rachelselden's weblog

lil’ sisters

rachelselden — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:56:54 +0000

july 4th

rachelselden — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:45:44 +0000

working retail doesn’t give you much advance when it comes to your schedule but by some strain of luck i got july 4th and 5th off! so i decided to take advantage of it and go away for the holiday weekend, down to Baltimore. it was a good break from my western NY lull and being able to watch the fireworks over the harbor was awesome. my camera doesn’t adapt well to nighttime shots but fireworks give off a decent amount of light, and with light anything is possible! so here’s a glimpse of the 4th of july in Baltimore, MD.

june 30th

rachelselden — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 19:33:52 +0000

back to the home town again! and this time i took A LOT of pictures. one of the insightful parts about becoming a photographer is simply looking at things differently, looking at them through a lens. we have such a wide scope of vision with our basic sight, but when you’re looking through a lens, you can crop and zoom and focus on different objects. it shakes it all up! and it’s awesome. you might never notice some details about your home or your neighboring park but look at a photo of it and you’ll start to pay attention.

this time around, i did a duo photo shoot with a friend and let me tell you, it’s so much more fun. you can talk about what you’re shooting and get ideas from each other. plus it’s kinda nice to not be alone when your shooting. i find that if i’m out on my own shooting, i don’t stick around an area long. i get impatient. but when i’m with someone else i’m much more likely to stick around and wait for a perfect shot. i guess i prefer the company. he took a lot of good pictures too that were different than mine, which is also great to see. it’s neat that 2 people can be at the same place, but take some totally different photos. i’d definitely recommend shooting with a friend.

june 23rd

rachelselden — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:11:07 +0000

it was a gorgeous day yesterday so i decided to go sprawl out in my yard and enjoy it. i brought out a blanket, books, my phone (mainly for the music) and my camera. it was wonderful. however, my skin did not enjoy it as well i did. i now have a crazy burn on my stomach and back. i thought about taking a picture of that, but i didn’t want the embarrassment to be remembered. next time, more sun-tan lotion!

technology

rachelselden — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 11:47:36 +0000

the following is in no way a diss to any of the people i talk to so don’t take this personally…but i am getting sick of texting! i never thought i would say that because i have always been a strong advocate for it but im beginning to resent it. i used to love being able to just text anyone, any time about anything. and i still do because texting is great for that kind of thing. if you hear a song on the radio and it reminds you of blasting that song with your sister last summer, you can text her about it. but my resentment comes from replacing these little snippets of communication with actual conversation. i almost never talk to my sister on the phone anymore (not blaming you bek, just saying) and it’s just silly that we’re letting the newest form of technology dictate the relationships we have and how we stay connected with them. i was watching CNN this morning and they were doing a live feed from an Apple store because the new iPhone 4 came out today. they were interviewing people that had been standing in line since tuesday! it is now thursday. i’m all for updating your gadgets and getting new programs because i do that with my design work, but it’s disheartening when it affects our personal lives so much.

i shouldn’t even be ranting about this cuz i still text more than i call. at this point i do it out of habit because there are just so many people i text regularly. ill go through spurts where i just refuse to text. i say that ill call them later instead but then i never have a good time to call..so once again, i will revert back to texting. it’s a bad cycle that even i can’t break but i still have bitter feelings mixed in.

that’s my rant for the day. i feel better now

june 21st

rachelselden — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 22:27:54 +0000

i gotta add some inspiration to my life! no offense to my mother, but moving home has drained a lot of the inspiration out of me. it could also be the hours of research and networking ive been doing but ill just group that into moving home. so in my attempt to try and stir up some passion about what i want to do, i decided i need to spice up my working area, a.k.a. my bedroom. i have lots of magazines and little clips of designs that i like but those don’t present well. what i do have is this lovely collection of calendar posters from the MoMa (museum of modern art) that i love. they’re for the year 2010 so they not only have good design and illustration in them but they’re for my graduation year, so they have some personal meaning in them as well. i hung them right above my bed, so every time i walk into my room they are the first thing i see. im hoping this will add a little spark to each day and remind me what i want to do now that i’ve graduated.

p.s. i dont know why the pic is blurry but it’s clearer when you click on it

june 9th

rachelselden — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:51:03 +0000

i went back to my home town yesterday of Barker, NY and it was definitely surreal. I hadn’t been back in 2 years and yet when I was driving through it felt so normal. It’s funny how you can leave a place and then come back years later and still have it feel familiar to you. ever since i left, i’ve had this weird grudge about Barker, but being back there (and talking it out with some friends) made me realize that i really don’t have a legitimate reason. I’ve always wanted something bigger from life and for some reason i’m bitter towards Barker because that hasn’t happened yet. And when ya think about it, that’s just silly. If I’m meant for something bigger, it will happen. I shouldn’t blame Barker for my insecurity and uncertainty of the future. i think Barker has just always been the easiest target for me. basically going back there got me thinking about all this and figuring out that i really shouldn’t be bitter towards Barker. it was a good place to grow up and i met some of my best friends there. so i should just get over it! i’m growing up and who knows what else is out there but whatever it is, Barker will always be a part of my life. and i should be proud of that. i should be proud of that crazy, small town in the middle of no where

so to top this revelation off, i did take a picture of lake Ontario while i was there. it was actually a lovely day and the lake looked pretty decent, considering how polluted it is. but its a nice image to go along with a nice town that i will now start to be proud of.

june 7th

rachelselden — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 01:20:53 +0000

it turns out i have to get used to the blogging thing again, and being a photographer again! my last year emphasized graphics so much, i’ve fallen away from photo a little bit. im glad we focused on design though, because after all, i am a design major. it’s funny how much design is actually lacking from the program but then again, it is because of the balance of everything that i got into photography so i guess it all works out. anyways, it looks like i’m going to have to train myself to bring my camera with me everywhere again, and see things as a photographer. i really want to get back to where i was in London when my whole existence was to take photos. but it’ll be better because i’ll be taking them for me! instead of for a professor whom i could never please.

i tried to take a photo in the shower today. not actually in the shower, just in the bathroom right after, when the mirror was all fogged up. i was aiming for a blurred silhouette with my hand on the mirror, going for a raw essence kind of picture. it didnt work well though cuz the lens on my camera got too fogged up and it couldn’t focus on anything. ill have to practice that cuz i think it could be a good picture. it’s been hard to find things that represent what i’m feeling, mainly because i’ve been frustrated a lot and i dont know how to express that. it’s been bright and sunny lately which isnt reflecting my moods, but then again, that’s probably a good thing. it’s a little perk to the day, because sunshine always makes me feel better. i should probably just change my mood to match the weather! then everyone wins

may 28th

rachelselden — Sat, 29 May 2010 01:51:17 +0000

may 24th

rachelselden — Tue, 25 May 2010 03:27:06 +0000

I drove back to syracuse and officially moved all my things out of my house today. it was a lot of driving but that was probably my favorite part. i love to drive, more so by myself because i tend to do some of my best thinking that way. but driving helped to calm me down since moving can get emotional at times.