Amelia Strauss Photography Blog » Amelia Strauss >> Southern California Editorial Photographer / Destination Wedding Photographer

UNBELIEVABLE!

On January 30, 2009 I published a list of 101 things I wanted to do in the next 1001 days. The 101 in 1001 list is an interesting collection of goals, as it brings together personal and professional ambitions, as well as seemingly difficult and seemingly simplistic ideals to reach for. Let’s be honest, there is an obvious reason for this - I wanted to be able to actually cross some of these goals off of my list. And for others, I wanted the list to act as a swift kick in the pants to go after my hearts’ desires.

Then there were just a few, that seemed somewhat out of place…yet, I added them to the list anyway. Why? I’m not really sure. But maybe, perhaps, it was just because these were DREAMS more than GOALS - ludicrous ideas that would be fantastic if they somehow came to pass. And it was bold and fun to add them to my list.  Case in point - Meet Bill Simmons. I have no idea how to make this happen, save some twitter stalking (which is obviously unacceptable). It is an unattainable and insane “goal” - it is out of my control. Another item on my three year agenda was SO unattainable that I forgot I had even put it on the list. But, lo and behold, it happened! So, here I am, three months later, checking it off…

Watch the Alabama Crimson Tide win the National Championship - DONE!

Remember the Rose Bowl? We’ll win then.

So, on January 1, 2010 around 5am, my husband and I walk out of our house for the last time, carrying our two dogs, and pack into our SUV with a U-Haul attached. We drive half a mile to pick up John and Heidi Steakley, who are making the trip out with us to Los Angeles. This is our “official” move date. We drive for 35 hours straight. No stopping. Bathroom breaks alone. It quickly becomes a cherished nightmare of an adventure. Fueled by insane amounts of caffeine, we finally all break down and take a 30 minute nap somewhere on the Mexico border in easily the sketchiest parking lot I’ve ever seen, (which is saying a lot mind you). Heidi and I buy toothbrushes at a gas station that could best be described as “straight out of a horror film”. We brush our teeth in industrial sinks.  Our teeth bleed. We head back out on the road.  We roll into Southern California on a beautiful day, January 2, 2010, completely exhausted, with Lady Gaga welcoming us to town. When we arrive at the house in Manhattan Beach, the real work begins…immediately.

The very next day - the first sunrise from the porch on the roof of our house!

Furniture is delivered. We unpack and clean in a whirlwind of madness. We have exactly three days to get this house together - because ALL of our family is flying into town.  Not to mention countless friends.  And for some reason that I still can’t put my finger on, I thought it was a fabulous idea to have a house party the night before the big game at our place on the beach.  What the what?  It was chaos.

Everyone begins to arrive on January 5, 2010.  There is this incredible excitement in the air - it doesn’t seem real.  I feel as though all the people I love the most have made this trip for me.  They didn’t.  It was for the Tide.

I really didn’t put much hope or thought into the National Championship.  It was so surreal that we were even playing.  Surely we would lose at some point in the season.  Someone would get hurt.  Someone would do something stupid.  Tim Tebow would crush us in Atlanta.  Right?  But somehow, we made it all the way to The Rose Bowl.  I couldn’t get my hopes up for #13 - I wouldn’t be able to deal with my husband’s disappointment…

We have our house party and it is an absolute blast!  We go out afterward to South in Santa Monica.  It seems as though the entire State is here.  The experience starts to sink in…just a little.

Me and Heidi that night:

The next day, we are Pasadena bound.  I’m dressed in the exact same outfit I wore to the very first game of the year against Virginia Tech at the Georgia Dome.  Alabama won that game - and my husband made me wear something from that original outfit EVERY SINGLE SATURDAY for the rest of the season.  Even though I didn’t make it to another game.  Even though I was shooting every Saturday.  I had that stupid cami on under every outfit.  So, naturally, the Rose Bowl called for the outfit I wore to the Georgia Dome…in entirety.  I look like a tool.  Unstylish and absurd.  Whatever.

And then, before I know it, we’re there.  This is actually happening.

(Thanks to my Dad for the rest of the images in this post!)

Me and Haley before the game:

My Dad, Margo (my Sister-In-Law), me, and Lucy!

The Million Dollar Marching Band - I love the energy and the light of The Rose Bowl at this point!

Okay, we are playing Texas in the National Championship.  I’m so nervous I can hardly stand it.

