Life According To Instagram

This week I...

-Had a nice little mini vacation at the beach
-Went to see Best Coast. Can't stop listening to their new record. No really, I listened to it no less than six times the morning after the concert. And that was just the morning.
-Have been learning a few new things
-Went to the first annual RVA Bacon Festival! It was pretty fabulous. As is obviously expected with anything involving bacon. I may or may not have eaten a bacon s'more. To give you some idea of what it was like.
-Got my NEW CAMERA. Pretty excited about it. To say the least. My heart wouldn't stop pounding for a good ten minutes after I opened it. Can't wait to have a proper first shoot with it!!!!!
-Announced the giveaway winner!
-Shared some thoughts about knowing which way to go when you come to that fork in the road
-Posted photos of one of the cutest couples you will ever see


Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney

Lessons Learned Of Late

Photo Cred: Meagan Abell

Around this time last year I did a post about some things that I was learning at the time.
I always enjoy looking back at where I've been in various points in my life and seeing what I was learning/going through at the time, and comparing it to where I am now.
I've actually had this post saved as a draft since last week, so today I thought I would finally get around to sharing it.
Without further ado, a few things I've been learning as of late:
.......................

Never be afraid to go on adventures alone.
Because they often become the best adventures you've ever had.

"A good writer admires his heroes, a great writer wants to beat them."
A friend recently shared this paraphrased quote and I really liked it.
(I can't seem to find the original source, so if you know, please share!)
I'm trying to have this mentality with my own endeavors.

You should share what you know with others.
Because you get nowhere keeping all your knowledge and experience (however limited/great it might be) to yourself. So many people have helped me get to where I am, so I should help others when I'm able to with what I've learned from those before me.

Music is sometimes just better on vinyl.
Not because of the sound or anything about it's old schoolness, but simply because you have to make more effort to listen to it that way. You can't easily skip a track, you always have to flip it over half way through, there's more than just a button to push to make a song play.
You're forced to slow down a bit and really appreciate what you're hearing.

You have to take things one day at a time.
Over planning and over thinking rarely ends up benefiting you in the end.
Deal with today, today.
Deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.

Mushrooms, if fresh and uncooked, are actually kind of delicious.

Sometimes it's okay to take the morning off from work.
To slow down, read a book, and just do something for yourself.
It's better to tackle a full work load refreshed and rejuvenated "late" than stressed and overwhelmed "on time".
You will end up accomplishing more in the end.

Things will look better after a good nights sleep.
Always.

On that note:
4 hours of sleep really is not sufficient.
Go to bed at a decent hour.
Or at least stay up late on a day you can sleep in...


This Is The Way

Photo Cred: Meagan Abell

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, 
“This is the way; walk in it.” 
Isaiah 30:21 


I've been thinking a lot about this verse during the past week or so.
Just about how God's got us. 
In whatever situation, whatever circumstance.
Regardless of the decisions or choices we make, in the end, if we're really pursuing Him whole heartedly and as genuinely and honestly as we know how, things are going to turn out okay. More than okay actually. Because His perfect love involves such a beautiful plan for us. One that's better than anything we could ever come up with on our own. 
I've definitely learned this first hand.
God's plan > My plan.
Always.


Matt & Savannah

Meet Matt and Savannah.
Basically one of the cutest and funnest (yes, I pretend that's a word) couples I've ever had the pleasure of doing a shoot for.
They were so much fun to watch as they interacted with one another.
Not to mention I got to do it in front of this beautiful yellow wall, which I've driven past for years and always wanted to incorporate into a photo shoot.
But anyway, you can tell these two are just best friends, which is such an awesome thing to see in a relationship. They are just so fun loving and goofy with each other. Which is pretty much a dream when it comes to super cute candid shots.
I actually like candid photos more than posed ones.
For isn't that a more genuine and real moment captured?
One that's spontaneous and unplanned?

Side note: Savannah pretty much can't keep a straight face, ever.
Which I absolutely love about her, she has so much joy and happiness about her, it's infectious and I love being around people like that.
But I'll stop talking now and let you see for yourself.

 
 
 

 
......................
See? Told you they were the cutest.

Check out more here.
Interested in getting some portraits of your own done?
Email me for more info: by.leney@gmail.com


Life According To Instagram

This week I...

-Shared my Summer to do list
-Second shot a wedding with my main girl 
-Confessed my love for maxi skirts
-Dressed like I wanted to hang out with Jay Gatsby
-Wrote a little about how and why I love film
-Made/ate lots and lots of fried eggs. (No seriously. At least 5-6 during the week...)
-Was thankful for how good May was been to me
-Was personally serenaded by a barber shop quartet. Yea. I know. It's okay to be jealous.
-Shared a dream of mine involving travel. Of course.
-Announced a super awesome giveaway! Make sure you check it out. It ends Tuesday!!



Follow me on Instagram at @agirlnamedleney

Summer To Do List

California Shot with 35mm film/Minolta x-700


So Summer doesn't technically start until June 21.
But you know what, it's the first day of June and man it's hot enough out there to feel like summer so I'm still gonna post this.

Summer To Do List

Drive In Theatre
Beach beach beach beach
See The Great Gatsby at The Byrd Theatre
Go to some farmers markets (additionally: find and eat some country style donuts while there)
Visit Poe Museum
Visit Holocaust Museum
Get typewriter working
Do the Color Run
Take some road trips alone
Go to the park and read lots and lots
Watch Pride & Prejudice at least once
Go star gazing
Flying Squirrels game
Have multiple slurpees at 7-11
Attend at least two concerts
Shoot more film
Build a fort
Read every spare moment possible
Go the the VMFA every spare moment possible
Drive along Blue Ridge Parkway
Attend a few First Friday's
Try some new Richmond Restaurants
Do something incredibly brave that I've never done before
Go sailing
Get better at free lensing
Spend more time outside
Have brunch at Can Can
Re-watch Flight of The Conchords
Re-watch Gilmore Girls
Enjoy some summer rain
Go on an adventure that requires a back pack at least once

See last year's list here.

Fashion Friday's: Another Maxi Skirt

This Fashion Friday post is pretty much just about my love for maxi skirts.
Because, well, I love maxi skirts (and maxi dresses too actually).
I honestly probably wear them too much.
But they're just my favorite.
Not to mention they're always weather appropriate. 
You can have a thicker wool one in the colder months and when it gets warmer a lighter flowy (that's a word, right?) one knotted up, voila! 
Instant hippy chic. Right?

They're just perfect. 
The end.

Not to mention most of them have pockets.
And we all know how I feel about articles of clothing with pockets.

P.s. Yes I did get my haircut!



Outfit details
Skirt- Thrifted (The Clothes Rack)
Belt- Thrifted
Shirt- Forever 21 
Shoes- Thrifted and given to me by my pen pal (Thanks Alex!)
Watch: Michael Kors
Jacket: Thrifted (also seen here)
Necklace: Forever 21
Brown Camera Bag: Vintage via Etsy

All photos by Meagan Abell

Things I Love Thursday: My Minolta

Hurray for the first official addition of Things I Love Thursday!

This week I'm sharing my Minolta camera.
Most of you know that I have quite a collection of film cameras.
Well, this one is my favorite.
It's identical to one my Mom bought my Dad when they were first married, which is mostly why I love it so very much.
I started using my Dad's when I first started messing around with film, and soon decided that I definitely wanted one of my own.
I have to preface this with saying that I'm by no means an expert at film photography.
I mostly just do it for fun.
I love the time that spans a roll of film and its 24 exposures. It can last a week, or a few months.
Twenty four specific moments you deemed important or memorable.
The feeling of getting film developed is basically the equivalent of Christmas.

One of my favorite sounds in the whole world is the sound of a film camera's shutter releasing. 
It brings with it thoughts of long gone times, a slower and less hurried culture, filled with more care and patience.
Though I admit I almost always look at the back of the camera after I take a photo, half expecting to see a screen with the image I just shot.
Old habits die hard.
But there really is nothing like the sound of that shutter when it releases.

When I was growing up I remember going to Costco with my Mom and picking up film that we'd gotten developed from the various family cameras.
We documented the typical events in families' lives: Birthdays, vacations, graduations, holidays and other big moments like losing your first tooth, riding your bike, that turtle you found in the back yard and your first day of kindergarten etc.
I remember my brother and I would always fight over who would get to rummage through all the "B" envelopes to find ours.
I always loved doing that.
We would look through all the photos together and my Mom would routinely remind us to hold the photos gently at the edges so as not to smudge them.
Inside the envelope would be pieces of our lives: twenty four moments that spanned an event, or most often, if the camera had been used more sparingly, a couple of months or years.

Speaking of film, it's actually been a dream of mine for some time now to take a dark room class of some kind, which I know they offer at the Visual Arts Center.
So hopefully I can do that in the near future.



Thanks for helping take these photos Lorissa!