And it goes like this...

I haven't gotten to say a whole lot lately, but I will leave you with a quick update and a special photo. Recently I have somehow made time to finally get my new website online. As far as I know, if everything goes as planned it should be up today! If it isn't keep checking back. There are so many never before seen photo shoots so I'm excited to see some reactions. Next: Updates business cards with my new website, new e-mail, and new look! I hope it goes over as well as I would like.

New link: www.traciadamsonphotography.com
New e-mail: traciadamson@gmail.com

Also, I will be offering studio portraits! So be sure to spread the word! :)

Now all I need to do is finish 4 weddings, 1 engagement, 2 families, 1 senior, and 1 childrens session... then I will be caught up.




Here is just an ordinary summer/fall night at home. Mom and dad, I hope to have someone that I can share that same love that you still have for each other.

Senior Year

I guess I would say that this is a new beginning. I just started my senior year of college, yet I don't really know what to think about it. I haven't decided if I should just finish it out and find a job or if I should stay in school for one more year to get a higher degree which could set me apart from all other Graphic Designers. Then there is the thoughts that are looming around my head: "Is graphic design where God wants me to be, or is graphic design what God used to lead me to photography." All of those questions raise more questions. One thing is for certain, I will finish my graphic degree and not pursue a photography degree. Why? After this semester(or year), I should have learned all that I need to know about running my camera and studio lighting. Plus, barely any photographers that I know actually went to school for photography, so I'm still ahead of the game. Anways, I love graphic design I just feel like photo has taken over my life as of right now.

Classes:
Photography Lighting Studio
Graphic Design Senior Studio
20th Century Art History
Dreamweaver/CSS (web design in HTML code)
Flash (Interactive website design)

Other than that, I love my job at Legacy even more. The work environment is perfect, I can listen to loud music, talk about photography, get pointers, tell stories, and best of all get to work on the weddings that come through. It's so much fun to watch each story unfold. I often catch myself laughing hysterically at some of the photos. Tyson does an awesome job of capturing every detail of the story which makes editing even more fun! Tomorrow I get to assist/second photographer for a wedding under Legacy. I'm really pumped to see how they shoot their weddings since it's much different than a lot of other studios. It's always fun to see how each photographer handles weddings.

There is so much more on my mind, but I think I need to keep it short. I'm trying to finish editing 2 wedding of my own before I have more photo-shoots in the next few weeks. Although, I can't forget about this Sunday on Monday. Katelyn(photo friend and neighbor), and Sarah(roomie) are going on a photo adventure to have some fun. I'm pumped since I'll get a photo of me for my website so that it can finally go live. Soon we will get to say 'hello' to traciadamsonphotography.com! I can't wait!

Midterm

Midterms went as smoothly as possible i guess. one hour of sleep within a few days is not okay, but I got things finished. Graphic Design projects, websites, and photography projects are all finished. I've included a sneak peek at a few of these projects. The website that I created for my multimedia class is up and working! Check it out by clicking here. It's a little cheesy, but I had to fulfill all of the requirements. Enjoy!

Here is the cover for my 16 Page annual report that will be finished in May. Sadly we didn't get to choose the topic, but It's coming along. I'm sure this cover will change drastically as I develop the rest of the pages. Eight pages down, eight to go.

We were asked to create a cookie logo using our name. I usually hate using my name on things, but I'm very pleased with how this turned out. Next we will create the packaging and website. 

I bought my first lomography camera! This is my Holga triptych that I handed in today. These photos are taken with an all plastic camera that uses 120mm film instead of the traditional 35mm. Each roll of film only hold 12 exposures where as the film that most people are familiar with holds 24-36.I absolutely loved this project and am excited to continue working with it. 

Make sure to check out my website!

Testing 1, 2, 3...

I  feel like this past week was a test. I have never been so stressed out over school; I nearly had an anxiety attack in one of my classes. One of the nights I managed an hour of sleep, another was 3 hours, and everything in between consisted of 5 hours. It doesn't help that my stomach medication makes me extremely tired. Well I attempted to finish graphic design projects, finished photography projects, took a test, and wrote a horribly developed paper. Either way, these next two weeks I will be taking day by day, since It is now midterms. Ugh, I need a break.

