"let's do 52" - wk8

well, it's the end of the week, which means its finally time for the vegas recap! dad and i left friday about 7am for the great voyage down CA-99 through to I-15. yep, we drove the way. we arrive in vegas just after 5 or so, scoped out where to park, and then headed to our hotel to check in. friday was the opening of WPPI-U, which unfolded in to an amazing 2 day session full of information, suggestions, and images. sunday came with classes about posing, lighting, packaging, senior portraiture & topped off with the end of [b]ecker's presentation about where he has come from, and the[b]school. topped off with some panda express, and a runway show... over all a busy and productive sunday!

with doug gordon, nigel barker & jasmine star

monday's 8am came pretty rough. morning class on documentary photography (pretty much my favorite college photo course i've taken) and then it was trade show time! from 10am when the show started to about 3pm, i lapped those rooms. collecting information and samples for labs, albums, and everything in between! i was really trying to put off buying anything until day 2 of the trade show, but after going back to the kelly moore booth three times, and texting my cousin for style validation... well, i came home with a fabulous new camera bag. made sure i saw the lions for amy's benefit, and then it was time for the ever glamorous jasmine star. really, she's a true inspiration. and committed to be my t-ball wedding photographer, but that's another story ;) j* was followed by the photo newbie group dinner, and boy was the food delicious! although, i chowed down on far too many chips before hand, half of my dinner came back to the hotel with me.
before i knew it tuesday was here, and started off with an EXCELLENT presentation by jerry ghionis. all about evoking true emotions while still posing to get the shot, and about 10 more at the same time. more trade show, followed by wandering the strip down to the m&m's store (and being photographed by [b]ecker... making me wish i had cared what shirt i wore today when getting dressed) and then one last stop to say hello again to the lions (who were sleeping). last class about wedding preparation (honestly, i probably could have done without) and then it was time to head home. we left vegas about 6pm, stopped for food & gas barlow, and then finally made it home just around 3am wednesday morning.
overall, i had a blast! i wish i had put myself out there more to meet other photographers, but i was lucky enough to run in to a few familiar faces over the 5 day span. my brain is full of information, ideas, and inspiration that i cannot wait to put in to action!

Friday Feet - Feb 25th, 2011

now usually, jenny and i are the ones to be in the same state as each other, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. but once i crossed that border friday afternoon, i promptly texted amy and said "hey, i'm in the same state as you!" this week, our feet took us places some of us hadn't been before, while others hung out around familiar areas. places like "sin city" and video game supervising, as well as shoveling snow and just plain driving around in the car. overall, an eventful week for sure!
amy - "Shoveling my driveway after the snowfall of about 4 or 5 inches. An hour later I went out and shoveled another inch! Silly snow. Then I got ready for the Journey concert!!"
emily - "i was super tired, and had low hopes. sunday i almost gave up and didn't even stay for the sony fashion show. but i did. and i felt like i learned a lot (and got to see great images) from nigel barker. so here are my feet, as we sit in the garden arena at the mgm grand in las vegas, watching nigel photograph some audience members on stage."
jenny - "driving feet this week. these feet have been driving all over auburn and sacramento. they're tuckered out"
kasey - "These are my "LittleMissMatched" feets (thanks Emelee) as I relax and watch Donnie play Little Big Planet. He practicing for when the sequel arrives."

Toe Shoe Tuesday - Becca

oh my heck... this shoot was AMAZING. i found this location from a friend of mine and declared to her that i LOVED her pictures, and i NEEDED to know where it was so i could put a ballerina in it. her "secret" place took us on a journey to the foresthill bridge (you know, the one seen in xXx?) in auburn. We started shooting on this catwalk before we moved on to the larger grafitti area (which getting to took us back to our jungle gym days) that was under the base of the bridge where it connected to the ground.
becca was SUCH a trooper... she literally had her pointe shoes on for about an hour during all this climbing that was making ME winded. she was a BLAST to photograph, and i'm SO glad we decided on this location for her! can you tell finally posting this excites me?

