Avery James Photography

New Fine Art Prints For Sale!

2012-01-27T09:12:00.000-08:00

Since I just recently discovered this cool Facebook app that lets you put your Etsy shop on your business page (check mine out, the link is in the left hand column titled "Etsy Shop" under my profile pic), I decided to relist all my old items that had long ago expired. It had been well over a year since I sold anything or even bothered to market any of it. Just got burned out and bored I guess.

I didn't have a whole lot to relist, but I picked my favorite items and put them up. Well yesterday morning I got an order for one of my fabric frames! This one, which is one of my favorites:

Zebra Print Frame

So of course, once I got that sale coming through I got all excited and motivated. So I spent yesterday morning searching through all my e-files and preparing new fine art prints to stock my shop with. I stopped about halfway through all my pictures because I just got tired of it, but I got quite a few new prints up! I want to get to the fabric store soon too so I can make some new frames! :)

Here's my Etsy shop link:

Avery James Photography on Etsy

And here's the new prints I just put up! They're all 8x10 prints and sell for $24.00 each. Please inquire about larger or smaller sizes. :) :) crystal@averyjamesphotography.com

"Los Angeles At Dusk"

"Pretty in Pink"

And don't forget!! I'm offering free advertising on my blog for a month!! Details here.

Free Ad Space for 1 month!

2012-01-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

Yup! You heard right - free ad space for 1 month here on my Avery James Photography blog!

Interested??

Details:
120 x 90px size button

It'd be great to get photography related sponsors such as the following, but I am open to all advertisers at this point:

Etsy shops that sell photo props, baby and children accessories and clothing, photo frames, graphic design, etc.
Blogs with photography tips and tutorials
Photography equipment suppliers
Photo printers

Other types of advertisers (big and small) I'd love to support:

Bloggers (crafters, artists, moms, couponers, giveaways, fashion, beauty, travel)
Small businesses
Children's boutiques
Beauty
Fashion
Travel
Music

Those are all my preferred advertisers, but again, I will consider all businesses, big and small.

Please email me your button (make it attractive!) and website link to: crystal@averyjamesphotography.com

Thank you!! :)

Oh, and a picture for today. Another picture of my little boy from the pics I took for our Christmas cards. :) :) How cute is he??? :) :)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

2012-01-24T19:05:00.000-08:00

::tears:: just got home from a great tearjerker movie:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

It's got so many different emotional pieces going on throughout the movie that I think many people will find something they can relate to. My heart definitely went out to the mother in the movie and I cried like a baby for the last 20 minutes as everything was coming to a head.

Basically the movie is based around a young boy whose father died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. That part of the story alone is heartbreaking. Then he has this journey to try and find a connection to his father through a mystery of sorts that he is trying to solve.

As he met so many people along his path, I was reminded at how each person that I meet in my life, if even for only a brief time, affects me in some way and the person that I am. Or that I may affect many people along my path in ways that I may never even realize. It's an outstanding realization when you sit and really think about it.

The mother in the story is struggling with so many things - her own grief at losing her husband in such a tragic way, and having to raise and console a son who clearly favored his father for the relationship that they had. Watching your child fall apart and hurt so deeply and not being able to do anything to help ease their pain is heart wrenching to watch. This is about the time I started bawling in the movie theater.

There are a few other characters who each have their own little shining light and struggles, and together they all created a great movie. I could have done without the face full of tears, but that's when you know a movie is good - when it makes you feel emotions so strongly that you can't control them.

Check out the trailer. :)

Laura and Family

2012-01-23T12:27:00.000-08:00

Another set of photos from pretty far back, I am posting completely out of order and scattered. I'm just browsing through folders on my computer realizing how many shoots I haven't blogged yet...there's a LOT! Probably half a year's worth. Shame on me!

My favorite part of my job is being able to check back in with families year after year (sometimes multiple times a year) and seeing how the kids progress and grow each time. It's an amazing perk of the world I live in. :) :) I actually hadn't seen this family for 2 years before this shoot though. It's honestly more crazy to me to think that I've been doing this photography thing for longer than that. The twists and turns that life takes...it's an adventure every day. :) What will tomorrow bring???

On with the smiles (and what great smiles this family has!!)

80's Party!

2012-01-22T12:50:00.000-08:00

So here's one of those personal posts I was telling you about a few days ago. Gonna try and squeeze lots more of these in this blog. :) :)

Last night my honey and I headed over to an 80's birthday party for two of my friends. I'm really not a fan of dressing up whatsoever...and although I lived my childhood in the 80's, I really had nothing to show for it wardrobe wise. The most I could get my hands on was a hair crimper and leg warmers from some friends. Once my bf's mom and sister found out that we were going to an 80's party though, they both brought out their costume arsenal and dressed me up, and I had to admit, it was actually pretty cute. The gloves were definitely my favorite part. I had to pass on the giant Madonna-looking bow though...my hair was gonna be crimped and that was as far as I was going.

I did find out that I actually liked my crimpy, frizzy hair. I'm used to my hair being pretty flat and straight all the time, so the body that the frizz gave to my hair was pretty awesome, lol. :) :)

What's your favorite 80's fashion piece??

Me and my love (don't mind the missing tooth...it's a long story)

My pretty, sparkly, rainbow-y eyes. :) :)

Us and the birthday boy and girl :) :) She made her own Michael Jackson costume - how awesome is that?? And he's from the Smooth Criminal video.

