Day 2: Something I Wore Today

I didn't want this to be about shoes or clothes or my new glasses.  I picked three things that mean a lot to me.  I chose my engagement/ wedding ring, my pearls and a flower I put in my hair by whim while I was out walking the dog.

This is a bit self explainatory- I would hope.  Something I wore today and something I have worn every day since we were married is my beautiful wedding ring.  Even when I was swollen so bad while I was pregnant that I couldn't get it on my finger I wore it around my neck on a string of pearls.  David put a lot of thought in to my ring and picked this one because he knew it was perfect.  The inside of the band is inscribed LOVE and the O is a diamond.  It is a kind of our little thing because just looking at it you would have no idea it was in there. I was so thrilled by it and I had to take the ring off every time I someone new seen it to show them the LOVE inside.

The pearls here are my pearls I bought when I was in Okinawa with David our first week *together* as a couple.  I bought matching necklaces for a few other people in my life who mean a lot to me.  (Even Ms. Adela- and I miss you very much.)  My first set of pearls was from my Mom and I wear them more than any other set I own.  She has given me tons of jewelry and I have lost so much but my pearls mean the world to me.  I won't wear a chain necklace.  I have about six sets of pearls and if I want to wear something I pick a set depending on how I am dressed.  My Mom taught me that classic beauty can never be overshaddowed by flashy and it has really stuck with me. 

The lily I actually picked and put in to my hair earlier today so it is looking a bit ragged now.  I photographed the lily in the photo because it reminded me of the simple things in life like being a kid.  My Mom would help me pick flowers in the morning to put in my hair before school.  I really miss my childhood and I am thankful for the memories that I still have.  Every once in a while I will still stick a flower in my pony tail or clip one in because it reminds me of my mornings with my Mom.

Day 1- Self Portrait

The first challenge is a self portrait.  A lot of people who work behind the camera aren't as fond of being in FRONT of the camera.  Being one of those people I put myself BEHIND a camera before I got in front of another one.  This is ME.  This is who I am.  Photography is a passion to me and it burns inside of me and it has since I was a very little kid.  I am fortunate that I have been able to work in a field which I love so very much. 

If I would have picked something else to show who I am my second choice would have been a photo of me sitting in the rocking chair holding my son with the light coming in from the window beside me highlighting just enough to see that I have my baby pulled to my chest.  Kind of reminiscint of the Grandma in the Rocking chair photo!  (I know the name of the photo and the artist and my mind is failing me now.) My son is just to wild to accomplish that today. 

This camera was a gift to me from my Grandma.  My Grandpa bought it shortly before he passed away and never had a chance to use it.  It is in beautiful condition and still works very well.  I cannot wait until I have the facilities so that I can use it and show my son how to use it.  It is a Graflex Speed Graphic camera.  It is definitely one of my favorites in my collection of antique cameras- right up there with my Yashica twin lens and my box camera that is over 100 years old. <3

30 Day Photo Challenge

Info here :) I will add this later <3

Spouses of Deployed Service Members Group Photography Session

www.facebook.com/aascottphotography

The winner of this session will not be one individual person but the entire group of spouses of deployed service members you are associated with.  This will take some team work.  Share in your group so that each person can participate and help win.

Rules:
*  Share my page and have your friends "Like" my page.
*  Make sure that you friends post on my wall letting me know who they are representing!
*  No negativity towards other posts.
*  This is for spouses of deployed service members ONLY.


This is an example of how this works:
I am affiliated with 2/6.  I encourage my friends to "Like" AA Scott Photography's Facebook page.  When they like it they write on the wall letting me know who they are representing.  For example "New like from 2/6!".  You can have other people outside of your group also represent your group (your friends, family etc.).  The session will be for spouses of deployed service members of the group that wins.  While our guys are deployed we meet at least once a month.  While they were training I set up and took portraits for Father's Day with the permission of the FRO.  (Samples below)

What you win:

I will set up at a group get together and photograph anyone who is interested in having their portrait taken.  I will have short forms so that I can keep track of everyone I photograph.  Each form will also have a spot for your spouse's address- this is so that the portraits can be shared with them.  If children are photographed the portraits will all be combined in a composite portrait if a group photo is not taken.  I will ship each service member a portrait from our session!  The images will also be uploaded in high resolution to my Facebook page and available for download.  I do ask for a small donation per family.  The donations go to providing portraits to our deployed service members.

The winner will be announced on July 15, 2011! 

You will have up to two months to complete the session! 

Portrait or Homecoming Session Nomination

There are a ton of reasons someone may or may not be able to have quality portraits done.  If you know someone that deserves beautiful quality portraits or their loved one is about to come home from a deployment nominate them for a FREE photography session!  List the person on my photography page or in the comments to this post with why you think they deserve the session and which one you are nominating them for!  Please list an e-mail address so I can contact notify the winner!  I will repost all of the comments from my FB page on the comments here to keep track of them.

Rules:

1.  You may only nominate one person.
2.  You must "Like" my page to enter. 
3.  Please refrain from any negative comments towards other people who have entered.


I will choose the winner using a random selection tool online.  The winner will be selected on July 15 by e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond or another will be picked.

Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange was a photographer most notable for her works during the depression era.  Her images are very powerful and show the plight of the American people.  Her most notable image from this period is titled "Migrant Mother" and is an image of a destitute woman with her children huddled near her.  While the story behind the photograph my be embellished the tone certainly wasn't.  The photograph is the most iconic image of the Great Depression.  (The woman featured in the photo was also very unhappy over its use).  Her other photographs through California's tent cities and Hoovervilles speak to you.  You can feel the anguish the subjects are feeling.  The children have dirty faces, the parents are overworked and underpaid and still cannot provide for their families.  It is SEEING John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath in black and white for yourself.

Some pretty awesome facts about Lange- she co-founded Aperature magazine!  One of the TOP photography magazines.  She also was invited by Ansel Adams to be a faculty member of the California School of Fine Arts (two others on my list joined her there- Cunningham and White).

One of the most awesome things about her Great Depression era photographs is they were taken with a 4x5 Graflex camera VERY similar to the one by my logo that belonged to my Grandfather that my Grandma gave me for my 21st birthday!!

This is my imitation image.  The subject is my son James.  He is not actually dirty- this is a texture that was added in post processing.  I added film grain for an added touch.  Although this does not have the feel of photo journalism it still speaks to me much the same way Lange's images do.  I am very glad that it was not taken under the same circumstance.

Imitation- The Most Sincere Form of Flattery

I am starting a project called Imitation... I plan on creating photographs in the likeness of the style of some of my favorite photographers.  These photographers have not only made an impact on my life but the lives of many others as well.  The images will not necessarily be recreations of their images.  My intention is to have the same feel as the photographer I am imitating.  I work a lot with children so some of the portraits may actually use models who are much younger than the subjects in the photographs I am basing my work off of.  I am absolutely not making a joke out of the original works.  I want to be very clear some of the images are very powerful and I am by no means taking the statement the image makes lightly.

Some of the photographers I intend to imitate are:
Dorthea Lange
Ansel Adams
Harold Edgerton
Lewis Hine
Alfred Eisenstaedt
Imogen Cunningham
Elliot Erwitt
George Hurrell
Annie Leibovitz
Anne Geddes
Robert Mapplethorpe (Still life)
Edward Weston

This seems to be a pretty complete list.  I am missing one Western photographer and as soon as I can remember his name I will add him to the list.  There are three women on this list and each of them brings a different tone to the mix.  There is a little bit of everything from classical Adams to the often jarring images produced by Mapplethorpe- which is why I am sticking to his still life images.