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

From one of my favorite heavenly series of the summer.  Also, a reminder to set this blog on fire - so, fresh content coming soon…

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.

Yep - that’s right. 10 solid days on the Vegas Strip.  Where to begin with the madness?

In MY mind, March Madness no longer refers to the NCAA basketball tournament, but to a little convention called WPPI.  And what SEEMED like a great idea a few months ago - following up the biggest convention I go to all year with a trip for my husband’s 30th birthday - maybe wasn’t the best plan.  On top of all that, I added a couple days on the front-end to check off a major 101 in 1001 item…

Seriously?!  What was I thinking?  *Sigh*

I’m seeing glitter and hearing slot machines in my sleep…hoping I won’t roll sevens in my dreams…

Regardless, I am very, very glad to be back in Los Angeles.  In true SoCal fashion I trekked out across the desert to Vegas on a road-trip (and only almost died about 6-7 times).  Thankfully, my husband drove my car back, and rolling into L.A. was the best relief I’ve had in a really long time.  All the transitional hardship apparently needed, was an extended stay in a city with no differentiation between day or night, to put it in it’s place!

I’m completely exhausted - and ready for real life again!  On a side note about real life, I lived through my first earthquake early this morning…

And, for all my friends and colleagues who experienced that insane weather last week; the wind and rain and cold.  This is what happened the day y’all LEFT Vegas:

So here I am living the good life in Los Angeles. We have this wonderful place right on the beach in a fantastic community. The weather is incredible. (As I write this, it is currently 68 degrees and rising, while SNOWING and slushy in my hometown)! I am finally living on the same side of the country as my husband again. This city is a photographer’s dream come true. And yet, I find myself racked with homesickness.

For every beautiful moment here, I keep missing something I love back home. How do I start embracing this new life? I tried to just throw myself into everything I could find immediately, but being busy isn’t really the same as quality time is it? No matter how that time is spent.

I was very fortunate to quickly find a church I love, and join a small group. Through a crazy small world circumstance, I made a friend in my community who is one of my client’s best friends from college. I also had a couple of good solid friendships I knew I wanted to really invest in before I ever even got here permanently, so I definitely have that to be grateful for.

But how to meet people? This was my biggest hurdle. Last week, I found I was almost drowning in this feeling of loneliness - I just felt so adrift and without direction. Okay, maybe I’m still struggling with that…but the point is that last week, this became a catalyst for me to go out and do something about it! I needed to get out of my edit-and-album-design-at-home-alone mode, and go have some fun! Make some friends in my industry! (This being another thing I really miss about Birmingham). I was invited to a lunch with Heather, Regis, Victor and others - which was super fun - but I definitely felt like I was the girl going “let’s hang out just a LITTLE bit longer..”.  I’m already bribing them to hang out with me again!

So, also last week, I saw a link on twitter to a photography shootout.  Having no clue what this was, clearly my next thought was, “I should totally sign up!”…because that’s completely logical I’m sure.  I think I just wanted to do anything and everything to meet new people!  So, I sign up for this seemingly random event, and yesterday I headed up to Pasadena for the entire day.  And it was awesome!

I can’t believe all the time and effort that went into making the day possible.  Basically, I was put in a group with about 10 other photographers, and we just shot all day.  But it was so much more than that to me.  I met people.  I made friends.  I enjoyed myself.  I got to play and have a good time, and for just a little while, I wasn’t homesick…

A huge thank you to Hanssie and Matt for putting the day together, and to the amazing Mary Lallande and Amanda Auer for really making it what it was!

I’ll definitely be posting about the day, my new friends, and some cool behind the scenes images of what exactly a shootout is!  If you have a chance to go to one, you should.  I’m so thankful I got to have a fun and new experience with such great people.  My group rocked by the way - the best…without a doubt.  I’ll also post some images from the day…very different than anything I’m used to.  It was great to shoot with other photographers and be challenged.  I can’t wait to get my film back and share some of the images!  For now, I’m just posting a couple digital scenes I grabbed along the way.

Here’s to a great weekend!  Hoping I can live in the moment and to the fullest - no matter where I am..

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!

Well, the holidays have come and gone…family members have passed on…we’ve conquered a cross-country road trip…officially moved to Los Angeles…friends and family came to stay…the Crimson Tide won the National Championship…I dominated the 405…my studio has been unpacked…a new life begun…all in the last two weeks.

Needless to say, there’s plenty to blog about.

