Apparently I only blogged three posts this year. I think it's easy to say that my "personal" blog does not receive as much attention as my photography blog. I guess I didn't have a lot of things to get off my chest this year as I have had in the past. This blog is basically here for when I need to unleash some thoughts, list random things I've been thinking about or set goals. We all know what category this post falls into… after all it is December 31st.
The past two years I have listed a number of goals equal to the year. So for 2012 I had twelve goals and for 2013 I had thirteen goals. Guess what I am going to do for 2014??! … No, I'm not doing 14 goals. This is going to sound really sad but every year I look back at my goals and I don't accomplish at lot of them. It's not that I didn't accomplish anything, I think it's more that you don't know what will happen in a year and going with the flow is more my style. This year is simple. Three things I want to do in 2014.
1. Get my tattoo. And when I say "my" I mean the one I have thought about, designed in my head and actually wanted now for awhile. Not just any tattoo but the one I am ready to get now. It will be on my left arm just below the elbow crease, facing me… the tattoo is for me. (Does anyone have a a tattoo artist they recommend? I want someone that is good and not scary lol.)
2. AQUA-BIKE!!! It's now been on my goal list for two years… third year is a charm. I'm doing one.
I am looking into doing one in July in Bend, Oregon. http://www.deschutesdash.com
3. On the heels of the previous goal… I am on a masters swim team. It's been about two years now believe it or not. A lot of the swimmers keep track of their yardage on the USMS website… it's called a FLOG or Fitness Log. I finally signed up and I am going to keep track my yardage, yoga and biking (you can pretty much keep track of any fitness activity.) I don't have a set goal in mind as far as reaching a certain amount of yards or miles… first I need to get into the habit of logging.
And that's it folks. Not a lot of pressure for 2014. I always strive to be a good photographer, increase my business and I want to continue working on editorial and food photography. My photo career is past an every year resolution, it's a lifetime goal. I'm tired of reading books I don't like so I am over the whole "read classics" idea. I know David and I will hike, bike, kayak and camp as much as our schedules allow us to- so I don't need to pick a certain amount we should accomplish. And thankfully I think we found a good church we can call home for awhile so the spiritual growth is on an upwards mend. Amen. ;) So that's it. 2014- here we come!
Happy New Years!
Skipping,
Aubrie
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts
12.31.2013
6.12.2013
No Rhyme or Rhythm
Wowser. I haven't posted since the beginning of the year. I guess you can tell that my other two photography blogs are taking up my blog time. (Since I'm a photographer I'll call that a good thing.)
I have like 10 minutes before I am suppose to leave for a yoga lesson. There is like a hundred things I could probably do with my ten minutes, but today I decided to write down a bunch of random things that have crossed my brain in the last few weeks. There is no rhyme or rhythm to this post... so I'm assuming I'll have a hard time titling it. Here we go.
1. Have you seen Tiger Seals? I mean seriously... these animals are sublime, awesome, superb, ridiculous all came to my mind right then. I'm not sure if any of those adjectives really describe these sea creatures- but I bet if you haven't seen one yet you're going to google it right now.
2. People need to roll their car windows down more. Fresh air is good plus it just makes you feel more alive. Roll your windows down and stop spoiling yourself with AC. (You must also listen to your music loud if your windows are rolled down... unless you are playing like Rap or R&B then you have my permission to roll the windows back up and stay away from my truck.)
3. I heard something the other day- in the first five minutes of talking to a new person you can determine their values. They will more than likely discuss or somehow pop-into the conversation what is important to them. For instance if they talk about their kids, obviously the value family. If they talk about their career then they really value their job. Interesting, I thought. What would your top three things be in a five minute conversation? These are mine:
1. God (I'll be the first to admit that one is not easy to throw in when talking to a new person.)
2. My husband/dog/family
3. Photography Career
4. Crap my 10 minutes is already up and I'm not done unleashing. ...How was googling the seals?
5. Orbitz Strawberry Remix gum is better than Extra Dessert Delights Strawberry Shortcake.
6. I can drive for five hours straight (well, with a pee break) simply by listening to music. I love making new "mixes" for road trips. I went to La Grande this weekend and made a pretty hefty one called "Country Car Ride." I won't list all the songs on the mix because I believe it's like 3+ hours worth of songs (and no that's not even close to all my country songs.) I will rattle off a few new favorites I downloaded.... 1. "Over When It's Over" by Eric Church. 2. "Nashville With Out You" by Tim McGraw. 3. "Chillin' It" by Cole Swindell. 4. "I Wanna Be That Feeling" by Bucky Covington (his name is cool too.) 5. "Runnin' Out of Moonlight" by Randy Houser. 6. "Tip it Back" by Florida Georgia Line. 7. "Backwoods" by Justin Moore. 8. "Drivin' Around Song" by Colt Ford.
7. I'm pretty sure I was born in the wrong era (I probably should've been in my 20's-30's in the 60s-70s) and in the wrong part of the country (I should've been born in like Tennessee, Georgia or Texas.)
8. I love the outdoors. I love it when I'm hiking. I need to spend more time outdoors. I really need to go on one of those crazy outdoor photography workshops.
9. I wonder how Veterans and military people feel about how we celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I actually went camping with two Marines over Memorial Day and we discussed it a little bit. I know we don't celebrate it the proper way- but I also think it makes them proud that we have our freedom to celebrate however we want, even if it is just grilling hot dogs.
10. It's crazy to think about one decision or choice in your life would've put you on an entire different path. That if you would have made one decision differently you might not be sitting where your sitting, living in the state your living in or married to the guy your married to. For the record I'm perfectly fine with all three- but it's crazy to think about "If I would've done this... where would I be?" I often wonder what I'd be doing or where I'd be living if I would've become a white-water-rafting guide.
My time is REALLY up now. Until next time, keep skipping.
Aubrie
I have like 10 minutes before I am suppose to leave for a yoga lesson. There is like a hundred things I could probably do with my ten minutes, but today I decided to write down a bunch of random things that have crossed my brain in the last few weeks. There is no rhyme or rhythm to this post... so I'm assuming I'll have a hard time titling it. Here we go.
1. Have you seen Tiger Seals? I mean seriously... these animals are sublime, awesome, superb, ridiculous all came to my mind right then. I'm not sure if any of those adjectives really describe these sea creatures- but I bet if you haven't seen one yet you're going to google it right now.
2. People need to roll their car windows down more. Fresh air is good plus it just makes you feel more alive. Roll your windows down and stop spoiling yourself with AC. (You must also listen to your music loud if your windows are rolled down... unless you are playing like Rap or R&B then you have my permission to roll the windows back up and stay away from my truck.)
3. I heard something the other day- in the first five minutes of talking to a new person you can determine their values. They will more than likely discuss or somehow pop-into the conversation what is important to them. For instance if they talk about their kids, obviously the value family. If they talk about their career then they really value their job. Interesting, I thought. What would your top three things be in a five minute conversation? These are mine:
1. God (I'll be the first to admit that one is not easy to throw in when talking to a new person.)
2. My husband/dog/family
3. Photography Career
4. Crap my 10 minutes is already up and I'm not done unleashing. ...How was googling the seals?
5. Orbitz Strawberry Remix gum is better than Extra Dessert Delights Strawberry Shortcake.
6. I can drive for five hours straight (well, with a pee break) simply by listening to music. I love making new "mixes" for road trips. I went to La Grande this weekend and made a pretty hefty one called "Country Car Ride." I won't list all the songs on the mix because I believe it's like 3+ hours worth of songs (and no that's not even close to all my country songs.) I will rattle off a few new favorites I downloaded.... 1. "Over When It's Over" by Eric Church. 2. "Nashville With Out You" by Tim McGraw. 3. "Chillin' It" by Cole Swindell. 4. "I Wanna Be That Feeling" by Bucky Covington (his name is cool too.) 5. "Runnin' Out of Moonlight" by Randy Houser. 6. "Tip it Back" by Florida Georgia Line. 7. "Backwoods" by Justin Moore. 8. "Drivin' Around Song" by Colt Ford.
7. I'm pretty sure I was born in the wrong era (I probably should've been in my 20's-30's in the 60s-70s) and in the wrong part of the country (I should've been born in like Tennessee, Georgia or Texas.)
8. I love the outdoors. I love it when I'm hiking. I need to spend more time outdoors. I really need to go on one of those crazy outdoor photography workshops.
9. I wonder how Veterans and military people feel about how we celebrate Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I actually went camping with two Marines over Memorial Day and we discussed it a little bit. I know we don't celebrate it the proper way- but I also think it makes them proud that we have our freedom to celebrate however we want, even if it is just grilling hot dogs.
10. It's crazy to think about one decision or choice in your life would've put you on an entire different path. That if you would have made one decision differently you might not be sitting where your sitting, living in the state your living in or married to the guy your married to. For the record I'm perfectly fine with all three- but it's crazy to think about "If I would've done this... where would I be?" I often wonder what I'd be doing or where I'd be living if I would've become a white-water-rafting guide.
My time is REALLY up now. Until next time, keep skipping.
Aubrie
1.13.2013
2013 GOALS
Readjust in a resolute manner.
Resolutions are tricky mainly because we RARELY complete a resolution. I do not do resolutions anymore. Instead I look at my life and I see what I can adjust to make my life a little happier, healthier with more wisdom and spiritual growth. I create goals and try to accomplish them. January is a time to readjust what you've been doing (if you need to) and to pick out goals for the next year to accomplish in a resolute manner. (Definition of resolute is simply "marked by firm determination.")
What I did last year is I posted twelve goals for myself to accomplish in 2012. I ventured back to that blog post to see how I did. I didn't do half bad, of course some of the "goals" were not to hard to accomplish. For instance number one on my list last year was to turn thirty. Good job, Aubrie! I turned thirty with out even breaking a sweat. Number two on my list definitely made me sweat, even if it was in water. (You still sweat when you are in water by the way.) I joined a masters swim team and I have been swimming for almost a year now.
I failed at a couple of goals as well. I did not finish another triathlon or aqua bike. I'm not really sure If I drove better this year either. I am STILL reading "Crazy Love," it's been on my night stand for a year. (It's heart wrenching and hard to read.) Number nine's "Rafting" could have been better, I only took the blow-up kayak out once. And I still need to venture down a few highways to check off number ten.
I am fairly happy with how the last two goals turned out. I have been published in 1859 every issue this year (and they moved to six issues a year.) Plus I was published in Portland Monthly and I had an image featured on the front cover of The Gorge Magazine. All in all I'll copy a famous saying in that "you win some and you loose some."
Sooo... for 2013 I thought I would keep my goal list, of course bumping it up to thirteen goals this year. However, instead of thinking of thirteen brand new goals I am going to move the "failed" goals from 2012 over to the new list and I want to still accomplish them. It's good to set goals, it's even better to accomplish what I've set out before me.
Here we go- 2013 BABY! (The first four are from 2012 and the last nine are my new goals.)
1. Aqua Bike (from 2012): Triathlons might be a thing of the past. I hate running. I do enjoy swimming and biking, hence an aqua bike. Yes, they do exist.
2. Rafting (from 2012): I feel like taking my blow-up kayak out one time did not really count. Let's up the ante and go for three times this summer!!
3. Roads (from 2012): I did not drive across the two highways I wanted to mark off on my map, so they are back. Highway 228-20 from Sweet Home to Black Butte Ranch and highway 126 from Springfield to Belknap Springs area.
4. Drive Better (from 2012): Driving better really has a root problem. The root of the problem is I am a procrastinator and I am always running late. When I am running late I think that driving like a bat out of hell will some how magically give me back those precious minutes I lost doing whatever it was that made me late. So really, I need to work on being on time and then I will be the worlds best driver... okay and I probably shouldn't follow to close, pause at stop signs or put my make-up on while driving.
5. Editorial/Magazines: The prime goal for 2013 is to get into as many magazines as possible and really work hard on my editorial portfolio. I still want to be in every issue of 1859 and I now want to be in every issue of The Gorge Magazine plus have at least two or three assignments in Portland Monthly. I am really trying to get into Touring and Tasting, Mix and Sip NW!
6. Food Photography: Food photography falls on the heels of the previous goal. I think food/drink photography is huge for editorial and I really want to improve on my food photography skills. I am currently reading Plate to Pixel (mini goal- finish the book) and I might look into taking a class as well.
