What I've Been Up to Lately

To sum it up in three words: photography, school, sleep!  A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to photograph my very fashionable friend, Alyssa of alyssa, ce soir!  She agreed to let me photograph portraits on her, since I've been out of practice for far too long!

This past weekend, I spent most of my waking moments taking pictures for my friends' wedding!  Wedding photographers Nohea Velasquez and Chris Runnells of Funkyhulagirl Photography finally got hitched themselves!  They asked me a year ago if I would help out with taking photos of their wedding, and I agreed!  It was a little bit nerve-wracking because I was taking wedding photos for wedding photographers, but it also made things a little bit easier because I got to use all of their camera equipment, hehe!

I'm still editing the photos, but once I'm done, I'll be sure to show you guys! :)

back on the big island

I'm back on the Big Island with bobby pins falling out of my hair!  Maui was great, although it's always a little weird being around my dad's family.  We have nothing in common except relatives, and so we're supposed to all get along.  It's kind of strange!  But I had a lot of fun and ate a lot of food, and got to explore the island!

Now I'm trying to get back into the groove of school and work, which is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I'm so laaaazy!

I'm also trying to exercise more in order to look great in my Halloween costume and to get stronger for working with the trapeze.  I'm usually a staunch hater of aerobic exercise, but it actually felt good to work up a sweat today!

I hope you all are well.

october brings halloween

I can't believe it's already October!  Time is flying by.  I'm so excited for fall, because that means Christmas is coming!  But that's a long ways away, so for now, I'm getting myself amped for Halloween.  My boyfriend and I are going to go as steampunk pirates.  My corset is in the mail, and we're working on making goggles and guns.

This weekend we are flying over to Mau'i for my paternal grandmother's funeral.  She lived a long and wonderful life.  She painted a beautiful painting of Mount St. Helen just weeks before it exploded, liked to do word searches, and had 5 great children.

It'll be neat to see all of my aunts and uncles in once place... I haven't even met my Uncle Craig.  The Okamoto kids are just so spread out all over the continental U.S. - Washington, Oregon, Kentucky, Nevada... I'll finally get to see them all!

On a parting note, here is a photography by Eden Lee that completely took my breath away:

Things You Need to Be Listening To

Doomtree - Doomtree, 2008.

The first official record by the entire Doomtree collective.  If you haven't heard of Doomtree, allow me to educate you: they are a record label, yeah, but to me they are the best damn rap crew of this generation.  None of that terrible new school brainless lyrics about getting drunk and dance clubs, no over-electronic beats, just talent, haunting lyrics, brilliant deliveries.

Dessa - A Badly Broken Code

Every track on this album is amazing, literary, intelligent, heartfelt.  Her lyrics blow me away every single time I hear them.  My favorite song jumps between Children's Work, Dixon's Girl, Mineshaft II and The Bullpen.  Dessa puts all other female "rappers" to shame.  (Honestly though, 90% of female rappers shouldn't even be taken seriously and/or allowed to call themselves hip-hop artists.)

Thank god for Dessa: "I found a steel ladder / Now your ceilings don't matter / Check me out, now I've got glass floors".

summer's over

Well, summer's over and school has started!  I'm only taking two classes this semester, Pre-Calculus and Aerial Dance II.  It's great to be back up on the trap, flying and falling and spinning...

Here are the last of my summer photos.  Although the heat is still on, I have to remind myself that summer is gone.

Also, there's an exciting development with my career... but I don't want to mention it yet in case it doesn't pan out.  Just know that if it works, I'll be getting great photography experience!!

the music video!!!!

Soft Vision Official Music Video from Anna Dobos on Vimeo.

The music video I'm in along with Natalie has finally been released!  It's set to the song "Soft Vision" by UK artist Tropics, to coincide with the release of his Soft Vision EP!  Directed, filmed, and edited by the amazing Anna Dobos!

I'm so excited.  Please support me, Anna, Natalie, and Tropics by giving it a watch!!

my first time modeling

As some of you may know through my friend Natalie's blog, I was recently involved in some very cool photography and video projects!  I was a model for Anna Dobos, an incredibly talented photographer from my hometown.  We went to the same high school, and I always admired and was envious of her work.  Natalie and I starred in a music video (which hasn't been released yet!), and modeled in an impromptu photoshoot.

It was my first time doing "real" modeling work, which is something I've always wanted to do!  Modeling is part of the reason I'm so drawn to photography - beautiful girls, beautiful close, beautiful make-up... I love it all!  I've never tried modeling because I don't think I'm tall/pretty enough, but it was fun!

Here are some of my favorites from the photoshoot:

To see more of Anna's work, please visit her website, annadobos.com!