Dad and Margo meet the most enthusiastic Texas fan since Matthew McConaughey…

Dad makes a bet with him…he seems pretty happy about it…

The 4th quarter creeps down.  This game is getting pretty dang serious…I am in total shock.

AND WE WIN!  WE FREAKING WIN!

Number 13.

Unreal.

Dad trying to collect on the bet…the Texas fan is no longer happy.  He refuses to turn around for this final picture…

After the game I lose my group for a while.  I end up stuck on the opposite side of the tunnel the players…excuse me, National Champions…are walking out of to head to their buses.  AND, I see Rolando McClain.  And I attack him.  I don’t know what happened, it was so fast.  I dart out like a blur and bear-hug him with all my might.  He laughs…

BEST. DAY. EVER.

Attend ‘The Image is Found’ workshop with my friend Cristi - DONE!

So, in August of 2008, I met my dear friend Cristi Owen.  If you follow this blog at all, you are well aware of Cristi and our fast, tight-knit friendship.  Shortly after we met in Kinvara, Ireland, Cristi and I were lost in a whirlwind of all of these ideas we had to grow our businesses and friendship.  Many of those ideas can be found elsewhere on this blog, such as the Alpha Kappa Camera girls!  Attending a workshop together, one that was somewhat unconventional, definitely made it onto the growing list of goals we accumulated.

Cristi had heard of this studio in San Diego called ‘The Image Is Found’, which I didn’t know of at the time.  Keep in mind this was a little while ago, and studio exposure has drastically changed.  *This was also prior to anyone and everyone putting on a workshop*  Anyway, Cristi shows me some of their work and I find myself saying, “YES! Let’s DO this!” - never-mind that fact that the workshops (or ShootShops to use proper lingo) are only twice a year in San Diego, and we were living in Phoenix and Birmingham, Alabama, AND we both had to work around our own business schedules.  It seemed a lofty and maybe unrealistic or unattainable goal…but it still made it onto my 101 in 1001 list!  For the meantime, I just left my feelers out.

In November of 2009, Cristi was in Birmingham visiting me and we saw on Twitter that a ShootShop had been announced for Saturday, March 6, 2010 in Las Vegas.  Perfect!  We would both be in Vegas anyway for WPPI and could just go a couple of days early so that the timing for the workshop would work out.  Okay, so in the grand scheme this seemed to be a fantastic idea, but a word to the wise - IF you are planning on going to Vegas for a workshop, followed up by the biggest professional convention you’ll go to all year, and want to wrap that all up with some intense Vegas Strip experiences for your husband’s 30th birthday…you are in for much much more than you can handle.

We arrive at the ShootShop early on the morning of the 7th, with absolutely no clue what to expect.  Actually, I didn’t really have any expectations at all.  I don’t do many workshops, and I really hate how rampant they are in today’s culture within the photography industry.  So, maybe I stroll in a little skeptical.  And then, quickly, I was blown away.  OR my brain exploded.  Take your pick.

Nate and Jaclyn are the owners and photographers behind The Image Is Found and they rock my socks off.  These guys are fun, quirky, creative, and unapologetic about it.  In fact, they built their brand entirely around their personalities.  This is everything I was once afraid to do.  I just found the courage to be myself within my company this past year, and that was both a hard lesson and a hard transition.  It was incredibly empowering to hear their story of trying to exist in a market without being themselves, and then making the plunge towards shooting what you really want to shoot and being who you really are.

We also went to the outskirts of Vegas and shot in a drainage ditch…which was totally rad.  It’s so nice to have experiences where you gain insight into new ways to develop and refine your client interaction.  We also did a lot of question and answer time, and covered a whole gamut of photography workflow.  And just to put a cherry on top, we had amazing meals in our beautiful space at Mandalay Bay.  I may or may not have kicked the day off right by destroying the gourmet coffee maker, and causing coffee to explode everywhere…

It was a wonderfully challenging day, and if you ever get the chance to spend some time with Nate and Jaclyn - DO IT!

I particularly loved getting to have some time with Cristi and learning and exploring together.  We had an awesome time.  Truly, nothing really compares to having a precious friend with you along the journey of your career and life.

Here’s me and Cristi in that drainage ditch!

*Image by Matt of Matt and Katie | Photographers based out of Brisbane, Australia - thanks friends!*  Edits by Amelia.

Undertake a video project to market the studio - DONE!

