Roots 'n Blues 'n BBQ Festival

Dear Roots 'n Blues 'n BBQ Festival,

Although you have a long name, and you cost a lot of money to go to, you were fun to photograph. Thanks for the colors, and especially, thank you for the rain.

Love,
Chelsea

Wrestling Practice

I was assigned to shoot wrestling practice last Wednesday. It seemed like a pretty boring shoot, but I think I got some neat shots out of it. The story is featured here.

Boom!

As you may have noticed, I'm attempting to catch up on my summer photographs by updating my blog today- I'll eventually get them done!

Fall semester at Mizzou has finally started, with a BANG! I'm working for the Columbia Missourian again, but this time though I don't have to strictly write stories, but instead I get to do what I love, take photographs! I have become obsessed with the sound of the shutter, yet again. At the beginning of the semester I wasn't too inspired, and turned out some pretty average shots, but recently I have had another dose of inspiration and have fallen back in love with photography. It only took an evening of great shadows and reflections to put the inspiration back in my shutter finger.

I'll continue to update my blog throughout the semester, but if you want to check directly with the Missourian, just go here.

Or a cat... life would be so much easier.

Joel wanted me to make sure to say that this photo has been sharpened. You could probably have guessed that.


Dear Zeppy Lynn,

You are adorable. Thanks for not killing me in my sleep, even though I know you plot it sometimes.

Love,
Chelsea

I wish I could be a bug

Dear little ants,

You are so itty bitty. I feel so powerful when I look at you- I could squish you with my pinky finger. Don't worry, I won't, you are too helpful in this world. I saw a show on the history channel once that showed what would happen without bugs. We would be covered in our own trash! What are you thinking when you try to pick up a gigantic piece of food and bring it to your queen? Do you make little marching noises? 1...2..1...2...1...2... or do you just know how to tramp through the world with your little piece of sandwich? Thanks for letting me take your photograph. I'll never squish you with my pinky, or any other fingers.

Love,
Chelsea

Dear Dew,

Please stop distracting me. You're going to make me fail my classes. Stop being so beautiful.. please.

Love,
Chelsea

Hello Dew- I dew love you!

This is why all of my jeans have holes in the knees.




Dear beautiful fog,

You are dangerous when I am driving in my Mazda. You are too powerful for it's little tiny headlights. I cannot cut through you and see if there is a deer in the way! I do enjoy photographing you though... Walking through you is also a treat. I did that today. I closed my eyes and walked straight into your white nothingness. My entire body tingled, even though I felt nothing. Thanks for hanging there... so still... as I cut through your condensation, and thanks for allowing my body to lay under you and look up to the white blotted out sky. You made my day.

Love,
Chelsea

Drive In Movie

Dear Small Town America,

You made me happy that I'm from this country, even when sometimes I feel like I shouldn't. You are so full of spirit. I cannot believe how lucky I am to live in a place with so many hard working, amazing people. Thank you also for hay bales, and drive ins and ice cream shops and sunny, winding roads. You take my breath away.

Love,
Chelsea

Yes... I'm obsessed

Things that distract me
1. Dew
2. Cats
3. Beautiful light
4. Colors

No cats in this one.... but the rest of it is all here. Yes... I was late to class, again.

MU Columns

Painter's Brush

Byron Smith mixes a yellow tint onto his pallet on Saturday at Orr Street Studios. Smith worked with oils on Saturday, but his passion lately has been watercolor. “It’s translucent and hard to control, that’s what I like about it. I let it do what it does, and I don’t try to control it, I work with it,” said Smith.

Refugee Portrait

After volunteering for the Immigration and Refugee Services in Columbia, Mo. for the past year, I was finally able to do a portrait session with a family. This is my favorite photograph of the day.

Ghost Hunting

Ghost Hunting from Chelsea Sektnan on Vimeo.

Michael McDonald and his team of paranormal investigators, the Kindred Moon Paranormal Society, investigate a ghost in McBaine Mo.

For the last piece in the Engaging People section of the ColumbiaMissourian, my friend John Schreiber and I decided to work on a long term project I have been doing since my first photojournalism final project. I contacted my friend Michael McDonald and he allowed us to follow him on a ghost hunt in McBaine, Mo. We weren't sure how to go about he project in pitch black, so we used flashlights to light most of the shots, otherwise we would have had just black photographs.

Heritage Festival

Sometimes I wish I could pause for 10 seconds on photographs in multimedia. I get sucked into moments so easily!

Heritage Festival Festivities from Chelsea Sektnan on Vimeo.

A blacksmith pounds on the metal of a horseshoe, permeating the air with the smell of hot metal. Linda Coats weaves her fingers though alpaca fibers, creating an entire shawl in an afternoon, and bluegrass music plays continually in the background at the 32nd annual Heritage Festival and Craft Show.

“It’s a group of craftsman and tradesmen displaying their wares and just having a good time,” Jay Jones said. “It’s free to come in, walk around, look at all the different different types of crafts. There’s some good crafts people here. They offer a lot of different types of music and shows. It’s just a good family weekend.”