Lately I've been learning the language of HTML and CSS. I never though the web had it's own language, but apparently it does. I guess the one thing to look forward to is that once midterms are done I will have my school website(that I created and designed) to show you all! So far, It is looking pretty awesome. Now I wish I was more fluent in Adobe Flash and could do some cool buttons and animations for the site. I should be at that point in a few months.

Other than school, I am excited where God is taking me. I have been listening and praying about some opportunities this summer am going to put my self out there. I never thought I would be doing photography, but it seems like God wants me to learn more. I have never advertised myself to gain the clients that I have and I have never considered myself a company. I have been blessed with he opportunities that have came up. Working at the photography studio was an amazing experience; I learned so much about processing, presentation, and working with clients. All of the families and weddings that I have shot and have booked have been purely word of mouth, college friends, or family. I guess this is how I want it for now since this is not what I have planned to do. The mind-set I have about my future is this:  Ideally I would like to work in a graphic design firm. While working for this firm I want to have the skills know web design and photography. My plan is to take the knowledge of working with photography clients and create a portfolio so that I will be doing all of the photography for the firm that I work for. Then, to make myself even busier, my idea is that since I will have weekends off, I can do a few weddings a year, or portraits on the side. I don't know if if this is where God is taking me still, but right now I will soak up all the knowledge that I can about all of these fields. 

I'm excited about what is happening in my life right now! Learning web design, editing a two winter wedding(photos coming soon), booking engagements, families, and wedding for the summer. Last but not least, my month long trip to Scotland is coming up in 3 months! I have my goals for everything set high, and am so excited to see where they take me. 

Fades Away

With finals now happening and me being more stressed than ever, I managed to pull myself together to come home to Thief River for a church conference. It was so much fun to see everyone again and had wonderful deep talks with many people whom I haven't seen for awhile. Even people who I have never talked to had something to talk to me about. Last night was the Fades Away concert which rocked the Ralph Engelstad. I was surprised by the turnout of people and saw many lives come to Christ. Even the hardest of hearts were softened by the testimony given. Afterwards I talked to a couple of the band members about some of the photography that I did during the concert. They were really interested in purchasing some or all of the images(what a great thing to hear when jobless). I was pumped to hear about their need for all types of photography and I look forward to chatting a little bit more with them. Hmmm, sounds like there may be a possible photoshoot/concert shoot in the cities in the next year. Sounds like just one more reason to upgrade. Goodbye two thousand dollars. Maybe.

Love Life

It seems that every hour of the day the same thought rolls through my brain.

"I love my life!"

Honestly I don't know why this has been happening for months but I am not complaining. Each time this happens my stomach does a somersault, I want to scream, and I can't get the enormous grin off my face. This might be because my relationship is right where I want it to be, I feel like a woman and no longer a child, I have so much drive to succeed that I don't know what to do with, or that I feel like I have found my niche.

Recently I went on a graphic design field trip to minneapolis to visit multiple firms such as Yamamoto Moss, Schematic, and Capsule. The head designer at Capsule ended our presentation with this quote, "Just think, someday all of you will be paid to use your talents to create, explore and to help others succeed. Yes design is a business, and there are certain "things" that come with it. Anyplace you work will have that, but just think about what you get to do, what a great profession!" I still cannot stop thinking about how lucky I am. Recently I received one of my projects reports back to find out I got a 96 out of 100. My teacher wrote multiple comments like "Fun! Exciting!", "Wonderful!", "Very thoughtful!", "Excellent!". and to top it all off he wrote this on the bottom, "Great to have you in this class. You are/have the capabilities to go a long way! Great Job!" I think this will be framed.

This happiness doesn't only account for graphic design but also photography. If it weren't for my sister I would have never bought my first DSLR 3 years ago! Wow, I look back and I love seeing how far I have came. From just pointing and shooting to now being able to shoot in full manual mode with ease. I am so thankful for my education and work which help me strive for excellence. I am so thankful for those who let me steal them or their kids to take some pictures of so that I can learn the personal aspect of photography! Thank you Kirsten, Jade, Tiffany, Jenny, Janelle and many more to come!

I love that along with photography and graphic design come my art friends to whom inspire me(and I can talk all nerdy with) Thank you Tiffany L, Amber P, Josh K, Sarah C, and Sarah D!

My mind is running circles still so I hope this made some sense! Thank you to all of you out there who inspire me!