Cabs are here!

As much as I love snowboarding and winter, nothing beats warm weather, tan skin and bare feet. There's still snow in the forecast for Utah, but the weather today was awesome! Also, watching Jersey Shore last night made me miss the Garden State and summer. Most people that watch Jersey Shore (and have never been there themselves) only see the club, boardwalk and nightlife that is portrayed on the show. Of course the nightlife is awesome there, but the actual beach is even better! I've been going to the Seaside boardwalk since as long as I can remember. Hell, we had our prom weekend there! There is also the "local" vs "benny" mentality. I like to consider myself a halfsie, half benny half local. Hopefully this summer I will be able to stay, live or even visit for a while. Even if the show has made more "bennys" flock there, it will always be my favorite place to go.


seagulls over the bay

sandy hook, aerial view from helicopter

secret passage

justin on the bay

marilyn at a photo shoot for NJ Shore Life Magazine

the annual family photo shoot on the dunes

boogey boarding!

sunset over the bay in seaside park

at the sand castle competition!

bemar 3rd ave pier

Even if I am living in Utah, I will always be a Jersey girl at heart! <3

-Stephanie

What Happens here...

Well, a lot has happened since I last wrote. Ill try to make this quick.

It snowed in the city, so on thursday night Chris's friend Sam called looking to hit a spot in the city. So we rolled over to meet up with Sam and his friends Madison, Aaron, and Mia. So we all left in four cars to go pick up another girl, Darrah, and head over to the spot. It was a middle school some where in sugar house. Unfortunately, it didn't snow as much as we would have liked. So two hours and a lot of back pain later, we had a run in and landing. So I set up the camera, (cause lets be honest, im not that good) and let them do work. Welp, on his third try, Chris ran over the bungee (the tow rope) and didn't get the right take off, so upon landing, he fell on his wrist. At first he thought it was only sprained, then he moved his jacket back, and lo and behold it was broken! So I gathered up most of our stuff and headed over to the hospital. Keep in mind it was 1:30 am. So after a bunch of x-rays, resetting the bone, and giving a temp cast, it was now 4:30am. I nodded off a couple times, but ultimately, he was bandaged up and we got home around 5am. UPDATE: Chris has since gone to the orthopedist and got a hard cast. As of right now he doesnt need surgery, and at the end of the 4 weeks, I hope he is all healed! Bad news: no snowboarding til then for him. =/ I only got a few pics of the night cause I had limited battery and I forgot my flash. (We left in a hurry)


setting up lights for the rail

Spot Check

Aaron boardslide

The jump Chris fell on.

In between the initial break and his second visit to the orthopedist, was his birthday! So since he cant snowboard we went to Vegas! it was super last minute but we found a room for $49.00 at the Riviera. So around 4:30 pm we headed for Vegas. I had a whole $56 in my wallet and Chris had $5. Fortunately, time was on our side since we crossed into the pacific time zone and gained an hour. We checked in at 11:30 and went on a gambling spree! We went to Circus Circus and we were doing great! I won $40 on the slots! We took a little walk down the strip, but then we realized it was almost 4 am, so we went back to our room and slept on the most amazing king size pillow top mattress! Waking up was another story. Once we were up and moving we went to the buffet and had some breakfast! It probably wasnt worth what we paid, but the waffles were good! We continued to play the slots at the Riviera cause they gave Chris a free $10 for his birthday! I had the genius idea to just put it in the machine and then cash out. Unfortunately, it didnt work like that. I guess the casinos are one step ahead. So he had to play the game he put the comp card in, but he ended up winning $5.75. Back to Circus Circus! I won again and so did Chris, so once we were both ahead we headed off to the Pawn Shop!! Of course the one day im in Vegas, none of the Pawn Stars were there! Ugh I wanted to meet them so bad! We did get to walk through and see all the cool things that I saw on the episodes! It was getting kinda late in the day so we tried to find a Dunkin Donuts and then get back on the road. Well that was a bad idea! Im not the best at driving stick, and since Chris is gimpy, I had to drive in the city. Oh joy. So after getting lost for about an hour we figured out that the DD was in a casino, with only valet parking. So I pulled some not-so-nonchalant moves, kinda hit a curb and got back on the highway. Man oh man the drive back was bad. Within 30 mins I was falling asleep. So we switched for a while, I took a cat nap, we got some food, and made it back to Salt Lake around 1:30am tues morning. All in all it was a good birthday and a good trip to Vegas! Both of us left with more money than we came with. It wasn't a significant amount, but at least we didn't lose! Going back to reality is never fun. Hopefully we can go in the spring for longer than one night! I think three nights would be good! Maybe next time we will stay closer to the middle of the strip. We were more on the northern end so all the huge awesome casinos were not in walking distance. I'm pretty sure it was one of Chris's best birthdays! <3


our awesome bed!

no if's, and's, or, BUTTS!

the Stratosphere! (the rides are on top!!!!)

Pawn Stars!

Chumlee!! <3

I have more photos, but most are on my phone cause I didn't want to tote around my camera at night. Now off to bed to get a good nights sleep.. finally!

-Stephanie

A little experimentation doesn't hurt...

While I should be getting ready for work, I found some pictures I experimented with. Not sure how I feel about them, but it doesn't hurt to experiment from time to time!





