I suppose I'm not the only one that hates writing about themselves. I tried several times to come up with a dignified, professional sounding bio. I'm sorry that's just not me. It wouldn't fit in with the rest of the blog.
In lieu of a dry bit of drivel, I'm opting for an approach so popular in places like Facebook.
(Random Things) About me
The Basics: I first started learning about photography as a teenager. I bet my mother wonders what would have happened to me if she'd not lent me her old Kodak Instamatic to play around with.The Basics:I have degree in Art from University of Kentucky. There I focused primarily on photography (no pun intended), but indulged in other media like ceramics, graphic design (old school) and fiber arts. This is also where I first learned Photoshop...v3.0, I believe. Back in the days when you only had one "undo," so you had 18 "in progress" versions of your project, each one saved on to a 1mb 3.5" floppy just in case you decided the last 6 changes you made were a big mistake. (ahhh the good old days.)
I currently work full time at the University of Kentucky in Libraries Department, specifically Digital Library Services. There I do photography and scanning to create digital archives of our collections that are made available through the Kentuckiana Digital Library. Prior to this position I worked for nearly a decade at a prominent family owned studio here in Lexington. Although I was primarily a wedding and studio portrait photographer, I tended to do wear many hats, everything from bookkeeping, digital file management, sales; you name it I probably did it. In previous career lives, I have worked retail, given horseback riding lessons, been a picture framer, and even sold swimming pools and hot tubs. Yes, if your water chemistry is out of whack and your pool is green, I'm your girl.
Might as well move this one close to the top of the list because you're probably already thinking it. I'm a bit of dork. I'll own up to it. I'm totally addicted to NPR. (Affectionately referred to as Nerd Public Radio by my friends.) I've been know to "geek-out" over things I've seen on PBS. I'll even act silly from time to time. I guess you could say this helps me live out my mantra. To me, Life is about listening everyone's point of view, learning and having fun.
I'm actually quite a shy person. I'm sometimes overly concerned about what other people think. It has taken me a long time to come to work through my shyness and come terms with my geekiness. Now I try more and more to embrace it. I was never ever one of the cool kids in school, and I'm sure I'll never will be as an adult. It's okay. I'm sure working at the photo studio took away any cool capabilities I had left in me. Although being a bit of a dork has seemed to serve me well in allowing my clients to relax and feel comfortable during the session. It doesn't hurt in getting a genuine smile or two either.
I can wiggle my ears. I really can. Remember these are random, and besides I've already told you that I'm a dork.
I can't attribute a single word to describe my style. I tend to be relaxed, casual, modern, sometimes quirky, sometimes formal. It just depends on the day.
In college I did a project were I photographed my Converse tennis shoes in various places, doing various things. Somehow that became my "I was here" signature image. So now when I travel I try to take a picture of my shoes as my cheesy tourist shot.
So there it is. I'm sure I'll add more as time goes by. Hopefully this gives you a better sense of who I am, and how I tick.
Might as well move this one close to the top of the list because you're probably already thinking it. I'm a bit of dork. I'll own up to it. I'm totally addicted to NPR. (Affectionately referred to as Nerd Public Radio by my friends.) I've been know to "geek-out" over things I've seen on PBS. I'll even act silly from time to time. I guess you could say this helps me live out my mantra. To me, Life is about listening everyone's point of view, learning and having fun.
I'm actually quite a shy person. I'm sometimes overly concerned about what other people think. It has taken me a long time to come to work through my shyness and come terms with my geekiness. Now I try more and more to embrace it. I was never ever one of the cool kids in school, and I'm sure I'll never will be as an adult. It's okay. I'm sure working at the photo studio took away any cool capabilities I had left in me. Although being a bit of a dork has seemed to serve me well in allowing my clients to relax and feel comfortable during the session. It doesn't hurt in getting a genuine smile or two either.
I can wiggle my ears. I really can. Remember these are random, and besides I've already told you that I'm a dork.
I can't attribute a single word to describe my style. I tend to be relaxed, casual, modern, sometimes quirky, sometimes formal. It just depends on the day.
In college I did a project were I photographed my Converse tennis shoes in various places, doing various things. Somehow that became my "I was here" signature image. So now when I travel I try to take a picture of my shoes as my cheesy tourist shot.
I function best when I'm fully caffeinated. As my coffee mug says,
"Life is short. Stay awake for it."I try so hard not to be a coffee snob. A good dark roast to start my day and I'm a happy girl. They say it helps stimulate creativity, you know.
I talk with my hands A LOT. Recently, my family had a good laugh at my expense when I was telling a story while trying to play on a wii. I think they feared I was reeking havoc on the settings for the console.
I call two places home. I grew up in Southwest Ohio and I am definitely a mid-western girl at heart. I kind of think that the mid-west is undervalued by most people, but I love being from there. For me that will always be home, but over 15 years ago I came to this little town of Lexington, Kentucky. This is a town that can't quite figure out if it's in the South or the Midwest, and there is something about it that I truly love. So, it is also home. In the mean time I frequently travel up to the Buckeye State, for both work and pleasure. I guess I have the best of both worlds.
I have what most would term a unique laugh. People either love it or hate it. My aunt once described it as sounding like a car trying to start that can't quite turn over. Others tell me they always can find me in a crowd by just waiting for my laugh.
I have casual curiosity in memory, more specifically in the way we (as humans) process memories. Why we remember what we do? How we alter our memories throughout our lifetime? What triggers us to remember certain things and forget others? I'd love to read Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, but frankly, who's got that kind of time?I think my interest in this comes from trying to understand my own memory. I have really good long term retention of the most random things. At the photo studio, over the course of eight years I'd often end up photographing a sibling of a previous session. Parents were often impressed that I'd actually remember their older son or daughter. Now keep in mind I saw roughly 500 sessions over the course of a year. That's a lot of kids. When asked by the other photographers "How do you remember that?" I'd have to admit that my memory is quirky. I can remember conversations from five years ago, but often I struggle to remember what I had for dinner last night.
I have casual curiosity in memory, more specifically in the way we (as humans) process memories. Why we remember what we do? How we alter our memories throughout our lifetime? What triggers us to remember certain things and forget others? I'd love to read Marcel Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, but frankly, who's got that kind of time?I think my interest in this comes from trying to understand my own memory. I have really good long term retention of the most random things. At the photo studio, over the course of eight years I'd often end up photographing a sibling of a previous session. Parents were often impressed that I'd actually remember their older son or daughter. Now keep in mind I saw roughly 500 sessions over the course of a year. That's a lot of kids. When asked by the other photographers "How do you remember that?" I'd have to admit that my memory is quirky. I can remember conversations from five years ago, but often I struggle to remember what I had for dinner last night.
Lastly, my pride and joy is a little dachshund, named Bianka (aka, Binx, Binkers, Bink-a-link, or simply Little Dog.) She is definitely my four-legged child, and I'll say she keeps me on my toes. She occasionally makes an appearance here on the photo blog as she often is my model. When she's not mugging for the camera she can be found hunting for snakes in the back yard or accompanying me on my road trips. You can learn more about her adventures on my personal blog.
So there it is. I'm sure I'll add more as time goes by. Hopefully this gives you a better sense of who I am, and how I tick.
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