Your life, Your backdrop

   When I first started photographing children and families I would regularly offer the option of the client coming to me, or me going to the client. I've had very, very few people take me up on the offer to come to their house for several reason- "my home is not elaborate enough" "there's nothing special here" "I think the studio would look better." So after awhile I just stopped suggesting it and started building up my studio stock of backdrops, fake floors, and props.

   Now, two years later, I'm here to tell you that you need to start looking at your house, your yard, your garage, your basement,  and everything around you differently. Your house IS good enough, it DOES offer something special, and the best part of it is, you are comfortable in it!

   First, let me give my opinion on studio backdrops, because I DO use them, and I will continue to use them. They are beautiful, they come in every pattern / color imaginable, I can fold mine up and set them up virtually anywhere, and anyone can buy them. Wait. Stop. Did you really read that? ANYONE can buy them.

   SO what does that mean for a client? Well, it means if you have a specific request I can basically get anything you want, and so can the girl down the road, the guy at Wal-mart studio lab, and the top notch studio down town. That means your portraits that you are spending your hard earned money on have the chance of looking just like the client before you, and the client after you, in several different studios, in several different states. Is this a huge deal... yes and no.

   No because I use a lot of the same backdrops for several different clients, changing the props, changing the poses, and making it special and unique for that specific client. Some backdrops can look exceptionally modern, and clean, which is great, and a lot of the props / backdrops / fake floors that you can get now are so cute and well made that you don't even realize it's a backdrop.

   Now for the Yes side of the coin. Yes because, you have another option. You have the option of getting yourself photographed in an environment no one else has access to. Your home. Your property. Meaning no ones portraits are going to look just like yours, giving you the 100% personalized and customized experience.

   Let's start with the most obvious. Unless you live in an apartment, you have grass, even a small patch, like the photo above. It's simple, it's colorful, and it's natural. And you didn't have to drive anywhere!

So, everyone has grass, right? That's easy. But what else? Well, how about trees, bushes, flowers, a fence? The photo to the right is taken in a tiny backyard, but it allows the subject to relax, move around, and not have to worry about "I need you to move to the right, you're not on the backdrop anymore" "Could you move just for a second, I need to readjust the backdrop" "I would love to get this angle but the studio doesn't really allow me to do that." I don't know how many times I have felt limited bc of a backdrop.

   Now lets talk really, really off the wall options, like, a garage door for example. I know. Just the thought might make you cringe but look at the photo to the left. It was taken in front of a white garage door on a simple silver chair and the other being a craftsman work bench stool. Not elements you would think would be beautiful with 2 young girls in summer dresses, but it works, well. The garage door panels add texture and the stool allows for different height levels with the subject.

   So if a basic garage door could work for portraits, think of what you would do inside your house! If I'm buying fake walls, floors, and props to use in portraits, why not just use real ones? I am assuming everyone has a couch. Hate the appearance? Do you have blankets to put over it? Not only would that make it any color you can imagine, it would also give it a cozy and plush appearance. What about a staircase? Ok, so there are things hanging on your wall, take them down for the time being, and now you have an interesting piece to work with, with all kinds of different layers and textures, like the image to the right. A fireplace? Book shelves? A blank wall and cool dining room chairs? The possibilities are endless... Those options still considered "too elaborate" for your home? Even a plain wall with everyone sprawled out on the carpet is ok.  Mostly because you're in your own environment, which is a huge advantage for not only kids, but adults too. You don't have to worry about anything, you know your own rules, the kids aren't in a foreign location and uncomfortable or scared, and I just stumbled upon a huge gold mine of new "prop options" never before seen in my portraits. You also don't have that stiff look on your face as if you're outside of your element because you are right in it.

   Once you start looking at things not as if they are "studio quality" but they are yours, and they make up who you are, then you'll be able to understand why your home can be just as good as studio shots, if not better.

Home is where the heart is... and I've left a little piece of my heart in a lot of places!

Vacation.

You just HEAR the word and your ears get excited.

Every year my husband and I try to plan 1 big, relaxing, site seeing adventure we look forward to. Through out the year we may take small weekend trips or extended weekend trips due to holidays somewhere near us or venture up to the U.P. but we always try to give ourselves a bigger goal for the year!

The first year we got married we ventured to The Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was a city where you felt at home at. It was a place you could connect with nature, yourself, and your thoughts. It was a place we couldn't wait to return to! The next year we thought we would try something new, but when it came down to it, we couldn't bare the thought of not going back to the mountains, so we went back, except this time in a camper. We did this agin, and again, and again. FINALLY, after 4 years of it we decided THIS year we would try something new! But.... what? What's better than the mountains, the uncrowded hiking trails!? Perhaps..... warm weather? Florida? Really..... Florida?

