How Did I get Here? Part V

So after a few portraits here and there, I got to try my hand at another wedding.  Our friends Mr. and Miss (at the time) Hokie were getting married and asked that I shoot the wedding.   I was so thrilled and honored that they wanted me as their photographer, I was so glad that my friends were using my skills (note: this is a blatant request for my other friends and family to use my photo skills.  Come on guys, weddings, births, birthdays, anniversaries, USE ME...ahem...please, I would love to be part of your lives in every way, and it's an excuse for me to visit).  I also got to give my two cents in some of the wedding planning, since Speed Racer was living with Mr. and Miss Hokie at the time.  It was lots of fun, the wedding was absolutely stunning.  Miss Hokie was beautiful, and now she's Mrs. Hokie. Mr and Mrs. Hokie:

After Mr. and Mrs. Hokie road off into the sunset, in a beautiful Ford F150, Speed Racer and I went to a bar with some of our friends.  I was sitting there, absolutely exhausted, listening to the stories and laughter from my friends, and I had an overwhelming sense of peace.  I could do this, I love how happy everyone is at weddings.  I love getting to know people.  I could do this, I wanted to be a photographer so badly.  It would be hard, but I'd get there.

How Did I get Here? Part IV

Graduation came and went.  At first I was determined to live purely off of my fine art photography, but as I continued my job at a local pool for the summer, I realized that some other cash would be necessary.  I mean, I do have a shoe habit that needs cash to be fed.  And there are lots of pretty shoes I still do not have. (It was a horrible, rainy day, and as I came down the ramp a huge gust of wind blew a puddle of  water off the tent and onto me and the girl in front of me.  She looked pretty worried, I thought it was hillarious.)

Not only did I have a shoe habit that needed aide, but I realized how much I love to take portraits.  I love capturing people, whether it's a couple, a wedding, a family, super cute babies, or goofy pets.  So I set out to take me some portraits.  My first test subjects were my previous boss Krissy, and her two adorable children.  Krissy works for SwimKids Swim School as well as teaching for George Mason University.  If you live in the Northern Virginia area, you should definitely check out SwimKids.  I had never before seen a 4 year old do butterfly, let alone teach a 4 year old to do butterfly.  They have a fantastic program, and I know 100% it has saved childrens lives.  They teach, safety, Mommy and Me classes, as well as competitive swimming.  And their instructors are the nicest, friendliest people you will ever meet.  SO, Krissy let me borrow her and her children for one of my favorite portrait shoots.

Krissy, Nayarit and Thrace

One of my favorite parts of a shoot that involves children, is when the kids finally start to relax around you and forget that you are there.  Then the great pictures start to flow, and their personalities start popping out.  It's a ton of fun.  More Posts from the Past to come!

Summer Portrait Special

I'm doing a Summer Portrait Special!  Memorial Day has come and gone, the pools are open, school is almost out, summer is beginning, and I'm ready to take pictures of you enjoying it!  I'm offering a one hour Portrait session for $98.99 at any location you choose.  With this session you get 1 8x10, 3 5x7s, and 8 wallets.  This session is for families, friends, senior portraits, couples, kids, babies, and pets!  I have many print sizes and types to choose from if you'd like a different look.  Interested?  Contact me at runawayalice@gmail.com, or 540.460.2691.

Don't live in Knoxville but still want to partake in the Summer Portrait Special?  Not a problem, just add the cost of gas (and room if you live really far away!) and I'll come to  you.

Here are a few samples from previous Portraits I've done:

What's Cookin'?

Last night Speed Racer and I decided to try another recipe out of The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, so we tried Chicken Pot Pie.  Now before you think I'm a crazy person for constantly talking about The Pioneer Woman (see Meatloaf Mania, and PW Journey), what else are you suppose to do with a new cookbook other than try it out? That would be a waste.  So, it's legit.  That's what I'm telling myself.  I don't have a problem.  Really. Moving on....

Although this recipe was not as knock your socks off as the Meatloaf (how could it be, there is no bacon in it...duh) it was still fantastic, and Speed Racer and I oohh and ahhhed over the entire meal.

There are no prep photos because my hands were covered, absolutely covered in dough from making the crust.  I didn't want to dirty my poor camera that I already abuse.

The 30 minutes that it takes to cook is pure torture.  Speed Racer stared longingly at the oven the whole time, while heavenly aromas wafted out.

Ta-da!

Speed Racer was in charge of putting slits into the crust to vent the heat.  He put our initials, how sweet.  Come on I know you want to say it, give me a big "awwww."

Speed Racer is also a dough FIEND.  I cannot keep him out of the kitchen when there is dough around, he just lingers, waiting to snag a piece.  You can just see him in this picture, "Oh, hmmm, whatcha got there?  Looks like this little piece over here might be falling off...."

"Let me just pop it in my mouth really fast before you can catch me, and then move around so you can't take my picture in our dark dark kitchen..."

"Whew, that's hot."

Yeah, I know his game.

These pictures were actually taken by Speed Racer, he wanted to make sure we let the people know about the flakiness of this homemade crust.  He was very excited about it, and the piece that he stole.

That's it folks.  I rate this one, a success.

Cades Cove

If you live near Knoxville, you know about Cades Cove.  It's part of the National Park and is a fantastic place to get away, read a book, ride a bike, enjoy nature, and maybe...just maybe takes some fantastic pictures.  I love Cades Cove.  Speed Racer's Uncle (also a photographer who puts me to shame) took me up there a couple Friday's ago for some fun shooting.  I'm sure you will see many more pictures taken there, but here are just a few of my favorites.

How Did I get Here? Part III

Next up in our "How Did I get Here?" series, is the first wedding I ever shot.  My friend and adopted big sister, Stephanie contacted me when I was a Junior in college and asked if I could take some pictures at her wedding.  I was super nervous, not really sure what I should do, and had dreams of my camera crashing and all the pictures being destroyed.  But the wedding and the pictures turned out beautiful.

So here is a quick run down of things I learned at my first wedding.  These are good rules whether you're doing it for free for a friend/ family member, or whether it's someone you've just booked.

1. Make up a basic contract.  This just lets people know what you're offering and the time limits you're working with, that way they know what to expect.

2. Have a shot list.  This can be something you come up with and go over with the bride, or that you have the bride make.  Either way this list will insure that you get the photos that are most important to the happy couple.

3. Lots-o-Memory.  You can never have too much memory, that way you don't get to the middle of the ceremony and have to start deleting photos.

4. Take your time.  This is hardest for me to remember when I'm doing group shots.  Sure you don't want to have the posed photos take 2 hours while everyone is waiting at the reception.  But remember that this is a happy day and that most of the time, these people have been rushing to this point all morning.  Take your time and rearrange people until it looks right to you.

5.  Jump in there.  This sounds dumb to say, but don't be timid!  Sometimes when you're first starting out you don't want to get in the way of anyone and ruin the wedding, which is true, you want to be respectful.  But whether you're doing this for fun or for coinage, they picked you to be their photographer!  So have fun and jump in there to get the good shots.

PW Journey

Although this journey was recorded on my friend Renee’s Blog already, I thought I would finally add my version of the journey to the web.  Many of you know from my "Meatloaf Mania" post that I admire, revere, and embarrassingly enough want to be best friends with The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  However, I was contently keeping my hero worship locked in a tiny little box that no one knew about, until Renee called me up proposing a trip to see Ree at her book signing in D.C.  I had recently quit my corporate job and decided it was a perfect opportunity to enjoy my freedom and take some pictures along the way. My part of the journey started with a short day trip to our families cabin, with my parents.  My Grandfather built this cabin over several summers with the help of his three daughters.  Ever since it has been a retreat and place of solace for my family.

Sweet Lucy is a mountain woman, she loves being outdoors.  She looks positively beautiful in her element, I love this picture of her.

One of these pictures is in “Some Characters to know...” but my mother wasn't too happy about the picture I chose :ahem:, so the above photos are part of the series, which I think is very cute since it tells the story a little bit better.

