Final Reflection

           Before the project began there were many moments when we thought it couldn’t be done. James almost pulled out of the project all together on one occasion. Our main issue was that we were intimidated by the short amount of time we had to make an entire book. We also didn’t know if two weeks was enough time to shoot, most professional photographers usually take months if not years to shoot for one book. The entire process leading up to the project was stressful but as we found out, it was completely worth it.

            James and I often talk about how the trip was a series of wonderful events that just fell into our lap. One example of this is that Pace Academy had room for Karey and us to go on a trip to Ossabaw Island basically for free. It also turned out that the trip just happened to coincide with the beginning of our senior project. Something else that worked perfectly was where we were able to stay in North Georgia. For the first two nights we were able to secure a mountaintop camping spot that was perfect for astrophotography and which also provided us with excellent views. After that we were given permission to stay at the McMurtries’ lake house, which happens to also be in North Georgia. During the first night at the lake house there was a thunderstorm that really made us appreciate walls and a roof. The third and final thing that went very right was that we were able to finish exactly on schedule; actually we were even a little bit ahead of schedule. I thought we would be struggling to keep up with the schedule but that wasn’t the case. We were so good at planning the trip in advance that our schedule was totally do-able.

            Durring the trip I was able to learn a lot about both James and myself. The first thing is that we work surprisingly well together, not once did we ever get into a serious argument. The closest we got was when we were deciding which photos would go into the book. We disagreed on some photos but we never really fought, I thought that after spending a month together we would want to kill each other but that wasn’t the case. Another thing I learned is how expensive living alone can be. My parents pay for my gas and food but when we were out by ourselves I kept track of the costs and boy did they add up. I probably filled up with gas at least four times during the trip, which was well over two hundred dollars. In addition to that the food was also quite expensive which I kind of expected.

            Our final few days of the project were actually pretty sad, it was especially sad when the books came in. When the books arrived we sped about an hour just reminiscing about our journey. We talked about how the project just fell into our laps and we decided that we wouldn’t have changed anything. Thank you Lovett for letting us go off on this adventure, it was something I will remember for the rest of my life.