WPPI - Tuesday

Alas, it has come to the final day in vegas. I'm pretty sure at this point, my itty bitty notebook is being pushed to it's capacity, and my right arm is about to fall off from writing so much! I might have to work on being a left handed photographer in case of such tragedy. I don't know how i'm going to handle the transition in to going back to school and work. But at least i'll be back to photographing some lovely ballerinas :) So without further delay, here is another trade show filled day's schedule!
8:00 - Jerry Ghionis - Weddings
10:00 - Trade Show
3:30 - John Phoenix & Lisa Catera - Wedding
Phew! Seeing all these days laid out makes me notice how much wedding related information i'll have gotten by this point. But that's okay with me! The more information I gain now, the better I can become for my future brides. :) Thanks everyone for following my crazy schedule this week! I apologize for the lack of photo updates, but believe me, they're coming soon! As well, i hope to have a "post-wppi" entry giving some visual details and excitement of the event.

WPPI - Monday

Its day four here in vegas, with one more left to go! Hard to believe the time has flown by already! and i can't believe on my days away from school, i've made myself have to be somewhere at 8am for 5 days in a row. UGH! oh well, it has been so worth it for this experience! So here is what monday is looking like for me!
8:00 - Natalie Fobes - Documentary
10:00 - Trade Show
4:00 - Jasmine Star - Untold Stories
8:00 - Newbie Professional Photographers Dinner (food and socializing. yay!)
Such a contrast in down time compared to the last few days. it gives me the whole time of the trade show to get lost in the rows and rows of whatever products people are offering. I hope to learn about some exciting new things, and hopefully figure out what i want to do with my camera bag situation. my back pack is awesome, don't get me wrong, but its so not wedding photography compatible!

Post #100

a toast to the first 100 entries, and hopefully 100s more to come!
(more to come from michael & jamaica's wedding later this week!)

WPPI - Sunday

Well today is the finishing up of the WPPI-U classes, and the start of my platform and master classes! As well, some potential meeting of other photographers :) So without futher delay, here is what sunday has in store for me!
8:00 - Doug Gordon - Conquer Today's Challenges. Take Control Now
9:30 - Joe McNally - The Language of Light
12:00 - Sal Cincotta - Wedding
2:00 - Jen Hillenga - Seniors/Business & Marketing
3:30 - becker - Wedding
7:00 - Sony Runway Show (hosted by Nigel Barker)
and there you have it!
after today, everything seems to slow down a bit without so many classes right after the other. tomorrow will bring some trade show excitement, and hopefully i won't come home with too many extras ;)

"let's do 52" - wk7

honestly, i don't think i could have broken that bowl in to more pieces if i had tried. the back story starts with the week before this one... seriously ALL i ate for dinner 4 out of the 5 week nights was macaroni and cheese. Twice came from a box (ala toy story character shapes) and twice came from homemade dinner leftovers. This week, i was determined to not have a week of 4 identical meals, and so i started off with a bowl of chili and some teriyaki chicken leftovers. (no, this bowl was NOT full of chili. thank goodness). all was fine and dandy until i wanted milk (insert "if you give a mouse a cookie" feeling here). small cup hidden under big cups that i moved, came crashing down, landed in the bowl of chicken that just came out of the microwave. bowl tumbled off in slow motion, because thats how all tragic events like this happen, and crashed to the floor. serious Rube Goldberg machine effect going on here. Did i clean it up right away? no. was my first instinct to get my camera? yes. did i cut my finger on bowl shrapnel? yes. oy. so happy valentine's day to me. and mom. she got a clean kitchen floor once i put my camera down.

WPPI - Saturday

So i figured since i'm out and away doing mass brain filling at WPPI these next few days, i figured i'd give you a brief run down of who i'm hearing speak, and what goodness they're sharing with me! and i figure it would help me keep everything straight if i physically laid it out in order somewhere. haha
Well, to start things off last night was the "opening ceremony" so to speak of the WPPI-U program. When i was registering for WPPI-U, i was super excited to see this special program for my kind of photographer being (aka, the "newbie" category when it comes to running a business and such) and had to sign up right away. Plus, i'll get a rockin' certificate and t-shirt. i do love t-shirts :)
anyways, back to a brief about last night.
Dane Sanders kicked it off with information about how to get the best experience out of WPPI-U, as well as the rest of our photography career. Following Dane was Jerry Ghionis, who gave us a rundown of marketing strategies and how he began his career which is going on 15 plus years now! Now, on to today's line up of what is just beginning!
WPPI-U Saturday
8:00 - Tim Meyer - Light Styling & Posing
10:00 - Jason Aten - Top 10 Things for Your First Two Years
11:00 - Craig Heidermann - Business 101: Law School for Photographers
12:00 - Lunchtime!
1:00 - Julianne Kost - Lightroom 3: Step by Step Workflow
3:00 - Scott & Adina Hayne - Creating a Successful Business out of Thin Air
4:30 - Cliff Mautner - Weddings 101: Skills for Success
busy busy saturday, but it will be so worth it!
stay tuned for "let's do 52" later on this evening!

Friday Feet - Feb 18th, 2011

amy - "Just taking a break from hiking in the mountains of Nevada. More like really big hills. But still super fun. This was the view from my resting spot, before we found the canyon and the cliffs and caves. We had loads of fun! Can't wait to go back! "
emily - "packing... can you tell i'm terrible at it? last minute. as always. and i'm sure it will be filled with more than i need too"
jenny - "It finally rained (technically, for like an hour) so I could wear the rain boots betsy got me for my birthday (in may)! As for the picture i was bored in mendocino and looking down the stairwell on the fifth floor where my secret couch is."
kasey - "Had a bad day. My feet are hiding with me in the guest room while I play with my jewelry. Lifes got to get better eventually"

Toe Shoe Tuesday - Katelyn

if i was to guess -and i'm generally good at guessing- katelyn is probably about my height, if not SUPER close. therefore, adding another member to the super cool, super legit tall ballerina club. i met her for the first time at the start of our shoot, and she was SO much fun to work with. i've shot down on vernon street before, but having a ballerina is a totally different experience than shooting there with a bride. was it any less fun? no way! i just love the funky colors of this area, and how well the vintage-esque architecture contrasted with katelyn's simple dance ensemble. and i totally love how the date on the marquee has not been changed in months.
fun fact: we totally jerry-rigged her skirt. THAT was half the battle in itself to get it to look right on a taller ballerina. good thing us ballerinas can be crafty with bobby pins!

Valentine's Day Contest 2011 - WINNER

well, valentine's day has come and gone, and i hope everyone had a wonderful one! i spent mine teaching four little cuties at their weekly dance lesson (i'm gonna miss them next week when i'm at WPPI!) and was even lucky enough to get a stem of carnations and a hershey's kiss as a treat :) Well, of course i can be all talk about MY valentine's day, but we have a contest that has to be won. It was a small turn out, but i would say that is pretty swell for the first one! without further adieu our winner (randomized so wonderfully by random.org) is:
congratulations to monica & james! and thank you so much to both of the other entries. a little something special will be showing up in your email inboxes as well! and on this note, i can't WAIT to bring you all the excitement for the HUGE march of dimes raffle contest that is going to be put together. it will be worth the anticipation :)

"let's do 52" - wk6

i wanted to try my hand at a macro lens this weekend with the wedding reception we had to shoot, but didn't have the time (or thought process) to go out and rent one in order to do so. luckily, i am fortunate enough to go to a university that stashes nikon products for students to check out. once i got to dan "the man" this past tuesday, i found that the lens was already checked out! just my luck, right? well, he did have these lens attachments for me to try out, and so i said, "why not." of course, i put off figuring how to best use them until SATURDAY... aka the day we had to leave. so i plopped one of my random rings down in the window on my mom's insulator collection, and shot away. i think they worked fairly decently, so i packed them in my backpack of camera gear, and off we went. once the reception got going, and i borrowed the rings from the bride and groom, did i use the attachments... not. at. all. but i'm happy with the results! just you wait and see when i get some peeks posted :)

Friday Feet - Feb 11, 2011

apparently this week we all decided to spend some time outdoors. well, with the exception of amy, who had a little friend come in to her feet picture that SHOULD have stayed outside. gah. i need to stop looking at it now. it gives me the CREEPS! happy friday, everybody :)
amy - "There I was, just mining my own business, when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw that I was being ATTACKED by a GIANT spider! Just kidding. He was scooting around in the school building where I do all my "waiting for class to start" waiting, and he stopped right in the middle of the floor. So I took a picture of us hanging out together. I did not squish him, but I did move to a different spot. I saw him later that day again, alive and well. I named him Will, in honor of the building he lives in."

emily - "big feet, little feet. shoe-d feet, painted feet. her last morning before she turned three was spent with me, buzz lightyear, mushu, and princess movies. oh, and her crying little brother that was probably in my left arm at this point. overall, a pretty good morning, and a kick off to a very busy saturday."jenny -"this week we have railroad feet. because really what better way to spend a beautiful sunny week?"

kasey - "During our yard work, I discovered a happy little Lady Bug chillin' on a leaf, so I took a break to snap a shot. Papa came over to see what was stealing my attention, so I have a rare shot of his feet with mine. :3 Happy Friday."

Toe Shoe Tuesdays

thats right! with the excitement of my senior portfolio building this semester, i figured it would be best to feature one of the edits from the week here on the blog. excitement is interchangable with the word "stress," right? the images shown week to week may or may not be used as the "final" in the project, but they were selected as a favorite of mine (and given the honor of being posted under this cheesy blog title). so without further aideu, here is the first one!megan and i shot in old sacramento this past sunday and had a great time wandering around and finding cool locations to shoot. From just the one block that we wandered around, there were SO many different location opportunities to shoot at. we found this awesome spot in a back alley sort of area facing this massive grassy area. we even got lucky enough to shoot inside the candy store :)
fun fact: this same spot is where megan's sister took her senior portraits. she climbed on top of her car, and on to that little ledge up top as her sister drove her car away to get the shot. oh the things we daring people do ;)

"let's do 52" - wk5

let's make a toast to two year olds. okay, let me rephrase that. let's make toast FOR a two year old... on her last day before turning three. today was a crazy day of early mornings (yes, i consider 8:30 to be early on a saturday), crying babies, work meetings, and winterguard performances. in the middle of the little kidlet watching madness, i started to make myself some breakfast (aka, toast). the little shadow followed me in to the kitchen, and after much chatter about the magnets on the fridge, and the sun catchers in the window, she decided she wanted a piece of toast of her own. fast forward to now. past the trips outside on the deck and back in. past the watching of disney movies, and ultimate buzz lightyear dancing in spanish mode. even further past the work meeting, and the winter guard & winter percussion performances... i. am. exhausted. and tomorrow brings more life. photographing in old sac for my senior portfolio (yay!) but also writing a research paper for said senior portfolio (nay!)

Friday Feet - Feb 4, 2011

wow, its february already? oh, and forewarning, you'll probably hear that the next 10 months at least... it amazes me how time flies sometimes! anyways, we're back to our footsie antics, and have quite the variety this week! with three of us back in school, we're trying to shake off the weekly "here i am at school... melting my brains away" feet... because really, that can be the feeling sometimes. so here is what we came up with this week!
amy - "Procrastinating before I have to leave to take Luke some non-skunky clothes. Turbo is procrastinating with me! She wasn't too sure about having feet so close to her princess face though. I got quite the glare before she gave me this look of 'Pet me?'"
emily - "these are my running around town, making myself official before a meeting with a client in the evening. that's right, everyone. i have officially filed for my business license, and my fictitious name statement was sent out in the mail the day after!"
jenny - "the feet played lava monster this week for the first time in ten years"
kasey - "Went to pick up the Spousal unit from work and thought 'Well Crap, its Feetsie Day.' So here are my rather happy feet in the car. Its a messy floor, thank the snow."

Lorelai & Kent - Sneak Peek

i know you've all been anxiously awaiting for something more than "friday feet" and "let's do 52" posts on this blog of mine. don't worry, i feel that the flood gates are soon to be opened in the coming weeks :)