LATELY

March, 2011

back into the grind

classes have been going on for about 3 weeks now, and it has been super overwhelming trying to manage 18 credit hours + 11 hours of work a week. luckily i got it cut down to 7 hours a week though, so hopefully my life will become less of a mess soon.

i've been taking 3 english classes, an identity and pluralism class, drawing I, and digital photo. i'm happy with about 1/2 of my classes, but hey you can't win them all, right? drawing has proven to be a little more difficult than i thought it'd be, but i'm getting through it. i'm absolutely ecstatic about digital though. my professor is who i've been waiting for to critique my work. last semester i don't believe i was pushed to my limits. instead, i found myself pushing the limits of my teacher and just crossing my fingers i could get an A.

i had difficulty with our first assignment because i felt like my creative drive was lost. however, since then and since learning about all sorts of camera features i didn't even know existed, my camera is once again glued to my hand. i'm not complaining though, i've missed taking photos that make me proud.

these images are the final product of what i'm going to turn in for my first assignment. the theme was color.

i spent 6 weeks of my summer in montreal this year, and it was perfect. puppy dogs and the cutest asian baby captured my heart and now there are bits and pieces of it floating around canada and california. while a lot of people cannot stand being around family for more than a couple hours, i wouldn't trade that time for anything in the world. being away from them for a year makes our time together that much more genuine. i'm done being cheesy, for now. here are some portraits on some expired film my grandma gave me while she was cleaning out her cupboard (realize how dumb dumb dumb that sounds, but it's the truth, i swear) we have: nick / mom-ha / maxime / & last but never ever least, baby v.

nick and louis in may

backyard//

i'll be back in bloomington august 4th, and then i'm moving back to chicago august 24th for school. i'm starting to get homesick, but luckily i picked up a roll of film today and found a little piece of home on it.

raspberry chocolate

yesterday i made the best cupcakes that i have ever made before. i needed to do something with the thousands of raspberries that we picked, so i looked for a recipe for raspberry chocolate cupcakes. i didn't follow the recipe exactly, and it was for the best. the raspberry buttercream frosting is tart and sweet and fluffy and perfect. i am posting the basis of the recipe below. if you try making them, don't be afraid to mess around with the measurements and just feel like doing whatever you want. i'm sure they will turn out fantastic!



Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes
~30 cupcakes

1 1/3 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup cocoa powder
45g (or 1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
frozen raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 F). Line muffin tins with cases.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and beat well.
5. Fill the muffin tins 3/4 full. Mash up some raspberries until they're soft, sort of like a puree consistency. In each individual cup, place some of the raspberry concoction into the tin and push down a little way into the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in tins for at least 10 minutes, then frost when completely cool.

Raspberry Buttercream Frosting
Use this recipe as a starter, and play around with the measurements until you get a flavor you're happy with.

150g (or 3/4 cups) butter, softened
2-3 cups icing sugar
handful of raspberries
1/3 cup milk

1. Cream the butter. Add the icing sugar and raspberries and beat well. If you find you need more liquid in the frosting, add milk gradually.
2. Frost away!

my friend christian showed this to me the other day, and since then i've been writing down ideas to turn the premise of this video into a photo series. i want it to end up sort of like a choose your own adventure sort of thing. any input would be greatly appreciated.