I like comfortable clothes. Sometimes I like them just a little too much, which can lead me to staying in my pajamas most of the day. My love of soft cardigans and slip-on flats has often earned my style the description of being…well, let’s just say beyond my years. Below are a few pieces of clothing that are easy-going without being sloppy, in my opinion. Gray (or is it “grey”? I never know) always makes me cozy, and I like the “lounge” feel of open-front wraps. The Vans pictured here I recently purchased and they are great – however, my oldest sister tells me she could have found the same shoe at Walmart. Maybe she’s right. In an effort to add a little sparkle to this simple, everyday look, I am trying to accessorize with jewelry more, like the bow ring.
“The finest clothing made is a person’s skin, but, of course, society demands something more than this.” – Mark Twain
Last month I began taking a French class, and let me tell you, it is hard. After hours of studying the French language, I often get discouraged and would like to throw in the towel. So, yesterday I made a small list of French things that I love, which will hopefully help to re-inspire me with reasons to learn français. It’s worth a try, right?
1. The movie Sabrina. It’s one of my favorites, both the original with Audrey Hepburn, and the remake with Harrison Ford. Very romantic.
Linus: [while slow dancing with his brother's girlfriend] How do you say in French my sister has a yellow pencil?
Sabrina: Ma soeur a un crayon jaune.
Linus: How do you say my brother has a lovely girl?
Sabrina: Mon frère a une gentille petite amie.
Linus: And how do you say I wish I were my brother?
“A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé; a woman unhappy in love, she forgets to turn on the oven”
2. French Berets. They are really cute and fun to wear, especially paired with a scarf during the winter.
3. The Madeline books. They are stories about a little French orphan girl who often gets herself into trouble. I picked a few of them up at a yard sale about a year ago and I think the illustrations are very sweet. “In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. In two straight lines they broke their bread and brushed their teeth and went to bed. They smiled at the good and frowned at the bad, and sometimes they were very sad. They left the house at half past nine in two straight lines in rain or shine. The smallest one was Madeline.”
4. French toast, french fries, and french bread. All very tasty reasons to press on and learn how I might order them in a restaurant in France, if I should ever travel there.
5. The music of Feist, Corinne Bailey Rae, and the“Paris” album by Putumayo. All of their albums feature songs with some French lyrics, and I’d like to know what I am saying when I sing along. That would be good.
There, now I already feel more inspired. La vie en rose!
Hey Seniors! If you’re graduating this year, it’s time to get serious about making plans for YOUR Senior Portraits. Check out this page to see just a sampling of the kind of images you can expect from us. If you’re looking for something young, fresh and modern, book a Senior Portrait Session with us today! Call me, Brie at (727) 458-0135, and we can talk about all your ideas, I’ll answer any questions you may have and we can get something set up right away. Bonus, we can also design custom Graduation Announcements with the images from your session. We can talk about that when you call to book a session.
Here is my first style board of the year. (Sorry, I didn’t get to do one for January because of the holidays and getting back into the swing of things.) Remember, this is a monthly feature so come back in the beginning of March for something new.
This month, in an effort to realize a style for myself that doesn’t involve spending much money, I’m focusing on wardrobe staples. I’m learning more and more that if you love fashion and style in this economic age, you have to learn to be a really thrifty shopper with an ingenious eye for seeing the potential in a single item of clothing. If it can’t be re-mixed in a handful of different ways, why bother?
So here is my little list of things that I think are wardrobe staples for me:
Oversized denim men’s shirt with black skinny pants
Denim jumper-esque dress
Basic striped boatneck tee
All purpose cardigan
Tweed shorts
Plaid button down
Navy pencil skirt
Gray skirt (with or without tights)
Bonus: Sailor-inspired coordinates
Easy canvas pull ons
Vintage-inspired oxford pumps (so trendy right now but still such a classic look)
Simple oxford flat
My staple items all have a definite menswear vibe in a neutral palette which I really love as a base for layering on girly, pretty things in bright colors or patterns. Each one of these pieces could be worn any number of different ways using various seasonal accessories. To me, their silhouettes have a timeless appeal that I won’t have to worry about going out of style in 6 months.
So there’s my first attempt at a style board. I used a mix of Polyvore and Photoshop to create it.
