When you take your camera and shoot pictures, whatever photographs are produced are your property. They belong to you and only you. Your work is copyrighted as soon as it is produced. This goes for any type of creative or non-creative work: writing, books, drawings, pictures, music. Anything that comes from your mind and is available to be seen or heard by others is copyrighted. Unfortunately, despite this warning, there are still quite a few thieves out there that likes to steal other's work and portray that it is theirs. While you can take legal action if you find your work to be stolen, there are a few preventative measures that you can take. The best one (and my favorite) is watermarking.

What is watermarking?

Why should you use a watermark?

Examples of watermarks

Traveling is an experience all of itself. There is aplenty of sights to see, food to taste, and people to meet. However, what you cannot bank on without open arms and an open mind is experience. Experience comes from the nitty-gritty, unexpected moments and lessons that one can get from traveling. One of my favorite ways to garner a bit of experience is to stay in a hostel. For those of you who are unaware, a hostel is a cheap place (similar to a hotel) that allows you to stay and share a room with other [same-gendered] people for a night or however long you plan to stay. It is a pretty cool way to meet people from all over the world.

One of my favorite hostels that I have ever stayed in was in Frankfurt, Germany. Of course, I am a bit biased because of the people that I spent time with there, and it was also the last place I stayed at in Germany; however, it was great! They had an enlarged map with pins in each place that someone came from. It was cool to see where past or present guests of the hostel came from. The common area stayed open until about 2 AM. The architecture was pretty awesome! And they had free WiFi and computers (!), which was important for me to contact people because I had no data plan in Germany at that time. Aside from those things, I cannot really speak as to how sleeping overnight went because I never went to sleep that one night we stayed there; a couple of new friends and I stayed up, drank, and talked the whole night until we had to go to the airport. Great memories, guys.

Anyways, considering the fact that I may not have already convinced you to stay in a hostel by now, here are just a couple of reasons why you should:

1. All of the Peeps

2. You Save Loot

3. Live More Like a Native

4. Best Way to Stay Connected & Unconnected

5. Food

While I enjoy all types of photography, pet photography is quickly becoming my number one. Not only am I able to surround myself with furry friends, I am able to capture some of the most candid shots because, let's be real, animals are really unpredictable. One moment you think you know what they are going to do and bam! The exact opposite happens. But the spontaneity is exciting, and I live for it.

1. Bring toys, particularly their favorite one. (Treats are a bonus!)

2. Bring in their humans.

3. Don't be afraid to get up close!

4. Get up on it. Or down. Or in its face. Or somewhere, anywhere, really.

5. Shoot in Black + White.

6. Keep the flash at bay.

7. Don't pose, pose, pose.

I have a particularly late graduation when compared to other high schools. Mine is June 7th. {Almost there!} With graduation comes many opportunities for photos, which I am beyond excited about. Unfortunately, though, I will be on the other side of the camera. I'll be the one walking across the stage and receiving my diploma! But I still have some tips for photographers; keep reading to learn about graduation day photography!

1. Know the rules for the venue.

2. Understand what type of photos your subject wants.

3. Make what you shoot into a story.

4. Don't forget the "simple" things.

5. Anticipate the moment.

6. Know your gear.

7. Prepare for horrible lighting.

In only a a few more months, a lot of teenagers and young adults will be packing and eventually boarding a plane to their destination. They will be going to study abroad. {Does that include you?! If so, where are you going?} The experience will be one of a lifetime. Emotions will be skyrocketing in every, which way: happiness, sadness, fear, nervousness. But the ultimate emotion is different for everybody, but it is almost always worth it.

But before all of those emotions start skyrocketing and going in a million different places at once, it is crucial to figure out what to pack, and better yet, how many suitcases you should take. That is the number one question exchange students ask each other, past exchange students, and their organizations. Depending on who is asked, you will get different answers, but these answers generally will not exceed 2 bags (not including carry-ons). If you ask same-year exchange students, they will be confused (just like you probably will be!) and bring up what they have heard, read, and been told. They aren't the most reliable when trying to figure out what to do because the normal response is, "I don't know...maybe\possibly." The second type of person, ex-exchange students (like me!), will tell you what we did and our regrets. And lastly, the organization will tell you that you should only take as much as you can carry because when you travel, you have to handle all of your luggage yourself. (That's them telling you to take one, subliminally, unless you're super strong.)

