My First Promo Video!!

Hey everyone,

I know you're all impressed, another blog post this week! I have waited a long time to put this online and I am not really sure why but here is the promotional video I made for my photography. I want to thank Caiti Barr for helping me out with it! It is super cheesy but hey if you know me that is exactly what I am. It is the hopeless romantic in me :) let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions! Or if you want to book a session for this summer or fall.

Another week in Maine

Hey everyone,

So it has been awhile since I sat down and wrote a blog. (sorry) Two weeks ago Jason and I welcomed Arlene Collins into our lovely studio. Arlene taught a class on mastering flash. I personally have never been a huge flash fan but after assisting her in class I now have a better understanding of flash and feel that I would end up using it more in some situations. It was great to meet Arlene Collins, she really knows a lot about what she does and is able to teach it well. Jason and I will be working with Arlene two more times over the summer so you will be hearing more about her!

The weekend of the 4th was great, I got to go home and hang out with my friends and family for my birthday. My brother just acquired a boat so we spent most of the weekend out on the river. As most of you know I submerged my cell phone in coffee a few weeks ago and just got a new one in the end of June. Keeping that in mind, I stupidly took my beautiful new blackberry bold on the boat with me. I safely hid it in a towel and prayed for the best. Things were going good until all of a sudden our boat was bombarded with water. After a few seconds of water falling on us like a waterfall we figured out what went wrong (well they did, not me). I then remembered my lonely phone was in the back compartment as I was standing in a foot or two of water. Crossing my fingers I opened the back compartment and found it floating around... after a few moments of freaking out I came to terms with the fact that I am not meant to have a cell phone! Thankfully I have a new one now but it was a pretty stressful day!

Last week Jason and I started INVENTORY! Weirdly we had fun doing it. With the scanning gun in hand we would have races to see how fast we could enter in light kits and stands. It was an adventure but sadly we aren't done yet. Hopefully we will find some times to finish before the end of the summer!!

This week we are graced with the presence of Steve Sint! He is a wedding photographer who has shot so many beautiful photos. He has totally inspired me to start getting ready for one of my upcoming weddings. I have been searching on some of my favorite blogs and websites to get my ideas flowing. Some of those include Justin and Mary , Style Me Pretty and Growing Tree Photography. There are a lot more but I can't name them all. Check them out and get inspired, they are great :)

Hope everyone has a great week and I will be posting pictures from our wedding week soon! :)

And it all comes to an end...

In just one week so many things have happened. Last week Jason and I welcomed Bobbi Lane into our wonderful home (the studio). We were told to be prepared for her intensity and passion. Everyone was right. She was intense, but only in the best way possible. She was always so enthusiastic about everything she was teaching and she put the students before her at all times. Her passion for photography and educating is amazing. If I were to ever take a class at the workshops, Bobbi's would be first on my list. 

Bobbi Lane stole my heart in just three days! She was intense and I can't say I wasn't exhausted every night, but I would do it again just to be in her presence! The work that the student produced in one week was amazing. I cannot even explain how many beautiful shots they got. They were all wonderful photographers when they got here, but in just one week Bobbi transformed them into amazing photographers! They not only had to think about lighting patterns, framing, composition and depth of field but also about being creative and thinking outside of the box. 

Here is our wonderful class :) I miss all of them dearly!

Bobbie took this picture of Jason and I before we left on Wednesday to head back to MA. Thank you so much Bobbi :)

It was a pleasure to get the chance to work with Bobbi and I really hope to be lifetime friends with her! She has inspired me in so many ways :) Thank you Bobbi!

I unfortunately had to skip out on the last few days of Bobbi's class to make it back to MA in order to graduate! It was definitely a bittersweet day for all of us Hallmarkers. In just 10 months we all created amazing life long friendships that hopefully will always keep us connected. 

Our speaker was Douglas Kirkland and although many of you probably don't know who he is I can guarantee that you have seen his work. He is truly gifted but what struck me most of all was his enthusiasm and energy when talking about photography. He is around 75 years old and on a 90+ degree day he was jumping around on stage, putting on hallmark hoodies and preaching to us about what we can now achieve. It was an honor to have him speak at our graduation. 

Although most of our sunburns have faded we still have the memories that hallmark supplied us with. I learned so many things while in the 10 month program, but the friends and connection I had the chance to make while there make all the sweat, tears and sleepless nights worth it :)

Congratulations Class of 2010!

Well I suppose I should get back to work now! This week we are teaching in "mastering flash" with Arlene Collins. I will let you know how all about it next week but so far it is going very well!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July :)

Robert Meyer

Hey everyone,

So last week was super busy so I have a bit of catching up to do on my weekly Maine update. Last week Jason and I got to spend the week with Robert Meyer and his assistant David Burns. Check out both of their websites :) they are both fantastic.

Over the last week Jason and I had our butts kicked in the studio. We survived the week and learned so much valuable information that made all the stress worth it. Robert is a great guy and hopefully we will stay in touch forever, he has so much great information and really loves sharing it with everyone. We would talk over dinner or while watching the celtics game and just discuss anything. He is an open book filled with hundreds of amazing pages.

Here is our adorable class photo that Robert took :)

The students ended the week with some really amazing work. It is so fantastic to be able to see their progression over just the course of one intensive week.

Anyways this week is all about Bobbi Lane :) She is FANTASTIC and I am so happy to be working with her. She was born to teach people about photography! I will post more this weekend about Bobbi but unfortunately Jason and I will be leaving Maine on Wednesday night to head back to Mass in order to GRADUATE!

Have a great week everyone!

First week down

Hey everyone!

So this week was an adventure for sure. It was our first week of having actual classes and Jason and I couldn't have asked for a better photographer to start with. Michael Wilson is totally amazing and he really now holds a little piece of my heart to be honest. Just watching him work is utterly amazing. The way he moves and speaks to his subjects is fantastic. He has a way of soothing his models into being comfortable and calm. Please check out his website!

Our students gave us permission to show some of their images so I could at least show why I haven't been shooting and how great they are!

Photo by: Annie Elliot

Picture of Michael Wilson :)

Photo by: Robert Ring

Photo by: Ana Christina Lyra

Photo by: Frank McPartland

Here is our adorable little class :) Thank you to all of you! This week was great!!

The New Adventure!

Hey everyone,

It has been a while since I have posted anything because things have been pretty busy. To start off I will give a litter run down on my review. First of all I passed thankfully! The review did not go as amazingly as planned I must admit... The judging is super critical and it is really rough to sit there and have someone rip apart one of your images. Overall I was not as satisfied after my review as i thought I would be. It took about a day for me to feel good about it, but after that I am just super thrilled to be moving on knowing that this will be the worst portfolio I will ever create and it can only get better from here. 

I am now in Maine at the Maine Media Workshops and we are just beginning the summer season here. In Maine Jason and I are working in the studio and it was a bit of a rude awakening when coming from the world of perfection at Hallmark. I was used to the best of the best studios and it was very odd to walk in to what Jason and I have to work with. After some time cleaning from top to bottom of the attic we have as a studio I have fallen in love. Once we organized and sorted through the mess I realized the amount of photographic opportunities in our little union hall building are endless. I am thrilled to break out my camera and get some shots where ever I can. Once I get my lightroom installed on my computer I will post some pictures of my very old, yet new to me studio that Jason and I have an unconditional love for (leaks and all). For all of you into fashion or studio lighting at all I am going to make you a bit jealous by saying I have 4 octabanks to play with and also the very new profoto air lights with build in remotes. There is no longer a need for assistants with these, you could be a room away and you will still be able to change the settings and fire these lights. I am even more in love now!

Today we got our first class in. We are working with Michael Wilson and I am super excited about the week to come. He is very nice and I can't wait to see how he works.

Unfortunately I have no new pictures to show so I will leave you a picture of me :) thank you to photobooth!

Last Day :)

Hey Everyone!

So this week has been insane! All nighters, freak storms, no power, extreme heat... just to name a few of the crazy things that have happened in the Hallmark world! Now I am burning my dvd of my final and organizing the prints :) It is such a weird feeling knowing I will be done in less than 4 hours.

I have met so many amazing people along the way and I am so grateful for everything that I have learned. Thank you Caiti for being there every day putting up with my insanity :) you are amazing and I wish you the best of luck in everything you plan to do. I will miss you so much and will have a rough time adjusting to not having you around! We will have to visit each other! Love youuuuu.

Everyone check out caitis website... http://caitibarr.com (sorry my links won't work)
Also Melissa Camp :) check out her website. She is super amazing... http://www.melissastimpson.com

Thank you to all the wonderful models I have had. Everyone of you have been amazing. Even if I didn't need to use the images in my final, I am so thankful to have had a chance to photograph all of you!

My review has been switched to Tuesday or Wednesday so I will keep everyone posted on how I did. Thankfully I also get to see Caiti's review which I am super excited about.
I guess it is time to break the news... I am moving to Maine on Tuesday (if my review is tuesday) evening! I will be there for the summer working at the Maine Media Workshop! I am still doing senior sessions on some weekends and I am still doing weddings of course in the fall.

Well I suppose I could show my final portfolio...here it is :)