22 crayons

I am noticing in photography there is a fine line of being inspired and simply replicating.
let me explain...

do you remember the first day of 1st grade?

I do. :)

I remember Mrs. Pavonka and her pretty swishy skirts and perfume as she strode through our desks.
I remember getting to wear my new red + yellow sundress with long pigtail braids.
and, I remember being SO excited that I even got to have my own desk.  it was one of those old wooden/metal combo's where the desk lifted up so you could store your brand new school supplies in them.

and that year.  OH, that year I got to have a giant box of brand new crayons with a sharpener built right in!
I know! (again, you have to say it like craig fergusen, or it loses all meaning.) :) 
the box of crayons that came with built in sharpener had like 500 crayons.
(hey, I was in 1st grade and it felt like 500 crayons!)
okay...so it was just 64.
but to a little 1st grader who was SO grown-up enough to have her very own desk...64 crayons all to myself seemed like heaven!

oh, the pictures I was going to draw with colors like:
midnight blue...which obviously was SO much better than just regular blue!
and burnt sienna...by far, superior to just plain, old brown. :)
or dandelion...you have never seen dandelions quite as awesome as the ones I colored with this color!
and fern...not quite lime green, not quite kelly green...but fern.  a most splendid color. :)

I mentioned a new crayon box in yesterdays post in light of my own clients.  but the visual plays into my own crayon box of inspiration, too :)  you see as that wide-eyed 1st grader (no jokes about how wide-eyed I was.) :)  I was SO excited to create masterpieces with those brand new crayons.  I didn't care how beautiful emily bowling's flowers were as she colored next to me.  or, how cool and crazy kip rogers' drawing were.  I only cared about drawing the best picture that I could make...because it was mine.  mine, with the brand new shiny crayons.

I'm learning that photography is kinda like that for me.  just a different medium.
that's not to say I'm not looking to see what others are producing...FAR from it.
I get inspired by the things that I personally see.  but also stretched artistically when I see what other artists are producing too!  not that I want to replicate exactly what they do...but be inspired by their work to stretch and grow my own point of view as a photographer and to see life bigger.
that's the fine line of being inspired and just copying.
and to be honest, I'm happiest and most content when I get to create...not copy. :)

so.  being the spaz that I am.  :)  I've listed my 22 favorite crayon "colors" that inspire me to see life bigger.
whether it's how they view life, or how they shoot with their camera's...these people inspire me to create even bigger and better masterpieces.  :)

brick red = jasmine star - this girl, by FAR...is one of the most inspiring.  she gives tips and encouragement away like it's candy...super rare in this industry.  and for the most part, she seems genuine about who she is and how she doesn't take her self too seriously.  serious enough to be a flaming success at what she does, but still able to chill and realize what's most important in life.  I simply love coming back to her blog to hear her stories...definitely a regular blog stalker with her. :)

magenta = sarah rhoades- is someone I truly admire.  I don't see life (for the most part) through the same eyes that she does, but she SO intrigues me.  she did a crazy cool house wife shoot not to long ago that I simply adored!  and her encouragement is not quite as often as j*'s but it's from her soul when it comes and I love to listen to how she thinks!

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periwinkle = justin & mary...for me, it is super cool to watch a married couple be passionate about photography and more importantly a life together.  mary is very witty and funny and actually responds to you on twitter...rare for someone as "big" as her :)

sliver = jerry ghionis - he is new to my crayon box. :)  I got to listen to him on escalate live about a month ago and I was captivated with his passion for good photography.  in my opinion, his blog does not do justice to his transparency and "coolness"...definitely someone I'd like to emulate and meet someday.  and seriously, seriously funny. :)

wisteria = purple nickel studio - this couple is a little like sarah rhoades for me.  people who like to draw with colors I've never heard of...but they're the kind-of people who have swagger with what they do.  reminds me of the b.e.p. mini-song "...I like that you like my style..."  just really unique, see's life through different eye's people that I admire. :)

dandelion = kacey luvi (pearson) - this girl is seriously one cool lady.  to be honest, she's the one who inspired me and challenged me to pick up a camera two years ago and just go for it!  she see's ordinary life like it's a scene from a hollywood movie and I am constantly in awe of her tenacity to expand who she is as a photographer.  love her. :)

fern = simply bloom - the two girls fascinate me.  I love their styled shoots.  I love their candid shoots.  I love their transparency.  I think that's why they're fern green to me...I just like what they do!  very unique and creative!  vania & christine are two people I'd love to have lunch with and pick their brains on photography and just life...

midnight blue = the boudoir divas - ahhhh, the diva's.  and rightly so.  I know this type of photography is not for everyone...but to me, it is beautiful, beautiful art and they create it with serious swagger. :)  to take a woman and make her feel beautiful to the point of allowing her to "sparkle" and then, be able to present her in a beautiful way is true magic.  I love following what these two ladies are up to on the internet! :)

check out these other "crayons" of mine for even more inspiration!
yellow = jamie delaine
denim = aaron shintaku
cerise = audrey coley
indigo = blue lily photography
peach = ree drummond
goldenrod = chenin boutwell
robin's egg blue = elizabeth ann photography
razzmatazz = jennifer skog
sea green = jesh de rox
tropical rain forest = jessica claire
mahogany = joe elario
eggplant = jose villa
cotton candy = love ala
fuschia = promise tangeman

my honey moon :)

did you know that today was the first day of summer?
I know! (you have to say that like craig fergusen for the full effect of saying, I know!) :)
otherwise known as: summer solstice. (summer solstice?!  for you lindsey. :) )

or:
the day that the sun stands still for a minute...
midsummer's night...
honey moon...

