Nicole Neff

So I’m almost positive I’m taking a photography class at Ivy Tech during the Spring 2008 semester. I’m pretty excited about it. It will be the Basic Photography class since that is the prerequisite for all the others. Tyler’s being such a trooper by not taking classes if I take this one (for two reasons: he loves me and also because he hates classes).

I’m also going to speak with Elizabeth Pugliese over coffee sometime soon. She and her husband do wedding photography in addition to working at the Courier & Press, where I’m currently a freelance writer and photographer. I was very happy and surprised at how willing she was to meet with me and discuss what she does. Of course, I guess when you love what you do, it would be hard to contain that excitement. 

There’s a lot of uncertainties for me before taking this class: 

1) I’m not sure what camera to buy, if any, before I take the class.

2) Do I need to get an associates in photography, or should I just take a few classes and then work on building my portfolio?

3) Should I completely forego the classes and just learn on my own? Some say experience is the best teacher.

4) What brand of camera would be best? What should I get as a beginner? I don’t want to have to upgrade right after I learn what I’m doing.

I’m really looking forward to finding out more. I borrowed a church member’s camera over Thanksgiving and I realized I have a LOT to learn. Some of the pictures were pretty good, some not so much. I guess you have to start somewhere, though.

For you photographers out there, I’d really appreciate some advice!

I haven’t posted in forever. Thanks to Jaimie for bringing that to my attention. Not that I didn’t know, I was just putting it off. I haven’t felt too inspired, and I’ve also been slacking partly because I’ve been so busy with work (copy editing and writing for the paper) as well as trying to fit in time with Tyler.

Speaking of Tyler, he had his 23rd birthday earlier this month. We celebrated by going to his favorite restaurant, Yen Ching, with family, BJ, and Rachel. His mom made him a huge, decorated cookie instead of a cake. Then we celebrated that weekend, as well, by having a bonfire at his parents’ house. My mom was able to be there since she was in Terre Haute that day (I convinced her she should come down since she was already about halfway). She had to leave early the next morning, but it was good to have her there. For the most part, I think Tyler was a lot happier this year than for past birthdays. For some reason, fall always seems to make him a little gloomy, so I was happy to see him smile more.

I also decided to run the 500 Festival Mini Marathon with my friend Jaimie (whom I haven’t seen since we graduated college in 2005). It’s the largest half marathon and the 8th-largest road race in the country. I was a little hesitant to sign up since I hadn’t done much running at all since the Evansville Half Marathon in October, but I went ahead anyway. It always fills up pretty quickly (it has a 35,000-person cap) so I didn’t want to miss out. Since signing up, I’ve been pretty good about running. Last week I ran 4 times and already this week, I’ve run 4 miles and have plans to run again tonight with my friends from the Evansville Half Marathon. I’m hoping we can keep each other motivated to work hard, even though she’s in DC and I’m here in Evansville. Even if I’m not as in shape as I want to be in May, I look forward to seeing a dear friend.

We’ve also been busy with the new church. We’re moving into a new building in the Wesselman’s complex in Newburgh at the beginning of the year and we’re also trying to raise funds. I’m very excited about this church. It’s a church like none other I’ve been to/part of. These people have really helped me see it’s not about rules so much as just having a relationship with Christ. I really feel like I’ve totally changed since I have been in high school and even college. I’m still the same me, but with a much clearer vision of what it’s all about.

Andrea and I went shopping the day after Christmas. I spent way too much money on myself at The Limited as well as got all of Tyler’s Christmas taken care of. It wasn’t as crazy as what I thought it would be on Black Friday, but still busy nonetheless. I’m extremely excited about the Christmas season. I get to go back home the weekend before Christmas to be with my family; I haven’t been home in ages. I’m also looking forward to all the fun things like wrapping gifts, decorating the house (which we took care of most of that this weekend), and baking. It all just brings a smile to my face.

I just want to give a biiiiiiiig congratulations to bobbi+mike! They were chosen as the best wedding photographers in Indianapolis by a news station there. I’ve been following their work for some time now, and it is so exciting to see that others truly admire what they do as well. Take a look at their web site…there’s no doubt that they are downright amazing! Had I known how good Bobbi was when I got married (and had I had a bigger wedding budget…seriously, it was minimal), she no doubt would have been my photographer.

I had some classes with Bobbi at Indiana State University back in the day, and always loved her quirkiness and fun persona. But I had no idea just how good she was when I went to ISU with her. I was so focused on print journalism and she was more involved in design and photography, so our paths didn’t cross all that often. It was only toward the end of my stint at ISU that I wanted to start learning the basics behind photography. I shadowed the Tribune Star photographers for a while, but they never had the time to truly show me the art behind it.

But now that I’ve seen bobbi+mike’s amazing work, they’ve inspired me. Honestly, I’m always glued to their web site each day at work, waiting for new pictures to be posted, wondering how they created a certain shot. Because of them, I’ve decided to go back to school to get a degree in photography from Ivy Tech. It’s the only way I know how to get the experience and training I would need. I have no idea what other options are available in this area, but I think it would be a fun, fun job and I want to do whatever I can to learn. I know there is a lot of work that goes into doing what they do, but I think taking the effort to learn would be totally worth it.

Take a look at their work. Let me know what you think…I think you’ll agree that they are downright amazing!

I just noticed that I had misspelled the name of my blog. So much for all my wonderful journalism training at ISU. I’m pretty embarassed about it, but I have corrected “Metamorposis” to be what I intended the name of this blog to be: Metamorphosis.

 I’m an idiot.

Managed to be pretty uneventful again this year. Only three trick-or-treaters…which is three more than last year. Oh well…that means lots of candy leftover for us. At least Lola looked cute dressed in her witch costume!