Inspired - Elliot Erwitt Photography

Source: auggie tolosa via flickr

As a recent assignment in my latest photography class I had to choose my favorite “historical photographer”. After Googling and reading books from the library for a few days, I chose Elliot Erwitt. If you aren’t familiar with his work I encourage you to take a look at his website (click here) To my surprise I choose someone who almost always shoots black & white when I love color so much.

There’s 2 major reasons I picked his photography – I have more but let’s be honest, you don’t want to spend all day reading my blog. 

•1^st is his sense of humor (mostly due to perspective) – He has an entire collection of ironic/funny photos titled “phototoons”.

• 2^nd he loves dogs and does great photos of them.

Part of my assignment was after choosing this photographer is to take a photograph that emulates what you like about that photographer’s work. Elliot Erwitt has several photos oh dogs from the prospective of the ground featuring the dog in full frame and a portion of the owner’s legs. I highly encourage you to do a google image search of  “Elliot erwitt dogs” to see what I’m talking about.

Anywho- Here’s some shots from my attempt to re-create that myself.

Say hello to my husband's feet

Romeo (right) has a gangsta lean & Molly (left) is in deep concentration

I like the angle and the expression on his face in this one

Treasury Tuesday ~ Be Yourself

My most favorite quote ever, I found while reading The Artist in the Office (which I recommend to all artistic peeps who do the daily grind). The quote is by E.E. Cummings that reads: "To be nobody but yourself in a world that is doing it's best, night and day, to make you everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting."

This hit home, especially when I first started to tell people that I was quitting flight school to instead start my own business selling my fiber art. I got a lot of head tilts, and "WHAT!"s – luckily my friends and family weren’t rude enough to tell me I’d lost my mind to my face, but I could sure see it in some of their eyes.

It took me a long time to be comfortable and confident with this choice and my journey, but that quote sure as heck helped a lot – not to mention this life makes me happy as I’ll get out and in my heart of hearts I know it’s where I’m supposed to be.

I’m obviously not the first and certainly won’t be the last to have that struggle so this week’s Treasury Tuesday is all about being yourself, even if the world says WTF?!?!?!

'In a World Where you can be Anything ~ Be Yourself' by Innov8iveKnits

Remember to be yourself!

TO BE YOURSELF Art Print - 8... BubbyAndBean $20.00	Be Yourself, 10 Magnets Lett... HappyEmotions $20.00	Printed Fabric Hoop Art Wall... GrittyCityGood... $10.00
Oscar Wilde "Be Yoursel... emilymcdowelld... $30.00	DIY Wall Art Do What You Lov... PUGFULPRESS $4.00	Life is about creating yours... magnesina $11.00
Be Yourself - vinyl wall dec... OldBarnRescueC... $14.00	Follow Your Dreams, Listen t... akaoriginals $58.00	Vintage Airplane Print - Dre... SevenElevenStu... $25.00
Inspire / Painted Rock / San... LoveFromCapeCo... $22.00	Dream Big nickel silver hamm... Lolasjewels $14.00	Be Yourself 11x14 Typographi... bbrunophotogra... $38.00
Motivational Quote Print Art... ParadaCreation... $19.00	DREAM BIG Sand Writing - 8x1... BeachBabyKisse... $12.00	Follow Your Dreams - Bird on... Freshline $18.95
Personalized BE YOURSELF pri... SillyMamaw $15.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Hope this gives you the strength to follow your dreams and put a little fire behind your tush when you get a “nay sayer” in your path.

Treasury Tuesday ~ Green & Grey

My new favorite thing is Vera Bradley's color collection "Baroque". This is the black, grey, and green pattern. I am so drawn to everything those colors lately. I just love how they look together! This treasury revolves around those colors.


Treasury Name: Green & Grey (click me!)

Inspiration Spreads Like Wildfire ~ Storytellers Tell THEIR Story

Katie and Jeff Barker are a special pair of people who are near and dear to my heart. I met them while looking for a photographer for my wedding in March. I've developed a bond with them that you would have never expected to get from a photographer. I don't know if I ever told them this before now, but learning about how they started their own small business doing what they love was one of the biggest inspirational factors for me to put myself out there with Innov8ive Knits.


