inspiration

A photographer friend of mine contacted me about doing a 365 project in 2012. My initial thought was “Heck no”. I first did a 365 project in 2007 where I took a picture every single day. I missed one day. I signed up again in 2010. I made it until May when hell broke loose in my life. The last thing I wanted to do was worry about a daily picture. So when I was asked I initially thought about that time in my life and didn’t want to do it. After thinking about it some more I started to lean towards yes.

This fall was pretty busy for my business. This is an awesome thing for me. However, the more work I get, the more I worry I’ll turn into one of those robot photographers that just shoot the same thing over and over. Enter Project 365… Taking a picture every day forces you to practice and practice is never a bad thing. I hesitated signing up because I didn’t want to do it halfway. I don’t want to just take a picture of my back door or some random object that’s next to me every day. I want to be creative and really take the time to do it right. It’s a good thing though, feeling forced to take a picture. Having to find something creative, especially in the Winter months, isn’t always easy. I’ve got some ideas on making this 365 a little different so I’m mulling over exactly how to execute it.

So yeah, I just got all excited. Get ready folks. More pictures, means more blogging. I hate posting without a picture so there ya go. This is good for you too. (And to clarify my post from yesterday…I am definitely not letting one not-so-nice person run me off.)

In some countries there are children who do not own a pair of shoes. They walk for miles barefoot to get water and food. TOMS Shoes is an organization doing what they can to make a difference for these kids. For every pair of shoes we buy, they donate a pair to a child in need.

The TOMS Shoes website explains why they started giving shoes:

•A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.

•Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.

•Many times children can’t attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they don’t go to school. If they don’t receive an education, they don’t have the opportunity to realize their potential.

On April 5th, TOMS is doing their yearly event called “One Day Without Shoes“. Can you imagine not owning a pair of shoes at all? Can you imagine not wearing shoes for even just one day? Think about the impact you could have if you chose not to wear shoes on the 5th. Walking into work without shoes would make quite a statement, wouldn’t it? There would be so many opportunities to share what you are doing and would hopefully lead to even more action.

I encourage you to check out TOMS Shoes. It’s not just a good cause either, the shoes are cute and basically like wearing slippers they’re so comfortable. Consider not wearing shoes on April 5th…one day to make a difference.

1)Felt Rosette DIY 2)Pug Puppy 3)Paul & Julia Child 4)Please don’t make me unfriend you. 5)mini cake 6)two lattes

Still loving Pinterest! It keeps me company after Josh goes to work and Jasper is in bed.

I’m a dreamer, always thinking of big plans for the future. One of my big dreams is to have a large open kitchen. I have a folder of hundreds of decor pictures I’ve saved over the past few years. This weekend I sorted through the pictures into specific folders, like pictures of kitchens, bedrooms, living rooms.

Josh and I always love talking about how we’ll remodel the kitchen someday. The great thing is that our kitchen right now is totally usable. So someday when we eventually can remodel it, we can do things to make it all kinds of awesome (not just make it functional). I started showing Josh my kitchen pictures this weekend so he drew up a layout in a free CAD program. He loves the technical, I love the details and pretty things.

I have a few things that I would like to see in my future kitchen. Some (like the white cabinets) are non-negotiable while others are hopeful suggestions.

-more windows and skylights
-breakfast nook
-island with cooktop
-white cabinets
-light wood floor
-large food storage pantry
-functional storage for specific kitchen items (ie. my KitchenAid)
-wide oven

It’s fun to dream with Josh about our future kitchen. I know that someday we’ll do it though it will most likely be many, many years from now. I see the look of determination in Josh’s eyes, mainly because he knows how much it would mean to me. Until that day I will close my eyes and imagine my large bright open kitchen and smile.

Something making me happy these days is Pinterest. It’s basically like a bulletin board on the Internet. Anytime I see something that I want to pin I just click my bookmark and choose the board to pin it to. I have boards for places I’d like to go, things that make me smile, photography, inspiration. Just going to my page makes me happy because it’s all images I love. You can see my boards here. It has been a great place to gather inspiration!

Over the weekend I went to a local antique mall to look around. One of the things I kept getting drawn to is the old postcards. Many of them were cards that had actually been used and mailed. I kept cracking up at some of the writing on the back. The nicknames people used or that everyone was Miss So-and-So.

