the birds and the bones

paynes prairie

2012-02-18T17:20:00.000-08:00

Today my friend Becca and I visited Payne's Prairie in Micanopy, Florida. It's just south of Gainesville, my hometown. I am so lucky to live in a place immersed in such beautiful flora and fauna.

We both brought our film cameras to photograph material for our photography class- Becca focused on the landscape and I on the wildlife, living and taxidermic. I look forward to developing and printing today's film captures. This photography class marks my first time working in the darkroom, and I am enjoying the experience so, so much.

Here are a few of today's digital captures. This year, I will share more casual snapshots from my life (my quiet inspirations).

ps- I know my blog posts have been very tiny lately. My upcoming posts will include more images.

Becca in the visitor's center

wild horses on the prairie

Lake Wauburg

skyveins

faun

2012-01-23T19:42:00.000-08:00

Here are my favorites from a roll of film I shot last week. This is Rebecca, styled by her sister Christina, who was the model/stylist in my summer series, "unwinding to be free." This was just a test shoot for the actual series that is coming soon.

friday morning

2012-01-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few casual shots from last Friday morning, taken with my film camera. She is Jessy, whom I planning on shooting again (and again) in the future.

skyhook

2011-12-21T16:00:00.000-08:00

featuring the lovely kristi muldoon

surfacing

2011-11-23T14:47:00.000-08:00

My first semester at the University of Florida is coming to a close. I have had a wonderful experience thus far and have learned so, so much. Though I haven't been posting my new work recently, I've been creating more than ever! I have been dabbling in a variety of mediums including drawing, sculpture, and video. I feel that experimentation and exploration are necessary to discover myself both as an artist and a person. I am very excited about my present and future work. I remember saying last summer that I'd update my blog more than once a month. And though I have failed (quite miserably) at this, I am now making it a serious goal. Recently, I've been cutting down the number of social networking sites I use so that I can focus more fully on my blog.

Happy Thanksgiving, lovelies!

/self

ghost wiring

2011-10-02T18:33:00.000-07:00

an evening chronicle of my passionate, restless love affair with light

/self portraits

seattle

2011-08-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

snapshots from last week's family trip to seattle, washington + the surrounding area

i made so many beautiful memories- here are just a few.

children warming their gooseflesh after playing in a fountain

sisters at the aquarium

ferry ride on the bay

sunset shadows

wildflowers growing/wilting in the city

bouquets for sale at pike's place market

freshly churned icecream

vendor with beautiful hair

olympic mountain range

my first view of the pacific ocean

flight home (over mount rainier, where we hiked)

storm cloud

2011-08-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

sarah shermyen @ ford models, styled by christina rodriguez

heather

2011-07-29T17:50:00.000-07:00

from a recent client shoot

summer days

2011-07-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few summer images that never made it to my blog. I will make it a goal from now on to post more of my personal snapshots, and to have more than one blog post per month. Oh, and perhaps I'll share some of my writing as well!

This summer I started booking client shoots for the first time. It's been a wonderful experience thus far, and I have a few more to do before summer's end. I'll probably be too busy during the schoolyear to do weekly client shoots, but I will definitely fit some in sporadically, depending on my schedule.

Next month, I will begin attending college at the University of Florida. I am so, so excited for this next stage in my life.

I am already penciling in personal shoots for the next few weeks. That means an abundance of new blog posts! I have so many ideas- I can hardly wait!

siesta key + free curve

2011-07-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

i spent last week in siesta key, florida with my family- five days in paradise with the people i love the most. and though it rained every afternoon, we took advantage of the beach during the sunny mornings. the beach-goers were beautiful and burnt and so alive. here are some snapshots.

click here to download my 'siesta' photoshop curve.

all of the images below were edited with this curve. if you use it on your images, please share your results. i'd love to see them!

papi and mami

rainbow cloud on the drive home

unwinding to be free

2011-06-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

i don't usually post client work on my blog, but this time, i couldn't resist.

model/hair & makeup: christina rodriguez

thálassa

2011-05-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

a series featuring makeup by the lovely kara winslow.

click here to become her fan on facebook.

models: rebecca carter, victoria gregory

makeup: kara winslow

eighteen

2011-04-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

yesterday self (of flowering spring and a flowering girl)

today i am eighteen years old.

i have always loved being an april baby. after all, my favorite season is the spring- when the sun is golden warm and the air light with love.

today marks the beginning of a new chapter in my life,

and i am the happiest i have ever been.

