1-2-3 TEAM

So, as you may have read in my last post, I had the opportunity to do some shooting with Kelley Ryden and Tracy Raver. We had two little newborn boys and we spent 5 + hours trying some of our new ideas on them. The sling shots are the brilliant ideas of K&T (Tracy makes the slings and she made the fun red basket)!! We had a lot of fun... Wish I had these brilliant minds with me at every shoot. How many photographers does it take to shoot a newborn? Ummmmm, well, on Sunday it took THREE. Thanks guys for the fun fun day!

My MERRY Christmas Shoot..

This was a special shoot for two reasons:
1. I haven't seen my niece, Vivi for many months - last time I really had a good shoot with her was at 5 days old.... So now that she is at my absolute favorite age (8 months) I was excited to capture the perfection. She is the happiest most joyful baby. And, YES, her eyes are REALLY that blue, who wouldn't want to photograph her?
2. Reason #2 the shoot was fun; I got to be the first 'guest' photographer to shoot at Kelley Ryden's new studio. Kelley was my original mentor and while our styles really couldn't be more different I still credit her for all the initial tools to get me moving (seriously the best money I've ever spent!). Kelley and her twin sister Tracy are seriously AMAZING newborn photographers, if you're not already a fan, I encourage you to jump on the bandwagon. All these (aside from the newborn pic) were taken at her new studio space. My sister prefers the simple approach (I can do simple!! ;) and for babies this age I can't disagree, GORGEOUS LIGHT and hardwood floors - what else do you need?













Kelley, Me, Tracy (and her bun in the oven..)

The art of Graffiti

Back in high school when i prepared for my senior pictures by spiral curling my hair and pegging my colored jeans I didn't anticipate that Arnold Clark Photography Studio would drop a 'graffiti' back drop behind my back lit over hair-sprayed 'do' in order to create dimension. I believe that was what they were trying to do...some sort of juxtaposition of a well dressed teenager in front of a beat-up spray painted sheet....the result didn't really do it for me but using graffiti as part of these portraits to add dimension/color/texture was my intention as well. The difference is using REAL graffiti. I find graffiti and the history of graffiti pretty amazing - the true artists that are able to create these masterpieces (IN THE DARK) are inspiring to me. All the different political rebellions expressed through graffiti or just the people that wanted their art to be seen, intriguing stuff. As for my senior pictures..well, i threw away the spiral curling iron but MAN would I look good in those dark green jeans, they are SO back in style ;)

Lesson for the day:
Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples going back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire[1] and may range from simple scratch marks to elaborate wall paintings. In modern times, spray paint and markers have become the most commonly used materials. In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner's consent is considered vandalism, which is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions, to others it is merely vandalism. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly evolving artform whose value is highly contested, being reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.

For this first image - I'm getting in to some mixed media expression - this was a fun one, printed it on metallic paper...looks pretty darn cool if you're in to the whole modern art thing.

The ART of newborns...

"Get wrapped up in the Little Things this Christmas!" - Mommy of little Ms. Elle ;)

Vacation Home...

"Mom, I wish our house looked like this" - Ewan
'You and me BOTH ;)'

Me and the boys had fun with this one!

Time - a funny phenomenon

So in the past few days something has happened to me..... I have experienced something I haven't felt in many many moons - I have time. I went shopping the other day and as I was walking through Pier One I found myself humming the melody to whatever Christmas jingle was playing and as I caught a glance of myself in one of the decorative mirrors I had a small epiphany, 'Holy crap, it's Christmas!..' (Even caught the happy moment with a picture on my I phone, I do realize that's a bit odd but us photographers take pictures of EVERYTHING, so I had to document the euphoria). I'm doing things that are unbeknownst to me, like thinking about what I want to eat for dinner (i'm not to COOKING that dinner yet, but thinking about it is a big step), I've been going running mid-morning instead of 6:00 AM which would typically cut right through the middle of my proofing. Yesterday I stopped at Coco Flow on Western for a truffle (!?!?!?!?)...and one of the most insane things I've experienced is getting annoyed with people not calling ME back, i mean let's be honest, my friends affectionately (or passive aggressively) refer to my absenteeism and inability to use the phone constantly. Sara said, 'if you want to talk to Beth you have to get up at 5:30 am and go running with her.' SO, this week when people haven't corresponded with me i'm like, 'Seriously, people, how hard is it???' Little dose of my own medicine i guess. Point being, I'm enjoying the time! And I'm going to be posting A LOT, I just looked back at my schedule and I haven't shared images from over 25 galleries...so get ready!

This one is was fun - these guys own In The Raw Sushi - They have a couple spots across Oklahoma but most recently they opened in bricktown...right next to the Ford Center, right above Red Pin (my favorite place to bowl..). Anyway, a lot of these images were taken inside the restauraunt. Best sushi in town and if you go on a game night, it's full of people wanting to have a good time! Great drinks and the best Edamame i've ever had!