shop in Mckinney, Texas. I went to photograph the antique shops out there and I have became fascinated by this little candy shop. I hope you enjoy. So many flavors to choose from.

Little Birds

IMG_1475.JPG, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

My friend Brooke has a band called Little Birds. I love the music. I think they are amzingly talented. I would do anything to help support them. Brooke asked me a little while ago if I would be interested in taking some band photos for them. Of course I said "Yes". I've been thinking about what kind of photos we could take that would be appropriate with the music they make. I finally had an idea this morning. I was worried though that it might be too cliche or overdone. But after looking around online I think it might be perfect and very fitting. My main idea is focused around photographing brooke only. But I also want to do something awesome with everyone else too. There are 4 guys and 2 girls in the band. I was thinking of doing some kind of family portrait type thing and going for something that looks really vintage. I think with the girls it could be easy but a little more hard with the guys. I am still considering the options.

Things have been out of focus lately...

fusion3, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

It is time for me to start focusing on myself. I have been worrying about other people especially one certain person for the past 3 years. I have decided I need start putting together my show.
I think I have enough photos of my family and our house to make a full body of work. Showing it for critique was one thing but actually putting it together for a larger audience makes me nervous.
I do love the fact that although people come and go in my life I will always have my art. I love taking photos and painting and drawing. It is also something that if I pour my whole self into it, I will only reap benefits. I want to be taken seriously as an artist but I haven't been doing that much to get out there. I plan on having a full body of work ready to show by January. I am putting this out there because if I say it to someone besides myself then I have to follow through. Once I decide to do something I do it.
I plan on enlarging several black and white prints that I took of my family's house. I also am going to enlarge several color prints of my family that I took. The end result will be about 20-30 images ranging between 16x20 and 20x 24.

Self Portrait - Zulema's Apartment, Brooklyn, June 2004

Self Portrait - Zulema's Apartment, Brooklyn, June 2004, originally uploaded by daisyjellybean.

I found this photo when I searched pinhole camera on Flickr. When I was taking my alternative process class we had to make a pinhole camera for one of the assignments. I didn't realize that you could do color film. I was inspired by this photo to try out color. I borrowed a lens cap for my 35 mm and shot some film. I got some interesting pictures. When I did my pinholes for class I used a small whitman's chocolate box. I made about 10 boxes. The images were about 2.5 x 3 inches. I will scan them in so you can see them. They are pretty creepy.

Austin Trip

austin3.17 012, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

I always liked this photo of my friend Cliff. I am not really sure why. Maybe it is the way the light falls into the room and how he is slightly illuminated. Anyway I thought I would post it on here. That was a fun trip.

holga fuck yeah!

holga fuck yeah!, originally uploaded by pamelaklaffke.

I love this photo. I think it captures the essence of the Holga.
Note to self: Don't stay on the phone all night before you have to drive 45 minutes to work. I need an IV of caffeine right into my veins.

Sky Lanterns Festival in Pingsi, 平溪天燈節 2006/2/4

Sky Lanterns Festival in Pingsi, 平溪天燈節 2006/2/4, originally uploaded by *dans.

I have become increasingly interested in Asian culture. I found this image on FLICKR. It looks so magical. I would love to have the opportunity to go and photograph something like this. The changes that have occured have been overwhelming. I can't tell if I am dealing with every thing to the best of my ability. I am trying to. I have so many thoughts and emotions and desires. I don't know what to take and what to leave behind. I am going to be totally moved into the house by saturday. I am finished with school. I don't have to ever take another class ever again if I don't want to. Which leads me to the decision of whether or not I should go to Grad School. I am interested in teaching but that means more school and more loans. It could also mean a better job and new friends. I cut and dyed my hair. I haven't photographed myself yet. But I will get some good pics of me with my new hair.

To new beginnings!!!

Graduation 2008

yvonne5.jpg, originally uploaded by kellyrien.