{AMELIA IN ACTION} - NEW PROJECT LAUNCHED

I’m excited to finally share this new project on the blog!  This was a major and fun undertaking, and how awesome to check this off the 101 in 1001 list.

A few months ago I started talking with my buddy Seth Newell about doing a video project for the studio that would show a behind-the-scenes view of a real shoot with real clients. It was important to me to give people visiting my website a taste of a real relationship instead of using models for the shoot. We started brainstorming different concepts, and then just got to work on making it happen. Due to the crazy weather we had been having in Alabama (where we shot the video), we had to really work around a lot of schedules and weather constraints. And then, finally, it just all came together at the right time with the right clients!

We shot video of me on seamless paper run sideways - which I thought was brilliant - and Seth and Sean had me just run around and be. I was pretty nervous about their plan to interview me off-the-cuff, but in the end the guys were right - the monologues are unscripted and from the heart, and I think it lends even more authenticity to the final product.  Following that portion of the day, we met up with Ashley and Owen for their actual engagement session and got behind-the-scenes footage of our afternoon shooting together in rural Alabama.  It was kind of wild driving around with an entourage, but it was a ton of fun!  Unfortunately, we had to wait a couple months to launch the whole thing due to a death in my family and a move to the West Coast. Now, the day has arrived…

A huge thanks to Ashley and Owen for being willing participants in this experiment! Y’all are amazing and I am so thankful to be your photographer. I can’t wait to see you two tie the knot next weekend back in Alabama!

And a HUGE thank you to Seth and Sean of Green Block Productions for your creativity, patience, hard work, talent, laughter, and friendship!

And Graham, yet again - what would I do without you?! Thank you for integrating the website and being so awesome. And for the chapstick and coffee…

Yay for fun projects to kick off the new year! Is it wrong to say that I’m looking forward to tackling 2010 Elin Woods’ style? Yes, I’m sure it probably is…but I just did.

Thanks for checking out our new video!

WOW! It actually happened. Our website is completely redesigned and updated and LIVE! So, to say the least, I am THRILLED to check this item off of the 101 in 1001 list!

I can’t even begin to share how thankful I am for all of the phenomenal people in my life that made the site possible. To the folks over at Details Communications: Holy Cow - y’all are miracle workers! The entire concept, design, and detailed work that make the site what it is, was ALL their doing. I am truly astounded that they were able to take my heart, vision, and spirit, and reflect it in a website. Incredible. I’m blown away…

To my friend Caleb Chancey, thank you for the great portraits of me! You really nailed what we were looking for out of those images and I’m so thankful for you. You captured me in a really raw way - the way I want clients to see me. I think your work will make it easier for people to connect with me. Your talent is inspiring…

To all the clients and models and friends on the site - thanks for making my life more fun, and my job such a delight! Every moment captured and included on the site is a special one for me as a photographer. Thank you to each and every one of you for helping me to grow as an artist.

And seriously, Graham, no way would any of this have EVER happened without you. EVER. Thank you really isn’t saying enough. I can’t believe the effort you put into sorting through endless images and all the tiniest details, while dealing with my random thoughts along the way. Aside of everything else you were working on. Good grief. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Gifts and praises galore are coming your way, friend…

Now, enough with the Oscar Speech-ish ramblings. Okay, without further adieu - BLAM! Check out the new Amelia Strauss Photography website!

I am SO excited about it and here’s hoping it transfers well across the country :) One of my main hopes is that the site will reach out to a more diverse clientele, and I think that this is a great start…

Well, I never thought it could actually happen. This is my last post of the month of blogging EVERY SINGLE DAY! I can’t believe I made it - it seemed an insurmountable thing to take on. And now I get to check this off of the 101 in 1001 list!

One major benefit of embarking on and finishing this venture, is it really got me to start thinking about blogging in a whole new way. I’m gonna be honest here - I don’t particularly enjoy blogging. Up to now, I really only looked at this blog as a way to update work, as my website was SO outdated (soon to be fixed!), and give clients a little bit of a peek at their images as they were waiting for proofs. But now, I’ve started to enjoy the blog. I can’t believe I just wrote that…I’m picking up my jaw as I write. I’ve realized that this blog can be an incredible networking tool, and a way to connect with people in profound ways.