7. Read: I want to read at least five "classic" novels. Right now I am reading Jack Kuraoc's "On the Road." Once I am finished with that book I want to read Catch 22, Pride and Prejudice, one of Hemingway's books and the fifth book I am not sure yet... I'm thinking about Huck Finn or rereading The Great Gatsby. Along with the classic list I want to finish reading books I have started and not finished; including "Crazy Love" (from 2012's list) plus "Storytellers" and "Hot Shoe Diaries."
8. Geo Cache: Dave and I like to drive, we like to hike and we have a GPS dealy-thing. (It's Dave's, I clearly don't know what it is called.) So I figured we should try geo caching.
9. Country Line Dance & Two Step: I'm a country girl- I should know how to line dance. David even said he would take the classes with me. Hopefully next time we venture out to Dukes we'll be able to hit up the dance floor.
10. Nationals: US Master Swimming Nationals is this May and it just happens to be at my old stomping ground, eh, pool. IUPUI was where all my big swim meets were held and I would love to go back and swim in the pool as an out-of-shape adult swimmer. A lot of things have to happen to accomplish this goal. First I need to make the cut times, second I need to train for the meet (or vise-versa train for the cut times), third I need to be able to afford to fly into Indy. We shall see. (An additional swimming goal is to go to practice at least four times a week, every week.)
11. Yoga: I like yoga. I have a yoga instructor and I get private lessons from her. She has me working on what we call my "magic three" poses that I need to do pretty much every day. So... I want to do yoga every day, even if it's just for ten minutes.
12. Writing: I like writing. I'm not good at it. I need to practice, so I probably should write more. I want to be able to write better blog posts for my photography blog and I want to be able to write up little "love stories" for my couples and intertwine that with their wedding albums. I randomly started writing an awful novel for like, I don't know, teenagers or something. Still- it's fun and and its good practice so I need to continue writing it. I also would like to take some writing classes to polish up the old writing skills.
13. Spiritual Life: As a Christian I am always trying to deepen my walk with God. I have a few simple things I want to work on this year to keep my faith growing. First- I am reading through "My Utmost for His Highest." It's a daily devotional read, every day it just has a verse and a couple of paragraphs to read and think/pray about. Speaking of prayer- I always need to up my prayer time. The last thing will be difficult with David's schedule but I would like to join a small group within our church at Branches. (And of course I am continuing another year, my fourth year, volunteering at Pregnancy Resource Center.)
Resolutions are tricky mainly because we RARELY complete a resolution. I do not do resolutions anymore. Instead I look at my life and I see what I can adjust to make my life a little happier, healthier with more wisdom and spiritual growth. I create goals and try to accomplish them. January is a time to readjust what you've been doing (if you need to) and to pick out goals for the next year to accomplish in a resolute manner. (Definition of resolute is simply "marked by firm determination.")
What I did last year is I posted twelve goals for myself to accomplish in 2012. I ventured back to that blog post to see how I did. I didn't do half bad, of course some of the "goals" were not to hard to accomplish. For instance number one on my list last year was to turn thirty. Good job, Aubrie! I turned thirty with out even breaking a sweat. Number two on my list definitely made me sweat, even if it was in water. (You still sweat when you are in water by the way.) I joined a masters swim team and I have been swimming for almost a year now.
I failed at a couple of goals as well. I did not finish another triathlon or aqua bike. I'm not really sure If I drove better this year either. I am STILL reading "Crazy Love," it's been on my night stand for a year. (It's heart wrenching and hard to read.) Number nine's "Rafting" could have been better, I only took the blow-up kayak out once. And I still need to venture down a few highways to check off number ten.
I am fairly happy with how the last two goals turned out. I have been published in 1859 every issue this year (and they moved to six issues a year.) Plus I was published in Portland Monthly and I had an image featured on the front cover of The Gorge Magazine. All in all I'll copy a famous saying in that "you win some and you loose some."
Sooo... for 2013 I thought I would keep my goal list, of course bumping it up to thirteen goals this year. However, instead of thinking of thirteen brand new goals I am going to move the "failed" goals from 2012 over to the new list and I want to still accomplish them. It's good to set goals, it's even better to accomplish what I've set out before me.
Here we go- 2013 BABY! (The first four are from 2012 and the last nine are my new goals.)
1. Aqua Bike (from 2012): Triathlons might be a thing of the past. I hate running. I do enjoy swimming and biking, hence an aqua bike. Yes, they do exist.
2. Rafting (from 2012): I feel like taking my blow-up kayak out one time did not really count. Let's up the ante and go for three times this summer!!
3. Roads (from 2012): I did not drive across the two highways I wanted to mark off on my map, so they are back. Highway 228-20 from Sweet Home to Black Butte Ranch and highway 126 from Springfield to Belknap Springs area.
4. Drive Better (from 2012): Driving better really has a root problem. The root of the problem is I am a procrastinator and I am always running late. When I am running late I think that driving like a bat out of hell will some how magically give me back those precious minutes I lost doing whatever it was that made me late. So really, I need to work on being on time and then I will be the worlds best driver... okay and I probably shouldn't follow to close, pause at stop signs or put my make-up on while driving.
5. Editorial/Magazines: The prime goal for 2013 is to get into as many magazines as possible and really work hard on my editorial portfolio. I still want to be in every issue of 1859 and I now want to be in every issue of The Gorge Magazine plus have at least two or three assignments in Portland Monthly. I am really trying to get into Touring and Tasting, Mix and Sip NW!
6. Food Photography: Food photography falls on the heels of the previous goal. I think food/drink photography is huge for editorial and I really want to improve on my food photography skills. I am currently reading Plate to Pixel (mini goal- finish the book) and I might look into taking a class as well.
7. Read: I want to read at least five "classic" novels. Right now I am reading Jack Kuraoc's "On the Road." Once I am finished with that book I want to read Catch 22, Pride and Prejudice, one of Hemingway's books and the fifth book I am not sure yet... I'm thinking about Huck Finn or rereading The Great Gatsby. Along with the classic list I want to finish reading books I have started and not finished; including "Crazy Love" (from 2012's list) plus "Storytellers" and "Hot Shoe Diaries."
8. Geo Cache: Dave and I like to drive, we like to hike and we have a GPS dealy-thing. (It's Dave's, I clearly don't know what it is called.) So I figured we should try geo caching.
9. Country Line Dance & Two Step: I'm a country girl- I should know how to line dance. David even said he would take the classes with me. Hopefully next time we venture out to Dukes we'll be able to hit up the dance floor.
10. Nationals: US Master Swimming Nationals is this May and it just happens to be at my old stomping ground, eh, pool. IUPUI was where all my big swim meets were held and I would love to go back and swim in the pool as an out-of-shape adult swimmer. A lot of things have to happen to accomplish this goal. First I need to make the cut times, second I need to train for the meet (or vise-versa train for the cut times), third I need to be able to afford to fly into Indy. We shall see. (An additional swimming goal is to go to practice at least four times a week, every week.)
11. Yoga: I like yoga. I have a yoga instructor and I get private lessons from her. She has me working on what we call my "magic three" poses that I need to do pretty much every day. So... I want to do yoga every day, even if it's just for ten minutes.
12. Writing: I like writing. I'm not good at it. I need to practice, so I probably should write more. I want to be able to write better blog posts for my photography blog and I want to be able to write up little "love stories" for my couples and intertwine that with their wedding albums. I randomly started writing an awful novel for like, I don't know, teenagers or something. Still- it's fun and and its good practice so I need to continue writing it. I also would like to take some writing classes to polish up the old writing skills.
13. Spiritual Life: As a Christian I am always trying to deepen my walk with God. I have a few simple things I want to work on this year to keep my faith growing. First- I am reading through "My Utmost for His Highest." It's a daily devotional read, every day it just has a verse and a couple of paragraphs to read and think/pray about. Speaking of prayer- I always need to up my prayer time. The last thing will be difficult with David's schedule but I would like to join a small group within our church at Branches. (And of course I am continuing another year, my fourth year, volunteering at Pregnancy Resource Center.)
6.04.2012
Sweat & Tears
I hesitated to return to my computer. I left my keyboard, about 5 hours ago, covered in tears. When I walked into my office I could taste the bitter leftovers. Photoshop was still turned on and that one damn image was still sitting on my desktop... unedited.
What? Were you thinking my hesitation, tears and bitter taste in my mouth would be a little more meaningful than an argument with Photoshop? After my "breakdown" I kind of had the same thought. I was embarrassed to tell people why I was having a bad day. When one of my friends asked me what was wrong I actually did not want to tell her because if I said it out loud it would seem SO SILLY!
Of course my defeat with Photoshop lead to a degrading masterpiece. It started with "Why can't I figure out how to do this one step in Photoshop?" And ended somewhere between "You're the worst photographer, server, friend, wife, Christian, swimmer and you have no will power, no guts, no motivation... and you're fat." (Right? You all know that when you go down and out that word "fat" creeps right in and makes itself at home in your mind.)
The worst is when you start comparing. Geez! If we could just go through life and not compare ourselves to others I think we would be better off. Or would we? I guess it's one thing to dwell every day on the fact that you are not "so-and-so" (I had way too many names pop in right there) to the point where you give up. It's another thing to realize that you ain't quite there yet and you need to keep working your ass off. Hopefully you'll always have at least one person in front of you so that you keep hustling. I guess it's okay that once in a while I have a freak-out moment where I pretty much tell myself I suck. It has to be better than patting myself on the back and saying "you're the best" when in reality I have no talent or skill whatsoever.
I will say though that comparing myself to others reminds me that I'm mediocre. Man- I hate that word. I don't know why but I just don't want to be mediocre. The problem is I've been mediocre in everything. I knew how to swim butterfly and I was pretty good. I could throw one hell of a drop-curve too. But I was not great. I was a 3.0 student, not 4.0. I can take some nice photographs, but you don't see any award symbols by my name. (Don't even get me started on being a mediocre wife, friend and Christian!) I don't expect to be amazing and perfect at everything, but I would like to not be "mediocre" at at least. one. thing.
I want that one thing to be my photography career. (Unless God has another plan). In order to be great I actually have to remind myself that it does not happen naturally. I know.... you're thinking everyone has to remind themselves the same thing. I disagree. I think there are plenty of people where it actually comes naturally... you know that whole "natural talent" phrase... it does exist. It does not exist in me. So I have to remind myself to study, learn and practice. I have to go over things multiple times, not just once. I have to force myself to do things outside of my comfort zone. I have to spend hours starring at a computer screen, tears rolling down my cheek just so I can learn how to edit a little better. (With the realization that it might not even help me in the end.) And when I become complaisant or even big-headed I have to bring myself down and say "Aubrie, you are not great! ... Yet."
To come full circle... there really isn't anything embarrassing about driving yourself to tears in the name of improvement. Who cries over Photoshop? Someone, who deep inside, really wants to be great. She doesn't know of a better way to do that than with a little sweat and tears.
Hmmm... Sinking AND Skipping,
Aubrie
PS. I still have no idea how to accomplish this certain editing system in Photoshop.
What? Were you thinking my hesitation, tears and bitter taste in my mouth would be a little more meaningful than an argument with Photoshop? After my "breakdown" I kind of had the same thought. I was embarrassed to tell people why I was having a bad day. When one of my friends asked me what was wrong I actually did not want to tell her because if I said it out loud it would seem SO SILLY!
Of course my defeat with Photoshop lead to a degrading masterpiece. It started with "Why can't I figure out how to do this one step in Photoshop?" And ended somewhere between "You're the worst photographer, server, friend, wife, Christian, swimmer and you have no will power, no guts, no motivation... and you're fat." (Right? You all know that when you go down and out that word "fat" creeps right in and makes itself at home in your mind.)
The worst is when you start comparing. Geez! If we could just go through life and not compare ourselves to others I think we would be better off. Or would we? I guess it's one thing to dwell every day on the fact that you are not "so-and-so" (I had way too many names pop in right there) to the point where you give up. It's another thing to realize that you ain't quite there yet and you need to keep working your ass off. Hopefully you'll always have at least one person in front of you so that you keep hustling. I guess it's okay that once in a while I have a freak-out moment where I pretty much tell myself I suck. It has to be better than patting myself on the back and saying "you're the best" when in reality I have no talent or skill whatsoever.
