I'm ready for my close-up.

It should come as no surprise to you now when I say, I love my little dog. Her face worked it's way into my heart from the moment I first saw her in a somewhat blurry photo emailed to me by my aunt at the animal shelter. In last two (plus) years she and I have got to know each other better and I have to come to determine that we are a perfect fit.

In the very beginning I realized that Bianka was of all things camera-shy. She'd often run away when I tried to snap her photo. I guess she's gotten used to me having a camera pressed to my face a good bit of the time, and now believe it or not, she's a ham.

At Christmas I did some impromptu family portraits, and in the middle of all the confusion was little Miss Bianka, quietly posed at the foot of every family grouping.

(Christmas 2008)

Then last week a good friend of mine came to visit and she agreed to let me do some photos of her to try out some new equipment. Guess who had to be right in the thick of things? Yes, Little Miss Binx. She started off observing from the stairs, but eventually she found her way to the middle of the action and by the end she practically demanded some time of her own in front of the camera.

(patiently waiting)

Eventually, I gave in. I mean how can you say "no" to this face?

She's a great little model. Don't be surprised if you see more test shots done with her.

Like I said a camera-loving dog, photographer owner... a perfect match.

These next three are actually the same image processed different ways. I can't decide which one I like the best.

This one is straight out of the camera with no adjustment.

I think this one needs the caption...Snakes Beware.

And, I'm leaning toward this one as my favorite. It seems a little softer than the rest. I don't know. Tell me what you think.

07.26.08 Amanda & Dale

One of my favorite sites

I recently came across this blog, Photogmath. It is brilliant. I thought I'd share of few of my favorite posts. If you like these you'll definately enjoy checking out the full site.

meet Amanda & Dale

When I asked Amanda how she and Dale first met she told me the following story. They traveled within the same circle of friends in school, but their relationship really arose out of the events following Amanda and a car accident. They all had gone out as a group and Amanda found herself contemplating her situation with the newly totaled vehicle.

Now, I'm the type of person that believes everything happens for a reason, and in this story this accident brought the two together. That evening across the room, Dale thought Amanda was making eyes at him...this is where their story began.

How I came to meet Dale and Amanda is another story entirely. One day when I was home in Ohio, a dropped in (camera in hand) on a casual dinner party hosted by some long time friends. This is when I met Amanda and her parents. Amanda's mom, Liz, and I found out that we shared a mutual love for Venice, Italy and coincidentally we both had dogs named Bianca. In our chats about lovable pups and Italian memories, Liz leaned over and asked "Do you do weddings? I ask because we may have one in the near future." Sure enough a few short months later, I was contacted by Liz and Amanda again.

Once you meet Amanda I'm sure you'll be convinced, like I was, that the girl is Super Woman. At the time of our first meeting she was pursuing a graduate degree, working two to three separate jobs and planning a wedding all at the same time. One would have to be an extremely organized individual to manage it all, and Amanda is exactly that. She's the type of person that has your number programmed in her cell phone after just one conversation and yet, greets you like an old friend she's known since grade school. After a couple of emails and phone calls Amanda and I arranged a time do an engagement session and to discuss wedding details. We managed to coordinate all of our busy schedules and settled on a time in early October.

Thinking we would get to enjoy that cool, crisp fall air you can imagine our surprise when this particular weekend we found ourselves in the middle of Indian Summer with the temperatures were hovering around 85 - 90 degrees. This was my first time meeting Dale, but right off the bat he struck me as a very laid back, sort of guy. "Mr. Go with flow." He earned extra "good guy" points in my book for agreeing wearing both a long-sleeve button down and sweater in the middle of a heat wave. We all laughed that this might be good practice for wearing his tux in the middle of July.




Amanda and Dale live just a block or two from Schiller Park in Columbus' German Village. This was my first time to the area, but I was completely taken in with all of it's charm. It was a perfect place for the session. We wandered around the amphitheatre, sat by the ponds and strolled through the garden. What more could you want?

Amanda and Dale are just the type of couple where you get a good sense of the ease of their relationship. You see immediately how relaxed and comfortable they are with one another. In situations like this, I'll admit that makes my job feel somewhat easy. I get to stand back, observe their interactions and simply record what naturally happens in front of me.

The image below is one of my favorites because it is SO them. As I was getting myself situated I looked up and caught them in a little snuggle. I got so caught up in the moment that I failed to notice my cell phone slipping out of my back pocket. Thankfully, it was found by a good Samaritan and, I was able to recover it that same afternoon. Aside from being terribly embarrassed, it all turned out in the end.

Amanda and Dale are such an amazingly easy going couple that I found myself looking forward to working with them again on their wedding day. I knew it was going to be great....and it was but that is a story for another post.

About me...(random things)

Oh the dreaded bio.....

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.

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.

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.

Happy Valentine's Day

I've posted this image before. It has always been a crowd favorite, and it seems very appropriate for today.

Enjoy the repeat performance.

-crystal

Trees

I'll be the first one to admit it a part of me liked a certain aspects of the recent ice storm. (This shouldn't come as that much of a surprise from a girl named crystal.) Sure, it came with all kinds of challenges, however you have to admit it was beautiful. 

 

When the ice storm hit two weeks ago, I found myself  fascinated by the trees. There is magic transformation that occurs by seeing everything encased in ice.  Branches bow and droop under the weight of the snow and ice. Suddenly, many of the trees came to resemble weeping willows, which have always been my favorite.  The tree-lined walkways on campus became winter garden archways.  You can't help but feel a special (and a little nervous) walking beneath them. 

It's a strange balance between beauty and danger.  I remember watching the trees seem to dance and sway in the wind with a gentle motion. Then I'd hear a loud crack and turn to see limbs and ice crash to the ground, which would bring me back to reality.

Now the ice has melted and the trees appear to have lost their magic.  Many have damaged limbs or simply look broken altogether.   I feel sorry for the trees. I find myself wishing for spring not because of the warm weather, but  so the trees can hide the scars behind their leaves. 

For the past couple of days we've been treated to some of this spring-like weather, but it has come at a price. Tremendous wind and rain storms  have once again attacked the trees that are already weakened. Today, I saw more downed limbs and up-rooted trees, which makes me sigh a heavy sigh.  

So I'm posting some photos from a night when I still found the trees very magical.  I like to think of them all dressed up with glitz and glamour.

  

And of course they danced...