i spent my weekend in leakey, texas on a youth retreat with my church. i was surrounded by trees, hills, and a very cold river. i had no cell reception and the quiet was perfect. i went as a co-counselor for 8th & 9th grade girls and i had been praying for the girls the week before and praying that if there was anything they needed to hear that God would use me to speak for Him. every time i help with things like this for my church i go into them hoping that God would use me in the kids lives and every time it's completely the other way around. i learn so much more from them than i think i could ever teach them. i met some wonderful people, had some great conversations and so much fun.

we went on an hour long hike sunday morning and i'm embarrassingly sore; i'm so out of shape. but it was beautiful at the top and despite being in pain now i enjoyed every moment of that hike. 

i gave myself a mini creative challenge over the weekend; i left my digital camera behind and brought along my canon ae-1 instead. more often than i should i pick up my digital camera, snap ten pictures in a row of the same thing, process them and pick out the best one from the bunch. lately i've been trying train myself to take my time; to really understand my surroundings, the object i'm shooting and to make sure, often double check, that my settings are correct. film demands this of me because there isn't a pretty LCD preview screen to confirm the shot was what i wanted or not. (not to mention that film isn't free and neither is developing it; i better make sure the shot's good for my wallets sake.)
I love the processing part of digital photography, i love editing and creating within photoshop; contrast, color balance, levels, everything. but i also see the difference between those who have a fancy camera and the latest edition of photoshop and the people that know their camera as if it's just an extension of their arm. I don't say that to be a hater on the modern photographer or the digital world, cause i love it! i'm a product of it! for the most part it's all i've known. i've only really been shooting film for a couple years. i'm not an expert by any means, i probably lean more toward the fancy camera side, but i desire to be authentic in the pictures i take. I don't want to hide behind pixels and photoshop's quick fixes. the deeper i get into this world the more i hate the dependency on photoshop that so many people seem to have; including myself often times.i really hope i'm not coming across as the elite artist type that holds the word artist or photographer up as something sacred; judging everyone who doesn't meet a high enough standard. honestly i haven't even come to a point where i'm comfortable giving myself either one of titles. i'm just striving to learn and grow in this world as much as i can.

Anyway... being film is a slower process i do not have photos from this weekend quite yet. What i do have is a few photos from my phone. It's no iphone photography, but it does the trick for now. I think an iphone is in my near future. [:

these are just my ramblings.

Xx christine

 man, you wouldn't believe the most amazing things that can come from...
some terrible nights...

this photo was featured on a Dallas based website called House of Plates. They have a bunch of fun write ups of restaurants and interviews with bands at restaurants in Dallas.
I met one of the guys that works for House of Plates there at the show and he was very cool about all my questions and chattering. Anyway... we exchanged info and I ended up sending them a few pictures and they chose this one to use in their Tunes N Spoons section.

The photo is in the "view more photos" link at the top of the article and i'm so pleased they liked the photo enough to use it. [: thanks, House of Plates!

Check out the article here: The Civil Wars + Oddfellows

Based on the photos the food looked delicious at this place and next time i'm in Dallas i'd love to stop by.

Xx christine

this morning in church my pastor preached on Luke 2:1-7. One thing he said that has stuck with me all day is that Christ left perfect unity with God to humble himself on earth for us. (or something like that... give or a take a couple words.) i've heard pastors and teachers say something very similar if not those exact words many times before. for some reason this morning it hit me square in the face. the first thing that came to my mind to compare it to was that feeling i get when i wake up on a cold morning and how painful i know it's going to be to leave the layers of blankets that i've willingly trapped myself under. I know it's probably a silly comparison, but knowing Christ left the warmth and harmony of the trinity to come to this cold, broken, filthy world for my salvation brings me to tears. most mornings i grumpily roll out of bed at 530 am cursing the cold and my seven am job; begging for a cup of coffee. all the while being fantastically blessed to be alive for another morning, only because my savior loved me enough to leave His warmth and come for me as a humble child. blows my mind.

alright... those are my thoughts on that; sometimes i get serious. [:

this weekend i did a lot of babysitting. not something i do super often, but i'm always so blessed when i do. saturday graycen came over for a few hours and this little girls joy is so infectious. she had my baby sis and i in giggles a few times and we had such a wonderful time following her around my house. her cuteness was too great not to capture. i took a few shots and put together a short video of her being cute.

my other sister, emily made this wonderful lunch.
here's a link to the recipe for the fries: here.

oven baked parmesan fries and sautéed green beans with garlic 

it was a lovely weekend and i'm sad once again it's coming to a close. but after hearing that sermon today i'm going to start praying for a better attitude about waking up and braving the cold. life is too wonderful.



