Vanessa Skocz » photography

Storm & Stress

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:42:03 +0000

When it comes to summer I’m kind of a nerd when it comes to weather and storms. I love thunderstorms and I would go storm chasing in a heartbeat. We had a pretty massive storm that set off the tornado sirens. We all knew it was coming considering how humid it was today and then it suddenly cooled off, that always spells trouble. The sunset was after the storm passed with some awesome cloud cover, might I add. The photo may not be super star quality but I thought it was pretty cool, plus you’re the one visiting my site, right? Just kidding.

In other news, I’ve been a bit on the stressed side having to deal with moving out of my currently living situation thanks to the owners of our house wanting to move back in. After debating back and forth I decided to move home with my parents (for a max of 3 months) so I have time to collect apartment furnishings and save money for deposits. My goal is to find the perfect sweet apartment I’ll want to stay at for more than a year. We all know moving sucks so let’s hope I don’t have to drag everyone in to help anymore than necessary. So yay! Here’s to moving and apartment hunting, yet again!

She’s a Jar

admin — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:33:20 +0000

This weekend was filled with lots of photo taking. I shot an art exhibit at the Bemis Center downtown on Friday. I haven’t submitted the photos yet so I’m not sure if it’s kosher to post them here, but in due time. Then Saturday I took some photos of a good friend of mine, Heather, because she’s graduating college. She wanted to have some senior-esque photos of her and of course I jumped at the chance. I’ve been scoping out Elmwood park here in Omaha for quite some time. I’m sure it’s a favorite spot of many photographers but the nice thing about this park is there’s so many elements to it that I’m sure there aren’t always the same shots twice. We had a blast in the muggy evening and got some good shots to boot.

This weekend I also figured out that the hot shoe of my 20D is officially shot. While I should get if fixed I’m almost thinking I’ll wait until I buy a new camera. I’m still mulling it over. Until then enjoy the photos.

Cookie Jar

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:34:58 +0000

Besides photography I have this hidden passion for baking. I sometimes find it to be therapeutic, just as much as taking pictures. For my cousin’s graduation party, I made some funfetti sugar cookies. It’s a pretty easy recipe considering it’s made from cake mix. There still is a little effort that needs to be put in these cookies because it’s all about baking them just enough so they are still soft even a few days later. I also decided to dye the frosting to offer some fun colors. I must admit, I may have had a little too much fun making these cookies and needless to say, they were a hit at the party and there wasn’t a single crumb to be had by the end of the night. Maybe one day I’ll be a baker/photographer. It may happen I can definitely see something like that developing. Don’t worry, I didn’t leave you hanging, as always I have some photos of the finished product. The best part was me envisioning the photos I wanted to take of the finished cookies as I was frosting them. Anyways, enjoy!

The Lonely 1

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 02:00:09 +0000

I spent today in Elmwood Park for a bitch photoshoot with a friend and awesome photographer Teresa Prince. Teresa came up with this awesome project to take portraits of various girls with signs depicting what kind of bitch they believe they are. This is a project for girls to take back and own bitch as a word. I loved the idea of the project and jumped at the chance to participate. It was a rather rainy and dreary day today but since we had both rescheduled this shoot about a million times, we decided to stick it out. I’ve been to Elmwood before but not often and was able to find plenty of cool places to take photos. We managed to not get rained on and also got some cool portraits of yours truly. I won’t lie, I enjoy getting my photo taken. To see my portrait and many others you can visit Teresa’s blog or check out the facebook Bitch album.

When we wrapped up the shoot I decided to wander Elmwood a bit to take some fun nature-esque photos. It had just rained that morning so I couldn’t resist because the leaves were looking extra green today. I think I managed to find some blog worthy photos to share here. Enjoy!

