Georgia photo tour with Sunira Photography

Before I left for NYC, I had a chance to spend an awesome day in Athens with my wonderful friend Sunira to take some photos for her photography business. For as long as I've known Sunira, we've bonded over the outdoors and photography (in fact, we found out we both lived in the same town and were photographing the same farm park before I moved away and then met her through a mutual friend). I've always admired that she isn't afraid to get the best creative shot -- even if that means going into the deep woods or climbing over barbed wire to get it. Or doesn't mind when her subject starts to fly away ...

For years, we've talked about doing an epic photo tour of Athens, in which I'd play guide to some of my favorite parts of town, and we'd explore old Southern Gothic ruins together with our cameras. We finally were able to make it happen last spring, and here are some of those photos! We had a chance to explore some places I've captured before -- the Oconee Forest Park, the REM Murmur Trestle, the University of Georgia's north campus, and downtown Athens. We also visited a park I've never gone to before -- Hurricane Shoals Park in Jefferson. That park had a lot of opportunities -- historic buildings and cabins, as well as beautiful fields, a covered bridge and a creek.

Since I've been blogging, I've mostly taken my own photos. While I relish that kind of creative freedom, it can get lonely and scary sometimes going to locations on my own. With Sunira behind the camera, I was able to do some things on my Photography Bucket List that I would have difficulty doing solo (climbing trees, levitating in the air and balancing precariously over streams). Plus, it was great fun to share some of my favorite spots in the world and see them captured with reverence by a friend. Now that I am a few months removed from these photos and have moved away to NYC, I treasure these photos even more as mementos of my time in Athens.

Thanks so much Sunira for a wonderful time! And if you are in the Atlanta/Athens area and need a photographer for your next event(or if you're like me and just want to capture and remember How Things Are Now), I highly recommend Sunira.

What stays and what fades away

I took these photos in April, and have purposely avoided posting them all this time because looking at those rural landscapes behind my body makes me a bit sad. I'm glad that I live in New York now, but I do miss my old photo spots, like Watson Mill Bridge. Picking up my camera while in London and using it regularly reinvigorated me. I'm not sure what it means for this blog, and I do not mean to have a slow obnoxious existential death of it, but I really truly miss the challenges of self-portraiture outdoors.   

I've never really worn this dress in any spectacular exciting ways; the bright color and sailboat applique just scream for it to be worn with minimal additions. My eagle necklace, which I've shared here before, is a tribute to my dad, who used to photograph eagles and other wildlife when he was in the Navy. It reminds me of family whenever I wear it.

The last two shots of me are kinda funny to see now that I'm six months removed from when they were photographed. I went through a phase earlier this year of taking portraits of the back of my head, as if I was journeying toward something off-camera. The composition of the last shot took forever, as I had to position myself between the boats before my timer went off, all while trying to avoid the bugs and snakes near the water's edge (sorry Mom if you're reading this).

credits - dress and necklace: vintage, both from minx (athens, ga) | shoes: target

(here and here are my favorite past outfits featuring this dress)

Technicolor

When I took these photos last month, I ran into an old friend on the bridge. I normally don't speak to people whenever I go on photo trips -- the less opportunities for awkward run-ins or questions about why I'm taking photos of outfits, the better. I was taken aback to see this friend because it had been years since we had seen each other, that I stammered through some lie about working on some landscape photography (which is kind of true?). 

I've been sitting on so many outfit posts from Georgia, and have had a difficult time putting them up because I am homesick for my old photo spots. Seeing these photos reminds me that I was very lucky to have a park basically all to myself in the mornings for three years.

credits - dress, nine west | shoes and scarf, target | jacket, aeropostale.

Bloomin'

I mentioned a few posts back that I still have quite a few outfit photos from Georgia, and I'm trying to make my way through them. This dress used to be about five inches longer, but I had it altered so I'd wear it more during the summer. It's made of some polyester/manmade material and now at a shorter length, it breathes a bit better. 

I took these photos on my university's North Campus, on a day when everyone seemed to be out with a photographer to take graduation photos. I originally wanted to take photos at the chapel, but when the hordes never died down, I resorted to the administration building, which tries to be cool in its historical-ness with engravings of author names, but actually has 'Shakespeare' misspelled above its doorway. 

credits - dress, vintage, thrifted | shoes, target. 

Get lost

Happy Friday! Hope you have a chance to get lost this weekend (in the nicest, most adventure-est way possible). 

This photo is from one of my weekend trips to the covered bridge -- I really am going to miss that place!

Turquoise sky

Just a recent outfit that I've worn so many times this semester for different presentations. I love the abstract design against the landscapes. 

The bracelet is a recent vintage find -- it's very similar to my cougar bracelet that I still need to get repaired. Until then, it's a good replacement.

Forgive the brevity -- I'm in finals week! My final finals week ever.

credits - dress and shoes, target | blouse, banana republic | bracelet, vintage, finder's keepers.

And it was all yellow

I have spent a lot of time at this lake lately. Whenever I get free time from work or class, I just find myself driving those back roads to the park, through farm land and past dilapidated farms. It's like nothing can really, truly reach me when I'm there. 