Yana and Family

2012-01-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

The little girl in this post was sooooo absolutely adorable!!! She was so well behaved and happy just about the entire shoot, and it was a LONG shoot. She just kept smiling and laughing and her personality was just so infectious, I couldn't help but smile back the entire time. How cute is she??? I'd love to think I'll get to shoot with them again, but unfortunately they were just enjoying a vacation in the Palos Verdes, CA area (where I live) when they found my services on the internet. But perhaps if they make it out this way again then I'll be able to capture more pictures of this little doll. :) :)

Getting to Know Me...

2012-01-19T09:50:00.000-08:00

I'd really love to take this blog in a new direction...well, maybe not a NEW one, but perhaps a tiered one...if that makes any sense...it does to me at least. :)

This obviously is my photography blog, but I'd like it to be more than that. I want to find a way to combine my photography with my life with my interests with my stories with all of you out there in the blog world and with me in general.

With that said, I may just post a little of this and a little of that randomness...because personally I love randomness. For example, I always put my ipod on shuffle when I listen to it vs searching for my favorite songs...most of the time I don't even listen to my ipod because I'd prefer to listen to one of my many mixes on Pandora because I never know what song will come up next. I also came across this Etsy shop app on Facebook that brings up a random shop everytime you refresh the page. That stuff just tickles me. LoL. :) I'm definitely not a Type A personality, that's for sure.

So my point is, that I hope to use this blog in a more personal way. You'll get to know me as more than just a photographer...there's a real, live, breathing woman behind that camera and I've been known to have a lot to say from time to time. Hopefully it'll interest you. :)

Look for more posts like this in between my client photos, but there shall always be at least one photo in a post. This one is of my son that I took around Christmastime to use on our Christmas cards. It's taken in Palos Verdes, CA where we live. Absolute paradise in the city is what I think of this place. :)

Kathleen and Family

2012-01-18T21:35:00.000-08:00

I'm back! Two days in a row! Go me! :)

Today I'm blogging pictures from another one of my regular client's recent shoots. Love this family too!! They are just so absolutely sweet and the kids are adorable. The kids all kept running and tackling and hugging me and during the shoot which I thought was so cute. I love being able to form relationships with the families that I see on a continued basis. An extra perk to my job. :) :)

Also, after I blogged yesterday's post, I realized that I never blogged that same family's last shoot....but I think their pics are on a different hard drive that I need to get plugged in...and I also don't think I ever blogged this post's family's photos from last year either. So I'll get both of those up in a future post. :) :)

On with this pics! :)

Aine and Family

2012-01-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

Trying to play catch up and likely to be completely out of order. Just wanted to post SOMETHING since it's been a couple months since my last post. As usual, my goal is to get back on track with this blog, do something big with it, but as usual I've fallen behind. But here we go again!! :)

This past holiday photo season really grabbed me by the toes and swung me around till I couldn't see straight, that's for sure. Not a bad thing depending on how you look at it, but I'm sure glad it's over because I was nearing the end of my stress rope, lol.

These pictures below are of some of my regular clients that I took a little before the holiday season started, just didn't get to blog them yet. Doesn't this family just make you smile?? They're SOOO easy to work with, my favorite type of client - laid back, let's me do my own thing, let's the kids relax and have fun, smiling, laughing, and lots of interaction with each other. All of that really does produce a great photo environment. :) :)

I'll be back soon with more photos to blog!! :)

Zenka Nails Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Uhmmm...yea...so I kinda said that this giveaway was over on November 6...and here it is Dec. 16. Yea...let's just say that the holiday photo season completely took over my life. I've been going nonstop for a month and a half and I'm just now FINALLY able to start catching up on everything else outside of work. And there's a lot to catch up on, including this giveaway.

So without further adieu, think of this as an awesome Christmas gift from Zenka Nails and myself!

The winner of the amazing Spa Pedicure with Zenka Nails is....

::drum roll::

Lucky comment number 6!!

And that comment belongs to:

I'll be contacting you shortly to claim your prize!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered! Be sure to check out my review and their information on this awesome company here: Zenka Nails Review

Happy Halloween 2011!

2011-10-31T12:35:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a fantabulous Halloween and that you got to do some fun stuff with the kiddies or your friends or fam or whomever this weekend! :) I went to 2 different Halloween parties (adult parties) dressed as a firefighter. Gotta love our heroes. ;) I also painted pumpkins with my son (waaaay easier and more fun, in my opinion, than carving them!). :) :)

Here's a few pics to share - a few of my son, our pumpkins, and his Halloween costume, and then the rest of a few other Halloween cuties that I met up with! :) I don't have any pics of me dressed up...I think there's a couple floating around out there, but I haven't seen them yet. :) :)

What did you and/or your kid(s) dress up as for Halloween this year???

Giveaway and Review for Zenka Nails - Manhattan Beach

2011-10-19T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm so honored to have been given this fabulous opportunity with Zenka Nails at Trilogy Spa in Manhattan Beach, CA. My awesome friend, Jasmine, works there and contacted me to generously offer a Spa Indulgence Pedicure in exchange for a review on my blog. And as we were saying our goodbye's, she said that I could also give away the same amazing package to a lucky blog reader!! Trust me - you WANT this. Promise. :)

First the review, then the giveaway details!