As a child my parents and I had went to Florida EVERY Spring Break. I've been to Florida 13 times in my life. When I was younger the sun, the malls, the pools and beaches really had my interest, now that I'm older I couldn't be less enthused over that scenery. So.. what were we thinking!?

As we began to plan our trip we realized, if we were going to drive the long 21 hours, why not make the gruesome trip more bearable by stopping at some cool places along the way? Not once in my 13 year to Florida had we ever done anything except drive straight through. Surely there had to be SOMETHING ELSE hidden in between us and all those other miles.

And so it began.

We made our first stop near Red River Gorge in Kentucky.

Pretty much what did make up the town was closed for the season and what was open for the season was a good 10 miles away and consisted of one Mexican restaurant and a Dairy Queen- perfect. We don't go on vacations to be surrounded by people. We go on vacation to be, basically, smothered by each other. haha. Back at home our lives are hectic, we're busy working, we're always trying to finish up projects we've started that are way over our heads, and it's nice to step away from that and just enjoy living at a more simple level. We spent our few short days in the mountains driving around to site see off into the middle of nowhere, hiking on top of natural arches, in between rock crevasses, and looking over the edges of mile long drop offs. We knew we were "down south" when upon our hour long drive into the middle of nowhere we came across someone's "home" that welcomely had spray painted on the side of it "Stay the F**K out or get shot."

Once it was time to travel on we packed up, drove for the

day, and landed in-

 Savannah, Georgia!

All we knew about Savannah is that it's a beautiful historic city full of mossy trees. Me, who loves anything aging, intricate, and old and my husband, who loves all things history and trees, it seemed fitting enough. I can not explain to you what an understatement that was. As SOON as we entered the city I asked Jake when we would be able to come back! The cobblestone roads, the attention to detail on the preserved buildings, the huge engulfing trees, the city squares..... I can't reminisce about this city without feeling sad that I can not visit it everyday.

Our few days in this historic wonder were spent merely roaming the streets, enjoying the shops, learning it's history, and talking about what aspects of the town we would love to be able to enjoy in our own town, maybe one day!

So, finally, it was time to travel on, and what beckoned us in the first place, was now about to be in our reach.

Florida.

Now, I'll be completely honest. I'm a geek. Me and my husband both are. We like to daydream, imagine, create, think of the impossible and plan the ridiculous, so when we heard Harry Potter was now at Universal Studios, we had to go. We had to experience what it was like to walk the streets of magic and play where anything was possible. So- that's why Florida was on the list, and yes, the sun! Well, once we got to Florida we got about 2 days of sun and when we left it was a whopping 35 degrees. But, we enjoyed it while we could!

We experienced the magic of Harry Potter, the silliness of Suess' Landing and more. The attention to details in these theme parks could honestly consume your life. We took in so much but at the same time, still missed so much! These streets are transformed into different worlds and that's what I love about them!

After that we took it easy. Enjoyed the beach, searched for shells, and watched the waves crash over the surfers.

When the weather reached MI standards we left.

And where did we stop on our travels back home?

The Smoky Mountains!

Never experiencing it in the winter before really made the trip special and unique. You enter into a green wonderland, covered in ice and a skiff of snow. It's the one place I feel completely at ease all the time, whether I'm in the city, on a trail miles in the woods, on top of a mountain cliff, or biking next to a bear...

A few days later we got in the car and drove back to the box we built for ourselves that holds our everyday schedule and our dreams mapped out in books. We were home.

If you've made it to this point, I applaud you. As much as I feel as though my vacations and travels are like a fairy tale come true, they are merely just stories and pictures for you, but if I can stress one thing after all these stories and tales is... go. Just GO. Explore. Take an adventure. And it doesn't have to be miles away. It could be 10 mins down the road, it could even be in your back yard. But take time out of life to actually think about it... We live so quickly. Isn't it time you slow down and figure out why?

