wedding wednesday

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i decided i am going to do a trash the dress shoot after the wedding!!!

and most of you probably that i'm crazy, but that's alright with me :)

let me tell you a little story: i won my wedding dress.

i've actually been meaning to write up a post about my experience winning my dress and the company the dress came from, so keep your eye out for that. but anywho, my dress was free (except for the $32 i paid in tax, but essentially, right?) and when wedding planning you see all these things about dress preservation. now, i got to pick my dress so i do love it, but i'm not sentimental enough to keep an over sized box with a dress that was air-sealed and practically freeze-dried for the rest of my life.

to me, photographs are the way i keep memories; the photographer was pretty much #1 on our priority list. so i will have plenty of beautiful pictures of my dress. and, as i've decided, some awesome fun ones of me destroying it!

randy will most likely do the shoot with me. since he has to wear dress pants and nice shirts for work, he can just wear some kind of work clothing he's had for a while and wanted to get rid of anyway. i was thinking a food fight would be SUPER fun. can you imagine how cute it will be to have our wedding date written on my dress in chocolate syrup? or a pile of spaghetti on top of my head?!

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*ps: yesterday was the 8 month mark!

get in my belly!

*source

ummm hi, carmella adams? we need to do this!

theit camera bag coupon!

so no, i didn't win one of these fabulous bags : (



get yours here!


but, i am in possession of a 15% off coupon code!

enter loveannie15 @ checkout! and you can pick up a 2nd one for me if you'd like ; )

valid until 10/31

alaina

on my christmas list..

this ultra-stylish camera bag from jo totes!

pleasepleaseplease!

the people in your neighborhood

 

explore the faces of new york

#the50: 26-50

welcome back to #the50 things every creative should know!

*to see things 1-25, click here!

26. network
27. dress smart, look businesslike
28. never work for free
29. negotiate
30. read contracts
31. make your invoice stand out
32. there's no such thing as a bad job
33. there's no such thing as a bad client
34. embrace limitations
35. the environment is not a limitation
36. boring problems lead to boring solutions
37. new ideas are always 'stupid'
38. do not underestimate self-initiated work
39. justify your decisions
40. show sketches, not polished ideas - the client will feel more involved
41. work with the client, not against them
42. don't always take 'no' for an answer
43. pick your battles
44. if you're going to fail, fail well
45. be an auteur - be the barometer of quality
46. take responsibility for failure
47. share your ideas
48. get out of the studio
49. awards are nice, but not vital
50. don't take yourself too seriously

#the50: 1-25

 

for those of you just joining me, i am an aspiring photographer.

don't get me wrong, it is definitely more of a hobby than a profession for me at this point, but i'm doing whatever i can to improve my craft and hope to one day be able to pay my bills and brighten lives with my work.

with that said, making a 'job' out of something creative is just as hard as getting a biophysics degree or becoming the ceo of a company - just because it's creative does not mean it's easy!

i thought that these were some really great things to remember when trying to break into a creative industry:

1. you are not the first
2. there's always someone better - don't waste time worrying about this!
3. success is not a finite resource - another person's success doesn't inhibit yours
4. you cannot score without a goal
5. starting anything requires energy
6. the path to work is easier than you think; you need 3 things: great work, energy, & a nice personality
7. have a positive self-image
8. create a clean and simple website
9. curate your work - never stop editing your portfolio
10. listen to your instincts
11. make your work easy to see
12. hand-write addresses - the power of the personal touch
13. time is precious: get to the point
14. never take an unpaid internship
15. do as many internships as you can stand
16. don't waste your internship
17. make friends with a printer
18. find your local DIY store and pound shop
19. be patient
20. ask questions
21. ask for opportunities
22. seek criticism, not praise
23. make friends, not enemies
24. news travels fast
25. don't get drunk at professional events

those rock, right?!

but wait, there's more!

check back in 1 week for tips 26-50

my most favorite hobby..

one of my favorite things to do for fun is take pictures. i have always been told that i have a good eye, but i never really took making anything out of my hobby that seriously. it's not like i'm a professional photographer now, but if i'm on a trip or visiting a new place, i make sure to bring my camera along in case there are some interesting things to capture. plus, i figured out a 'name' for myself (baby a photography), so i figure i'm at least half way there ; )

here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the past year:

going through my iphoto, i realized that i need to get out there more and start snapping away! this year, i am ready to start taking this seriously. hopefully i will get to take some engagement photos for a couple we know that recently got engaged, a trip up to northern california for a san francisco giant's game with my sweetie, and i'm sure many more unforeseen opportunities where i can try and take a couple good pictures.

for those of you who are curious, here is what i'm working with these days:

 

image from photographyblog.com

it's a nikon d3000. personally, i like the look of the nikons better than cannon or some of the other brands. i still have a LOT to learn about how to work it, but i enjoy trying to capture the realist representation of an object while highlighting its beauty. randy got me a zoom lens for christmas, and i'm hoping to get a fish eye someday soon. the only thing i don't have is a name for my baby. yes, i am taking suggestions.

i would love to be able to seriously do something with this one day, and will keep all of you posted about my efforts to develop my 'craft.' hope you enjoyed, and until next time..

<3 alaina

ps, all pictures with watermarks were taken by me. i hate watermarking, but i've seen how people take credit for things unfairly on the internet. if you want to see some more of the stuff i've done, take a trip to my horribly out-dated baby a photography myspace page.