For my last studio project with my intermediate & proficient students, we decided to do personal projects. They had to develop something that was deep and meaningful to them. They also had to use at least one extra medium or technique. These projects came out awesome! I'm so proud of the work they did this semester & these projects show their skill, but also their personalities. Here are some of the best!

A Family Album-By Shadell Lowe, 10th grade

Freedom-by Rachel Gilbert, 12th grade

Mom & Dad- by Ashlyn Scoggins, 10th grade

Confetti-by Stephanie Gilbert, 12th grade

Beauty is Life- by Jalisa Reed, 11th grade

Family Connections-by Rebecca Andrews, 11th grade

Class Clown-by Dominic Taylor, 10th grade

Past, Present, & Future- by Andrea Thaxton, 12th grade

Heart Leaves- by Rosa Ramirez, 12th grade

This year, my birthday was pretty awesome. Mainly because y'all made it fabulous & because I got to do what I love all day (make pretty photographs...duh)! I held the RDU Baton instagram account, a collaborative photo project held by the wonderful people of the Triangle to let the world see how AWESOME the Triangle-area of N.C. is! I didn't have an unusually eventful day, but worked to make all my shots count! It's definitely nice to have a challenge when shooting since I haven't had that since the good ol' days of Pat the photo professor! I included the original captions beneath each photo for y'all. You can sign up to hold the baton here. Also, if interested, all shots are iPhone and I use a diverse group of photo apps and textures: Mextures, pictwo, pictapgo, vscocam, snapspeed, and squaready (although this is just a handful of what populates my 2 "photo folders" on my phone).

Hello RDU! I’m Lauren V. Allen, a local photographer based out of chapel hill! I’m also a high school photography teacher at Northern High in Durham. I always start my mornings off really early, around 6:45, at work with a cup of coffee in my “great mustaches” mug! #chapelhill #durham #latergram by @viedfinder / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YxR9cGjh-z/

My intermediate photography class at #Northern decided it was best to do a crazy class picture! These kids are the next movers and shakers of the photography world and have quite the eye for it! They are my #durham #babyphotoninjaz! check out my blog, viedfinder.com for some upcoming class galleries! Photo by @viedfinder / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/Yxei5ejh8l/

I’d like to thank @google for making this girl happy with a #google #doodle! By @viedfinder #techgeek / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YyKKEMDh55/

I’m always lovingly greeted home by my sweet yorkie, Eloise. Today she fought over a new hair bow while barking at our neighbors at the bus stop. She thinks she’s the biggest dog in all of #chapelhill. Photo by @viedfinder #adventuresofeloise / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YyOUsSDhwP/

So freaking excited for my birthday present & good company! I sure do love my husband & his memory of my favorite color :)! #chapelhill photo by @viedfinder / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YySIowjh11/

Fresh cut lines for my favorite #chapelhill @thetopofthehill knock-off: Kansas City Ice Water! Love dinner parties! Photo by @viedfinder / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YyXa2DDh9O/

Confetti cupcakes with great friends are better than confetti cupcakes alone #ftw. It’s been a great day with you lovely North Carolinians! Couldn’t have had a better social media birthday:) now to spend my time with friends and the hubs! Be on the lookout for Emily @mlelynn and her day with the baton! #chapelhill by @viedfinder / on Instagram http://instagram.com/p/YyjBqBjh9K/

Thanks for all the well wishes! Such a great way to start off a new year!