burn

taken by jordan 

at the end of the year a group of us gather on a field and burn all our past years homework assignments, projects, papers, everything. i was at the field with lukas, jordan, kohl, josh and jimin. they are all pyromaniacs. it was fun spending time with them like that. i mostly just circled around the fire, trying to get a good picture of the light from the fire beaming of the boys faces. kohl had made over two hundred paper cranes which he then decided to through into the flames to burn. i took a picture to at least save the effort put into making all those paper cranes. when the fire started to die down, the four of us who were left sat down on a mat and we began to listen to music and talk. all of the sudden, a group of police men on loud, roaring motorbikes came. they were curious as to what we were doing. when we explained to them that we were just burning papers, they quickly left. we said that we would leave too when the fire completely died out. but when it did, we all sort of drifted to the car and lingered. locking the doors and pushing on the gas pedal, i would tease lukas that i was going to drive off. i wasn't of course. i probably would have stalled anyway. the three boys were standing in front of the head lights when i began to take pictures of them. later i instructed them to sit down like they were indians. we left soon after, each one of us exhausted. the night was spent well, i must say. i would relive it once more if i could.

babies

yesterday i went to the pool with my mother, sister, and lukas' family. at the pool already was two toddlers, joe and rheece, along with their twin sisters elianna and lilian. all four of them were so adorable but i failed to capture a picture of the older two as they were jumping around catching "fish" (my mothers slippers). these two adorable girls were suited almost to match each other but also enable their parents to know who is who without lifting their arm to check for a birthmark. the grandparents of these adorable babies were also with them at the pool, just being sweet grandparents. i'm sure they loved the additional attention. through these pictures, it seems like they wanted their picture taken. look at their smiles! so perfect. i still cant tell the two apart, after all it was only the first time i met them. but they do have different personalities that are already so obvious. one of the two, as they were sitting on the mat eating cheerios, was crawling all over. while the other sat perfectly still right in the middle, soaking up the attention i guess. tonight their family is having a fair-well dinner at my families restaurant. i wonder if they will let me take a few pictures once more before they leave to papua. i hope that the perez family will have a safe trip to papua as well as a good and impacting time there. good luck perez's! 

graduation

jordan, me, lukas, kohl

giggles 

jacqueline

jordan and his sister 

my love has graduated high-school, making me a senior 

senior dinner, with a little bit of sillyy

my beautiful red-lipped sister, elselyn 

dear jordan, its been such a great year getting to know you. all the adventures and fun that we've shared together with the group :D you are so full of life, always searching for excitement and i admire that so much about you. i wish i could set you back a grade so that i wouldn't have to say goodbye. but i know its your time to leave this place and find another. maybe one that suits you more. i wish i could teleport to you, along with lukas and kohl, to hang out when we miss you (which will most likely be terribly often). just your laugh makes us laugh, i wish i could record it sometime. you are such a great friend in that you are understanding, accepting, caring, and just effingg fun to be around. i will always look back on my junior year remembering what great friends i had. i hope to come to arizona sometime and meet your girlfriend, hahaha.. i'm so happy that you are going to a place where you want to be. have fun, do stupid shit. but dont die.
love,
stefanie

anna+john

summer '12: its finally here! after 10 months of long school days, summer is finally here! better yet, my sister, anna, and her boyfriend are also here too! yesterday we went to a hotel, roamed around the beautiful place and took pictures. this is only about the third time i've taken couple pictures. they are such a... unique couple. haha! they were so much fun to photograph. their constant silly, goofy faces, and not to mention, awkwardness too. but also, they make each other laugh. and thats when i snapped to action and tried to catch all the life they were emitting. i've never met john until a few days ago, but i like him. he brought me hotamales :) and also because he seems like a really sweet guy, to anna especially. i wish the best for these two, as they learn more about each other and themselves through one another. lots of love,
stefanie 

summer

summer '11: i entered a summer photography contest a year ago. i asked my friend lois if i could take pictures of her for my 'summer picture.' we had so much fun putting flowers in her hair, and i had so much fun taking pictures of her. she is so beautiful. i had a hard time picking which picture to enter that i had passed the due date without even realizing it. i felt so stupid, but at least we took pretty pictures. i hope that for this summer i will be able to take more pretty pictures with my sister, elselyn, and my brothers girlfriend, lainy. i also hope to get better at taking self-portraits. my sister bought me a ton a of vita film from holland, my brother is bringing me twenty batteries! and a friend of mine, here in indonesia, knows where to get converters for my film cameras to attach to my digital body. i am so excited! i cannot wait to learn more about what i can do, to grow more in what makes me indescribably happy. for some reason, pictures just make me happy. capturing memories, beauty, life! it all comes together in one photograph.
i cannot wait to be out of school, finally. to just enjoy the freedom that summer always brings. to spend time with my family. to travel  and visit friends that i miss so much. to take pictures with them! to create a summer that i have carefully documented through pictures and journal entries. a summer that i will never forget. one that i will recognize growth in relationships as well as in my love for photography. only three more days and five exams till i'm done with junior year.
wish me luck :)

sunday

this was taken on mothersday; several families gathered their children and took them to the pool.
this is ilse. she is a little ball of life, always full of energy.

kang+nat

this is my first time taking couple pictures :) they were so much fun to take pictures of. sometimes i would ask kang to get really close and then a flush of red would spread across natasha's cheeks. like in the picture where kang is giving her a flower. its just so nice to see two people that make each other happy, that light each other up. i wish the best for these two :) 

natasha

today natasha had done her make up like this for a presentation, but then added on the fake blood in theatre class. her look just struck me, and i wanted to take her pictures really badly. because seriously, when do you get the opportunity to take pictures of someone with fake blood on their face and with only one contact in. it was interesting to try something new. also challenging to step out of the ordinary. i want to take more pictures of her someday again :) hopefully she wont mind! its a pity that i dont know her better, but i wish i did. it was really nice to hear from someone their plans for the future. i learned from listening to her today that she is interested in Art Psychology. how cool is that?! to reach out to people through art, especially if you are incredibly gifted, like she is. i think that if she chose to do that, she would make such a huge impact on peoples' lives. i believe that she has so much to offer, so much to say through her artwork. i just want to say that i truly admire her. she is bold  in so many ways that many people aren't. natasha is such a unique person. she has so much muchness, so diverse. i am so thanking to have gotten to take pictures today instead of study for boring exams.  i can't wait for the summerr to be here already!