Let’s just kick things off with this - I’m beyond happy to be getting back to some sort of routine. I can’t wait to really dive into 2010! So many things to share…

And because blog posts always need to be accompanied by an image - here is one that makes me smile. I love this shot of Emily and Matt at their wedding reception - the film grain came out so beautifully, and the emotion is just really raw…love it.

Random post, I know. It’s good to be back.

Serious blog slack attack anyone? Here’s the deal…this blog has been DOA. It really should be thriving right now, but instead of coming more vividly to life with more things going on - it has very sadly gotten a little kicked to the curb. I feel like every time I blog, I inevitably say, “this time will be differently…I’ll blog so much more after this post”, and then I fail to follow through. But this time, it really is different…(and yes, I know that the definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting different results)…but this is why: I have tons of stuff to post, and I’m going to match Marcie. Wait, what? Nope, you read that right.

Here is my goal: I will match Marcie Morris’ blog posts for a month, starting today. Don’t worry, I’ll explain.

First of all, this is not a resolution, nor does it have anything to do with the New Year. It’s a separate goal. So, a little about Marcie: she is one of my clients who is an incredible encourager of this blog, and is also an avid blogger of her own. I am always amazed at where she seems to find the time to do all the things she does…really. Even to re-designing her blog theme on what seems like a weekly basis. But that’s beside the point. Marcie is so faithful to her blog that it constantly inspires me (and also makes me feel like the biggest slacker in the blogosphere) - so I am pledging to match her from now until January 21, 2010. Every time Marcie posts, so will I.

And there you have it. Random? Absolutely. Fun? Yep. Unattainable? We’ll see!

Here is a tiny taste of some yummy posts to come…

We have so many beautiful weddings and projects to post, that I’m really unsure of where to start. So, instead of beginning with a complete blog post on a client or job, I thought I would start with a product. For, as every photographer is well aware, December is the month of deadlines, orders, and albums galore!

The product I’m going to share is Margot and Chris’s Wedding Album. So, here’s the skinny. I LOVE this album. I think it has something to do with the interesting aesthetic of the digital and film images complementing each other. The black and white images in this album were shot on Ilford 3200, Neopan 1600, and Kodak 400 film. The color images were shot on Portra 400NC, Provia 400 (cross-processed), and digital. I find putting together all these different mediums oddly pleasing - the trick is shooting each image in the same style.

A little background - I knew when I first met Margot and her mother at the studio that I we would all work well together. They laugh…a lot…and so do I. Margot has such a joyful spirit. When I look at her images I smile because she is just always so happy! Chris was quite the trooper for the past year. First of all, he got up at the crack of dawn to meet me at Five Star Plantation in Alabama this past spring for their engagement session, (which is one of my faves to date). Then, on his wedding day, in the rain, he agreed to trek all over Mountain Brook with his Bride under an umbrella. I couldn’t be more appreciative of his willingness to indulge Margot, and me!

Their wedding was so unique for many reasons. I’ll definitely share more images and back story in a different, more traditional client post. (There also may be another chance for you to see a more editorial view of their wedding day, and read about Margot & Chris elsewhere. *hint*)!

Technical Information: this album was designed with Photojunction, one of my studio must-haves! All templates were designed by our studio or my good friend Melissa Jill. This is not the album in its entirety, just an overview of the book. Each layout is a complete flush-mount spread.

It kicks off with a sweet image from the nursery in Crestline Village…

Okay, the flush black and white image on this spread is one of my absolute favorites from the entire day! I love how it comes together with the color images.

How much fun is this spread?! I feel like this is the ultimate example from this book of a solid mix of mediums.

Sometime you have to save the best for last…

So, there you have it - a peek into one of our wedding albums for 2009. Check back for a client post on Margot and Chris in the next month!

Because I am the biggest blog slacker in the world. They could invent a word for me: blacker. Here are a couple images from a recent commercial job in St. Louis. Okay, moving and jobs galore - will blog soon, for real….

Well, my life is somewhat chaotic right now. A move, a new website, new proofing, new production, fun visitors, submissions, a million projects in the works, and traveling galore. I’m so thankful to be blessed with amazing clients and work that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world! However, all of these happenings have left this blog a little dead on arrival…

So, I promise to be posting all sorts of things over the next two weeks to make up for the complete lack of blogging lately! Woo Hoo!

I can’t wait to share some of the things we have been working on. Catch some images I’m loving at this moment…