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Lately I have been trying to expand my product and commercial side of my website since I have less images inside that book on my website.
What better way to start a new project than by using my favorite color as a base?! In this series of fruit and products, I really experimented with duo color backgrounds, which is something new to me.
I genuinely had fun doing these, and I hope you enjoy them. Let me know what you think!
The year 2022 was filled with so many highs, and some very low, lows. 2022 brought travel, and weddings, animal snuggles. new friends, and family get togethers. Although some unexpected, I’m grateful to have seen them. 2022 also brought me lots of laughter, and new opportunities for growth in myself, and my art.
As some of you know, the year 2022 started out rough for me. New Years day, I was on a plane heading to my grandpa’s funeral. Although the circumstances were not ideal, I enjoyed seeing family that I have not seen in many years. I loved playing games and reminiscing with them about their childhoods and mine. My grandma is my only remaining grandparent, and I will forever cherish our conversations from this week. I am thankful that she sees me as someone she could talk to, and help her through her grief.
With the United States opening back up from covid, this brought on more travel. Not long after we got home from being in Ohio, my parents came to see me. I also traveled back to Ohio two other times this year. I flew in for my life long best friend’s bridal shower and bachelorette weekend, and then again for her wedding. I also traveled to New York City. I have been there five times, and I do not think I will ever stop being surprised by its beauty and culture.
Everyone that has ever met me knows that I have a love of animals, my favorite being a horse. Growing up in a suburb of Cleveland, its definitely not a typical favorite animal. My bedroom growing up was always covered in horse statues, pictures, toys, etc. After the loss of Molly, I decided it was time to become formally trained. This year, I started my journey towards horsemanship, and hopefully lead to hunter jumper. Bailey was the first horse I felt a bond with at The Equestrian Center. She was very patient with me and helped me through the beginning challenges. The center lost Bailey unexpectedly, and it broke my heart. After riding a few horses, who were all wonderful I found Brigand. I typically use the the phrase “he's a dream” when I talk about him. He pushes me to be better, work harder, and also to expect the unexpected. I am truly grateful for my trainer and friend, Janet, and the entire equestrian center. This is the first time in my life, I have had friends that are also horse people.
I always talk about the things I wish I could improve in the future of my videos. In the past, it was about video organization. I fixed this problem by creating folders per month and adding them at the end of every month, then going and creating that months section of the video. This has helped me a great deal and I definitely will continue it in the future. I was underwhelmed with some of my phones camera quality, but I upgraded my phone so I hope that will improve future videos. Something I really want to improve on will definitely be the blog writing itself. I struggle with writing out the synapsis of my year, and even my art.
I hope you enjoy 2022’s a second a day video, and I can not wait to hear what you think! The link is below, and please do not forget to look for 2023 in the future!
I have four more blog posts, saved in my drafts and I am working to get them to you soon.
If you cannot see the video this blog, click here.
Links to other blogs in yearly order are here!
September was another wild month. I spent two weeks of the month on vacation, and exploring new areas. The first vacation you will see is Miami which was an absolute blast, The food, zoo, and atmosphere was a lot of fun, but I can say with full confidence that our beaches in the gulf are way better.
For our second vacation, we went home to my parents house in Michigan. This was the first time in almost two years since I moved to Florida that we had been back to Michigan. It will also be the last time I ever go back to that house since my parents have since sold it to move more south and get away from the harsh, cold winters we have always lived around.
Enjoy the next sneak peak in the series, and next months sneak peak will be written a little bit differently so be looking out for that as well!
Below are links the the other A Second A Day Sneak Peak videos and the blogs to go with them just incase you ever miss one, or want to rewatch/reread them.
Links to the other sneak peak videos in order:
1. Exciting Projects in the Work/ ASAD January Sneak PeaK
2. February’s ASAD Sneak Peak
3. March’s ASAD Sneak Peak
I always talk about the month I had when I post my monthly sneak peak, but I never really criticize or talk about my learning process. Which I think is a very big part of the videos themselves. With that being said, I want to share with you something I have learned during this video process, and my own solution to go forward with for next years video.
If there was one thing I would have done differently for this project, it would be better organization. When I started this project, I never really thought about the process of organization I was going to need to successfully and easily make this project run smoothly. Well, let me tell you how important organization is with this project now that I am a little more than half way done,
The biggest way I could have stayed better organized would have been by putting these videos in sub-folders based on months and put each month in one folder. Right now, I have all the videos in one folder, and now that there are over 100 videos in this one folder, with more added more daily, When I sit down to edit, I am constantly searching though the entire media library consisting of all the videos from this year so far. This causes me to edit slower, and take more time looking for certain videos, rather than having all the videos right there per month. At least I know how to make this project run smoother next year, since I have decided to make this a very permanent ongoing project.
