Testy Tuesday

Happy Tuesday all of you lovely readers!!!!! Unfortunately the weather here feels more like winter than it does summer, however, we in this lonely state must keep our heads up and soldier on. Summer has to come eventually right? :)

Anyways, this post was supposed to be called  Moo-Card Monday, but I was ill yesterday and therefore had to rename the post Testy Tuesday in honor of the rather interesting weather. Anyways, my business cards came!!!! I ordered them from this lovely little company on Moo.com, I would recommend it to anyone looking for custom designed cards!!! They are fabulous! I ordered the mini cards because I thought they would be easier to store and give to people, but I am defiantly considering getting some regular sized cards as well. I absolutely love everything about the cards :) and I can't wait to start giving them out to people!

On another note, more photos from my shoot with Brianna from last week will eventually be posted, I promise. I have been crazy busy working on multiple projects, so I apologize for my lack of activity recently! I have missed you all!! :)

I hope you all have fantabulous weeks and will be updating again soon!! Also, I'm hoping to (finally) get to more of my pictures from EUROPE!!! :D I'm super excited about that!!!

P.S. This week is my fiance and my anniversary :)... oh yeah, I got engaged as well ;) :D  sorry for the lack of sharing, I'm careful about my personal life, but hopefully I'll have pictures of my rings (multiple) for you all soon :P

P.P.S. Anyways, I'm super excited about our anniversary :) and I wanted to share my excitement :) I wish you all happiness and warm weather :)

Wondering Wednesday

Someone once told me that self portraits were the purest form of emotion in photography. They could only capture who you were at that moment or who you were attempting to be. I am not sure I agree with this philosophy, especially since I tend to use others in my photos as well as myself, however today I thought I would ponder this statement as it refers to my art.

As I go back over my self portraits I am forced to agree that the level of beauty in my self-portraits does reflect my own personal struggles and my growth as a human as well as as a photographer. However, I am forced to wonder if I notice these differences because I remember the strife and growth that accompanied them. What do you see, dear reader, when you look at my portraits? What have I told you about myself through my images? Do I communicate effectively? Do you feel like you can relate? or do they say nothing at all? Please feel free to comment below, or if you don't feel comfortable doing so send, send me a message.

Of course I leave you with these two image below, which were taken at a wedding I attended yesterday. I suffered greatly when taking these images, for I was in a field that turned out to be infested by ticks. Unfortunately for me, I am terrified of ticks. My best friend calls it a phobia. Let's just say this adventure ended in tears (my own) and a huge swarm of ticks on my shoes. I swear that they were attacking me... I had ten on my shoe one time :O :'( !!!! I had a panic attack, but my best friend saved me and carried me to safety :) So scary adventure ended happily and some lovely shots were taken :)

I hope you all have a lovely Wednesday!!! :D

Fantabulous Friday

The kindness of people astounds me. I am constantly thankful and grateful for the love and support I have been given. It is your kindness, dear reader, that renews my hope in this world and challenges me to become a better photographer as well as a better person. Thank you so much for your support, for your continuing kindness, and for your faith in me and in my work.  Every time someone says something evil, rude, and cruel I know that I can look to you for a renewal of faith.

Recently I have been forced to notice the mindless cruelty that lies within so many people in society today. Male, female, it doesn't seem to matter. The values of decency and of selflessness sometimes seem to have disappeared from the hearts of so many, it leaves me feeling groundless and a little lost. I can't even fathom the mindset that the harsh words and thoughtless actions belong too, and every time I encounter it, it leaves me feeling breathless, as if someone sucker-punched me and left me lying on the ground gasping for air.

However, it is that cruelty that reminds me how grateful I am for the kindness I find in most people. It strengthens my resolve to improve my own faults, and reminds me how my follies affect those around me. I am not perfect, I am flawed, bent, a little wild, but I am trying. I don't think it is bad to want to be kind to those around you. I don't think it is wrong to search for good, to desire to incorporate kindness and love into your life. I adore you, my lovely readers, and I need your support now more than ever. Please remember that I appreciate every single one of you, and I truly mean it when I say that I hope you all have had fabulous Fridays.

-AK

Merry Monday!

Hey everyone, hope you are having a fantastic finals week (for those of us still doing finals) and a great first week of freedom for those who are no longer sitting in classes! I just wanted to take a moment and share some Monday Gladness by telling you all that I have a new website!! :D I just finished it this weekend (putting my poor health to good use, haha) and I'm really excited to share it with all of you! Please feel free to click here and enjoy!!

This is a Merry Monday photo for you all as well! Meet one of my dear friends, who we will call S, that agreed to do a co-shoot with Autumn Wilson and I. In case you haven't heard of her, Autumn is an AMAZING fashion and portrait photographer who lives in a city and hour from my hometown. If you haven't already seen her work, check it out here on her facebook fan page! This shoot was my first with artificial lights and a studio setting, and Autumn was amazingly patient and kind to me. She answered all of my questions evenly and without irritation and she even offered some ideas and helpful tips of her own.

Well everyone, I have to run, I have a chemistry final to study for! (YIKES) Wish me luck lovelies and keep having a very merry Monday! :D

Sunny Sunday

 

Hey everyone, happy Sunny Sunday!! I wish it was sunny in my hometown right now, but it isn't. We got a snowstorm last night, one that I'm labeling the May 1st Blizzard. I swear it was seventy last week. Got to love the weather here!! 

Well to ward away the winter bug and to hopefully brighten your day a little bit, I am sharing this image from a shoot I did with Mitch and Molli back in January (I believe). I really enjoyed shooting them, they were a really funny pair and their chemistry was amazing together! :) 

You can find more of these images on my flickr or on my facebook :) the links to those pages are on the right-hand side of the page.

Love you all so much for your support! I'm so excited about the future right now I can't even begin to tell you! 

When all is said and done, the weather and love are two elements about which one can never be sure

~ Alice Hoffman