Amazement

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 by Lindsey

It always amazes me when God moves a mountain right in front of my eyes, and I still doubt His grace, His control in my life, His flawless plans for my future, His unconditional love and forgiveness...but then the smallest drop jerks me back to reality.  Amidst all the chaos, and frustration, and confusion, and instability, He is quiet, constant, full of clarity and stability.  His power is endless, and He has the strength and influence to help me overcome anything, and grow in ways that are unimaginable to me.

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Style Shoot

Friday, May 28, 2010 by Lindsey

Now that I'm finally recovering from the shoot and I only have about half a dozen emails that need replying to, I thought I'd catch up on blogging this afternoon.  The style shoot was such a success, and was honestly better than I ever could've imagined.  It was exactly what I pictured and more, and I learned so much from it.  Despite a few hitches (losing our first location, and one of the original couples changing their minds last-minute) everything went very smoothly, and both of the "hitches" actually led to better solutions!



So now everyone's question is..."When is the next one?!"  Which is really encouraging, for sure.  When all of the photographers began to arrive at the shoot, I was a crazy person - there were models who weren't even there yet, and I didn't have the schedules.  All I could tell them was "have a seat...I brought bottled water!" Everyone was awesome, though, and just rolled with the punches. We got started 20 minutes late and the schedule went out the window, but no one really seemed to mind.  It was so cool to see people pulling together, sharing ideas.  There were only a few who mentioned that they would've preferred to get back onto the schedule.

My hope is that I can make this a bi-yearly event, maybe have it be a little more exclusive and offer the tickets to previous attendees first, and then move on to advertising it.  I will probably have fewer models next time with more elaborate setups.   My ultimate goal is to have a grand piano in the middle of a field, as well as to have an urban grunge "masquerade ball" shoot.  For now I'll probably stick with more "traditional" stuff.  I know most of the people attending this event were there for portfolio expansion, but eventually I would love for the point of the shoots to be about sharing creative vision and growing as artists.  It's so easy to get lost in "defaults" of what you know works for client shoots, and I really want it to be about finding ways to experiment and stretch as artists without the risk of messing up client photos.

So, I think that's all for now, but definitely keep an eye out soon, lots of exciting things in the works:
• New Branding for Elusive Photography
• A Separate Site for Elusive Design
• A Photo Series Entitled "Human Stripes"
• A "Pull your own happiness wagon" photoshoot
• Plans for ANOTHER style shoot

AND (just in case I didn't sound enough like an infomercial...) SO MUCH MORE!

-Lindsey

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One day!!

Sunday, May 23, 2010 by Lindsey

God has blessed this style shoot in ways I cannot even explain, I'm SO thrilled to be working with so many amazing, sweet, and talented people tomorrow, even if I do have a laundry list of stuff still left to-do.

This time tomorrow morning I'll be sitting outside Costco waiting to pick up the bouquets! (At least I know if I can pull this off, then I can certainly pull off a wedding, right?)  Now I just have to drag myself up to get my day going...

I'm sure I will post a sneak peek tomorrow night! Just pray the weather holds out...chance of rain keeps fluctuating and it's making me nervous.

-Lindsey

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It's a rainy day in the loveliest way...

Thursday, May 13, 2010 by Lindsey

Who can you find in my rainy day photoediting playlist? (Yep, I have a playlist for just such an occasion.)

Joe Purdy, Alexi Murdoch, Brett Dennen, Joshua Radin, The Weepies, Iron and Wine, William Fitzsimmons, Pete Yorn, Glen Hansard, Yuriumi, Mark O'Connor, She & Him.

Today started out awesome when I hit (and exceeded) my minimum ticket sales to cover the cost of the style shoot.  Ahhh, what a thing to wake up to!  God has blessed this endeavor so greatly, I couldn't ask for more.  Not only that, but one of my favorite local photographers will be in attendance!

So I'm sitting here with the kettle on, anxiously checking the front porch for pretty vintage props for the photoshoot, and daydreaming of things to come.

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The times they are a-changin'

Friday, May 7, 2010 by Lindsey

I'm not even sure where to start, I've been meaning to write a post for a few weeks now but just haven't had a chance.  My life has been a swirling vortex of chaotic creative change (alliteration ftw) and I am in the process of some relatively in-depth lifestyle changes.  So, with that said...I'm just going to dive in randomly and update on some interesting things I've been doing.

• Focusing on focus, and giving up coffee. (!!)


Not forever.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I love coffee.  I'm just trying to decrease my caffeine intake because I realized that while I'd thought I was lacking in energy, what I was really lacking was focus.  Caffeine had really been taking a negative effect on me, and I was so jittery that it was making me tired all the time.  (Well, that in conjunction with other things.) Probably once I get it out of my system, I'll drink decaf, or half-caf.   






I've really benefitted lately from reading Dr. Daniel Amen's book, "Change Your Brain, Change Your Body" which has helped me in learning about some of the ways I can help myself to be healthier and less emotionally volatile by boosting serotonin levels, getting more vitamin D, etc., it's all stuff that makes sense.   Surprisingly, that book has worked hand-in-hand with another awesome book I've been reading "The Creative Habit" by Twyla Tharp, which is a handbook for creative professionals with some specific guidelines in helping to optimize a creative lifestyle.   By adding just a small amount of structure to my life, it has actually freed me to begin to explore my own faith, and deepen in my artistic strengths. 






A few of the things I've done inspired by "The Creative Habit" is to create a morning routine, and cover all of my mirrors with sheets.   The morning routine has been so helpful to me, and again...makes sense.  Before my feet even hit the floor in the morning...I put on my shoes.  That one simple act has become a defining moment for my day. Once my shoes are on I have no excuse to get back into bed.  Then I make my bed...just in case I was thinking "eh...I don't really care if I have my shoes on in bed." and go workout.  By the time I'm awake enough to consider that I'm hungry, or want a cup of coffee, or my clothes don't match...I'm already half a mile down the sidewalk.  No turning back.  My goal is to keep this up for 30 days, and then hopefully by that point, it won't be such work, and wouldn't totally throw me off to day one day off a week.


As far as the mirror thing goes: it was supposed to be an artistic experiment, a way to ignore my appearance and focus on expressing myself in different ways, stretching my creative voice.  Surprisingly, it's actually been really helpful in getting me back on track with my healthy lifestyle changes.  I've noticed that I feel more accomplished, and healthier, and don't get discouraged because I'm not seeing an immediate change in my appearance. I feel better. Honestly, I don't care how I look for the moment, it's less stress for me, and I had been so stressed about so many things, I'm trying to refocus and not allow myself to get so stressed. 


• Organizing and Hosting a Stylized Photo Shootout for local Photographers


So, yeah...this has consumed my life.  Inspired by a similar shoot hosted by the lovely and talented Andi Grant, I decided to take on the challenge of hosting one myself.  Oy! I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  20 tickets, 10 models, 6 volunteer stylists, 5 necklaces, 4 wedding dresses, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 vintage suitcases, and 1 picnic basket later...and I'm still not done planning it all!  Don't get me wrong, it's definitely going well...but there are so many things I hadn't even considered.  Even so, I think (after I've had a few months to recover) this could definitely be something I see myself hosting on a regular basis, with different sets and models each time.   My ultimate goal is to have a grand piano in the middle of a field, with a fantasy-themed shoot. 






• Concentrating on now, and leaving later for later. 


So, I know I haven't written a wedding/marriage planning post in a while.  I want to note that Nathan and I are fine.  Great, even...and I am sooo anxious to see him back out here for the summer in a few weeks! :-) But in my zeal to make sure that our entire married life would be scheduled, planned, and to ultimately try to make it easier for us in running our household and to be the Godly wife I aspire to be...I realized I had lost sight of our relationship right now.  We both had.  After a lot of prayer and discussion, we decided to postpone the wedding-planning, in favor of just enjoying each other right now.   I honestly can't say when the wedding will be, at the moment, but I definitely feel like when the time comes, we'll know it...and it's not far off, just a slight delay.  The only thing we know concretely is that we won't make any decisions until after he's graduated this December, then he'll move here and we'll evaluate the logistics.  Honestly?  It's a relief.  Just because we don't have a year's worth of grocery lists and menus...doesn't mean we won't eat after we get married.  And not having a date doesn't mean that there's no light at the end of the tunnel.



For me, the light is just, him being here.  I can't wait to be his wife...but ultimately, I just miss him (and his hugs, he seriously has the best hugs ever) and we are looking forward to being able to spend some time together, doing "normal" couple-stuff before our wedding, without the pressures and trials of marriage.  Going on dates, spending friday nights watching movies, being able to see each other a few times a week, without feeling like we have to cram a bunch of activities or relationship-defining moments in.  


Whether it ends up being 2 months or 2 years (For the record, I don't think it will be either of those...) the time between his moving here, and our wedding will be a relaxing and necessary rest period for us to cultivate our relationship without pressures of school or long-distance.  He'll be able to settle into a job, without having to immediately worry about providing, and we'll be able to just enjoy time together. 


• 365 day photo challenge


I have finally taken on the 365 day photo challenge...and it's pretty much as simple as it sounds, a photo a day for 365 days.  It seems like it would be pretty easy but has been amazing so far how difficult it can be to think of something new, interesting, and representative of my day to take a photo of.  I'm doing okay so far, if you'd like to track my progress follow my business profile "Elusive PhotoDesign" on facebook.  (I'll have a flickr album soon, but have been too busy to create it.)
So, I think that's most of the main things...but before I wrap up for now, here's some interesting things I've discovered, lately:


•  Being thankful makes you happy, not just for the obvious reasons...but also because focusing on the positive things in your life boosts serotonin levels.  Because of this, I've started off each day by simply writing out 5 things that make me smile, that I'm grateful for.  It may be more of a placebo than anything, but it works.
•  A tall, light, mocha frappuchino with no whip is only 130 calories.
•  China-made wedding dress knockoffs can be legitimate. (I did a test-run for the style shoot.)
•  Etsy necklaces are awesome.
•  Jessica Drossin Textures
•  If you concentrate on pushing off of your toes, you can run longer.
•  It is very cold at 6:00 AM

I believe that's all for now.
-Lindsey

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