Below are links the the other A Second A Day Sneak Peak videos and the blogs to go with them just incase you ever miss one, or want to rewatch/reread them, they are all right here. Underneath these links, is July’s sneak peak. Enjoy!
Links to the other sneak peak videos in order:
1. Exciting Projects in the Work/ ASAD January Sneak PeaK
2. February’s ASAD Sneak Peak
3. March’s ASAD Sneak Peak
As promised, here is the monthly a second a day sneak peak for the month of April. This sneak peak so far is definitely one of my favorites.
April was filled with lots of adventure, friends and laughs. the month started out with a trip to New York, and ended with priceless times with my great friends.
I’m sorry but i’m standing by my “no sound in sneak peaks rule”. you will just have to watch the final product for the full experience! The video below is the sneak peak for April. I also have the links to all the previous months sneak peak blogs below, in order.
Links to other blogs in order:
1. Exciting Projects in the Work/ ASAD January Sneak PeaK
2. February’s ASAD Sneak Peak
3. March’s ASAD Sneak Peak
This is March’s ASAD monthly sneak peak! Just in case you missed the previous posts, I will be linking them at the bottom of each these blogs in order so you can catch up or stay up to date on the sneak peaks before the big preview at the end of the year.
Everyday i’m learning more and more about video editing and myself which is getting me very excited about the final. I might even extend this into a full time project! Thanks for watching this sneak peak, and check out the other links below!
Links to other blogs in order:
1. Exciting Projects in the Work/ ASAD January Sneak PeaK
2. February’s ASAD Sneak Peak
So just in case you missed my first post (link below) I am working on a new project that will last me the entire year. Its a video project called A Second A Day or ASAD for short. I have been working hard to stay updated on this project to keep it from being a daunting folder of 365 videos at the end of the year. Since I am keeping up with the editing of the videos, I am also abled to look through each month and pick out some of my favorite moments from that month and share them with you.
So far I’m learning a lot about myself and video editing from this project and I can’t wait to see how the final project turns out. I have been getting lots of great questions about this project, and my blogs. One of the most frequently asked questions was “why is there no sound in the video?” and my answer to you all is simply I have not yet picked out music for it yet, and I don’t want to give everything away in these sneak peaks. Since I am letting you see some of the seconds ahead of time, I need to have another element for your engagement in the final video at the end of the year.
Thanks for watching this sneak peak and all the ones to come!
Link to previous video: January Sneak Peak/Full Explaination
Many of you know, I graduated from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh at the end of March. In order to graduate, we had a few requirements. One of those was a print portfolio to show the faculty, future employers, friends, and family at the portfolio show (see my last blog to learn about the process and requirements titled “I Graduated”). My portfolio contains my best work created up until graduation and an artist statement. I worked very hard to try to find cases and designs that I felt best suited my style and aesthetic. Each of these decisions such as what color to make my case, design aesthetics, plastic sleeves or no plastic sleeves, what type of paper would look best, choosing the images that I think best fit my personal brand and style, the layout of the images on the pages, the image pairings and orders, and many other technical issues that happen behind the scenes. Although the prep work is behind the scenes, some people might not realize exactly how much time and thought goes into it.
After a lot of research, I chose to go with KLO Portfolios and use plastic sleeves to protect my print from fingerprints or other potential accidents. My portfolio is 11x14 because I couldn’t imagine people looking through an 11x17 portrait sized book. Unfortunately that meant not all of my images could be as full bleed as I wanted them to be since I cropped the book smaller, but I still went for full bleed and gave the other images dark borders behind. To push my portfolio even further, I added two pictures on every page, but in three different instances, I used one image on a page as a page break, and transition. The average number of pages you should have in a portfolio book is 15-20 that display your best technical and creative skills in a constant manner that reflects you’re branding and aesthetic. Before all the images, I have a cover page with my logo and contact information, then an artist statement. The artist statement describes my work and how I became the photographer I am.(all in the same dark blue color as my logo “B”) My portfolio book itself, is white, and has my logo in the middle.
I have been getting quite a few requests to see my printed portfolio from people that could not make it to my graduation. I thought this would be a good way to show it, in order. Although I realize seeing a digital image and seeing a print are very different in all aspects, I tried my best to show you the flow, sequencing, and the images themselves. So here it is everyone from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy it.
