DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

Beautiful video that I first saw on Briony’s blog as linked from Chase Jarvis’s. Love the quote that they each pulled from it as well:

“I never set out to be anything in particular, only to live creatively and push the scope of my experience through adventure and through passion.”

We spent some time in the woods and John, the awesomest photo assistant, had the opportunity to show his tree-climbing skills. Now that’s dedication (although she didn’t even have to ask him) :)

Something else you should definitely check out is our good friend Joshua Longbrake’s new portfolio site (Hi Josh!!!). I love his Balloon series and of course all of his other work. Apparently there is an easter egg hidden on the site somewhere. I have yet to find it.

And last but not least, our extraordinarily talented friend from college, Anna Bond, of Rifle Paper Co., designed Joshua’s adorable logo. When I get enough pocket change I’d love to have her design some personal stationary for Jeff and I. Check out her shop for greeting cards, invitations, art prints, etc. And visit your local Anthropolgie store to pick up her beautiful recipe cards to go with her beautiful recipe boxes:

Enjoy!

“Fashions fade, style is eternal.” — Yves Saint Laurent

I’m gonna be girly for a moment and talk about butterflies and unicorns so consider this your cue to bid me adieu.

Someone once told me that the two most important parts of your outfit were your hair and your shoes. And I’m kind of obsessed with both. A few months ago I seriously considered going back to school to become a hair stylist/make-up artist which would also come in handy with photography, but when I inquired, it was going to cost a pretty penny. Maybe in a few years if I start to get bored and need a new venture.

A few things that I have learned in working with professional stylists is that the more accessories, the better when it comes to photos. And if it seems like you’re overdoing it in real life, it’s probably just enough for the camera…same goes for getting your subjects to be overly expressive.

One site that I absolutely love is The Cheap Chicas Guide to Style where fashion and style expert, Lilliana Vazquez, posts good finds and expensive looks for less. My high school 10 year reunion is this year and upon leafing through my senior yearbook recently, I cringed at the sight of my clothes and hair. But I won “Best Dressed” for senior superlatives in my class which I suppose I could be proud of. Should this be something I should be listing on my resume? (I don’t really wonder that). Still haven’t decided whether or not I can make it to the reunion but I think it’d be fun to see how much everyone has or hasn’t changed. If it is anything like how they depict reunions on TV and in movies, it could certainly be a hoot.

More sites that I love to look through for fashion and photography inspiration:

• LOOKBOOK
• weardrobe
• The Satorialist

So I know this is a few weeks overdue, but here is my recap of the few Escalate Live sessions that I tuned into:

From Jerry Ghionis:

• Look for the light and slow down. If that’s all you change you’ll be a better photographer next week.
• You don’t have to be the best, all you have to do is be better than last week.
• Value what you do, don’t just sell the JPGs on a piece of plastic, and tell your clients “here ya go, do it yourself.”
• Compose the photo in your head.
• Giving the JPGs away is like loving a meal then going in the kitchen and demanding the recipe from the chef. (Don’t do it…also I think he mentioned that he charges $2000 for JPGS for a wedding).
• Don’t spend energy focusing on your fears. Spend it chasing your dreams! (yes, might be a bit corny but we all need to hear it sometimes)
• My most powerful tool is my voice, my energy, what I believe in. Not my camera.
• If you want to be like the greats, be yourself.

And I didn’t take any notes when watching Jasmine Star (who I admire as much as anyone can admire from afar) but both she and Jerry Ghionis gave SUCH great presentations. Seriously. I was actually moved and my enthusiasm cup was totally refilled. It’d be an honor to be a part of any of either of their workshops and I really do hope to be able to one day. Anyway, the one thing that Jasmine said that did prompt me to make some scribbles on paper was “get out and get uncomfortable because when you’re uncomfortable, you grow.”

A few months ago when I was going through the process of hyping myself up before making cold calls, I realized that every great accomplishment I’ve made so far usually started with me feeling terrified. Figuring out what to do after high school. Moving six hours away from home without knowing a single person there. Repeating that scenario, only moving even further, yada, yada, yada. All of these great things happened because I stepped out of my comfort zone which got another ball rolling. So I guess that’s why what Jasmine said really sparked a little something in me…’cause I know I’ve definitely grown after taking all of those leaps.

Workshops and events such as these are very reminiscent of photo church if a photo church actually existed. Lots of uh-huhs and amens and epiphanies and hope. Looking forward to attending some of these sessions in person next year.

If any of my dear internet friends have attended a workshop that you’d recommend, please let me know! From the myriad of options, it’s tough to choose which ones to invest in.

