Emerson

Butterfly

August 2012

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." 

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'm a righty.

My mom sent me this.  Thanks, Mom!


I took a drawing class when I was nineteen as a pre-requisite for the VisCom degree that I never got.  We did a lot of exercises from this book, which forces you to use the right side of your brain when you're drawing.  For example, instead of thinking to yourself, I'm drawing that table, you would instead focus on drawing the negative space around the table.  In focusing on the more obscure space around the subject, you let go of any pre-determined information about what a table looks like.  You end up drawing what is actually in front of you rather than drawing a familiar object, influenced by your own thoughts and memories.  It was a really fascinating book and it improved my drawing skills quite a bit.

Despite the improvement in my practical skills, my professor was endlessly frustrated with me and my style of drawing.  I have a tendency to work fast, with lots of thick lines and heavy shading.  My projects would be completed in half the time allotted. After a few days of heading out early, she started bringing in books about super realistic looking drawings (like this) and giving me extra assignments.  "Try drawing something like this," she'd say much to my chagrin.

And I'd tell her that if I wanted a picture like that, I'd take a photograph.

I'm definitely right-side dominant, but on occasion my left side kicks into high gear and all I want to do is fill in spreadsheets and do math (a rarity as of late).  How about you?

the meeting process & one of the nicest e-mails. ever.

Tiffany & Michael at their engagement session at Willowwood Arboretum in 2008

When someone contacts me about photographing their wedding, I invite them to the studio and go through my spiel, which covers everything that they could POSSIBLY need to know about my experience, approach and pricing.  Then I have way too much fun asking about how they met and how he proposed (my favorite part about client meetings), which, naturally, leads to the topic of wedding plans (I'm a girl, a huge advocate for love and marriage, and I spend a great deal of time perusing wedding blogs and magazines.  You know, for work...).  Somehow, I'm lucky enough to attract these crazy stylish, creative, awesome people, so I usually spend a good deal of time getting really excited about those.

At the end of it all, the couple walks out with a packet of information so that they can reference back to it when they're making their decisions. Included in the packet is contact information for a few people who have been through the wedding process with me, because, honestly, if it were me looking for a photographer, that's who I'd want to hear from.

Yesterday, Tiffany forwarded me the e-mail she sent to a bride I recently met with and it made my day. There is nothing more rewarding to me than hearing someone say such nice things about their experience working with me.

Here's part of it:

 "We used Jackie about 2 1/2 years ago for our wedding and absolutely LOVED her (we still love her). We couldn't have picked a more talented, personable or professional photographer for our wedding. We hit it off from the start, which I think is one of the most important things when booking vendors for your wedding. She takes direction immediately - meaning that if you don't like photos from a certain angle, or in a certain light, you only need to tell her once, and you won't have to worry about seeing anything you've specifically stated you don't like. She's also a lot of fun to work with. She makes everything feel so comfortable - you'll have a blast....


We live in Maryland now and have a 5 month old. We haven't had any professional pictures taken yet of the baby because we're waiting to arrange something with Jackie the next time we're in NY. Yes, we love her that much. :) 


Tiffany"

PS. the feeling is completely mutual :)
xx

Random

 

tumblr

I started a tumblr for all those pictures I take that don't quite fit into posts here.  It also updates itself so even if I'm buried under heaps and heaps of work for the next three weeks, you can still see a few new pictures (like these) every day.  You know, if you want to.

Jasiu

Jas took a break from working on his latest still-life series and glam, high-fashion photo shoots

to come upstate and hang with us at the studio

during yesterday's shoot.

Genius, this one is.

Check out his work: www.JohnCiombor.com.