Portraits and Musings

Man, it has been a heck of a week, let me tell you. It's only the 5th day into 2012 and I'm already floored by everything that's happened recently. I've got some pretty big news but I can't talk about some of it quite yet. Don't worry though, as soon as I can,  I'll share it with you all. In the mean time I have some other exciting news and a few photos to share. :) But since I love cliffhangers, I'm going to make you wait for the awesome news. ;)

First, more photography love! I had such a positive reaction to my photos last time I posted them that I thought I'd share some of the others I've done. I do love scenic work but my passion is for portraits. I love making people look as amazing as I can and I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you.

I do a lot of work at conventions where I wander around looking for people in interesting costumes. I admit it, I'm a bit of a geek. Heh. I love comic books and sci-fi movies so I attend some of the larger local conventions like DragonCon. This photo was actually taken at Anime Weekend Atlanta. This lovely young woman was walking around in a doll-like costume and I asked if I could grab her picture. Can you believe she didn't think she was pretty?! 

This is also from a convention but it has a lot of post work done to it. The guy in the elf costume was nice enough to let me snap a photo but he was out in the middle of a very brightly lit grass area in the middle of downtown Atlanta. Yeah, elves and skyscrapers just weren't doing it for me so I spent some time removing the horrid glare of steel and glass so I could replace it with something a little less...distracting. 

This was an actual commission work for my martial arts instructor. He needed new photos for advertisements, posters, business cards, ect so I got a bunch of shots of him and all of his staff. 

Yes, he meant to look that surly. ;) 

This was an on-the-fly model shoot done for an up and coming young model who needed something pronto for her portfolio. I often poke around ModelMayhem to find models for my shoots when I have something specific in mind. It's a website for models and photographers to meet up and work together. I have to be very careful because there's plenty of creeps out there but I've found being a female photographer tends to put a lot of people at ease. This young lady asked me to meet her at the last minute across town so, with nothing else do to, I whisked off and snapped a few very quick shots for her. I really like how this one came out. 

My absolute favorite subject? My friends. This sweet young woman is my tattoo artist. She did the lovely design down my spine and I adore her. She did most of the work on her own arms too. I took this as part of a project I'm working on called "Framed: Misconceptions of Body Art." I'm trying to show that just because someone modifies themselves, it doesn't make them a freak. Tattoos are very personal and each one has a story behind it. I plan to continue this project as I collect those stories and photos in one place. 

This is my friend Wendy. Hehehe. Isn't she AWESOME? She made this costume herself. It's Max's wolf suit from Where the Wild Things Are. She works at a bookstore and wears this on Halloween. The kids LOVE it. 

My lovely friend Rachel, who I am still trying to convince on how pretty she is. She and my friend Jessica (below) are the ones who got me into bellydancing and I can't thank them enough. I did this photoshoot just for the grins and because I wanted to show them both just how beautiful they are. :) 

This is Jessica. I know, right? She's GORGEOUS. She photographs ridiculously well and I love this series of images with her. This whole photoshoot produced some really great stuff and I love the intensity on her face here. 

Want to know a little trick for your photography?

You see that pretty backdrop in all it's glory? Yeah, that's a scarf. No, really. I put up a bar in the room (you can use two tall people and a broom handle for this) and just draped the scarf over it. She's actually wearing part of it too. That section draped over her head? Just the bottom of the scarf, pulled up and settled so you can't see where it's folded in the back. That's it. Instant neat backdrop for those impromptu photoshoots with bellydancers. :) 

Speaking of which, this segues nicely into my news. See how I did that? Slick, huh? 

Anyway, as some of you know, I've been taking bellydancing for a little while now and just a couple of days ago, the owner of the studio came up to me and asked me for my contact info. They want me try out for the official troop. 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

*insert more happy squealing* 

If I pass the audition, I get to join them on actual performances at various functions. I'm super excited because joining is invitation only and so it's a great honor to be picked. So yeah, I'm stoked. Also, I take my  Cisco test tomorrow. Wish me luck. I'm nervous but that would be one more resolution down. :) 

Hope all of your dreams are coming true this year too. Has anyone done something for you that made you feel particularly beautiful? 

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