This was a very rare one that was typed. I got a few postcards that were much older than this one but I just loved it. It was sent from Yugoslavia. “I’m up to my old tricks of not writing…”. It totally sounds like something Josh’s Grandma Rosie would say.

I bought a bunch of vintage postcards to use in my new resolution to write more. I already can’t wait to use the old Valentines I found.

When I was in college and after graduating I was awesome at sending cards and letters. I loved doing it so I was constantly mailing things out. Josh used to joke that I kept Hallmark in business. Then I had Jasper…and I didn’t have as much free time. I slowly got out of the habit of sending cards and notes to my friends. I recently got the book The Art of the Handwritten Note by Margaret Shepherd. It has totally inspired me to get back into note sending.

I sorted through my box of note cards and stationary. I’m definitely in need of some new stuff. I think I’m kind of picky what I write on though. I much prefer the paper to be a textured or linen paper. Cheap thin stationary is just not for me. And letterpress…oh, how I love letterpress. My dream is to have my own letterpress machine someday.

I think once I get back into the habit of sending my friends mail I will keep it up. There is just something so great about getting non-junk mail. I know I appreciate so I think others will too.

I did some browsing on Flickr this morning and added a bunch of favorites. Can you tell what I’m ready for??

I am slowly coming into my own photography style. Of course I’m influenced by others but I know what I like and I do a lot of that. At my sister-in-law’s graduation ceremony last year they played a video slideshow. All of her classmates had included pictures throughout their school years and most put in their Senior pictures. It was pretty awesome to see so many of “my Seniors” up on the big screen. What was even more awesome was to see the definite style my pictures had compared to the others shown. It made me more determined to become sure of my style and sure of how I run my business.

So here are a few things I’ve come to realize about my business/style:

- I don’t do angles. I try but end up deleting them. I hate turning my head to really get a good look at a picture. I can’t imagine others liking it much either.

- I avoid fads. You know how I feel about selective coloring…

- I try to keep colors as natural as possible. Over-saturated just isn’t for me.

- I don’t mess with the eyes. I’ve seen a lot of photographers (especially child photographers) bump up the eyes so much that it’s scary. I just avoid it all together now.

- I don’t do props. Occasionally with kids I’ll stick them in something but I don’t really understand the couch in the field thing.

- I’ve decided not to watermark anymore. Does Annie Leibovitz watermark or would Ansel Adams? Yeah, I don’t think so. Not that I’m anywhere to their talent but still I feel like if you want to be great you should take tips from the greats. I really feel like it takes away from the picture, even when it’s a small watermark in the corner.

- During a session I sometimes have to move a person a few times to find just the right light. I don’t apologize for taking a few extra minutes to find it. The pictures make it worth it.

- I will say no. I cannot take on every new client request. I just don’t have the time. In the past I have squeezed in every last person…not anymore. My work is better if I don’t feel stressed or am thinking about how I’d rather be sitting at home. Sometimes I do want a Saturday off (mind blowing thought!).

- I’ll do what I need to to get the shot, even if that means it’s noisy and grainy.

- After this year we will not be shooting weddings. I finally decided that as much as I love the day of the wedding, I don’t like the any of the other stuff. And I absolutely hate taking pictures inside churches. Yes, it’s the money-maker but I have never once been in this for the money.

- I like lens flare which I will just not apologize for. I also will never, ever fake it.

- Post processing will be kept to a minimum. I much prefer my pictures to look natural. That being said, I do love me a good black and white.

- I really like serious faces, just as much as the laughing ones. But I will not force it. If someone doesn’t want to smile, so be it. If they can’t be serious (which happens often with my husband around), then I’ll get some awesome laughing shots. I want the client to be themselves.

There are so many styles in the photography world. What might not be interesting to me, could be the best thing to someone else. The key is as a photographer, finding your own voice and developing it. Being who you are as a photographer and not apologizing for it. It has been kind of a huge breakthrough for me to get to this point. I feel like finding my voice through my camera has helped me find my voice in life. And that…is an amazing thing.

Saw this on Flickr and decided I pretty much have to do this somewhere in my house. Now just to figure out where…