My Favorite Thing at WPPI Wed. February 24, 2010 my life
WPPI.
Yes, it's a photography convention, but aside from that, it's also where I have made SO many friends and connections over the years. I remember going when i was 19 or 20 and an associate for a studio back in North Carolina. I went for the classes and the tradeshow--I didn't know anyone to be able to get into any of the parties, so it was pretty much an all-learning, all the time trip for me.
BORING!
In 2004, I met Becker, and subsequently received an invite to the Annual [ b ] party, which quickly became my favorite part of any WPPI! At the time it was held in a small hotel room, and would get busted an hour or two after starting. Still, good times.
This is me with my NC girls, Julie and Stephanie. We met Joe photo and we're each rocking a pair of his sunglasses (he has a HUGE collection):
As time went on, the parties got bigger and bigger, graduating to an L Suite at The Hotel! I think this was 2006, and the people in this photo are David Jay, me, Jules Bianchi, Shyla, Kristin Renee, Liana Banana, and Sara France. You can't tell, but Liana and I are both wearing sweatpants in this photo--we were SO exhausted!
The same year, me with Jaclyn, Jen Bebb, and Jen Dery:
Now that Becker is running his own school, the party has sized out of hotel rooms and graduated to a HUGE space to make more fun for everyone! This is so awesome because now you can go even if you don't know another soul going!
Because of this, it has also taken on a ridiculous expense, thus the ticket charge. But trust me, if there is ONE SINGLE THING not to miss this year, it is this party!
Just click on the poster below to sign in to hang with us:
I hope that you all sign up to go, and that it becomes YOUR favorite thing at WPPI as it is mine!
CONTEST!!
I will be giving away TWO FREE TICKETS TO THE B PARTY to someone who joins the SHOOTSAC FAN PAGE between now and MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!! Make sure to leave a comment on the wall or here in this post to let me know that you joined!!
February 4: Thursday Thoughts With Jessica Claire Thu. February 4, 2010 my life
Happy Thursday everyone! A place where I will recap the events of the past week. However considering I only blog a few times a week, I may relegate Thursday thoughts to the last Thursday of the month henceforth to avoid what happened last week where I didn't do any posts in between Thursdays. That was utterly shameful. SHAME!
Okay, enough shame. I'll start with what's happening today.
You might notice that I never post videos here--I do not like the way I look in videos! However, I will be chatting LIVE today with Becker on The B School Study hall--you can go over there, log in with your twitter name and ask us questions! Here's the skinny:
Don't let me show up there and have nobody to chat with --that would be awkward!
This has been a very interesting week on a few fronts. It's been an up and down week, with lots of highs and lows. It's easy to blog "Thursday Thoughts" on weeks when everything is great, but it's a little bit harder on weeks that take more of a downturn. I could write here all about how everything is pretty and sparkly, but everything isn't all the time, so this is what you get this week :)
I think everyone has those times where things just don't seem to be going our way--it can be big things or little, but it really just amounts to feeling like you're running up against a brick wall. Normally, I would chalk this up to other people being jerks, but sometimes you just have to face the truth--sometimes it is your own fault.
Once you realize this, you have two choices:
1. Pretend that it is somebody else's fault and keep on doing the things that aren't working, or
2. Take responsibility even though it feels like a punch in the face and change your actions to avoid future painful situations
I chose "2" this time. I've been slinking around with my tail between my legs ever since, knowing that my own actions have caused a disruption in my life. I know it was the right decision because I felt better almost immediately and also because I started to see a change almost immediately. Also because I didn't feel a desperate urge to run out and consume as many cupcakes as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.
And because this part of my week was such a bummer, here are a couple of photos from a shoot that make me happy:
As the week progressed, it did improve! My brother & sister-in-law, Michael and Cyndie have gotten really into cooking and made us the most delicious meal last week along with some of our closest friends. The only thing better than knowing how to cook that way yourself is knowing other people who love to cook that way and are willing to let us be guinea pigs. They could probably serve guinea pig and it would be delicious (I know ya'll are adventurous, but please don't!).
The Grammy's: Don't care. Except how did Taylor Swift win for album of the year?! I think she's so pretty, and a good singer, and a talented writer especially for her age, but album of the year? Really?
Favorite new website: WWW.WHERESTHEDOUCHE.COM. Absolutely hilarious, and I love that submissions are requested. One girl sent in a pic of her stepdad--I'm just waiting for someone to send in photos of someone that I actually know!
One of the things that Jeff and I love to do with friends is play games! A few times this past week we had dinner with friends and then played games until our eyes hurt. My new favorite game is Rummikub--it requires just enough brainpower to make it interesting but not enough to make me want to throw the tiles off the table. It's a fine line!