Xx christine




p.s. super digging the album never trust a happy song by grouplove. it's feel good music and i could conquer the world with this album. 

gotye's new album, making mirrors is a current obsession of mine. when i'm not sleeping, working or watching how i met your mother i'm listening to this album. a couple months ago i heard somebody i used to know for the first  time and then i sat there and listened to it another five or six times in a row and then i cried a little. since listening to the entire album it's still my favorite track along with eyes wide open. i've read over the lyrics a few times now and i'm not completely sure what he's trying to say in the song, but one line keeps playing on a loop in my head: "we walk the plank with our eyes wide open." which i suppose implies facing some sort of death, but i started thinking about it beyond just the obvious pirate-y "aye yer gonna walk the plank!"; instead i felt inspired! the idea of facing life and all its issues and trials and problems, with my eyes wide open. i have such a desire to see all of life as something beautiful; even the hardest or ugliest moments. every day i'm dying a little more and knowing that why shouldn't i want to see as much as i can while i can. i want to live and breathe and see and experience as much life as i possibly can with my eyes wide open. 

below is some self portrait therapy from this week. i was sick for most of the week and felt pretty awful. i'm feeling better now and glad for the blessing that is the weekend. 

Xx christine

this one is so awkward to look at for me, i look a bit cross-eyed, but i kept coming back to it. so here it is.

i'm trying so hard to push myself to pull out my camera, go through old photos, heck even use photobooth to create something. you know... something is better than nothing at all. 
over the last year i've pulled out every excuse in the world why i can't bring my camera to this event, or why i can't go out and get a shot like that or create something beautiful like that photographer. it's a crippling state of mind to be constantly comparing yourself to the next person; i'm praying and working through kicking that mentality out the door.

here is a "something is better than nothing at all" photobooth/imovie creation:

stranger love by ghostland observatory

still working through family pictures i shot of my aunt & uncle and their girls. more soon.

the civil wars.

for me the hardest part about photographing shows is finding room to move around to get a variety of shots. since i don't have a large zoom lens if i want to get a close shot i have to get close to the stage and most people do not give up their spots kindly or at all. which i don't blame them for, i'm the same way.
i do love it though! i love music really more than i know how to say and to capture people playing music, doing what they love is a really cool feeling. i would love to be able to capture emotion in a photograph that brings tears to another person's eyes, just like so many of the musicians i love do for me with their music. i don't enjoy making people cry, but i think it would really be something beautiful to capture enough emotion within a photograph to stir someone to that point.

i'm really pleased with how all of these turned out, even though they were all shot from exactly the same angle. the house of blues in downtown dallas is a great venue and i can't wait to go back. the staves were the opening band and they blew me away. the civil wars did not disappoint and i slapped down fifteen dollars to get their album on vinyl because 'barton hollow' will be an album i'll still be listening to on a porch when i'm old.

The Staves

Joy Williams & John Paul White are The Civil Wars

if you get a moment look up both bands on itunes, they really are wonderful.

Xx christine

p.s. i may have unknowingly snuck my camera into this show. i don't know if this is wrong, but i did say a little thank you prayer for having gone unnoticed all night. [:

mason, texas

i've driven through mason, texas more times that i count over the last four years and it really is my favorite little town along the 200+ mile drive to abilene. I would probably rip my face off if i lived there; it's that stereotypical small texas town, but oh so pretty. i drove right by this old abandoned house and i decided to be spontaneous and make a quick turn around. the house is for sale and in desperate need of some lovin'. i couldn't help but wonder what kind of family spent their time here and how far back in history it goes. i was grateful for a lack of 'no trespassing' signs (to my knowledge) and a broke fence. i was able to get super close and take a look inside. 

 it was a good weekend. i came off of it deeply encouraged by my friends and my sister, and even a few people i met for the first time saturday night at the civil wars show. God has given me a perspective and i don't want to waste it.

the civil wars were really really lovely on saturday night and they put on a beautiful show. their album 'barton hollow' is one of my favorites of 2011 and definitely worth a listen through. 


the leaves have changed a time or two
since the last time the train came through
i've got my ticket and i'm going to go
home


Xx christine