You Rarely Think About Where You're Going, Until Someone Asks

Yesterday I finally got to take pictures of my friends up in the warehouse! I was absolutely thrilled! 

Taking pictures of the cool objects up there was fun, but my favorite area of photography is portraits!

Our trip was short, and we only spent about thirty minutes in the warehouse. We got there later than I would have liked because we had a lot we had to do first. One of them was actually opening our Christmas presents to each other, which was really fun. I gave Hannah a Downton Abbey shirt, Clara a scarf and cameo, and Hannah gave me a photography book! I haven't given Jessie her present yet because she'll be joining us a week from now on Christmas Eve. Can you believe that it's a week till Christmas? I can't, I really can't. It's flown by so quickly I've barely had time to digest it all. And to believe that after that I have a week and a half until my school starts back. Yikes is an understatement! 

When we got to the warehouse we had a lot of fun taking pictures, but we had to be really REALLY quiet because they were still running the business downstairs and the sound travels. We didn't cause any problems though, so that was a blessing.

I also met a very nice young man who was running the store yesterday. We talked about photography and it turns out he modeled for a bunch of really big league clothing brands in New York a few years back. He said he was trying to get back into the photography/modeling business--and he said if I ever needed a male model he'd be happy to oblige! I reminded him that I was not a professional, but he said that he liked the pictures I'd already taken and that he was looking to add to his portfolio. It's a great opportunity, and I have his number now. :) But when he asked me about my photography and where I wanted to go with it..it made me think. Where do I want to go with it? 

I mean, it's a hobby, yes...but I don't know the first thing about making money with it or actually photographing a real model. 0_0 It's a scary proposition in the sense that I could fail miserably at it. There again it's a great opportunity if I want to actually go somewhere with my photography. Question is...do I? 

IDo I want to take on that responsibility, along with the rest? School, personal life, declaring a major this year, and my main hobby--writing...all of that is very important to me right now, so do I really need to be adding yet another thing to my list? Then there's the fact that I've only been in this game a short little while, and to a lot of professional photographers who have been around for many years--my suddenly declaring photography as a viable part of my life  might seem a bit premature and silly. They've seen people come and go in that, with only the truly dedicated remaining to slog it out. I don't like to be a quitter in anything, it makes me angry, so I guess what I have to decide is--how dedicated am I? It's a burning question alright..one that I will have to answer soon.  

Hannah by the window

This is one of my all time favorite shots of Clara! :D I think it's actually one of the best ones I've ever taken of her!

Jessie! 

I also got to show them the scary mannequin room! This is a very blurry pic, I know, but it captures the moment pretty well. Hannah actually jumped when she saw the Lady of Death, standing in the back--and we were all freaked out when we actually went into the room. Though to be fair, I wasn't really creeped out so much, I was just sitting back and enjoying their reactions. Needless to say, none of them liked that room at all...and I don't blame them. The back part of the warehouse has all of the scary stuff like the rabbit and Headless Henry--plus some jack-o-lanterns that were hiding in a dark corner and that I had somehow missed. Hannah waded cautiously back through the carnage by the light of her iPod--there were many times we were sure she'd never emerge again. :) That place is horror movie central.   

Here's a picture of us when we were opening our presents. There was wrapping paper carnage everywhere! :)

I think everyone had a great time though, and I look forward to going back up there again to take more pictures--and possibly going to Dairy Queen afterwards, which is something we wanted to do this time but because of our late start we couldn't. Besides, when we got home we found that the moms had baked a TON of goodies (including brownies! Yummy!).