Starting small-Finishing big

Before I found my love for photography, I had found a love for fashion photography. I'm not even sure that at the time I was aware of the fact but I remember flipping through the pages of the high fashion magazines and my mom asking me why I would buy such a magazine bc it was just full of ads, but that was the point. I loved the colors, the make-up, the clothes, the props, the odd poses, the dramatic lighting. Looking back now, was it really the fashion, or was it just the way fashion photography was approached that made me lust over it? Either way, as I got older, I had a strong yearning to combine the two worlds myself. Actually, one of the first organized photo shoots I ever did with my friends was, what we thought at the time, a high fashion setting. I did everyone's hair in a huge, backcombed manor, my friend supplied the wardrobe- her grandma's old sheer night gowns, and we posed in an old factory that I was currently using for studio space. If nothing else- it was fun!!
Once I started getting more and more into photography, any scenario I wanted to create was usually based off something I had seen in a magazine- odd posing, crazy hair, odd combinations of clothes, etc. I did a 1 yr project called a 365, which forced me to take a self portrait everyday for an entire year which allowed me the opportunity to express a lot of the ideas I had, but only on myself. Sadly, as I got more and more into the professional side of photography, I was dealing with and thinking about fashion less and less. Sadly, this city doesn't allow for a lot of creative outlets and is not in high demand for anything outside the box. Anything I wanted to create that related to fashion was merely for fun and as personal time got less and less available, paying jobs outweighed the fun jobs.
Then Hannah-Mae came along.

Hannah is 6 yrs old and has been modeling for most of her life. To say she is a born natural is an understatement.
Her mother contacted me looking for someone to photograph her daughter wearing items that boutiques, online stores, magazines, etc send her in return for photos that they can then use as advertisement on their website, stores, etc. Of course I was ready to take on the offer!
Modeling, Photography, Fashion, and Publication. WHY would I say no?
Now, her mother had warned me that I wouldn't need to tell Hannah what to do, how to pose, or keep her focused. I believed her, on the level and understanding that she was used to modeling, but she was also 6. Then they came for their session.
Not telling her how to pose or what to do, was, again, an understatement. Not only was she super cute just to talk to, but right away, she was ready to work. She posed with an innocent smile, and then would give you a fierce straight face two seconds later. Right away I realized, she knows what she is doing and we are going to rock this!
We had about 8 items that we needed to shoot and managed to do so in little over 1 hour. Shirts, head bands, extensions, hats.

I am so thankful that my past sessions and previous clients have lead Hannah-Mae and her mom to me at A.J.B.C. Finally, after all these years, I feel like I am heading in a direction with my photography that I have a pure passion for. Don't misunderstand, I love my classic family portraits and kid sessions, but there is just something about fashion that gets me excited. It may be bc, for a few shutter clicks, you get to create a scene any way you prefer and there's edge to it, it doesn't have to make sense, and your subject is purposefully morphing into someone new. Or maybe it's bc we walk around everyday being who we are and for one short session we're allowed to put on a new face, bare a new attitude, and experience what it's like to live as somebody else, without being judged, before we then have to wipe off the make-up, put our regular clothes back on, and transform back into ourselves right before we walk out that door. 

And I laughed when I saw them in spite of myself

This year my husband and I, along with some of our close friends, are invited to a Christmas party thats sole purpose is to showcase ugly Christmas sweaters and bad gifts.
I can't think of a better way to celebrate the holidays!
So to prepare, we first searched for the perfect outfits and accessories. Once that was so gracefully accomplished we decided we needed to display our new fashion sense in a portrait session. I set up the backdrop in my house, put the camera on a tripod, we posed awkwardly, and laughed and laughed about how amazing we looked.
We had such a good time that I decided it was necessary that I share the wealth and offer this photo session to the public.

Brilliant! These sessions were so much fun! No one can be taken seriously when they are willingly dressed in something that smells probably just as bad as it looks and fits just as good as it probably feels.
The couple who invited us to their party actually came to get their portraits done (the extremely attractive couple on the top.) The other couple that signed up (and brought 2 more to join in on the fun) just had me photograph their gorgeous country themed wedding (the striking 2 couples to your right.) I couldn't have asked for better people to sign up for this shoot. Fun people willing to step outside the box, try something different, and just enjoy themselves, which makes my job so much more amusing! For example, when I ask both of them, "Would you like to make these nice pictures, just with ugly sweaters, or would you like the whole thing to just look as awkward as possible," and they answer confidently with, "awkward." :)
Yes, I like to produce great portraits for people to hold close to their hearts forever, but a huge goal of mine is for them to enjoy the whole process, not just the final product. I want them to have fun during a session so they can look back on the photos and remember that day as a good day, and not just something they were drug to.
So here's to enjoying life, all the time. Here's to enjoying the holidays, even during the chaos.
And here's to enjoying those who surround you, even when they are dressed in smelly, old sweaters.