Senior Photos

I had the privilege of photographing this beautiful girl's senior photos this week. Her name is Clarissa. On top of being gorgeous inside and out, she also is a physics major, art minor, runs cross-country and track, and dances. She is one of the most talented well-rounded girls I've ever met. She just finished her college senior show called, Brilliant Light, where she used lasers to make photographs. All something I know nothing about :/... I wouldn't even know where to begin with doing the work she does! If you are interested in her work, her blog is called Tungsten and Diffraction. Here are a few of the favorite shots!

Her she is at her show with one of her pieces.

Twins

This post is about twins. Not any set of twins, but the nine-year-old Jordan and Erika set of twins :). These girls are so much fun. My boy friend and I have had the privilege of hanging out with them and getting to know them. We meet every week or so and just do whatever they want to really. We play soccer, basketball, "jump off swing" contests, in-n-out, frozen yogurt trips, park visits, photo shoots (of course), long talks, and record silly videos.

It is so funny though, because, even though they are twins, you can absolutely tell them apart. They are pretty opposite of each other. Erika is the athletic tom boy who loves sports, Kobe Bryant, and the color purple. Jordan is the sweet girly girl who loves pink and to wear skirts and flowers in her hair. Even despite their differences, they both are so precious, enjoyable, and easy to be with. We never have a silent moment. 

I think these photos show their personalities perfectly. Take a looksey :) 

The West Today

Have you ever seen Richard Avedon's series, In the American West? Well, if you haven't you should. They are beautiful photos. He traveled across the west for six years photographing miners, ranchers, cowboys...anyone who struck him as interesting on his journey in the west. He photographed his subjects on a stark white background and shot with black and white film. He printed his photos bigger than lifesize. I would love to see them someday... 

 These portraits are not Avedon's, they are  my own. In my Photo History class this semester, we had to write a paper on our inspiring artist, and then do a project where we do our own art piece while drawing inspiration from our artist. So of course, the mere title In The American West, caught my attention, since I come from the west myself :). 

While I do love Avedon's work, I do think that he somewhat disrespected his westerner subjects by the way he presented them in his photographs. Being raised on a ranch, I have seen many different manly and hardworking ranchers and such, but never the subjects that he apparently found all over the west. He photographed men covered with blood, a young boy with a dead rotting rattlesnake, a man covered with bees... the list goes on. I ask myself, man I guess I have been missing all of these "common" subjects all my life! 

My goal is not to exploit the rancher's and cowboys in my photos. I am not looking for the most interesting or most gruesome subjects. I would rather bring respect and honor the legacy that these men and women stand for today and hopefully you see just that in these photos :). Oh also, the people featured in these photos are not strangers. Each one of them is connected to or are my family...which makes them a little more special than Avedon's approach. (well at least in my opinion :))

Mark Goswick, my amazing dad. cattle rancher

Dan Kelly. Our hardworking neighbor for as long as I can remember. 

Jerry Sharp. Our Horseshoer and friend. 

Ryan Richards. Roper. Welder. Our cousin.

My wonderful sweet always willing model and sister, Katherine Goswick.

Rink Goswick. My grandfather.

Beach Babes

This is the beautiful Tayllor. She is such a sweetheart and so easy to capture with her crystal blue eyes and long brown hair. This day was so fun. After doing hair, makeup, and wardrobe we set out to Newport Beach. This day was cloudy, there were no people which was nice because no one got in my way ;). The cloudiness ended up being great; it gave us a nice even hazy light. The other model for this shoot is featured in the post right after this one called Beach Babe. Check it out, and be sure to see the video that goes along with this shoot coming soon! It is my first video using Final Cut Pro so be easy on me :).