The moment I have been waiting for the last (almost) 4 years has came and gone. Let me start from the beginning. I started college at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in August of 2012. In that time I worked my butt off to get as much information, work, and experience that I could get. I was even the President of the Circular Photo Club in my school. Then all of a sudden, I was graduating. March 25, 2016. I want to say this came out of nowhere, but Id be lying. It came up too quickly is more of an appropriate phrasing. I graduated with my Bachelors of Science in Photography.
The week of March 20-26th was one of the busiest weeks of my life. Many people know that my boyfriend lived in West Virginia. So I would go see him every weekend. In the beginning of the week I was in West Virginia helping him pack since he moved up to Michigan with me. When my portfolio show came around, the next day, it was one of the most stressful days of my life, and the very next day at 6:30 am,. my boyfriend and family were packing up my apartment, and I moved to Michigan. That was just a little bit of a life update for you all on where I am. Now I’ll tell you more about graduation!
At the Art Institute, we have these quarterly portfolio shows where all the graduates present their best work. These get show to our professors, employers, friends, family, and the general public. In order to graduate, not only must you participate in the show, you need to put together a print portfolio, web portfolio, resume, show you have social media platforms, promotional pieces, and a display. For your displays, you can do just about anything you want as long as it fits your brand. I have seen some amazing and creative displays. Being the perfectionist I am, I spent many hours and days stressing over every detail.
I started with drawing out ideas for my display. I had a lot of help on my display. I could not have done it without them actually. the four wonderful people that helped me were Mel, who got was able to help show us what we needed to make this happen, and also was able to borrow a truck and bring all the materials to the school. The other three fantastic people that helped me out were Paige Piotti, Jackie Pickens, and Jackie’s dad who came in super early and put my board together. Shelves, legs and all. They were also both graduating that day which makes them even more amazing. The most nerve wracking part of it did not know until the morning of portfolio show if my display would actually stand because the ceilings were too low to bring it in finished and had to be put together on site. I decided to keep my design simple. The board was painted dark blue, to match the dark blue in my logo, and I had my logo with pictures on all sides to draw you in to my table.
My promotional pieces were a lot of fun. I made two variations of chopstick labels, both blue raspberry flavor to match the color of my logo. One was a clear tube; the other had a white tube. I also had stickers on my table of my images, and my logo. I also had goodie bags. Blue drawstring bags each filled with 4 blueberry hard candies, a candy bracelet, my business card, and one of each tube of chopstick. They were a hit. I made 50 and had 1 left at the end.
On my display I had two PGH You magazines that are student published magazines that I had work in, as well as my iPad with my website up I also had my business cards, and resumes.. My business cards and resumes are all he same fonts and colors as my logo. I also had a contest drawing where people put their name and number on a slip of paper, and you could win a print of your choice. (Winner revealed soon!)
Finally, the biggest part of the entire display, my print portfolio. I chose to work with KLO Portfolios based out of Vancouver. I just love how it came out and would recommend using them for your portfolio case. I went with white acrylic case with my logo both in the middle. The “b” was surface printed, and the “e” and “photography” were both engraved and color filled around with the same colors as my logo as well. Inside. Along with my cover and artist statement are full bleed fashion and advertising images.
With all the running around of the day, I completely forgot to take a lot of pictures. I only got a few of me and my display by myself unfortunately. But here is the final display, which so much work went into, and so many people helped me make this happen. I would like to thank everyone that came to support me and everyone who pushed me through as well as making this possible.
Although I did not take any other pictures myself, there was a student photographer going around. These are some of my favorites as well as my fellow friends and photography graduates. I want to give them special thanks for all of your advice and options. I’ve spent a lot of time with great friends and great artists. Which helped make this an awesome presentation? This blog post is dedicated to everyone that turned this into a reality! Thank you so so much for all your hard work and stress relieving tactics!
in the above images are some great friends and fellow photographers/graduates. you can see some of their websites below:
Jeanette Shustack: http://www.shustackphotography.com/
Amanda Vinecourt: http://www.amandavinecourt.com/
Mackenzie Cowan: https://www.facebook.com/Mackenzie-Lynn-Photography-640012992722983/?pnref=lhc
Tyshane: n/a
Just For fun, here are a few behind the scenes images from my social media platforms about graduation.
Right before my final quarter in school, I got the opportunity to take a class about working in a magazine, and learning about how to collaborate with other designers and clients. This was a really big opportunity for me to meet new clients as well.
PGH YOU Magazine was entirely a student based magazine. Even our editor in chief was a student. We all voted together to choose the name, the cover, demographics, even the content. After all that stuff was finally taken care of, we were able to get into the fun stuff! Planning and executing our shots and pages.
I worked with three different graphic designers and 2 sets of clients. The graphic designer I worked the closest with was Kirra Stemler. We were assigned to full page spreads. Together we came up with the page layout and the images we should use. One was an article called "Beauty on a Budget" the other article was called "T Line Adventures". I also did two ads for the magazine. The first ad was for G6 Sports Nutrition, who I worked with the graphic designer Kendra Saffell. The second ad I worked on was an ad for Jerry Records, and my graphic designer was Amber Wellman.
This was probably one of my favorite classes I took while I was in college because it gave me a chance to learn the industry in a new way. Hearing about it and actually being a part of it are two completely different learning experiences.
Below are the images in spreads enjoy!
A few months ago I worked on a collaboration project with three of my fellow photographers and friends to come up with an advertisement. The company we chose was Instagram. We decided to do double branding and use polaroids to emphasize what Instagram tries to reference. Three of us did images and one of us put together a video. Unfortunately I only have my image, and the video which we all worked hard to create. My friend and fellow group member, David Becinski went above and beyond with the post- production.
This was the image I made, as well as David's video below. Enjoy!
Lately I have been working on adding color into my portfolio. So, I took I sat down and brainstormed on colorful brands to come up with a photograph. I came up with using the colorful coach purse because the branding that they use for this section of their bags are very bold, and colorful, trying to add fun to the otherwise classy brand. Which was just what I was trying to do!
The purse quickly became a very challenging image for me because the background I chose to use to liven up the image was luster photography paper so I could get that brightness and color. I had to deal with a lot of glare, but in the end I think the product shot came out just as I imaged it!
I hope you enjoy it!
Its that time again! Thats right finals have come back around. For my fashion final I decided I wanted to work on dramatic lighting and tight crops for fashion accessories. This project is due today, so let me show the world today too! I would also like to give a huge shout out to my amazing models, friends, (and boyfriend of the most supportive kind!)
Most of these images are indeed composites if you can image how long I have been working on these! For instance, the man with the watch, the watch itself is made up of 3 different watches!
Below are the images, let me know what you think!
We all know how nice the weather was last weekend. 70s in the middle of November?! That caused for a celebration. Last weekend my boyfriend, Chris and I went to the Pittsburgh Zoo to enjoy the sunny weather before it disappears. We had a great time and spent nearly 5 hours there just goofing around and taking pictures. This was truly my favorite weekend in November so far! We had a few unfortunate incidents happen along the way, like a broken phone, and a cold, but we ended up having a great time.
The two of us managed to see every animal accept for the polar bears and crocodiles, which was really exciting for me because its rare to go to a zoo and see every animal they have. Some of my favorite exhibits were the aquarium, where I touched a sting ray for the first time, and the gorillas who had a baby that just would not stop pestering the parents. Chris and I probably stayed and watched the gorillas for a good 20 minutes before we continued on. All in all, I would consider this to be a successful day filled with laughter and fun.
Below I have a few of my favorite images from this weekend. enjoy!:)
A few months ago, I was given the opportunity to assist my friend and fellow photographer Anne, shoot a wedding. This was a great experience for me since I have never shot a wedding before! I learned a lot from the experience! I went into this knowing how stressful weddings are for everyone involved which is not limited to the wedding party, but also the photographer. As a photographer, you always have to be prepared for any lighting situation. you never know how dark the area is going to be for the ceremony and reception! The other huge reminder for the future is to always bring extra equipment since one of our elbow mounts broke, we had to come up with a new solution.
I got to meet some really great people, as well as a couple who are extremely cute together! Congrats again to the bride and groom, Maranda and Dave Ruhl!
Below will be a link to my friend and fellow photographers' website! and some of my favorite images from the wedding! Enjoy!
Anne Troxel:
http://www.a-marie-photography.com/
As many if you know, I recently just got the new Nikon D810 full frame camera for my 21st birthday. This is all very exciting for me, and this camera is just amazing. I went from a Nikon 3100, to the 810. This camera's quality is such a BIG difference as you might expect. Here are some of the comparisons to show you how much better this camera is! The link below is going to show you more charts in case you are interested in this camera as well!
General
Model Number: 3100 D810
Camera Format: SLR Pro SLR
Currently Manufactured: No Yes
Retail Price : $699.95 $3299.95
Effective Megapixels: 14.2 36.3
Video Capture yes yes
Movie Resolution: 1920x1080 (24) 640x424 (24)1920x1080 (60p/50p/30p/25p/24p)
1280x720 (60p/50p)
Here is the link below to look into this camera a lot more if you are interested. Getting this camera was the best decision i have made in a really long time:)
http://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D3100-vs-Nikon-D810
