photography | anya elise

Archives

March 29, 2012 by Anya Elise

struggles and theFIX || the business of photography

He was outnumbered 20 to 1.

The joke was, if you came here as a single man – the odds were absolutely in your favor! (No, that wasn’t a subtle nod to The Hunger Games, but if it had been now would be the time for me to tell you to go see the movie or read the book. Or better yet, both. Yes, I’m on that bandwagon. If you want to join, I’ll clear a seat for you.)

You have heard before of my inspirational track record with photographer, Jasmine Star. Well, a few weeks ago, Dan and I met her and her touring posse for, the FIX.

The crowd was distinctly female-dominant, but the message was one applicable to any photographer working in the wedding industry: we all struggle, let’s band together to fix the problems and make our businesses – and more importantly, this community – stronger.

I am lucky in that I have a partner in my business. But even so, owning your own small business is an inherently solitary endeavor. You do a lot of work from home where there aren’t coworkers surrounding you and you don’t have a lot of feedback to inspire you. As with that sentence there’s a lot of you involved.

I don’t have any sort of scientific research to back up this next claim – so fair warning – but I believe that you do your best work when you have a community to encourage you, to inspire you, to keep you accountable and to push you forward.

While Jasmine gave us a lot of practical wisdom to apply to our businesses individually, one of the biggest messages she conveyed was that there is safety in numbers. Not to sound too after-school special on y’all (I’m apparently Southern now) but we are all in this together. While we can sometimes get paranoid and feel like there isn’t enough business to go around, and that being a wedding photographer is a constant competition to get a leg up, it really, really doesn’t have to be.

So, reach out to those in your community who share your passions and encourage one another. Go on a photography adventure. Get some coffee and discuss what scares you about this business and lift each other up.

And, if you ever have the opportunity to attend a wedding photography conference or workshop, I absolutely encourage you to do so. You won’t regret it.

(Especially if you’re a single guy. I kid, I kid! Sort of…)

Archives

March 8, 2012 by Anya Elise

drawing with light || the business of photography

Photography is all about light.

If you were to look at the Greek roots of the word (oh no, this is the nerd speaking – watch out!) you get phos (light) and graphis (drawing). So: drawing with light (roughly…I never actually took Greek. I know, I know, I call myself a college graduate).

The point is, taking photographs is using light to make an image.

So what do you do when you have very little light to work with?

PANIC!!

OK, not really. You adjust your ISO, you open your aperture, you use a strobe (flash) if possible, you look at what light is available and harness it to your advantage.

When I shot the Friday Night Yoga Club last Friday, I went through a similar process. It wasn’t the easiest atmosphere to shoot in with the lights dimmed, the room packed and the use of a strobe efficiently killing the ambiance of the studio.

Conditions weren’t perfect. But: when are they ever?

Seriously. A photoshoot never goes exactly as you envision it. That’s just part of this business. You can’t let the difficulties bowl you over and debilitate you into inaction. No matter what, you have to make a shot from what is in front of you. It’s challenging, and yes can be very frustrating, but that’s the job.

I was talking to a friend of mine last weekend who had just finished shooting an assignment that proved to be just as difficult, though for different reasons.

As we were discussing these challenges, he said, “But you know, I’m going to try to stop complaining about this kind of thing. If this job (photojournalism) was easy, everyone would want to do it.”

And he was absolutely right. Pursuing this dream of being a photographer is a gift. I consider myself blessed for getting the opportunities to do this job, which frankly – more often than not – doesn’t feel like a job at all. Yes, it can be difficult and leave you feeling anxious and unsure, but if you’re willing to work through that anxiety, you end up with incredible opportunities and moments and experiences.

We each have our gifts and our dreams, and each one has its obstacles to overcome. But if it’s what you want to do, you embrace them. You own them. And that’s what makes all the difference.

Archives

February 27, 2012 by Anya Elise

about us || A&D Photography

It was incredibly windy. And not in the good, this will be great for the “model hair effect” sort of way.

And there was mud. Really sticky – cannot be avoided – mud. Throw in some equally slippery snow and you’ve got our Friday afternoon.

