Senior Rep 2014 Group Shoot Themes

I have been planning my rep program since last summer, so its hard to believe I am just a few short weeks away from our big group photo shoot. I'm a little stressed, nervous, a lot excited and crossing my fingers it doesn't rain. I have a great team, a great group of girls and 2 great shoot themes that you can see here.

Here are the 2 mood boards I put together to capture the look and feel I am aiming for. I gave each of my model reps a 4x6 photo of both of these to help them and my wardrobe stylist choose their outfits for the shoot.

I am totally in love with the graphic-T style that's in right now. I wanted to incorporate my brand feel and color scheme into this one. We're calling it 'Urban Sparkle'.

For this look I wanted a more classic, slightly vintage girly feel. This should be a nice break from all the winter gray around here! We're calling this one 'Vintage Ice Cream'.

I'll have behind the scenes and sneak peeks here in a few weeks!

I have a bad habit...

Since I assume browsing Pinterest and napping don't count.... this will be my excuse for photography 'work'.

Happy Monday!

Inspiration and Design Process

Here's some images I gained inspiration from for the new blog background. I'm really obsessed with the whole play on bees and the letter 'B'

(if you hadn't noticed, I themed my blog on it...)

There are so many cute honeycomb/bee things out there right now - try a search on Etsy.

Found these really cool down loadable jpegs and photoshop designs on Pugly Pixel blog.


I wanted to spice it up a little, so I was looking for different ways to create honeycomb shapes with more colors and textures.

This is a picture from a tutorial on how to pimp out your sewing machine - lol. If I used mine more I might consider this, but its the perfect example of what I wanted in adding patterns and color.

And then I came across this project on A Beautiful Mess blog. I loved the photos in the triangular shapes.

Since I haven't been sleeping much (thank you pregnancy), this background project is how I've been passing the time. Here's what did with my new found inspiration.

I started off by photographing some fabric scraps, along with some scrapbook paper I liked. I just centered it in my view finder on my camera and voila. Seriously. Not fancy.

(top is scrapbook paper, bottom is fabric)

Once I had all my photos in a variety of patterns and colors from the fabric and paper, I opened them in photoshop. I tweaked with the hues, saturation, colors and added some actions to really make them pop. I used the shape tool to "cut out" single honeycomb polygons.

The one with 6 sides - wait... right?!

It looks like this!

I made some solid colored polygons, a few with just the outline and even clipped some Instagram photos too! I started a new document in the size I needed for my blog (which was a lot of trial and error). I started collaging all my little polygons together and there you have it.

 I really like the way it turned out. I think it adds a lot to the design and layout of the blog.

I am NO blog designer by any means and this literally was a lot of trial and error to figure out the sizing of everything, so creating your own blog background is TOTALLY do-able!

Let me know if you have questions!

Online Book Club

Well since Oprah's show is ending, I figured I'd fill her shoes and start a book club here on the ole blog... well sorta...

I started reading The War of Art: Break Through the Block and Win Your Inner Battles. This book title has been swirling around the photography industry lately and as much as I'm enjoying reading it alone, I think it would be even more enjoyable if I could share and gain enlightement with my friends here.



The great thing about this book is that you don't have to be a photographer or even a creative person to get something out of this book. Want to run a marathon? Learn to cook like a gourmet chef or keep your house more organized? This book is for you.

The basic gist is that no matter what we want to accomplish in life, there's always this thing called "resistance", that keeps us from meeting those goals.

I hope you'll join me in picking up a copy! I'll give you a week or so to get one. Meet me back here on Monday June 6 to discuss the forward and first chapter: "Resistance's Greatest Hits". I'll have a thought provoking question, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on what it meant to you!

Invite your friends and anyone who you think might be interested. I really think we can make a bigger difference in this world by putting action to our ideas and dreams.

Picture Perfect Style: Desert Chic

I've been wanting to start some kind of a regular topic here on the blog and I think I've found it. Picture Perfect Style. Since I love fashion and Polyvore so much, and since an outfit can really help play up your personality in a photo shoot, I think its important (and fun) to talk about.

I'm having some pictures of myself taken this weekend and its got me totally stressing out about what to wear! This is something that I both love and hate. I love it because any chance I can get to understand where my clients are coming from is great perspective for me. I hate it because - well WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR!?



I am totally in love with this color scheme right now. I own a lot of both of these colors and together I think they are so complimentary. I think olive can go with anything. Using it as a neutral color makes it easy to pair with. It makes me think of my grandmother who lives in Arizona. She loves turquoise and its a natural stone that can be found there. The olive green resembles cactus and succulents and the camel color - well sand duh! Dresses are a great way to keep cool and they can so easily be dressed up or down.

When choosing an outfit for a photo shoot, personally I think there's several approaches and things to think or ask yourself about. And since I love lists...here we go!(I'll fill in the blanks for myself, since I've got a shoot this weekend)

1.) What is the purpose of having the pictures taken?
To get head shots/profile pictures for my website.
2.) What do I want others to feel or know about me from looking at my picture?
I want people to see that I am fun, casual and easy going.
3.) Whose celebrity style do I like? Why? Can I imitate something similar?
I like: Jennifer Aniston - always classy and love her casual style, sometimes a little on the edgy side. Lauren Conrad: flirty, girly, fun, young, classy and casual.
4.) What colors, patterns or textures do I like?
Please see above :)
5.) Will I be comfortable? feel confident, proud and beautiful?
Yes! I love the colors and I think they represent my friendliness, causal laid back attitude and professionalism that I want to portray.

