Wedding Photo Blogs. What gives?

I'm developing an issue with all the top wedding photography sites... They only feature completely outrageous, styled to death weddings. And they technically don't even feature the "wedding" part of the wedding. 90% of them only post photos of pre-wedding stuff, detail shots and bridal portraits. Rarely do I ever see photos from the ceremonies and receptions. It's driving me crazy because those are the areas of the day that I want to see examples of. I want to see how other people make it happen. I photographed a wedding on Saturday and everything was inside. Portraits, ceremony, reception. I got the couple outside for some couple shots but really that's about it. I want some clues as to how other people work around the less than ideal situations.

I understand that the photos featured on wedding sites are the best of the best. They're expensive weddings with mad crazy designers at the helms and they only show the extraordinary material from the day. That's great and all, but where it the authenticity in that? Where are real weddings? Where is the wedding shot inside a dim church? Or inside a banquet hall? How do those photographers make it work? How do you take an everyday, real wedding and make it look dreamy and extraordinary in photos?

Answers? Anyone?

Maybe I should start my own wedding photography blog and only feature the photos of real couples and real weddings. Not only do they kind of pick and choose the most exceptional looking weddings, they also pick and choose the most exceptional looking brides. It's so.... wrong! With the exception of Offbeat Bride and Rock and Roll Bride, I never see featured women who are not size four and Caucasian.

Studio Space

October "The Month of Crazy" 2010 is almost over. Thank gawd for that. Only two more bookings this month and I will have survived. I'm sitting on ten sessions that need to be edited - but since none of them are currently late I'm marking it down as a win.

The last few months have really shocked me. I didn't know I possessed such a driving force. I feel like I'm making a lot of progress both in my talents and abilities and in knowing what I want for the future. I never thought I would want any type of studio space but I'm starting to see a need for one. The summer and fall were great, but what about the winter? Where will I shoot? I'm also stuck with the issue of having to cancel sessions on rainy days. It would be nice to have a backup plan. I've been very lucky with in-home shoots so far. I've never had a situation I couldn't work in, but it would be nice to have more control over the lighting situations.

So, that brings me to a studio space. I don't exactly have the income or the business stability, or the income, to sign a lease on a place of my own. I also don't know anyone who's subletting and/or giving it away for free out of the goodness of their heart. I doubt I would qualify for an artist's co-op. That only leaves our spare bedroom...

Yep. You got it. We're thinking of using our spare bedroom as the world's tiniest photography studio. Honestly, I think it might work with some minor changes. The floors are hardwood and it has windows on the east and south so already we're in decent shape. I'm thinking about installing a brick veneer on one wall and buying a couple backdrops and a stand for some variety. Pick up a settee, some chairs, non-vomit inducing props for kiddos... Change out the light fixture, add a couple studio lights... We've got a working studio space. A 10x11 working studio space, but beggars can't be choosers at this stage.

Note: No posey-posey bullshit will be taking place in this studio. It's still business as usual - just inside.

I'm really only looking for an area that I could use for shoots with babies, children and small families. I live up the block from a park and there are plenty of outdoorsy areas around where we live so I could do half a session in the studio and half a session outside, weather permitting, and offer even more options to clients. For probably less money than I would pay for a month's rent in a studio, I could have a space in our house. It's not an ideal solution but I don't even know what I really need at this point. And who knows, it might be a total flop. I might hate it. It might also be awesome and I decide I want a real space in the future. Either way, I'm ready to take the next step with this learning process. I don't want to be limited to only photographing in certain places/scenarios.

Thank you for reading what has essentially been my inner dialogue for the past three days.

2009 Omaha Marathon

Last month I ran the Omaha 1/2 marathon with two really great friends.



It was my second time running the 1/2 and my third consecutive year running the event. This year though was the first time I didn't feel like I wanted to die ten miles in. I think we were actually very well prepared.



Poor Jen in the pink though looks like she might be in quite a bit of pain. That's because she's an effing rock star and (unknowingly) ran it with a stress fracture. Just thinking about that makes me a little queasy. Aside from that minor little tidbit the run was pretty uneventful. We finished with a good time and plan on shaving some minutes off when we run another 1/2 in the Spring. We already have a game plan to cut about 20 minutes off:

1. No eight minute port-a-potty stops.
2. No running on stress fractures.
3. More bacon.

I'm Just Not That Into It

I watched He's Just Not That Into You last weekend. If this movie were a man and we were out on a date, I would have faked going to the bathroom and snuck out the front door after fifteen minutes. But since I was home watching it on a Friday night, in bed, with two beers, and the remote was broken, I ended up watching the whole movie. Reluctantly.

I could go on and on for pages about how bad I think this movie really is. But for the sake of time and the sake of your waning interest at this point, I will just focus on two major points of hatred.

