One of my best shots...

Fashions fade, style is eternal.

~Yves Saint Laurent

This could possibly be one of my favorite images that I've ever taken. Please, enjoy!

LOVEe

A Little Out-Take!!

A girl should be two things: Classy and Fabulous.

~ Coco Chanel

This is an out take from a little shoot I did today for the oh-so-lovely Joynoelle. For some reason, I am totally digging this image.

LOVEe

Livin' The Dream...

I've been staring at Quickbooks for almost 18 hours now...and I think I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I'm a photographer, not a book keeper. And I made the AWESOME decision to hire a book keeper this year; however, that didn't void me of my previous responsibilities to keep up with creating general invoices this past year! I LOOOOOVE my new book keeper - I mean, he really is going to help me SO much, but I have learned a few things...

1) Thus far, my process for tracking my deposits sucked. I'm now going to be a ROCKSTAR at this!
2) Invoices don't create themselves, Eliesa. Hence, the last 18 hours of me making calls to my bank wondering what check that was...
3) PC Quickbooks is much easier than MAC Quickbooks
4) If any of you photographers are thinking about getting Shoot Q...it really IS amazing and I highly recommend it, but it is a bitch if you get it in the middle of the year and it places deposits double in Quickbooks.
5) I now understand why Judd was so, incredibly frustrated with me ;0)

On the GOOD side of things:

1) I learned
2) I learned
3) I learned
4) I learned
5) I learned

6) I'm going to be a MUCH better business owner because of it!

The moral of the story is to not be afraid of things. Owning a business and keeping track of all your receipts, invoices, payments and clients is a LOT to remember. Yet, if you want to do this, you best learn to embrace the process. I highly recommend hiring someone to take care of the things you that are not your forte (like my lovely book keeper who will save my life from this point on) - so you can do what you do best - take photographs.

It's all a part of Livin' the DREAM!

Catching Up!

About a week ago, I had just come from the gym and was walking into the grocery store and all of a sudden I had this person standing in front of me saying, "When are we going to get coffee?" I was so startled, because I totally recognized this person, but I hadn't really seen them in years! It took me a good couple seconds to remember where I was and I was so confused...The person in front of me was one of my best guy friends growing up! His name is Dan and we did end up getting a cup of joe (well, I stopped drinking coffee, so I had my new-found-love Chai Tea) on our first blustery day of the year and I realized that the following statement is very true:

Lifelong, true friends are those who you can pick up with right where you left off. No matter how long it has been, no matter what you have been through or where you are in life, they will always relate, support and love you. Great friends are home.

Here's to snowy winter days and good friends!

LOVEe

LOVEE Consults!!!

WOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

I am SO excited to officially launch LOVEe Consults!!

This is something that I have wanted to offer other photographers for a while now and I could not be more pumped about how this is coming together! 2010 is the year to give back! I have been truly blessed in this industry and I want to share the LOVE!

LOVEe Consults is an intensive, one-on-one day for photographers who want to learn how to take their business to the next level! Experience level does not matter one bit - whether you just picked up a camera or you've been doing this for a while and need a breath of fresh air, I am totally your girl!

In a LOVEe Consult, we cover the following topics:

The Artist
Intense Critique
Goal Setting
Marketing
Submissions
Equipment and Shooting Techniques
Inspiration
Open Q&A

My goal is to totally fire you up and challenge you to be the best photographer, business owner and person you can be! I'll also leave you with tools to continue your journey along the way!!

For more information, CLICK HERE to download a PDF of all of the lovey little details!

If you are READY for your LOVEe Consult, e-mail me at

eliesa@photogen-inc.com

Kelly Moore Bag - Camera Bags Never Looked This Sexy!

I am SO excited to announce the official launch of The Kelly Moore Bag!

I met Kelly for the first time this last October on the Bend [Trip] and I am very happy to now call her a friend! This woman has got IT together. She is an amazing photographer, mother, teacher and friend - and now she can add designer to that list! I admire Kelly for taking matters into her own hands and creating a camera bag for photographers that is both stylish and totally functional!

