Monsen Pics

A few months ago I was able to take some pictures of Brian and Shelley and my adorable nephew Thad! We were able to get a lot of really cute pictures, but here are my favorites, including this crazy face Thad was making... I don't think he was very happy!

Grand Central Station

I had the incredible opportunity to visit New York City last week, and it was quite the adventure! Half of our group had to be sent to Seattle for a bit, and the other half of us got to see sunny California before heading into NYC. My bags arrived 3 days after I did, but overall it was wonderful! I learned so many things about myself, what inspires me, and what I want to be doing with my photography for the most part, which is.. guess what? Travel photography! I'm not sure I will ever work for a magazine or publication to get my stuff out there, but I love to visit a place and photograph what I feel is beautiful. We had the opportunity to visit the legendary Rodney Smith, and he shared some great advice... it's all about the experience. I decided then and there that whether or not I become some pro, I want the experiences I have while photographing to be what I take away, not the photograph. If a great image comes out of the experience, then I was able to transfer the emotion I felt at that time into my pictures, and that is the key to creating powerful imagery- the ability to translate the metaphysical experience one has with a place, person, or thing into visual words that everyone can feel for themselves.

These images are a few I quickly snapped at Grand Central Station. Enjoy!

Aren't these chandeliers beautiful! I'm a sucker for these kinds of details!

City Hall

Here is a pic of the entrance to the Salt Lake City Hall I took a few weeks ago...

Getting Ready

Well, this week has turned out to be frantically busy as I get ready to go to New York City. I have tried to begin, and failed to finish a few photo projects, and am now casting them to the wind and hoping that I can get something good in New York to turn in instead (let's keep our fingers crossed). Last week during my little Salt Lake time, I found a great antique store on 2nd Avenue. The owner was the most friendly man! I feel like I'm starting to get a good grasp on finding places to visit and shoot, but I need to include more of a human element to it... yes, that means photographing people, which absolutely terrifies me! I don't know what it is about candid photography, but if I expect to be able to become more of a photojournalist (I guess that's what I'm aiming for) then I better darn well start taking some pictures of people in their element! Therefore, that will be my challenge for New York. Hold me to it. Anyway, here is my picture from the antique store. There were tons of these beautiful silver platters stacked on a cute little couch, so I hope you enjoy!

Salt Lake Adventures

So I'm doing a few posts today because I have neglected my goal of blogging more, and now I need to catch up! Last weekend I went and had another little photo adventure in Salt Lake, and it was the best one yet! We started off going to a little market called the London Market, and I found the greatest thing... MARS DELIGHT CANDY BARS!!!! I ate those things like crazy when I was in Italy, and have had no luck in finding them in the US since, but yet, they do exist!! The happiest moment of all of February for sure. Next door to the shop was a little bakery that had been unfortunately closed because of hard times. I shot this picture through the window though, and it has renewed my dream of one day owning my own bakery/place to sell art/bookstore... someday.

Cravings

So my family has been doing a Biggest Loser competition, and I must say, I started off great, but then failed miserably the last few weeks. To help with my horrible cravings for sweets, I decided to do a series on craving cupcakes! Yum!!!