The Internet is a wonderful place full of great images and ideas. Polyvore is a great place that helps me to solve fashion blunders.

Mary, how does your garden grow?

I took 3 days off this week from my day job. Mostly to work on my website (launching soon! - YAY) I've been pretending I'm a full time photographer - and LOVING it. Monday will be a major reality check, but I've still got 2 more days til then.

One of my favorite things I got the time to do was to visit Mary at Rose Bredl flower shop in Columbus's short north arts district. (I couldn't help but sing the old nursery rhyme.) Mary's shop has a laid back, romantic, urban and yet country, vintage and chic feel. They've been in business 3 years and specialize in sophisticated, timeless arrangements with an organic garden-inspired feeling (UMM YES please!) I love that you can order flowers for your special day, pick up herbs for your garden or drop hints to your honey that you'd like a fresh bunch of ranunculus delivered to you at work.

I'm officially obsessed with the shop and Mary is a true gem for the wedding industry here in Columbus. Stop in and say hello!! or visit them virtually here and here. But flowers are so much better in person!

A Business Mindset

I have been glued to the computer for 12+ hours this weekend. My schedule has been based on 15 minute breaks, set by a cast and crew taping LIVE from Seattle. I blew off friends, church and all responsibilities to soak up every moment of the FREE two day LIVE Photography Business workshop by Creative Live and yes... Jasmine Star.

There was so much information shared. Everything from contracts, posing and branding. I haven't even begun to look back through my notes yet to even know how many pages I have. If you are like me and are just starting out in your photography career, heck if you're an old pro, you MUST, I say MUST check out Creative Live. They are creating such a valuable service to this industry. The workshops are FREE when you watch the live recordings.

I have new perspective on my business. I feel empowered and confident. I view my self not just as an artist/photographer/entrepreneur... but as a business woman. I want to not only be able to enjoy living a creative life, but to also run a smart and successful business. I know there will be hick ups, let downs, tears and heart break through this journey, but today I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow. I am confident in who I am and what my brand is becoming.

I'm better today than yesterday

A recent situation put me in a terribly foul and discouraged mood. Hubbs (Jacob) coached me though many good pieces of advice, but his best was to think about it in the morning and figure out what I could learn from it. It was solid. I did feel much better this morning and was able to look at the situation differently. I was able to write down (I literally wrote them down. I think I internalize more and learn better when I write) several things that I would have done differently. This is also something I try to do after every photo shoot. What were the positives and what were the negatives? I try to repeat the positives and change the negs into learned experiences. I was feeling better, but was left feeling vulnerable.

The cold, gray gloomy weather had me wanting to move to Florida and overall, I was feeling down. My sister talked me into a trip to Anthropologie for some inspiration with a project we're working on. (which we're hoping to unveil soon!) It was just what I needed. I found some delicious new perfume, bought some ranunculus flowers at Trader Joe's and the sun came out too. I was able to get some good shots of my new goods in the sun shiny-ness. I wish all bad days could end like this and I feel good knowing I'm little more mature than I was yesterday.

“Take chances, make mistakes. That's how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” Mary Tyler Moore

B YOU!

Ohio had the amazing opportunity to have an all star photographer visit from sunny CAL. If you've never seen Jasmine Star's work or heard her story, I encourage you to check her out. She's vivacious, challenging, inspirational, a giver and truly a master in the photography craft. I am thankful that she is willing to share her struggles and successes with fellow photographers. Skip Cohen and Akron Photo Series some how convinced her to come to O-H-I-O. The best part was 10% of each ticket sale went to The Akron Children's Hospital. AmAZiNg!!

I made the 2.5 hour trek to Akron, along with 100-200 (I'm guessing) - other photographers from all over Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Jasmine's topic for the 3 hour seminar was Marketing and Branding. I have 4 pages of notes and a few new friends. One of my new friends is an Art Teacher named Emily! (boy this sure sounds familiar!) One of the biggest take aways for me is to differentiate myself from the crowd. In my own words and in similar context to Jasmine's, God made each of us uniquely. NO ONE can be me! The other big take away for me was networking. This is especially difficult for me, because I so often feel inadequate, less educated, with less equipment and less experience than other photographers. Jasmine calls it 'netmaking'. Its more than passing out your business card. Its being intentional and offering more of myself. Hooo! That's a little scary to say, but I know that uncomfortableness is what helps us stretch and grow.

Thank you Jasmine for your encouraging and motivational words. They were both inspiring and a wake up call!

And just to point out one of the things that does make me uniquely me... I AM A MAJOR DORK! Why did I think it would be a fun or good idea to make silly faces for my picture with JASMINE STAR!? Ugh - I think this one can fall under the category "you can't polish a turd". hahah!

Inspiration Boards

This is an inspiration board I made for my graphic designer. Rather than trying to tell her what I wanted for my logo and multitude of other graphics that I need, she suggested pulling fonts, images, business cards, graphics and other imagery to give her a better idea of what I wanted to go for. I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

I'll be sharing more of how the branding process is going and you can expect to see plenty more of the above in a similar manner on my website (coming soon!) and eventually here on the blog!

This is also a great way to start any wedding planning. Pulling together imagery of what your dream day looks like in your head, helps vendors get a better understanding of what you're imagining - and its pretty fun! Even if you don't have photoshop or other graphic design tools, you can easily copy and paste images into power point slides or even word documents!

Hope this helps you get inspired!