Jen & Casey || Engaged

Two troopers if I ever did see some. Sunday started out with blue skies and sun - sans rain. Elements for a good day in Seattle. Though, it's as if Mother Nature knew what would make for a good shoot. Headed down to the beach shortly after while the sun made its way behind dark clouds. Temperatures dropped. But these two stayed strong and made the session worth it. Jen and Casey, one of the most fun couples Anthony and I know. 

Jen & Casey // Preview

Seattle sun (..okay, maybe just clouds) mixed with a few detours and a fun couple made for a mighty fine engagement session yesterday. 

Before & After Preview

Funny how I'm most productive during my weakest moments. Knee in brace and body supported by crutches weak. I have a reason to sit down and get work done (because I can't move) - Anthony looooves it. "Hey Anthony, can you get this for me? Hey Anthony! Mind doing this for me? Hey Anthony [insert some other command here]." What a sport he is. 

In the meantime, while he's away washing dishes, I've been redesigning my website. This is a before (top) and after (bottom) preview.  Man, I really had no direction with my first website. We all have "what was I thinking" moments... but that's the fun of learning. I'll be launching my new site soon - so stay tuned! :)

Portraits Of A Soldier

For a good 5 minutes, the sun finally came out! 5 minutes of perfect lighting in my office. 

Updates

been falling behind on this blog because:

1) going through an actual rebranding process

2) getting bored with my 50mm lens

3) bringing out my big gun - the 85mm

But that isn't what really matters anyway. What does matter is that the last 3 months I've been hard at work exploring my business' identity - analyzing how my style has evolved - understanding my strengths and weaknesses - is my work consistent with my brand? 

I've been participating in activities to help me uncover what Lisa V. Lupo Photography stands for. Clean. Modern. Zazz. (I never use the word 'zazz'. Ever. But when I was thinking about my brand, this word just kept popping up in my head...again, never used it until now. I know it's not a real word - but pizzazz is). 

The exercises to help me put my brand together have been quite fun, really. For example, one activity asked, "If money wasn't an issue, where would you shop for clothes? Use those companies for design research reference." My stores included: Zara, J. Crew, Cole Haan, and of course, Anthropologie. What draws me to these stores is that they are all clean, classic, balanced, and not over done. I love Cole Haan's energy (and shoes of course...). 

Another exercise asked me to associate my brand with 3 songs: 

1) Nora Dean - Angie La La

2) Bebel Gilberto - Samba da Benção

3) Parov Stelar - Booty Swing

I love where my brand is going. I love discovering who I am as an artist. It's quite the challenge creating art without any inspiration (the lesson I learned last year) - because it's with these inspirations that will lead me in the direction I want to go in. I want my clients to be attracted to my work because they too appreciate a clean, modern, zazz-tastic approach to art. So with all of this in mind...I go back to redesigning my website with these elements of design in mind - because God knows my website right now is nowhere near what I want to be associated with.