This all had me thinking about the pressure and angst that comes with a celebration.  Most of the ones I see don’t come with sadness or grief, but they do come with an unnecessary amount of stress and worry.  The day has to be perfect because it represents so much more.

The thing I realized is, that’s exactly why it doesn’t need to be perfect. The day of my friend’s death may have changed lives forever (as will most big celebrations) but the celebration of what that represents shouldn’t be limited to one day.  Last weekend was about remembering a very special person, cherishing the amazing people in my life, and enjoying each moment with them, but celebrating that and him definitely didn’t start or end on Friday night.

Now more than ever, I feel honored to photograph very important, life-changing events and have gained a new perspective on why I’m there.  Part of my job is to photograph all the details, to show the hard work that was put into that day. More importantly though, I’m there to capture the emotion surrounding what that celebration is about…now that, I can do!

Happy Friday y’all!

From the day we started the Lens and Learn event at the Boys and Girls Club to a week later as I left our NOLA Family shoot, I saw a trend in the people that I didn’t see before. I saw it in kids that were eight years old and men that were in there sixties, from bus drivers to swamp tour guides. I realized that hidden under all that southern hospitality and charm is a very hard shell.

I can’t say exactly why that hardness exists. It may be simply the culture; it may be because of what they’ve all been through. Maybe I’m just used to hippy-love-everyone vibe of SoCal. Whatever the reason, to me, it shows strength, pride, and protection. It shows passion. That’s what inspired me this trip and what I love about the photos below.

As I reflect on 2010, literally a flood of emotions surface. I get warm fuzzy feelings, huge smiles, and whopping crocodile tears. I have questions that may never be answered. I have tons of gratitude and laughter, but most of all I have appreciation.

Last year I experienced my third wedding season, fourth year working at Pictage, and the first loss of a close friend. The year took me from San Francisco to Vegas, San Diego, Scottsdale, back to Vegas, Atlanta, New York, Palm Springs, Mason City (twice), De Moines, Portland (a bunch), Cancun, Boston, Maine, Corvallis and New Orleans. I was able to witness and photograph love in all forms. I saw my four hometown besties more times than I can count. I snuggled with my Mom and antique shopped with my Dad. I sipped wine with my Grandma, road tripped with my best friend and “road dog”, got lost in Mexico, learned from my lil’ sister, cried with strangers, got a permanent reminder to “smile.”, met amazing and inspiring people from all over the world, learned to like tomorrow but love today.

Actually I learned a lot. I learned that owning and operating a business is REALLY difficult, but worth every penny, every sleepless night, and every stress-induced pound that it takes. I learned that I need to slow down, listen, appreciate, and just be. I learned that you can’t turn every lemon into lemonade. I learned that relationships (whether with clients, family, or friends) are the MOST important thing to me.

So, 2011…what you have in store both excites me and leaves me a bit nervous. All I know for sure is that my hopes are high and that’s a pretty good feeling. Happy New Year ya’ll!

p.s. the photos represent my 2010 as seen from my iphone :)

a. Christmas Music – I can’t get enough. I literally play N’Sync Happy Holiday every hour on the hour and have five Holiday Pandora stations in the que…super annoying I’m sure.
b. Winter Clothes – Yes, I may still need to blast the air conditioning, but I wont let that stop me from shopping for a snuggly peacoat and a pair of what I like to call boots with the fur (I’ll skip the Apple Bottom Jeans).
c. The cozy factor – Everything this time of year is just cozier. I love the sugar cookie smell of my apartment, the cheesy decorations at the mall and the overwhelming urge to make everything in a crock-pot, ah the holidays!
d. Gift-giving – Im one of those people that completely overspends just to make sure that I get the perfect gift for everyone. It’s like a lot of the shopping I do, bad for the budget, good for the soul.

In the spirit of gift giving I wanted to share some of my favorite 2010 Holiday Gifts for both photographers and just photo people in general.  So with that in mind, its about to get real geeky.

Photo Gift Idea #1 – The Camera Lens Mug – $24-30 – “Is that a Canon 24-70 she’s pouring coffee into?” “No, no that’s just her Lens Coffee Mug!”

Photo Gift Idea #2 – Truly Madly Deeply Floral Camera Scoop Tee – $24 – Photog or not, this is super cute!

Photo Gift Idea #3 – Leica Look-Alike Skin for the iPhone – $13 – A real Leica will cost you a couple grand, why pay that when you can have a Leica-looking iphone?

Photo Gift Idea #4 – Fortuna Camera – $12 – A fortune printed at the bottom of each photo? Yes, please.

Photo Gift Idea #5 – Vintage camera – $100 – Can be found on eBay and other retailers, a vintage camera makes for the perfect studio or home decoration. They are so in right now ;)

Photo Gift Idea #6 – iphone Trick Camera Lenses – $8 – These lenses for your iphone camera come in such variations as sparkle, wide-angle, and kaleidoscope. That’s just rad.

Photo Gift Idea #7 – National Geographic Simply Beautiful Photographs – $20 – This book is perfect for the coffee table and everyday inspiration. The photos are simply beautiful…really.

Photo Gift Idea #8 – Lomographic Holga Starter Kit – $60 – Ok I’m Holga obsessed I know, but it’s an awesome gift for people who are into photos.  It truly is the gift that keeps on giving!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Anyway, I decided late summer that I wanted a fall. A brisk fall that included hot apple cider, a real hayride, carved pumpkins, and wicked foliage (had to throw in a wicked). I definitely got what I was looking for in New England. Amanda took me on quite the tour from South of Boston up to New Hampshire and Maine. It was beautiful! Here are a few of my favorite fall-ish photos from the trip.
I was thrilled to finally meet Amanda’s niece.  She is the happiest little girl, her smile makes the day better.

Anyway, I switched from black and white to color (Kodak film) and took my Holga to Cancun. If I could get it right I thought it would be the perfect place to try. To my surprise, I liked the result!

Just as I was feeling great about myself and my new appreciation for simple photography, my Dad decides to show me his latest roll. He’s been experimenting along with me (with his fancy twin-reflex Holga) and says to me, I’m not sure exactly what I do to get them to look like this…

After chatting a bit, his lab pushes his Fuji color film. I love them and can’t wait to try it on my next roll. I’m lucky to have him to show me the ropes.

When I say teach photography, we took a very lax approach this time around which I thought was pretty awesome. Our goal wasn’t to teach technique, it was to inspire. We challenge them with things like “take a picture of something that represents hot”. It’s amazing to see them go from focusing on the obvious hot items like the sun, to the less obvious things like the color red or my favorite that came up for that one, a supermodel.

Of course while trying to inspire them and fielding questions like, “I can’t decide whether to be a doctor or a photographer, which one makes more money?” I was inspired. Just like the last Lens & Learn event, I walked away with something too. I not only got to hug and squeeze a bunch of kids (one of my favorite things of all time) but I also got to speak 11-year-old. When we weren’t talking about photography, we chatted about nail polish color and how to best bedazzle a cell phone, Eclipse (btw aren’t they too young for that?) and Toy Story 3.

The funny thing is that’s what I talk about anyway…

I had a blast and was reminded to not take photography and/or life too seriously. They have high hopes and dream big with no hesitation, no doubt. I think we can all learn from seeing that.

I hope to go back to the SM Boys & Girls Club soon, I owe them a thank you (and I would like some more hugs).
How cute is this sign they made us?
The pier with 100 or so kids was a little crazy, but it ended up being a great place to shoot.When we finished the scavenger hunt, we practiced posing :)Their shirts are awesome. They say “The positive place for kids and teens” and “Be Great”.A man at the merry-go-round gave us lots of Bazooka.Miss them :(