Hellllooooo Friends! I hope you all had a fabulous fourth! I had a blast photographing my brother and his bride’s wedding day. I know they’re anxious to see the pictures so I’m heads down with editing this week. I’m also under doctors orders to sloooooowww doooowwwnn. Apparently, I’ve developed tendinitis in both my right and left elbows – top & bottom. I’m supposed to take it easy on the typing, clicking, and heavy holding while massaging, icing, stretching and bi-weekly physical therapy. You can imagine how this puts a huge damper on my work-flow! Although, it is kinda nice to be ordered to stop doing so much. It makes me not feel as guilty for taking a little break.
As I mentioned last week, I had my friend and photographer extraordinaire, Jay Rabena, take pictures of me in the historic Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. He did a fantastic job of keeping me relaxed and laughing the entire time. Seriously, I was exhausted by the end of our session! He easily took a couple hundred pictures. These are a few of my favorites. And, to accompany these fine photos, I’ve included some fun facts about me! Recently, one of my sister’s friends asked to interview me for a college project she was working on so I thought I’d share some of our Q&A session.
Q. What were your major career/life dreams when you were younger? How has that changed/evolved over the years?
A. Honestly, I never had any clue what I wanted to be when I grew up. I think that’s why college was so challenging for me to stick with and why I’ve had so many different types of jobs (plumbing dispatcher, fitness club manager, nanny, corporate housing coordinator, etc.). For a while I thought it would fun to be the person to write menu descriptions for restaurants – I don’t even know if that’s a real job but I thought it would be fun. I loved to dance and competed on a national dance team so I toyed with the idea of becoming a choreographer. That quickly went no where after I graduated high school and realized that dancers don’t make any money unless you’re taking your clothes off. Looking back on all my career experiences though, I can see that in almost every job I’ve ever had I was in some type of leadership or managerial role. I think that’s what drives me to have my own business. The photography thing has always been a hobby I come back to and something I’ve always had some talent in so it only made sense to try and merge the two.
Q. Have you always been a visual person? If not, when did that change for you?
A. Until my junior year of high school I never put a single picture, poster, or anything on my walls or locker. I never took an art class except for the one photography class I took in tenth grade for one trimester and I almost failed it. I didn’t draw, or paint or do pottery or anything visual really. I think I was always afraid that other people wouldn’t like what I saw or made so I never even tried. Even today I’m super self conscious of my work and I don’t let anyone see it ’till I’m good and ready. That’s why I had to start my blog – so I could get over my fear and share with audiences that I didn’t have to look in the face.
Q. Does the way you view the world change when you view it through a camera lens?
A. Oh, DEFINITELY! The more and more I photograph the more I see the world in pieces. When I walk into a room I don’t see the room – I see pieces of the room that would look cool in a frame. I usually take my camera with me everywhere. I can be in a restaurant and see the light coming through a window just perfectly and I’ll have to photograph it. Or an interesting person sitting at a table, or the way a bunch of fruit is piled up at a farmers market, or a cluster of tacs on a bulletin board, or the way a leaf has fallen on a sidewalk, or a flock birds has spread out on a power line….
Sometimes I just have to pull over and snap away.
Q. Favorite color?
A. Ummmmmm….my sister Tammy says that when I was little my favorite color was purple. I don’t remember that but sometimes I like some things that are purple. As a teenager my favorite color was dark blue. At my first wedding my colors were yellow and light blue. I like wearing red and black and pink and blue. My house is mostly light greens and dark browns. I’m really drawn to deeply saturated bright colors.
Q. What would be your “dream job”?
A. Photographer extraordinaire for Vanity Fair Magazine. I would have more gigs than Annie Lebowitz and a fat apartment in good ol’ NYC.
Q. What are your other passions besides photography? How do those integrate into photography?
A. I love all kinds of music and can keep a beat. That helps me create killer slide shows for my clients out of their photos.
I like celebrating and making new friends. That comes in handy when meeting new clients and documenting their special milestones in photographs.
I love Macs. Photoshop is bomb.
I like being the boss. Comes in handy when directing clients and running a business.
I enjoy writing real stories about real people – therefore I blog about my sessions.
Q. How has your personal style/personality changed over the last 5 years? the last 10?
A. I’m all about simplicity these days. I think when you strip everything else away you’re left with your real self. That’s what I look for in my subjects and it’s how I like to live my life.
5 years ago I was much more materialistic and thought I needed all the best gear and the fanciest education to be good at something. I now know that is far from the truth.
10 years ago I was too timid to make a move and copied other peoples style so I wouldn’t have to profess my own and risk being “wrong”. Now I know that my best work comes from my own gut instincts. It’s the truest, purest, and most beautiful when it’s all mine. People want what I have to offer because they can’t get it from someone else.
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