I used to be terrified of blogging. There, I said it. Petrified really. There were all the normal fears - what to write? would anyone read it? does anyone CARE? what if people hate what I have to say? what if they hate my work? It’s really scary to put yourself out there for the world to see, and then evaluate! But I got over the initial fears with a little help from my friends. Encouragement came from the most unexpected places. And so I moved on to my more specific issues and insecurities to work through. How to portray myself - I’m a southerner after all, and bless my heart, I better act like a lady on the blog! And yet, I wanted to be myself, and…shocker…I’m not always wearing pearls with sorority t-shirts - I mean, there’s a little funky-ness to my personality. Could I be that person on the internet? Is it unprofessional? What about the fact that I’m an atrociously terrible writer? Well, this past summer has taught me how to work through all of that as well.

Picture me looking in a mirror here and having a Stuart Smalley moment. But really, it has been a big lesson that you can connect with people, grow as an artist, and settle into yourself. I feel like by putting myself out there - I’m still working it out a little bit - but, I have started to come to grips with who I am as a photographer, and where I want to go.

Sure, there have been not-so-fun lessons learned. As readership has grown, so have random haters. Always anonymous of course - but you learn to laugh at those who take the time to try to tear you down. My favorite hate mail I’ve gotten so far was, “You’re over-rated and I hate your dogs”. I mean, really? I absolutely love it. And, some friends pointed out that if I wasn’t getting more and more random hate posts, then I wouldn’t be growing my readership base and studio presence. True. Or at least I chose to believe it - and that’s all that really matters. At the end of the day (or month), I learned to be myself, look for the positive, take things in stride, and choose to be remarkable - in my own way and on my own terms. All good things.

So, thanks for reading! You have each been so important to this journey and I am forever grateful. Here I am with a few of my friends, all of whom have been vastly encouraging and supportive! And this is how dang happy I am to have finished this month of blogging!!!

Get new headshots of myself for my website and blog - DONE! What a fun item to check off of the 1001 in 1001 list.

Thanks to my good buddy Caleb Chancey, a vastly talented photographer based out his Birmingham, Alabama studio, I now have new images for my blog and upcoming website. I love how Caleb really captured me in a raw way, emotion and all…

Here are a couple of the shots he got:

Thanks so much Caleb! You are an amazing artist and it was an honor to be photographed by you.

After waiting almost an entire year to complete new album designs and find new vendors to work with, we finally have a complete set of new sample albums in the studio! This was a great item to check off of the 101 in 1001 list, and I am so happy to have these beautiful albums to show.

Finding the right albums for your work is not an easy task, and we worked with numerous album companies until we finally found the right ones for us. Once we found the companies we worked with best, and the styles that best bound together our clients stories, our wedding photography really came into its own. Now, album design is by far one of my favorite aspects of our wedding photography. I love to tell our clients’ stories through their design. Getting albums in is always one of the highlights of each week!

I slowly narrowed down the album companies we work with by talking with other photographers and studios and going through some painstakingly detailed research at WPPI. To the fellow photographers who read this blog, I would really encourage you to get out there and look for what you really want out of your albums. There are some beautiful and unique products that will fit your brand so well! I think the main thing I’ve learned about albums over the past couple of years is that they can be what you want them to be. Don’t settle for any products just because they are more mainstream or seemingly easier to work with up front. I found some companies that would work WITH us, and help us create the products we were looking for. I found wonderful reps and incredible support by simply asking.

I am thrilled to have the albums that we wanted, that fit our brand, now complete and in the studio. Drop by and check them out if you are in the neighborhood!

Visit my brother in Marion - DONE! And just in time, as he is leaving his current job and moving back to Birmingham in just a couple of weeks. I barely checked this one off the 101 in 1001 list.

My brother Rob has been working as an admissions counselor for the past year at Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama. MMI is the school that Rob attended the year before he headed over to The Citadel, and also where my Father attended school for a year before heading up to West Point. I drove down last night to see Rob and his new puppy, Molly Pitcher.

Random images from our evening…

Rob in his office.

Rob and Dad’s brick in the courtyard.

Part of the campus.

The original Marion City Hall, which was moved from downtown to campus and is now the Alabama Military Hall of Honor.

The barracks where both my brother and father lived - 40 years apart.

Seemingly completely random image - but see the dip in the sidewalk? That exact spot is where my father was standing when he heard that President Kennedy had been shot.

Rob and Molly!

You know you’re in a guy’s apartment when there is a scene that looks like this…

Fun evening - and I can’t wait for Rob to move home, right before we move away! See you soon buddy!

