not quite springtime in holga-land
I have been busy busy lately, but yesterday was so gorgeous and sunny that I just had to ride around on my cruiser bike and play around with my new Holga (for DSLR!) lens that finally came in the mail. I felt like a little kid, riding around on my bike (yes, it has a basket), taking pictures just for the pleasure of hearing the shutter click under my fingers. It’s refreshing to be able to look at the world in a different way. All these shots are straight out of camera (SOOC) except for the black & white conversions <3
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i still miss thailand.
Zach and I lived in Bangkok for 4 months or so in 2006. We were watching some Thai movies the other night and I started missing it hardcore. So, I got all nostalgic and went back and unearthed some photos. Most people who travel through Thailand use Bangkok as a stepping stone to the beaches or to the jungles up north and are surprised that we loved the city itself so much. We adored Bangkok – the food, the temples, the people, the night markets, all the random little neighborhoods. We lived on the outskirts of one of the Middle Eastern neighborhoods, and one of my favorite restaurants in Bangkok was a Lebanese place :)
One of the things that I love about Asia is discovering all these random fruits and vegetables that I never even knew existed. Meet rambutan.
During monsoon season, it rains in biblical proportions. I loved it.
I took some Mandarin classes at Assumption University, which has such a beautiful campus:
One of the days it was raining too hard to go outside, I sat in the little lobby of our apartment / guesthouse and watched the Discovery Channel. They had a show about monks in Thailand who take in sick tigers and rehabilitate them. I was really fascinated, and then I remembered that we were IN Thailand. So we went!
So… I’m pretty much just looking for an excuse to go back. Anyone wanna come? :)
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zach
December 24th, 2010
yup. im down. when do you want to go?
Chandra
December 26th, 2010
Me too!
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sarah & ryan
I’ll be honest … I don’t really know how to write this one. It’s been in my drafts folder for several weeks as Sarah and I played phone tag, and it just didn’t feel quite right to post yet… so here goes the original:
Sarah and Ryan have been together for several years. They’ve known each other since high school, and when I asked them how they met, Sarah joked about following him around until he gave in and started paying attention to her :) Now they’ve fallen in love, they have an adorable puppy… and Ryan has cancer. Everywhere.
As soon as Sarah contacted me about doing a session, I just knew it was something that was absolutely essential for me to do. Ryan was in a lot of pain that day, but the images we got are sweet and real and wonderful anyway. Meeting both of these awesome people has made my life brighter. Sarah & Ryan : thank you, thank you, thank you.
As I mentioned above, I wrote this post a few weeks ago and have just been sitting on it until I got the okay from Sarah. She stopped by the studio yesterday morning to let me know, over tears and coffee, that Ryan recently passed away. We did the session at just the right time – within a few days of our shoot, he was in too much pain to leave the house. Sarah, my dear – my heart goes out to you. I know words are totally useless at a time like this, but I love you already and I can’t wait to get to know you better.
If you’d like to make a donation to Sarah & Ryan’s photography registry, please contact me directly.
If you’d like to join with me in making a donation to the American Cancer Society in Ryan’s name, just let me know.
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Brigitte
November 17th, 2010
Oh Molly, this is heart-wrenching. Thank you to Sarah for sharing a piece of such beauty with us.
Sandra Sutton
November 17th, 2010
Please thank Sarah for allowing you to share their beautiful pictures. My condolences to her and Ryan’s family.
Amy
November 18th, 2010
Absolutely beautiful, I am tears over how lovely the images are. So poignant and sweet
Larkin
November 18th, 2010
Two extraordinary people with an extraordinary love.
Anna
November 18th, 2010
Not going to lie.. this made me cry. A whole lot. Love ya, Sarah!
Chandra
November 19th, 2010
I can’t even express how much I am moved by this – sweet Sarah, I can’t even imagine what you are going through right now! I love you for your courage and I am praying that you find comfort in your memory of Ryan and the unforgettable times you shared at this time of immeasurable loss and sadness! You are a gorgeous ray of sunshine – please keep shining in Ryan’s memory! God Bless You!
Molly, you are AMAZING and how remarkable you captured some of the last moments of this beautiful couples radiating love that even cancer couldn’t damper. You are breathtaking!
jan o
November 29th, 2010
oh molly, right thing at the right time. oh sarah, i can’t imagine your loss and your strength in deciding to do this shoot. it will be invaluable in the days to come. thanks for sharing your holy ground with the rest of us. bless you both
lad
December 1st, 2010
Molly, this breaks my heart. Dear Sarah, we don’t know each other, but I honor you and Ryan at this time. If I could write twenty readable paragraphs, they’d all be about you, Ryan, and the arduous road ahead. May God bless you and comfort you. And Molly, thank you for the pictures of love wrapped in beauty. What a gift.
