My Two Favorite Locals

     I met this random kid named Justin and his boyfriend, and they've pretty much changed my life.
   
     One night a few weeks after I met Justin, I was sitting at SIUE on Photoshop for the first time. I won't go into the details, as I want to save that for a later post, but I was completely at a loss. Granted, I was trying to levitate a girl as my first conceptual post, let alone my first time on Photoshop at all, but still. I didn't even know what a layer was (if you know photoshop, you'll get that joke). I messaged Justin, and he was so sweet about it! He told me that I should check out tutorials on YouTube, and just keep trying. I did keep trying and finished the photo. Maybe you'll see the post at a later date. But the thing is, I could've given up, and Justin helped me keep going.

    Okay. No more of the mushy stuff. Fast forward to now. I actually met this Justin person through The Wild Ones (blog post on that later, too), and am proud to call him my friend. He's still one of the best photographers I know, and he's going to become HUGE. But, Justin doesn't come alone. He has Leighton, and oh, how I love Leighton.

     Leighton has just started working his way into the world of conceptual photography as well, and I'm so proud of how far he has come. I've actually shot more times with Leighton than I have Justin, now that I think of it. Leighton is that kind person that will joke with you until you cheer up, and is just so funny. You might think I hate him after making him get into a Lake with huge biting fish and snakes, almost lit his fingers on fire, and made him run through huge spider nests (are those the white spidery homes on the ground?), but I don't! I swear! We just get a bit too adventurous and inspired with our ideas.

     These two boys were out at my house to shoot, and the sun was perfect where we were, so I made them model for me. Okay, maybe "made" is the wrong word. I asked nicely, and they were all for it. I love having friends who work both in front and behind the camera. Here's a few photos I got from that spur of the moment shoot:

  It's funny. I'm still not sure how I got so lucky that one night to find Justin's photography page, or why in the world I thought I could send him a friend request. But I did, and I'm so glad that I did. Let's be honest, I'd still be a pretty horrible photographer without Justin. Thanks, guys. <3