I will say though that comparing myself to others reminds me that I'm mediocre. Man- I hate that word. I don't know why but I just don't want to be mediocre. The problem is I've been mediocre in everything. I knew how to swim butterfly and I was pretty good. I could throw one hell of a drop-curve too. But I was not great. I was a 3.0 student, not 4.0. I can take some nice photographs, but you don't see any award symbols by my name. (Don't even get me started on being a mediocre wife, friend and Christian!) I don't expect to be amazing and perfect at everything, but I would like to not be "mediocre" at at least. one. thing.
I want that one thing to be my photography career. (Unless God has another plan). In order to be great I actually have to remind myself that it does not happen naturally. I know.... you're thinking everyone has to remind themselves the same thing. I disagree. I think there are plenty of people where it actually comes naturally... you know that whole "natural talent" phrase... it does exist. It does not exist in me. So I have to remind myself to study, learn and practice. I have to go over things multiple times, not just once. I have to force myself to do things outside of my comfort zone. I have to spend hours starring at a computer screen, tears rolling down my cheek just so I can learn how to edit a little better. (With the realization that it might not even help me in the end.) And when I become complaisant or even big-headed I have to bring myself down and say "Aubrie, you are not great! ... Yet."
To come full circle... there really isn't anything embarrassing about driving yourself to tears in the name of improvement. Who cries over Photoshop? Someone, who deep inside, really wants to be great. She doesn't know of a better way to do that than with a little sweat and tears.
Hmmm... Sinking AND Skipping,
Aubrie
PS. I still have no idea how to accomplish this certain editing system in Photoshop.
4.06.2012
Food. Books. Movies. Clothes. Wine. Aqua-Bike. Photography.
Let's talk about everything... everything that is cliche. Nothing too deep on this post today. Just a lot of things I've seen, heard, read, tasted or want to try. You know, the basics... food, clothes, movies, music, books and of course my two "basics" photography and wine. This is definitely a "For Fun" kinda-post.
Food:
So for awhile there David and I were trying the 17-day diet... first time around we had success and the last two times we've tried again we did not accomplish anything. Since I was watching what I was eating I really didn't get to cook anything too exciting. I don't need to make fried chicken with a thick cream sauce... but when you limit dairy, grains, etc. it makes for some boring meals to create. I've hit a little "mood" where I want to cook some new dishes and maybe even bake a few treats.
So I have a few things I'm going to try at some point this week/weekend...
Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese... click here for a picture and recipe
Asparagus and Chicken Fricassee... click here for a picture and recipe
Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes... click here for a picture and recipe
I have all the ingredients for everything above... I'll let you know how they all turn out. I made my own version of Oatmeal Cookies the other day. They actually turned out awesome... I cut the oats in half and put coconut and dried cranberries in the mix. Yum. Click here for a picture and recipe.
Books:
I just finished reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Great read! He is such a funny writer. The book was about him and his friend hiking the Appalachian Trail. (The AT is just like the Pacific Crest Trail but on the East side of the country). You learn a lot about America reading the book as well. If you are into hiking/travel/adventure/outdoors kind of books you'll definitely enjoy this one. I can't wait to pick up another book by Bryson.
I am totally switching gears and I just started reading "Crazy Love." My sister gave me the book for Christmas. The back of the book reads...
"Have you ever wondered if we're missing it? It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing-love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs and try not to cuss. Whether you've verbalized it yet or not... we all know something's wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and dont's- it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, you will never be the same."
It's going to be a "hard" read... if ya know what I mean.
Movies:
So movies have been a little difficult lately. I've actually watched a few that really did not excite me at all. "Drive" was fairly gory and not what I expected. "Tintin" was actually kind of boring to me. "Rum Diary" was not all that great either. A little while back I watched "Moneyball" and I really enjoyed that movie. (David not as much, but I don't think he gets/likes baseball as much as I do.) We just rented "How to Train your Dragon." That movie was very cute and entertaining... safe for the whole family lol. I would recommend it. Cheap theatre night we watched "This Means War." It was actually very funny, we laughed out loud a handful of times. And the other day we saw "Hunger Games." I did not read the book... so from just a movie point of view I thought it was good. It wasn't like the best movie I've ever seen or anything... but I judge movies purely on an entertaining value. Did it entertain me? Yes. (Warning for the next one: Spoiler Alert.) So I rented "One Day" the other night while David was out of town. Great little movie... loved how it went through all the different years and how the two characters grew. (Plus I loved Anne Hathaway's hairstyles). The ending shocked me. I got a bad feeling all of a sudden... like "Ohh no, something horrible is going to happen." And before I could even finish that thought.... BAM! She literally gets ran over by a bus. I actually put my hands to my face an a little yelp squeaked out. I was shocked. Of course the movie turns sad... but that's life, right? The very end of the movie brings you back to the beginning so you can see what actually happened and finishes it so that your not completely in the blues. I think it was a good movie... even if it didn't have the ending I wanted.
....This is not a movie, but I do have to say very quickly that I've been enjoying "Frozen Planet" on the Discovery channel every Sunday night. Awesome cinematography.
Clothes:
I bought a pair of cowgirl boots for my birthday. I. Love. Them. They are brown with a turquoise diamond pattern on them. So every girl has their "thing" that they like to buy... a lot of girls it's shoes, for some it's purses and others love scarfs. Mine is skirts. I love my skirts so much that I just sent about 10+ skirts home with one of my friends so she can take them all in for me. (I lost some weight/inches and a lot of my skirts were not fitting correctly.) Instead of tossing them out and just buying new ones I decided to save them. SAVE THE SKIRTS! I did loose a jean skirt though. It's way to big on me and she could not save it. Sad. So now I'm down to... 20 skirts. TWENTY? Yes. What? I like skirts... how many pair of shoes do you have? ;)
Aqua-Bike
I really want to try an aqua-bike this summer. I loved my triathlons last summer but I hated training for the running part. I'm just not a runner. Obviously I love swimming, Masters Swimming is going well. I actually have another meet next Saturday. And biking is a lot of fun too. Running sucks. So this summer I thought I would concentrate on the two sports I like and try out an aqua-bike. I know you're all going "what the heck is that??!" It's a race where you just do the swimming and biking... no running. The swim and the bike are longer though (than a Sprint triathlon). Right now I am looking at the Grand Columbian Aqua-Bike in September. It's a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride.
Wine:
We've came across a few wineries lately that were pretty good. I always like to share... So Carlton is this cute little po-dunk town with a bunch of wineries. You could definitely spend the afternoon tasting and you would only have to walk a few blocks. Scott Paul had a few wines that we enjoyed... it was fun learning more about the French region. I really enjoyed Folin Cellars though, they had a lot of reds, Barbara, Tempranillo, Cab, etc. that I liked. I would definitely check that place out. We went into the Gorge for my birthday weekend. We've hit up a lot of the wineries on the Oregon side so we decided to mix it up and hit the Washington side. They were all pretty good... I think Syncline was probably my favorite. Plus it had a big tree-swing so that's always fun. (Memaloose has a nice deck/view of the river and the coolest wine-dog ever.)
My birthday present from David was a wine membership at our favorite winery, Marchesi. Come June we'll have 7 bottles of wine from the Italian winery. Mmmmmm! I can't wait. They can't make a bad wine over there. Who wants to have a wine party in June? This girl. :)
Photography:
I bought a new macro lens!!! 60mm f2.8 macro lens. I'm excited to play with it! (I actually would be playing with it right now, but my stomach is in shambles so I'm laying low...hence writing a long blog on nothing.) I'm looking forward to the busy summer season. I'm over this slow Spring phase I am in right now. I'm ready to shoot and shoot and edit and edit. (Although mid way through I won't be singing the same tune with the editing deal.)
Check out my Instagram feed... I am doing a "Photo a Day" in April. I am following this list here.
My Insta name is "aubrielegault" come follow me.
Well I think that about covers it. I have a few Instagram photos to take... a new lens to pay with, a hard-heart-filled book to read and an aqua-bike to train for. I better get on with it.
Skipping,
Aubrie
Food:
So for awhile there David and I were trying the 17-day diet... first time around we had success and the last two times we've tried again we did not accomplish anything. Since I was watching what I was eating I really didn't get to cook anything too exciting. I don't need to make fried chicken with a thick cream sauce... but when you limit dairy, grains, etc. it makes for some boring meals to create. I've hit a little "mood" where I want to cook some new dishes and maybe even bake a few treats.
So I have a few things I'm going to try at some point this week/weekend...
Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese... click here for a picture and recipe
Asparagus and Chicken Fricassee... click here for a picture and recipe
Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes... click here for a picture and recipe
I have all the ingredients for everything above... I'll let you know how they all turn out. I made my own version of Oatmeal Cookies the other day. They actually turned out awesome... I cut the oats in half and put coconut and dried cranberries in the mix. Yum. Click here for a picture and recipe.
Books:
I just finished reading "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson. Great read! He is such a funny writer. The book was about him and his friend hiking the Appalachian Trail. (The AT is just like the Pacific Crest Trail but on the East side of the country). You learn a lot about America reading the book as well. If you are into hiking/travel/adventure/outdoors kind of books you'll definitely enjoy this one. I can't wait to pick up another book by Bryson.
I am totally switching gears and I just started reading "Crazy Love." My sister gave me the book for Christmas. The back of the book reads...
"Have you ever wondered if we're missing it? It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing-love. And what is our typical response? We go to church, sing songs and try not to cuss. Whether you've verbalized it yet or not... we all know something's wrong. Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn't working harder at a list of do's and dont's- it's falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, you will never be the same."
It's going to be a "hard" read... if ya know what I mean.
Movies:
So movies have been a little difficult lately. I've actually watched a few that really did not excite me at all. "Drive" was fairly gory and not what I expected. "Tintin" was actually kind of boring to me. "Rum Diary" was not all that great either. A little while back I watched "Moneyball" and I really enjoyed that movie. (David not as much, but I don't think he gets/likes baseball as much as I do.) We just rented "How to Train your Dragon." That movie was very cute and entertaining... safe for the whole family lol. I would recommend it. Cheap theatre night we watched "This Means War." It was actually very funny, we laughed out loud a handful of times. And the other day we saw "Hunger Games." I did not read the book... so from just a movie point of view I thought it was good. It wasn't like the best movie I've ever seen or anything... but I judge movies purely on an entertaining value. Did it entertain me? Yes. (Warning for the next one: Spoiler Alert.) So I rented "One Day" the other night while David was out of town. Great little movie... loved how it went through all the different years and how the two characters grew. (Plus I loved Anne Hathaway's hairstyles). The ending shocked me. I got a bad feeling all of a sudden... like "Ohh no, something horrible is going to happen." And before I could even finish that thought.... BAM! She literally gets ran over by a bus. I actually put my hands to my face an a little yelp squeaked out. I was shocked. Of course the movie turns sad... but that's life, right? The very end of the movie brings you back to the beginning so you can see what actually happened and finishes it so that your not completely in the blues. I think it was a good movie... even if it didn't have the ending I wanted.
....This is not a movie, but I do have to say very quickly that I've been enjoying "Frozen Planet" on the Discovery channel every Sunday night. Awesome cinematography.
Clothes:
I bought a pair of cowgirl boots for my birthday. I. Love. Them. They are brown with a turquoise diamond pattern on them. So every girl has their "thing" that they like to buy... a lot of girls it's shoes, for some it's purses and others love scarfs. Mine is skirts. I love my skirts so much that I just sent about 10+ skirts home with one of my friends so she can take them all in for me. (I lost some weight/inches and a lot of my skirts were not fitting correctly.) Instead of tossing them out and just buying new ones I decided to save them. SAVE THE SKIRTS! I did loose a jean skirt though. It's way to big on me and she could not save it. Sad. So now I'm down to... 20 skirts. TWENTY? Yes. What? I like skirts... how many pair of shoes do you have? ;)
Aqua-Bike
I really want to try an aqua-bike this summer. I loved my triathlons last summer but I hated training for the running part. I'm just not a runner. Obviously I love swimming, Masters Swimming is going well. I actually have another meet next Saturday. And biking is a lot of fun too. Running sucks. So this summer I thought I would concentrate on the two sports I like and try out an aqua-bike. I know you're all going "what the heck is that??!" It's a race where you just do the swimming and biking... no running. The swim and the bike are longer though (than a Sprint triathlon). Right now I am looking at the Grand Columbian Aqua-Bike in September. It's a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride.
