Flight....

‎"Butterflies can’t see their wings. They can’t see how truly beautiful they are,yet everyone else can. People are like the that as well, they fail to see their own beauty."

“Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

*Insert Narcissism*

I love self portraits. 

There I said it! 

I love them! 

Call me narcissistic, if you want 

but 

I think there is something to be said about the ability to document yourself 

and everything that comes with that. 

I love being able to document myself, 

my emotions, 

my changes, 

and more importantly, 

my journey. 

Everyone has a story. 

Everyone should tell their story. 

Most people choose to use their words, 

but I like to use photographs, 

my art,

my images,

to tell my story.

Here are some recent self portraits,

Take a look at them.   

I'm not going to say anything about them,

because I think they should speak for themselves.

Enjoy! :) 

"The time will come 

when, with elation 

you will greet yourself arriving 

at your own door, in your own mirror 

and each will smile at the other's welcome, 

and say, sit here. Eat. 

You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart 

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 

for another, who knows you by heart. 

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, 

the photographs, the desperate notes, 

peel your own image from the mirror. 

Sit. Feast on your life."

~Love After Love, Derek Walcott

Some Thoughts

Recently I have been getting a lot of messages from a lot of different photographers, the statements I hear most in these messages are:  "Wow, you are so young, that's so inspirational"  Let me just say, having photographers that are much older then I am- some that I know, some that I don't and some that I really look up to say that to me, is by far the most humbling experience of my life!  It always brings tears to my eyes when I get told something along those lines.

I just feel a statement like that is so far from the truth. Me? Inspirational? Seriously? Your joking, right? That's just so difficult for me to grasp!! I just take pictures, there's nothing special about what I do! I photograph my surrounds and the people I love, how I truly see them. Each photograph is really personal because it allows the world to see something or someone through my point of view. I'm not bringing world peace, i'm not feeding all the hungry children of the world, I'm just doing what I love. To know that someone thinks that what I make is beautiful and inspirational is such a blessing and a gift- a gift so big and great words can not even describe how much it blesses me.

I wake up everyday and feel so incredibly overwhelmed with gratuidade.  The fact that people are so willing to pour so much into my life that they will go to such great lengths because they want me to succeed is absolutely mind blowing to me. I am so incredibly grateful for it all. I will never be able to say "Thank- you" enough. 

Let me leave you with this quote. I say this quote to myself at least once a day. It really fits where I am in my life right now. I hope it speaks to you the way it did to me! 

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? As we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~ Marianne Williamson 

Take a minute to breathe and relax and be grateful for all the beauty that surrounds you.

Have a nice week, friends

~The guy behind the camera, Chase :) 

Adventures

A few weeks ago I went out of town for a camping/hunting trip in Arkansas. This was some much needed adventure time for my soul. I have always been an adventure driven person so just getting to wander around in the woods, listen to music and take photographs was complete bliss for me. I loved it! It was really nice to just get away for a while, to not worry about homework, or checking facebook, or editing pictures, just being one with mother nature was so refreshing. 

Here are photographs that I took while I was there. I thought I would share them! I really love them! 

I guess you could say that we did camping the "wimpy" way because we actually stayed in a house but without plumbing or heat, it sure felt like hard core camping. This house hasn't been lived in since the early 1970's so its literally like walking back in time..... kinda.... It was somewhat abandoned so nothing has been kept up but everything is still vintage, therefore, I deem it as cool! 

               And just some shots I took in the woods...

While I was on one of many explorations I found these remains of a house. In fact, I found the remains of another house and 3 barns that were all hundreds of years old! 

Hey, what would time spent in the woods be without some self portraits?!?! Right? 

Fun Fact: In this first photo I totally photoshopped my hair. I just had to make it more voluptuous. Theres nothing wrong with that, right? (For all you photographers out there, I used the Warp tool, NOT the Liquify tool. Its way faster and half the work! You can thank me later!) 

I love to laugh

This is my absolute favorite one! 

I was kind of feeling uncreative......so I just kinda stood there......and made faces at my camera.. 

I can't wait to go back and explore even more!

Take a minute to breathe and relax and be grateful for all the beauty that surrounds you.

Have a nice week friends! :) 

~The Guy Behind The Camera, Chase. :) 

P.S. This is how 98% of my self portraits always turn out.....Bad composition and I am totally unprepared. Hehe