The World According to Angie

Building my Photography Studio

I have the best husband in the world.

Our 30-year old ranch-style home has an extra room at the back of the house. Tucked away at the end of the hallway that leads back to the bedrooms, this room is a bit of an oddity. It's bigger than our master bedroom - a whopping 18' x 14' in size - but has its own private entrance through the garage. It has a closet, technically qualifying it as an extra bedroom, but it's on the small side.

I guess the builder might have intended it as a mother-in-law suite. The original owner had it set up as a game room where he played pool and poker with his TI engineer buddies. Us? Well, we've used it as everything from a guest room to an office to extra storage.

But not any longer. And this is where the "best husband in the world" thing comes in.

We're remodeling the room and turning it into my photography studio.

Yes, that sound you heard was me, screaming and doing the Meposian Dance of Joy.

I've designed the room as a multi-function space. By mounting countertop along the walls at a desk-level height, we'll both be able to use it as an office. Jim's workspace, along the far wall, will be covered by the photography backdrops when they're in use. No need to worry about co-mingled clutter ... just slide the backdrop across and voila! Instantly presentable studio.

Speaking of backdrops, my dad is designing a 3-rod system that will allow me to keep black and white drapes up all the time, and swap out the third as I need to. He's coming up for the long weekend to work with us and knock out the remodel, which includes lighting installation, electrical changes, carpentry work, and more.

But Jim and I had homework to do before Dad arrived: we needed to get the flooring knocked out. I'm proud to say we're done, and it looks great.

This is the "before" shot. We painted the walls about two years ago, and I like the golden color. (Plus, Jim was really reluctant to repaint.) Though black or grey walls are best for a photography studio, the worst that will happen is I'll get a nice golden glow on my photos - which is cool - and if I don't want it, I can do a white balance correction. Easy.

Carpet came up. I would be thrilled to get rid of all the carpet throughout the entire house (I've got huge allergies to dust) but I'll start with this room.

Jack-Jack had to inspect. This is the small closet in the room. I plan to leave the doors off, put a piece of countertop in there, and use it as a print station.

We decided vinyl floor tiles were the right solution for the studio. All the benefits of a solid flooring plus when you drop things (like, say, expensive camera lenses) they tend to bounce rather than break.

This is a commercial-grade tile from Armstrong. I love the pattern - it looks like stained & polished slate or concrete with all those colors and textures - it makes me happy.

And we finished last night. No grout, no sealant, no waxing. Just adhere and use a tile roller to make sure they're good and stuck.

One floor down ... the rest of the studio to go! Updates will come throughout the weekend. I can't wait to share my finished photography studio (and our shared office space) with you!

She's just "2 Tegan"

Digital elements from Carina Gardner's Very Cherry kit; brushes are by Jessica Sprague. Photographs copyright Angie Key; all rights reserved.

I love these photographs. They're proof that Tegan doesn't burst into tears at the sight of me any more.

This is Assignment 2b from the Digi: In Deep class I'm taking over at JessicaSprague.com, and the whole point of this one was to start from scratch - a blank PSD file - and design something using:

• only three colors (plus neutrals)
• one large focal point photo, offset from center
• several smaller photos
• leading lines
• journaling card popped off the page with a custom, angled drop-shadow
• a large letter filled with patterned paper

I then made a facing page, since my albums are largely 2-page spreads, and there were so many more photos I wanted to use from this shoot:

 

I think my favorite technique from this lesson has been the use of layered brushes. It's sort of the digital equivalent of taking rubber stamps and coating them with thick, acrylic paint ... and then stamping away - without all the mess. Zero clean-up!

I'm pretty happy with my finished layout! And I'm still loving this class.

Let Go(d)

I shot this photograph of the Atlantic Ocean on a trip to Florida several years ago. While revisiting older photos last week, it jumped out at me and wanted to play.

"Believe in Yourself" (that goes for me, too)

I've been gripped by some massive brain-block the past couple weeks, but today, I sat down at my computer with the express intent to CREATE SOMETHING. Not sort, not organize, not tag ... create. And this is the result.

The photograph is of Veronica, executing a C-jump. Isn't she gorgeous? Long, lean, and limber ... and so strong. We did this shoot to commemorate competition season during her 8th grade year in drill team. It's one of many from that day that I'll wind up using, but something about the power in this image spoke to me to today. (I added a selective radial blur in Photoshop after pumping up the color, and then came the text.)

I found the quote/typopgraphy while browsing (read: wasting time) on Pinterest the other day. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was scrap-worthy. And then, I read this article about how to steal like an artist and how nothing is original, and the artist is a collector, and "it's in the act of making things that we figure out who we are" - words that spoke directly to my heart, my frozen + terrified artist's heart that was sitting + waiting + not creating because I didn't have everything together.