Wine:
We've came across a few wineries lately that were pretty good. I always like to share... So Carlton is this cute little po-dunk town with a bunch of wineries. You could definitely spend the afternoon tasting and you would only have to walk a few blocks. Scott Paul had a few wines that we enjoyed... it was fun learning more about the French region. I really enjoyed Folin Cellars though, they had a lot of reds, Barbara, Tempranillo, Cab, etc. that I liked. I would definitely check that place out. We went into the Gorge for my birthday weekend. We've hit up a lot of the wineries on the Oregon side so we decided to mix it up and hit the Washington side. They were all pretty good... I think Syncline was probably my favorite. Plus it had a big tree-swing so that's always fun. (Memaloose has a nice deck/view of the river and the coolest wine-dog ever.)
My birthday present from David was a wine membership at our favorite winery, Marchesi. Come June we'll have 7 bottles of wine from the Italian winery. Mmmmmm! I can't wait. They can't make a bad wine over there. Who wants to have a wine party in June? This girl. :)
Photography:
I bought a new macro lens!!! 60mm f2.8 macro lens. I'm excited to play with it! (I actually would be playing with it right now, but my stomach is in shambles so I'm laying low...hence writing a long blog on nothing.) I'm looking forward to the busy summer season. I'm over this slow Spring phase I am in right now. I'm ready to shoot and shoot and edit and edit. (Although mid way through I won't be singing the same tune with the editing deal.)
Check out my Instagram feed... I am doing a "Photo a Day" in April. I am following this list here.
My Insta name is "aubrielegault" come follow me.
Well I think that about covers it. I have a few Instagram photos to take... a new lens to pay with, a hard-heart-filled book to read and an aqua-bike to train for. I better get on with it.
Skipping,
Aubrie
3.25.2012
Three Decades.
Three decades down. It's hard to believe I'm thirty. You have to think back through your life a little bit when you hit a milestone, of course when you turn 10 or even 20 I don't think you care as much. In fact when you turn twenty the only thing you really think about is that you have one more year before you're legal to drink. Something happens over the next10 years... in a very basic sense, you grow up. I mean really there are a lot of major life occurrences that happen in those ten years, at least that was the case for me. So in the celebration of my birthday and the fact that I like lists I thought it would be appropriate to look back on some of my fondest moments, big decisions and a few accomplishments (big and small).
1. Birth. Coming into this world on 3.25.82 around 7:30 AM. (An accomplishment more so for my mom and dad, but I thought it was a good start to my list.)
2. Bike Parade. We had to decorate our bikes and ride them around the block, a grand accomplishment for a 5-year-old. I had my best friend by my side, rocking her Kool-Aid mustache, Sarah Redwine (Keifer now). She is actually probably one my greatest accomplishments because we were best friends that day and thirty years later we're still great friends.
3. State Swim Meet. Honestly all my state swim meets we're great and I think I should be proud of being a talented swimmer. My favorite state meet though was my first. I was one of two 8-year-olds in the whole state that made it for 50-yard-fly. I remember seeing my name written in light bulbs across the huge score board and standing up on that swim block that was larger than life. I think the obsession started there. I wanted to swim, I needed to swim and so I did for the next 9 years.
4. Harris Heat to Indiana Sting. A group of girls that one day put on these bright purple uniforms and called themselves an All-Star Team. We were good. The great thing about this "team" was not that we were good for one season but that a big core group of us played every year together from about 10-years-old all the way through our senior year of high school. We might of had different names and different colors but the cleats that hit the infield didn't really change. I can see Yo-Yo at shortstop, Monica behind first, Toni covering third, Missy (or myself) on the mound, Mary and Bene in the outfield. We had a lot of great games and moments together.
5. Ain't Going Down. I specifically remember spending days, even weeks memorizing that song by Garth Brooks. Not sure why it made this list, but it did.
6. Swanson Summers. I spent two summers life guarding at Swanson Pool with one of my high school best friends, Melissa. I just remember those summers fondly.
7. 1:03. I had a 1:04 in the 100 fly for about two years straight... I still remember the meet where years of hard work finally came together and I let go of that time and finally hit a 1:03 in my favorite event. (My high school swim seasons definitely shaped my life and I'm grateful for those years I spent day in and day out swimming.)
8. Minolta X-700. My first camera. It was (and still is) the best Christmas present I've ever received. It lit the fire for photography... and that flame is still burning.
9. Skipping & Climbing. We all have our teenage moments where we throw caution to the wind and pretty much do what we want. I know I have a handful of stories but the two that stick out in my mind were skipping math class to hit up the rope swing along the St. Joe river. (You can read this post where I talk a little more on that adventure.) And of course the one and only time I've been arrested.... for repelling off a water tower. :)
10. Photojournalism. A stranger actually picked my degree. Okay, not really. But I don't have an actual name of the person that looked at me and said "You should go for Photojournalism." To whoever you are, thank you. It was one of the best decisions I made. Not a lot of people figure out what they want to do their sophomore year in college, I was grateful to be one of those few.
11. BC Klan. God, I had great friends in college! There are so many memories from college that it's hard to narrow it down to one. The BC Klan (later turning into the Linden Place Klan) is really just another way of saying I had a great, fun, fabulous group of college friends. I miss them every day.
12. Relationships. I wouldn't be the woman I am today with out the many, many relationships I had. My first kiss with Brian K. Mark H.- the first guy that ever had a MAJOR crush on me, I finally gave in after about a year or so. Tracy- ohh, Tracy... there's almost too much to say with that one. Camp Birch Hill flings... like Joe and Shaun. Sean Compton- oh my! hahaha. Jose! God, what was I thinking? Even the relationships that never came about... David G, Chase T, Geoff B. All those dates and kisses and break-ups and heartaches and everything in between.... definitely shaped me, I'm sure of that.
13. Camp Birch Hill. It was by far the greatest job, ever. (Okay, that you can have as a 20-year-old) I met some amazing people that I am still friends with today. I was able to visit the NE part of our country and I just saw and did some amazing things. It was one of the greatest times in my life.
14. Grateful Dead. There are many things I could have put to "explain" my early 20's. A little walk down Shakedown Street probably says it all. I had some wonderful times being a lil hippie.
15. New Years Eve. They happen every year, but one in particular stands out to me. I can see my college Klan all decked out to the nines (at least for college kids) with my apartment decorated in some sort of cheap-NY-style, singing "Tiny Dancer" with champagne glasses in hand.
16. Internship. I had an internship at the Muncie Star Press. It was my first real taste at being a photographer, a paid photographer. I loved it... and I still love it.
17. Graduating. I think I have to put this... I know a lot of people graduate college these days. I am proud of myself for getting a B.A. in Photojournalism. I'm glad that I was part of a lot of organizations like NPPA and the Daily News. I was glad I made all those wonderful friends and had some amazing experiences at Ball State. And then....
18. Oregon. I moved to Oregon. I graduated and decided that I would pack up my little Toyota and drive 2000+ miles across the country to a state I really knew nothing about. (The road trip with my sister is a fond memory.) Obviously I loved it otherwise I wouldn't be writing this post from my home in Portland, Oregon six years later.
19. Camera World. My first job in Oregon, I was a lab tech at Camera World. The job introduced me to some great friends and it made me grow up and take on some responsibility. Plus, of course, I met David there.
20. Sushi. I ate Sushi for the first time with David on one of our dates. I know it seems kind of silly but I think that was the start of trying a lot of new things, especially when it came to food. I love all types of food now and trying out new restaurants... it's one of my favorite things to do.
21. Lukah! Whether it's the first time that dog walked through my first apartment in Gresham, or when Lukah started to live with David and I over in St. John's or when the paperwork arrived in the mail officially declaring him MY dog, whichever moment you wanna pick to be #20 is fine with me. Either way he's the greatest dog and he just simply makes me happy.
22. Wine Tasting. It started one day with a Chateau St. Michelle Riesling. It's grown into knowing the differences between a Syrah and a Shiraz (really nothing, except the "z" one is from Australia) and being able to pick out things like "cloves" in a spicy red or "grapefruit" in the nose of a white. I love wine tasting.
23. Capturing Grace Photography. Starting my own business has been really fun and definitely an educational experience. Ever since I started the business it has been just that... fun and a lot to learn! I'm always learning and growing and there isn't one shoot or one day with a camera in my hand that I regret being a photographer.
24. Grace of God. The day I gave my life to Jesus was and forever will be the greatest decision I've ever made. The day David and I were baptized together was a wonderful moment in our lives together.
25. July 18, 2008. The day we were announced as "Mr. and Mrs. David LeGault." I love my husband. And quite frankly I could have made the wrong choice of where to live, or what to do for a living, but as long as David would have been part of the final product I know I would be happy.
26. Volunteer. I volunteer for the Pregnancy Resource Center. There are a lot of things that people like to stand for and believe in and I think everyone should pick one and help the cause. I'm against abortions and I found that the work that PRC does is a positive way to stand up for what I believe in with out having to stand in some brutal picketing or have a screaming match with someone who is pro choice. I enjoy volunteering there and being one of God's working hands.
27. Coach. Becoming a coach has been such a blessing already. I love coaching high school swimming and I'm looking forward to next year already.
28. Triathlete. A great thing to check off the ol' bucket list. I enjoyed training for the triathlon and competing. I look forward to doing it again.
29. 1859 Cover. It's one of those things that you can look back and say "I worked for this" plus you can look forward and say "Great things will come become of this."
30. Living. Living, loving, breathing, failing, succeeding, working, resting, enjoying... living. Turning 30 and not saying "boo-hoo, I'm old" but instead looking forward to my next three decades.
Skipping,
Aubrie
1.03.2012
Eleven to Twelve
The first week of January is always bittersweet. A lot of people, including myself, tend to look back at the year that has passed with sweet memories most of which will never occur again. We also look towards the year to come with anticipations, goals and a hopeful heart that we can top the previous year.
I had a great year and I wanted to recap some of my favorite moments. Of course doing it in a list fashion, because I dig lists. A lot of people go with "Top 10" but I find it only appropriate to do my list of "Top 11" moments for 2011... in no particular order....
1. Memorial Day Camping Trip. Not only was the camping trip a lot of fun but we met some lovely people at this camping trip that are now dear friends.
2. State Champs! My first year coaching high school swimming was a lot of fun. To be honest I really had nothing to do with our boys winning state, but I was happy to be part of the team and I was very proud of Adam (head coach) and our hard-working boys.
3. Nutcracker. At the ripe age of 29 I finally saw my first performance of the Nutcracker. David and I watched the Oregon Ballet perform this wonderful Christmas tradition at the Keller auditorium.
4. 3-Year-Anniversary. We might not have done anything HUGE for this anniversary but just having another year with my wonderful husband is grand enough to be on this list.
5. Hawaii. David and I took a trip to Kauai in March with my parents. It. Was. Awesome.
6. Triathlon. I competed in my first sprint triathlon.
7. La Grande. We celebrated 4th of July in La Grande with friends, wine tasting, steak dinner, hiking and fireworks.
8. Josh Radin. I love him and his concerts. The Starks and I saw Josh perform in March at the Crystal Ballroom. Always a good time... Josh Shot.
9. 1859. This year was a big year for my editorial work. December 2011 was actually my first publication in this magazine... July was my first photo story and coming up....
10. Eagle Lake. My husband got his first full taste of summer in Indiana. My favorite part was spending the day at my uncle's lake house. We celebrated my nephew's first birthday, went jet-skiing and I went tubing with my sister. It reminded me of past summers in Indiana and was a great time spent with the best family ever.
11. Carpet! Ahhhh, we finally got new carpet in our house. It looks and smells so much better. :)
I am looking forward to 2012. Every year brings new memories to cherish and new goals to check off your list. I have a few of each in mind so to go with the mantra I have for this blog post I thought I would write a list of 12 things I'm either looking forward to or that I would like to accomplish this year.
1. Turning 30!!! Maybe I'm not looking forward to turning 30 and saying goodbye to my 20's (because my 20's were spectacular) but I think the celebration will probably be a good one this year. ;)
2. Swimming. I joined a masters swim team, The Barracudas. I am excited to be on a swim team again, to get back into shape and to race in a few swim meets this year.
3. Family Visit. This is actually happening in less than a week... my mom and my aunt Lee Ann are coming for a week to visit. It should be a fun girl time... and interesting too because it's January and you have to creative with things to do in Portland in the winter.
