YEAAAAH, FIELD TRIP: Take The Leap

YEAAAAAH, FIELD TRIP.

short synopsis // What a crazy, amazing experience. I couldn't help but frequently stop to look around at what an amazing environment I was in. A room filled to the brim with talent, oozing creativity, with cheers, embracing, laughter, and muddy boots filling every inch. It was my first real experience on my own, going somewhere I'd never been before, being thrown into a crowd of people I'd never met, and experiencing a completely new world. And it was amazing. 

 (to read a more in depth view, scroll all the way down.)

sometimes the things that scare you are the very things that fuel your excitement. take the leap.

the video is a little jerky, but I just couldn't wait any longer to share it :)

via my iphone:

the long version // (click to read more)

Where do I even begin?! I first heard of Field Trip on one of my, if my not very most, favorite photographer's, Ben Sasso, Facebook. He talked about going to this incredible new event put together by the ingenious minds of a few crazy, talented creatives. My eyes drooled and my heart cried as I read about what an amazing experience it was sure to be, as I was sure it was only for an elite group of invited, select individuals. I'm not gonna lie, I said a prayer that I would one day be able to attend such an amazing event. The thought behind it was so great -- to create an actual community of passion, dedicated individuals from all over the world -- LITERALLY,  I met a girl from South Africa and even a couple of the instructors (Samm Blake and Dan O' Day) were from Australia. I saw some of my biggest inspirations would be there like Jose Villa, Ben Sasso,  and Benj Haisch, later to find out even more of my favorites  -- and instagram crushes --  would be there as well, like Jordan Voth, Katie Ruther, Janelle Flom, and the list went on and on. Not to mention everyone I stalked after seeing their awesome mini bios on the Field Trip Who's Attending page. So you can imagine my excitement when I perused a bit more one day and realized I too could apply to attend! Well actually, it was more like devastation, because by the time I realized it, registration was all booked and I was not happy or a camper. My heart was a little broken and I'm pretty sure I let out a little squeal of disappointment to every friend who allowed me to gush a bit. But I prayed about it again and asked God for there to be some way for me to go. AND THERE WAS. I got an email, not even a week later saying I was accepted and my heart literally swelled with joy. I would lie in my bed, unable to sleep because of how excited I was and just being overwhelmed with how much God loves me. 

Now nerves. I was seriously nervous. Even at 22, I've never ventured cross country completely on my own. Maybe boarded a plane alone to meet family at a destination, but that was it. This trip required a lot of faith. In God, friendships, the goodness and sheer generosity of people. And it was amazing. I ended up staying with a good, goood old friend in LA until I met up with some incredibly sweet girls: Kenzie, Claire, and Emily, who I'd met via the Field Trip FB page and ended up riding from Santa Monica to Goleta with them. They were so sweet and made me feel completely comfortable in 0.37927493 seconds of meeting them at Urth cafe, where they came to pick me up. Though it was raining quite hard, which is pretty unusual for the Cali natives, they were such awesome troopers. I loved listening to their stories and learning more about tidbits about their lives, they're experiences, what brought them to photography, their passions, etc. They were even so patient with me when I left all of my newly bought items in my friend's car and had to stop at two drug stores just to get a towel -- which happened to be a really cute one resembling the California state flag.

Moments after I stepped on the camp grounds, I was surrounded by some of my favorite artists. I'm not going to lie, I was fangirling real hard, but kept my composure as Katie gave me all-too-well knowing glances because internally I was freaking out. Not only had I met Katie, one of the sweetest, most loving souls, but then to enter a room where Ben, Jordan, Janelle, and Casey were all just sitting casually, laughing like old friends. I thought the room might explode from the sheer talent that it was encompassing. My mind was about to, because I couldn't handle it. 

As the night went on and we were to eat dinner, I sat with the afementioned cool kids, met one of my photography idols, Benj Haisch (aka the second reason I came to Field Trip) and later on Jose Villa, NBD. (LOLOLOLOL, Understatement of the century. It's actually a huge deal and was on my bucket list). It was so amazing listening to Benj just talk about his passion for photography and his shameless advocacy for Christ and creativity in believers. I mean he's inspirational through his transparency on instagram alone, but even more so in person. In addition, speaking with Jose -- well, he pushed me, figuratively and literally haha and urged me to pursue my dreams --- NO excuses. Talk about motivation. That's like (an unretired) Michael Jordan coming up to you and telling you to give basketball your all. Except it was Jose and this is photography, silly :) I saw so many other familiar faces I had connected with via facebook prior to arriving and shared hellos and embraces, still shocked beyond belief at the experience. As the night went on, I met more of my roommates, who seriously became like my big sisters for the weekend. Each one so unique and talented, with their own individual perspectives. Tara, with her sweet, reserved persona. Meredith with her bubbly and outgoing personality, and Kasey with her fun, quirky personality and ready set, let's go party attitude. Hahaha. I loved them and all the random little adventures we had throughout the long weekend.

As the days turns to nights I connected with more and more souls (and instagram crushes), like Cameron, Sawyer, Coco, Jenna, and Ben. Each of them left such an impression on me with their talent and their hearts. I honestly could go on and on about all of the amazing and talented people I met there, but ultimately I found myself latching on to my new sweet and dear friend Noelle, who couldn't decide whether she loved or hated me when I forced her to introduce herself to Ben and Jordan. She decided to love (obviously). There's just something about her -- I mean she's stunning, but something about her persona that makes people just gravitate towards her. Possibly the mix between that and her humor yet humility. She's multi She basically became my insta-field trip bestie. Yes, I'm 22 and I still create besties for different situations in my life haha. We talked about interests and life, the fact that I'm black and now her friend, I kind of taught her how to dance haha and she taught me how to see in the dark, we had lisp conversations, whined over crazy long food lines, and became lowkey inseparable for the rest of the time there... so I'm not gonna lie when I say that I miss her the most.

All in all, this was actually a completely unorganized, jumbled synopsis of me rambling on about the experience, but there's way too much to put into words. I hope all of the images and words at least shed a light on how amazing this time was for me and how much I cherished this experience. I hope I get the opportunity to go back again and experience it with more knowledge and confidence bestowed in me. But regardless I'll always hold Field Trip near and dear to my heart and reflect upon it the next time I'm hesitant to just place all of my faith in God and take the leap.