I had the pleasure of previewing a bag and let me tell you - these bags are SOLID! I mean, your lenses aren't going anywhere in these beauties! They are also built for all of you rugged shooters that might get down on the ground and roll around. I know I am not the most graceful shooter, so when I felt how sturdy and padded the bad was for my equipment, I was totally sold! Not only that, but they are SOOOOOO stylish, no one would even know you had $12,000 worth of equipment floating around in there! :0) There are great color selections...AND the best part....she is coming out with a MENS line as well! That's right dudes, get ready to look hot while shooting...

Kelly has officially launched The Kelly Moore Bag website + blog today!! Make sure to check it out and pre-order your own!!! Trust me, they are totally worth it!

Congratulations to Kelly on the launch of her bag! I am SO proud of this girl for making her dreams come true - and sharing that with the world! How lucky are we?!?!?

LOVEe

Ice, Ice Baby...

Winter is officially here and this hat is THE best thing that has ever happened to me when it comes to dressing for the cold!

I've also been photographing a number of portraits this last week for an editorial feature coming up and I just looooove this lighting! So, what better to do then to take a break from ye' ole' computers and shoot some pretty awesome portraits, if I may say so myself!

Liz was in Hawaii this past week, and I'm so happy she is back - I missed her!

So, here's to cold weather, cozy hats and great friends...oh yes, and the end of the week...and I don't have to shoot, so CHEERS TO WEEKENDS!!!!

Have an AWESOME weekend!

LOVEe

The Family Stone

It's the season for family photos! Everyone always wants to update their looks for the big holiday card, so the requests just keep coming in! However, I am going to be completely honest with you all...family photos are not really my thing. I only photograph a few families a year. I do these for people who I have met, formed a great relationship with in the past and truly have a connection to! I got a call from Abby of Skinner Jones a few weeks ago and the more we talked about her very-large-extended family shoot, the more I actually wanted to do it!

I came to THE house. You know when you watch movies, especially holiday movies, and the entire family comes to one big house that is super cozy and the kitchen is always bustling, the fire is on and music is rockin' while all the chaos of the family ensues?

This was THAT house! I absolutely loved this family and really enjoyed photographing them! There were 22 people, total, so I broke everyone down into their respective families before the GRAND family photo! Here are some of my favorite images!

LOVEe

5 days Off!

Wow! I actually did it! I took 5 days off of work! For those of you who know me, you know how hard that is, but I have really, really enjoyed myself! (Ok, so I had 1 little shoot, but seriously, that was IT!)

I absolutely LOVE what I do and I am passionate about my work, so I always feel like I have a million things to do, people who are depending on me, blog readers who are looking to read the next post, clients to meet with, etc. It can be hard for me to take a break, because I want to stay on top of everything and make sure everyone has exactly everything they need and everyone is happy. Yep...I do a lot for everyone else. Time to take some time for myself! I've been trying to do more and more of this and I must say I am feeling much more balanced because of it!

In the last 5 days I have...

Caught up on sleep
Started running again (in prep for the indoor triathlon in a couple months....I still loathe running...)
Bought some new records on Vinyl
Broke the record player...
Caught up with friends
Made some very yummy food
Ate all of the yummy food
Saw my family
Went to some improv comedy (which I highly recommend!)
Bought a new toy (that is proving to be a TON of fun!)
Enjoyed some Sunday Morning Yoga
Started working on a new project!!
Bought some tickets for John Mayer's Concert (in row 11...!!!!!)
Watched some movies
and
Started making some dreams happen!

....Pretty boring and VERY awesome!

I hope you all had a very relaxing Thanksgiving weekend!

It's officially 'holiday season' (que Christmas music...)

LOVEe

Happy Thanksgiving!

This girl....has a lot to be thankful for!

Thank you to each and everyone of you who has made 2009 absolutely AMAZING for me!

CHEERS TO YOU!

What are you thankful for?

I hope everyone has one.awesome.thanksgiving!

LOVEe