4. Drive Better. My husband will probably poop his pants when he reads this. I would like to allow myself enough time to get to my location and not be in such a rush that I drive like a ding-bat.
5. Pinterest. What? I can't have a goal involving the latest and greatest website? LOL! Seriously though I think the site allows to create, make, bake, purchase or do a lot of things that maybe you wouldn't think of yourself. So my goal is to do 12 things that I find from Pinterest.
6. Triathlon. I would like to compete in another triathlon or maybe even try an aquathon out as well.
7. Crazy Love. It's a book my sister got me for Christmas. I'm going to read it.
8. Chicago Wedding. My college best friend is getting married in Chicago this July. I'm excited to witness this great occasion and be at a wedding in the middle of the summer that I'm not responsible for the photography. To sit back and relax during a wedding is an odd thing but I'm looking forward to it. (Plus another trip to the windy city!)
9. Rafting! David and I have two types of rafts/boats. One is a blow-up kayak and the other is a raft-boat type of deal. Anyway I would like to actually put them in the water and use the heck out of them this summer! Plus I would like to go white water rafting this year (Rogue??)
10. Roads. My Oregon map looks better and better every year. This year I have a few specific roads I would like to mark off. Highway 228-20 starting in Sweet Home and going to Black Butte Ranch area is one and the other is Highway 126 staring in Springfield and going to Belknap Springs area.
11. 1859! ...and my first Front Cover! My first front cover will come out in January, it should be on the stands any day now. I'm looking forward to seeing the magazine and of course shooting this whole year with 1859.
12. Magazines/Photo Biz. I would like to get into at least one more major magazine this year. I really enjoy the work that the Columbia Gorge magazine produces and Sip NW magazine. Those two are both on my list for sure. Do you think Sunset magazine is ready for this girl yet? I am looking forward to this year with my photography business. It's growing and it's making more money- yay. I had 6 weddings booked before the new year and I hoping to grab a few more. It's going to be a great year in the photo world!
I had a great year and I wanted to recap some of my favorite moments. Of course doing it in a list fashion, because I dig lists. A lot of people go with "Top 10" but I find it only appropriate to do my list of "Top 11" moments for 2011... in no particular order....
1. Memorial Day Camping Trip. Not only was the camping trip a lot of fun but we met some lovely people at this camping trip that are now dear friends.
2. State Champs! My first year coaching high school swimming was a lot of fun. To be honest I really had nothing to do with our boys winning state, but I was happy to be part of the team and I was very proud of Adam (head coach) and our hard-working boys.
3. Nutcracker. At the ripe age of 29 I finally saw my first performance of the Nutcracker. David and I watched the Oregon Ballet perform this wonderful Christmas tradition at the Keller auditorium.
4. 3-Year-Anniversary. We might not have done anything HUGE for this anniversary but just having another year with my wonderful husband is grand enough to be on this list.
5. Hawaii. David and I took a trip to Kauai in March with my parents. It. Was. Awesome.
6. Triathlon. I competed in my first sprint triathlon.
7. La Grande. We celebrated 4th of July in La Grande with friends, wine tasting, steak dinner, hiking and fireworks.
8. Josh Radin. I love him and his concerts. The Starks and I saw Josh perform in March at the Crystal Ballroom. Always a good time... Josh Shot.
9. 1859. This year was a big year for my editorial work. December 2011 was actually my first publication in this magazine... July was my first photo story and coming up....
10. Eagle Lake. My husband got his first full taste of summer in Indiana. My favorite part was spending the day at my uncle's lake house. We celebrated my nephew's first birthday, went jet-skiing and I went tubing with my sister. It reminded me of past summers in Indiana and was a great time spent with the best family ever.
11. Carpet! Ahhhh, we finally got new carpet in our house. It looks and smells so much better. :)
I am looking forward to 2012. Every year brings new memories to cherish and new goals to check off your list. I have a few of each in mind so to go with the mantra I have for this blog post I thought I would write a list of 12 things I'm either looking forward to or that I would like to accomplish this year.
1. Turning 30!!! Maybe I'm not looking forward to turning 30 and saying goodbye to my 20's (because my 20's were spectacular) but I think the celebration will probably be a good one this year. ;)
2. Swimming. I joined a masters swim team, The Barracudas. I am excited to be on a swim team again, to get back into shape and to race in a few swim meets this year.
3. Family Visit. This is actually happening in less than a week... my mom and my aunt Lee Ann are coming for a week to visit. It should be a fun girl time... and interesting too because it's January and you have to creative with things to do in Portland in the winter.
4. Drive Better. My husband will probably poop his pants when he reads this. I would like to allow myself enough time to get to my location and not be in such a rush that I drive like a ding-bat.
5. Pinterest. What? I can't have a goal involving the latest and greatest website? LOL! Seriously though I think the site allows to create, make, bake, purchase or do a lot of things that maybe you wouldn't think of yourself. So my goal is to do 12 things that I find from Pinterest.
6. Triathlon. I would like to compete in another triathlon or maybe even try an aquathon out as well.
7. Crazy Love. It's a book my sister got me for Christmas. I'm going to read it.
8. Chicago Wedding. My college best friend is getting married in Chicago this July. I'm excited to witness this great occasion and be at a wedding in the middle of the summer that I'm not responsible for the photography. To sit back and relax during a wedding is an odd thing but I'm looking forward to it. (Plus another trip to the windy city!)
9. Rafting! David and I have two types of rafts/boats. One is a blow-up kayak and the other is a raft-boat type of deal. Anyway I would like to actually put them in the water and use the heck out of them this summer! Plus I would like to go white water rafting this year (Rogue??)
10. Roads. My Oregon map looks better and better every year. This year I have a few specific roads I would like to mark off. Highway 228-20 starting in Sweet Home and going to Black Butte Ranch area is one and the other is Highway 126 staring in Springfield and going to Belknap Springs area.
11. 1859! ...and my first Front Cover! My first front cover will come out in January, it should be on the stands any day now. I'm looking forward to seeing the magazine and of course shooting this whole year with 1859.
12. Magazines/Photo Biz. I would like to get into at least one more major magazine this year. I really enjoy the work that the Columbia Gorge magazine produces and Sip NW magazine. Those two are both on my list for sure. Do you think Sunset magazine is ready for this girl yet? I am looking forward to this year with my photography business. It's growing and it's making more money- yay. I had 6 weddings booked before the new year and I hoping to grab a few more. It's going to be a great year in the photo world!
12.03.2011
About WHAT?
Why is it easier to just write when it's a blog rather than starring at a "New Document" from Word. It's like this blank white screen looking back at you and saying "Ya.. I'm waiting...Show me what you got." The blank white screen sits empty. Obviously this was the case for me...it was the case like 10 seconds ago and then I decided to open up a blog post and here I am typing away.
It's probably because this doesn't really matter. I mean I could type about kittens on this thing and it's not going to affect a single thing. What I am trying to write is my "About" page for my website/business. Writing about myself is the easiest subject as far as gathered information but it's the hardest topic to write about because it's personally connected. Sure, I can write all day long on random things that I enjoy. Like... have you seen the Big Bang Theory? It's hilarious. I don't really think my clients want to know what television shows I find amusing though.
What do they want to know? Or better yet... what do I want them to know? What points do I want to get across to them so they understand my photography better. What do I want them to read so that they can decide if what I will provide to them will fit what they want. I am selling photography and that's the first thing they'll look at, sure, but I am also selling me. So I need to provide information about me that's relevant to my photography. I'm not really interested in telling them that I have a B.A. in Photojournalism or that I am a member of WPJA or that I've never won any big awards. (Of course we're going to leave that last part out.) I'll mention the first two things but that's not what I want them to understand. I want them to read about my style, I want them to read about my personality. I want those two things to mesh with the photographs they see on my blog/website.
I'd like to tell them that by hiring me you've just purchased a story teller. I want to tell their story. If they are a happy-go-lucky couple that can't stop laughing, then I want to capture that. If they grew up on a farm in Oregon and love riding tractors with their fiance, then I want to show that. If their little girl is so spontaneous and can't sit down for anything then I don't want to make her sit down... and I want them to know that before they hire me. I don't want to sound harsh though when I explain how I shoot. I mean how do I tell someone; "We should take your newborn photos at your house because that's your baby's first home, not a studio. I don't care that your baby room is not properly decorated to fit Martha Stewart's standards. This is you. This is your home. This is your life, your story. Let's document it in a fun and heart-warming way. Let's capture you...not a page out of a magazine." If I said just that- would that sound too crash?
I want my "about" page to have two categories. The first is my photography and the second is me. So I'm trying to figure out what exactly I need to say to portray myself in the correct manner so that they get me and yet still feel like I'm a professional. I mean I'm not stuffy or very bossy... in fact I'm very easy-going. I want them to know that because that will never change. But I don't want them to get the idea that I am so happy-go-lucky that I won't pay attention to what is going or that I'm too flighty that I will miss something big. I want them to know that I will give direction to a point... but I'm never going to over pose them because that's not me.
Hmmmm.... should I return back to my empty word document? *Sigh*
Sinking,
Aubrie
It's probably because this doesn't really matter. I mean I could type about kittens on this thing and it's not going to affect a single thing. What I am trying to write is my "About" page for my website/business. Writing about myself is the easiest subject as far as gathered information but it's the hardest topic to write about because it's personally connected. Sure, I can write all day long on random things that I enjoy. Like... have you seen the Big Bang Theory? It's hilarious. I don't really think my clients want to know what television shows I find amusing though.
What do they want to know? Or better yet... what do I want them to know? What points do I want to get across to them so they understand my photography better. What do I want them to read so that they can decide if what I will provide to them will fit what they want. I am selling photography and that's the first thing they'll look at, sure, but I am also selling me. So I need to provide information about me that's relevant to my photography. I'm not really interested in telling them that I have a B.A. in Photojournalism or that I am a member of WPJA or that I've never won any big awards. (Of course we're going to leave that last part out.) I'll mention the first two things but that's not what I want them to understand. I want them to read about my style, I want them to read about my personality. I want those two things to mesh with the photographs they see on my blog/website.
I'd like to tell them that by hiring me you've just purchased a story teller. I want to tell their story. If they are a happy-go-lucky couple that can't stop laughing, then I want to capture that. If they grew up on a farm in Oregon and love riding tractors with their fiance, then I want to show that. If their little girl is so spontaneous and can't sit down for anything then I don't want to make her sit down... and I want them to know that before they hire me. I don't want to sound harsh though when I explain how I shoot. I mean how do I tell someone; "We should take your newborn photos at your house because that's your baby's first home, not a studio. I don't care that your baby room is not properly decorated to fit Martha Stewart's standards. This is you. This is your home. This is your life, your story. Let's document it in a fun and heart-warming way. Let's capture you...not a page out of a magazine." If I said just that- would that sound too crash?
I want my "about" page to have two categories. The first is my photography and the second is me. So I'm trying to figure out what exactly I need to say to portray myself in the correct manner so that they get me and yet still feel like I'm a professional. I mean I'm not stuffy or very bossy... in fact I'm very easy-going. I want them to know that because that will never change. But I don't want them to get the idea that I am so happy-go-lucky that I won't pay attention to what is going or that I'm too flighty that I will miss something big. I want them to know that I will give direction to a point... but I'm never going to over pose them because that's not me.
Hmmmm.... should I return back to my empty word document? *Sigh*
Sinking,
Aubrie
11.27.2011
5 Random Things You Did Not Need To Know
Hmmmm... I don't have a lot to say. But I did want to say these 5 random things...
1. I don't understand why companies use extremely thin and tall models to show us clothes we should buy for ourselves. Especially when most women are about 5'4-5'7. Why can't we get models that are similar to our size so that we could actually tell if the clothes will look good on us or not.
2. I am feeling very crafty and DIY lately. Of course I haven't done anything crafty yet... but I keep coming up with all these crazy ideas. For instance- I want to redecorate my entire house using only things I currently own now or can find for free. I blame Pinterest for this idea.
3. I have a very good feeling that I will be doing some type of photography project for 2012. (Think back to 2010 with my "52 Weeks of Photography.) I've had a lot of ideas... one of my ideas that keeps coming up is "85 Images with my 85mm." We'll see what I come up with... but I am already looking forward to doing another project like that. If you would like to check out a "recap" of my 52 Weeks I did in 2010 click here.
