love drop | Melanie

have you ever heard of love drop? i hadn't either. one day as i was perusing facebook in my free time (did you just gasp? say out loud "that bitch has free time?" i lied. it wasn't free time. i was procrastinating) i stumbled upon a post on the i heart faces facebook page. they were looking for a volunteer photographer on or near the cape. seeing as i'm neither of those things, but closer than, say, sallysomeone reading the post in denver, i tossed my name in the hat. having no idea what i was in for.

to my surprise they picked me.

ok, so back to love drop. what IS it? well, they can explain it better than i can, so here it is direct from the source :

"Love Drop is a micro-giving network of people who unite as a community to help one person or family a month. By subscribing to the team for as little as $1, we make it easy for our members to change lives in a fun and tangible way. Each month Love Drop delivers a unique combination of unexpected financial gifts, personal encouragement and the support of local and online communities. (As of April, we’ve given out over $61,414 worth of goods and services!)

In the spring of 2010, Nate and J. Money were invited to a lunch meeting at Google headquarters by the fabulous Jenny Blake, and immediately realized that working together could help change some lives. They discussed their options for the rest of the year, and decided on building out the Love Drop project – happily launched on 1.1.11!"

the love drop i helped with was for Melanie. a mom of four who was struck by a car one night while out for a walk with her oldest son. i've never taken part in something like this, but it really was something to see. Melanie also happens to be a pretty big deal in the blog world (the coupon goddess) so when this happened the outpouring of support was pretty large scale. i was grateful to be a fly on the wall, just taking in all the beauty of the day.

we hung around inside for a while, watching her be showered in all this goodness and light and kindness and love.

but then, we headed outside for the grand finale. Melanie's doctors predict she will be in a wheelchair for at least another two years while her pelvis comes back together and she re-learns how to walk. but how does a mom of FOUR keep up with laundry and cooking when she can't stand up?

front loading washer and dryer baby AND an electric stove with front controls. OH YEA!

this was such a wonderful experience, something i hope to be a part of again. good work team love drop!!

xo isabel

camera therapy workshop | devine timing

yea, i had to. try and work her name into the header. har, har. so, two years ago i made the switch to a digital slr. i mean, i had a few good old point and shoots, but had only shot on film slr cameras before. i searched the web, hungry for any knowledge i could find to help use what i knew in the film world to help myself become a good digital photographer. then i found rachel devine \ sesame ellis. i can't remember exactly how i stumbled upon her, but i think i might have read her entire blog in one sitting. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating...slightly. she seemed funny, approachable, full to the brim with knowledge and she was willing to share. exif info and shooting tips. and, we have a friend in common, somehow, even though she lives in australia. weird.

after two years of following her and really working hard to improve my techniques both technically and creatively, she announced she was holding a workshop in DC. i knew i had a few mattresses i could sleep on in DC so i jumped at the chance. i can't believe how lucky i was.

the timing was sort of perfect. i've been doing a lot of soul searching. finding myself. being myself. being ok with being myself. letting myself be creative and trust my eye. take the photos i love to take, not the ones i think are expected or i should be taking. it's a constant struggle, as silly as it may seem. i feel so...alive and confident and excited coming out of this workshop. i know in this kind of career it will always be a struggle to keep myself creative, but i also love that photography is never ending. there are always things you can do to improve, to stretch, to go out of your comfort zone, to create something new and exciting.

this workshop not only gave me the creative injection i needed, but also great workflow and business tips and tricks. weeks and weeks lead up to this day, and in a moment, it was gone. i've been lucky to make a few great friends in the process and i'm so excited to see how this all helps me continue to evolve as an artist. and guess what else i learned? man, would i *love* to get into working with kids commercially for print.

*warning, this post is very picture heavy.

rachel set us up in a bunch of different lighting/posing situations. it was great to not only see how she would approach the lighting/subject but also just to fine tune technical settings.

some quick outfit changes and we were headed outside.

and lots of back-lighting practice!

we wrapped up the day with some tree climbing, i mean lifestyle shooting.

i flew home and had a newborn session later in the afternoon. i thought i was crazy, and while i am totally and completely run down from this whirlwind, i was so excited to put all the things i had just learned into practice. i am so grateful for this age of internet, while creepy at times, it really has brought so many wonderful people into my life. oh, and yes, there were other models there. i got home and looked at my card and it appears i spent a lot of time with Gemma.

also, you might notice the blog looks a little different, along with the site www.furiephotography.com please bear with me while it's a little funky for the next few days. ain't it pretty? and clean? and easy? swoon. if you haven't checked out That PHP girl for your website needs, you SHOULD!

ok. a few more blog posts are in the works. and it's a school holiday. i'm off!

xo isabel