I have been incredibly busy making the best of my last semester at Ohio University and shooting for the Voinovich School and College Green Magazine and Project C: Clicking Creates Change, but have loved every minute of it (well, almost every minute). I've collected some of the fun images I have been making this semester! Take a look :)

Chris Whamhoff, representing the MI-CATS 3, holds tar sands above the crowd of students protesting the Keystone XL pipeline during the XL Dissent rally. Tar sands are mined along the coast of Michigan and are used in the hydraulic fracturing process to obtain oil. The MI-Cats, or Michigan Coalition Against Tar Sands, are rallying for three of their members who were arrested recently protesting Enbridge’s tar sands pipeline. The XL Dissent rally was the largest single-day act of civil disobedience in a generation and 398 student activists from across North America were arrested. (READ the story on College Green Magazine)

OU Campus Recycling built an installation of hanging plastic bottles at the top of Morton Hill on February 15, 2014. Students were encouraged to write personal statements relating to sustainability to place in the bottle art. 

OU Pres. McDavis looking not so thrilled to be photographed during the 2014 Innovation Gala, March 18th.

A pesto-lentil 'meatball' recipe I made for College Green Magazine. Read the recipe HERE 

Ohio University students gathered around an OU bus waiting to pick up the Board of Trustees after the first of their two-day meeting January 23.“For far too long, the board of trustees and executive administrators have treated students like violent consumers. They frequently call us consumers. But we aren’t customers. We are human beings and we are more properly called citizens of the university,” said Jessica Linder, a member of the Student Union at the rally. (READ the College Green Story HERE )

And you can sign their petition HERE  to stop the proposed Natural Gas Plant on campus.

Brien Vincent poses with a new stick friend, March 2014.

Along a road trip through Upstate New York, March, 2014.

A little known fact about Ohio, unless you happen to live in Athens county, is that our native fruit is the pawpaw. This year I went to the Ohio Pawpaw Festival at Lake Snowden for my first time. The festival is a huge deal in and around Athens county among the eco-minded community that shapes the area. But for me, the festival was about more than just the pawpaw, it was about community. What other oddity has the ability to draw so many people to one lake for three days of fun than the small, smooth-textured, green-skinned fruit with a shelf life of only a couple days? There aren't too many like it around.

I shot these for collegegreenmag.com. Check out the story here.

Wayne Boyd of Sheep Valley Farms teaches the challenges and joys of training herding dogs.

A detail of the sheep in a demonstration on herding by Sheep Valley Farms of Athens, OH.

Victoria Taylor, co-owner of Snowville Creamery, shows Pawpaw Festival goers how to churn pawpaw ice cream. 

Joshua pops out to look at his Angry Bird through the windows of his family's trailer.

Integration Acres, located in Albany, OH, has been serving the area as a collective for pawpaw growers and enthusiasts to learn knowledge about our navite fruit.

Listening to music from the main stage as the sun begins to set in the sky on Saturday evening.

Badger Johnson gives a demonstration on how to ferment vegetables in fruits to a crowd on Sunday morning.

Frozen pawpaw pult sits out on a crate before getting made into ice cream at the Snowville Creamery booth.

Dogs Gone Wilder not only serves fair foods, they also sell their very own pawpaw salsa special for the event.

So I haven't put up a blog post in a while so I thought I'd do one on the last few weeks of summer and the start of my Senior year as a photojournalism student at Ohio University.

I've been focusing on landscapes and nature shots recently, not really sure why, but here's a few of my favorites: 

Jewett Road, Powell, OH © 2013 Gracie Umana

Rainy day on Mound Street. © 2013 Gracie Umana

Our neighborhood cat Jubbley loves to sleep on our porch when it's sunny. © 2013 Gracie Umana

Washington Monument, August 15, 2013. © 2013 Gracie Umana

Early morning fisherman at Strouds Run State Park. © 2013 Gracie Umana

A baby opossum got stuck in our recycling bin one morning, fall 2013. © 2013 Gracie Umana

I also spent a few days visiting my family in Sarasota, Florida, over Labor Day. Although the time was short, I had the wonderful experience of meeting my newest two nieces and nephew that my sister is currently fostering, and the opportunity to spend time with my two brothers, cousin, and my wonderful 94 year old grandmother.

Lily, my brother Danny, Amy my cousin, and Mariah. © 2013 Gracie Umana

The whole gang. © 2013 Gracie Umana

And then finally for my dear friend Maddie who has always wanted to be famous: An image from a portrait series involving the bottom-half of a mannequin and my lovely Outlook Media  interns this past summer.