First Morning Camping {Personal}

It rained really hard last night. (it sounded pretty cool inside the yurt - btw)

So this morning it was still drizzling and our hopes 

to make a nice big breakfast over a campfire were kind of canceled. 

But someone who woke up early left us a perfect fire going on in a pit inside the activities pavilion. 

So we got to make a nice breakfast after all, hitching off of someone else's fire, hehe. :)

yummy, yummy food :)

Sis. Rosie put the biscuits in with the coals... she said there are a certain amount of coals you are supposed to put on top so that it will cook right. Nifty, nifty... I never knew that!

Heather took this one :)

Slightly burnt, but they weren't shabby. :)

hehe ;)

Depending on the weather, we might go kayaking today. :DDD

-MarLeahJoy

Senior Trip {Personal}

I've had a blast today. It all started with withdrawing several hundred out of my bank account, haha. Heather and I headed out to Hot Springs together, and we were the first to get there of all the girls so we went shopping for all the food. 

Okay, now for a crazy obsession-confession: I love socks!

We stopped at Ross so Heather could get some socks, and I just couldn't resist.

I just bought socks YESTERDAY! So do I need more socks? NO!

But while she was looking for some I found the best socks ever, so I bought them. And that's almost all I've been thinking about this evening. Every-time I would go back inside I would change out of my flip-flops into my socks (just ask Heather, lol).

"Oh, DEAR!" I don't think anyone can understand my sock obsession... But it's very real! 

And why am I saying this? Hopefully, so someone will get a good laugh at my insanity.

Enough of that. Here's our Yurt!

It is so cool to stay here. I almost feel like I own it because it is secluded enough. 

We walked down to the dock on Lake Catherine at night,

 and it was so foggy you couldn't even see the water. 

Our yurt at night.

Us girls getting wifi at the conference room at 1am. :)

 The only normal picture we got. 

I'm already having such a great time... 

-MarLeahJoy

Summer Nights and Fair Lights

Before I went to the fair I was thinking... "Okay, my main object is to get some clips to make a short film with, but if I'm not getting what I want at least I can take pictures... I know how to do that." 

Well, I was more than pleased with how my ideas started coming together on video, so much that later when I was going through the files to get some pictures to post I realized that I had more videos than anything, and I was hard pressed to find some pictures. ;)

I even broke out my Lensbaby Double Glass optic (for like the first time since I got it :O) and I thought the effect was quite fitting for the fair.

(The last 5 images were taken with the Double Glass optic)

And it's not really a good experience until you get some overpriced fair food. ;)

-MarLeahJoy

Fair Night

I had an amazing time at the fair! I was able to get the shots I wanted and more! Now that is awesome to try something for the first time and it just work out!

I was even asked by a worker if I worked for the newspaper, and he said it looked like I had expensive equipment. ;) --why, thank you, it does happen to be expensive. :D

I'm just so happy and so excited, that I have to share a few pictures. :)

-MarLeahJoy

Photo Booth

We had a lot of fun with the photo booth at Marty's going away party!

I was able to get everyone but three people to participate. ;) Which means that there are way too many to post on the blog, so I just have a few on here. 

Okay, so I said a few... but it was really hard to weed out the funny ones :P

(And trust me, this is a few compared to how many we took!)

So I hope you had a good laugh!

-MarLeahJoy

P.s. I realize it is kind of unfair to post of all these people and not include a goofy one of me... so here you go. ;)

Lensbaby Love

I'm super excited about my 50mm lens -- that I should be getting shortly :D -- but I still love my Lensbaby.

Here are some of this week's pictures with the Composer Pro + Edge 80.

Major sun flare... but I kind of like it because it doesn't distract from the main subject, but almost show cases her.

I think she was in need of a nap ;)

Those pictures of her seem to have quite the style change from one to another. I almost think my favorite style is the first one of my Uncle next to Lacey because it seems to have the perfect blend of the soft look that super sunny pictures give, but still preserving the right color.

These are cabins that are on our national campmeeting grounds located in Monark Springs, but we just call it Monark. We had a workday there Saturday to clean everything up, and I had to pull out my camera to finally capture these cabins that I have always loved. Monark has always been so special to me. I cannot wait for it to start!

This week, me and my camera should have a little fun together... ;)

Tuesday -

• The Canon 7D will meet the 50mm f/1.8 
• Possible photo booth (at Marty's going-away party) It should be fun as long as everybody participates in the goofiness :P

Someday this week -

• I'm supposed to take some more pictures of Marty and Alyssa before Marty leaves for WV. (I know my sister will miss him like crazy, but I think I might miss him just a little bit, too ;))

Wednesday thru Saturday -

• It's the Newton County Fair... I have some big plans for pictures and video clips, so basically I'm just going to stalk the booths, rides, and random people. Haha ;) I can only hope it turns out as I envision, though. Oh well, I should at least come away from it with a few pictures to share.

Everybody have a fabulous week!

-MarLeahJoy