Oh, and please pardon all the pictures of my piggies! They aren't the prettiest things around by any means, but I couldn't do a review on a pedicure without having pics of my toes and the process to go along with it! :) :)

Zenka Nails at Trilogy Spa is located at 451 Manhattan Beach Blvd. in the Metlox Plaza in Manhattan Beach, CA. just up the street from the pier. Right next to the super chic Shade Hotel and alongside tons of other cute boutiques and restaurants. (Contact: 310.374.3600)

Upon entering the Trilogy Spa, you're greeted by the very welcoming lobby and front desk ladies (there might be men too, but I didn't see any on my visit). I was then whisked away into the nail spa area which was a very cozy room with 2 cushy seats side by side with a small table in between, a curtained area with a manicure table to the side, a television with headphones, magazines, and relaxing music playing in the background. Very much like a spa atmosphere versus the typical large nail salon with 20+ seats, tons of chatter, and background noise. This is a great spot to come with a girlfriend to relax and catch up on gossip, or to just come and relax by yourself.

I was also told that there's a rooftop area for nails - sounds heavenly, but I didn't get a chance to see it on this visit. :)

I was then introduced to my AMAZING nail tech, Valery. She was super sweet and made me feel relaxed and confident in her work. She's been doing nails for 5 years now and has worked with several celebrity clients as well. Prior to nails she was a masseuse which translates into - she gives great foot and reflexology massages in her pedis! :) :)

She started off by soaking my feet in a warm, foamy fizzy bath of rock salt.

Next she worked at removing my nail polish....which happened to be many, very heavy coats of glittery polish. Not easy to take off, but she was a trooper and kept at the stubborn polish. :)

Next she cut and filed my toenails making them all pretty and straight :)

Next up was a hibiscus and tiger lily sugar scrub treatment. I love sugar scrubs personally because they exfoliate and all that good stuff, but aren't as harsh as a salt scrub...I have very dry skin so the salt isn't always the best thing for me.

After rinsing the scrub off, Valery then proceeded on to the next treatment which was a detoxing seaweed wrap. This detoxes your skin of impurities and opens up the pores. She rubbed the mixture over my feet and then wrapped them up like little babies in warm towels. :)

She let the seaweed wrap soak in for a bit and we talked about another service that she does. As far as she knows, last she checked she's the only one in the South Bay that offers the following service:

Minx Nails

They're basically little foil-like nail coverings with various designs. They don't chip like polish or anything like that and on the toes they can last for 8+ weeks...depends on the wearer and how much you put your feet through. ;) You can also get then on your fingernails.

Here's a couple of examples:

And here's an example of how they look on the toes:

Because it's not a polish, you can really achieve that metallic look which is super cool. I'm all about the shine myself. And I love all the fun designs you can get!

It's a difficult process to do and nail techs must be trained and certified in doing this process, so it can get a little pricey - but totally worth it if you want something unique that isn't really offered in the area right now! (Price list link below)

OK - back to my pedi. After the seaweed wrap soaked in a bit, Valery took the towels off and rubbed all the green mixture off. She then moved on to the best part of the whole experience - the foot and leg massage! She used this plumeria and hibiscus lotion that smelled sooooo good - a nice, light, fruity/floral mixture. And as I noted earlier, she has that professional massage background, so she definitely knows what she's doing.

And so...the massage was so relaxing that I completely forgot to take a picture, lol. So no visuals on this one, haha. But just picture me sitting there in complete bliss and relaxation. :)

:) :)

After that it was time to put on the polish. I requested french tips, my favorite! She polished away and sculpted those tips. She's very quick and precise. Great lines and technique.

I even got the fancy fan treatment to help it dry a bit. :)

And here is the lovely final product!

Please don't mind that ugly cut on my left big toe - Apparently I forget how to walk sometimes and I stepped on my own toe last week with my heel.....very hard....it still hurts. :(

I love them! And I felt super happy and relaxed when I left. And of course being right down the street from the beach amongst all the beachy shops just added to the experience when I left. :) :)

Oh - and before I forget, if you get a nail treatment with Zenka Nails, you can add on usage of the Trilogy Spa amenities for $25 (regularly $45)! A great way to relax before/after your manis and pedis!

LINKS:

Zenka Nails @ Trilogy Spa

Zenka Nails on Facebook

Zenka Nails on Twitter

Price list

Specials

OK - now on to the FUN part!!

GIVEAWAY TIME!!

I encourage you to enter this giveaway, and do as many of the entries as you can because this is a fabulous package to win!

One lucky Avery James Photography reader will win the same Spa Indulgence Pedicure package that I did from Zenka Nails at Trilogy Spa. Zenka Nails at Trilogy Spa is located in Manhattan Beach, CA. so you'll need to be local in order to claim this prize.

You must do the Mandatory entry below in order to be eligible for any of the Extra Entries.

Remember to leave your email address in each entry so I know how to reach you if you win!

MANDATORY ENTRY

What part of the spa package described in my post above do you think will be your favorite?

