Submerge and Emerge- week 2 with ajbc photography (artistic port huron photographer)

"Submerge and Emerge"

submerge |səbˈmərj|
verb [ with obj. ] (usu. be submerged)
• [ no obj. ] descend below the surface

emerge |iˈmərj|
verb [ no obj. ]
move out of or away from something and come into view

I think you subconsciously do things, sometimes. While forming the idea for this shot in my head, I wasn't all that sure where it came from. But after hours of editing, things started to emerge.
This image says a lot of things to me, and may say a lot of different things to you. Or maybe it says nothing and it's just a nice picture. That's ok too. But to me I see getting lost, I see submersion in to a new world, and I see freedom. Freedom was the last thing I saw in this image but it stands to be the most potent to me now.
I love books. I love reading, I love learning, and I love the feeling of escaping in to a new world for a short amount of time. A good book should make you anxious for that next time when you can sit down with it.
Last weekend we watched The Hunger Games for the first time. We immediately watched the second movie, and then the next day we went and saw Mocking Jay in theaters.
Right after that we went and bought all the books.
I LOVED the concept of the movie. This "big brother" watching over you, "protecting" you, all the while controlling you. Rising up and fighting against that, and that hope they talk about, that's so powerful. I suppose I enjoy the feeling of maybe being a bit of that rebel they talk about, somewhere mentally deep inside me.
Back to this image though. I'm thankful we have the freedom to makes movies that speak to their audiences in a powerful way. I'm thankful for the freedom to be able to read whatever I want, even if it puts the craziest of ideas in my head. And I'm thankful to be able to create art, no matter what the underlying meaning. I'm free to Submerge and I'm still free even after things Emerge from that submersion. I urge you to use that freedom. Submerge yourself in to a new world (even if that's just in book form), come back, and allow things to emerge, see things in a new light.

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Aside from all that deep stuff you might be wondering how we created this image and how I put it together. The images below are all in the 1 image above. I figured it took me about 20 different layers to create the final image, and about 3 hours of edit time.... for 1 image. And that's why I started this project, bc when would I have EVER made time to do that before for myself?

Coconut Oil Uses For Women

1. Face & body lotion

Getting ready for a shoot? Use coconut oil as a natural moisturizer. It softens and gives the skin a nice glow.

2. Leave in hair conditioner

 Coconut oil will add a quick shine, which will look great in photographs!

3. Shaving cream

Coconut oil gives a gentle and smooth glide for the razor, leaving you with extra soft skin and saving you from nicks and scars.

4. Deodorant

Instead of leaving a white stain on your outfit, use coconut oil as a natural replacement!

5. Eye make-up remover

 After the shoot...Instead of using chemicals to remove your make-up all you need is a cotton swab with a dab of coconut oil.

These are just 5 quick uses for before and after a shoot, but coconut oil almost seems endless with uses! You can use it as sunscreen / sunburn remedy, chap stick, massage oil, insect repellent, wound salve, anti-aging skin care plus it is awesome for your digestive system!

Week 1 with ajbc photography (artistic port huron, MI photographer

Let's get right to it. Week 1 of the 52 week project with AJBC Photography. 

Ok, Well. haha
There's that.
Hello Week 1! 

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If you're trying to figure out what this 52 week project is, read about it here.

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SO yes. There's a back story. A big one. Let me break it down for you bc it's too funny not to tell.
We knew we were starting a project. We knew we wanted THIS to be our first week, to show you just how EXCITED we are to be here and how BLOWN AWAY we are with what we're about to start here at AJBC. Yes, every pun was intended with that last sentence. 
Since we do specialize in the beauty of women here at AJBC I also find this hilarious and perhaps comforting on so many different levels. 
So where does one start?
You start with cranking up a huge 2 stroke leaf blower that your husband uses on tree jobs, inside your studio. You then look at each other with that look of, "I'm sorry I'm about to do this," and you blast the leaf blower at full power about 2 feet away from their face. 
After a few rounds of hilarious but not good enough photos we decided to open a window. Which still didn't prevent the smoke alarm from going off. Twice. 
After revving the blower about several more times like the true men we are and getting loads of dry air shoved down your throat you will find that you want to burp that air back up after you are done... who knew. 
We also found that if you wear contacts, like I do, and you try to keep your eyes open they will, and they did, fly out of your eyes. You will wonder for about 5 mins if the contact is lodged in your brain, until you find it half way across the room on the floor. 
All in all I see this as a completely successful first week and wonder where we are going to go from here. 
Follow us on the blog or on the ajbc Facebook every Thursday to see our next week's project for the next 52 weeks. 

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AJBC Photography (Port Huron, Michigan Artistic Portrait Photographer)

52 week artistic portrait project with ajbc photography (artistic port huron photographer)

For the next 52 weeks... that means once every week for the next year... AJBC Photography will be releasing an Artistic Portrait. We will be creating a unique piece of imagery to test ourselves and our audience. That's 52 weeks of new. 52 weeks of experiments. 52 weeks of pushing the boundaries to show you what we truly can offer. 

What's to come!? Starting Nov. 20, 2014 you will find out. 
Keep an eye out on the blog and over on the ajbc Facebook page to see what's new every week. 

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For those of you who have been following me for years now you will know I got my start in the photography world by doing a 365 project. 
Don't know what that is? It's a self portrait every single day for 365 days... 1 full year. It taught me the foundation of what I do and who I am now as an artist. It allowed me to learn on myself before taking on clients full time. It was an amazing experience. You can see a lot of my pieces here. 

About 1 month after finishing that project I thought I would do it all over again, but with objects instead. I quickly learned I resonated better with people and emotion. I quit about 1 month in. 

About 2 years ago I thought it would be brilliant to do an instagram project. 365 images taken only with my old iPhone 3GS. I got about 200 days in and had to give up. I felt as though I wasn't putting out my best work, even for an iphone, and quit.  

So WHY would I want to do it all over again? What if I fail? What if I quit? What if it's too much?! I think the best part about the FIRST time I did it was that I was trying new things EVERY day. I was learning. I was doing it for me and just me. 
That's where I am again, and I am so so happy to be there with this project. It's not for viewers, it's not for clients, it's for me. It's for creative expression. It's to embrace who I really am as an artist so I can give my all and my best as a photographer when creating for you. 
I feel like the timing is right too. I just hired my first employee last month- Taylor. She's amazing and we truly work well together on and off shoot, computer working and brainstorming. You'll be seeing a lot of her as she's going to be doing most of this project with me. She'll be here to tell me there's no way we are quitting and she'll also be here to make sure I don't loose myself. 

52 weeks starts tomorrow. I promise it will blow you away. This is a 1 year journey I will complete. Follow ajbc photography as we take back our creative path.