—cristi

❝Just keep your arms around me and I won't let your body touch... I won't let it touch the ground.❞

va' dove ti porta il cuore

2011-03-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

the story of a girl, beautiful and lost.

model: aslı karaevli

windborn part ii

2011-02-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

follow kristi's blog HERE (she is a lovely songbird).

model: kristi muldoon

styling: ellyn ross

free photoshop curve

2011-02-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

If you use this curve on any of your images, please show me- I'd love to see how they turn out. Enjoy!

(The remaining images of the windborn collection are coming soon, so stay tuned.)

Click HERE to download my 'pumpkin' photoshop curve.

windborn part i

2011-02-08T19:01:00.000-08:00

follow kristi's blog HERE (she is a lovely songbird).

model: kristi muldoon

styling: ellyn ross

lost in a daydream

2011-01-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

featuring sarah shermyen, ford models.

this year

2011-01-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

i spent this new year's eve at home with my family and our closest friends. they brought with them so many memories and so much love.

during the final minutes of last year, we each ate twelve grapes for twelve wishes (a tradition in many latin american countries). but time and time again, i can never come up with enough wishes. the wishing voice in my head grows bored and yawns and all i hear is mindless noise.

we all gathered around the television screen, zoomed in on times square.

5,4,3,2,1...

then the new year was born of excited cheers and a dozen embraces. we poured glasses of champagne and laughed and smiled because everything is possible in the beginning of things. i love this night.

maybe this year, we can get it right.

the adults stayed inside while the younger ones took to the front yard to light fireworks. we littered the night air with kaleidoscopical sparks that rose and fell. they were swallowed by the ink sky before touching ground, until all that was left of them were blurred white spots on the insides of our eyelids.

as the night wore on, eyes grew heavy with sleep and the guests slowly trickled out the front door. and, one by one, we dropped like flies into an excited, restless sleep.

the next morning, we were off to disney world where we spent a day in the epcot theme park.

naturally, the park was swarming with bright eyed little ones. they were never still: their hands grabbed the empty air and their eyes looked around at nothing but saw everything. their imaginations were rampant and it made me remember. in them, i saw myself many years back- when i was a young dreamer of milk skin and a head full of midnight hair, with round eyes and a bright mouth. my mind was fresh spun cotton candy and the smell of cut grass and swingsets and dark water. it was a world all its own.

the mind of a child is so beautiful, uninhibited by insecurity and doubt. they are anything they imagine. now that i am older i find myself forgetting that child who held hands with invisible friends and loved nothing more than to make believe. but i must remember that that child was not me. she is me. and nothing is keeping me from dreaming loud as i did then.

this year, let your imagination run wild.

pulse

2010-12-30T20:47:00.000-08:00

yesterday the setting sun was crimson loud.

(images from an impromptu shoot with my beautiful sister monica)

feliz navidad

2010-12-27T17:47:00.003-08:00

Last week I spent five wonderful days in Miami with my family, celebrating life and love and the birth of our Savior. Merry Christmas, everyone.

footprints of all kinds

cycling man with beautiful skin

cristi

2010-12-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

I realized that i have yet to properly introduce myself! I am really quite terrible with introductions, so I will keep it brief.

My name is Cristi, seventeen years young with lightbound eyes and infinite fingertips. I live in a sleepy florida town where the trees grow heavy beards of moss and the air is thick and warm. I love it here but my dreams are too big for this place- one day I will see the whole world. I first picked up a camera three years ago, and what used to be a pastime is now a fervent passion. This is just the beginning of my life and I can't wait to see where this passion takes me.

This is my journey in pictures.

past photos

2010-11-24T15:19:00.000-08:00

Here are some butterflies I've caught behind my lens these past two years.

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