For some reason I really like taking solidarity photos. I felt weird creeping on this guy because he looked like he was trying to having a moment to himself. Maybe the reason why I like taking photos like the one above is because I like to imagine what they are thinking. Sure, the view is ok, but there’s a reason why they are here alone clearly out of visible public sight. I also felt a litle scared of taking his photo, maybe I’ve lost a bit of my photojournalism touch but I was worried about what would happen if this man knew I was taking his picture. That, or I was afraid of ruining his moment alone or ruining the natural moment I was trying to capture.

Last Flowers

admin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:51:21 +0000

Ok, ok don’t get annoyed at yet another flowers post. I couldn’t help but take photos of the flowers from the wedding I was in only because they are my favorite flowers, Gerbera daisies. Now, had I known that being in this wedding would cause all this drama after the fact I may have chosen not to participate, but that’s neither here nor there. I have some nice windows in my room and decided to use them to light the flowers. Something a little different than taking photos outside. This may end up being my last flower post for now unless I end up getting up early to photograph the tulips outside my house, but that means I have to get up early, which may not happen. So anyways, enjoy!

Everything Hits at Once

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 04:53:18 +0000

I have always said when you have an empty tree stump why not plant some grass or flowers in it? I think the owners of the house I live in and I have the same brain wavelength because that’s apparently what they did with the tree stump outside our house. Everyday I get a kick out of the grass growing from it. I might buy some cute flowers to plant in it and give it some color. Don’t get me wrong, I love the green, I just think it needs some accent colors. I suppose that all depends on if I get around to making that happen. Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know (the few that probably read my blog). Anyways, enjoy this photo of a stump I seem to get a kick out of everyday.

No One Would Riot for Less

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:40:08 +0000

So I’ve developed this obsession with taking photos of various flowers around my house. I’m guessing because this is the first spring I’ve had while in my house and didn’t have a chance to see them all bloom. I’m glad we have a variety of subjects for me to shoot. I suppose I can’t complain. That also means I have to branch out from the front and back yards more if I do want to make this blog a more up and coming consistent thing.

Things have finally slowed down since the wedding I was in. Back to the grind of my daily routine and work. I’m looking forward to next weekend because I’ll be taking a bit of a long needed vacation from life. Just gotta get through the next week, I think it’s doable. And as always for your viewing pleasure, some purple flowers I have no clue what they’re called. Enjoy!

Sunshowers

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 02:16:56 +0000

We have a cherry blossom tree in our backyard and it’s gradually been blooming since the weather’s been warm. Today I rushed home from work to catch the last bits of the sunset to share photos of the lovely blossoms. I love spring flowers and when they first bloom, probably one of my favorite parts of spring.

Let’s also all take a moment to recognize that I’ve blogged twice this week. As mentioned before I’m hoping to keep this consistent. I’m going to be in a wedding this weekend so hopefully I’ll have some photos to post. To be honest, I have a lot of things planned this weekend where I’m hoping to post some photos. Be on the lookout, I’ll try not to disappoint. Enjoy

I’m in a Lull

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:06:51 +0000

So today was of course Easter so naturally my Catholic family and I do what we do best, gather, eat lots of food and mingle. We normally do a breakfast brunch on Easter and we decided to try a new recipe. I made a delicious french toast casserole which I have a feeling we will master in the next few years, it was still delicious though. I thought I’d share some photos from the event and actually keep this blog active. I’m trying!

This is the french toast casserole that I made. I was excited to try out a new recipe and it was a success. I have a feeling we’ll end up making this a staple food at Easter.

The spread included biscuits and gravy, an egg/sausage/hashbrown casserole, french toast casserole and my grandma’s homemade cinnamon rolls.

Lilac Wine

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:23:30 +0000

I’d have to say the best way to my heart is through a bottle of wine. I never used to be a lover of wine but as I’ve grown older I’ve had the pleasure of seeking out and trying different wines. I had a friend in town and decided to open up a bottle of wine I received as a graduation present, a 2008 Argentinian Malbec, and a delicious one at that.

After polishing off the bottle tonight, I did an impromptu photoshoot. Again, the lack of posting is bringing me down but hopefully with the weather warming up I’ll stop making excuses.