EXTRA ENTRIES

(Do any or all of the following, leaving a separate comment for each entry letting me know which task you completed)

Share this post on your Facebook (Copy and paste the following text and link (or you can make your own text up): Free Spa Indulgence Pedicure being given away for Zenka Nails in Manhattan Beach on Avery James Photography's blog! http://averyjamesphotography.blogspot.com/2011/10/giveaway-and-review-for-zenka-nails.html ) - worth 2 entries, leave 2 separate comments

You can post to Facebook once a day and get 2 entries each time (remember to leave 2 separate comments each time)

"Like" Avery James Photography on Facebook (here) (Leave Facebook name - must be from personal page, not a fan page)
"Like" my personal travel agent company page (specializing in Disney vacations!), Ever After Vacations, on Facebook (here) (Leave Facebook name - must be from personal page, not a fan page)
"Like" Zenka Nails on Facebook (here)
Follow Zenka Nails on Twitter - @ZENKASTYLE (leave Twitter ID)
Follow Avery James Photography on Google Friend Connect
"Like" my friend's t-shirt company iNMAAKOi on Facebook and tell them @Avery James Photography sent you!
Follow @AveryJamesPhoto on Twitter (leave twitter ID)

This giveaway ends at 11:59 pm Pacific Time on November 6, 2011. The winner will be selected by random draw and will have 48 hours to respond to my notification email before another winner is selected.

Rosie and Family

2011-10-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Hump Day everyone! :) Wednesday already...where does the week go?? :)

Any fun plans for anyone out there this upcoming weekend? It's almost Halloween!! Then the onslaught of holiday fun starts, crazyyyyy...the year is coming to a close already.

As for myself, I'm doing Halloween costume mini-sessions this Saturday for the kiddies (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=123889467718115) and a beach shoot on Sunday. Other than that, just some fun time with my little one and my love. :) Should be a great weekend!

Speaking of beach shoots, below are some pictures from a shoot I did about a month ago with 2 adorable twins and their big brother. They all had birthdays right around the same time so they wanted a picture for the party invitation and for the cake topper. They went with this first one of all 3 of them. I photographed the birthday party as well so I'll try and post those pictures next! :)

I must admit though, I have sooooo much respect for parents of twins or greater multiples...it's not easy to take care of 1 toddler let alone 2 of them at the exact same age (or to photograph them!)...plus older/younger siblings on top of that. I tip my hat to the hard work that you do. :) :)

Have a great week everyone! :)

Interview with little 'ol me :)

2011-10-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is doing a project in her Small Business Management class and asked me if she could do the project on me and my business. Of course I said "yes!" What an honor. :) :)

She sent me some interview questions the other day and I responded to them yesterday...in my usual fashion they became very wordy answers, but it was really nice to be forced to sit down and think about my responses and really put into text how I feel about various things.

Halfway through the novel I ended up writing her, I realized that there might actually be some interesting info in here that others might either get a little inspiration from or just be interested in reading in order to learn a little bit more about me and my business. So I decided I was going to post my answers here for all to see. :)

Once she finishes with her project, I'll also post that here to share with everyone! :)

Happy reading. :)

1. Why did you start your own business?

A few different reasons. Ever since I was a very young child, I have always been finding ways to make extra money before I was old enough to get a payroll type job. I sold anything I could get my hands on or could figure out how to make on my own. I think the entrepreneurial spirit has just always been embedded in me.
Once I was old enough for a job, I realized that I really didn’t like having a boss for the most part, I didn’t like being on someone else’s schedule, and I really didn’t like working my butt off to make someone else money. I also loved the thought of working from the comfort of my own home and being able to walk away from my desk whenever I felt like it.
The real drive to push even harder for my own business came once I had children though. I knew that I did not want my children growing up in a daycare or with a babysitter. I wanted to be involved with their school and classroom once they started. I wanted to be able to take vacations with them and not have to worry about whether I could get the time off from work. I wanted to be able to take a day or two off to take care of them if they were sick without feeling guilty for abandoning anyone at work with deadlines, etc.
And lastly, I wanted a future that I could be really proud of. To be able to provide for myself and my family by the work of my two hands and my own brain power. To be able to introduce myself as a successful business owner. There’s definitely a sense of pride in having your own business.

2. Did you create a business plan? If so , where did you go for advice regarding business development?

I did not create a business plan per say. I’m really not the most organized, Type A personality...so a written business plan just wasn’t my style, nor would it have really helped me personally. I suppose if I needed investors or anything like that then I would have needed one though.
With that said, I did create somewhat of a business strategy in my head. My brain never stopped thinking of ideas, processes, long-term goals, short-term goals, etc. I was constantly planning things and changing plans and figuring out better ways to do things. I feel like I need that flexibility to change things as circumstances change or as results don’t come through the way they’re expected. I don’t know how much I would be tied down by a written business plan if I had one that I tried to stick to.

3. Did you do any market research prior to starting your company? Do you do market research now?

I did a little market research prior to starting, but not a ton. I didn’t really know exactly, specifically what I wanted to do at first, and with my line of work, it was more important at the moment to perfect what I was doing before I worried too much about what everyone else was doing. I really focused in the beginning on taking as many photos as I could of everything and everyone.
Once I started getting a little work under my belt and a portfolio halfway put together, then I started doing a lot more research into the industry. I started looking at hundreds of photographer’s portfolios to get a better idea of the quality level I needed to strive to be at. Ideas as to different promotions, different prop ideas, different locations, poses, styles, etc. I soaked up everything I saw and then tried to figure out how to take all that knowledge to make it my own.
I also did a lot of research on industry standard pricing and package options. It was a little more difficult with this because a lot of photogs do not post their pricing directly on their website. And there is also such a huge range when it comes to pricing – all based on experience level, quality, location, and clientele. In general the prices were VERY high for a lot of custom, family photographers (which is what I had at this point set out to do), but their quality was also very high and they had worked themselves in with a clientele that could afford these prices without blinking an eye. This type of clientele is not the majority of America though, and I wanted to come in lower with a larger pool of clientele to work with.