4. So you go on a diet... then you miss all your food and have a major cheating weekend/s in a row... then you miss the diet and can't wait to get back to eating rabbit food again. Interesting how that works, yes?
5. Yoga! Go to yoga,Aubrie. It's good for you. In fact... go tomorrow at 8:00 AM. Or ELSE!
1. I don't understand why companies use extremely thin and tall models to show us clothes we should buy for ourselves. Especially when most women are about 5'4-5'7. Why can't we get models that are similar to our size so that we could actually tell if the clothes will look good on us or not.
2. I am feeling very crafty and DIY lately. Of course I haven't done anything crafty yet... but I keep coming up with all these crazy ideas. For instance- I want to redecorate my entire house using only things I currently own now or can find for free. I blame Pinterest for this idea.
3. I have a very good feeling that I will be doing some type of photography project for 2012. (Think back to 2010 with my "52 Weeks of Photography.) I've had a lot of ideas... one of my ideas that keeps coming up is "85 Images with my 85mm." We'll see what I come up with... but I am already looking forward to doing another project like that. If you would like to check out a "recap" of my 52 Weeks I did in 2010 click here.
4. So you go on a diet... then you miss all your food and have a major cheating weekend/s in a row... then you miss the diet and can't wait to get back to eating rabbit food again. Interesting how that works, yes?
5. Yoga! Go to yoga,Aubrie. It's good for you. In fact... go tomorrow at 8:00 AM. Or ELSE!
11.14.2011
Style II, This Time It's Personal
Figuring out a style and a brand for your company has a lot to do with figuring out your personal style. Who knew, right? Actually it makes perfect, common sense. How can you be successful at something that isn't truly you?
I don't know if it was fate or perfect timing or pure irony but over the last couple of months I've thought about my personal style a lot. I wasn't trying to figure out what type of shoes fit me best or what color of eye shadow suits me, but more so I was trying to figure out everything I like, everything I stand for and be completely, 100% okay with it. I wanted to not care what others thought about my style. (...Eyeshadow colors included.)
Let me give you a perfect example. I love country music. And for some odd reason I feel like the majority of Portland'ers don't. Which is probably true. During the summer months (my favorite time to blast country tunes) I would have to drive with my window down...actually I shouldn't say "I HAVE" to because unless it's 95 degrees or hotter I would choose to. I don't have AC though and even on those hot days my window would be rolled down. When I would drive either downtown or maybe out in the Alberta district or even into the parking lot of Olive Garden I would either turn down my country tunes or I would change the channel. My thought was, even though I enjoy that music, that I wouldn't fit into the Portland-style if they heard it. I actually believed that people would judge me because I liked country music.
It sounds really immature actually. And it was. Which is why I've been dwelling on silly things like that and coming to the conclusion that I really shouldn't care if I don't fit into some one's style. So what if I am not a hipster or I don't have 10 tattoos or that my husband and I love to sing to Rascal Flatts. I think focusing on my personal style and being completely okay with me will help me focus on my photography style and be completely okay with how I photograph, how I edit and how I present my photos. Maybe I should make a list of things I like, things I enjoy and tell the world (or, eh, the people who read this) that I am completely okay with my style and if you don't like it well then.... _ _! (Next blog post perhaps.)
I had a color scheme in mind that I wanted for my business. It included some sort of beige/brown/natural concept. I had the designers at 99designs use those types of colors for my logo. The other day I was thinking about my personal style as I compare it to my photography style. I looked around my house and noticed some of my favorite things lying around, I thought about my favorite comforter on our bed and then I noticed the colors in my living room and even my shower curtains. My personal color preference is actually very clear. It's clear in how I decorate, what I wear and...yes...even in my eye shadow colors.
So the above photos are all from my house. Thank God I stuck with my gut on my logo and picked a logo that represented a color scheme that fits me. I like brown. I like natural hues. I like "burnt sierra"and "cadmium burnt light" and maybe some "yellow ochre." (You can looks all those up they are colors.) I like the colors for me, I like the colors for my business and I like the colors in photographs.
Now I have to put an "absolute" argument in here to be fair. I know that not everything is absolute and I know that my style has some give in take. I mean just because I like natural tones does that mean that I can't own a pair of bright red shoes? Because I do. Just because I love country music, does it mean that I can't listen to Band of Horses or Joshua Radin or Led Zeppelin? Because I do. (In fact I just listed three of my all time favorite bands.) Does that mean that if someone wants to do a family shoot with me and their favorite color is bright purple and they dress their entire family in bright purple clothes that I won't photograph them? Of course not! Actually being absolute is not my style. I like change, I like to keep my life bouncing. I change my hairstyle constantly and I have 6 different radio stations that are WAY different from one another. However, I do still strongly believe in knowing your "majority" style and allowing that to work for you while not being afraid to embrace something different from time to time.
The other night I was brain storming with words and phrases by thinking about what I like and what I see (for the most part) in my photographs. These are the words I came up with:
Real. Light. Natural. Outdoors. Adventure. People. Straightforward. Pure.Capture. Bright. Simple.Candid.Laughter. Country. Places. Raw. Genuine.Luminous. Fun.Nature.Document.Relaxed.
With those words I came up with a few phrases that help me think about my photography style. For instance "bright, light and luminous" describe my overall look of a photo. And I think I'm finally starting to be okay with the fact that I like my photos well-lit. I like to see their faces, I like to see what is around them and my shots are usually brighter than they are darker. (With the exception of silhouettes, which I love...silhouettes just means that the background is well-lit.) I love looking at photographs that are smoky and dark and sexy. But that's not really my style and I'm not very good at pulling it off. Again, with the absolute, does that mean I won't seize a chance to document a darker, deep photo? Probably not. But if I like it bright and lit than that's what I'll do most of the time. Here are a few more phrases:
I will photograph what happens and will not falsify an image.
I will not over edit or re-touch too much so that a person/place looks fake.
I will allow my subjects to be relaxed and have fun.
I will not be stuffy or over-posed. (I don't photograph models.)
I will capture people and places with natural light or I will add light so that the photo is illuminated and bright.
I will try to find clean backgrounds and not over-complicate my image.
I will tell there story, the whole story and will not be too intrusive.
I like to take photographs in the country.
I like my subjects to bee well-lit.
I like real smiles and genuine laughter.
It's funny when I think about these statements and then I think about photographs that I have taken in the past that stand-out to me or that are my favorite.. They (for the most part) fit into a lot of those statements above. Check this- my favorite engagement shoot that I did this year was with a couple that was a lot of fun, very genuine and just relaxed. We did their shoot out in the country, I used A LOT of natural light. And when you check this shoot out, don't forget to think about my color scheme. Check it out... Engagement Shoot.
Interesting, huh? I booked a wedding this week. The client told me that it was between me and one other photographer. I won the battle. Not sure why and I probably won't find out why. We talked about their engagement shoot and I asked where they would like to do the shoot. She answered "my fiance's grandparents have a big farm out in the country, we'd like to do it there." "Perfect." I thought to myself. She made the right choice for a photographer.
Skipping,
Aubrie
I don't know if it was fate or perfect timing or pure irony but over the last couple of months I've thought about my personal style a lot. I wasn't trying to figure out what type of shoes fit me best or what color of eye shadow suits me, but more so I was trying to figure out everything I like, everything I stand for and be completely, 100% okay with it. I wanted to not care what others thought about my style. (...Eyeshadow colors included.)
Let me give you a perfect example. I love country music. And for some odd reason I feel like the majority of Portland'ers don't. Which is probably true. During the summer months (my favorite time to blast country tunes) I would have to drive with my window down...actually I shouldn't say "I HAVE" to because unless it's 95 degrees or hotter I would choose to. I don't have AC though and even on those hot days my window would be rolled down. When I would drive either downtown or maybe out in the Alberta district or even into the parking lot of Olive Garden I would either turn down my country tunes or I would change the channel. My thought was, even though I enjoy that music, that I wouldn't fit into the Portland-style if they heard it. I actually believed that people would judge me because I liked country music.
It sounds really immature actually. And it was. Which is why I've been dwelling on silly things like that and coming to the conclusion that I really shouldn't care if I don't fit into some one's style. So what if I am not a hipster or I don't have 10 tattoos or that my husband and I love to sing to Rascal Flatts. I think focusing on my personal style and being completely okay with me will help me focus on my photography style and be completely okay with how I photograph, how I edit and how I present my photos. Maybe I should make a list of things I like, things I enjoy and tell the world (or, eh, the people who read this) that I am completely okay with my style and if you don't like it well then.... _ _! (Next blog post perhaps.)
I had a color scheme in mind that I wanted for my business. It included some sort of beige/brown/natural concept. I had the designers at 99designs use those types of colors for my logo. The other day I was thinking about my personal style as I compare it to my photography style. I looked around my house and noticed some of my favorite things lying around, I thought about my favorite comforter on our bed and then I noticed the colors in my living room and even my shower curtains. My personal color preference is actually very clear. It's clear in how I decorate, what I wear and...yes...even in my eye shadow colors.
So the above photos are all from my house. Thank God I stuck with my gut on my logo and picked a logo that represented a color scheme that fits me. I like brown. I like natural hues. I like "burnt sierra"and "cadmium burnt light" and maybe some "yellow ochre." (You can looks all those up they are colors.) I like the colors for me, I like the colors for my business and I like the colors in photographs.
Now I have to put an "absolute" argument in here to be fair. I know that not everything is absolute and I know that my style has some give in take. I mean just because I like natural tones does that mean that I can't own a pair of bright red shoes? Because I do. Just because I love country music, does it mean that I can't listen to Band of Horses or Joshua Radin or Led Zeppelin? Because I do. (In fact I just listed three of my all time favorite bands.) Does that mean that if someone wants to do a family shoot with me and their favorite color is bright purple and they dress their entire family in bright purple clothes that I won't photograph them? Of course not! Actually being absolute is not my style. I like change, I like to keep my life bouncing. I change my hairstyle constantly and I have 6 different radio stations that are WAY different from one another. However, I do still strongly believe in knowing your "majority" style and allowing that to work for you while not being afraid to embrace something different from time to time.
The other night I was brain storming with words and phrases by thinking about what I like and what I see (for the most part) in my photographs. These are the words I came up with:
Real. Light. Natural. Outdoors. Adventure. People. Straightforward. Pure.Capture. Bright. Simple.Candid.Laughter. Country. Places. Raw. Genuine.Luminous. Fun.Nature.Document.Relaxed.
With those words I came up with a few phrases that help me think about my photography style. For instance "bright, light and luminous" describe my overall look of a photo. And I think I'm finally starting to be okay with the fact that I like my photos well-lit. I like to see their faces, I like to see what is around them and my shots are usually brighter than they are darker. (With the exception of silhouettes, which I love...silhouettes just means that the background is well-lit.) I love looking at photographs that are smoky and dark and sexy. But that's not really my style and I'm not very good at pulling it off. Again, with the absolute, does that mean I won't seize a chance to document a darker, deep photo? Probably not. But if I like it bright and lit than that's what I'll do most of the time. Here are a few more phrases:
I will photograph what happens and will not falsify an image.
I will not over edit or re-touch too much so that a person/place looks fake.
I will allow my subjects to be relaxed and have fun.
I will not be stuffy or over-posed. (I don't photograph models.)
I will capture people and places with natural light or I will add light so that the photo is illuminated and bright.
I will try to find clean backgrounds and not over-complicate my image.
I will tell there story, the whole story and will not be too intrusive.
I like to take photographs in the country.
I like my subjects to bee well-lit.
I like real smiles and genuine laughter.
It's funny when I think about these statements and then I think about photographs that I have taken in the past that stand-out to me or that are my favorite.. They (for the most part) fit into a lot of those statements above. Check this- my favorite engagement shoot that I did this year was with a couple that was a lot of fun, very genuine and just relaxed. We did their shoot out in the country, I used A LOT of natural light. And when you check this shoot out, don't forget to think about my color scheme. Check it out... Engagement Shoot.
Interesting, huh? I booked a wedding this week. The client told me that it was between me and one other photographer. I won the battle. Not sure why and I probably won't find out why. We talked about their engagement shoot and I asked where they would like to do the shoot. She answered "my fiance's grandparents have a big farm out in the country, we'd like to do it there." "Perfect." I thought to myself. She made the right choice for a photographer.