This year is a big year for me and a lot of my friends. Graduation is here again. This photo is one of my roommate that I did for her for our upcoming graduation. Life is stressful right now and I feel like I have some important decisions to make.
I saw this comic and I related to it.
http://www.explodingdog.com/title/ithinkaboutyoualot.html
I feel so tired. Last night I went to McKinney and hung out with Cliff and we went to the park and took photos and then we went to the cemetery. I should be studying for my art history final. I've just been doing so much stuff I want to do nothing in my down time.

On to the important stuff:
Because I have been doing more commercial work recently I haven't had much time to keep you updated on my fine art series that I have been working on. I started photographing my family over a year ago and have been thinking since then how I would like to continue with that body of work. When I began taking my family's pictures my brothers still lived in the house with my mom. Now we all live in different places.
I started to think about the different things that I could photograph that would give the viewer an idea of how different the house is now that my brothers and I no longer live there. I decided that I would shoot black and white film and I wanted to shoot more of the house and the objects in it and not so much of the people. When I first developed the rolls of film that I shot I really didn't care for them much at all. I scanned the images into my computer and looked at them several times. There was just something about them that didn't say what I wanted to say at that moment in time. I put them aside and didn't think about them for a long while. My final Black and white Project was due on May 1st. So I had to get those negatives back out and decide if I had something I could use or if I needed to go and reshoot. As I started looking at the images I began to see them in a different way. I picked out about 15 or so images that I wanted to print and decided to use those. My critique was a good one. I recieved a postive response. One person said that I was able to shoot the house like it was a person and that it appeared to glow. When I read my artist statement I started to feel very emotional. I began to to think about my recent move and my mother being in that three bedroom house all alone. It made me feel sad and a little scared. I always wonder what the future holds. I haven't digitally edited the photos of the house yet but I will soon and I will post some on here.

Job Interview

I have a job interview at Imaging Spectrum on Friday at 1:00 p.m. I am excited about this interview. Imaging Spectrum is a digital supply company. They sell printers and things related to photography. The job I am interviewing for sounds interesting and like something I would enjoy doing. I am hoping that the person interviewing me finds me interesting. Especially since I haven't had too much luck on the job front. As much as I love grilled cheese sandwiches I would like to be able to buy more groceries. 

So as far current photography I just finished an environmental self portrait series. The images turned out very nice. I will add a few examples on here. I might even put a link to my flickr account. 

My next project I intend to continue is my family portrait series.  For anyone that reads this that doesn't know me I received the Degolyer Award last year from the Dallas Museum of Art. Unfortunately, because of my busy schedule with school I haven't been able to invest the time into it that I have wanted. So I am finally able to start on it again. I am taking the work into a new direction. I am going to start shooting in black and white. My goal is to make at least 15 final B&W prints. I want to print them 16x20. I originally planned to shoot them with a medium format camera. Although, I have been brainstorming where I see this project going and I think it might be better to stick with my 35 mm Film SLR. It will also make it more affordable and time efficient. I will continue to write about this project as it comes along. I want to do some more inspiration research. I might post some artist links and examples to show what I have found. 

Here are some of the self portraits from my recent series:

Climbing the Ladder

So the past month and a half has been kind of rough on me. I am finishing up my last semester of college. I am looking forward to working full time and having a break from school. I decided at the end of last semester that I wasn't going to go back to the photo lab because I would have more hours available so I could find a full time job. I suppose in my mind everything panned out. Unfortunately, I didn't find a job as quickly as I hoped. I am finally getting some more interviews. But it's been a dark time for me recently. I am saying here that by the end of this month I will have found a job. Not just any job but the job for me. I want this blog to be a place where I can talk about photo related things. So if you are interested in me and my photography feel free to have a look around.
Some things I have been thinking about for the future:
Starting my own art gallery/darkroom/studio space
Graduate School
Overseas travel
Starting an artist collective and mentoring younger less experienced artists about getting their work out there and other issues, host workshops
Make an art zine/podcast
Become a name in the photography world that people recognize