4. How did you identify/evaluate the opportunity to no longer work the average 9 to 5 but to work for yourself instead?

The opportunity pretty much presented itself to me. My work load with the photography was getting extremely busy. I was working a full time job, practically a full time photography job, plus I had a family at home to take care of and give my attention to. Just as things were becoming overwhelmingly stressful and too much for me to handle, I found out that my boss was moving to another state. That past year I had been working so hard with the photography, but was scared to make that jump into doing it full time for financial reasons. I felt like I had needed someone to basically push me into the deep end so that I could sink or swim. When my boss announced he was moving, therefore leaving me without a job, I realized and believed in my heart that this was that push I had been waiting for. From that point on, I started preparing for the life of a full-time photographer, and when my job officially ended, I jumped off that deep end ledge and have been swimming ever since. :)

5.How do you handle the potential risks and the possibility of failure?

I have to be honest, much of the way I handle all of the risks is through my religious faith. I know that’s not the most business-minded answer, but it’s the honest truth. I’m aware that at any day everything could go under and I would have to start over or go back to working in the corporate world. It’s a real fear that is always under the surface, but that fear is also what motivates me to work harder, find new ideas, better my work, and network more. When things get really overwhelming and uncertain, I literally sit myself down and pray about it, I ask for help, and I accept the fact that my future is always uncertain and that I will need to find a way to provide for myself and my family no matter what the outcome.
I think the key to handling risks and the possibility of failure, is to accept that it’s possible, but to also know that if you’re confident in what you are doing, and if you want it bad enough and can work hard enough at it to prove it, then anything is possible. You need to reinvent yourself sometimes to keep up with the changes around you. You can’t be so stuck in your ways that you think there’s only one way to do something. You need to constantly be looking around you to see where the consumer tide is headed and then point your sail in that direction and follow the wind.

6. Have you ever failed in a venture?

MANY times!! I honestly couldn’t even count them all. Although I don’t know if I would say that I “failed” at them...more just “admitted defeat” and realized that either it just wasn’t meant for me, or that I could already see that it wasn’t going to work out long term and wasn’t worth the time/money investment in it. Prior to the photography business, I usually had at least 1-2 different business ideas going on in my life at a time. When I decided to drop one idea, I was already thinking about the next idea. I’ve done the mainstream businesses like being an Avon representative and a Notary Public...then I’ve also had smaller ideas that I tried to start on my own – photo editing, website building, jewelry making, catering/bartending services, talent management, blogging, candy/soda sales, babysitting, travel agent, etc. You name it and I’ve probably either attempted it or thought through the idea pretty thoroughly before I decided not to do it.
I’m not afraid of failing, I’m more afraid of running out of new ideas.

7. What have you experienced that was a major event or issue?

Thankfully I haven’t had to experience anything overly horrible or extreme...yet. I think the most difficult issues I’ve had to deal with, mainly when I was still working full time at my previous job and trying to juggle the photography and my family on top of that, is when things got REALLY busy around the holiday photo season 2 years ago. My rates were very low because I was still starting out and playing around with pricing, but because they were so low I had a LOT of clients coming to me for holiday photos. I also was giving a lot in my packages which was resulting in a lot of post-processing work...hours and hours of work per client. If all of the work had been spread out over 6 months or so, that would have been fine – but since they were holiday photos, everything was being condensed into a 2 month period with many people waiting till the last minute to do photos and then needing an immediate turnaround. Needless to say I was bombarded practically overnight with photo shoots, post-processing, client delivery, and lots of difficult to meet deadlines....plus still had to be to work at 7:30am, get off at 4:30pm, commute 30 minutes, pick up my son from daycare, have dinner, then spend a couple hours working on photography before going to bed, then waking up and doing it all over again. All of this resulted in having really long turnaround times for each client, causing them to get upset and causing me to be stressed out, plus not spending as much time on the pictures as I would like to be able to in order to produce better quality work. All around not a great time for me.

8. What is your definition of an entrepreneur?

Someone who has vision, drive, and a hard-working personality that can actually take the steps needed to make their dreams reality. It’s one thing to have an idea, it’s a whole other realm to have the motivation and dedication to do everything that needs to be done in order to make it possible. You need to be able to take very calculated risks...throwing one’s time and money around at every opportunity that presents itself does not make an entrepreneur, it makes for a foolish man. Not every idea is made for every person. You need to find something that fits YOU and your personality. You need a product that’s going to sell itself. You need a plan that is feasible and will not leave you in debt for decades with absolutely no return. And you need a backup plan in case it doesn’t work out.
An entrepreneur, to me, is someone who can visualize a business, service, or product from the ground up and can see its future vividly. Someone who wants it bad enough that they’re gonna give 110% to making it work, but that’s also smart enough to walk away, cutting losses, when they know it’s not the right thing for them.

Natalie C.

2011-10-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

How adorable are these little girls??? It must be a wonderful thing to be able to grow up with siblings all close in age. I wouldn't know as I was an only child for 10 years before I had little sisters...totally different dynamic. But I would have loved to have a best friend growing up that slept in the bottom bunk and ate cereal with me every morning...oh and of course someone to fight with day in and day out, lol. :) I think growing up an only child for so long, and then having younger sisters to take care of through my teenage years, taught me to be pretty darn responsible though. I grew up pretty quickly. I suppose that is a plus that I can take from my own situation.