Skipping,
Aubrie
11.10.2011
Style- Part I
Believe it or not I am up late again waiting on something...not a television show this time though. I am actually waiting on my dishwasher to finish. No, not to dry them and put them away. I'd be warm in my sheets right now if that was the case. I need a certain dish to put my turkey/bean chili in for lunch tomorrow. I know what your thinking... why didn't I put on my 50's underpants and wash the dish by hand? That's actually a good question. A very good question. And to be honest I guess I didn't think about that until I started telling you that I'm waiting on my dishwasher. Maybe subconsciously I wanted to waste time on the web again. I did play with Pinterest, geesh! And now here I am blogging again. I'm seeing a trend.
So what's on the docket tonight? More regrets? No sir. Something totally different and yet I guess you could say it's still part of "figuring oneself out," which I am sure understanding your regrets falls into that category as well.
Style: "a particular kind, sort or type, as with reference to form, appearance or character."
Style and branding are the two things on my mind tonight. I have a feeling that I will use my personal blog to explore this so that I can apply it to my professional life and photography business. Let's face it- I can't discuss what type of photography style or what my "brand" is all about on my photo blog. My clients would wonder what in the world I'm doing. You're probably wondering what in the world I'm doing too. I mean if you know me at all you know that I've had a photography business for years now. So why would I concern myself with style and branding right now? Well basically because I did my photography business back-asswards! I had a photojournalism degree...skipped town and headed off to the West Coast and somehow got involved with wedding photography...which turned into portrait photography...which led shortly to sport photography (what?)... and then finally I landed with a business called "Capturing Grace Photography" where if you go to my website you'll see that I literally have 6 different portfolios (weddings, families, engagements, seniors, editorial, landscapes.)
So you're thinking that this is where I tell you that I have narrowed down my photography and that I will only be shooting ______________. Wrong.
I made my own quote up the other night (I hope it becomes famous one day- like where you'll see it painted on weird wood and then you'll see a photo of it and then people will pin it. ya.) ...Damn. I don't think I can remember it now. Okay... I don't remember the first quote, but I do remember what I ended up with (I geared it more towards my actual website/business.) "My passion is photography, my focus is you." In other words I don't want to JUST be a wedding photographer. But, at that moment, when I am shooting a wedding that's what I want to be focused on, you, my client. I don't want to JUST photograph families, but you better believe that when I am that I will be passionate about them.
I get why I am suppose to have a focus, a style, a brand. I get that if I focused on one genre of photography that I might have quicker success. (Who wants fast success? I love having two side jobs. That was an ironic joke, just in case you missed that.) But quite frankly, I don't care. Because my passion is truly photography. Photography is complex, it's involved, it has genres and each genre has a category and each category has a style and each style has different manipulations. I love it all. I love landscapes- like mountain photos that you say "wow" when you see it. I love black and white prints. I love "art" photography even if it's weird. I love Polaroids. I love people. Hell, I even like animal photography. I could do with out kittens and go more towards Polar Bears and Moose though. I don't stop into a lot of art galleries unless they have photographs. I don't buy books that have horrible images on the front covers. I can't handle seeing empty frames in people's houses. In fact when I do, I offer up one of my photographs to fill it until they print whatever was suppose to go in that frame. I love photography. So with all that said, I'm not going to fill in that blank.
I am however, going to narrow it down a little. So here is my large "focus." People & Places. I know, I know, that covers a lot. But- I did leave out Things. I will not do product or commercial photography. When I speak of "Editorial" photography, to me that does not include commercial. Although in the large scheme of things commercial could be listed under Editorial. I still am not going to do commercial photos or products. Editorial, to me, means that it's going to publish in something tangible that people read, like magazines.
People: engagements/weddings and families. Notice anything? I dropped senior portraits. I like doing them, but let's face it, I'm not a studio. I don't get a lot of business doing seniors and even though there are some cool kids out there that want unique shots from an on-site location session...their parents don't. lol. That might not really be the case. However I think weddings, engagements and families are enough to fill that love for people photography.
Places: I will never not photograph landscapes or "pretty pictures." It's what got me into photography and it's what I'll die doing.
Editorial is a combination of both people and places. (That's probably why it's my favorite.) So I am trying to focus a lot on the editorial side of photography right now. Keeping fingers crossed and knees to the ground that some more magazines (like 1859) ask me to photograph for them.
PHEW! I actually went off track a little. I thought I would talk more about my actual photography style- I even picked out words and phrases and all sorts of random crap to share. But atlas my dishwasher is done and I need to hit the sheets. I guess this was good because I finalized what type of photography I will focus on. My next blog post I can wrap my head around my actual "style" that I will do/use. Until next time...
Skipping,
Aubrie
So what's on the docket tonight? More regrets? No sir. Something totally different and yet I guess you could say it's still part of "figuring oneself out," which I am sure understanding your regrets falls into that category as well.
Style: "a particular kind, sort or type, as with reference to form, appearance or character."
Style and branding are the two things on my mind tonight. I have a feeling that I will use my personal blog to explore this so that I can apply it to my professional life and photography business. Let's face it- I can't discuss what type of photography style or what my "brand" is all about on my photo blog. My clients would wonder what in the world I'm doing. You're probably wondering what in the world I'm doing too. I mean if you know me at all you know that I've had a photography business for years now. So why would I concern myself with style and branding right now? Well basically because I did my photography business back-asswards! I had a photojournalism degree...skipped town and headed off to the West Coast and somehow got involved with wedding photography...which turned into portrait photography...which led shortly to sport photography (what?)... and then finally I landed with a business called "Capturing Grace Photography" where if you go to my website you'll see that I literally have 6 different portfolios (weddings, families, engagements, seniors, editorial, landscapes.)
So you're thinking that this is where I tell you that I have narrowed down my photography and that I will only be shooting ______________. Wrong.
I made my own quote up the other night (I hope it becomes famous one day- like where you'll see it painted on weird wood and then you'll see a photo of it and then people will pin it. ya.) ...Damn. I don't think I can remember it now. Okay... I don't remember the first quote, but I do remember what I ended up with (I geared it more towards my actual website/business.) "My passion is photography, my focus is you." In other words I don't want to JUST be a wedding photographer. But, at that moment, when I am shooting a wedding that's what I want to be focused on, you, my client. I don't want to JUST photograph families, but you better believe that when I am that I will be passionate about them.
I get why I am suppose to have a focus, a style, a brand. I get that if I focused on one genre of photography that I might have quicker success. (Who wants fast success? I love having two side jobs. That was an ironic joke, just in case you missed that.) But quite frankly, I don't care. Because my passion is truly photography. Photography is complex, it's involved, it has genres and each genre has a category and each category has a style and each style has different manipulations. I love it all. I love landscapes- like mountain photos that you say "wow" when you see it. I love black and white prints. I love "art" photography even if it's weird. I love Polaroids. I love people. Hell, I even like animal photography. I could do with out kittens and go more towards Polar Bears and Moose though. I don't stop into a lot of art galleries unless they have photographs. I don't buy books that have horrible images on the front covers. I can't handle seeing empty frames in people's houses. In fact when I do, I offer up one of my photographs to fill it until they print whatever was suppose to go in that frame. I love photography. So with all that said, I'm not going to fill in that blank.
I am however, going to narrow it down a little. So here is my large "focus." People & Places. I know, I know, that covers a lot. But- I did leave out Things. I will not do product or commercial photography. When I speak of "Editorial" photography, to me that does not include commercial. Although in the large scheme of things commercial could be listed under Editorial. I still am not going to do commercial photos or products. Editorial, to me, means that it's going to publish in something tangible that people read, like magazines.
People: engagements/weddings and families. Notice anything? I dropped senior portraits. I like doing them, but let's face it, I'm not a studio. I don't get a lot of business doing seniors and even though there are some cool kids out there that want unique shots from an on-site location session...their parents don't. lol. That might not really be the case. However I think weddings, engagements and families are enough to fill that love for people photography.
Places: I will never not photograph landscapes or "pretty pictures." It's what got me into photography and it's what I'll die doing.
Editorial is a combination of both people and places. (That's probably why it's my favorite.) So I am trying to focus a lot on the editorial side of photography right now. Keeping fingers crossed and knees to the ground that some more magazines (like 1859) ask me to photograph for them.
PHEW! I actually went off track a little. I thought I would talk more about my actual photography style- I even picked out words and phrases and all sorts of random crap to share. But atlas my dishwasher is done and I need to hit the sheets. I guess this was good because I finalized what type of photography I will focus on. My next blog post I can wrap my head around my actual "style" that I will do/use. Until next time...
Skipping,
Aubrie
11.08.2011
Regrets & Randomness
So I am waiting for David Letterman's show tonight. No, I don't typically do this. However when both guests intrigue me are on one show than I guess I'll burn the midnight oil. The first guest is purely for pleasure- Robert Pattinson. Yes, I read all the Twilight books and I've seen all the movies. But I also enjoy his music and all of his other movies as well. Plus he's funny. The second guest is Annie Leibovitz one of the most famous photographers of our time. It will be very interesting to see what her and David (Ball State is his alma mater by the way) chat about.
Instead of sitting in front of the tube I thought I would waste my time else where. It seems like only once in a great while I get the chance to simply play on the Internet. You know, scan through pins, read blogs and post blogs (like this one). So that's exactly what I'm doing. That Pinterest is addicting!
*******
So this is one of those posts that are random. Just so you know.
I've had a few thoughts today. Like... who watches Jerry Springer? I mean, really? I would like to meet that person who still watches that ridiculous show and....slap them.
*******
I had an ex boyfriend that once told me something about not having regrets. I wish I could remember the exact "quote" he used, but I can't. I wonder if he regrets breaking-up with me? (ironic-humor for you.) Anyway I can't help to at least think about a few things that I regret. And I'm not talking about the type of regret that makes me sick to my stomach but I do wonder how my life would have changed if _________ fill in the blank.
______ Fill in the blank: I regret not swimming my senior year. I was voted to be captain by EVERYONE and my coach made that perfectly clear to me. Yet I decided that my swimming career was finished, probably because I started when I was six and my body was done. Instead I was motivated by my softball team winning state my junior year...I sat on the bench for that game. I was not going to sit on the bench for any game my senior year. So my dad and I spent the winter pitching in a gym. I have mixed feelings about my decision. I probably should have fought through my senior year and swam... not for me, but for my team. But I also had some bonding time with my dad that year. I don't think the decision I made affected my future. I didn't do either sport in college so I'm pretty sure that "regret" had no affect on where I am today or where I could have been tomorrow.
_____ Fill in the blank: The other regret I think about from time to time is moving to Portland, Oregon right out of college. I had an internship at the Muncie Star Press as a photojournalist. I did the internship to graduate. What I should have probably done is sought out another internship...anywhere. Most photojournalists have more than one internship and they move around a lot in the beginning of their career. I moved. Once. To Oregon. It sounds like I regret my move to Oregon and that couldn't be further from the truth. I LOVE OREGON. But I wonder if my photography career would look a lot different if I would have ventured into another internship. The thing about this regret is I'm almost positive that it would have impacted my life and I would not be where I am today. Which means I wouldn't be married to David. And that thought in itself is enough to tell me that I shouldn't regret that decision at all.
*******
I want to come up with a new product to "display" wedding photos. The journalist side of me wants to create some sort of publication that is all about the couple and their wedding day. I'm thinking like a magazine-type layout. With an actual word story and (of course) a lot of photographs. A wedding-zine. Hmm... I'll have to think it through. Don't steal my idea now. -Copyrighted! lol
Skipping,
Aubrie
Instead of sitting in front of the tube I thought I would waste my time else where. It seems like only once in a great while I get the chance to simply play on the Internet. You know, scan through pins, read blogs and post blogs (like this one). So that's exactly what I'm doing. That Pinterest is addicting!
*******
So this is one of those posts that are random. Just so you know.
I've had a few thoughts today. Like... who watches Jerry Springer? I mean, really? I would like to meet that person who still watches that ridiculous show and....slap them.
*******
I had an ex boyfriend that once told me something about not having regrets. I wish I could remember the exact "quote" he used, but I can't. I wonder if he regrets breaking-up with me? (ironic-humor for you.) Anyway I can't help to at least think about a few things that I regret. And I'm not talking about the type of regret that makes me sick to my stomach but I do wonder how my life would have changed if _________ fill in the blank.