My favorite thing that I did this past week was a shoot up in the snow. This shoot will be featured on SMP next week so I can't post it just yet, but I will share one of my favorite photos. Special thanks to Jesi Haack for pulling a fab team together for this shoot, which I will tell you all about in a full post. For now, here is a shot I love:
Thought of the week--what is the best color combination for a spring/summer wedding?
Portrait of a first birthday Sun. September 20, 2009 people
These are are the things I know about Larkin, Age 1:
1. She has a hot momma:
2. She has a loving and talented dad (he's the one who BUILT AND CONSTRUCTED the wall in this photos. If you need ANY construction done of any kind, he could probably build a house from scratch. next week. by himself. email him at jaren.nuzman@gmail.com. Seriously, crown molding, custom work, you name it.
3. She absolutely adores her big brother (and vice versa):
4. She is trusting, inquisitive, vulnerable and confident:
5. She fits in perfectly with her family (and she is lucky that I am a photographer, not a videographer. for that matter, so are you--the whining emitting from this beautiful child during this part of the shoot might disrupt your viewing)
6. She loves sparkly things:
7. She always has fun!
8. She is a good sport:
(no babies were harmed for this photo, but a cake will never be the same. Kamee and I have a running joke about how Larkin would make a great cake topper for my wedding cake, so we decided to try it out just to make sure she'd work out. she did.)
Extreme Home Makeover: Jessica Claire Edition Tue. September 1, 2009 my life
I've been in business over 10 years now. One of my goals, or maybe not so much goals but desires, has been to have a meeting space that really represents myself and my brand. I want every bride, groom, photographer, friend, or person who comes into my space to know immediately that it is mine.
I've lived in Ladera Ranch for three years, and shortly after I moved here, I became aware of the section of housing that is zoned for both commercial and residential. These homes have office space attached to the house but with a completely separate entrance and zoned for business use. I always thought it would be the perfect area for my lifestyle, but the houses in this section do not come available very often.
When Jeff and I got engaged, we were originally thinking the he'd just move into my place after the wedding, because I had a townhouse in Ladera that was pretty nice, and his lease on his apartment was up in December anyway. The more we thought about it though, the more we realized that we'd prefer a fresh start, a new house that we could move into together and make our own! I drive around this area all the time and know all the listings on the market so when a new one comes up, if it's in a section of the neighborhood I might be interested in, I try to see it right away. I found this one through another listing--this one actually wasn't even for rent yet, but the owners were willing to do this if the right person came along. When we saw the house, we were in love at first sight, and when I saw the office, I was smitten! It didn't seem like much at the time (pics coming), but I knew it had potential.
Over the last three days, I have had a ton of work done to the new office, and I might say, the transformation is quite dramatic! It's NOT COMPLETE YET--it still needs real furniture, more furniture, lighting, window treatments, and a bunch of other stuff, but it's well on it's way.
Here is what the place looked like when I found it (these photos are from the online listing). My arrows were to tell Jaren (more about Jaren in a second) where the "AWESOME WALL" was going to go. I had already decided that I wanted one wall of the office to be a real showpiece and the focal point of the room.
(**obviously, i didn't shoot these photos, they were on the agency site when I found the house**
Now for the good stuff. This is the angle facing the largest part of the office, in the open space I plan on using for client meetings and for workshops:
This is the opposite view, of the smaller office area that I plan on using either as a workstation or a really cool, comfy lounge and shooting space (most likely lounge and shooting space):
A closer view of the "awesome wall" wall:
Once the owners moved out, I was able to take some photos of the empty space. The carpet was an industrial nubbly brown:
Here the view from the front of the room facing towards the lounge/shooting space area in the back:
View from the stairs facing the future awesome wall:
And now (dramatic pause, please...) the (somewhat) finished product! I decided to go with white walls and black crown moldings and baseboards for a clean space with lots of contrast. I'll be adding black and white roman shades in the next few weeks also.
The green chairs I used to love so much no longer match--if you want to buy them, email me at blog@jessicaclaire.net:
The grey loveseat, pillow, and coffee tables are Ikea (those tables were $7.99!! I will be getting real furniture at some point, but this looks cool for now:
My green wall! I can shoot here, hang out on some couches and chairs I'll put back here, and I'll likely add a desk at some point as well. The frames were originally brown and cracked, but I refinished them with white glossy paint:
Now for the awesome wall. So I have this friend Jaren, who is absolutely amazing at construction. He's a construction manager for a major homebuilder full time, but takes on projects on his own from time to time. I've wanted him to do something for me for the longest time, but I have never had space before.
