The Hills!

There are two things that I absolutely love to be around. The mountains and the ocean. I think that is why I am so obsessed with Vancouver, because it has THE perfect balance of the two beauties! However, considering that Minnesota has a very flat terrain, the ocean and hills of California were a warm welcome to my soul! The Juddster traveled with me to Orange County, where I was the guest speaker at the first-ever JNP Workshop (more details to come in my next post)! We took some time to enjoy the sand, sun, almost 70 degree weather (which felt like a dream!)....and I got to indulge in my all-time-favorite treat, Pinkberry! We also had the opportunity to see some of our fabulous friends...yes, Cali was pretty much bliss!

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Here's to Sunshine and Pinkberry!

LOVEe

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Making [Your Dreams] Happen...

There's been a bunch of buzz in the wedding industry about something called Making Things Happen. To be quite honest with you all, I wasn't so sure about it. All of the twitters, facebook updates, blogs and e-mails circulating about it were all super mushy and preached about how 'life changing' this event was. I was sure it was good and all (I mean, if you know Lara Casey - everything this woman touches turns to gold, so there was no doubt in my mind that she was sharing valuable and empowering information.) However, I was on overload. There is a saying that 'Too much of a good thing makes it turn sour' and if I heard one more tweet about "OMG! I am SO Fired Up and Ready To Take on the World #MTH2010"...I was going to vomit.

Now, please don't get me wrong, I love Lara and her movement. I was just overwhelmed by this CONSTANT chatter in my industry and it was too much. However, part of me was absolutely curious as to what all of the buzz was about! One of my biggest frustrations with where I am at this point in my career is continuing education. I've been to many workshops and I have learned and built an incredibly strong business. I have my dream studio, an amazing crew, I am booking my perfect clients and pushing our limits to be the best possible photographers and people we can be. I mean....shit.....I. MAKE. THINGS. HAPPEN.

So, did I need this motivational speech? I mean, I've got it all figured out, right?

Wrong. I learned a lot about myself yesterday and I am incredibly happy that I decided to go. The big thing that I think anyone who will attend this workshop in the future should know is that it is what YOU make of it. The session really has absolutely nothing to do with Lara and Jeff, but everything to do with yourself. They are simply creating a safe environment  for you to explore yourself, which is the foundation of owning a great and successful business - and also allowing you to dream big....like REAL big. (I confessed I was going to be on Oprah someday and be the next Richard Avedon....)

I also want to encourage all of you 'veteran' photographers, coordinators, vendors or people who DO have it all 'together' to attend the Making Things Happen tour. I had to dig down really deep to find things that I needed to change or face some fears that I was holding back from and when you are established, there are expectations that you are suppose to reach. I fully intend to reach those lofty goals, but they are scary and personally, I had been putting off many of those BIG things, because I might fail.  Well, fuck it if I do, but I am also the type of person that if I go for it, I will absolutely succeed, so what's the point in putting it off? There is always, always room for growth. Challenge yourself and live your dreams.

I am also very proud of the Minneapolis industry right now! I live in such a great community of artists who really do offer a great support system for growth!

Midwest is the best, yo.

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A big thanks to Lara and Jeff for bringing their workshop to Minneapolis! These two really opened up and gave ALL of themselves, emotionally, to the attendees, so thank you! I am a big believer in the Midwest photographers, so it's nice to get the support from others in our industry!

LOVEe

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Unpredictable

Half of the fun of shooting a wedding is getting to hang out with my crew! We never know what the weather is going to be like here in Minnesota, so a big part of our job - and a quality I pride myself on the most - is doing an amazing job of working-on-the-fly. Not only does it make creating more enjoyable for me, but I simply have SO much fun with my team on the day of a shoot! Honestly, we are really funny and we seriously...do need a reality show! ;0)

A couple weeks ago, we photographed the McCullough's amazing wedding and here are just a handful of the awesome adventures we had:

1) Melissa surprised us with New Moon candy...I've never read any of the Twilight series, but she is a big fan! Regardless, the sugar was quite nice!

2) It was 9 degrees that day, which meant two things...One, I was wearing Under Armour beneath my clothes and two, we killed the brides flowers by being outside for 20 minutes! (Side note...we absolutely LOVE our clients, because they sacrifice a lot to create amazing images...:0)

3) We forgot our stand, so Brandon was the "Human Light Stand"

4) My crew shows tons of passion during the day...and a little bit of camaraderie as well! This collaboration between artists takes our creativity up 10 notches and I looooove it!

5) Since it's so cold here, I decided to have a glamour-shots moment with a heater...I was nice and toasty!

The point of this post is to show you all that crazy things will always happen on a wedding day and encourage photographers not to get stressed while shooting. Remember to have confidence in your craft...the best photographers can make magic out of the most blah of situations, rock it out and create some amazing images!

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Here's to shooting in the Midwest and to my kick-ass-crew!

LOVEe

Buy The [Film] Book, Donate to Haiti!

The images are horrifying, that is for sure. The past couple days, I've sat around thinking, What can I do to help these people? Then it dawned on me....duh, Eliesa. You're selling a book.

From now on, all of the proceeds from The [Film] Camera Book are going to help bring food and water to the people in Haiti!

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To purchase your copy of The [Film] Camera Book and make a donation to The Red Cross to support the people of Haiti....Click Here!

Thank you all for your support!

LOVEe

Books, Books and more Books!

The first round of The [Film] Book has SOLD OUT!

We received a HUGE shipment of books today and we're ready to get them in your hands!

If you are interested in purchasing this oh-SO-cool and inspiring coffee table book,

Click here to buy!

To learn and read more about the book, check out the previous blog post!

P.s...all books come autographed by yours truly!

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Get yours before they are gone! ;0)

 LOVEe

Photogen Inc Featured: To Each Their Own Blog!

"We would  just love to feature you, your work in the MPLS fashionindustry, hear more about your style and inspirations..and just feature the talent that is Eliesa!!!!"

These are the words that came along in an e-mail a few months ago and of course I was more than happy to meet the lovely Kate and Molly of To Each Their Own.  This is a lovely fashion blog, focusing on fashion in the Midwest! Apparently these two sisters fell in LOVE with the November issue of Metro and they flew in from Chicago and Arizona to meet with me!

I'm very honored and humbled to be featured on not only photography, but my outlook on the Minneapolis fashion scene as well! What a treat!

I'm super happy with how the article turned out - CHECK IT OUT HERE!

 

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Special THANKS to Kate and Molly for a fabulous afternoon and great conversation!

Here's to Fashion!

 LOVEe

The Day That Collin Stopped By...

A few months ago, I kept hearing this chatter about a dude named Collin. My awesome friends/fellow photographers/kick-ass videographer kept raving about him and his work! I checked out his website and was blown away! We had dinner, he picked my brain, and the rest is history, we are instant friends! Collin is the perfect example of a person who absolutely loves what they do and is having a TON of fun doing it! He has a passion for photography, not just weddings (though he rocks those out like no ones business), but many other areas as well! I absolutely love meeting new, amazing talent in the MPLS and I couldn't be happier to have this guy around!

Collin stopped by to visit us in the studio today to catch up! We also played with his super-yummy 35mm 1.4 lens, which I am dyyyyyyyyyying to get!

Make sure to check out Collin's Website and Blog!

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Happy Monday Everyone!

 LOVEe