April 12th, 2012
It’s raining here in Utah. I hope it’s warm in sunny wherever you are.
Speaking of warm and sunny… have I mentioned that we are leaving TOMORROW for the GOLDEN STATE? :D I mean… Arizona! AND THEN the Golden State.
We’re hitting the Grand Canyon on our way down. I’m totally excited to see this massive hole in the ground.
Speaking of excitement… I’m also excited to use my new, errr bag. I even pulled out my camera for the first time in forever.
Can you guess what it is? No? This should help…
Tote & Shoot!
I’m totally a loyal Shootsac customer. Shootsac is great for being ON a shoot, not so great for traveling. My poor camera has seen the inside of my purse for much too long. I know, I’m a bad camera-owner. So maybe I’ll do a review on the Tote & Shoot’s travel capabilities when I get back. Maybe. :)
Do me a favor Utah citizens… pull out your fancy rain boots today and stomp some puddles for me, yes?
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March 7th, 2012
Last week I introduced you to Anita from Occupy the Wardrobe, a unique fashion blog. In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, check out my last post.
This week’s theme is Black and White, check out Anita’s post on Occupy the Wardrobe here. The second outfit in that post, stunning right?
Anyway, right before we got started, I caught a gorgeous reflection bouncing off of a window and couldn’t pass up the chance to photograph her backlit.
And before I get distracted again, here are the rest of the photos…
The best thing about shooting with Anita is how comfortable and confident she is in front of the camera. It shows right? :D
If you’re on twitter, be sure to follow @anitaboeira and @occupywardrobe!
Cheers! And maybe some time this week I’ll finally get to that WPPI post. Maybe.
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February 29th, 2012
Occupy the Wardrobe is a unique fashion blog comprised of 4 girls. Each week the girls have a theme and come up with outfits and display said theme on the blog. The catch is that they have to use what they already have in their closets because for 2012 they took a NO SHOPPING FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR pledge! I know. No new shoes/jewelry/accessories… zip! Pretty nuts, eh? All of the girls are based in Brazíl (which is why their posts are written in both English and Portuguese). Except one…
Enter Anita.
Anita is based here in Salt Lake City, UT. So when she approached me to snap a few photos for Occupy the Wardrobe I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
This is look #1 of 3 that we shot together. The theme this week is the “oldest thing in your closet”, check out the blogpost.
If you are on Twitter you should follow her: Twitter.com/anitaboeira
What’s the oldest thing in your closet?
Happy Leap Day!
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February 14th, 2012
Last week we went to the Museum of Ancient Life in Provo, Utah. If you ever come to Utah or live here and have never been, you must make a stop and visit the dinosaurs. It is seriously cool. Just promise you won’t see any of the 3D movies. Two thumbs down.
Here are just a few photos of our visit:
Our boy is saving up his coins so we can take pictures in the photobooth so we’ll be going again soon. :)
Happy Tuesday!
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February 3rd, 2012
Been in a weird place this week and hoping something awesome strikes me this weekend. Looking for a bit of inspiration.
Until then…
I’ll be on Instagram, my name is findmimi (duh!). Come find me, me. :)
Have a great weekend!
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January 31st, 2012
This month I have:
*Read 3 books:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (See my review here.)
Unbearable Lightness by Portia De Rossi (See my review here.)
Perfection by Julie Metz — A memoir about a woman who becomes a widow when her husband dies in her arms on the kitchen floor, AND THEN finding out about her husband’s secret life after his death. Gripping, perfectly written, and at times a bit crass. It is real life in words. Two thumbs up!
*Begun sewing an item of clothing
*Ordered 3/10 foods I wouldn’t have normally ordered (The Thai Crunch at CPK is to die for!)
*2/30 {especially} nice things for Rustin (When I was having a bad day too, bonus points right?)
*Out of PJ’s for 23 days
Wow. I didn’t cross a single thing off my list. Guess I gotta really work February.
Cheers!
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January 24th, 2012
Take a photo when you feel something.
I stand in a safe place looking out at you Universe. Today, you are mean. You are ruthless. You are not my friend.