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I’d like to end this post with a few shout outs. I’ve recently started shooting more interiors and architecture which leads me to mention Ty Cole who is the most talented architecture/interiors photographer I know and have had the privilege of assisting. He just finished a shoot for Absolut Vodka’s latest flavor, Absolut Brooklyn, which completely blows my mind because I used to love this campaign when I was young and would plaster my walls with every cool magazine advertisement (including theirs) that I came across. I even owned a book full of the Absolut Vodka ads up until whenever that book was published. I worked with Ty on some amazing residential and commercial places in NYC and one of them was the Christian Louboutin store on 5th Ave. (as a shoe fiend, I was in LOVE). Each time I worked with Ty, I always learned something new, and for that and all the experiences, I am forever grateful. Even though call time was usually at the butt crack of dawn.

To my mentor, Monte Isom, I’d like to give some props to one of his latest campaigns which was for the EA Sports FIFA World Cup. Check out the behind the scenes video here. And yes, it’s always that fun when you work with Monte. As a side note, today he tweeted that he just booked his flight to South Africa to catch three games of the world cup. JEALOUS. And to brag on him a little more, he also photographed the US Olympic Snowboarding team before the games. And the Adidas campaign for the Olympics in China. And…and…

Last but not least, my lady, Shannon. She is my home girl to the core and I wouldn’t have met her if I didn’t go through what I thought were unnecessary or unfortunate events. Pit stops, if you will :) We worked on the 9/11 project together and she has taught me so much about life, love, and of course, the photo industry. Shannon launched her own blog not too long ago with some new portraits that you should definitely check out. She loooooves to geek out in technical camera speak and she is as quirky as they come. Never a dull moment :)

…Are you still reading? I feel like I’ve been going a thousand miles an hour lately so I apologize for my lack of response to emails and comments. Do know that I appreciate all of them though and I hope to get back into the groove of writing asap. Much love and big virtual hugs, H.

]]> http://www.huongfralin.com/blog/2010/06/10/escalate-live-and-link-love/feed/ 5 http://www.huongfralin.com/blog/2010/05/27/office-space/ http://www.huongfralin.com/blog/2010/05/27/office-space/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 05:22:12 +0000 Huong http://www.huongfralin.com/blog/?p=5189

Let me just start by saying that it’s awesome when you have that moment where you can apply what you’ve learned in school to the real world. And I don’t mean your A, B, C’s and 1, 2, 3′s. I mean specialized skill sets. What you majored in. What you pulled all-nighters for. What you spent thousands and thousands of dollars on learning.

I’ve been struggling with trying to accept that which I do not understand, especially in regards to my professional work life. More specifically, where I’ve ended up at this time. The past few months have been spent scouring job sites, searching through mast heads and info pages, making cold calls, speaking to editors and art directors at super amazing companies and publications I’ve only dreamed about working for (FYI they’re human too), writing to try to sell myself, and saying lots of “please, please, please” prayers. And ironically, the one job that I did not apply to on my accord, or try to get, or thought I wanted, was the one I got. And if I can be honest about it, I was reluctant to accept at first because I had plans on going another direction. Plans to move back to the big city. Plans to work for major companies that are recognized world-wide and come with prestige. Plans to become some sort of big shot by association. (I was raised to aim high and dream big). And as you can tell by now, the point that I am trying to make is that plans are just that. Nothing solid.

I think we all wonder about our purpose in life, and that is the reason I felt compelled to write tonight. I am here to report that unlikely situations can be great situations. And that sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and not fight the paths that open up for you. And trust. Trust is such a huge…thing. And who knows…maybe these paths will lead you to what you wanted after all and that this job you currently have, town you currently live in, friends you’ve recently made, are just neccessary pit stops you need to make along the way. I read and tweeted the other day that “writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” Just replace “writing a novel” with whatever you are feeling challenged with and you can pretty much apply that advice to anything.

Through this recent experience, I’ve learned that a simple life is a good life. And oddly, the desire to go anywhere “big” or do something on a world-wide scale is no longer important. It doesn’t make you (me) more important. In fact, it could potentially turn you (me) into a pretentious jerk. And like any other artist, I’m sure I will tire of the routine eventually, but I know that the experiences will lead me towards the next pit stop along the way in fulfilling my purpose in not only my life, but in others as well. There’s no such thing as coincidence, remember? And “big” (as in “dream big”) is a subjective word. I have faith, good health, a loving husband, roof over my head, amazing family, et cetera, et cetera. If life could get any better than this, the rest are just accessories.

P.S. I absolutely LOVE my new job. And I am happy to report that photography is part of it though not the main task. I’m still working on excelling at my personal photo work and will of course keep sharing all the goodies that I come across. Just wanted to give an explanation for any hiatuses that I’ve had or will have. And as a side note to this side note, I did a shoot not too long ago for a story for the Wall Street Journal that will be published in June. If any of you get the paper, I’d love it if you could let me know if you see my cutline (I’m not subscribed). kthanksbye!