______ Fill in the blank: I regret not swimming my senior year. I was voted to be captain by EVERYONE and my coach made that perfectly clear to me. Yet I decided that my swimming career was finished, probably because I started when I was six and my body was done. Instead I was motivated by my softball team winning state my junior year...I sat on the bench for that game. I was not going to sit on the bench for any game my senior year. So my dad and I spent the winter pitching in a gym. I have mixed feelings about my decision. I probably should have fought through my senior year and swam... not for me, but for my team. But I also had some bonding time with my dad that year. I don't think the decision I made affected my future. I didn't do either sport in college so I'm pretty sure that "regret" had no affect on where I am today or where I could have been tomorrow.
_____ Fill in the blank: The other regret I think about from time to time is moving to Portland, Oregon right out of college. I had an internship at the Muncie Star Press as a photojournalist. I did the internship to graduate. What I should have probably done is sought out another internship...anywhere. Most photojournalists have more than one internship and they move around a lot in the beginning of their career. I moved. Once. To Oregon. It sounds like I regret my move to Oregon and that couldn't be further from the truth. I LOVE OREGON. But I wonder if my photography career would look a lot different if I would have ventured into another internship. The thing about this regret is I'm almost positive that it would have impacted my life and I would not be where I am today. Which means I wouldn't be married to David. And that thought in itself is enough to tell me that I shouldn't regret that decision at all.
*******
I want to come up with a new product to "display" wedding photos. The journalist side of me wants to create some sort of publication that is all about the couple and their wedding day. I'm thinking like a magazine-type layout. With an actual word story and (of course) a lot of photographs. A wedding-zine. Hmm... I'll have to think it through. Don't steal my idea now. -Copyrighted! lol
Skipping,
Aubrie
7.08.2011
Epiphany. (mini.)
You ever get the feeling that maybe your skipping rocks in the right pond, but the stones you keep picking up are all wrong?
That was a sad attempt at a metaphor... trying to explain how I feel about my photography business.
Let's back up. I fell in love with photography because I was introduced to a famous guy, you may know him, Ansel Adams. (If you don't please google him right now! You should know who this man is.) He photographed landscapes and had the most beautiful black and whites. He also photographed people in their surroundings, beautiful environmental portraits. After that I received my first camera and I was hooked. The first thing I photographed... landscapes. (Or really at that age is was more like pretty pictures in my back yard and the field down the street.) I took a few high school photo classes, and was awarded for one photograph... a landscape shot. Went off to college and my first year I won another award for an infrared image of a Michigan Lighthouse. Enter photojournalism. I loved photojournalism... but I always wanted to photograph more of the fluff pieces. One of my fellow college photo-pals once asked me why I always photographed pretty pictures and landscapes. I told him I enjoyed it.
So I probably could go on and on and give you the whole list of photo gigs I have had... photojournalist, sports photographer, wedding photographer... but the one that has always stayed is Landscape photography.
So I am flipping through people's web sites and I am always drawn to outdoor adventures and food and wine and people enjoying their surroundings and (of course) beautiful landscape imagery. I think to myself- "I can do that." It seems to come naturally for me.
So here I am trying to beat my head in the wall trying to learn different poses and edits and having meetings with awful people just so I can be a wedding photographer. So are you ready for my epiphany... I know what your thinking... your thinking I am going to say I quit being a wedding photographer. LOL! You're totally wrong. I still love photographing weddings, don't get me wrong. Who wouldn't? Plus... ummm, it brings in the mula! No, I won't quit being a wedding photographer. But my mini epiphany is that maybe I need to concentrate more on my editorial work and my landscape photography and stop beating my head with weddings.
For the past three years I have only had about 6-8 weddings a year. It hasn't really increased a lot. I receive more compliments on my landscape photography than I do anything else. Plus... it's my favorite! I am not ashamed anymore- I LOVE photographing oceans, sunsets, waterfalls, foggy mornings, bridges and yes... flowers! If I could I would photograph bigger mountains, grizzly bears and dolphins. I belong on the cover of 1859 and Oregon Outdoors and Wine Press and...dare I say it, National Geographic. I probably won't ever land a spread on the Wedding Knot.
It's almost as if God is saying... please be a photographer, keep doing it, just focus more on what you are suppose to photograph! And all of a sudden I am skipping rocks in the right pond and nothing is sinking.
Skipping,
Aubrie
PS. Do you like how I had this little epiphany literally two days before I enter the busiest part of wedding season? It's okay, cause I still love weddings and I will always love wedding photography. I am allowed to have a second favorite. :)
That was a sad attempt at a metaphor... trying to explain how I feel about my photography business.
Let's back up. I fell in love with photography because I was introduced to a famous guy, you may know him, Ansel Adams. (If you don't please google him right now! You should know who this man is.) He photographed landscapes and had the most beautiful black and whites. He also photographed people in their surroundings, beautiful environmental portraits. After that I received my first camera and I was hooked. The first thing I photographed... landscapes. (Or really at that age is was more like pretty pictures in my back yard and the field down the street.) I took a few high school photo classes, and was awarded for one photograph... a landscape shot. Went off to college and my first year I won another award for an infrared image of a Michigan Lighthouse. Enter photojournalism. I loved photojournalism... but I always wanted to photograph more of the fluff pieces. One of my fellow college photo-pals once asked me why I always photographed pretty pictures and landscapes. I told him I enjoyed it.
So I probably could go on and on and give you the whole list of photo gigs I have had... photojournalist, sports photographer, wedding photographer... but the one that has always stayed is Landscape photography.
So I am flipping through people's web sites and I am always drawn to outdoor adventures and food and wine and people enjoying their surroundings and (of course) beautiful landscape imagery. I think to myself- "I can do that." It seems to come naturally for me.
So here I am trying to beat my head in the wall trying to learn different poses and edits and having meetings with awful people just so I can be a wedding photographer. So are you ready for my epiphany... I know what your thinking... your thinking I am going to say I quit being a wedding photographer. LOL! You're totally wrong. I still love photographing weddings, don't get me wrong. Who wouldn't? Plus... ummm, it brings in the mula! No, I won't quit being a wedding photographer. But my mini epiphany is that maybe I need to concentrate more on my editorial work and my landscape photography and stop beating my head with weddings.
For the past three years I have only had about 6-8 weddings a year. It hasn't really increased a lot. I receive more compliments on my landscape photography than I do anything else. Plus... it's my favorite! I am not ashamed anymore- I LOVE photographing oceans, sunsets, waterfalls, foggy mornings, bridges and yes... flowers! If I could I would photograph bigger mountains, grizzly bears and dolphins. I belong on the cover of 1859 and Oregon Outdoors and Wine Press and...dare I say it, National Geographic. I probably won't ever land a spread on the Wedding Knot.
It's almost as if God is saying... please be a photographer, keep doing it, just focus more on what you are suppose to photograph! And all of a sudden I am skipping rocks in the right pond and nothing is sinking.
Skipping,
Aubrie
PS. Do you like how I had this little epiphany literally two days before I enter the busiest part of wedding season? It's okay, cause I still love weddings and I will always love wedding photography. I am allowed to have a second favorite. :)
6.30.2011
Too...Much...Technology...
Seriously the Internet is out of control and I am losing my mind. I don't know what I should have and what I shouldn't waste my time with. Whose blogs should I read? What the heck is Stumble Upon? Right now I have two blogs (one personal, one business) a Facebook, Twitter, a Website, a WPJA account, a 500px account, a Pinterest account and a Linked In page. I have a list of crap I am suppose to check out and sign-up for... Delicious, Digg, Stumble Upon, etc. Plus I am suppose to link everything together so that from my blog you can FB like me and then add it to your twitter and then check out my WPJA page and like some photos on 500px. ...And I don't even know how to do it.
I am overwhelmed.
I feel like I need to hire someone to make sure that I am involved in everything and that they are all linked together. I know... your asking yourself...why? Well basically so I move up in the complicated world of SEO (search engine optimization). Geez. Some days it's too much... and I just have to leave my computer and do something simple, like... drive to work. ;)
With ALL the sites to check out and crap to read, photos to like, etc. I will say that I really enjoy the 500px site. My photographs are slime compared to some of these photographer's images. Definitely check it out... and since your probably my friend or family member you can go ahead and like some of my photos so I move up in the world. Ahh, another thing to put on your list of crap to look at. Don't you love the Internet?
http://500px.com/capturingGrace
Skipping and Sinking together today!
Aubrie
I am overwhelmed.
I feel like I need to hire someone to make sure that I am involved in everything and that they are all linked together. I know... your asking yourself...why? Well basically so I move up in the complicated world of SEO (search engine optimization). Geez. Some days it's too much... and I just have to leave my computer and do something simple, like... drive to work. ;)
With ALL the sites to check out and crap to read, photos to like, etc. I will say that I really enjoy the 500px site. My photographs are slime compared to some of these photographer's images. Definitely check it out... and since your probably my friend or family member you can go ahead and like some of my photos so I move up in the world. Ahh, another thing to put on your list of crap to look at. Don't you love the Internet?
http://500px.com/capturingGrace
Skipping and Sinking together today!
Aubrie
6.28.2011
Rants, Recipes and Perfect Gigs
Yes, I change my personal blog a lot. I feel like I always need something that fits me and whatever "fits" changes a lot. So here it is- my new (old) blog... "Skipping Rocks." I wanted to go back to having a blog that I could write about anything, not just triathlons, not just photography and not just God- but everything. I was thinking of a new title and Skipping Rocks just came to mind. The playful act we do when near a river reminds me of life. Sometimes we skip, sometimes we sink.
I wasn't sure what to write in my "first" post. I re-read the "about section" off to the right and thought I would write about those three things I mentioned, after all they must have been on my mind.
RANT: If you decide to go out to dinner, then please, tip your server. No we do not make a lot for our hour rate, yes we need your tips to make a living. No, 10% is not okay, even if Oprah did say so. Only pay 10% if your server was horrible, never stiff. She may just be having an off day or there are a NUMBER of things that could have been why your service was poor/slow...like the kitchen staff perhaps. If you tip 15% that's better, but really you should give at least 18% if your service was good. If your server was top-notch than 20% is definitely deserved. And my last little bit on tipping... if you rack up a $100 tab and there is only 3 people than you should still tip accordingly. It's not my fault you ordered a bottle of wine, appetizers, entrees, salads and dessert... yes, I got all those things and refills for you. Throw me a $20!
RECIPE: Mixed salad greens, chopped avocado, slivered almonds, chopped pears and feta cheese crumbles- toss together. Dressing: 1/3 cup oil, 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1 clove garlic, 1 1/2 tsp. mustard, salt and pepper. All I will say is... YUM!
PERFECT GIG: I got my first assignment from the magazine, 1859. They are going to pay me to drive around the country side of Oregon to take landscape photos, etc. They are paying for my hotel, food and gas. It is seriously like a dream job and I can't wait!
Skipped,
Aubrie
I wasn't sure what to write in my "first" post. I re-read the "about section" off to the right and thought I would write about those three things I mentioned, after all they must have been on my mind.
RANT: If you decide to go out to dinner, then please, tip your server. No we do not make a lot for our hour rate, yes we need your tips to make a living. No, 10% is not okay, even if Oprah did say so. Only pay 10% if your server was horrible, never stiff. She may just be having an off day or there are a NUMBER of things that could have been why your service was poor/slow...like the kitchen staff perhaps. If you tip 15% that's better, but really you should give at least 18% if your service was good. If your server was top-notch than 20% is definitely deserved. And my last little bit on tipping... if you rack up a $100 tab and there is only 3 people than you should still tip accordingly. It's not my fault you ordered a bottle of wine, appetizers, entrees, salads and dessert... yes, I got all those things and refills for you. Throw me a $20!
RECIPE: Mixed salad greens, chopped avocado, slivered almonds, chopped pears and feta cheese crumbles- toss together. Dressing: 1/3 cup oil, 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp. sugar, 1 clove garlic, 1 1/2 tsp. mustard, salt and pepper. All I will say is... YUM!
PERFECT GIG: I got my first assignment from the magazine, 1859. They are going to pay me to drive around the country side of Oregon to take landscape photos, etc. They are paying for my hotel, food and gas. It is seriously like a dream job and I can't wait!
Skipped,
Aubrie
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