Laurajane Words.

It’s kinda rare that I can keep something one way for a while and not change it. So guess what, I’m changing this tumblr blog yet again. I started writing the other day, and I think I want to share it. It just doesn’t seem to fit with my photo blog stuff, so it’s going to go here. Just thought I’d let you know before completely changing the post topics, not like I’ve been posting here recently anyway. 

I’ve been thinking lately that I should write out my goals for photography and make them public in order to keep me accountable to them. I’m not putting a timeline on these because well, I don’t know God’s timing and who am I to go against that. These are no in any particular order either, other than the order that I thought of them. 

1. Have at least one paid session every month. (yes even the cold winter months) But of course I’d love more, especially in spring and summer.
2. Start wedding photography. (It’s kind of a scary thing. I need to second shoot first)
3. Have at least 2 or 3 photographers friends that I can talk to about any kind of photography things like how amazing the light is at 6:30pm or what f-stop to shoot at without them looking at me like I have to heads. And of course we’d go on photo adventures together. Pretty much any place is more fun with a camera in hand.
4. Attend a Jasmine Star workshop. In order for this to happen, I think #1 and #2 will have to occur first because well with out them I wouldn’t have nearly enough money.
5. Get some photos published in a magazine. It doesn’t have to be about my photography, but just my photo being there and me knowing that it’s mine is enough.
6. For some reason I think it’d be really cool to take pictures for catalogues like Lands End or J. Crew. I don’t know why, but it’s just kind of one of those things that I want to try. 
7. Have a full website and a real photography blog. You know one that actually requires a designer and paying for it. Don’t get me wrong, free is great, but it’s kind of limiting. 
8. Meet some of the photographers that I follow either on their blog or their flickr. 
9. I know it’s kinda silly and vain, but I’d love to be able to walk into a J. Crew store some day and just buy something in there because I liked it and not have to dig through the sale rack to find out that I can only afford a headband.

And because a photo blog post is incomplete without a picture, here you go. And I don’t know how to format a picture in text. I tried. No matter what I do it looks squished. This is the best I could do. 

So after a long life of being shy, I’m finally putting myself out there. It feels uncomfortable and freeing at the same time. I’m sharing bits of my life with people; emailing other photographers asking questions and putting myself out there. Sure it may just be in the virtual world, but it’s spilling over into my “real” world. I’m making connections with people that I otherwise would never know existed. 

One of those connections happened today, when I met Kyle for a class of 2011 model session. I posted on Facebook a month or so ago that I was looking for some people in the class of 2011 to model for some advertising purposes. A day or so later I got an email from Kyle saying that he’d love to volunteer. It was an easy, fun session. I’m glad he volunteered. Here’s a sneek peek from the session. I have yet to finish editing. I’ll share more later. 

I made this the other day. I like it. I’m not sure if anyone else does, but that doesn’t really matter. 

My photography was published! I had no idea until a friend posted the link on my facebook. My photos aren’t the feature of the article, but they’re still noticeable. And there’s a link to my website which is almost more awesome. 

P.S. If you see this check out the store that the article is about. It’s a totally awesome store. I’ve bought several things from there, such as the previously mentioned mustache on a stick. I some of the headbands that I make are for sale there. 

I’ve been experimenting with a photo technique called “through the viewfinder” or “ttv” for short, thanks to my grandpa’s old Rolleiflex that my aunt gave to me. That thing is such a beautiful camera. I just hope that I can get the shutter closed on it so that I can actually take pictures with it. For now, these will have to do. 

j* (aka jasmine star, photographer extraordinaire)

Class of 2011 Models Needed!

Hey everyone! I am currently looking for 2 or 3 more students in the class of 2011 to book a model session with me before the end of the school year. 

A model session includes: * about an hour of shooting; about 9 edited images (images will include my logo, and will be posted on facebook. prints of the images may be purchased); and 20% off of a full session in the fall. Oh yea, guess what? It’s free! All that’s required of you is that you’re a high school student in the class of 2011. 

The photos will be used for advertising purposes. Postcards will be made with these pictures that you can hand out to your friends to spread the word about senior photo sessions. The pictures can be used for as your profile picture on Facebook as well. If you’re interested in booking a session please email me at: laurajanephotography@gmail.com

OR: send me a Facebook message

Anonymous asked: Ok, how did you get into photography?

the short answer: photography has always been in my life. 

the long answer: i’ve been taking pictures my entire life. we actually have a picture in one of our photo albums that’s labeled “laura’s first picture”. i took it when i was maybe 2 with my mom’s film camera. it was mainly background, but my dad’s head was in the center and in focus. haha i should post that some time. anyway, we’ve always had cameras in our house. i think that i got my first digital camera for my 9th or 10th birthday (honestly i can’t remember how old i was, but i know i was still fairly young). i’d spend lots of time setting up my american girl dolls in little scenes to take pictures of them. i’d spend a lot of time figuring out how to make them look like they were actually looking and talking to each other. then i’d set up their outfits and take pictures of those, thinking that i’d make a catalogue out of them, but i only ever got as far as taking the pictures. i went through several digital cameras, mainly ones that were my dad’s after he got the latest model, just taking pictures of things like flowers and dolls. then when i graduated from high school my parents gave me a little pink point and shoot camera. i thought that it was the coolest thing ever. i took pictures of lots of things, trying to be more and more artist. now i just look back at some of those photos and laugh, wondering what i was thinking. i don’t think that it really hit me that i liked photography until i started babysitting my little neighbor. we’d be outside playing and i’d have my camera with me and i’d take pictures of him. i still display those pictures as part of my portfolio because i honestly still like them. then when i went away to college i joined the yearbook staff for the sole reason of they had a digital SLR camera and you could use it for whatever you wanted while on campus. only a few of my pictures are in the yearbook, but that hardly matters. that’s when i decided that photography could be what i do for the rest of my life. that thought was confirmed when i kept taking pictures and people at school kept asking me why i wasn’t at art school. some of the photos that i took there at PBU are still some of my favorites and i use those in my portfolio as well.

Anonymous asked: what would you like to be asked?
you're obviously hosting this because you are expecting SOMEONE to ask you SOMETHING in particular.

like i said, i’d like to be asked anything. i’m actually not expecting “SOMEONE” to ask me “SOMETHING” in particular. it’s just fun to answer questions. i ask a lot of questions, so i guess i figured that a lot of other people have questions as well. and plus isn’t it much more fun for people to get answers to a question rather than me just telling you everything all the time? and by “you” i don’t mean, you asking the question, because i have no clue who you are.