My experience was that I took two suitcases, a 25" and 29", a large purse, and a book-bag. It was pretty practical with how many clothes and shoes I took, but then again, it was not practical because I over-packed. {I only had 1 lb to go before I hand to pay a overweight fee.}When I first touched down in Germany, I did not have to handle my bags because I had a connecting flight to Munich. Once in Munich, my YFU Representative helped me with my bags, so I only had to carry my purse, book-bag, and one suitcase. After I left my temporary host-family, I shipped one bag to my permanent host-family. If you notice a trend, I never really had to handle my bags until the very end. Which was a freaking headache. I had anxiety the whole week before and day-of because I had to travel on the train with two huge suitcases, a book-bag, and a freaking purse. The train ride was a nightmare {a story for another time}, so by the time it was time for us to check-in our bags for the flight, I was overjoyed. But that was just me.

If you are like me, let me tell you what I wish I would have done. I would have halved everything that I packed. No, seriously. Pack normally, and then take half of it all out. Do not pack things that you think you "might" wear; pack things that you know you will wear. It is important to pack for situations that will most likely occur, but for other things such as a formal event or wedding, that's not important. You can buy new clothes or shoes wherever you are then. Save room. Once you half your suitcase(s), hopefully you will be able to fit everything into one suitcase. Still take a book-bag and a purse, if you want; those were easy to tote around. Just be very careful how you pack your suitcase.

If you are not like me, are the complete opposite, and know how to not over-pack, stick with the one bag rule + carry-ons. It'll be easier for you to do because you're so organized and have everything together.

Summed Up:

1. Future/Current Exchange Students will not know how to answer you when you ask how many suitcases should you take. They don't know either.
2. Past Exchange Students will tell you their stories and regrets (like I did) and let you base your decision off of that. 
3. Exchange Organizations will tell you to take only the bags that you will be able to handle alone.
4. Do not over-pack. Cut everything you pack in half. {No, do not literally half the items, just take them out of your suitcase.}
5. Regardless to if you are an over-packer or a perfect-packer, ONLY TAKE ONE BAG + carry-on's. You will thank me.

Making the transition from high school to college can be one of two things: smooth and quick or difficult and slow. One can only hope for the former. I surely do. It is so funny and ironic how anxious and nervous I am whenever I think about this impending change. I will no longer be a teenager. I will officially be a young adult. Being negligent (while never good to be) is no longer an option; I must take care of business and myself without always depending on my parents. No matter how many places I have traveled to alone or with friends or with strangers, or how many colleges I have been to and studied at, this feeling is still here. Because I know that once I graduate, I can no longer go back. This change, from teen to young adult, is only the beginning.

I know that simply going off to college is not an "end-all-be-all" to my youth. I will still have my parents and their support and my family's support. It's just the knowledge that this change is permanent that is getting me. By "permanent", I am referring to being an adult. You go from infant to toddler to child to pre-teen to teen to young adult and then what? Adult. Granted, you will be an elder later in life, but you live most of your life as an adult. And college is  one of the paths to being a real adult. After it's over (unlike high school),  I cannot not get a job because I will have to support myself. I cannot bum around the entire summer because, well, I'll have a job that 9 times out of 10 will not allow me off during the summer. {Teachers are so lucky!} Friends that I'd automatically see because of school - nope, a genuine effort will have to be made to meet up and stay connected. {I am not complaining about this because real friendships are made from effort.}

I am a thinker. I think about the future a lot - not the small things, but the overall picture. But I honestly do not know how my future is going to look right now. I do not know whether I will love Iowa and want to stay after college, or if I will feel an ache to return home to Michigan. Maybe I will want to move to Florida or Texas.  What job will I have? All of these are ambiguous.

But what is clear is that in a month's time, I will be walking across the stage at Ford Field, receiving my high school diploma. And this fall, I will officially be a first-year student at Iowa State University, Class of 2020.

It's my 18th birthday!