the airborne toxic event: up close

just returned home from the somerville theatre in davis square, after seeing one of my more recent favorite bands. adam and i have seen then about 3 or 4 times, but always at larger venues. the somerville theatre is a small, intimate setting, and for this tour added a string quartet to their ensemble. this is in addition to their violinist/pianist, 2 guitarists, 1 bassist, and a drummer. they all kind of juggle around the instruments - i feel they are all that kid in band who can magically play any instrument he picks up. so jealous!

while we had great seats, i was disappointed my good camera is getting repaired. i did bring my older one and get some ok shots, but i feel i would have gotten fantastic ones with my D700. either way, the concert was incredible, and i did manage to get a few shots i like.

this is anna. she is the violinist/pianist/singer. she is awesome, and bops around the stage, all while she is playing the violin.

this is by far my favorite picture from the evening. i hate to ruin it with my copyright!

i am trying something new with my work. well, new for me anyway! i am trying to not crop the images once i have taken the picture, and really trying to alter the image as little as i can. this is often hard for me since i am obsessed with photoshop! i am hoping this will push me to be more mindful when i frame my shots, and really find the light i want.

and this last one is my favorite interaction i got between 2 of them. it's also just happy!

Inspiration Board

Adam sits across from me, deeply concentrating on a puzzle, occasionally looking up at R2D2 beeping across the screen. I love Sundays - especially when Adam doesn't have to go to work on Monday. While I spent a good portion of the day not feeling very well, I did manage to get some work done. The company I am going through to do my branding asked me to put together an "inspiration board". Basically, a collage of things that inspire me. While it doesn't look like much, I think it is a pretty good representation of my design aesthetic. It pretty much took me all day. I really feel this element will help the designers understand my style, in a way that I could not convey to them through words. So, here it is:

I love it! It makes me feel warm, and gives me the feeling I hope people get when they look at my pictures. Does it look like me??

*none of this is my work - it is all images from off the web, a lot of it from Anthropologie.

The Next Jasmine Star? I mean, The Next Jasmine Star!

As I am sure I rambled about it one of my recent posts, I spent last week online following Jasmine Star as she paved new ways for photographers to learn. With the help of Creative Live, a relatively new outlet for learning & teaching, she spent five days broadcasting live online. The first day was all business related talk, but the other 4 were seeing Jasmine in action from The First Look shoot the day before a wedding, the entire wedding from start to finish, and two days of post processing work/question and answers. It was absolutely phenomenal, and I think she needs her own reality show.

That's besides the point. Jasmine oozes personality and charisma, and just watching her made me feel like I could conquer the world. She started her wedding photography business just 4 years ago, without any photography knowledge, and is now regarded as one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world. I would settle for being one of the top ten photographers in Boston! So here I am, left with all this exuberance and excitement, but I don't know what to do with it. I feel like if I just did something with it, clients would be flooding my e-mail and clogging my website. I feel that it is within me to be as succesful as Jasmine; I suppose I am just looking for a chance to prove it. Her first year she shot 3 weddings, and her second year she shot something like 38 weddings. Well, I shot 3 weddings this year! I don't exactly have 38 weddings booked for next year...yet.

eat more cake.

"i finally remembered!" a bag of goodies, in a colorful gift bag that reads "EAT MORE CAKE!", appears in front of me.

i had already forgotten my birthday was last weekend. not for any reason really - probably because so many other things have gone through my head that the thought of last weekend has already been pushed out. i think the only thing better than presents on your birthday, is presents when it's not your birthday.

today my gift was from my coworker tracy. i don't know if i had talked about how much i love kitchen gadgets, or if tracy just knows me that well, but she got me some adorable ones! now my pirate dish scrubber has a lady friend! i will add this to my other awesome kitchen gadgets, including the frying pans with cats on them my sister gave me.

sometimes unexpected gifts are the best. you know the ones - from people who are not obligated to buy you a present*. they're not doing it because they have to, but because they want to. so thanks tracy, for making my day (and my kitchen!) a little brighter.

*disclaimer to my family: no, i don't think you buy me gifts because you are obligated. i know you buy me gifts because i am super awesome and your life would be meaningless without me!

being dorky has it's perks...

