Christina's Blog

I’ve been asked a lot recently why I decided to become a photographer, and answering that question has been kind of hard for me.  I haven’t come up with a short and simple answer yet, but I can tell you about a bunch of individual moments and experiences that led me here.  It’s been an interesting part of my life to reflect on, so if you’d like to know more – keep reading below and check back in a few days for Part 2!  I didn’t intend to write a novel when I started this, but I think my enthusiasm made it impossible to be brief on the subject.  (You’ve been warned!)

How it all began…
I became interested in photography at a very young age.  To be honest I don’t even remember what the “spark” was for that – but it must have been pretty strong, as my parents invested in a really amazing camera to give to a 10 year-old.  I will never forget that Christmas, it is one of my most-vivid childhood memories.  I even remember that my mom had wrapped each individual part separately for me to open, but then she couldn’t remember what was what and I ended up opening them in the “wrong” order.  Of course, I didn’t care what order they were in, I was just so thrilled to actually have my very own SLR camera!  It was a Pentax K1000 – a really great camera back in the day, and they gave me a zoom lens, camera bag, and  a lens cleaner

K1000

kit.  How cool is that!?  The K1000 was manufactured from 1976-1997, and though it was a completely manual camera, it maintained quite a following and was considered one of the top choices for photography students even as more automated cameras came on the market.  It was a fabulous camera to start with, and learning to set everything manually, from exposure to focus, has made me a better photographer even through the switch to digital.  I have no idea how many photos I took with that camera, but I can tell you I used it for many, many years and it has meant so much to me that I still have it, all wrapped up in it’s camera bag.  I haven’t taken it out for many years, but somehow it comforts me to know it’s still around.

Now I don’t know if it’s possible for anyone to be born a photographer, but my early photos and portrait attempts certainly aren’t hanging on anyone’s walls today, even my own.  Looking through them, though, I think you can see where I was trying to go, even if I wasn’t clear how to get there.  My family loves to tease me every Christmas (because it’s one of the few times we are all together) about one infamous photo shoot I did with my step-sister and a friend down the street.  We had just returned from either the State Fair or Carowinds or some other place where you find yourself going home with ridiculous souvenirs, and we were in the possession of this enormous blue paper flower.  You know, the kind you made for your mom on Mother’s Day in 1st grade?  Except this thing was like 4 feet in diameter with a 5 foot stem – no, I am not kidding.  I decided it would be a great prop in a photograph, and proceeded to pose both girls in various positions and places around our house with this monstrous flower.  Now, at the time I thought these shots were some of my best work and I was just delighted with the results.  Little did I know those images would be brought to embarrass me again and again for the rest of my life – I truly don’t even know how all these people got a hold of copies.  Film wasn’t cheap to a 13 year-old, so I can’t imagine that I was having 10 copies printed.  Hmmm.

Continued in Part 2

With the Holidays starting to peek around the corner, I’ve been looking into what beautiful gifts we will be offering our clients this season. It is important to me that anything we offer be of truly high quality, because personal gifts such as these are always wrapped with such emotion and expectation. I want every item that leaves my studio to be truly remarkable!

We have already started carrying our line of portrait bags and purses – the Bucket Bag Family ranges from a cute little “running errands around town” bag to the rather-jumbo sized “I’m a mom and have to bring our entire house with me wherever we go” tote. All three of the Bucket Bag sizes are available in easy-to-clean microfiber or luxurious leather – I’m partial to the leather myself, but both fabrics are long-lasting and very distinctive.

Our newest designs are in the Boutique Collection. Each of these purses has a unique style, very on-trend and fashionable. With your choice of interior linings, as well as some exterior design choice, you can really create a gift tailored to that special someone in your life – or treat yourself!

Due to the exceptional manufacturing quality required, please remember to schedule your portrait session early enough to allow at least 4 weeks for delivery. If you have any questions about the timing, or need your gift sooner, let me know. I’m happy to look in to expediting any order when possible.

View the PDF files for these lovely bags and purses by downloading below:
Boutique Collection

Bucket Family

**Note: I resisted using the “Gifts of heArt” cliche for the post title, but just wanted to mention it in case you didn’t think I was clever enough to think of something like that. (This way I still get to use it, just without the embarrassment! Win-Win!) Ahem.

I probably should have titled this “On Trying to Be Green,” as I am still gaining a healthier respect for the environment daily, and am realizing how unaware I have been about this topic.  Now of course I know to recycle and that using/buying recycled goods is a good thing (is that a pun?).  I recently read an article by Greener Photography written for the magazine, Professional Photographer.  In it they described a few ways to be more environmentally-friendly within a photography studio (or small business in general,) and I found myself realizing I hadn’t given much thought to that issue yet, and that I needed to do so. Being the internet addict that I am, I spent several hours researching for everything from prints to office supplies online. I was somewhat surprised, however, that the options seemed so limited and hard to find.

Even though Greener Photography does have a small list of “green” suppliers on their site, I found that many of those options just aren’t feasible for a small business order. The minimum order of items, like 5000 sheets of recycled paper for instance, is much more than I need at the moment. I did stumble upon the Green Office yesterday and they seemed to much lower minimum quantities and a really good selection of products (ranked by green-ness, even!). I have also bookmarked their “Tips and Tricks” section for ways to be more eco-friendly – I’ll definitely be revisiting that page for more help! Greener Printer deserves a mention as well, as they look like an interesting option for things like business cards and brochures. I received their sample pack recently and was impressed with the different paper options and the quality of their printing.

So, I’m still investigating things like recycled wood frames and albums, as well as photographic printing options. Though I realize not everyone will be interested in those choices, I want to make a real effort to have them available for those that are. I have a long way to go before I can say I’m not leaving any carbon footprint, but maybe it’s at least getting smaller day by day.