Details Communications hooked me up with this amazing new blog!!! And even though I had already technically checked off #1 on my 101 in 1001 list when I left my old squarespace blog, this recent upgrade and gorgeous customization called for another check, plus some major props to the great folks at DC who made this thing happen. I am incredibly excited about my new website they are making for me! Be looking for it to launch in the next month.

Thanks so much to all of you at Details, you have made me a happy happy girl!

Complete and execute the Alpha Kappa Camera plans - DONE!

Once upon a time, I had a dream. Well, last summer, to be specific. An unrealistic dream that made it all the way to my 101 in 1001 list.

In August of 2008, while attending a workshop in Kinvara, Ireland with my friends Melissa Jill and Arden Ward, I met another young up-and-coming photographer named Cristi Owen. Cristi and I were fast friends, to put it mildly. I mean, I hit it off with this girl in a HUGE way. We stayed up late together every night, talking and talking and talking…usually over brownies and milk. We confided in one another; discussed our businesses, our families, our dreams and goals and beliefs. Simply put, Cristi became a friend of my heart. We were so very different with so many things in common. This new relationship with one another was inspiring and encouraging and FUN, and thus arose the desire to start our own “club”, with MORE girls who could share in such relationships.

And so, at the prompting of MJ, (who actually named our group), Alpha Kappa Camera was born. We rushed to the nearest laptop to buy a domain name for our new sorority. Full of excitement and anticipation, at week’s end we headed home to Birmingham, Alabama and Phoenix, Arizona, and to the realization that we had no clue how to start a sorority out of thin air. Can one really do such a thing? Would only the two of us ever think this idea was viable or even fun? Was this a realistic dream? I think now, that it probably wasn’t. It would take some kind of miracle to both grow our businesses in the ways we desired over the next year, attract the kinds of girls we wanted to be a part of this group, plan a retreat for the next summer, and get people to actually come. Well, to our shock and surprise, all of that happened!

I headed out to Phoenix in December of 2008 to visit Cristi, and while I was there, we scoured the internet for three days together. We read more blogs than I had read collectively in my entire life. We were thrilled to find some prospective members, and then we proceeded to email them out of nowhere - clueless to whether anyone would even respond. And they did!!! We met up again at WPPI in February of this year, where we came up with some more prospective members - the list was coming together. And so we started planning a retreat for our new sorority! To steal a quote from someone on the retreat, what we planned was really “a blind date beach trip” for twelve women. The plan was to get these female photographers from all over the United States, who had never met, to all go on a trip together the last week of July - for business, shooting, networking, and friendship. There was no real agenda or mission statement…just a random invitation to come and play. The girls started reading each others blogs, emailing, some met at WPPI; and all but three were able to clear their schedules and travel to South Carolina on July 26th for our sorority initiation and retreat!

Alpha Kappa Camera became a reality in a beach house on Sullivan’s Island in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine women in one house…with a house mother…it could have been a disaster. But it was better than I could have ever imagined! Each woman had such a fresh perspective and spirit - truly, I was amazed at the interactions that unfolded over the week. We came from so many different places in life in every way; our beliefs, traditions, cultures, and backgrounds are incredibly varied. Yet, somehow, this crazy experiment was unimaginably successful. We had intimate conversations, we learned from one another, we shared our lives with each other…and we laughed! I was touched in a profound way by the whole experience. I made new friends - and I mean, I LOVE these girls. Each of them had an impact on my life, and I am so thankful for each and every one of them.

Want to meet the girls on the retreat with me? YAY! Here are some of my new friends:

Cristi Owen of Arizona

Kara Purtell of Michigan

Joanna Garcia of Texas

Samantha Warren of Maine

Shea Halliburton of Tennessee

Trina Knudsen of Utah

Lisette Price of Georgia

Lee Ann Fuller of North Carolina

(Last Image by Trina - I didn’t have a Vertical of Lee Ann!)

The other girls can be introduced on our next excursion - which is coming up pretty soon! I can’t believe that we made it and pulled this thing off - and had such a blast doing so. As Sam said, “This could be a model for peace building”, so hopefully the U.N. monitors our blogs. There are so many stories and images to share, they will by necessity be included in subsequent posts. But for now, “Bless Your Heart” to all those who weren’t there!!! What fascinating women to spend time with…I am blessed to know each of you…