the fantastic four: black belt testing 2013

Let’s just say, I’m so amazed at all the strength, determination, and friendship that exists between these kids from Cypress Dojo in Gainseville, Florida! This past weekend, I went to Atlanta to watch my best friend since I was 3, Kaylyn Kraus, test for her black belt in Cuong Nhu, an oriental martial art style. Cypress dojo had 4 people testing for their black belt, Kaylyn, Alex, Tom, and Jesus, and all four passed (woot woot!). Now, this is no easy test. My body was falling apart just watching them, and it’s just a breeze for them to break through 3-4 wooden boards with their elbow. You know, they are super ninjas, or more formally, senseis! In addition, I met some wonderful people from the Cypress Dojo & am excited to finally put a face to all the people Kaylyn talks of constantly! They are truly a huge family of awesome people! Congratulations, y’all–go on to great things!

Wayne Country Day Graduation: Class of 2013

Happy graduation to all the 2013 WCDS graduates! You are smart, powerful, and have the whole world to mend into your own…just keep it livable!

Congratulations, Tess! We are so proud of you!

allie russell: class of 2013

Meet Allie Russell. I’m so glad you are getting to meet her because she is truly a beautiful person. I remember meeting her on our first assignment for Blue & White magazine back in the day, then we worked countless hours working at the world’s best college newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, where she just finished up her last paper as Director of Visuals. She’s got a great eye for photography & a killer eye for what looks good…her pinterest boards speak wonders, people. While Allie & I go way back, I couldn’t have been happier to be asked to take her senior portraits! She is so fun to be around and had some awesome photo ideas, and while we couldn’t find a field of flowers, she was game for laying in a flower bed in UNC’s arboretum and then going to shoot in our favorite Franklin Street bar, Linda’s. Good luck to you after graduation and at your internship at the Student Law Press Center! Can’t wait for our delicious basket of cheese fries later!

rdu baton: may 1, 2013

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!

intermediate photo:light painting

This week in intermediate photo, we did light painting! We needed a fun project to get us back up on our feet after our Art Gallery last week. The students did most of their light painting in-camera then photoshopped for contrast and saturation. Here are some of the best from class!