Last summer, my awesome sister-in-law held her 2nd Hearts for Dance workshop. This dance camp invited disadvantaged hispanic girls from around Wayne County to come and finally learn how to be a ballerina. These girls are the most grateful and excited dancers ever. They sleep in their tutus, they've mastered the perfect ballet bun, and dance truly encompasses their hearts. As Tess and her crew at Dance for Christ live by, let us "praise His name through dance!" (Psalm 149:3). [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/72153079 w=500&h=281]

I took this on as a personal project after graduation. And a year later, due to (thankfully!) getting a job & a crazy first-year of marriage (loved it!), I finally have it finished! Personal projects are something that feeds your soul, and this project definitely brought me back to my photojournalism roots. I've dabbled quite a bit in fine art photography & design this past year, but it's good to know that my lovely professors pounded photojournalism, multimedia, and all the ethics to boot into my noggin! I'm so blessed to have been given a great education & even more blessed to get to use it on a daily basis at my job and as my stress reliever!

Finishing this project has been amazing. I find video to be a challenge, a puzzle, if you must. The tedious editing, the countless command+z's, and the final product are so very rewarding. I suppose it's because it's not as instant as digital photography, despite the fact that it's digital video. It's something you must work for and something you will cherish, more like film photography when you do it all yourself in the darkroom. It has to have an idea that is deeply conceived, than overly brainstormed, then creatively shot, then painstakingly edited & lastly, eagerly awaited to be uploaded to the internet. What a world we live in these days. This project has taught me to breathe. To take time for myself, and to remember my roots. It's something that I'm going to work more towards this year, becoming an all-around healthier person. I'm going to take the time to edit those old photos on my hard drive, I'm going to search for some new story to work on, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it because it's something I love to do! If you have thoughts on personal projects, or would like to continue the personal project conversation, leave me a comment & we'll talk!

Let me just tell you now, Jerry & I had quite the whirlwind of a summer. We graduated college, got married, traveled to Antigua for honeymoon part 1, & for part 2 of our honeymoon, ended up in France with his family! We are so blessed to have been able to travel so much and be able to enjoy family time (& macarons!) abroad. I went into this adventure with a bag full of cameras...well, 2 bags full of cameras. I decided that with all my leftover film from my darkroom photography class, my new & fabulous Instax camera (thank you Allie Russell & Lauren McCay), my trusty iPhone, and my good ol' Nikons (digital & film!), I was going to try to encompass Henri Cartier-Bresson as I traveled through his home country. While I am certainly NOT Henri (although I wish I was the photoninja that he clearly is), it was truly a sweet opportunity for me to release all my creativity in many different formats. So...7 rolls of t-max 400, 6 instax cartridges, thousands of iphone & digital images, and 7 months later, I finally have for you, France, a one-week love affair.

P.S. I love Jerry for trekking around with me & carrying my equipment :)

Part 1 starts out at Gare de Lyon in Paris as we are en route to Le Paradou (near the wine town, Le Baux) in Provence. While in Provence, we travelled to Aix-en-Provence, which is where this post ends.