How many of you have siblings? How many of you are only children? Close in age or far apart? Thoughts??

DaVita Village Service Days - Inglewood Rogers Park Community Center

2011-10-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

Still playing catch up from some past photo shoots! I am absolutely determined to get caught up and get everything blogged within the next week or so. :) :)

Today's post is from an awesome event I was commissioned to shoot for DaVita. Along with being a great company, they also try to involve their employees (teammates as they call them) in various community service events that volunteers within the company help to set up and coordinate.

This most recent event for their Southern California corporate office was to refurbish the Inglewood Rogers Park Community Center. Such a fun and active project and I am so honored to have been a part of it through my camera. :) In addition, they also surprised some local children with backpacks filled with school supplies.

My favorite part of the day was talking to one of the young girls who has been coming to this community center since she was a small child, and she just was so amazed at all the work being done, how nice everything looked, and how all these people could take the time out of their busy days to come and do this for them. Things like that moment with this girl is what makes my heart fill with joy. :) <3

Here's a bit of what I captured of this great service that the DaVita teammates did.

Oh - but first is a newspaper article in the Inglewood Today newspaper on the event, featuring my photos! :) (pg 6 - Sep 8, 2011):

Ethan's headshots

2011-10-05T15:22:00.000-07:00

WOW...wow. August 16 was my last blog post, and it wasn't even a photography related post. Hi, my name is Slacker. I've lost my head over the last couple of months and barely know what day it is today.

I'm here now though, and I have a TON of blog posts to catch up on. I'll try to space them out where I can. For today, I've got some pics of an absolutely adorable little boy to share. His new agency loves his look (what look would that be you ask? Well, just-want-to-pinch-your-cheeks cute of course!) and needed some good-looking headshots of a good-looking boy so that they can get his face out there and in America's face. :) Avery James Photography to the rescue! :)

Sorry, I'm in a silly, tired, just-getting-back-from-vacation kind of mood. :) :) Anyways. Here's Ethan's pictures - ssuuuuuper cute! :)

UPrinting 250 Customizable Sticker Winner!!

2011-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

And the winner of the 250 Uprinting Customizable Stickers is....

::drumroll::

Comment #11 - Sabrina!

I'll be contacting you to claim your prize shortly.

Thank you everyone for participating!!! :) :)

Beach Day!

2011-08-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Adventures of my point-and-shoot camera

See whole series here: Adventures of My Point-and-Shoot

This past weekend was a total lazy day kinda weekend. I did a whole bunch of relaxing, sleeping in, lounging, picnicking, and hanging out at the beach. A perfect weekend if you ask me. :)

While I was at the beach (we headed to Torrance Beach this time) I decided to take some pics to continue my point-and-shoot camera series. This is kinda fun cause I like the look of the "amateur" style photos. It's a different feel from my usual pics and it's neat to switch things up a bit. :)

So here are snippets from my day at the beach!

UPrinting Customizable Stickers Giveaway!

2011-08-04T11:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sooooo excited to have been asked by UPrinting to do a giveaway for their customizable stickers! I am such a HUGE fan of anything that is customizable....if I can put my name, company name, kid's name, photos, etc. on something - I want it. One of my many strange quirks, lol.

So as I was saying, UPrinting.com contacted me and asked me to give away 250 of their Customizable Stickers to one lucky winner. Just think of all the possibilities!

Print "This belongs to [your name]" and stick them all over your house - like on the remote control, the candy stash, your toothbrush, and your favorite dining chair
Print "Toxic" or "Poison" labels and then put them on your lunch and snack containers at the office so no one steals your food
Print big hearts and "Mom Loves You" on them and then stick them on your teenage son's lunch everyday

Oh.....yea and I guess you could use them for stuff like printing your business name on them, address labels, company promotions...the usual. (Personally I think labeling everything in my house with my name sounds thrilling.)

While there look to be lots of options for their stickers when it comes to sizes and shapes (check them all out here), the ones we're giving away here are as follows:

Dimensions: 2" x 3.5"
70 lb Label Matte
Front Printing Only
Turnaround is 4 business days

They even provide some free, handy, dandy standard label templates to allow your wild and crazy creativity to keep within the lines of the actual label.

So...are you sold yet?? I know you're thinking about the evil lunch stealer at work right about now and how handy those toxic stickers are gonna be. :)

If you just can't wait around to see if you are the fantabulous winner of this prize, you could always mosey on over to UPrinting.com and just start ordering your own lovely set of stickers today.

But if you'd like to try your luck, here's how you can win!

GIVEAWAY

One lucky Avery James Photography reader will win 250 Stickers/Labels of their own! A $40 value!
(Stickers/labels will be 2″ x 3.5″, in 70lb Label Matte with Front Only Printing and 4 Business Days Turnaround)

MANDATORY ENTRY

Tell me one of your favorite Avery James Photography blog posts, photos, or photo shoots! You can post a link or describe the entry if you'd like.

EXTRA ENTRIES

(Do any or all of the following, leaving a separate comment for each entry.)