I will stay here until your miserable wave of astounding cruelty has passed.
I wait here, in the shadows.
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January 20th, 2012
A friend and I used to shoot models together. It was one of my very first shoots with a model when I saw another photographer wrapping up a shoot with a couple who were clearly getting their engagements done.
We were in an alley and I watched her pull out her business card and hand it to them. I watched and listened, eager to learn some trade secrets, how she talked to them, what she wore. It was the other photographer’s turn with the model so I left them and sauntered over to the “pro” to chat with her, to pick her brain a bit.
I’m sure I sounded like an idiot, because I remember the look she gave me… like I was an idiot. But still, I asked questions and listened. She put her stuff in her car as she spoke to me, clearly feeling a bit sorry for me and eager to help me in any way she could. I was that girl. I was pathetic and she knew it. I was one of those photographers that I’d been reading about, the kind that are threatening the livelihood of the real artists, the ones that are actually getting paid.
She said something to me that changed the way I wanted to proceed with photography… with my blog.
She told me to appear as though I’m always busy. To shoot anyone and post it on my website. She alluded that the appearance of success would garner business.
She then handed me her business card with a smile and told me that if I ever needed any more advice to please contact her. I was touched by her willingness to take pity on me. To help me.
But when I got home and pulled up her website I knew that unless I worked really hard to constantly be better I wouldn’t be, regardless of what illusion I was displaying on my little piece of internet real estate; I knew the truth. She was good. She was really, really good. And I knew that business must have been going well for her, that there must have been some truth to her advice if she was shooting as often as she was. With real people. Not models, like me.
I couldn’t do it. That wasn’t the way I wanted to run my business. I was not in the business of deceiving. After that, I got into the business of learning, of being better than I was yesterday. Of finding the true meaning of success. I wanted to shoot and to display my work for me, so that I could look back and see how far I’d come. I wanted to be able to go back to day 1 and read through my embarrassing moments, no matter how lame I was.
Maybe she was right, though. Maybe this is why I am not as busy as I’d like to be. Maybe if I had pretended to be more successful than I actually was, I would (now) be more successful. Maybe I would be a real photographer if I had taken her advice.
Thing is, I would rather be a hobbyist who is real than a professional who is alluding to success. I would feel worse knowing that I was a phony. (Even though I still feel like I’m faking it most of the time.)
I make no bones about it, there are plenty of photographers who are better than me and if you want a solid recommendation for one I’ve got a few names for you. But if you’re looking for someone to be friends with, someone who truly cares about you and takes you on because I WANT TO, to fix your hair when it gets in the way…
If you’re looking for someone who works really hard, then you should contact me.
There are plenty of photographers who are better than me. But I swear, I’m more fun. ;)
Hope your Friday is short and sweet. Cheers!
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January 11th, 2012
K, y’all! Because we’re having a few more family photos taken this weekend, I thought it would be appropriate to do a makeup tutorial specifically for photos. But please take note: I am no makeup artist. I simply love makeup. Which means, I’m just a schmuck who can fake it. So if you’re a schmuck like me, you can fake it too! :D
There are a few tricks to get your makeup to stand out especially for photos. The look I’m doing today is a play on stage makeup, but take out the theatrics and this could be a cute look for a girl’s night out or a date!
Here’s a neat eye diagram
Start with a primer on your eyes. It will keep the eyeshadow from fading and make the colors pop a bit. You can use it on your lids and even on your under eye before you conceal.
With your finger, use shimmery silver and apply it to the lid (from mid-lid to inner lid). Then with a white shadow, highlight your brow bone and your tear duct (this isn’t on the diagram, it’s the spot between your eyes and your nose).
This is the fun part. Take a black eye pencil and line just above your crease. This creates the illusion of a deeper crease. I’ve only done this over the eyeshadow, but I’m pretty sure you can do this before and come back with pleasant results.
