I really should be editing. And I will. In juuuuuust a minute. But it’s been too long since my last little note and I needed (keyword: *needed*) to bring you up to speed on how ridiculously cool, wonderful and busy life has been since -er- whenever I last wrote.
Where to begin…
Anthony. Let’s start with him. So, Edith (Edie) Henry, stylist extraordinaire, Kelsey James, hair and make up goddess, and I teamed up to shoot 15 year old Anthony’s model portfolio. What’s a model portfolio? It’s a collection of varied looks/outfits/styles that shows off a model, creating a body of work that helps them book an agent and modeling gigs. Anthony was a solid rockstar. Hands down, THE EASIEST GUY I’VE EVER PHOTOGRAPHED. See these hands? They’re down. For the count.
I’m still working on his edits, so these are just two of about 15 amazing looks Edie styled and we shot all day.
Elopements are booking up like crazy and I’m seeing a strong trend towards smaller, more relaxed weddings with guest lists ranging between 25-75. I’m a huge fan of small weddings -Brian and I had roughly 30 close friends and family at our low-key celebration in Alaska and we wouldn’t change a thing. So why are so many brides opting for smaller weddings?
1) Less Stress
2) Smaller Budgets
3) Less Stress
4) A whole lot less stress
That’s basically it. You take your dream wedding, pare it down to the core -what you REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want- and build up from there. So many brides start planning based on assumptions and general expectation of what a wedding should be without thinking through WHY. Why go big? Why is it necessary to have 300 guests? Why is my budget going to be this stretched?
Now, big weddings are wonderful! I’ve shot countless large celebrations that had happy brides, grooms and family! Size matters only if size matters to you. If you’ve always dreamed of having a huge wedding, lots of people dancing to YMCA, and cutting a massive cake, girl, you need to go for it. But: If what really matters to you is having a few key people that are invested in your life surrounding you, go for a small wedding and save a few bucks while you’re at it.
Okay. Elopements booming, small weddings, yada yada yada… Oh! So, back to the craziness here.
Besides being a full-time photographer, I’m also an actress and what’s been a slow summer has turned into ridiculously busy-ness. I’ve shot three commercials in the past week -one as the spokesperson for Pillsbury’s new Heat-N-Go mini pancakes and, man, that was a fun one to shoot!
I’ll share the link when they have them edited and up. I was actually paid to throw pancakes at people. Well, toss them. In the package. No one was harmed during the filming of this set of commercials. Plus, I’ll be shooting my first music video in a few weeks playing (ahem) a *new* type of role for me: an undead/zombie woman who comes back to murder her husband and a team of paranormal experts. Yeah, so not my usual gig, but I’m excited for this deviation from the norm. I’ve gotten to submit multiple taped auditions for a new hospital TV show shooting in Albuquerque and have a voice over audition I’ll be taping this week for the DC Comic franchise that’s I’m very jazzed about.
One of the spots we shot this past week offered the first opportunity for me to act with both of my little rascals. It was a family affair as Brian was on set with us. I loved that he got to see “what I do” and witness how great the kids did. Honestly, I was *so* nervous that the kids would be uncooperative. It’s hard enough for them to take direction from me, let alone a stranger. In prepping them for being on set, I told Wilder, “You know how Mama makes the moneys? Well, on Tuesday, YOU and Waverley get to make the moneys with me!”
“Then, I can buy more games?!?!”
“Yes! If you listen and obey [the best way I could explain taking direction], you can make the moneys and get a new Star Wars game!”
So that started a countdown, “Mama! Four more sleeps ’til I make the moneys!!”
On the morning of the shoot, Wilder runs downstairs, “MAMA! NO MORE SLEEPS TIL I MAKE THE MONEYS! I CAN BUY MY GAAAAMES!!!”
I’d call that motivation.
Though I was still nervous, all they really had to do was fall apart and cry, and they ended up being rockstars. The scene was a mother (me) driving to HEB’s pharmacy for a refill and the kids are crying their eyes out in the back seat, then they get a lollypop and the tears stop. Easy peasy. The car they used had huge car seats (my kids have small boosters) and to prevent a “No, I don’t want to sit in that” fit I told a “story” (we don’t lie in our family, we just make stuff up…) that this Subaru was actually a SPACESHIP CAR and these were SPACESHIP SEATS.
They were in awe.
Waverley actually cried on cue -it helped that it was 9-10pm. All in all, a very full, crazy, satisfying and exciting experience.
I had an amazing opportunity to do a portrait/boudoir session pre-op for a courageous woman who went in this past week for a mastectomy. I’m shooting one of my favorite senior’s this evening for her senior portraits. I’ll be headed to Houston tomorrow to shoot a cool, off-beat engagement session in the city. And I’m talking with Papa Murphy’s International about shooting one of their newly designed buildings opening soon in Austin.
Of course, the editing never stops. I just wrapped a gorgeous boudoir session that involved a body-painted jersey as one of the looks (totally rad, totally rad) and am currently working on Kimberly+Jason’s two day wedding celebration at The Vineyard at Florence.
Bzzzzz, bzzzzzzzz -now this little bee’s got to get back to editing, before this evening’s shoot (and cleaning the house, cause, you know, it’s a wreck) but I am so glad I got to visit with you first!
TTFN, Ta-ta-for-now!
Kelly Cameron Blog 