Since I've been gone

So I have recently returned (partially against my will) to my lovely school for another action-packed year! (I would also like to note here that my laptop and with that, my ability to make blog posts, were out of my possession for about 10 weeks, so I apologize for my absence.)The first week was a whirlwind of smiles and tears and confusion, but I made it through. Coming back to this place and resuming my life here after a summer of changes is hard. I guess I changed quite a bit because I find habits and friends I clung to so dearly the year before distant memories now. But I won't delve into the details as some are most unflattering on my part and rather will talk about my wonderful summer! Believe me--it's much more interesting. There's even moose!

The first part of my summer was spent at a grueling 5 week summer intensive dance program in Carlisle, Pennsylvania where I learned an endless assortment of ways to make my body want to kill itself. Nevertheless, I got what I came for: rock hard calves and character built a mile high. I also got to reunite with one of my most treasured friends who I had not seen in a year which was great until we had to say goodbye when I cried like an idiot.

I spent a few evenings on the lawn of my dormitory teaching my roommate how to operate my camera. We had quite some fun with silhouette pictures.

This summer was filled with internal drama as opposed to previous summers where I was constantly at war with others whether over what air freshener to buy or basic human rights. I spent the whole 5 weeks killing myself trying to improve in my dancing and feeling like my efforts were fruitless. I didn't have breakthrough after breakthrough the way I had the previous summer and my self-doubt took its toll. Despite this, I believe the summer of doubt was necessary in my progression as an artist. I finally faced the state of my inner confidence and realized that my body's physical limitations are actually drastically less limiting than my mental ones. I had wonderful teachers whose words stuck to me like glue and convinced me for 90 minutes that I could do anything I dreamed of and still inspired me after the program. But sadly, I also had teachers who immediately threw me back into the funk I was in pre-inspiration. I've come to accept that not all teachers offer brilliance on a silver platter and what makes the good teachers so so good is equal parts wisdom and rarity. If I picture them sitting in the corner of my studio, I dance better.

And that's what I learned in part one of my summer away.

Love always--B

Photo-tripping

I will admit that one of the hardest things about pursuing photography recreationally (even despite being a teenage ballerina) is that I am often at a loss for photo ops. It's a bit difficult to pack bags and travel cross-country to prime photo locations when you are tied up with everything that comes with being a student. Regardless of my inability to photograph the Great Barrier Reef one weekend and the Norwegian fjords another, I still do my best to take some pictures.

 A couple times this past week, my dad and I have gone out walking around our neighborhood with me toting my Sony Cyber-shot HX10V of course in the case that we encounter a rare species of songbird. Well, I never came cross a rare species of songbird, but I DID manage to take some nice macros of the remaining spring flowers. It ended up being a lot of fun (as you can tell, my dad enjoyed taking some... unconventional flower pictures) and I actually got some cool pictures out of it.

The experience has been a reminder that beauty isn't only found in exotic places. It can be saved in a shot with just a bit of imagination anywhere you go even if there aren't gorgeous views of sweeping landscapes within a mile of your house.

Also--a note on starting this blog. I had a stroke of inspiration today as I sat in my room listening to the loveliest thunder storm. Like it says in my "About me" section, I really just want to keep track of my good experiences and share them with anyone who bothers to read. I hope that I have something to offer to you through my thoughts and photos (writing is another hobby of mine so this incorporates most all of my passions into one project. Yay!) and if not, I hope this blog wasn't a COMPLETE waste of your time. Sorry if it was.

Until my next post ~B

Hello, Internet.

Me in NYC this Spring at Lincoln Center

Hello, blogosphere that I am rather unfamiliar with as of now!--(though that will hopefully change later on). I still feel as though I should give more background on me before I proceed with daily posts of my exploits in the arts. So first of all, I should warn you of my sometimes rambling writing style and attempts at being humorous. I should also warn you of any grammatical errors that I make as I don't have an editor. So bear with me, please, as I try my best to write down the ideas I have in my very confusing mind. I assure you that they are quite interesting once you understand them.

Anyways, I began my ballet training at age 3. Ballet at age 3 when mainly involving skipping around in a circle can hardly be called training though, but I had to start somewhere. I meddled in dance at several studios before really cracking down on my mission to attend my dream school, UNCSA. I began training harder and harder and pushing myself to where nobody really wants to be pushed until I made it into the Preparatory Program and eventually the school itself. For those couple years, dance was a single-minded pursuit of mine and I thought it would remain that way until I eventually completed a professional career. But alas, new dreams have a way of forcing their way into the picture *cough* photography *cough* med-school *cough* and making a single-minded pursuit of anything nearly impossible. So today those new dreams stand hand-in-hand with my dream of taking a graceful bow on the Lincoln Center stage.

At my wonderful arts school, I have had the great opportunity to be surrounded by all types of art--including visual art. I have always had a certain affinity for drawing, but was never taught how to draw "properly". Well, I was ever so fortunate to befriend a few people who could draw more than properly--more like perfectly. And these few extraordinarily talented people were also extraordinarily kind and helpful and taught me a few things. They are who I have to thank for being able to draw the photo on the left. So now I have yet another hobby to enjoy in the free time I don't have. (Along with singing alone in my house when nobody can here me, playing the piano as well as someone who hasn't had lessons possibly can, and watching Netflix).

I guess the appropriate topic concerning myself to post about on this blog is where my photographic journey began. Sorry, but I don't really know. I just ended up taking pictures one day and really liking it. I think that I grew into the hobby through the many trips my family go on to far away lands where I desperately wanted to capture the beauty for myself. After a long time of looking through the lens of a Nikon Coolpix with 10 megapixels, anyone would get frustrated with the poor zoom and image quality, as I definitely did. My Sony finally came into my possession two Christmases ago and that is when I really fell in love with photography. It is a remarkable camera for being small enough to fit into my pocket though it is no studio camera. Nevertheless, it is the perfect camera for me and has allowed me to capture the images I now display in my flickr feed: https://www.flickr.com/photos/b_leyende/. I have found my main calling to be wildlife photography but would love to get into shooting with people as my subjects. Hopefully that will happen in the near future.

Basically when I am not working on dance or taking pictures or studying away in school, I find some ways to clear my head and make it easier for me to continue in the arts. Granted, I love all three of the above listed activities (yes, even school), but there are a couple things that I find so incredibly refreshing. First, I love doing anything with my lovely kitties when they agree to be cute and cooperative. Second, I love riding my bike when North Carolina weather agrees to be cute and cooperative (i.e. not sweltering hot or freezing cold. I attribute my sanity to both of these things. And, of course my incredibly awesome friends and family who put up with me.

Thanks guys ~B