iphone-o-graphs of the day: January 28 - February 9

Still making every day count! :) I am Happy I am sticking to this personal project and documenting this time in my life. I am reading a photography business book and also contemplating getting a tattoo. For those of you who know me, this should be a big surprise since I have always said I didn't think I would ever get a tattoo. So I am drawing on myself to see if I get sick of it. HA! I also changed the layout slightly. I am still thinking I might still do something different but for now this is how it will be presented.

Renee + John | blissfield, michigan wedding photography

Featuring Renee + John's romantic wedding from June 18, 2011. I love this couple and loved this wedding! Renee's Family and mine have been friends my entire life so this couple holds a special place in my heart. I am incredibly honored that they chose me to document their day, and I am thrilled to finally be featuring it today! This is my first wedding feature on my blog so I hope everyone enjoys it. While looking at these images, think of Renee + John's first dance song, I know I did the whole time I was editing their gorgeous wedding!

"Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not"

By Thompson Square

We were sittin' up there on your momma's roof

Talkin' 'bout everything under the moon

With the smell of honeysuckle and your perfume

All I could think about was my next move

Oh, but you were so shy, so was I

Maybe that's why it was so hard to believe

When you smiled and said to me

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?

Are we gonna do this or what?

I think you know I like you a lot

But you're 'bout to miss your shot

Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

It was the best dang kiss that I ever had

Except for that long one after that

And I knew if I wanted this thing to last

Sooner or later I'd have to ask for your hand

So I took a chance

Bought a wedding band and I got down on one knee

And you smiled and said to me

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?

Are we gonna do this or what?

I think you know I love you a lot

I think we've got a real good shot

Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

So, we planned it all out for the middle of June

From the wedding cake to the honeymoon

And your momma cried

When you walked down the aisle

When the preacher man said, "Say I do"

I did and you did too, then I lifted that veil

And saw your pretty smile and I said

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?

Are we gonna do this or what?

Look at all the love that we got

It ain't never gonna stop

Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

Yeah baby, I love you a lot

I really think we've got a shot

Are you gonna kiss me or not?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

iphone-o-graphs of the day

This entry is going to be different from the last entries, because I am chaining the way I present my ipone-o-graphs of the day. It all started the other day when I read an article posted by a friend. It was called Inspiration vs. Imitation by Jessica Hische. I read the article and thought it was a great article. After reading the article I went on my daily routines and it was like I was carrying a little seed inside of me. Each day the seed got a little bigger and day after day it kept growing until I started wondering if I was actually imitating a fellow artist that I admire. Unfortunately that seed inside my stomach was growing because I was imitating an amazing artist, and I didn't even know it. Apparently my conscience did after reading the article but it took my mind a while to catch up. I am sick to my stomach over the whole thing and as hard as this is to share, I feel I owe it to the other photographer to have a post about this.

As you have read in my first post about the iPhone-o-graphs of the day I truly was inspired by the article I shared and my inspiration is valid for why I wanted to take an iPhone-o-graph a day. Where I went wrong was when I was trying to figure out how to lay them out and how to present them. I looked up to an artist that I remembered did entires from her iPhone and I looked at the way she layed the images out and did the exact same thing. BAD ASHLEY!!! I really should have known better, but at the time I didn't think there was anything wrong with laying it out the same way. The seed inside my stomach knew better though. Even though my idea for the project was from inspiration I did not come up with the layout on my own and I was imitating an artist I looked up, which is in no way a form of flattery.

Once the seed got big enough to make me realize I was doing something wrong. I emailed the other artist immediately. I apologized and explained what I thought I might have unintentionally done to her and waited for her response. She emailed me back and was completely understanding but did feel that my work was too similar to hers and was actually going to email me about it. She was glad I emailed her first and we talked back and forth for a bit and came to the conclusion that I just needed to change the layout of my project. She was so nice and understanding and told me that she knew I wasn't intentionally copying her, and told me she had no hard feelings. I am truly grateful that this artist understood where I was coming from, and that I did not set out to copy what she did. In the end that is what it looked like though, and that makes me incredibly ashamed that I could be so ignorant. I know that we all make mistakes and that we make mistakes to learn from them, but this one is very hard to live with. To the artist, from the bottom of my heart I am extremely sorry and I am eternally grateful that you forgave me and were so understanding.