So not only is their work beyond amazing, they have influenced my life in a way I can't repay them. They have been kind enough to let me feature them as someone who I find incredibly inspirational and answer questions about their business and give advice from their experience. You can visit their website at: Katie and Jeff Barker Storytellers


Why photography?
Both of us enjoyed photography as a hobby for years before we decided to start our business. Katie took photography classes in high school, Jeff was always getting into crazy positions and situations to photograph our family. We have experienced love and joy and can't imagine not having photos documenting those times. We've also experienced pain and loss, and appreciate having photographs that pre-date those times. All of us have a story, and being able to tell that story with photography is awesome. We've had clients lose grandparents, friends, and spouses after their wedding, and knowing that we captured beautiful images of these individuals touches us very deeply.

How did you decide that your business should be the bread winner and leave the regular day job?
Honestly, we got a kick in the pants that made it happen. Jeff was working in a Monday to Friday 8-5 sales position, so photographing weddings on the weekend wasn't an issue with his work. His boss knew he was up to something on the weekends, but because it didn't interfere, Jeff didn't talk about it much. His boss asked him to take a client out on a Saturday that we had a wedding, and when he had to say no, his boss told him to choose which job to keep. We had the guts to go ahead to choose Storytellers. At the time, it was a little scary, but now we'd like to go shake his hand and thank him for making us leap.


What is your favorite picture?
This is the hardest question in this interview! [long pause, lots of hemming and hawing] This is a picture Jeff took of my [Katie's] grandfather. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few months after our wedding, and he slipped away little by little. He ceased to tell jokes or to work to make other people smile, so when Jeff got this picture of him about a year after his diagnosis, it meant to world to me. This is the look I remember in his eyes all the time when he'd joke and laugh. He died just this spring, and I'm so grateful to have this picture. I have this picture framed and it's a constant reminder to me that what we do as Storytellers matters. It really does. When the cake has been eaten and the music has stopped, all people will have from the wedding day is their pictures, and it's important that we capture images that capture the essence of the people in them.

How do you find the right balance in pricing (pays the bills but doesn't keep you overpriced)?
We've definitely not gotten it right all the time. There have been times that we've had our pricing too low, and when it was all said and done, we were working for less than $5 an hour. The formula that we've used that makes sense is to figure out how much we need to make to keep our business afloat and pay ourselves a living wage, and the worked backwards. How many weddings do we want to shoot each year? How much time do we want to work? And then it's just simple math. Money needed divided by number of jobs equals the amount of money we need to earn per job. Obviously it takes a while to come up with the answers to the first questions, but they're worth asking. We work six days a week, we work long hours, and we're always on call, but we love our clients and they make the hard work worth it.


When did you realize that Storytellers was the success it is now?
I think when people started asking us for advice, we felt successful. We enjoy speaking with other photographers, especially ones who are just starting out. It's a great feeling to help other people!


You have customers all over the country How did you get word of your business out?
We depend on referrals from our clients. Word of mouth is hugely important for several reasons. First, advertising is very expensive. Paying for clicks on Google or Facebook could easily eat up hundreds of dollars a month. Referrals don't cost you anything (although we do give our couples incentives for referring us). Second, having people who have worked with us recommend us is infinitely more valuable to potential clients than just randomly picking up the phone book and choosing someone they know nothing about.


What gives Storytellers an edge over other photographers?
I think it's the amount of care and attention we give our clients. I mentioned earlier that we work six days a week, and I really meant it. We care a lot about the people who have invested their trust in our work, so we work really hard to meet their expectations.


What is your number one piece of advice you would give to anyone starting their business?
Keep reading, learning, and asking questions. There's always someone out there who does what you do better or differently than you, and there's no shame in trying to learn as much as you can.

Katie & Jeff have been a tremendous inspiration personally to me. They have been so encouraging! I'm not just saying this to butter them up but sometimes I look at their portfolio or our engagement photos and can't believe we even know them.

I hope that you have found the Storytellers just as inspiring as I have. I truly do believe that inspiration spreads like wildfire and hope that my sharing this with you will give you that push to do something that your heart really wants, no matter what it is. To my fellow Etsians I hope that you find their expertise and experience well received and are able to take their advice and apply it to your small business. I know I will.

Inspiration Spreads Like Wildfire ~ Victoria Secret?

Inspiration can come from the strangest places! This week I got some promotional junk email from Victoria Secret and was blown away. My montra for Innov8ive Knits is: a modern twist on a traditional craft. What is more modern and totally in style than Victoria Secret? I can take a que when one is laid in my lap!

When people think of hand knitted clothes, they think like: sweater vests, corny christmas sweaters, etc. I am trying to break the mold on how people see knitting and this is it!

