What happens after a Summer full of life and wanderlust

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Everything always happens during summer. The vacation trip of your life, meeting people who become a part of you forever, that lesson learned you'll never forget, that one amazing night that will never happen the same again... I could go on. The list is endless, and the point is Summer is that time of the year when we get busy living and enjoying, and that's when everything that ever means something to us, happens. I might have gotten a bit cheesy there, but seriously, think about it. It is true.

These past few months have made a significant difference in my life, and I'm super grateful about most of it. Or maybe I should be grateful of all of it, because everything always ends up counting for something. May to August was full of life changing experiences, mainly because I was living in another country. It was my first time away from home for that long-- all on my own! And not to mention I got to enjoy my freedom in one of the world's most amazing cities (also my favorite), and in a small town in Upstate New York where I inevitably ended up leaving a part of my heart. In the time I was away from Honduras I met amazing people, learned a million new things on a professional level and about myself, traveled, and lived in a way I never had before. I'm excited to say I'll be able to do it all over again in a few months! I've grown and matured in a dozen different ways during a short period of time, and I think its taken me weeks to realise this and slowly, but finally, soak it all in.

I have been able to give myself a long rest since I came back to Honduras, mainly because I didn't go back to school right away. I've probably done more thinking than ever-- about everything and anything, and at times I've also excelled at being a couch potato. I might not be too proud of that last part. Luckily, some productiveness has resulted out of my long reflection time (Lets call it that). I have a huge drive to start a bunch of personal and group projects very very soon. More than driven, I'm determined and excited about all of them! As an overthinker and play-it-safe kind of person, it will be a huge step for me to finally give my plans a go and simply do things I have a passion for and enjoy. Somebody close to me once told me its not about just doing stuff you're completely amazing at, but challenge yourself and explore other areas that will most probably end up adding to your abilities and interests. So I'm going to start living up to that, too-- I hope. I've always been a wuss for taking risks and setting ideas and plans to motion. But I know its time to start somewhere, with something, anything. I do feel young and inspired after all.  I hope you readers and life lovers stay tuned for whats coming!

It's kinda tough to summarise life lately in a few pictures, but I'm always happy to share some of my favorite moments with you. The candids actually serve me as time capsules, and every snap is part of a collection of memories I hope to keep in my heart forever! Photography is a beautiful thing when you think about it like that. Or in any way, really. Somebody (wise, to my opinion) once said, "If you want to learn what someone fears losing, watch what they photograph."

I think all of my personal photographs mean this exact thing. They're moments, people, and things that I wish I could live, be with, and look at, for a while longer. I've given myself the opportunity to make a visual representation of a slice of my life and how I want to remember it. I get to make others see what I see and even feel what I feel.

I sort of failed at shooting planned sessions during the summer, and part of it was because I spent most of my days and time on college campus. It didn't inspire me much, so my camera was left untouched for too many consecutive weeks. Therefore, I don't regret taking the chance I did one day to shoot some portraits. I'll never forget a random saturday afternoon that my roommates and I decided to adventure around Cortland and Ithaca without a plan. We just had a rental car and intended to use it. I had been curious about a vast field with growing yellow flowers I'd constantly seen on the way to the grocery, because I thought it would make a nice setting for pictures. So I encouraged the girls for us to pull over at the field on our way to nowhere, and made Sofia my model. It was funny and awkward at first, because some bees kept getting in our way and making Sofia uncomfortable among the flowers. I had several ideas in mind of how I wanted the pictures, but I ended up liking the candid snaps better than the photos where I told Sofia what to do. I love candid portraits, actually, because they're as real as it gets. You see the subject as he or she really is, and not exactly what the photographer might have planned to make the person look like. Sofia was probably born smiling, so natural shots were my favorite.

It was little things and moments like these that made this summer pretty special. I lived and learned and discovered different things and it all sums up to one thing really. After some time away, reflection, some work, and conversations, I'm now feeling very creatively impulsive and happy to be standing where I am. Its a great feeling to be inspired and driven by things you want to do and goals you want to accomplish. For me, these past months' experiences have made me reflect, look forward, embrace passions, and want to work on a bunch of things I had been afraid to plan for and do before. I hope you guys keep checking the blog for new updates on this fun journey!

Before you leave, I want you to check out this short film I worked on a couple weeks ago, once again as director of photography, for a competition of short films thats being sponsored by Unicef Honduras as part of the Children's Rights Convention 2014.  My little brother in law helped us out, and was excited to make his first big screen appearance. He is the cutest and most perfect actor! You can vote for this short simply by giving it a "thumbs up" on Youtube. If you do like the film, please do so and make me very happy.

Watch "Blues de Primavera" here.

xx, J.