--Stephanie

Itty Bitty.

Part of being a good photographer is being able to see things differently. People that haven't taken any art classes usually look at the world differently than those of us who have. We are trained to look at lighting and composition. Part of composition is knowing when to look at the "big" picture and when to get in for a closer look, a.k.a macro. These are some of my macro shots from over the years.











Nature is a great place to explore all types of photography. As you can see, all of these macro shots are some type of natural being. Macro shots of nature let people see a side of plants, rocks, insects, and much more, in a way they wouldn't in a standard landscape shot. I love landscapes and macros of nature, and never plan on stopping, just progressing. Every day is an experience.

--Stephanie

Hiking in NJ

Back in May, Chris and I woke up before the crack of dawn to meet up with our friend Nick to go hiking! I fell asleep in the car a few times, even after coffee, but we went to a part of NJ most people don't know exist. Somewhere north, near the NY border we went on a little adventure. I don't have all the pictures on my computer right now, but I'll add them later. I also have a video of Nick doing turkey calls. We didn't get to see any turkeys, but the call is pretty impressive, and funny. Here are some of the pics:






I have plenty of pics from hiking in Utah too. More to come.

--Stephanie

Living.

Happy Birthday to my friend Vynessa Wyker! woohooo isnt getting older fun!!??!


helping me get some cragglers.

dance dance.

just plain awesome.

too tough.

snuggle bunnies.

I think this quote explains everything just right. "Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive." Elbert Hubbard.

--Stephanie

I want to...

..adopt a dog. If only I didn't live in a small apartment, oh and if chris wasn't allergic.

--Stephanie

The Way We Live.

So in the process of getting a B.F.A there are a few obstacles to overcome. First, getting past the first year of classes called the "core." The classes are drawing 1, 2, and 3, Color and Design, Color Theory and some others. At the end of the year you have to go through the "core review." If it wasn't for Colleen drawing half of my entries, I'm not sure I would have passed.(thanks!!) After getting accepted to that, in order to get your BFA you have to go through the BFA review. This is where you show all your best work for the professors to see. If they decide you are heading down the right path and have a cohesive idea, then you are granted your own show at the end of the year. This is pretty much your thesis, the big finale to college. Thankfully, I had enough marbles in my head and had an idea, well more like the beginnings of an idea. It all started when I signed up for a trip to the the west that was offered every summer. It entailed a 3 week adventure, with 20 other students and professors that let us explore the geography and geology of the American West. Well, after taking that class and realizing how much I love traveling, my thoughts and ideas were brainstorming. It amazed me at how little people really look at the landscape. How little people care that we live in a beautiful country. How we just sit in the car, the plane, the computer chair or sofa to " experience" life. Peoples lives revolve around work and money. Life is lost in the corporate world, a world that I hopefully will never experience. This led me to the process of creating my senior thesis called, "The Way We Live." I had a series of pictures and serigraphs that portrayed my views on society. If it wasn't so long I would post my artist statement, but the gist of it is what I just stated. My process was to overlay pictures of car lights on top of the landscapes. The thoughts behind this was that on my trip, a lot of my pictures were taken through a car window, or while stopped on the side of the road. These lights now compromised the picture as it originally was, and now creates a new composition. Not sure how successful I was in my message, but I sold all but two of them, so I guess people liked them!










As my good friend Taylor said to me, "While always going somewhere, we are prevented from ever being anywhere."

--Stephanie

NJ Holidaze.

Once I moved to Utah one of the first things I did was buy a plane ticket home for the holidays. I was home from Dec 20th til Jan 5th. I had an awesome time hanging out with friends, family, and getting snowed in. The snow kind of back tracked me for a couple days, but I still got to see a lot of people! Christmas was great! We went to Aunt Cathy's on Christmas Eve and then we had dinner at our house on Christmas Day and then headed over to Aunt Micheles for desert. Since Christmas Day is also Nick Watsons birthday, we had to go out and celebrate!! Some of his friends drove down from New York and we all went to Joes. Unfortunately, the bartender didnt accept out of state licenses. Bullshit. So we went to this place in Garwood (cant remember the name) and saw Joelle! We also had a girls night at Chrissy's house were we all caught up, drank some Mikes hard and played Just Dance! New years was fun too! I went to the Poconos with my family, Stacy's, Carolines and Paulines families as well. Boy oh boy are they a blast! It was also Nick and Jenna's first time snowboarding, and they did great! They were sore afterwards, but they toughed it out and made it all the way down a green trail! New Years Eve was so much fun! Luckily I had my camera to document the crazies.



nick on the lift

me and jenna

jenna, nick and I

the crazies a.k.a eileen, stacy, pauline and caroline

big love

all the boots

happy new year!!

She loved those aluminum bottles!

Happy New Year!! woohooo

Sparklers!

Jake

Pauly

Nick

After new years I headed down to visit Momma. The time flew by so fast. Before I knew it Tommy and Chrissy were driving me to JFK to get on my flight. Hopefully Ill be able to go back home for a few weeks this summer, if not the whole summer! I really love and miss every one in NJ, but life goes on and the bills gotta get paid. If only the cost of living in NJ wasnt so dang expensive...

--Stephanie