Pride...

I am currently working with a group of photographer friends on a project in which we each submit a photo each week that represents our own unique perspective of a word.  The photos are put into a collage and posted for our friends and family to see on facebook.  It is so fun to see how each of us interprets the word each week.

We are on week 9 and as each week comes and goes I will post the collages.  I will try to post the weeks prior to week 8 over the next few days or weeks.

Week 9 was Pride.  I immediately thought of the flag of the United States of America.  It represents the hard work our ancestors put in to building our nation.  I have a strong pioneer heritage.  My ancestors gave up a lot to come to America and eventually the West.  I take pride in my heritage and the sacrifices my family made for me and my family.

One of our group members submitted this quote with an image of her husband standing in front of the Vietnam's Veteran Memorial in DC:  "PRIDE for those who have gone before us, both living and dead."  Another member, Matt, had this to say about pride: "Pride is when you build something you have no idea you could". 

The dictionary defines pride as follows:
pride |prīd|
noun
1 a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired
Through our submissions you can see that we all have similar but different perspectives on what pride is.  The cool thing is that all of them fit the definition of pride.


So along with sharing our collage and my individual submission I leave you with the following question:  How would you represent the word Pride?

 

Family Photo Time, and Good Eats!

It has been over a year and a half since my family has had family photos taken.  So before my little skittles, E and E, return to Utah for the winter we headed to downtown Gilbert to get some family and individual shots.

I absolutely love downtown Gilbert.  One of my favorite restaurants is there, Liberty Market.  They serious have some great food.  Joe's Real BBQ is another great one and it is kitty corner from Liberty (Do you call it kitty corner or katty corner?  I guess it all depends on where you grew up...for me it has always been kitty corner).  Both places give you free food on your birthday.  Another great restaurant located in Gilbert (and my very favorite of my favorite restaurants) which also gives free food for you birthday...Joe's Farm Grill!  Joe's Real BBQ and Joe's Farm Grill are sister restaurants.  Oh My Goodness, Joe's Farm Grill is the bomb! (Yes, ok, I know, that was so yesterday, but they are).  They have  been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I can't tell you what to try when you go because all of it is so delicious!!! If you are every in Gilbert, Arizona you have to try out all three of these places.  Hey, come for your birthday and do breakfast, lunch, and dinner and enjoy free food for your birthday.

Anyway, back to the family photos.  I decided that the exterior of Joe's Real BBQ was the place.  I love the old bricks and the vintage Coca-Cola sign on the side of the building.

It was quite a challenge to get everyone to smile in one shot.  One of the girls was showing her independent side that morning and did not want to get her picture taken.  However, I did manage to get her to smile in enough to make it worth the while.

A BIG THANKS goes to my mother-in-law who served as my tripod for the whole group shots.  She did a fantastic job.

Funny thing happened during the shoot.  A lady driving by felt that it was necessary to stop and tell my mother-in-law what she needed to do to get a good shot... hmmm, no thanks lady, we have it covered!

So, here are a select few from the shoot...

Kim & Sammie | Arizona Wedding Photographer

I met Kim while I was teaching at a Phoenix area high school. Kim was a substitute teacher and had covered my class one day. The following day she checked in with me to let me know how things had gone with my classes. The next fall Kim was placed as a permanent sub for my classes when I left teaching. We had been in contact several times over the phone to discuss school related items. During one of our conversations she mentioned that another teacher at the school had mentioned that I was into photography. Kim then asked me if I would cover her wedding. I let her know that this would be my first wedding but I would love to do it.

Kim and Sammie chose a beautiful spring day to get married. The ceremony took place at a church in downtown Phoenix. Kim was radiant as she stepped out of the limousine and even more so when she walked down the isle, escorted by her son. I will never forget the look on Sammie's face when Kim walked into the chapel. It was as if he was looking at an angel...his angel.

As I mentioned, Kim's son walked her down the isle. Not only was this his mother's special day, but it was also his Junior Prom. After the ceremony he was on his way to pick up his date for his special night. They made a special appearance at the reception later that evening, where they were greeted with flashing cameras and smiles.

One of my favorite images from the day is one of Sammie and Kim playing the piano together. The scene started out with Sammie playing while Kim stood near by. Watching the two at the piano was awe-inspiring and I snapped away at what unfolded before me. Soon Kim was on the bench playing right along side of Sammie. I felt it was fitting that they were playing a piano duet on the evening that they to became a duet. With that I present Kim and Sammie...

Building a Brand...

I am on a mission...a mission to get my photography business up and running over the next several weeks.  In preparing to get it up and running I have been reading everything I can from other photographers on how they got their business going.  My favorite read thus far has to be Jasmine Star!  She is such an inspiration.  If you haven't visited her blog yet you must go there now (well, after you are finished reading my post).  She is so open and real!  She has a giving spirit and I think that is part of what makes her such a big success.

Throughout her blog I have read about branding.  To define branding I give you this from Brick Marketing: A brand is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image. Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same service or product.  


I have read about branding on other photo blogs and I understand that it is so important.  Here are a few articles that I have recently read pertaining to building a brand:
On Marketing Essentials International website they have an article titled 12 Steps to Building Brand Awareness.  The author shares 12 ideas of making contact with your customer.  Also on the same website is an article titled It's Almost August...What are you going to do different in your photography business this fall? This article encourages photographers to try something new to boost business as fall approaches.  I look forward to reading more from this great site.

In one of Jasmine's post from 2009 she shares a link to an article about Trader Joe's building their business around their ideal customer.  A couple of ideas from this article are to create an image of your ideal customer and give him/her a name.  Then, do everything with your ideal customer in mind. In Jasmine's post pertaining to the article about Trader Joe's brand, she shared her inspiration boards of magazine spreads.  I love this idea!

I have found myself looking more and more at magazine's the past few days.  I like the idea of drawing inspiration for fashion spreads in magazines...ideas for poses and such.  My goal over the next while is to be more vigorous in creating images that my clients will cherish for years to come.  With that comes being more assertive in many aspects of my business.

What blog post is complete without a picture?   Here is one of my favorites from a few years back...

What's in a name?

For quite sometime I have struggled with what to name my photography business.  I originally came up with Little Tree Company.  Little Tree was a nick name my dad gave me when I was in junior high.  I felt that the name needed to reflect something unique about me.  However, I have felt that Little Tree Company just didn't portray the image that I want with my company.  I want something simple and clean.  I have considered using my real name but at times feel that it is just too generic.  I have gone back and forth with whether or not to leave it as Little Tree Company.  I have decided that keeping that name as the basis of my business name is best, but to shorten it in order to keep it simple...so that is were L.T.C. comes from...short for Little Tree Company and adding photography & designs by Teresa Hill lets my clientele know exactly what the brand represents and who is behind the brand.

My photography entails lifestyle photography as well as fine art.  I also work in graphic design a bit, designing photo cards for special occasions; therefore adding design in the tag line lets people know that I offer more than just photography.

I look forward to sharing my photography and design visions with you through my blog.  I hope you will stop by often and please feel free to comment.