Earlier this quarter, I had the pleasure and privilege of photographing Luke and Bethany’s lovely outdoor wedding. I have known Luke and his family for years, and it was truly a joy to be a part of his and Bethany’s special day.
For those interested, I have posted just a few more photos from this wedding on Flickr. Congratulations again, Luke and Bethany!
NOT, I’ll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee;
Not untwist—slack they may be—these last strands of man
In me or, most weary, cry I can no more. I can;
Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
But ah, but O thou terrible, why wouldst thou rude on me
Thy wring-world right foot rock? lay a lionlimb against me? scan
With darksome devouring eyes my bruised bones? and fan,
O in turns of tempest, me heaped there; me frantic to avoid thee and flee?
Why? That my chaff might fly; my grain lie, sheer and clear.
Nay in all that toil, that coil, since (seems) I kissed the rod,
Hand rather, my heart lo! lapped strength, stole joy, would laugh, cheer.
Cheer whom though? The hero whose heaven-handling flung me, foot trod
Me? or me that fought him? O which one? is it each one? That night, that year
Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God.
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, 1885
These were the clouds outside the window of Kari’s car as she drove us to a lecture we attended the other night. I’ve been revisiting my annoying habit of taking my camera everywhere, and it’s starting to pay off.
Another night, I walked around campus, looking for light leaking out of windows in interesting ways. This is of the Blue House kitchen:
I also took my camera to a recent show by Science Heroes, a group made up of two Gutenberg students who rock way hard. They had really cool lighting:
If I keep this up, hopefully I will have more photos to share with you soon. Cheers.
Both of my windows are looking out on gorgeous flowering trees right now. Despite the fact that it is bizarrely cold here, spring truly has arrived.
I am sorry for my absence. It turns out that life is not always easy to bottle up, classify, and set on a shelf for scrutinization. Because of this, and because said life has been incredibly busy, blogging of all kinds has had to take a back seat of late. But I am still here.
Hello, friends. Once again, I’ve been neglecting you; there’s something about Gutenberg that uses every last drop of my writing-thinking-philosophizing brain… I’ve come up dry every time I’ve tried to draw something out for this blog.
But although I may be short on words, I am not short on pictures; in fact, I have two photo-related pieces of news I would like to share with you:
One: This is primarily for people who know me in real life, but I’ll share with all. Gutenberg is hosting its annual Student Art Show next weekend (on the 8th), and if all goes according to plan I will have some lovely 8×12 photographic prints for sale in that show. I have not yet decided how much they will be (any suggestions?).
These are the four photos I will be showing:
Anyway, I just wanted to let anyone who might be interested in owning an Erin Julian original know that this is their chance. (Of course, you are perfectly welcome to purchase prints of my photos from me at any time, but this will be an especially convenient and fun opportunity to do so. 
)
Two: As you know if you have contacted me about a wedding or portrait session in the last month or two, I have not been doing a particularly good job of juggling my photography business and the demands that going to school (and just living life) have placed upon me. I apologize deeply to those who have had to wait so long for replies to their emails; but I am very hopeful that this time of delayed responses is at an end. My dear friend Kari (She’s in this photo; I will have to post a better one of her soon) has offered to help me out with some aspects of my business.
So, if you were to email Erin Julian Photography sometime in the near future, you will most likely receive a reply from Kari, who is a delight to work with and talk to. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have her joining me. (By the way, any inquiries regarding Erin Julian Photography should now be directed to info[at]erinjulianphotography[dot]com rather than to my personal address.)
And on that note, Erin Julian Photography’s website has undergone a few changes itself; it is now much simpler, and I believe, more elegant; I would love it if each and every one of you went and checked out the new slideshow featured there.
That’s all for now! I hope you have all been having a lovely February, and that your March is splendid as well. Talk to you soon. 
Winter, I’ve decided, is just a difficult time. The drop in energy and motivation among my fellow Gutenberg students and I has been palpable; we’re (almost) all coming to class with droopy eyes and not-quite-finished homework. Not to mention the fact that it is just downright cold; my little room, in particular, seems to reflect the temperature of the outdoors. (I was warned.)
All in all, winter is a tough season to get through. But it is also home to, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful light available to a photographer. Because, although I have heard winter decried as being too dark or too wet to serve photos well, I personally love the portraits I have taken under winter’s overcast skies or in the kind of cold, clear, sunshine only it can offer.
For example: two weeks ago, I went to the home of Marianne and Andrew. Marianne graduated from Gutenberg a couple of years ago and now lives in the Portland area with her husband and their two sons, Søren and Elliot. I did not know Marianne very well while she was at Gutenberg, but I was nonetheless excited when she contacted me about a family portrait session. It turns out that excitement was well founded, because she and Andrew are both incredibly kind and welcoming, and they and their kids were a blast to work with.
It rained much of the day we had their portrait session, but we were able, during a brief break, to shoot outside in the soft, beautiful light that the overcast sky gave us. And, because Marianne and Andrew have big, beautiful windows, we were able to take advantage of the winter light indoors as well.
And so, although winter is, on the whole, a dreary season, we really must give it credit for having such beautiful light. It’s just hard to remember that on some of those droopy-eyed-classroom mornings—but I will try.
(If you’d like, you can visit my Flickr stream to see a few more photos from this session.)
Here we are, already at the end of a year which feels as if it has hardly begun. Thank you all very much for your support and encouragement this year; I’m sorry I have not been as faithful a correspondent as I might have.
Here are twelve images from 2007: each one either carries particular significance for the month it was taken in or is simply a favorite of mine. Enjoy.
2007 has been a great, full, and character-building year for me; I wish the same for you and yours in 2008. Happy new year.
Hello, old friends. It’s been too long. So long, in fact, that to be completely honest I feel terribly out of practice and have been stressing out a bit over what to post here first. So, to break the ice while I attempt to rediscover my blogging voice, here are some photos from this quarter:
(Click on each photo to see a description of it at Flickr.)
I have a real, honest-to-goodness, more-than-three-sentences-long post about something other than photography coming soon, I promise.
But in the meantime… I finally posted some highlights from Sarah and Zeb’s wedding. So go check ‘em out!
(WARNING: This post contains a picture that might make you throw up a little bit in your mouth.)
… I will go the extra mile. I will throw myself into the effort of getting that perfect shot.
Sometimes more literally than others.
It’s funny how, when one is so focused on capturing the perfect shot of the bride and groom leaving the building, one can completely miss the existence of a step down from the sidewalk to the driveway.
It’s also funny how, when such a moment of neglect occurs, the sidewalk can decide to take a chunk out of one’s knee as a keepsake.
See? It’s pretty:
I’m sorry. I know you didn’t want to see that. But you know what? I didn’t really want to fall down those steps and rip my black pants that I payed $26.50 for at Old Navy. I know exactly how much I paid for them because the receipt for them is still sitting on my desk—because I bought them last week.
But, as I told all of the concerned onlookers at the time of the incident, at least my camera was fine. As long as my camera was alright, I was alright.
In case you haven’t been keeping track, I am developing quite a knack for falling down while carrying expensive equipment. And you’ll notice—none of the equipment has been damaged YET. So, to anyone out there who might have been thinking about lending me their expensive camera equipment: BE ENCOURAGED. I will die before it will.
But if you’re thinking about lending me pants? Um… Not so much.
P.S. I should mention the fact that this wound was acquired at the amazing Friday the 13th wedding of two dear acquaintances who are some of the most truly awesome people I know. So it was for a good cause.