It’s ok if the line doesn’t come out perfectly. Blend that sucker with a good blending brush. If you know you probably won’t be looking down a whole lot (like me here) don’t blend it too much… BUT if you’re doing family photos you might want to blend it a little bit more so that line isn’t so THERE! Just keep blending, it’ll ease up a bit. :)
If you’re comfy wearing eyelashes, do! The Sonia Kashuk eyelashes (which is what I’m wearing here) are pretty inexpensive and look natural. I cut one in half and applied a half to the outside of my lid for an even more natural look.
Here I used a liquid eyeliner staying as close as possible to the lashes, and then barely flared it out on the ends.
Then I went in with a black eye pencil and used it on my upper outer waterline, and the lower waterline.
Take that mascara and apply it to to both the upper and lower lashes. If you’re using falsies you’ll want to curl your realsies so that it doesn’t look like you have two rows of lashes. :) Although, if someone notices they’re probably standing a little too close anyway.
Highlight! If you have a fancy highlight, great! If not just use a white shadow (which is what I used here), works the same way. Think of highlighting as illuminating the places on your face that (literally) stand out. So the forehead, the tops of your cheeks, your chin, the tip of your nose. This gives your skin the illusion of a wonderful glow.
The picture here is right before I blended out my highlight.
Contouring is a super fun way to basically change the entire shape of your face. You can basically re-sculpt your face with just highlighting and contouring. Here though, I’m just doing an exaggerated version of what I normally do when I contour. Use a matte color that is in the brown tones; no orange-y shimmery bronzers! Think of contouring as shading, when have you seen a shadow that is orange and shimmery? Exaaaaactly! If you don’t have a fancy contour, just use a brown eyeshadow which is what I did. I used one that was about 3 shades darker than my skin tone.
Because I’m going for exaggeration, I took a fan brush and made a line right under my cheekbones and dragged it down a bit. Then make a fishy face, and right where your face sucks in, go in and make another blunt line right in there. Blend it (using upward strokes toward the first line), but not too much, we want it to stand out. Contour your temples, a *little* on the sides of your forehead, and the sides of your nose. DON’T go around the edges of your entire face! Think about it, are there shadows all along your hairline? Just go about where you have natural shadows and where you want to create depth.
Ready to lose 5 lbs? Take that contour and, starting right under your earlobes, trace your jawline. Ta da! Apply your blush to the apples of your cheeks.
Now lips!
Take that primer we talked about earlier and dab it on your lips. Didn’t think you could use primer on your lips did ya? :D Smear it all over your lips, then apply your foundation over. This will create blank canvas for that beautiful color we’re about to apply.
I used a lip stain. Lip stains tend to work best when you exfoliate your lips, they’re very drying so it’s best to use some lip balm over top.
There’s no fancy technique here. Line the lips, and put the stuff on. Go back after it dries a bit and go over the edges to create a bit of depth. You can also use a lip liner! I just don’t have a pink one. :(
And presto! You’re ready for the camera! This is the part where you practice modeling in the mirror.
There’s the angry pouty model…
The Tyra model. (Careful though, this has the potential of making your eye muscles spazz-out and lock. If this happens just take a cold compress to your eyes. And never attempt to Smize again. Also… don’t go out in public like this, you’ll scare the children.)
And work.
Cheers!
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January 4th, 2012
Hilarious. Lovely. Energetic. FUN. Smart. Talented. Beautiful. All words I would use to describe this family. A mother’s wish for their child is for them to be successful, kind, and happy. To have all 4 of your children be those things and more is an A+ on the Parent Test. AND THEN, to have them marry successful, talented, smart and beautiful people is an A+++ and a home run.
Mary, I have absolutely loved getting to know you through this process. I hope you’ve had a chance to relax (*hint hint*) after planning a photo session IN THE MIDDLE of the holiday season… you definitely deserve it. I’m so, so, so grateful for the chance to have photographed your beautiful family. Quite honestly, it was one of the best times I’ve had. Thank you, thank you!
Handsome, right?
Fierce, right?
Cute, right?
Seriously adorable… right?
And because I’m a sucker for natural smiles…
I had a hard time choosing photos for this post, so please CHECK OUT THE SLIDESHOW to see more of this lovely family!
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