On Thursday (4/29) I’ll be boarding a plane at Dulles and heading off to Israel and Palestine for a 10 trip/ flim-making experience. I’m really excited about the trip and have already pretty much finished packing. I’d like to say that it’s all from motivation but it’s partially because I’ll have no time once the week starts as well as I’m procrastinating from cleaning my house. But regardless I’ll admit that I’m quite proud of myself for fitting 10+ days of clothing and basic amenities as well as a pillow and yoga mat for camping on the beach of Galilee, all in one small travel size suit-case! For all of you who say women cannot pack light! I beg to differ (or perhaps I just pack well and have learned how to shove a shit-ton of stuff into one suitcase)

For proof:

Yeah. I’m super pleased with myself!

But anyway, I’ll be taking off on Thursday. I’m going with National Community Church. It’s a missions trip to the region. So yeah, it’s a God thing. I’m going to explore religion and the role it plays in my own life. What better place to do that than in the Holy Land.

But the trip is more than that. I’m part of a crew that’s going to be filming a documentary about the journey of 4 people going on this trip. Though most of the 4 view this as simply a journey to visit the roots of their religion, they will also be forced to face the present-day situation and see the current day political climate up close. Most Christians, or at least the one’s who speak their mind, are conservative, right-wing, zionists. We want our community to make an informed decision through what they see with their own eyes and figure out their own stance on the situation. As a Christian do you have to believe that the area belongs to the Jewish people?

So we’ll be following these people as they experience the Holy Land but also as they experience the occupation. We’ll be spending time in both Israel and Palestinian territories and passing through check-points along with everyone else. We’ll also be stopping by an orphanage (that I got my work to donate tons of supplies too YAY!) and a refugee camp, as well as a settlement tour.

So hopefully I’ll come back with some great footage as well as some super photographs to share!

Katie.

From Momenta Workshops website:

“Momenta strives to elevate and support the community of visual journalists and artists around the world. We create relationships between like-minded individuals and organizations for the common good of our craft and society as a whole. Our innovation and outreach within the field helps the institutions and individuals we work with to profit and succeed into the next generation of media…

Our workshops specialize in helping not only beginning storytellers but also professionals on an upward trajectory. We aim to keep connecting journalists and media experts from around the world to create a network with common interests. In a sense, we fill the void current media institutions cannot by getting photographers to out into the field to hone their skills, perfect their craft and carry on the mission of journalistic integrity. At the same time, we are building a new media marketplace that will continue to pay dividends to the communications community for some time to come.

We see photography as a communicator of ideas and emotions across a wide human audience. We seek to promulgate visual journalism and the arts as a mechanism of social change and a profitable venture into the future. It is the principles we were founded on and the belief that brings our students back over and over again.”

I think what they try to do is really inspiring. I know some people who have gone on their workshops as well and have found the entirely fulfilling. You are ensured to come back with an exceptional portfolio, enhanced skills, and an experience of the lifetime. If you have the dough to do it, I would totally go for it. I know I certainly would. Sadly, my pockets are devastatingly empty these days.

In cahoots with Momenta is one, Jamie Rose. She’s an Alumna from my school, American University, and certainly someone to know in the field of photography. She spoke to my class the other day and had a lot of interesting things to say about the field of photography, the marketability of it and yourself, as well as the beauty of networking. Not only that but she also has one of these handy little blog things that are just popping up everywhere these days. Check her blog out here.

Also, if anyone has been on one of the Momenta Workshops, I’d love to get your feedback about them!

Not only does the downloadable program convert your photos to one of your timeless, favorite formats, it recreates the process too. After you drag the photo you want as a Polaroid into the little camera icon on your desktop and you hear the familiar “click,” the picture will appear on your desktop as well. You get to watch the entire Polaroid process unfold as time goes by and the picture darkens. Heck, you can even shake your computer a little if you’d really like to get into it. Though this time, it actually won’t ruin the development process of the photo. You can also stop the development at any attime to create whatever kind of coloring you like.

It’s amazing. The gratification is even more instant than with the Polaroid itself.

And if sharing your photos with your friends is not enough, simply upload them to the Poladroid Flickr Account. But let me remind you. If your picture is bad, turning it into a Polaroid picture will not make it a good one. So don’t even try.

Here are a few of my own favorites from the website: