My first shoot

Okay you guys, this is kind of a big deal. I had my first “official” photo-shoot this past Sunday. And by “official” I mean lets-spend-a-couple-hours-on-a-shoot-to-help-me-practice-and-build-a-portfolio shoot. When my co-worker friend got engaged a couple months ago, I think I probably exclaimed, “Oh my goodness can I take engagement pictures?!” before I even asked to see her ring. Fortunately, she and her fiancee are self-proclaimed “non-picture people” so they didn’t want to pay for formal engagement pictures anyway. It was a match made in heaven! (And I mean this photo-shoot, not her and her man :-P… although they’re pretty great too)

So anyway, last Sunday we headed out to an adorable (large!) park nestled in the city to take some engagement pictures. I was both nervous and excited. Nervous, obviously, since this was my first “real” photo-shoot. But also excited since I didn’t feel too much pressure since this particular couple aren’t picture-crazy (like I am)… so if I royally messed up, they wouldn’t be heartbroken. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the shoot. I’m relying on you professional photographers and “I’ve been doing this for years” photographers to give me some feedback. This was my first shoot (have I said that already?) and I’d like to hear what you all think. Did I do alright? Or did I do horribly? Do I need to work on my posing of subjects? Do you think someone would pay for these pictures? Do I need to work on my editing? Or am I just a naturally gifted photographer who is going to skyrocket into stardom within the next 5 years with my incredible pictures? (Totally kidding on that last one :-P) But seriously… please give me some feedback on these shots, as I have some more shoots coming up and I’d really appreciate some advice on how to improve from those of you who have been doing this longer than me.

Somebody got the giggles:Please leave me your thoughts!

E

I sorta feel like an expectant mother

So if you happen to follow my blog enough to have read this post, you’ll remember that I said the following:

“…I can’t shake the notion that the right business name for me is out there… I just haven’t discovered it yet.”

Welp, I’ve got it. After weeks of pondering, jotting down ideas, Googling photography keywords and reaching out to others, a name finally just came to me. Out of nowhere… as I was driving home from work one evening. And it wasn’t anything I had come up with before. Funny how that happens isn’t it? I immediately sent it to two friends who I’d been bouncing ideas off of and they both loved it. And it’s been a few days now that I’ve been living with it and I think I still love it.

But I’m not ready to share it yet. Hence why I feel like an expectant mother. When you’ve got a baby in your belly and you finally figure out the perfect name for him/her, but you don’t want to share it with the world yet because you’re not ready to face the ‘ehhhhhhhh’-s from other people. Or the “Oh that’s so cute!” to your face with the “What is she thinking?!” after you leave the room.

So for now, it’s too fresh and new and I want to live with it a while longer before I reveal it. I need to have 100% confidence in my decision before I open myself to potential ridicule and/or judgement of it. But once I am comfortable enough, I’ll be switching this blog name over to it and will begin the (scary) process of building an actual photography website for myself and really branding a photography business. Eek!

E 

P.S. Regarding the quote that kicked off this blog post, the full text of it originally was “…I can’t shake the notion that the right business name for me is out there… I just haven’t discovered it yet (kinda like the right man).” Well, there’s been no change in the “finding the right man” part… just in case you were wondering. 😛 Which you all totally were, I know. 😉 ha

Animal lover

I’m an animal lover through and through, so today I thought I’d share one of my favorite animal shots. I snapped this guy at the San Diego Zoo while vacationing there with family nearly 2 years ago. Now he hangs in the stairwell of my house and I smile every time I pass him. His little face just makes me so happy. And those ears… to die for!

I’m disappointed I didn’t get any feedback from my post yesterday, but nonetheless I believe I’m getting closer to picking a business name. If you missed it, click back one post and let me know what words come to mind when you think of “photography.” Once I decide on a business name for myself I can’t wait to share it on here and start learning the ins and outs of building myself a website (eeeek)!

Have a nice evening everyone. I’m looking forward to a tomorrow that’s a Thursday but it’s really like a Friday… 3-day Easter weekend, wahoo!

What I’ve done and what I want to do

What I’ve done:

My first year out of college I worked as a professional photographer for Lifetouch Preschool Portraits(R). It was an amazing “fresh-out-of-college” job and I was fortunate enough to receive photography training that has stayed with me through the years. But it was all studio-photography… set up the muslin, place prop, pose kid with prop, snap a full-length and a headshot and move onto the next. It got monotonous and I soon realized my future wasn’t going to be spent in a studio.

Over the next couple years I jumped around to a couple jobs before finding one that stuck (I’m now approaching 3 years with my company). I never got out of photography completely, but it definitely was put on the back-burner while I settled into my “big girl” job, bought a “big girl” house and got settled into “big girl” life.

But now that I’m settled (for the most part… sort of…) I want to pick up my camera again and get serious about it. Hence my desire to become a photographer (again… but for real this time!) I have the means, I have the time, I have the passion… now, I’ve just got to keep up the motivation without letting all my other “life stuff” get in the way.

What I want to do:

I want to become a successful, working freelance photographer. I want people to call me up and say, “Hey I’m getting married – will you take our engagement and/or wedding photos?” or “Hey I’ve got some kiddos that I want nice pictures of – can I hire you?” or “Hey, I have an extra $10,000 laying around that I’ve decided to give you just for kicks” (okay, that last one may not be entirely photography-related, but it’s still something I’d like someone to call me and say.)

Much of my photography in the recent years has just been for fun and has been nature-related (landscapes, flowers, etc.) Sure, I take pictures of friends and family when the situation arises, but not in the “portraiture” sense. So this year I want to get more involved with portraiture. I want to practice and build a portfolio so I can start getting clients someday. I want to build a brand and establish an online presence. I want to make a name for myself in this world of freelance photography.

P.S. No matter how many “big girl” things I do I still don’t consider myself an adult. Anyone else feel the same?! 🙂

My first post.

February 19, 2011. With the help of some friends and family members, I moved my butt out of my parents house and into my own humble abode.

February 23, 2013. I had the thought, “It’d be really cool to start this ‘next chapter’ of my life on the same day I started my homeowner-chapter 2 years ago!” But after checking my calendar I realized I was already 4 days late for that. “Oh well,” I thought, “I’ll start a blog today and I’ll only be 4 days off. That’s not so bad.”

March 15, 2013. I actually sit down to create a blog-space and write my first entry.

Hey – better late than never, right?!

So here I am, (finally) writing my first blog post. I’ve never done this before and can honestly say I have no idea what I’m doing. I think (hope!) this will become a great way for me to share my work, get to know others who share my passion and connect with people I’d like to work with.

So what exactly brings me here?

Photography.

I’ve always been the girl who never left home without her camera. I’m always the one who will stop mid-stride, drop to the ground and photograph a leaf if I think the sun’s hitting it juuuuuust right. The girl who’s always snapping so many pictures of everyone her friends are rolling their eyes by the end of the night – yep, that’s me.

But as I’ve gotten older, taking pictures has evolved from something I just liked to do to something I’m passionate about. And thanks to a bit of professional training, actually having nice equipment and finally getting past my self-doubt (or ignoring it for long enough to write this post), I’m ready to try to start my own side business as an official photographer 🙂

I’m not ready to “reveal” who I am for the whole world to know yet (because of that whole “self-doubt/scared/not sure if I can really do this/don’t want everyone to know if I fail” thing). But I will tell you that I’m a 20-something girl who works full time in marketing and aspires to become a part-time photographer 🙂

So here begins my journey.

E