The characteristic about myself that I value most, is being honest. So I didn't feel right not explaining this on my blog and owning up to the fact that I made a horrible mistake. I know that I truly did not purposely set out to copy what this artist was doing, but that doesn't change the fact that I was basically ripping off her design. This really shows how much I have to grow, but I know I will never make this mistake again.  I wanted to share this experience mainly because I feel it is the right thing to do, but also for an educational purpose.  I feel that if I can make this mistake without knowing it, others could too. So I am going to post the link that my friend posted of Inspiration vs. Imitation by Jessica Hische, to educate creatives. {click here}



Now to introduce my own design for the iPhone-o-graphs of the day. I thought it would be fun to make them look like little polaroids and I am currently arranging them into 2 rows of 4 and I am going to be doing an entry every week now. Since I started this project to document my life I am also adding in captions about that image to remind me even more of that day when I look back at the image. I feel this fits much better because it will make the project more personal to me which is the whole reason for starting the project. I am not sure if I am going to stick with the design or not right now. Maybe I will play with it a little more, but I wanted to change the design as soon as possible given the situation. Since this post only includes 7 photos. I couldn't include the most recent images. The last image was taken on February 2nd, so it is technically a little late. Next weeks will be on time.

Once again I am sorry if I let anyone else down because of my horrible mistake, I am assuming that I did let a lot of you down and I hope the you all can forgive me as well. For those of you who know me, I now you will understand that this was not something I set out to do to be evil. It was a mistake, and I am doing everything I can think of to make it right. If you would like to email me about this please do! I would love to answer any questions you might have. I hope you all can forgive me and I will continue growing as an artist and training my eyes to see things more clearly in the future.

my first bridal show

This past Sunday I attended my first bridal show as a vendor at the Marion Bridal Extravaganza! I was really excited about doing the bridal show and I am really glad I did. I meet so many wonderful brides to be accompanied by their friends and family and even a few grooms came along as well. I thought it was super sweet when I actually meet sisters or mothers and sisters doing the leg work for the bride because of their busy schedule. How sweet is that! I love to see families pulling together and making the wedding planning go even smoother. I also meet a lot of other local vendors which I enjoyed very much. I wish I would have walked around and talked to more local vendors but the time flew right by and before I knew it the show was over! So for all of the other vendors I did not get a chance to meet I hope you had a grab day and I hope to meet you soon. This was truly an experience I will never forget and I hope to repeat again and again.

I will be honest I was definitely nervous for my first bridal show, but I think that overall the show went great. I couldn't of made it without the help of my AMAZING Grandma who helped me brainstorm and pick out fabric and shop for what seemed like an endless list of supplies and she also made all of my pillows and runners and covered my desk chair. The set of two chairs are even my Grandmas which she let me borrow! Honestly she is the best Grandma ever and I will never be able to thank her enough for all of her help not only with this show but my whole life. Sending a big hug, kiss and thank you your way Grandma!!! I want to thank my wonderful husband who also listened to all of my ideas through out this process and helped me get ready for it, set up on the day of, and he helped me at the entire show! Thank you so much baby! Also I can not forget to thank my best friend Kristen Cliff for designing my new logo, business cards, leave behind, mailing list/sign in sheet, and my door prize papers. I would have been lost without her as well! Now I finally have an identity that represents me and my business! YAY! Love Ya Kristen! I also want to thank Amy at C Studios for allowing me to use my images from the weddings I had the pleasure of assisting you on! You are the best! I also want to thank AMANDA JULCA for allowing me to use the images I shot at the wedding I had the lovely opportunity to assist her on. And last but certainly not least thank you to all of my clients for choosing me to be your photographer and allowing me to use your images in my booth! Without you none of this would of been possible and YOU are the reason I love to do what I do. Love You all!!

I also want to wish all the brides and grooms to be a very happy wedding and life together! I hope to see you again, and would LOVE to document your wedding day! Happy planning!

Since I loved the bridal show experience so much I am actually doing it again this weekend at the Mid Ohio Bridal Spectacular in Mansfield! Come visit my booth if you are in the area! I can't wait to meet even more bride and grooms to be!

Well I think that about covers it! Here are pictures of my booth set up at the Marion Bridal Extravaganza. I am really happy with the way it turned out I feel it represents my business really well, and it is completely me! They were taken with my phone super quickly so please forgive some of the blurry ones.