better than a shot of espresso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJOzdLwvTHA << Something to listen to while reading my wordy post. Cause Ingrid Michaelson is too cute.

I often find myself needing to recharge. When it's just regular energy to deal with everyday stuff, I can go running or hug my dog. But when I run out of creative energy, I never know how to charge that so I just wait for it to come back to me. Sometimes I feel like the little spaceman in an old computer program I had as a kid. You had to constantly refill his energy levels to keep him moving.

So, when Sonja pressed me to finally go shooting with her and a friend I thought that I had no creative ideas to bring. I tried to look at photos and get inspired, and even had a bunch of strong tea that morning but I still showed up with no idea of what to do. After 15 minutes with my camera in my hand, talking with two amazing girls, I had more ideas than I could ever have come up with sitting at home. And the shoot rocked!









As if finding inspiration in my camera wasn't enough, my yoga teacher had some interesting things to say the other morning. Reading from some wise old text, she said that Change comes from within. Buying a new car may make us feel better for a little bit, but real change and real happiness is comes from within us. And, according to this wise old yogi author, he says that we all have the energy to create what we need; it is just inside us, waiting. i like that.

1 Scot boy + 1 American gal

So, remember back in the days of NCSA when we had that intensive crew week between semesters? There was one day where I had two people assisting me with metal work to get the Hansel and Gretel frame together. They cleaned, cut and prepped the metal, screamed into my helmet when it was break-time while I welded. It was an awesome day where all I had to do was what I loved to do! That was how the entire Scotland trip was. I felt like I had done all the crappy prep and waitressing work before I went and then just got to shoot to my hearts content all week long. Christina and Mark were super supportive (Mark carrying my tripod while hiking with me at 5am to get the dawn shots) and totally patient (Christina is my best model ever) and I felt like I had two people at my back the entire time.

Before we went, I sketched out a bunch of ideas and loaded a few inspiring shots onto my ipod. Then I set out to see how they effected the wedding shots and how many of my planned shots would actually work. Not too many, but I see the planning in the results still.






One of the biggest successes was the photobooth. I learned a lot about backgrounds and lighting, but all in all it came out pretty much as expected. .....thank baby jesus, cause i was worried for a minute that it would be crap



I wanted to get a shot with wineglasses or whatever in front of the two of them with the glasses in focus and another with the couple in focus. The situation presented itself for this shot of the bride (I also got one with the focus reversed) and I am really happy with the way and idea stuck around and got applied to what was at hand.



Getting group shots was hard because they are such a loose and chill couple and hate to pose for anything, so I just tried to keep everyone moving. Think Resevoir Dogs on this one. In hindsight, I would have put the couple closer together and more in front for many of the group shots. Oh well, I still like it and have learned somethin.




I took the walking shots from a shoot that I had see

I have some crappy, wtf happened shots that I should weed out to show you, but all in all these are what I am proud of. : ) yeah!

new stuffs

You are what you eat

I am what inspires me.

I pulled a random smattering of photos that I earmarked lately. They each caught my eye for different reasons. Let's break it down (imagine the way James Brown would say that line).


First of all, thank you Michael Kenna. This image is Gorgeous. I love the sense of place and the grace in the shot. It also invokes such a wonderful lonely story, pulls the viewer in.


Color. Great color without forgetting composition. Nice story happening here too.

I love the effect put on this image. It makes the mundane interesting without hitting you over the head with post processing overload.

Why have I not been applying shallow depth of field to people more?? I love playing with d.o.f. and think that this makes a very interesting shot. check out the link below for more of these.

http://digital-photography-school.com/17-beautiful-images-with-shallow-depth-of-field?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DigitalPhotographySchool+%28Digital+Photography+School%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher



Hello Ballerina Spider Women doing yoga in the subway. And I don't know, I just like the horizontal lines behind her.


Completely irrelevant cuteness.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fb47QmTT1ck&feature=related

What am I willing to risk?

This man inspires me and his writing often rings true to me.
http://www.pixelatedimage.com/blog/2010/06/art-and-risk/

I know what I want and I am willing to take the risk. Really, what are the risks...

1. Risking my financial security, both short and long term.
2. I might never make it to the point where photography pays the bills.
3. Affecting my pride. I want to feel that I am 'successful' and working a 'good' job. Working as a waitress in the meantime hurts my pride. But knowing that I am working towards something bigger and more satisfying helps.
4. My dad thinks working as a photographer is a crock. Well that's just pride again.

At a certain point I begin to overthink things, such as...If I never become financially stable how will I build my recycled-materials-house-on-an-awesome-piece-of-land or will I ever be in a position to comfortably start a family (ooh, that sounds mature). I overthink; I get nervous, and wonder if I am doing the right thing. But really, this is what I should be (need to be) doing. It feels so good, so in tune, to be working towards where I need to be. It has taken a long time but I know I am on my path. finally.

Latest Projects

Here are some tidbits from my latest photo shoots. I figure I'll start simple and branch out...































Thoughts on risk taking to come....