NEW YORK ON FILM

This post is dedicated to all the hard work my camera put into capturing special moments in New York. I was quite nervous about the film developing weirdly because of the colder temperature in the east coast but thank the Lord baby Jesus nothing went wrong!

Something about the grain and deeper tones in these photos makes the memories of my trip all the more nostalgic. Can't wait to go back and do it all over again.

Hope you enjoyed~

Best fishes,

Don't forget to check out my vlogs from this trip HERE

THE START OF SOMETHING NEW

*Cue High School Musical's Start of Something New*

After countless months of deliberating, researching, and questioning,  I have finally finally purchased my first film camera. Meet my PENTAX ME SUPER--the perfect lil number with just the right amount of functions and practicality.

Instead of listing out all the mechanics of my camera, I'll link this very informative manual that I found on the Internet: http://www.cameramanuals.org/pentax_pdf/pentax_me_super.pdf

Growing up, I was always exposed to film photography since my dad had worked at one of those 1-HR film developing Kodak stores in Manhattan Beach. I'd often visit his work place and play around with the devices used to create such interesting photos and if I was ever lucky enough, he'd let me sneak a peek into the dark room. I think the nostalgia from that particular memory combined with my overall interest in photography sparked this massive desire to purchase my own film camera.

I recently got my first roll of film developed (hurrah!) and I was blown away by the results. Something about the green undertones and subtle noise made such an impact on the photos that I really hadn't expected. 

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do--scroll through to see some (unedited) from my very first roll.

All the best,

GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY

One of my favorite places in L.A. + one of my favorite films of all time (ahem, La La Land duh) = one very, very happy Rachel. 

Despite a very fashionably late appearance from a certain friend (name starts with a G ends with an E), we arrived to Griffith Observatory just in time to catch another beautiful West Coast sunset. I may or may not have hummed/sang the entire La La Land soundtrack while waltzing around the area taking photos of the scenery. The trip to Griffith upon watching the film (twice now) gave this particular visit a more special feeling and I couldn't have asked for better company than these two. 

Here's a couple shots from our time on that magical hill overlooking downtown. If you ever get to visit Los Angeles, I 10/10 recommend a stop here! If it's on a weekend, park near the middle/bottom of the hill and either hike (we did it in these outfits, totally do-able) or bus to the top. Sunset is my personal favorite time to visit, but any time of the day is honestly picture-perfect. 

Shine on, 

*I listen to the soundtrack literally every morning...ask my roommate, she'll concur.                          

*I am listening to "City of Stars" as I write this post, crazy, I know.

STILLS FROM SUMMER

Little snippets from this summer

Hello beautiful friends~ Indeed, indeed it has been quite a while since my last update on the blog. I'm spending my summer for the first in San Diego to work (at my job I've had in the library since freshman year) and to intern. Suffice to say, it's been a busy summer break for me as my schedule is literally filled with work from morning to most nights and I've had very few opportunities for longer term vacations aka less opportunity for me to go on photoadventures. Although, I have been focusing a lot more on my YOUTUBE CHANNEL that's been increasing in the amount of subscribers, so a HUGE thank you to everyone who watches and likes my vlogs!

This summer is by far the most productive and unique summer I've had! I've been learning a lot from my first hands-on internship at Allied Integrated Marketing. We focus on advertising/marketing for a multitude of film studios--from Disney to Paramount--in the San Diego area. I've made lots of connections, watched lots of films in advance, and even worked at the well-known Comic Con International (watch my VLOG)! With both this internship and my part-time job at school, I've had less time for leisure activities, but more time to advance my steps into the career world (so you can say it's a bit of a win-win situation, I think). I do have to say though that the travel bug has been biting me constantly and I've been feeling wanderlust left and right as my friends are off flying to different continents and/or studying abroad.

The few times I've had to plan a day out, I've celebrated lots of 21st birthdays (include my OWN!) and even met a few friends I've made via Instagram. Talk about from URL to IRL! It was a magical day spent getting to know Vanna (follow her HERE) whom I've grown to adore through the various encounters we'd share via the Internet. Ah, the beauty of living in the digital age.

I've got about a month left until school starts and to be quite honest, I'm ready for it. This upcoming quarter is going to be a tough one, but I'm feeling up for the challenge and I have comfort in knowing that I now have at least a small start in my career pursuits (aka read THIS blog post to see what I'm talking about).

How's your summer going? Hope it's been as good as you'd want it to be!

Catch ya on the flip side,

Rachel

THE RACHEL STUDIO

Smile in 3, 2, 1...

If you didn't already know, I love and I mean love taking photos. I think it started during my early childhood when my dad used to work at this Kodak store in Manhattan developing film and practicing his own photography on the store's Canon ae-1. I would follow him around while he took an immense amount of photos of our family and ask if I could take photos of my own. Throughout my elementary school years, I'd beg my parents to buy me disposables and I'd save up money to develop them at a local CVS. Seeing my own work printed and in my hands was (and still is) the best feeling. I also loved recording mini movies, or what would now be called vlogs, during our family trips to the zoo or to San Francisco. We still bring those videos out during holidays and reminisce of the good times (and I'd get embarrass myself of the weird content I had recorded aka 4 minutes of my brother picking his booger). 

It wasn't until my early teen years that I'd do some research on the web and look at fashion photographers who were basically icons in their industry. Such artists like Bruce Weber and Juergen Teller truly inspired me and I ached to get my hands on my own camera to test out my creativity. Thus began four long years of saving from part time jobs and at the end of high school, I purchased my very own, hard-earned DSLR. I have to say that this camera definitely allowed me to take quality photos and I started using software like Photoshop and Lightroom to edit the various images I took of my family and friends. Self taught and inspired by the greats, I realized that there was a whole community of young students like myself who shared similar passions in photography. I am so glad to have met so many of them and formed friendships that I know are so much more than surface level. 

I started The Rachel Studio as an outlet for my friends, family, and peers to view my work and hire me to take their photos! It is still a work in progress and I definitely have a lot to learn, but I'm glad that people have recognized what I do and it has encouraged me to continue doing what I love doing. I specialize mostly in portraits--I love capturing people's emotions and personalities! I'm so just honored that God has given me such a talent to help others capture a small moment of their lives. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you will be inspired!

Make sure you "LIKE" my FB page HERE // Check out my Flicker page HERE

Best, 

Rachel

P.S.-A huge thanks to my talented photographer friend, Brianna, for taking these photos! Check out here work HERE