I have never considered myself to be a very crafty sort of person. Well, maybe in the tricky, wily sort of way, I sometimes do. But when it comes to the arts and crafts, no. In fact, I’ve always looked a little enviously at those scrap-booking, painting, knitting, make something out of nothing, kind of people. However, this past Christmas I was inspired to make a present for a dear friend of mine. I set out to Jo-Ann’s, unsure of how or if my ideas would materialize. I am glad to say it turned out to be a very satisfying experience. So much so, I took some pictures to show you.
This is a jar of fireflies, or lightning bugs, as I often call them. To make the actual flies, I doubled a sheet of white tissue paper and cut five small rectangles out. Then I twisted the center of each and wrapped brown wire around the middle, so as to create a mid-section. The tissue paper wings I trimmed into their final shape and hung them by clear string. At this point, I had painted a one-part mason jar lid and poked five holes in it to pull the string through the top so I could glue them in place. The lid was then an eye-sore of strings and glue. This I solved by taking the center piece of a two-part lid and hot-glueing it on top of the other. You know what the best part is? The fireflies light up in the dark because I painted their wings with glow-in-the-dark paint.
This is a bouquet of flowers. These are not just any flowers, though. These are paper flowers, which means they won’t ever wilt. Okay, okay. Maybe they aren’t as beautiful as the real deal, but they’re brown, or in brown’s same shady family. Sadly, brown flowers don’t actually exist and my friend has always wanted them to. So, I faked it using green floral wire, scrap-book paper cut into different sized hearts, and beads from an old necklace of mine that broke. (It didn’t really break, I had to cut it up because it was hopelessly tangled). For a vase, I used a smaller mason jar with a painted brown lid.
Here is a sampling of the music I have been listening to this month. Iron & Wine is a new favorite of mine. Yes, I know I am a little late in catching on to how great they are. Their music is warm and comforting, like candlelight and a soft blanket. Corinne Bailey Rae makes really beautiful music. The other night I discovered she has a new album out titled “The Sea.” I purchased it without hesitation and I am happy to report no feelings of regret. It’s just a lovely as her first. Enjoy!
Welcome to the first post of a new feature we will be doing at the end of every month. Nothing groundbreaking, just a little compilation of the tunes we’ve been enjoying lately. Here’s my playlist for January and I expect Carissa will post hers sometime soon.
This is an interesting blog post. I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while now but I’ve put it off because, well let’s just be honest, I was afraid of what people would think of me. Boo. Carissa encouraged me to just keep it real and tell it like it is. So I think I will. This will be long and it has no pictures and if you didn’t want to read it, I would understand. But here goes….
I bought my first DSLR almost 7 months ago, back in July ‘09. I felt like I needed to have an upgrade from a point-and-shoot camera to go along with my graphic/interior design work and thought it would be a good time to purchase one before our big summer trip. I was beyond excited for the UPS guy to deliver my camera that Friday in July. Every time I heard a loud truck go by I’d peek out the window in hopes that it had arrived. Immediately upon using my new camera I realized that what I had was gold! Gold, I tell you!! I couldn’t believe how different it was from my little Casio p+s camera. Taking pictures just got a whole lot more fun and interesting! I really had no idea just how interesting the whole photography thing was as I pretty much remained clueless for about a month and a half while I tried to figure out how to use my camera. Or rather, tried to figure out how to make it do what I wanted. (It’s very easy to use a DSLR exactly like a p+s camera, but why would you want to?) I bought the Dummies version manual for my camera which was a really good tool for helping me to navigate through all those foreign camera terms like aperture and ISO and metering. Let’s just be honest here. I had absolutely no clue about any of those things before I got my camera. Not. A. Single. Clue. But I studied and I fiddled and I studied and I fiddled until little by little it started to make perfect sense to me. Most of this studying and learning occurred while I was on vacation out west in New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. I took in plenty of scenery on all the long drives but I must confess that I used my Google phone to the max, pouring over articles from Digital Photography School. Yes, I actually had reception at the Grand Canyon. And yes I sat on the big leather couch in the Grand Canyon Lodge overlooking the north rim reading about the difference between prime lenses and zoom lenses. What can I say? I was thriving on all of this new information, soaking it all up like a sponge and eager to know everything I could possibly cram into my brain.
One night while we were hooked up to one of those rare RV sites that had internet access, I discovered the in-depth world of photography blogs via my favorite website of the moment, again, Digital Photography School. It was as if someone was violently shaking me by the shoulders saying “Hellllooooooooo?!?!” Somehow in my crazy little brain I had a crazy little thought that began to grow exponentially with every new hit on every new blog I’d visit. Photography. Weddings. People. Beauty. Women. Young women. Women like me. With their own businesses. Over and over again. Laying in my little bed in the RV while I browsed the beautiful work of Jasmine Star and Stephanie Fay (both photographers I discovered ON that trip) I came to the realization that I was at a turning point not only with my interest in photography but with the direction of my entire life. I am so not being dramatic right now! It’s true! It was a total paradigm shift. I am sure my husband is still partially blinded by all of the lightbulbs that were going off in my head during that time. This is not even to mention the state of breathtaking awe we found ourselves in at the sight of God’s magnificent creation all around us. Bryce Canyon. If you haven’t been, let me warn you, you will probably cry at the sight of it. I did. Sure, the Grand Canyon IS truly grand and amazing and all that but Bryce Canyon is just so freakily incredible, it’s like God is in every spooky spire yelling “love me, fear me because I created this craziness and I am awesome”! (If you want to love God more, sometimes you just need to be reminded of His awesomeness.) Anyway, whether it was our amazement at being able to take a TWO week vacation or the fact that we were probably just high on the elevation, we were getting pretty excited about all the possibilities of this whole “photography thing”. By the time we’d settled into our one night stay in Sedona, AZ, I had already typed up an email to send Carissa (my one friend I knew who was interested in photography) saying “Hey, would you ever consider going into the photography business……..”.
I crossed my fingers, eagerly awaiting her reply to my email. Days and days passed and I soon discovered that Carissa doesn’t reply to email so I waited until she could hear my breathless speech of excitement in person. She warmed to the idea quicker than I expected and before I knew it, we were starting a business together. Say what now?!?! That’s how it went down. Just like that. Plans seemed to almost materialize out of thin air and everything began to click into place. We realized that we were a match made in heaven and we found we both inspired the other in ways we never imagined possible. We immediately set up our website and began telling everyone we knew about our new “business.” Pretty soon we were scheduling session after session and, five months later, found ourselves still busy right up until a few days before Christmas. We took some time off after that to rest but reconvened in the new year to talk about plans and ideas for expanding our business to wedding photography. I don’t quite know how I got from my inspirational vacation out west to having strategizing meetings with Carissa for marketing and booking weddings, but here we are.
A little more insight:
For me, the world of photography felt like reuniting with a long lost sibling. (Ok, that’s a bit dramatic.) I just felt that with my interest in design and creativity, photography was a completely natural avenue. It began to feel like something I could truly excel at and settle down with, even way beyond what I’ve done in the past with graphic and web design. I’m not saying that I am in favor of abandoning everything you know once you find a new passion but there was a very real sense for me that I had finally found an occupational direction for my life. After 25 years no less. As much as I appreciate all the graphic and web design work I’ve been given over the years, I have never once considered myself a graphic designer. In fact, I really only pursued graphic/web design because people wanted me to do some work for them. It started a cycle that I could never break or felt that I ought not break, because after all, I can’t very well turn down a job can I? I spent 1.5 years trying to start an interior design consulting business that kept getting waylaid month after month because I was doing work for others. It was extremely frustrating for me. Paid work is a lovely thing but you know something has to change when you can’t find the time to work on important things in your own life. Now I am learning that I simply cannot keep every plate spinning anymore. I cannot excel in any one area when I am dabbled in too many things at once. That’s why I told myself half-way through 2009 that I would no longer build websites, even if I got a job offer. In 2010 I am telling myself that I will not take on any new graphic design clients, even if it means, again, turning down business. Incredibly, it seems that something similar is happening for my piano teaching business. I’m perplexed that I have as few students as I did when I began my business 12 years ago yet I prayed that it would become clear to me if teaching was something I needed to lay down. No students, no provision, no teaching? It might be clearer than I’m willing to admit.
Needless to say, letting go of things I never thought I’d see the end of is both on-the-edge-of-my-seat exciting and jump-into-the-pitch-black-abyss freaky. Fortunately, there is an unmistakable sense that God is the one who came up with this crazy, hair-brained scheme before we ever did. Yes, it IS crazy. I never would have considered or even imagined doing this. But He knew all along and that makes this journey all the more legit. (Did you know that it was more cool to say the word legit than the word legitimate? I didn’t know that either.)
[Shoot, I think I just wrote a dang novel. Blessings to you if you made it this far.]
Some of the reasons why I love Brieanna Leigh and the fact that she is my partner in this business. Brie is really talented. She sews, she plays piano beautifully, she does graphic design, and decorates as well as, if not better than, anyone on any interior design show…not to mention the obvious fact that she knows what she’s doing with a camera. Brie is funny. She is hilarious, and makes me laugh in very unique ways – it’s side splitting and true fun. Brie is smart. She thinks through something, tries to see it from all angles, and makes a decision after a lot of research and thought. Brie is a ninja. She senses problems, finds the source of the problem, and attacks it with ninja-accuracy. I call her “ninj,” for short. Brie is a noise machine. She seems to always be making sound effects to accompany her actions, to emphasize a point, or simply to divert. This also goes for how she acts while around kitty-cats (which, if you didn’t know, Brie adores most any of them). Lastly, Brie is passionate. She finds something she loves, goes after it with all she has, giving it her all, then reaps all the benefits and rewards of working so hard. That’s why she is such a great photographer. I can’t think of anyone else I would rather work with and I am blessed to know her. If you ever have the opportunity, you should know her, too.
Hi there. We’ve been getting feedback both good and bad about our website and we want to say “thanks”. We know we will never be able to please everyone with our business practices, our website, and even our work but we want to do our best to learn from your thoughts and opinions. Some of the comments we have gotten have been about the blog style of website that we have going right now. Some wonder if it lacks a professionalism or takes away from the photography itself. These are valuable considerations and we are thinking them through.
About 6 months ago, we made the decision to settle down with a blog-driven website because we wanted to have the opportunity for our clients to get to know and interact with us on an on-going sometimes daily basis. Though it may seem unprofessional to share so much of our personal lives, we feel that it’s actually one of the best things we could ever do for our business. The truth is, our business will never grow if we neglect the biggest part of what actually makes our business unique: US! There are a number of other photographers in this area that take beautiful photos and I can tell you for a fact that these people are very talented at what they do. In fact, a simple Google search will turn up results that could overwhelm any prospective client with all the potential photographers to choose from. The only way we will stand out is to forget about trying to compete with others and focus instead on being genuine, relatable people who are willing to share their lives with others.We don’t want to be some mysterious enigma of a business with a slick website but make people wonder if we can be trusted with the most precious moments of their lives. We don’t have anything to hide. We have flaws and mixed motives and deal with a lot of the same things any number of our clients do. Why not lay it all out there for you to see? After all, this “business” is really about so much more than a job or an income or success. We want our focus to be on investing in people and serving people and caring about people and LOVING people. We want our clients to know that they actually matter to us and that we are excited to get to play an important part in their lives by capturing the moments that are special to them. If we can use our blog to make it easier for our clients to really know us and trust us and come to appreciate who we are not just for the photographs that we take, then our website will be doing it’s job.
That being said, we certainly don’t want to miss out on any opportunity to make our visitors’ web experience the best we can make it. While we’re certain that a blog site is the right choice for Grace Leigh Photography, I’m open to the idea of having a dedicated “Portfolio” site in addition to the main blog site. Ever since discovering ShowIt Sites this past summer, I’ve wondered if this was a service that we’d want to have for our business. I’m definitely still interested in the consideration and would welcome thoughts on whether or not it would be worthwhile to have this. Ultimately, our clients need to be able to visit our website and immediately be able to click on the information they want to get at, be it images or content. I think our site now does just that but a few more bells and whistles may not hurt. I’m all for having a finely crafted and sophisticated website with Flash and slideshows and music and the whole works. But my honest opinion is that all of those goodies will not get us any more clients than the next photographer trying to make it in this incredibly saturated industry. In fact, having a personal, open, honest blog won’t get us any more clients either if no one is visiting our site to begin with.
So that brings us to our next and probably biggest project so far. *take a deep breath* SEO, Marketing, and Advertising. Oh my soul. Having finally gotten to a place where we feel like our portfolio is a good representation of our work, and having nailed down a direction we’re almost positive we want to go in with our brand/design/style/etc., NOW is the time to throw all of our energy into marketing our business. No holds barred. Full out. All in. Buck wild. Ape kapowy. We are THERE and YOU are going to be along for the ride with us.
If you have any thoughts, please share them with us in the comments section below. You really aren’t going to offend us with your opinions. We will either be inspired to try something new or even more resolute that we’re making the right decisions. So, win-win.