But, we forged ahead.

We were in the process of sprucing up our “about us” section on the A&D Photography site. And one of the biggest pieces that was missing from the “about us” page were pictures of us.

With any business – perhaps especially with a wedding photography business – it’s important to show potential clients that you aren’t a total loony. That you appear to be a respectable, happy, approachable person. After all, you will potentially be spending a good deal of time with these clients on one of the biggest days of their lives. So, as you can imagine, it’s really important to mesh with them and make them feel comfortable.

Hence the forging.

Continue reading →

Archives

February 1, 2012 by Anya Elise

a new month, a new cow || an update

Hello, my lovelies.

It is I, Anya. Have you forgotten me?

I’m sorry for being rather incommunicado around here lately. (Has it really been a week since last I wrote to you? Eesh.)

The Cold, the ever-dratted cold, knocked me back pretty thoroughly for the latter part of last week. My brain became very foggy and sillier than usual, and I’m fairly certain I was about two steps away from my 9-to-5 boss thinking I’d gone off the deep end completely and forever. Luckily she’s very understanding and the weekend arrived in all its unscheduled splendor just in time. And now here we are. Back to my (mostly) normal state.

This week has been one of those weeks that begins as any other, promises to continue as any other, and then changes in one of the most unexpected and thrilling ways.

More specific details of this news will have to wait until the event itself has taken place. But I promise the annoying, vague, non-telling of news dance that I’m pirouetting for you right now won’t go on for ever. Eventually I’ll get dizzy.

Stay tuned for that.

The detailed news. Not the dizziness.

Yeah…moving on!

I went to a re-imagined production of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” last night. While the text of the play remained just as Shakespeare wrote it, the set, costumes, and delivery of the performance were all placed in the 1950s.

A strange place to pluck and drop Shakespeare at first glance. But if you’re familiar with the play, it really does make sense.

I have been to a number of plays at the Denver Center for Performing Arts Stage Theatre and every production has been phenomenal. The cast is always talented and spot-on and this time around, I got to witness the talent and spot-on-ed-ness (yeah, that doesn’t work) from up close. So up close in fact, that there were a couple of times when I’m pretty sure I was in the actors’ personal bubbles.

By a stroke of luck, we were able to redeem the ticket vouchers we were gifted for this performance for front row seats. And I can now say with some assurance that seeing the pores of an actor really brings the performance to a whole new level of reality.

Remember how I told you I would have a Stock Show video for you? It’s going to happen! Really. Any day now. Like tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. I’m setting this deadline for myself right now and with any luck, it shall be so!

Archives

January 16, 2012 by Anya Elise

the time line || my people

These are my people. You’ve met them before.

But you’ve never seen a picture of them put together in one frame before. And neither had I, until I saw this photo, shot by my aunt.

My aunt is a remarkable woman and one who has been an inspiration to me throughout the course of my life. In fact, she – a talented and passionate photographer herself – first inspired me to consider photography more seriously.

When we were all in the mountains of Colorado several months ago, she quickly snapped this photograph. And I’m very grateful to her for doing so.

When we’re young, photographs tend to be of our families. Sometimes childhood friends also grace the frames, but mostly, the snapshot memories are of your siblings and parents.

As we get older, other people start making appearances beside us, significant others. Timidly at first, then more frequently, then constantly, until their absence in such photos is more startling than their first introduction.

Then families grow, tiny humans are added to bundles in arms and then peering shyly behind legs.

And eventually, if you’re lucky, the people in the frame – in your family – number in the double digits. They are loud and smiley and perhaps a little out of hand, but content in their wildness.

You can then put the photos side-by-side-by side on your wall. A family tree time line. You can see the growth right there in front of you. Of the one, then another, then the more and the many.

And finally the whole.

These are my people, as they look right now. I can’t wait to see what we look like – and who else will grace our time line – years from now.

A very big thank you to my aunt for this photo. You have contributed more than a few photos to our time line over the years and I can’t tell you how much we love and appreciate you for that.