VictoriaSecret.com

This is totally do-able by hand... it would be a hell of a project, but still totally do-able! This is the kind of thing Innov8ive Knits is all about (and apparently Victoria Secret too lol).  It would be incredibly time consuming and expensive, but this is the kind of statement I want to make with the business. Not necessarially sexy (although sexy is good) but to scream at the top of my lungs that knitting IS not just itchy wool unflattering sweaters anymore. I am currently looking for patterns with this essence that I can modify to make an amazing sweater dress. Keep your eyes peeled, this will hit a future friday soon!

Inspiration Spreads Like Wildfire ~ "There's Always Room" for Michelle Ward

http://whenigrowupcoach.com/



Welcome to the second portion of "Inspiration Spreads Like Wildfire" !! This article is going to focus on someone who inspires me, rocks the house, and is full of wonderful information for newbie business starters like myself (and maybe you too)!

When I decided to open up my own Etsy store, I signed up for their helpful newsletter. In one of these newsletters they did an interview with one of my newest favorite people and bloggers Michelle Ward. She's a certified life coach with a pretty cool background. She originally started her carreer with a major in musical theater from NYU. She even made an appearance on "Saturday Night Live"! After realizing that's not what she wanted anymore, re-invented herself to become what her heart desired - to be a life coach. Read more of her story HERE!

 Not only is she a life coach, she coaches people through figuring out what they want to do when they "grow up". Now I'm 23 and consider myself pretty "grown up", but that's the point! I'm 23 and totally not doing what I wanted to do when I grow up(or wasn't until now at least).

Watching that interview and reading her blog has set a fire of "I THINK I CAN" under my hiney and has gotten me more organized and confident in my business. In fact her post There's Always Room (seriously for real read this if you are considering doing your own thing. It's my FAVORITE) inspired me to write the first edition of Inspiration Spreads Like Wildfire. Not only did I start that, but found it so wonderful I have turned it into a series! It will come out periodically to share what or who inspires me. This girl is where is starts my friends.

If you are interested in truly finding or doing what you want to do when you grow up, Michelle should be your second hand lady! Her words are fresh (like who says "Amazeballs"), and seasoned (she has experience and is licensed in coaching people like us). Also, every post that I have read since I've began to follow her has been interesting and/or informative. There are no dud posts with this one.

It's so incredible how a total stranger can change your outlook, attitude, or life just by a few posts. She certainly has done that for me and I highly encourage you to check her out; Let her Inspiration Spread Like Wildfire to your neck of the woods. You may be surprised what you find out about yourself, what you want, and unleash what you are totally capable of!

Inspiration spreads like wildfire.

Not once as a kid growing up or in college when someone asked me what I wanted to do with my life did I ever say, "I want to be in sales! I want to work under someone else and be told what to do." I always said something along the lines of: live on the moon! be a movie star! start my own business! But I found myself doing the desk jockey dance. Now don't get me wrong, I'm so blessed to have a job but it's not life on the moon.

I eventually came to a point where I realized HEY this is MY LIFE! Why spend what little time I have on this world slaving over the motions and doing what I feel like I have to do?!?! I don't HAVE to do anything (well except eat and sleep of course). I get up every morning and DECIDE what to do, DECIDE how to feel, DECIDE where my life goes today. That's the moment I made a conscious decision to truly DECIDE where I take my life. That's how Innov8ive Knits was born.

At first I was hesitant to tell anyone about it. I was so scared to put myself out there for criticism; to hear that my ideas might not be as great as I think; that it may never amount to anything. But I did gain the courage and was blown away by the responses. There are so many people out there dying to float away from the mundane and live the life they imagined as a child. The life they wanted before the world poisoned them into thinking it should be something else; that dreams and creativity are unacceptable. I never knew that so many people (several very close to me) were secretly dreaming of so much more beyond their patients or computer screens when they go home at night.

I am proud to say that in my efforts to chase my dream (however this may turn out), Innov8ive Knits has inspired others around me (whom shall remain nameless until they are ready to shout it to the world themselves) to follow after their own hearts.

Can you imagine how wonderful the world would be if inspiration like this spread like wildfire? Like dominoes; one person after another until the entire universe was full of people who were pursuing their dreams? What a wonderful place this would be if every soul were fulfilling their true purpose!

I encourage you to evaluate-I mean right NOW. If you aren't doing what you want, DECIDE to do it. Whether it be full time, on the weekends, or your lunch break if that's the only time you can. Let the wildfire take you over and show the world you aren't a robot. Show the world what you really want to do, you may be surprised with the outcome. :)