I've been wanting to wear this outfit all spring, and actually envisioned the floral wreath to go with this dress. Yellow used to be my favorite color as a child, and I've been seeking it out to match my current landscapes. I had some difficulties taking photos on this dock -- the outer section floats and doesn't have a foundation, so I had to be super careful with my movements to prevent my camera from falling into the water!

credits - dress, target | shoes, talbots | hair wreath, diy. 

What the water gave me

This post is a direct result of listening to so much Florence Welch and Lana Del Rey this week -- now that it's spring, all I want to do is bust out the floral hair wreaths.  I tried explaining all of this to a friend earlier this week and he called me the ultimate hipster. Though I like things that are popular in the fashion blogosphere -- constructing elaborate photoshoots and  making hair wreaths, for instance -- I can't say that I aspire to embody certain stereotypes. I like what I like and, well, no apologies.

There's been a sense of urgency in my photography lately, since I've been revisiting all of my photo spots in anticipation of moving in a couple weeks. When I go, I spend a lot more time planning for the locations, hoping to make the most of the weather and my time, everything else be damned. Whenever I go to the usual spots, I sometimes run into bird watchers and ornithologists, armed with their cameras and binoculars to watch for the herons and other aviary. It's always a good omen to see these visitors at the park, because usually my photos turn out better whenever they're there. I'm not sure why my photos end up better, but I think it's because I'm there early enough to watch the sunrise and do some reflection photography. When I took these photos, I shared the dock with some very good-natured landscape photographers. I usually shy away from other people at the park whenever I'm there to take photos -- I don't like having to explain what I'm doing to everyone! So when the photographers came and saw me, they were pretty cool about it and apologized for interrupting. And though for different purposes, we stood on opposite sides of the dock, working in silence on our photography. I don't know if they wondered what I was working on, or cared, but it was nice to have kindred company for once.

credits - dress, vintage, agora | floral wreath, self made | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

Brella

Whenever it rains, I try to make it down to the tennis courts because no one will be there so I can practice my photography, and the puddles are just too fun for experimentation. I only had a short time at the courts for this session, because about 10 minutes in, a police car came rolling through for patrols. I've never run into law enforcement during my photo outings (and I haven't gone exploring too far off to garner any trespassing suspicions), but I'd rather keep my streak of not having to explain myself going. 

I'm not quite sure why I've never photographed this outfit before -- I practically lived in it during that weird time between winter and spring. Velvet pants are just way too comfortable.

credits - blouse, vintage, thrifted | pants, talbots | shoes, target | bag, vintage, stone mountain | umbrella, gift. 

Pollen paisley

Town has been so covered in pollen, I really am surprised I haven't been engulfed in a giant yellow ball of tumblefluff yet. This J. Crew dress is one of my favorites for spring but it basically matches everything on the ground right now.

When I took these photos, I had to essentially wait in line for this spot. Everyone is out on the historic campus taking graduation photos. I normally shy away from public areas for outfit photos (because it's still weird and after four years, I feel like I still have to make excuses for such weird narcissistic behavior), but there's only three weeks left to hit up my favorite spots. I've been driving to other parks in the area lately -- there is something emboldening about having a full tank of gas, sunscreen and a little more free time. 

Here is the last roundup of all the ways I've worn this dress. I like to mix it with khakis and green. 

credits - dress, j. crew | blouse, vintage, thrifted | shoes, talbots | ring, heirloom.

P.S. After being a holdout for so long,  I'm on instagram now! Follow me at @joannssidewalk. 

  

   

Classic revival

I took these photos a few weeks ago when my bangs were still fresh. My hair has grown like a weed since then! 

I've been hopping around to different places around the area to practice my photography, but I keep coming back to my favorite building on campus, the Fine Arts Theatre. Some history of the building: It was built in 1941 and was  apparently the last building of the Works Progress Administration(WPA). It also was used to train WWII pilots. I like being able to walk through this history, and it's one of the reasons I'm going to miss Athens after I move. Photos in this spot are really difficult to do because it's near a busy road, so my time here was a bit brief. 

credits - dress, target | sweater, loft | necklace, thrifted | shoes, talbots | bag, thrifted, stone mountain. 

Back in focus

Confession time: I've feeling iffy on my Nikon DSLR camera for the last few months. Most of it is because with my model, the focus options  were really out of place on most of the settings I tried, making most of my photos pretty blurry. After spending lots of time trying to sharpen and correct a bunch of outfit photos, I was pretty much ready to call it quits on my camera and just go back to the point-and-shoot, thinking the problem was that my photography skills had disintegrated over the last few months. Turns out, the focus feature is a common problem with my model, and after finding a few how-to hacks to the settings, I think I am back in business! It's always rewarding to see photos reflect reality.

I've wanted to wear this outfit for months. It's bright and academic-ish, and perfect for campus and work. 

credits- dress, nine west | blouse, vintage thrift find | shoes, talbots | bag, stone mountain, thrift find | pocket watch necklace, waltham, heirloom.