Donating and Design

This post should have gone up a week ago.

I've mentioned before that the Internet has been booming with benefits for NieNie--the couple from Arizona that was burned in a terrible plane accident in August. Everyone seems to be doing their part to help out this little family in their time of tragedy. Even some of my own family is helping out. (I like to take credit wherever I can.)

My brother Adam and his wife, Michelle, just had their photos done by a photographer, Jonathan Canlas, who is committed to raising $10,000 for NieNie. That meant that the sitting fee he charged went straight to his donation goal. So, Adam and Michelle got some beautiful photos done and they helped out a family in need at the same time. Go, family!

Jonathan Canlas has a fabulous style and I fell in love with so many shots he did of their little family. It doesn't hurt that they all have movie-star good looks either.

Also, I wanted to highlight Michelle's blog called The Creativity Room. Michelle has a great modern, graphic style and always has ideas coming out of her ears. Her design sense is strong and authentic with a minimum of show. I love that she doesn't apologize for saving a buck but that is not her first priority either. One of my favorite stories about her is that she made her own wedding cake. She wanted it to have a certain look but wasn't really interested in eating the cake. So, she figured out how to frost some styrofoam squares and made a gorgeous-looking cake for just a few dollars. I loved that idea.

She grew up in a home with a "creativity room" in small-town Washington state, then came to Utah for college, then lived in New York; all of that geography has informed her design style. Mostly though, I think of New York when I think of Michelle. Her design is clean and cool without being utilitarian or cold. It is graphic without being imposing. And it is classic without being class-conscious.

I'm convinced that she is going to make it big soon between her marketing acumen and her creative pulse. So, go over, take a look, and enjoy yourself. You may become a fan yourself.

Picture Anyone?

My cute cousin Elyse is marrying excellent Andrew in a few months. They just had their engagement photos done and I've fallen in love with their photographer. Yummy photos! 

It really helps that Andrew and Elyse are terribly photogenic and make it look so wonderful. And their photographer gave them a great, magazine-quality photo shoot. I wonder if he can do that for everyone? Especially someone like me who very much wants to look photogenic and fabulous but who very much doesn't have either of these stunning visual qualities. 

Elyse has a very nice blog here, so go over and check it out. You'll love her sense of style and fun. 

Keep Smiling

I Like Close Ups

This weekend I was around Meg and Meg's camera. Thank yooooooooo, Meg.

And thank you, you beautiful, beautiful camera. I love you. If you were human, I would take you on a date because I've fallen in love.

I think the most addictive part of her camera is that it goes "click, click, click" so quickly that I can take like 20 pictures a minute. My theory on taking photos is very simple: the more you take, the greater likelihood you will end up with a good photo.

So, I took 400 pictures and ended up with a couple that I liked. Then, I played around a little in Photoshop and came away with some that made me smile. Meg was my favorite subject because she was always close at hand when I was using her camera.

And happily, she was very willing to let me snap dozens and dozens of photos of her. The picture above is one of my favorites and it was one of the first photos I took. It just has a certain "Megness" that I love.

Look at her big blue eyes.

Meg enjoying the new trampoline they got for their family. I got her laughing out loud on this one.

This photography thing is addictive. Funny enough, Meg was the first subject who ever got me interested in photography years ago. One afternoon when she was fourteen, I asked her to pose for several photos because there was something about her, something that felt fleeting and tentative and brand-new, that I wanted to capture and I didn't know how to do it except to see if it would translate to film. If I can find some of those photos I will post them.

One thing I've learned between now and then?

It really, really, really makes the whole journey much more enjoyable if you have some excellent tools at your disposal.