Xpressions

I have been working on an ad for Nashville Violins.  This is for a more creative piece, which has allowed me to step away from the traditional and classic requirement for violin photography.  I love their Xpressions line of violins, they are beautiful, I love how they sound, and they offer a challenge with their stained finish.
I took the challenge and did what I could to get ALL of their instruments in one photo in my tiny photo studio space.  The area I use for their commercial photography is quite tight, which offers a challenge on many levels.  However, I have been quite pleased with the results in this image.  I hope you enjoy it also.

 I am also excited to announce I have been playing the ukulele and the violin.  I finally got back into the swing of things with my violin lessons, and I have a goal with both instruments.  It is fun to be able to be playing music again.  I never thought I would ever play a string instrument and now I am playing too.  Hopefully if I can get things organized well enough, I would like to go back to playing the piano as well.
Love having art in my life!!!

Never a good thing...

It is never a good thing to go this long without blogging.  I was setting up a post every Saturday before my shift at Nashville Violins...but that process is going to be postponed for a while.  Long story, heartbreaking story, disappointing story...but I am not letting it steal my joy.
I have come to discover I have been denying myself the things I enjoy the most.  Anything and everything practically I have been denying-due to allowing myself to follow the wrong priorities in life, which caused me to become depressed.  I am coping, meditating, getting back into caving and yoga, plus painting, photography, and living life again.
Never will my joy be taken from me again. :)
Here is a post from my favorite place in the world: Nashville Violins.  I needed to do a headshot of one of the instructors.  I wanted to really do something different with Daniel, he is an incredibly hard working, talented man.  I wanted something besides the "typical" headshot for him.  See below :) - I love how I caught the reflection of him in the mirror.

Hey Franklin, TN! It is time for some Team Roping!

It is that time of year for Franklin and Nashville, TN to be filled with some rowdy, rowdy cowboys and some old cowboys who still got a little kick to their pants.  My friend Nicki pulled in town last night with her horse and her boyfriend.  While at supper we ran into good friends Gabe and Stephanie.  I admire Gabe and Stephanie so much!!  They are such an influence in every sense of the word.  They have really good energy, they are down home real, and good people.  They have the best relationship that I aspire to one day understand enough to know how to implement it in my own life.  Stephanie runs the business, and Gabe is the mastermind photographer; oh my gosh his talent!!  Pause for a moment for the angels to sing their praises......"       " ok!  Gabe is truly someone who has influenced me and been very supportive of my photography.  Stephanie is amazing at photoshop and has been so wonderful at sharing her knowledge.
Good friends.  Good Times.  Let the roping begin!

These below are from a team roping near Bristol, TN.  They are not what the standard of exepctation would be, the abstract aspect is due to arena lighting and the glass on my camera that just wasn't fast enough.  Yet, I find myself really liking these images and the motion it displays.

Disaster Strikes...

This image was taken near Gulf Shores, AL in June 2010 shortly after the oil spill.  Now we are faced once again with a tragic disaster of the earthquake and Tsunami's in Japan.  My heart goes to all the residents in Japan, and I am thankful my American friend and his wife, who reside in Japan, are safe.
On a side note, I have recently heard since Canon and Nikon are based in Japan, no new lines of camera's will be coming out this year.  I have heard a rumor that all existing Canon and Nikon camera's will be going up in price as the demand will be higher.
I hope of all the thousands of people lost, thousands are found.  I pray for peace with those families and individuals who have lost fellow family and friends and their homes.

Posting ahead!!

Woo!  Hoo!  I am posting and it is not a Sunday!  How did that happen to work out?  Well, I was anxiously debating between going to the morning Business of Photography class, which I am taking, or going at night when I am scheduled.  If I went in the morning, I could go to an ASMP meeting tonight.  So, I get up, get ready, rush to make some adjustments to my homework and get to class.  Class begins and I discover the morning class is ahead of the night class and they are taking their mid-term!!!
Exit me.
So, I go find a computer and begin working on a copyright licensing letter I need to get to a model who posed for me in November.  As I finish up I decide to get onto my blog, to realize my drive with all my blog photo's are in my truck, lol.  Oh well, thankfully a thumb drive I had with me had an image I could use.

I don't think I have posted my turtle photographs that were taken during a trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium, Chattanooga, TN.  I find these beautiful turtles to be filled with color and design.  I love how such something that looks heavy and bulky can gracefully sweep across the floor and through the water. 

Irish Eyes are Smiling

Commercial meets Portrait photography - 
This was taken during one of my Commercial/Portrait sessions with Nashville Violins.  They have a wide selection of Irish and Celtic music and they wanted to do a promotion for St. Patricks day.  This is the owner in an appropriately green shirt with green bow. 

Marketing Piece

This is a leave behind piece I've created that I was quite pleased with its result.  The beautiful face in the marketing piece is a gal who was one of my Boudoir clients.  She was stunning to photograph and really photographed well in dramatic lighting that we used during the session.  I'm hoping once I can get this out I will see a rise in some bookings for my Boudoir Sessions.