"A Week in the Life of My Camera"

This summer I took a photography class for school. I loved it and it has rekindled my passion for the hobby (I used to take photography classes in high school)! At the end of the class we had to submit a final project of a photographic series. I wanted to share mine with you all =) 

A Week in the Life of My Camera

A Day by the Sound

A Day of Words

A Day by the Needle

A Day on the Boardwalk

A Day by the Museum

A Day by the Marina

A Day in Downtown

As I'm sure you can tell, I love to use black and white and take photos of architecture and water! Of course, the Puget Sound is filled with both of those things, which is probably a lot of why I love photographing them so much. My goal in everything I photograph is to show the viewer a unique perspective. Even if they have seen the subject matter before, I want to show it to them in a way they have never seen it. So while many of these photos are comprised of subjects often seen, especially for anyone living in the Northwest, I hope they offer new incite and inspiration.

Through this class, I have found my love for using depth of field. I use it often and many times end up laying on the ground in the most random places, trying to get the perfect picture. I can't tell you how many times my husband has just shook his head and looked the other way as I lay down in the middle of the boardwalk or the park or the road to capture a photo. I have also learned to look at a photo for it's edited potential. Many times before I would take photos, get home and upload them, and then be disappointed by what I saw. I started to realize that the pictures did not have to be perfect to start with. I could edit them to my liking. I could change the colors and the contrast and it would change a blah picture to an interesting one! Finally, as this class started coming to a close, I learned how to look at a picture and automatically see it edited in my mind. Now when I look through hundreds of photos I see more than just one or two as good, I see the potential for 10 or 20!
 

I worked hard to capture these pictures and to edit them to my liking. I love how it turned out and it is the epitome of my artistic sense and liking! 

This is some of the feedback I got from my professor:

"You capture urbane life in deep philosophical perceptions and encourage the viewers to peel off the perceptions to which they are accustomed. You also communicate the mysterious aspects of life in a modern city."

~Olga Workman

Thanks for checking out my series! I hope you all enjoyed it =) Feel free to leave comments or let me know which is your favorite or least favorite photo!

EricaLynn

"Love living the call"

 
 

I'll never be the same, forever I am changed!

Hey All,

Well, I just got from 2 weeks of camp (HS & JR)! They were amazing! God tooooootally rocked my world and did amazing things in each of my girls! I had planned on only going to high school camp, but God opened up a door for me to go to junior high camp also. I must say, He is awesome and it's crazy to watch His plan unfold! 

A couple of weeks before camp, God had a couple of different people pray for me and there was a reoccurring theme: I had been isolating myself and He was bringing me out of that and into community. Now I am under no illusions, these words were very very true! The isolation had only gotten progressively worse, to the point of unhealthy and phobias. In the moment, I couldn't really have even told anyone why I was acting the way I was, besides the fact that I had come from a tough background and didn't know how to deal with normal life. Anyways, lets just say that I was nervous to go to high school camp and wanted to try really hard to not isolate myself. God definitely had His plan already in play! First night (before the campers get there) I was doing devotions before bed and I randomly opened to Haggai (I'd never read Haggai!). Haggai 1:4-10 was practically illuminating off the page. The short version of what God told me: "Your spiritual house lies in ruins." Aka, stop trying so hard to look perfect and fruitful to everyone around you when you are totally neglecting your relationship with Me and doing everything you can just to survive without Me. I knew He was right and that it needed to change. I also knew that I couldn't do it by myself, so I prayed, asking Him to help me start changing that week during camp. I mean, when is an easier time to get right with Jesus than at camp?!

The next day (Monday), the cabin leaders and staff were praying and meeting before the campers arrived and Erika Joneschiet got a word that really broke down some fears I was dealing with. I stayed behind and her and I started talking and let me tell you, it was like someone reached into my darkness, grabbed my arm, and started yanking me out of my isolation. It was scary, but I knew I could trust that it was the Lord's plan. Jesus began using Erika to slowly start breaking down those lies that had been stuck in my head for so long (and she had no idea what they were, that's what's so amazing!).