Jackie
December 6th, 2010
This is such a heart wrenching blog post – very very emotional. These photos are priceless to Sarah and it’s so great that she has these photos as a wonderful memory of her and Ryan. I’m so very sorry for your loss, Sarah.
JennLP
December 6th, 2010
Stories like these are why I believe capturing memories through photography is an impoprtant calling. God has blessed you with that ministry. Thank you for sharing.
Corinne Krogh
February 18th, 2011
Ohh, wow. This one is a toughie. What a gift you were able to give her. THIS is why we’re photographers. The one of them sitting by the lake… there’s just no words. You captured it.
I just can’t imagine that loss.
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first snow
Well… hasn’t this summer just flown by? I was looking forward to it for so long, that when it finally got here, it seemed unreal. Then it went by so quickly it still feels pretty dreamlike. The fact that it snowed the other day has sort of brought me back to “reality”. This is what I woke up to a few mornings ago:
Isn’t this an incredible place?
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brad
October 12th, 2010
yes it is.
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creative jobs, developing creativity, for photographers, photography plagiarism, photography tips —
a sense of style
When I first started my business three years ago, I had NO idea what I was doing. The Cedar House studio had been around for many years and changed ownership a few times, and I was flattered but totally terrified when the owner offered to sell the business to me. Thankfully, she was kind enough to walk me through the paces, answer tons of my questions and share her business experiences with me. I had never run a business before or even really established a personal budget. I was (and still am!) so grateful for all the help and advice I received while getting started, but I was so worried about doing things the “wrong way” – paperwork, shooting, posing, post-processing, everything! – that I relied entirely on the previous owners’ experiences and advice without figuring out what worked best for me. Actually, it took me about a year and a half of business ownership before I started coming into my own and reassessing what sort of business I wanted to run and what my style was. Because of this, I joke that I’ve only “really” owned the business for a year and a half rather than the (almost) three that it’s been.
Which leads me to a confession: while I was in the process of developing my style and figuring out my business, I copied other photographers. I started out doing things exactly as the previous owners had done. My clients would suggest selective color or glowy soft-focus shots (shudder) and I would do it, without thinking about what sort of personal “style” I was going for. Then I went to a conference taught by the Sallees and started adding texturing to most of my images. Then, I fell in love with Yervant‘s high-fashion posing. Then… then… then…
The photographic world is overflowing with people of amazing and unique talent, and I still love looking at what other photogs are doing for inspiration. However, since getting into the nitty-gritty of business ownership, my mentality has changed. I want to create my own style and not be a knockoff. I want people to hire me because 1) they like me as a person and 2) because they like the fact that my work is different. I’m not elegant and simple enough to be Jose Villa, I’m not hip enough to be Noa from Featherlove, I’m not cute and quirky enough to be Axioo, I’m not edgy enough to be Angelica Glass, I’m not insanely brilliant enough to be the guys from MangoRed, and I’m not urban enough or trendy enough to be Jasmine Star (some of the other photographers I regularly check out for inspiration). But that’s okay. While I LOVE looking at their work, I’m not trying to be any of them anymore. I have my own style that is totally different and unique, and the more I develop it, the more I like my own work. And, it seems, the more my clients like my work, too. As soon as I stopped trying to be someone else, everything changed for the better.
I try SO hard to come up with new, unique, and original ideas that are “me”, and I tailor each of these to my specific clients. Look to others who have gone before you for inspiration or advice, but don’t go out and buy the exact same props they have, call up their clients to try to “steal” their locations, or copy and paste text from their websites to use for your own (all things that have happened to me since I started my business). Everyone – clients, other photographers, and most importantly, yourself- will notice if you blatantly copy someone else, and not only is that totally cheap, it won’t look like YOU. Trust me – everyone will know. It will look forced and will have no heart, since it’s not coming from your own heart but from someone else’s. I’m realizing lately that my style is truly reflective of who I am as a person – my personality, the experiences I’ve had in life, the music I listen to, the movies I watch, the places I’ve lived and visited, what I think is beautiful. My photographic style has become so intertwined with my own self that intentionally trying to shoot like someone else would be the equivalent of trying to BE someone else. When you come across images that inspire you, be inspired! But try to figure out what, specifically, about that image you like. Is it the lighting? The fact that it’s in an unusual location? The way it makes you feel? Then try to cultivate that in your work – in your own way. If you work in a creative field like I do, we got into this business so we could be creative, so let your own sense of style take root! You’ll be able to be truly proud of your own work, and you’ll love it so much more when you’re true to yourself and doing something that comes entirely from your own heart.
And because I just can’t post a blog with no images, here is a quick sneak peek of my lovely friend Danica from a fun conceptual shoot I did last week. Isn’t she gorgeous?
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lindsay
September 16th, 2010
love this, molly. What I love about having known you and your style for so long is that I have been privileged enough to watch your growth as an artist. I think everything you said here is absolutely true: you have certainly come into your own in recent years, and your work reflects your heart, passion, artistic eye, creative spirit and quirky outlook to a tee. I remember when you took pictures of kids in Mexico…I remember thinking how obvious your love for those kids was in your work. Now, every time I see a new blog post here, I pour over the images of people I will never know and see how much you love them, the locations, the lighting, the color… I’m proud of the incredible photographer and business woman you’ve become, but I’m even more proud to see the friend I love living her dream through her art. You are an inspiration and a true, unique talent.
Becca
September 16th, 2010
All i can say is that you’re AWESOME! You take the most unique photographs and i look forward to seeing your new posts on facebook everyday. And the pictures you’ve taken of my boys are priceless, something i will have forever. And everyone who has seen them loves them so much they want a copy. You see things so differently than most photograpehrs, and i love that. The quirky pics are my favorite, especially the ones you took of Dax! Not posed just him being his cute little self. I know i don’t know you well on a personal level but we love you as a photographer…Can’t wait to see how you photograph my newest baby Rubee! Keep up the awesome work, i love seeing it!
Tracy Moore Thompson
September 16th, 2010
Girl, I LOVE your style. You think of some of the most awesome ideas. Love checking out your blog to see what you thought of this time! :)
Lindsay Sutton-Stephens
September 16th, 2010
MOLLY!!!! THIS JUST GAVE ME CHILLS! I totally understand! I started my business 10 years ago – TEN YEARS. The audacity that hobbyist would move to our small communities and strive to rip off original work is jarring. We are in 2 different towns, 2 different mediums of art, but the same thing is happening within Chaffee County. My entire world is in my paintings – my love – my heritage – my music – my irresponsibility – my responsibility – everything that I am! This blog is absolutely beautiful, if you do not mind I would love to repost its link on our website and facebook? I have struggled so much with this lately and this blog not evoked a ton of emotion but it also made me smile hopefully. Thank you.
“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.” – Herman Melville
Larkin
September 16th, 2010
I love you because you are REAL!
admin
September 16th, 2010
Thanks, everyone! I feel like I do need to clarify a few things – originality is hard, and there’s always an element to any art form that has already “been done”. While it’s pretty obvious if you’re being blatantly copied (totally hypothetically, say I do a shoot with a disco ball and a school bus parked in the water and two weeks later, I notice that another local photographer has just done a shoot with a disco ball and a school bus parked in the water), I’m definitely not the first person to take a photo of a beautiful woman, or a bride and groom kissing, or a baby sleeping. I can’t lay claim to those things (no one can!) but WHAT you’re photographing is just as important as HOW you’re photographing. What makes up your style is a combination of what you shoot or paint or sing about and how you shoot or paint or sing – the angles, the lighting, the mood, and how you present it afterwords, including post-processing for us photogs. With all of those photographers I mentioned, I can look at their work and know it was created by them, even if it’s not credited, because they have such a distinctive sense of style and mood that it’s obvious. It’s pretty easy to listen to music you haven’t heard before and know that it’s a new Radiohead song rather than a new Eminem song, because it’s a distinctive mixture of content, mood, and delivery / presentation. It just SOUNDS like them. That’s one of the things I strive for when I’m shooting – creating work that looks like I, personally, created it. One of the best compliments that I’ve received is a comment from a friend about another mutual friend’s portraits – “Did you shoot so-and-so? I saw some photos of her and I knew it had to be you because I can recognize your work a mile away.”
Also, competition is great! I welcome and respect other photographers in the area, as long as they’re trying to do their own thing and express their own selves. The wonderful fact that each person’s personality is so different means that everyone sees the world in a totally unique way, and I hope (both for their sake and for mine) that they celebrate that uniqueness. Thanks for the comments, and keep creating! :)
noa (feather love photography)
September 17th, 2010
i LOVE your honesty!!! what a beautiful post!! and I love your comment too… xoxo
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Oh my god. I love them all! You are so awesome! take more! take more!
These are fun pictures.
btw…nice enthusiasm Zach!
Hi Molly, nice images! Was that the lens you bought from us at HolgaDirect?
Thanks,
Rick @ HolgaDirect
Hi Rick,
Yes it was! So fun – thanks! :)