Follow Avery James Photography on Google Friend Connect to enter
"Like" Avery James Photography on Facebook (here) (Leave Facebook name)
"Like" my friend's t-shirt company iNMAAKOi on Facebook and tell them @Avery James Photography sent you!
Follow @AveryJamesPhoto on Twitter (leave twitter ID)
Follow @UPrinting on Twitter and tweet the giveaway. You can tweet once per day. Please use the following text:“Win 250 stickers/labels from @UPrinting! from @averyjamesphoto http://tinyurl.com/3nek7yh #GIVEAWAY"
Like UPrinting on facebook (Leave Facebook name)
Sign up on Giveaway Blogs (leave name)

Contest is open to US residents 18 years and older. This giveaway ends at 11:59 pm Pacific Time on August 14, 2011. The winner will be selected by random draw and will have 48 hours to respond to my notification email before another winner is selected.

Winner can not have won a similar contest from UPrinting within the last 6 months.

Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by UPrinting, no monetary compensation was given and I will receive stickers for hosting. Check out standard label templates on Uprinting.com.

Wedding Gown Fitting

2011-07-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

A couple of days ago I posted about my sister's "engagement" photos here...yesterday she had her first bridal gown appointment to go to - how exciting!! Of course I brought along my camera. :) The experience was pretty fun - it was neat to see her get all dressed up.

Something I did learn, perhaps helpful to other brides out there - my sister went into the store with ideas and pictures of exactly how she wanted her dress to look and exactly how she didn't want her dress to look. Well after she tried on dresses in line with what she had in her head - she realized that maybe they weren't the best look for her specifically and then tried on dresses with everything she said she didn't want and ended up loving it! Go figure. :) Finding something that fits your body type specifically is a lot different than looking at all the models in the magazines in wedding gowns. :) I can't wait till the day that I get to go try gowns on!! :) :)

This was the first of many appointments to come - this store didn't have a huge selection and although she was able to narrow down the look and shape of what she wanted, they didn't necessarily have the right fabrics and combinations that she wanted. She did add one gown and veil to her "wish list", but I'm guessing she'll find something else she likes better down the line. :)

I've decided against posting any of the actual gown photos right now to keep the element of surprise for the groom at least. But here's a few of the other pics from the fitting anyhow. :)

Art in the Streets

2011-07-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

Adventures of my point-and-shoot camera
(perhaps I'll do a few more like this sometime)

I originally heard about the awesome Art in the Streets exhibit from a fellow photographer friend who went to see it a couple months ago - he came back with some really neat pics and so I had been curious about checking it out since then. While the topic can be a bit controversial, you can't deny the art of it.

Then this past Sunday I saw a tweet about the Art in the Streets exhibit being free on Mondays! Well golly gee, looks like that's what my son and I were going to do that Monday. I decided we'd take the bus down to downtown L.A. as well just for the heck of it, save some gas and parking $$. Turns out the L.A. buses can get pretty expensive anyways, so I think I pretty much just saved on parking money...oh well.

We took the bus to the MOCA museum which is where the exhibit is advertised at...turns out there's actually 2 locations for "MOCA" - the other one is called "The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA"....I had no idea there were 2 different spots, and of course we ended up at the wrong one. Turns out I wasn't the only one though, several people ended up at the wrong place so I didn't feel too bad.

The Geffen was about 10 blocks away, so we walked it. It ended up being right next to Little Tokyo of L.A. as well which I had been dying to go see forever now and the stars just never aligned. So before we went into the museum, we walked around Little Tokyo and just window shopped for a few minutes. Such a cute little area - reminded me of San Francisco's Japantown, but smaller. Lots of little restaurants and sushi shops, a cute little bakery, of course some Sanrio stores and a massive comic book shop. We didn't stay long, just passed through - I'll come back another time and check the area out in a little more depth.

We headed back towards the museum and walked right in. We were greeted by a huge warehouse setup with large scale paintings everywhere you looked. Most things were bright and colorful as street art often is, but the first big paintings were a bit out of the ordinary - a dead rabbit and a long painting of some kind of dead animal with doors that you could swing back and forth to see the internal organs drawn.....yea, a bit strange, but Caydan had fun swinging the doors back and forth, lol.

I only brought my point and shoot camera with me as I didn't feel like lugging my big camera around on the bus. I also had the impression that I would have just been taking pictures of pictures so didn't see a huge point in bringing it, but it turns out there was actually a lot of 3-dimensional art to take photos of - bummer for me cause I could have gotten some really neat pics if I had my fancy schmancy camera. Oh well - my point and shoot was gonna have to do. They're a bit blurry as you're not allowed to use flash and my little point and shoot isn't so wonderful at low lighting. And they're not the greatest pics as I wasn't really expecting to share them - but then decided I wanted to after the fact.

Here's a few of the neat things I saw. I definitely recommend checking out the exhibit. Great if you like art, street art, or just to see new things. My 5 year old son even said he had fun (there were some neat glow in the dark exhibits and monster looking figures that he loved).

Michelle and Isaac

2011-07-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

So about 2 months ago, some may recall that I vacationed in the gorgeous state of Florida for 3 weeks...well it turns out that while I was gone, I happened to miss a LOT going on back home. For instance, my 20 year old sister and her boyfriend decided to head off to Las Vegas with my mom and get engaged and then married! I didn't find out about it until I got back from Florida...wow, was that a shocker.

I will say though, that I absolutely adore my sister's ~~boyfriend~~ HUSBAND, my now brother-in-law, and that if she was gonna go off and get married without telling anyone, I'm glad it was with him.