The next morning after going to the cabin, I picked up Renee bright and early and we started out on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was pretty early, we don’t do gorgeous early, but we were up and going and that was the important part.

She’s sassy, that’s why we get along oh-so-well.

Renee use to be a dancer, and from time to time she still does stances with her feet...she just didn't know I was paying attention.  I think it's beautiful.

Hello, Vacation.

There was lots of this.  Luckily Renee didn't get annoyed with me pulling off about every 5 seconds.

Did I mention that we were on top of the world?  I may have forgotten, but yes...there was nothing but us and sky.

I love this picture.  There's something about the emptiness in it that I just love.  To me it's something that's just about to start, somethings changing, and it's just you and whatever you're about to jump into.

I took about a million photos of this tree.  It was just magical.

After an 8 hour journey (Google said it would only take 5 but they weren’t counting all the stops for glorious pictures.  They really need a photo option when you do directions…or at least a scenic option) we arrived at Border’s in D.C.  We were hot, we were smelly, we were not pretty.  So faster than you could say superman, we used Chipotle’s bathroom (thank you Chipotle) and came out looking more beautiful than ever.  However, we did make two rookie mistakes.  Number one being that although we got there 2 hours prior to the reading, we were way back in line….waaaay back.  Number two mistake was that since we were in the back of the line, we panicked and didn’t eat anything.  BIG MISTAKE, my friend.

But luckily we didn't have to wait too long before she came up and gave us a little intro.  Everyone was so excited, and I have to hand it to all the pregnant ladies in the crowd.  They were champs, they didn't even break a sweat standing in line, unlike me who was whining and being a big baby.

After a couple hours in line, we finally made it to our destination.

She was super nice, and I’m sure already tired by the time we made it to her, but you couldn’t tell.  Both Renee and I had a little shyness going on, and tried to be sociable, even though we were about to faint from hunger and it suddenly came off as creepy that I had driven all the way from TN to see this woman.  And to be honest, that was not the best part of the trip for me.  The best part was the girl talk with Renee, companionship, being out in the wilds of VA, and just having time to take some photographs without any kind of pressure.  It was a much needed trip and a great start to my life as a photographer.

Mann: Keeping Inspired

If you have met me, and talked to me about photography, you will know that I love Sally Mann.  Her work is deep, and meaningful.  I love the ambiguity and imperfections in her photographs.  In Photo School, my friend Clara and I, related to her a lot not only because we were in awe of her work but because she lives in our home town.  When I got married, Clara's gift to me was a book of Sally Mann's "Deep South" series, a gift that I really treasure.  Her photographs have an essence, which is something I strive for in my own photographs. Night-blooming Cereus, 1988 Sally Mann Gelatin silver print, 8 x 10 inches Copyright Sally Mann These images are for illustration only and are not to be reproduced without permission.

After a talk with Warnie this morning about last night's blog post, I realized that I had talked down a lot of my work from Art School.  That was not my intention at all.  I really take pride in my work and love doing art, whether that is printmaking, photography, painting, or sculpture.  And I think I have a talent for it.  The last couple years out of school have been harder than I thought they would be, and I have found this to be true for several of my friends from school as well.  Not only do you no longer have the support of your fellow artists, but you also no longer have the same resources available to you.  It's hard, very hard.  My Professors tried to tell me how hard it would be, and I didn't fully understand.  I am just now getting to the point where art is invading my every thought.  I think about painting, dream about smelling darkroom chemicals, and long to feel plaster in my hands again.

I think that is another reason why I respect Sally Mann so much.  In her "Immediate Family" series she talks about how part of the reason she took pictures of her children was that they were there.  You work with what you have and find something beautiful, or mysterious in it.

As an artists it's also great to find things that inspire you to keep your spirits going and keep you motivated.  If you're looking for some free motivation, check out the Art 21 Series by PBS.  You can watch it for free on their website at http://video.pbs.org.  They do interviews with many different artists from large scale sculpture, to paintings, to different types of photography.  Just hearing the way these artist talk about their work is inspiration enough.  Be sure to check it out.

Hello, Illinois

The morning after I made it to Jack’s house, I awoke to the smell of bacon.  I love bacon.  I’m a meat kinda girl, and bacon is possibly one of my favorites…my brother knows this, so he spoiled me with bacon the entire trip.  First thing we did each day was take Oscar for a walk.

Oscar loves his walks, and it was a great time for us to catch up and talk…we do a lot of talking in my family so we need amble time to do so.  It also gave us a chance to see a little of Historic Urbana.

After a quick lunch with Scientist Lady on Friday, we set out to see the campus at University of Illinois.  The campus was really beautiful, although deserted with school being out.

Next we hit the art museum which is connected to the University Art building.  I’m ashamed.  I have to say that going in I was expecting a kind of small museum, that probably didn’t have a lot of cool exhibits.  But what I found was this:

A Rembrandt!  Not only a Rembrandt but they had Louis Bourgeois, Andy Warhol, Winslow Homer, and many more fabulous artists.  I was tickled pink, like a kid in a candy store.

When I took a quick trip to the ladies room in the Art building, I found a treasure trove of wise sayings, here's just one example, there will be more in the photo gallery:

Wise…so very wise…

After a hard day in the museum we came back the house and crashed for a bit.  As a matter of fact, we did this just about every day.  I don’t know why we were so tuckered out, but it was great to just relax and be.  Oscar agrees…

So after some fun and fondue, we decided to show the Parentals how to play Wii.

They did great!  And they beat the pants off of me in Frisbee golf!

Saturday we hit the local Farmer’s Market, to pick up a few things dinner.  After that we took a quick stop for some cool drinks, then that afternoon we went and saw Robin Hood.

On Sunday we started the day off with brunch at a local restaurant called Radio Maria.  They had fantastic Spanish cuisine, and I had Migas….delicious delicious Migas.  It was basically eggs with potato and zucchini, with a side of salsa and sour cream, all to be wrapped in corn tortillas.  Of course, it was so excellent, that I forgot to take pictures of it…oops!

After a good brunch to start out the day, we headed out into the prairie.  On the outskirts of Urbana there is this excellent Prairie Sculpture Park.  It’s a great place to play, fly a kite, and enjoy the sculpture and wide open spaces.  Which is what we did.  And this was without a doubt my favorite place to take pictures.

It was a great trip and I was sad to leave.  I had never experienced such wide open spaces and that big sky.  It was different, but I like my mountains too.  Thanks Illinois, it was fun...I'll miss you.

Meatloaf Mania

For those of you who talk to me frequently (sorry about the daily calls!) you know that I have been raving about this meatloaf that Speed Racer and I made.  And by that I mean Speed Racer made and I, well, took pictures.  But I did make the buttermilk biscuits!  And that is why there are no pictures of them.  So there.  But the meatloaf that we made was from my newest cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks, " by Ree Drummond.  Ree is a blogger extraordinaire, and mother of 4.  She blogs about her antics of adjusting to  life on a ranch, photography, cooking, and homeschooling her kids.  If you haven't checked her blog out you need to, it's a great time, and she makes me laugh.  My friend Renee (also a blogger check out her site too!)  and I recently went on a Pilgrimage to D.C. (a post to come in the following days) to Ree's book signing, which is where I picked up the cookbook.

Now back to the meatloaf: I love this meatloaf, I openly drooled over this meatloaf, I would have babies with this meatloaf...you heard me, meatloaf babies.  Speed Racer thinks this meatloaf and cookbook have saved him...I have no idea what he means by that.

Bacon does, in fact, make everything more delicious.  I will vouch for that.

Happy little loaf...

Wrapped in a warm blanket of bacon.

There you have it, what I've been raving about all week.  Once you've tried it you won't be able to stop either...I promise.  The Pioneer Woman features several recipes from the cookbook in the cooking and tasty kitchen sections of her blog.  I obviously, highly recommend checking it out!