When he asked me what I wanted, I told him I wanted an entire wall that looked like this:
He told me I was smoking crack, which I clearly was. But at the end of the day, this is what I got:
Another view of the AWESOME WALL:
Jaren painstakingly constructed each of these squares precisely and meticulously. I've never seen anyone put as much attention into the details as I did when I watched Jaren work. He worked for three days from 7am to 2am in the hottest weather OC's seen in a long time and barely took breaks. Before you tell me I'm a slave driver, I begged him to stop. But once he got going, he wasn't going to leave one second before it was perfect.
Check out the detail:
If anything was even a millimeter off, the whole wall would have looked like a mess. He had to redo the first few squares so many times, it was insane.
He (along with Jeff, my fiancee and excellent helper) also installed all the moldings along the ceiling.
If anyone out there needs ANY KIND OF CONSTRUCTION DONE AT ALL, moldings, chair rails, wainscoting, seriously--anything, you should run, don't walk, but run to send Jaren an email. He can do anything you can dream up, either while on crack or otherwise. You can reach him at jaren.nuzman@gmail.com. He is truly a carpentry artist.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my little tour! I had my first new wedding client meeting here yesterday and I bought some new green shoes to match. If you are getting married in the future, I'd love for you to come over and meet with me here any time.
Next, I'll talk about decorating the living room :)
Serena & Jeremy's Wedding! Tue. April 15, 2008 i do
As a photographer, I get a very close, if limited view of many different couples and their relationship. I am around people on one of the most intimate days of their lives, and it tends to bring people to a different level almost immediately. One of the things that impressed me about Serena & Jeremy's relationship right off the bat, I'm not sure Serena even knows. They came in to meet with me and decided to book me. They selected one of my lower packages, figuring that they'd work out the details of upgrades and all that later on. Well, sometime in between that meeting and the actual contract signing, Jeremy came back to me and chose a larger package and said, "That's the one we really want and I just don't want Serena to have to worry about anything". It may seem like a simple statement, but it said so much. He's looking out for her even when she doesn't know it, and he just wants to give her what she wants. I found that so sweet and endearing.
The wedding day was like Serena--beautiful, casual, personal, and relaxed. Although they had over 800 guests at the church and at least 500 at the reception at Union station, they somehow managed to give their wedding an intimate feel, and it never seemed overwhelming with all the people at all. It was hot--90 degrees at least, but Serena and Jeremy were cool as can be.
There were TONS of photos I wanted to blog, but I've settled for just posting a few and putting a gallery of my favorite 65 or so down below. Definitely take the time to look through them--our walk through Chinatown was awesome! The slideshow is at the VERY END of this post.
Serena & Jeremy, I hope you are having a wonderful time in the Cook Islands and you are not looking at this entry till you're back on American soil :)
Jeremy's casual Chuck Taylors:
Serena with her less comfortable but oh-so-hot RED shoes! My friend Beth says you can never have a bad day when you're wearing red shoes:
I wanted to make a couple of very simple portraits:
Okay, I had the guys lift Jeremy up so I could get a shot of his shoes, which they did. Then JOKINGLY I told them to toss him in the air, and they actually did it! I love obedient men :)
I was going to shoot the whole bridal party here, but when the boys filled in first, I had to grab a shot of just them. They looked so cute in their matching shoes:
Serena about to get married!
Jeremy was excited too:
I LOVE this ring shot. I never do creative ring shots, but I couldn't resist this one:
Do you really think I'd pass up a bright green wall with black scrolling?
Yummy color and lanters:
We took the metro from the church to Union station and I snapped this quick one while we were waiting. It turned out to be one of my favorites!
But what kind of photographer would I be if I didn't shoot a few at the station:
First dance:
You know you're having a big wedding when you FILL union station!
Toast:
I had the absolutely honor of convincing Candice & Mark Brooke to shoot with me! They are awesome and amazing and fabulous in every way, except when they ruin my self portraits:
Aren't they cute?
Last thing before I show you the slideshow. I don't like shooting family photos and generally try to do it as quickly and casually as possible. HOWEVER, there are times when it's necessary to shoot a group church shot (like, once a year), and yes, I do know how to do this and am willing to oblige under special circumstances. I am a firm believer in knowing how to light groups and understanding the mechanics of lighting in a pinch. However, Serena and Jeremy used up my one formal session of the year so you won't see this from me again till at least next year:
**ETA--it's not that I don't do formal photos normally, I just do them very informally! Usually outside, casual, not super posed in church**
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my life