The week went on and it was incredible! Jesus was there so powerfully from day one and there was a ton of fruit in the girls in my cabin (another incredible thing, how He can use us when we're so broken! When we are weak, He is strong!). So, fast-forward to Friday night. The speaker had opened up ministry time to anyone for anything and I wanted to go up for physical healing. I kept waiting for one of nwc's leaders to be available, but there was so much going on that every time I hesitated another person would go up for prayer. So I grabbed one of our senior girls (Sydney *woot*) who had been prayin' it up like crazy that night and asked her to pray for me. I asked for prayer for physical healing and then added on "and whatever else God lays on your heart". She prayed and it was amazing; she had no idea what was going on in my life at home, but she was dead on. Then towards the end of her prayer, she prayed that God would prepare my heart for the hard thing I was about to go through. I had no idea what that meant, but I just tucked it away. God used Sydney to prep me for what He was about to do next!


After Sydney and I finished praying, I looked up to see Erika (who had been praying with a large group of girls for about an hour I'd guess) worshiping, she was done praying. God told me to go over and ask her to pray for me. I argued. "I'm fine, I just got prayer, it doesn't matter..." God said, "No, you will not stand here and wallow. Go get prayer!" I argued again. "I'm a leader, I used my one chance..." God: GO! So I went (finally). I said the same thing to Erika as I had said the Sydney. Erika started praying and she said (probably not verbatim, but close!) "I feel like God's saying if He was to heal you physically right now, it'd be like polishing a broken table. You have things on the inside that are broken and need to be healed and dealt with before you can take care of the stuff on the outside." I was not a happy camper at this point. I was very frustrated with God; I didn't want to deal with anything right then. I didn't really let Erika in on my frustration at that point. Next Erika said "I feel like you have unforgiveness buried really really deep in there and God wants to help you deal with it." Now honestly, I was pissed! I was yelling at God in my head, "No! I don't want to deal with this! I don't even acknowledge that it's there; You're the only one who knows and You were never supposed to bring it up! I don't know what You expect me to do about it! It's been there for so long and I don't know how to get rid of it! Whatever, God, this is never going to work!" I'm guessing I looked frustrated or shook my head or something, but I was really focused on God and not Erika, but she said "I feel like you're really scared to deal with this. You're afraid God's going to take an axe and start hacking at these roots and it's gonna hurt really bad. But He's not. He's going to be really gentle. To you, it's like a giant tree with really deep roots and you can't just yank it out. But to God, it's like a weed. He can just gently reach in and pull it out." At this point, I knew it had to happen in my heart, but my head was still like "this is never gonna work.." So I basically just said ok. Erika prayed for it to be pulled out and then told me I was set free from it. I could tell that something happened in my heart and it felt really really weird, but my head was saying "it can't be that easy..." Erika began praying again and said "I feel like you feel really confused" (isn't it insane how God just tells people what we're thinking sometimes?!) "Like there is a big hole inside of you that has been filled up for so long with that unforgiveness and now you don't know what to do with it because it's empty. God wants to fill it up with His joy!" She asked for God to fill me up with His joy and OH MY GOSH, it was INSANE! Seriously, it literally felt like a tidal wave of joy crashed over me, filling every part of me! I'm sure Erika could feel it too! She started praying 'Erica, you're not going to be in the back anymore, you're going to be up in the middle of it all! You're not going to be isolated anymore!" She prayed all these promises over me, all these things that I had been struggling with were being broken off! That unforgiveness had started 10 years ago and the deeper it went the more I hid behind my mask, so angry, in pain, and afraid of what people around me thought. When the Lord set me free and healed me, those masks went away too! That fake person I had been for 10 years disappeared and the real Erica came back!

The Sunday after high school camp I was doing my devotions and I felt like I was supposed to read the rest of Haggai. It was insane! I totally had a Haggai experience at camp! Check it out to see what I mean: Haggai 1 & 2.



I am so glad to say that this was not just a camp high! I have been able to walk it out since I got home! My life is totally different. The things I was so afraid to do 3 weeks ago, I am doing boldly now! It's an apparent change in my life. It is so amazing to walk in freedom as myself, who I really am, unashamed! I can't wait to see the crazy things God has called me to in this new season of my life!


Please feel free to ask any questions on here or facebook or in person!


 EricaLynn