More specifically, I am more scattered and possibly a bigger mess than I've ever been in my life.

But today, I sat down to create.

And this was the result.

I think I want to print it. BIG. And hang it up - either in the hallway or in her room, if she likes it enough to let it grace her lime green + zebra-print walls.

Turns out I made it for her, but I also made it for me.

Huh ... whaddya know.

Let Go - Let God

I created this as part of my little project to decorate our home with my photography. This is for the frame that sits on our bar between the kitchen and the living room. I figured it was long overdue to remove the photograph of my dad as Santa Claus. (Sorry, Dad...)

I shot this image of our neighbor's tulips last week on a rare walk down Brennan Drive. I don't get out and walk the neighborhood near as often as I should... either with or without my camera. At any rate, this gorgeous purple tulip was just s-t-r-e-t-c-h-ing toward the sun, and I thought it would be the perfect backdrop for this reminder.

Now, every time I walk past that part of the house - several times, every day - I'm reminded to let go, and let God. It's a reminder I need several times, every day.

New photos (of kids I'm not related to)

For a little variety, I thought I'd add a few shots to my photography blog of kids that don't call me "Aunt Angie".

A couple weeks ago - before I headed out on the road for the Dealer Meeting blitz - an old friend asked if I'd teach her some of my developing "ninja photography skilz". She shoots Nikon, too, and I figured a co-shoot would be the best way for some hands-on learning.

She provided a pair of gorgeous subjects, God gave us an amazing sunset, and I showed her a few tricks involving focal length and unique shooting angles.

 

She graciously gave me permission to post photos so long as I don't mention names or ages. Check out the shots I took of her daughter, her son, and a beautiful moment between them. It was my privilege to spend a couple hours with them and add a few gems to my portfolio. (Thanks, girl!)

In a Photo Frame of Mind

I spent my lunch hour playing with photographs.  I'm trying to actually take a one hour break mid-day, even though I'm Medifast'ing and just doing bars every 2.5-3 hours.  It's awful tempting to just work straight through it, since I'm not sitting down to a meal, but that "mental break" is super-important.

I was able to get my photography blog updated with shots from December that have been in my "to be processed" pile.  It's shots like this:

 

(I'm so in love with my nieces...)

Make sure you go check 'em out.  And now, I'm itching to shoot ... so Jim and I are taking Eddie and Veronica to the park after work.  It's a beautiful, clear, crisp day here in Dallas - and I'm sure my furry little guy will be ready to runandsniffandpeeandrunandrunandrollinthedirtandchasetheducks.

I swear, that's how I hear him in my head.

Another Baby Shoot

 

I wonder if I'm beginning to carve my photography niche as being babies and children...?

I had a chance to do a shoot for our Toastmasters friends, Abel & Stephanie Goddard, last weekend.  They brought 7-month-old Annalise Lorraine to our home in Plano, and we played for an hour.

She's a very serious young lady, and we got the best smiles from her when we stripped her down to her diaper.  Aren't most babies happiest when they're naked?  Hee hee hee...!

You can check out a couple frames from the shoot at my photography blog.  You can also view the entire gallery here.

Ice Ice, Baby

Some people I've talked to over the years just can't believe how winter goes here in Dallas.  We don't get snow ... but ice falls from the sky.

 

It's been a cold couple of days, and last night, we had freezing rain for hours. This is what I found in the backyard this morning - ice-encrusted blades of grass.  How cool is that?

 

(That 300mm macro lens I got for Christmas makes for some cool photos... no pun intended.) 

Jim and I talked about just how blessed we are: to work at the same place, in jobs that allow us the flexibility to come in late on days like today, to live close to the office, and to have a vehicle with front wheel drive.  We waited until about 9:30a to head in, once the sun came out and began to melt the sheet of ice that was covering the roads... and by then, traffic had lightened big-time.  Jim did the driving (thank God!) and didn't go above 30 the whole way there.

They say it'll freeze again tonight, but it looked like the roads were dry, so it shouldn't be too bad in the morning.

But I've gotta say, I'd really love a snow day.  Ice balls and ice men and ice angels - well, they just aren't the same.

Check out Logan's 6-month shoot!

I've added two new posts to my photography blog that I just had to cross-post here:

 

Check out Logan's 6-month shoot as well as his collection of hats.

What does it say about me, that I managed to get this processed before the photos of my darling nieces from when we were together at Christmas?  Oops... we'll say I'm saving those for later...