Learning More

One of my all-time favorite photographers is Sarah K Chen.  Not only do I think she’s an amazing photographer and that her work is beautiful, but she has become a friend as well and I’m so appreciative of her kindness and willingness to help me and Crystal.  We met Sarah and her family for dinner tonight where we discussed life, family and photography.  Crystal and I are just starting out and we had a million questions about everything from technical matters to personal matters.  She and her husband were so great about filling us in on what we need to know to get started.  I am so thankful for that and have taken away some very useful knowledge to get my business moving.

I have a slow and steady plan for several reasons and thought that I didn’t need to rush to do anything offiicial.  I realize now that this is the best time for me to get the official things underway as I’m learning and growing so I can be better prepared to reach my goals.  I feel more confident knowing what I can expect ahead.

Sarah is so awesome!

Midnight

12:15 a.m. to be exact.  I’ve been super amped about photography for the past couple of weeks and have been up way past midnight every night when I should be going to bed no later than 11:30.  What am I doing while I’m up?  Everything photography (obsessive much?)….researching, blog stalking, learning, thinking and tonight, doing.  I had 2 shoots last weekend and am processing the food design shoot tonight.  I’m almost done!  I can probably finish the rest in the next hour, but I am already way past my bedtime.  I hope to get to the boudoir shoot this weekend.  I’m afraid my late nights are going to catch up to me very, very soon.  If only I didn’t have to work full-time, but someone has to bring home the bacon.  *sigh*

More pictures to come very soon.  Good night.

Boudoir: Jacquie

She’s fun, she’s sweet, she’s bubbly, she’s adorable and she’s hot.  I was lucky enough to photograph Jacquie’s boudoir session with Crystal yesterday and have just one teaser to share.  I might even have to take this down because I don’t want to spoil the surprise.  Jacquie’s fiance is going to love his gift!

Tailormade Bakery

Crystal and I did a food design shoot today (sounds fancy, doesn’t it?) for Tailormade Bakery.  Sean, the creator behind these delicious cookies, is baking up a new business that is coming soon.  Here’s a little sneak peak.

Banana Nut Cookie

Pineapple Coconut Rum Cookie

Cranberry Yogurt Cookie

Contest Update

I didn’t win.

Feeling Lucky

As you now know, I am obsessed with everything related to photography and how I can start my business.  My photography folder in my Google Reader is insanely large now since I first started blog stalking.  One of my favorite photographers is Jasmine Star, a girl who started with a passion and is now an industry leader in branding & marketing…she also takes fabulous photos as well.  She’s currently hosting a contest about taglines and how it’s important to your overall branding and marketing of your business (or any business for that matter).  The winner wins a Show It Site for a year worth $468!

Now, I’ve never won anything in my entire life.  I’ve entered a few contests here or there, but in all honesty, I never expect to win.  I’m just not a lucky person who wins things.  However, I do want to win this!  So, I entered my tagline….Happily chasing my dream by capturing yours.

I feel like it’s kind of cheesy, but it’s also kind of me.  I kind of like it and then I kind of loathe it.  I tried changing it just a little and then scrapping it all together.  But, in essence, it’s where I am right now and I find it fitting for me, my personality, my outlook on life…right now.  I wrote the “happily chasing my dream” part way back in August when I first started this blog.  When I started posting again I saw my tagline at the top of the page and it made me smile.  I like the way it made me feel.  After pondering other taglines for a few hours I decided to stick with it.  Usually the first thing that comes up in your brainstorming ends up being the best, right?  To make it more relatable to photography I added the last part and it think it wraps up my tagline.  Like the pretty white bow on a Tiffany’s box (here’s a brand every girl loves).

Maybe I’ll win this one…maybe not.  At least I have a place to start in this thing called branding.

Lists

Detail-oriented.  Strong organizational and time management skills.  Effectively handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

These are some of my related work skills listed on my resume.  I’m a list maker.  I make all kinds of lists on post-its, notecards, yellow legal pads, on my phone, my computer….everywhere for anything.  I need to have lists in order to clear my head and focus on how to cross the items off of my list.  I love nothing more than to place a little check mark next to an item.

A few days ago a made a list of things I needed to get started with my business.  Some were tangible goods like a new lens, a Shootsac and some things were work-in-progress items like a logo, website, etc.   My list became quite large and daunting and it made me feel a little nervous, like, am I really going to do this?  Can I do this?  Before the doubt seeped any further into my mind I decided to make a sublist for my list.  A list of goals, if you will.  I broke it down by the months and placed 1 or 2 items under each month of when I wanted to cross an item off.

March Goal – buy Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.

Put Your Shoes On

I am having such a hard time focusing on life!  I just can’t stop thinking about photography.  It’s all I want to talk about, read about, learn about and do.  I wake up every morning thinking about it and wishing I didn’t have to go to work.  I come home from work and jump on the computer as soon as I can, sometimes foregoing dinner until I realize I’m starving, stalking all of my favorite photographer’s blogs.  When I go to bed I think about the possibilities that lie ahead and I feel so anxious to get moving.  Yes, I am a bit of a freak.

I feel like mentally and emotionally I’m here and ready.  But physically I’m not quite.  I’ve always been the kind of person that dreams so much that you have to pry my head out of the clouds just to get me back to reality.  And when I’m back in reality I feel unsettled, like I’m not where I should be.  I find myself saying “I can’t wait until blank and blank happens” or “I can’t wait until I’m blank in my life.”  This can be a bit of a problem and I really need to find the balance between dreaming and living.  I have to remind myself often that I need to enjoy the present and not worry about the future.  I read somewhere that it’s not all about the destination, but about the journey.

So I think I’m going to take a deep breath and start enjoying this journey.  It’s only the beginning and I’m just putting on my running shoes training and preparing for this steady marathon.  I have a ways to go and am only in training mode, but I have faith I will get to the finish line.  Slow and steady.  Put your shoes on….

Remember me?

I’ve been MIA for quite some time and for no good reason.  Wellll….maybe there is a decent reason for my absence.  I declared to the world (or the 2 people that actually read my blog) back in August that photography will become my life and my new career because this is my passion and this will fulfill my need to do something that matters to me.  To be honest, when I proclaimed this I wasn’t sure if I was up to the challenge.  I wasn’t sure if I lost my passion…I just wasn’t sure.  And so I decided to stay hidden beneath the shadows and pretend like I didn’t just announce to everyone I know that I wanted to become a wedding photographer.  I spoke out loud because I wanted to be held accountable and then I actually felt kind of stupid for speaking too soon because I wasn’t sure.

Since August, I’ve been hiding in obscurty, but I still thought about her, Photography, everyday.  She nagged me deep, deep inside asking me when she can come out and play and I kept trying to ignore her because I didn’t want to talk to her.  I didn’t want to let her out and play and watch her fall flat on her face and fail.  I didn’t want her to try and then find out she sucked.  I didn’t want her to face the fears of chasing a dream.  Isn’t it better to just live a safe life rather than go for the unknown?  I thought so for that time because I was and still am scared.  I’m scared of it all, but lately, I started to see things in a different light.

Things are going fairly well at my current job, but as I worked my butt off I realized I was working my butt of for someone else.  I am constantly having to make sure I do a good job and it was all for someone else.  I was working through lunch, staying an hour late each night, and stressing out about my performance all for someone else.  This isn’t right…I should be doing all of this for me and for something that I love because, then, it would be worth it.  So the wheels starting turning again and even faster and more furious than before.  Little Ms. Photography was pounding at the door again anxious to come show herself and this time, I’m letting her.  Slowly, but surely she’s going to come out to play.  I’ve been learning a lot and I’m so anxious to learn more, as much as I can absorb.  Crystal has been teaching me and is encouraging me to practice, practice, practice and that is what I’m devoting this year to.

So, world (my 2 readers), I’m ready and so excited to begin this journey with you, again.  I promise you I won’t go MIA again because I no longer feel fear.  Fear can come and breathe its stank breath in my face and I won’t flinch.  I know there will be ups and downs and I may feel like I suck, but I won’t let it get the best of me.  I’m here to stay and here’s a new picture of me and my new sassy attitude, courtesy of my sister, Crystal Le.

First Shoot

A few weeks ago Crystal and I got a chance to shoot Lili and her daughter, Ella at her home.  With her first pregnancy, she got a mold of her belly made as a keepsake.  For this pregnancy, she wanted to remember what she looked like and how she felt pregnant since it’s going to be a while before she gets knocked up again. 

Here are a few of mother and daughter.