I like that.  honey moon.  because they made sweetened wine from honey for all the wedding celebrations happening after the summer solstice.  honey moon has a nicer ring than solstice, no?

I love summer.
well, not really arizona summer.  but summer back home...
going to the dunes and eating pringles with sandy/salty fingers singing chama-chameleon :).
rolling all the windows down and opening the moon roof and just driving old country roads letting your left hand "float" outside the window.
watching the sun set as you finish off just one more game of volleyball and then turning on the flood lights only to keep playing all night long.
laying on the trampoline with absolutely no lights on and counting millions of stars.
catching twenty lightning bugs in a glass jar only to let them go again.
canoeing down a river and letting your toes skim the water.
listening and watching a summer thunderstorm roll in on a screened in porch.

*sigh.*
yes, I love summer.
I get to go back home in three weeks.  july 14th to the 23rd to be exact. :)
there.

there is where I will enjoy my honey moon. :)
happy honey moon to you. :)

p.s. I am only taking on four photography sessions while I'm in IL, as of right now.   email me if you'd like to book one of those sessions at jendriesbach@kreatid.com :)

coloring with different colors

this weeks challenge at i ♥ faces is teenagers.
whenever I hear that word I hear sebastian from "the little mermaid" when he's talking to the king and he says "teeeenayjuhs." in his thick jamaican accent...
makes me smile.

and yes, I am 32.  and no, I will never grow up. ;)

I still really love this picture.  one of my favorite things to do as a photographer is go back through favorite shoots and and remember the people and places in them.

the place of this shoot makes me smile...Red, baby chicks getting a bath, the alpha goat, 1920 old cars and tractors...
and this girl?  this girl sparkled.

for me this shoot was like a new box of crayons.  excited about all the new colors you can't pronounce and not too sure how it's really going to go - but excited nonetheless!  and I loved how her pictures turned out...

fun, colorful girl.  fun, colorful memory! :)

sugar + spice

"...sugar & spice, and everything nice. that's what little girls are made of..."

meet sedona.
cool name, right?
cool little chick, too! :) she genuinely seemed so happy to have her photograph taken!
and the outfits!
oh, the outfits! little girls simply have the BEST clothes! :)

 loved the details of her quilt!

the return of fun fridays :)

I'm back, baby! :)

break time is officially over for me.  my mom always said a good vacation is one that you are SO looking forward to go on and one that you are looking forward to return home at the end.
according to her wisdom, this has been a good break for me.  :)

okay so why?  why the break?

somewhere in the last six months, I got lost.  don't get me wrong, I loved the business of working with clients...the creative adreneline rush from an amazing shoot...being challenged in ways I never dreamed of!

but I got so busy reacting to the business of life that I couldn't be proactive with the things I felt like I should be or wanted to invest in.

questions like these haunted me over the last six months:
what creatively inspires me?
what dreams should I be pursueing?
better yet, what does God want of me creatively?

there's a passage in Galatians that I LOVE in "the message"...

"...make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.  don't be impressed with yourself.  don't compare yourself with others.  each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life..."

could these words get anymore inspiring!  these words breathed new life into me and gave me hope that God made me exactly who I should be.  and should I choose to live with "open hands" instead of feeling like a tight-fisted hamster on a hamster wheel, freedom to be ME is mine to attain.

all this being said...it's Friday.  and it's fine-uh-ly fun friday again...so here's my first of many more to come of "favorites" and "not-so-muches" :)

*Pretty Lovely Designs.
shalon (the designer) is an AMAZING, creative, super cool lady who helped design my new blog's look.  I tried out WordPress and like it...but didn't want to lose the history I've created with my current blog.  I didn't really care about creating a custom domain for this blog and simply LOVE the look of my new blog - mimicing my current style with my website.  She is extremely thorough and detail oriented and was more than helpful throughout the whole process.  DEFINITLY look her up to create a look that is completely unique to you! :)

*D300

yes.  I have one.  and it is AWE-some!  I just finished up three shoots with it and the D90 and am amazed at the usabilitly and clarity or it.  definitly a keeper and a challenge to learn - but I LOVE it! :)

*san diego.
if I could transplant my loved ones and life that I love in AZ to san diego...I'm pretty sure life would be almost perfect.  over the last two months I've had the privelage to travel there and it simply is amazing...the cool breezes, the deep smells of green things growing...the freaking OCEAN!  :)  yes, I love this place. :)

and the "not-so-muches"?
not in the mood this week...just favorites!  have an amazing weekend being creative! :)