Free To Succeed Tour
Posted on August 28, 2008
Last Thursday Jess from studio3z and I headed to Indianapolis for the Free to Succeed Tour. It was a pleasure to hear David Jay speak and share his story – too bad not every photographer can have a success story like his!! DJ is an amazing speaker and although some of what he had to say was very practical, he definitely challenged me to think of things in a slightly different way and to really examine my reason and desire to be a business owner. I came away very excited and inspired, so be looking for some new things around here sometime in the near future.
Check out some of the cool people I met:
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Erin’s Modeling Session
Posted on August 27, 2008
Just to give you a fair warning, this is a PG-13 post! This was one of my favorite shoots all year! It reminded me of the good old days back in college when I had a new project every week. My good friends Maria & Ashley were my faithful willing models and we were always going to crazy places to take pictures. Only back then, I was lugging around a huge 4×5 large format manual camera. Although I loved every minute of it, I must say I’m thankful that digital cameras have come so far. It was MUCH easier to climb around the bridge you will see below with my digital camera than it was with the large format.
Erin does some modeling on the side and when she asked me to take some shots of her for her portfolio, I was flattered and super excited. Although we had never met before the shoot, I knew a lot about her because she is engaged to my friend Aaron. Donny is actually going to be a groomsman in their wedding next Fall. To me, Erin is one of those people you feel like you’ve known forever after hanging out with her once. She was so nice and easy to get along with…and she’s not afraid to tell you what she thinks – I wish I could be more like that sometimes.
As you will probably tell from the images, Erin is a natural in front of the camera! We started at the railroad tracks and after getting yelled at & threatened by a mom who thought we were “completely inappropriate”, we moved on. Erin & I are convinced that they only way she could have even seen us is if she was following us and spying on us – oh well! She was not afraid to get down and dirty, and even though she was a little afraid to climb the bridge – she did it anyway. (And just as a side note, the bridge was completely secluded so there was no threat of anyone being offended by the bathing suit pictures).
Erin ~ you were awesome to work with and I look forward to getting to know you better! You are gorgeous and are going to be such a beautiful bride next year :)
Sneak Peak / Out of Town
Posted on August 22, 2008
I’m getting ready to leave for Mackinac Island for a few days and I can’t wait!! I will respond to all calls & emails when I return on Wednesday the 27th. Here’s a sneak peak from Erin’s modeling session that I can’t wait to blog when I get home:
How well do you know yourself?
Posted on August 20, 2008
Inspired by a new friend & fellow blogger (this is reverb), I decided to take the short version of the Myers-Briggs personality test. Last November a group of us took the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test during a church leadership retreat and I was very interested to see how the results compared.
I’m sure most of you are have heard of and are aware of the Myers-Briggs test because it is probably the most well-known and respected test available. StrengthsFinder takes a slightly different approach and is quickly gaining popularity. The basic premise of StrengthsFinder is to realize your strengths and concentrate on those rather devoting too much time on improving your weaknesses. Tom Rath (the author) believes a person will be much happier and more fulfilled when he/she is living out their strengths rather than constantly fighting the uphill battle to improve weaknesses that he believes are ingrained during childhood and will more than likely remain weaknesses throughout our entire lives.
Tom Rath’s goal in concentrating on our strengths is not meant to give us an excuse to give up on our weaknesses, it is meant to give us a strategy for managing them. Also, the whole point in taking the test is to discover and distinguish between strengths & weaknesses. Once you know what they are, you have a better understanding of yourself and will hopefully be able to figure out ways to work with your weaknesses (i.e. teaming up with someone who is good at something you’re not, etc.).
All in all, I think both tests compliment one another and are a pretty accurate representation of who I am. I encourage everyone to take some time to discover, in your own way, who you really are if you haven’t already. I know for me it has been incredibly eye-opening and has given me a better understanding of why I think the way I do and why I do the things I do, etc. Obviously neither test (or any test really) is a COMPLETELY accurate representation of who you are, but sometimes they can help you better understand yourself. Plus, I just think they’re fun!
The short version of Myers-Briggs can be found HERE. Unfortunately, you have to purchase the StrengthsFinder book new in order to get the code to take the test, but you can find it all over for only about $10.
So, without further ado, here are my results:
StrengthsFinder:
These are my top 5 strengths (in order) and the book’s explanation of the strengths.
1. Responsibility - I am emotionally bound to follow through with anything (large or small) I commit to
2. Includer - I want to include people and make them feel part of the group
3. Belief - I have certain values that are enduring - these values cause me to be family-oriented, altruistic, spiritual, & ethical
4. Achiever - every day starts at zero and I have to achieve something tangible to feel good about myself
5. Input - I am inquisitive & have a busy mind
Myers-Briggs:
ESFJ (Extroverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging) and my personality makes up about 10% of the population. From this test I learned:
-My primary mode of living is focused externally…I tend to deal with things according to how I feel about them
-I am a people person, I value friendships & true relationships, I tend to be able to easily empathize with people, I can usually see the good in just about anyone (this is also listed as somewhat of a weakness because ESFJ’s sometimes have a hard time accepting a difficult truth about someone they care about)
-I am responsible, dependable, committed
-I am service-oriented
-I am energetic/driven/self-sacrificing (sometimes to a fault)
-I am sensitive and tend to wear my heart on my sleeve
-I have a strong sense of what is right & wrong
-I tend to control environments around me/I am stubborn
-I act on emotion and can be irrational, naive, & vulnerable
-I do not see situations in black & white, but rather every color of the rainbow
-I am impulsive
-I cannot stand conflict or criticism, nor am I the best at conflict resolution
And just because a photography blog post is not complete without pictures, here is a shot I got while taking Corey’s senior pictures. We were walking to a bridge and I looked over my shoulder and spotted this graffiti on a dumpster. I couldn’t resist!
Corey’s Senior Session
Posted on August 19, 2008
Corey’s dad Bill thought taking Corey’s senior pictures was going to be my hardest job yet. I am happy to say that he was wrong! Like my cousin Rachel, I remember when Corey was born. He was so cute – a super smiley, tow-headed little guy with big blue eyes! Corey is not “technically” my cousin, but that’s what I call him. His dad and my mom grew up together, so I’ve known Bill my entire life. Bill works at Miami University (where Corey plans pursue his degree in zoology when he graduates), and that is the location Corey picked for his senior pictures. It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous location to photograph. Corey and I, along with his mom & dad and their dog Lucy, had a great time walking around the campus and taking pictures. Like most guys, Corey was not jumping up and down with excitement at the thought of getting his senior pictures taken, but he was a great sport and flashed that great smile of his every time I asked. When we were all finished, he announced that he was relieved because his face hurt from smiling so much!
Corey ~ Your face pain was totally worth it because we got some great images! Just think, you’ll never have to sit through senior pictures again – exciting, huh? Thanks!