Point One: Ginnifer Goodwin's Character

I can't remember the character's name and the fact that I don't even want to bother hitting up IMDB for the answer should tell you how awful she was. Not Ginnifer. Oh God no. I feel terrible for that poor woman. It's her character that I couldn't stand. Whatever her name was. I found her to be one of the least likable non-villain movie character EVAR! She whined and fussed and crazied her way into a relationship with a man who found her completely obtuse and unattractive for the first 120 minutes of a 128 minute movie. I would really like for someone to explain to me how that happens. I thought the point of the movie was to explain to women why they shouldn't cling, stalk, OMGwhyisnthecalling and daydream about dudes who have no interest in you. And then, at the end, she does all those things and the guy falls in love with her.

WTF???

Point Two: WTF??? (Serious plot spoilers - like you should really care.)

Seriously? What the hell? I thought this movie was supposed to be a lesson to women about men and dating. The first 3/4 of it was very cram-it-down-your-throat lessony about the obvious signs when a man isn't interested. But in the end, everyone threw the lessons out the window and just did whatever they felt like doing.

-Jennifer Aniston finally gave up on the man who wouldn't marry her for completely BS reasons and then he asked her to marry him.

-Old Blue Eyes pretended to be a nice guy, cheated on his wife, told her, was forgiven and still acted like an ungrateful bastard.

-Eric From Entourage took advice from the gays and it turned out wrong BUT EXCUSE ME the gays are NEVER wrong.

-Ginnifer McCrazypants freaked the fuck out on the Mac guy and then he fell in love with her. Doesn't that completely dispel every one of the points that were being made in the movie and book? A dude treating you like crap equals a dude who isn't interested unless of course you get all psycho on him and pretend you're his live-in girlfriend at a cocktail party, cock block him, yell at him, and then try to forget about him. For some reason that's the winning combination to his heart, then and only then will he show up at your door with an apology and a cheesy romantic gesture. The end.

Point Three: I Lied About Only Two Points

Scarlett Johansson still sucks at acting. I understand that she's hot and all, but they could cast a cardboard cutout of her in movies and I doubt anyone would notice.

My Haircut

I basically have this haircut now.



I don't have a picture yet of my own head to show you. My friend Leslie might have one but I'm also wearing a fake baby belly in the picture and that's not really something I need to be posting on my blog. I think I started enough rumors by just wearing the belly. I don't need to go posting it on the interwebs.

Back to the hair... I cut it all off a couple weeks ago. I started seeing a new stylist that was raaaaaved about by nearly my entire family. My last haircut was awful. I'm pretty sure the girl who cut it was on drugs. She looked dead in the eyes like one of the possessed townsfolk on True Blood. She washed, cut, dried and shoved me out the door in less than 25 minutes. She didn't even show me the back. Just put down the blow-dryer, took off my smock and handed me my purse. So, I went to the new girl. She kicks ass.

I found these pictures in October's issue of Real Simple. There's a style guide in there for different hair lengths. The directions make styling look really easy, but let me tell you. It's not. Their directions for all of those styles are essentially as follows:

1. Put a glob of mousse in hair.
2. Comb/finger comb hair into place.
3. Let air dry.

How exactly you're supposed to get four unique hair styles out of that is beyond me. I really like the middle one on the right, but I'm not that good. I did try out the top right one and it looked decent. I wore it with dark red lipstick which made me look like a cross between a flapper and one of the chicks from a Robert Palmer video. I looked simply irresistible. (Everyone with me on that?) So, now of course I think I should buy a flapper style dress and just rock the house with it. Maybe I'll learn to do the Charleston too.

$100 Bathroom Makeover

I'm having a little Design on a Dime challenge with myself. I want to restyle our bathroom on a $100 budget. The bathroom was renovated before we moved in, so overall it's in great shape. It's just... boring. So far I've spent $28.86 on a shower curtain and a bamboo tray for the counter. I'm guessing paint is going to cost around $24, so that leaves me with about $47 for rugs, a couple hand towels, and maybe a soap pump or a new toothbrush holder.

It might be time to hit the clearance shelves.

I'm hoping to have it done by the end of the month so I can submit it to the Design*Sponge before and after book.

Fall Photos

Lots of fall goodies happening over on my photo blog.



I'm also really excited to put up some Halloween decorations. I'm going out this week to buy a few new things. The foam headstones I bought last year didn't hold up. Hopefully, I fine some plastic ones that will last a couple years. I'm also going to run to Walgreens and pick up some severed arms and legs, on sale for 2/$10. That is soooo not a joke. Also on the agenda, making ghosts out of some old muslin fabric I have at home.

Story about the muslin... a number of years ago I bought a crap ton of cheap muslin for a photo project. I wanted to drape an entire room in fabric and photograph it. My ambition quickly faded (I was 18, what can I say) and I never went through with it. I have since seen someone else do something very similar so there's no point now in saving 10+ yards of muslin. Might as well make some ghosts out of it...