MOST days i don't feel old. i try and appreciate the youth i have, and am thankful for my health.

with that said, i have basically given up any hope of regular exercise again. it hurts, and who has time for it? i used to get up at 5 am and go to the gym for an hour of cardio and an hour of yoga...don't ask me how.

so, in one final attempt at trying to not be a lazy sloth, i made my boyfriend buy me dance dance revolution for my birthday. totally dorky & embarassing, but who cares? after 20 minutes of playing on basic mode, with the tempo slowed down, and the breaks between songs, i am sitting here dripping sweat. hey, if i'm going to be dorky, at least i'll look good (but not WHILE i'm doing it; i look like a seizing cat trying to walk across hot charcoal while i'm doing).

i spent a good portion of today listening to jasmine star host an online workshop. she is my new inspiration, from her shooting style to her attitude. in times of chaos, i will just stop and think, "what would jasmine do?"

here is her amazing & creative blog:

http://www.jasminestarblog.com/

found: inspiration

august 25, 2010 | kristen schueler photography

two things you should know about me :

i love old stuff.

i believe in fate.

this past weekend, my love of old stuff crossed paths with fate.

friday night after work, i headed home to stamford, ct to see some family and friends. my boyfriend, adam, joined me for the weekend excursion, as it was for my birthday. now, i'm not one of those people who has a "birthday month", where everything is all kristen all the time. i do, however, enjoy picking out a few activities when no one can tell me no. so this past saturday, i wanted to go to some tag sales (or yard sales, garage sales, estate sales...whatever you want to call them). not an unusual activity, but it's something i love to do, and was excited! my parents handed me the paper, and let me chose a handful to go to. a particular one caught my eye immediately, and i circled that, along with three others. and we were off.

the first few tag sales were typical. adam picked up a medicine ball and a cheese platter - always so practical! i missed my chance at a decently prices aeron chair, which would have been nice, but there's always more chairs. the next tag sale we went to was the one that had first caught my eye in the paper. now, one of the things i always have my eye out for is new props for my photography. as soon as i walked up to this house, i saw one - a gorgeous, paper mache rocking horse style tiger. adorable! the woman running the show saw my interest.

"do you have a little one?"

"oh, no, but i do photograph children, and this would be a perfect prop," i responded.

"a photographer? my husband's a photographer also!"

i turn, acknowledging the middle aged man, not thinking much of it. after a few more steps, i saw a collection of vintage kodaks. i find something so fascinating about these, and stop and admire for some time. the man approaches me again, and we start a dialogue about photography. my first judgement assumed he was retired, and took pictures of trees and streams in his spare time, and called himself a photographer. then, he begins to tell me his work crosses over into CGI (computer generated imaging), and only starts out with photographs.

at this point, i become very curious, and start firing questions. he tells me how he started out as a cinematographer (what i originally wanted to do with my career), and transitioned his way into photography through cinema. he leaves out the awards he has won (including four video music awards, one for a pat benatar video!). oh, and he forgot to mention, he just found out he received an international photographer of the year award for 2010 - picked out of 175,000 other photographers.

whoa. this guy is big time. i immediately start feeling a little nervous - almost as if i am out of my element. my fight or flight response kicks in. luckily, i fight. must not look stupid! he goes on to say that he doesn't use photoshop, and can't even afford the software he uses, which has a price tag of $22,000. so he goes into new york and uses it at the school of visual arts, where he also teaches.

did i mention i have been dreaming of the grad program in digital photography at the school of visual arts for about 3 years?? i tell him this, and offers his help. we exchange contact information, and decide to keep in touch.

when i get home, i immediately go to his website. while his work is not for everyone (it involves children and blood and overall weirdness), i am blown away by his technique. when i first changed from film to digital, i was hooked on photoshop, and though my path

would lead me to commercial and advertising work. however, the clients that came my way wanted pictures of their babies & weddings, so i took what came to me. meeting this man motivated me to pursue my love of everything digital, and awakened my original passion for surreal photography. i feel there was a reason our paths crossed, if only to inspire me.

you can view his work at http://www.julianobarrotti.com/. just remember you've been warned.

oh, i also bought two of those vintage cameras! more on those later.