Dinosaurs

This post would probably have been slightly more appropriate for April fool's day, but I didn't think of it then. Had that happened, I probably would have tried to convince you that I'm no longer photographing people, but instead making a business photographing dinosaurs. Yep, you heard me right...dinosaurs. Of the plastic species.

So I guess, instead, this is just a break from the norm, something completely different than the usual. Sometimes it's fun to do things just because, and yet, you still end up learning something from it anyway. All of these were taken with a Lensbaby Composer Pro with Edge 80 optic, which was SUPER fun and different to use. I LOVED how dreamy it made things look...and would love to start adding some tilt-shift into my wedding and portrait collections! We'll see...maybe if I win the contest...

Also, let's just say I was thrilled to get a cute dinosaur, and not a scary one. I kinda think he looks like a prehistoric giraffe, and I love me some giraffes. I'm pretty sure that, in real life, my dino was even a vegetarian (okay, fine, an herbivore...same thing). And if not, I made him one anyway.

Happy Thursday!

Snapshot: March

// What I did //

The first half of the month was full of travel - my favorite thing! And then I celebrated a birthday. Those two things combined make this the best month so far!

// Goals accomplished //

You know how sometimes you know you need to do something, but there's something holding you back from just saying yes? That's how I was about business coaching. I was afraid to spend the money (after seeing how much we owe in taxes, I don't know that I want any more huge expenses for awhile!), and it's kind of scary to put yourself and your business out there to ask for change. I love change and I want to give myself every chance I can to succeed, so I'm hoping this will be a worthwhile investment. The truth is, we all need a coach, someone outside our little life boxes who can see things that we can't, a mentor who can guide us to the best decisions. So I've jumped, and I'm excited/terrified for what I've signed up for.

// What I read // 

Thankfully, traveling afforded some much needed down time, and I got a chance to read one of the books that's been sitting on my Kindle for months now - The Art of Fielding. It started really slow, but once I got into it, I started to really root for the characters. I kind of love how the pace of the book resembles that of a baseball game - because the story, after all, revolves around baseball, but isn't really about it. At it's heart, it's about how you deal when your world falls apart. There are a lot of really great themes that the author/characters explore, like dealing with failure, dedication to a craft, and of course, the various appropriate and culturally inappropriate versions of love. Absolutely a worthwhile read, even if I wasn't sure of it when I started.

// What I loved //

Nashville. Even though it's all about country, I love a town that knows it's soul. And now I'm dying to go back. Also, I'm addicted to my new record player (thanks Ben!) and my SodaStream (thanks Mom!) and finally listening to more music and drinking enough water. And speaking of birthday presents, these just came in the mail yesterday, and I absolutely wore them to a meeting with one of my brides today.

// What I'm working on //

I've got some great ideas for styled shoots that I would love to see come to light in April (which means I'm looking for a hair/makeup artist and at least two couples who are interested in being a part of this. If you think you're up for a free photo shoot in Annapolis, let me know)! I also found out that I was selected as a finalist in the LensProToGo dinosaur contest, so this weekend, I'm taking my dinosaur visitor out and about to get some photos of him with the Lensbaby he came with (which explains the photo at the top of the page...which is probably not the one that I'll submit, even though I like it). Winners will be announced in May. Super fun! 

// What I watched //

One of my friends and favorite artists, Alejandra, posted this video on Facebook the other day. After spending hours in a darkroom in college and taking a class in alternative photography methods, this story speaks to me on so many levels. If you want to see true dedication to a craft, when things to right and things go wrong, check out the video below. If you're a fan of Breaking Bad, you might also appreciate some of the editing…have to admit, for the first few seconds, I totally thought I was watching a video about a meth lab!

SILVER & LIGHT from Ian Ruhter : Alchemist on Vimeo.

// Who I added //

First off, can we just say that finding out that Google Reader is not going to be around for much longer made me feel the same sadness and despair that I felt the day I learned that my favorite magazine in the world would no longer be printed? Because I think those are two of the saddest days of my life. In making sure that I had all of my favorite blogs in one place so that I can import them to another reader, I finally added one by a photographer that I've followed for awhile now…Andria Lindquist. Go check her out, because she is the definition of amazeballs.

// Best cat photo of the month // 

Aslan is on a mission to free the balloons.

Happy weekend! Hope you get to feel some springtime!

Tilt Shifting

So lately I've been thinking about experimentation. That's the beautiful thing about having an "off-season" so-to-speak (which really it is not, because there are all kinds of things to do behind the scenes that there isn't time for during the on-season)...things are quiet enough that you can actually think and dream and come up with new things to get into. So I've been thinking about the new things I want to explore and I think I've finally settled on two (from a list of, like, a million...having such a huge list makes me so indecisive!). Polaroid and video.

I have a weakness for all forms of analog photography...especially the kind of photography you make with cameras that are not meant to create perfect, tack-sharp pictures. There's something I love about not knowing exactly how the picture is going to turn out and the surprise of looking at the finished product. A lot of times there are some very happy accidents that are a once-in-a-lifetime creation...like a limited edition. I'm debating which model of vintage polaroid to buy (SX-70 or a model that takes the kind of instant film that Fuji still makes), but I can't wait to have one to play with. And maybe, if the experiments go well, I'll incorporate it into portrait sessions later this year. How fun would that be?

And after watching this video about beautiful things several times on repeat, I have a newfound love of the medium. I'm digging the swirl of the colors, the sway of the motion. And I'm terrified of it. I have no clue how it works (it can't be just as simple as pointing a camera at something that moves, can it? What about things that don't move? How do you know where to move the camera?), I'm pretty sure I'll be awful at it, and for that reason alone, I'm jumping in. Do one thing a day that scares you, right?

So today I made my first little video about my tilt shift lens...another experiment that has gone oh-so-right. I'm obsessed. Truly. If I only had one lens to take with me everywhere, my Lensbaby Spark would be it. The lens is plastic, and it focuses manually when you push on it and tilt it. Like really manually...you are literally using your hands to put your subject in focus. It was a gift from my mom, and it creates the most wonderful blur, similar to the kind you get when you use a really wide aperture (big opening) in a normal lens, but there's an extra kick of awesomesauce mixed in. Things just look more dreamy and surreal, but not completely obscure, and I LOVE it (you can see a bunch of photos that I took with it in this post).

But the video...have you heard of Vine? It's like instagram for videos. Five different people that I know and love mentioned it on Facebook within 24 hours, so it was never a question of if I'd be joining, but when. If you don't know what it is yet, it's basically a social media service that allows you to post 6 second videos (and when you view them in Vine, they loop...which can be awesome or annoying depending on how you look at it). Which means loads of videos of my cats. And, of course, Aslan makes a special appearance in this one.

So here's my first little video attempt:

If you're on Vine...let's be friends! I'm @Anna Reynal. And I'd love to know...what are you experimenting with that scares you?