Up There from Mekanism on Vimeo.

“The story of the fading tradition of hand painted advertising. Shot by Mekanism’s Malcolm Murray for Stella Artois (in conjunction with Mother NY)”

This is such a great short piece and I love the style and cinematography. Watch and appreciate.

For some reason I get really frustrated when I see people who are so talented just settle for less. Like they’re sitting on a winning ticket but are too chicken to cash it in (enter Good Will Hunting reference). And when people criticize others’ success…it irks me to my very core. I mean, I thought it was a given that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all…but some people just don’t know how to filter their words. I obviously have some sort of underlying beef with whatever it is that I’m starting to ramble about so I’m just gonna leave it at that as my little venting sesh for the evening.

I kind of hate the idea that we live to work and work to live (but such is life), especially when the work part isn’t something that you believe in so I’ve been revisiting my list of to-dos…the BIG list, not the grocery and errands kind, and came across this three-step plan to reaching my goals:

STEP ONE: SET YOUR GOALS

• You can’t succeed until you’ve decided where you want to develop your success.

STEP TWO: PLAN AHEAD

• It’s rare that you’ll reach those goals unless you devise some sort of plan on how to get there.

STEP THREE: NEVER GIVE UP

• Use every failure and every naysayer as motivation because in the end when you finally reach your goals, success will be that much sweeter.

Sometimes when naysayers get to me, I take a time-out, pen many words on numerous sheets of paper and send it off through the postal service. I did that again recently and what I received in return was a sentence that made me feel whole again after wondering why I was feeling like some people weren’t really “getting” me: “I love you, you’re a wonderfully amazing and talented person who has the right to grow impatient when it seems like the waiting room reeks of old people and there aren’t any good magazines to read.” That’s really deep. And I’m not being sarcastic. First of all, Ashley, you’re a damn good writer. And secondly, thank you for knowing exactly what to say.

So to you, my dear Internet, I hope that you are happy. And if you are not, remember that without disappointment, you can’t appreciate victory. And that life is too short to not be doing the things you love.

From the site: Escalate Live 2010 is a photography conference about bringing your vision into reality. This conference is for you if you are ready to change how you approach your photography business. Join us in person at the event or watch us streamed live on the Web if you can’t make it. Are you ready stand up? Are you ready to stand out?

It will take place May 17-18 in Newport Beach, CA, and since most of us work at a computer these days, it’d be easy to just have it on to listen in the background. Speakers include Jasmine Star, Jeremy Cowart, David Jay, Jessica Claire, [B]ecker, Julieanne Kost, Dane Sanders, and Jerry Ghionis.

I came across this quote in Bobby Earle’s blog post titled “Originality is Overrated (for Photographers).” In it, he writes about the importance of sincerity in art and I couldn’t agree more. I know for a fact that I do my best work without the added pressure of doing it for any other reason than just to make a photograph that is meaningful or taken candidly in a quiet moment. Check it out for some reassurance.

Also, remember my love for typewriters? Enter exibit B as proof of my obsession. This one got me first place in an art show a few years ago. More mosaics to be added soon.+

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The application process is now open for this year’s lucky attendants, and if you or someone you know has a passion for photojournalism, then you should definitely apply if you’re eligible. It’s like church for photographers in a barn full of hopefuls being coached by the absolute best in the industry. And it’s tuition-free. While most workshops require thousands of your dollars to attend, this one accepts you based on merit and not your ability to pay. Eddie Adams said “I just want[ed] to get all my friends there and make it the best damn workshop they’ve ever been to,” and make it something that he wanted to attend. And he did. And it’s totally fulfilling, encouraging, exhausting and inspiring. I was star-struck by the faculty and staff and in awe of the amount of talent that surrounded me. It kicked my ass and opened my eyes to so many things even though my eyes could barely stay open as I only got about 10 hours of sleep the entire four days I was there. When they say it’s an intensive workshop, they mean it’s an intensive workshop. Portfolio reviews go well into the mornings with some of the top editors and photographers in the world and it is a gold-mine as far as networking goes. I can not stress how amazing this opportunity is.

On that same note, if you like documentaries or are interested in photojournalism and haven’t seen An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story, then go, now, find it, and watch it. I get goosebumps every time I see it and it’ll definitely inspire you if that’s something that you need. On my first night at the workshop they debuted this documentary and I’m not quite sure there was a dry eye in the room. Mostly because we were surrounded by his colleagues who miss him dearly (he passed away in 2004), but also because for me at least, I felt like in a way we were watching something that we were just about to be a part of. And it was really really important. Most of you who read this already know my ties and the many webs of connections it has weaved in my life, but if you’re considering applying and have any questions, feel free to get in touch! I’d love to tell you more about it.

Our class photo—I’m in the front row, left side in the grey  to the right of the green: