The September Project

Starts today....

This year I've been struggling with myself on some things... Creativity being one, it seems like every photo you can think of to take someone somewhere in the world has already done it, or someone that follows your work will try to emulate it. Lord knows I've done it. I can't tell you how many times I've been blog stalking one of my fav photographers and thought, that's a cool pose I should try that out.

Yesterday I had the realization that I dislike studio work unless it's intimate. Nothing against previous clients, and not saying that I will not do this type of work, and maybe it's that I don't have a real studio to get really creative with, I just don't love it. If my studio were a rockin bedroom with amazing lights then maybe, I just find the stand in front of a backdrop and smile for the camera stuff boring. I prefer to do everything on location and on the fly!

I've recently started planning out shoots, which never works out the way I see it in my head. I plan our locations, the time we are to meet, and the poses the client should try to exicute... And well, something always happens... Fay comes and floods your location, your client has a bad back and simply can't pick up his wife the way you planned, things of that nature... so I'm back to doing things on the fly and throwing caution to the wind... Kinda, I'm still taking my idea book along incause I get stuck!

Anyway, these relizations and frustrations lead me to realize something... I ONLY pick up my camera when I have a JOB... This was SOOOOO not the case two years ago... I would sit and take photos of my toes for entertainment if there was nothing better to do... When Fay came through I like most other good little photographers in the area went outside and snapped a few shots, I documented Linds and Wes play Jenga etc etc... and I really enoyed it... the photos didn't have to be technically correct, they didn't have to be airbrushed, no special edits, no deadline just for me....

God I hope no one reads this and thinks oh Jessica hates her job, she doesn't want to take photos anymore, or she's angry because she had to airbrush my zit away... PLEASE do not take any of this in a negative way... I LOVE my job! But, as with anything when you do to much of something it gets old, and if anything this taking this month to look at life through my lens will do nothing but further my creative eye which will make my photos ultimately better! That's the goal at least...

I wanted to start this with momentum, and get the ball rolling and post something amazing as day one. Again plan failed... I had the worst night of sleep lastnight, we re arranged the bedroom and the dogs obviously hate what we did cause they were roudy all night. Wes even moved to the spare bedroom to get away from them, I woke up every hour and a half ready to crate them in order to get some sleep. I got up around 7:30 groggy, and in a horrible mood.... I then mustered the strength to go to the gym and work out 20mins on the tredmill cause we were doing legs today and then weight training with the legs... which almost killed both of us... AND on top of all that our gym's AC was out due to lightning strike so it was hot, sweaty, smelly, and tons of people were there due to the holiday.

Since arriving back at the house I've placed an album order and made some food, but all in all I'm ready to go to bed... Not a good start to my project, but I'm doing it none the less! I decided to take photos of the stuff on my horribly messy desk and office so you can see what surrounds me on a daily basis....

My Micky and Mini bride and groom nicnak for lack of a better word that Wes got me on our honeymoon weekend... it sits right beside my eiffel tower lamp that I adore which my Mother got me years ago


CF cards from recent shoots that need to be formatted and go back into my shootsac for future use


Flyer I was looking at last night to give Tara some info on an upcoming seminar


My car keys... I love love love this keychain. I got it from Paxon Christian bookstore when I was around 15, before I could drive and it's been on my car keys ever since my fist car... it's one of those weird things where turned one way says one word flip it over and it says another...

The one side says In trusting Jesus, I have PEACE... turn it around and it says In Believing in Jesus, I am SAVED. I don't look at that often enough!

Behind me is a photo of Wes and I right after we were first engaged... the beautiful thing about this photo is it looks like it could have been taken yesterday, we still laugh like this.

I remember getting flack about not knowing him long enough, we were engaged 2mos after we met but those of you who know us and see us together often know that we are very much meant to be together... (my sappy moment! shoosh!!)

Not far away from that was my beloved cat Oscar, who was looking at me like I was crazy....


I stated this project would be at least 5 images per day... and I'm already at that but I've got a couple more things to share with you before I close out this blog post... Saturday AM I met up with my friend and client Priscilla who's shoot saturday was her 7th photoshoot with me in two years... I say 7th because she's done two band shoots with me... wait 8th! three band shoots one live and two promo and 5 count 'em 5 personal shoots with me!!! So this AM just out of curiosity I wanted to tally up the photos that I have of her... and on this computer and back up disks alone there are about 2035 give or take a few I got tired of counting... LOL


And I can't resist... I love this photo from our recent shoot together... she allows me to do what I want to do... I told her this time there are things I've been dying to try and she said sweet I've been wanting some different stuff!!!
I love this photo of her!!!!


OK... well that's 09-01-08...