They're planning a ceremony/mini-wedding for March 2012 so that friends and family can actually be there and celebrate with them. So while they've already tied the knot and skipped the engagement stage pretty much, we decided to do some engagement-style photos for the them so that they could still have the photos and use them for the invites or save the dates or whatever they want.

We planned to go down to the Santa Monica Pier to do their photos as it has a bit of sentimental value for them, but as the weekend we were going to do them turned out to be the "Carmageddon" weekend, we got scared off thinking about driving to the 10 fwy to go to Santa Monica which is where the 405 shut-down actually began (turns out the freeway really wasn't that bad after all).

So instead I suggested we take the Metro train to downtown L.A. and do some pictures there since I've been dying to go there and take photos forever now. We'll still go to Santa Monica soon and do pics there too, but for now we have these photos.

Here's a few highlights from our long day of walking around the downtown area and hopping on and off the train. There was more I wanted to photograph, but bellies were getting hungry and patience was running thin, so we called it a day. :)

Birthday fun!

2011-07-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

I went to a super fun birthday/slumber party this past weekend for a friend of mine...yes, I said "Slumber Party"! You know you're jealous. :) :)

I snapped the below pics just for fun, but decided that I liked them enough to post here. Unfortunately for everyone not in attendance, I didn't take pictures of the most entertaining parts of the night - let's just say there was some more alcohol, party games, stick-on mustaches, deep dark secrets, and a swimming pool. What a great party. :) :)

Baby Jesiah

2011-07-24T19:24:00.000-07:00

Remember when I took this beautiful woman's maternity photos here?? I finally got to meet her adorable little one about a month ago or so to catch a few photos of the new addition! Isn't he just a doll??

Mason - 6 months

2011-07-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love happy, smiley babies!! They just make me feel all ooey gooey inside. You honestly cannot help but smile back at a baby that smiles at you, it's literally impossible. I dare one of you to try and prove me wrong.

Speaking of smiley babies, I got to meet up with this adorable 6 month old baby yesterday for his next set of pictures through my "Baby's First Year" package (truly a great investment, that first year just holds SO MUCH change and it all happens so quickly). Looking back at how he's grown, it just amazes me how much he's changed in just 6 months - Mason

Here's a little sneak peek at our session - he seriously couldn't stop smiling....except for when he was snacking on his wittle toes...priorities you know :) :)

$25 Portrait Specials

2011-07-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I offered an awesome deal - $25 for a quick mini-shoot, single person portrait, with an 8x10 print. Just something to fill some extra time I had this weekend and an option for those who didn't want a full session at this time.

I will probably offer this special again in the near future...I didn't announce this one on my email mailing list - it was purely a Facebook offer, but I believe the next one will be advertised on my mailing list so if you'd like to be notified when it's scheduled, please send me an email at crystal@averyjamesphotography.com to make sure you're on my email distribution. :)

I was able to meet with 2 beautiful little girls for their portraits at this past session. How gorgeous are both of them?? The one beauty has these gorgeous hazel eyes, and the other beauty has those huge, dark almond eyes...she looks like a little Pocahontas princess. :) :)

I offer the print in either color or black and white, and personally I can't decide which I like better - b/w ends up giving the photo a completely different look and feel....very classic and really makes the faces pop. So I just decided to post both versions here - would love to hear what your favorites are. :)

Hope everyone is having a great week! :)

Josiah

2011-06-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

I just ADORE my little....cousin? Josiah's dad is my cousin, so whatever that makes him to me....I just love him! Josiah and his parents, along with half of our local family, all came over to my place for Father's Day dinner last weekend. Figured it would be easier to make dinner for my grandfather vs trying to fight the crowds at the restaurants. Plus I got to play with my favorite little baby that I hadn't seen in over a month already! Just as the night was winding down and the sunlight was just about gone, I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of this cutie and snatched my camera up and started shooting with a high ISO to capture the little bit of light that was left in my living room.

Here's a couple of the good ones I got...I couldn't decide which one I liked better of this first one - the color or b/w one...so I saved myself the stress and decided to post both. :)

I also had been chatting with Josiah's mom about some of the other pics I had taken of Josiah in the past, and she's been asking me for the pics I took at the hospital when he was born forever now and let's just say I'm an easily sidetracked, forgettable, procrastinator....so although little JoJo is 9 months old now, I just barely sent her the hospital pics the other day....better late than never. :)

I posted this one below on my Facebook page though and she just loved it. :) She said she didn't have any pics at the hospital of the two of them where you could see both of their faces....I'm so glad I was able to give her this one at least. :)

AJP presents: Cutest of the Bunch Contest!

2011-06-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Are you on Facebook?? Do you have a child 12 or under? Are you in the Southern California area (or planning to visit)? If you answered 'yes' to all, then you may want to head to my Facebook page and check out my newest contest!! I call it "Cutest of the Bunch" - cause it just sounds cute to go along with all the cute pictures!! I'm swimming in cuteness right now!! :) :)

And even if you don't have a child to enter in the contest - you'll definitely want to head over and vote for the cutest of the bunch!

Rules are below - enter your little ones and start voting!! :)

Sponsored by: Avery James Photography (http://www.averyjamesphotography.com/)

Contest Rules:

- Children 12 and under eligible
- Contest submissions accepted through June 29, 2011
- Voting ends July 11, 2011
- Winner announced July 12, 2011

Voters can “Like” as many photos as they prefer

Email one photo of your child (child will be cropped if other people are in the photo) to crystal@averyjamesphotography.com

Multiple children can be submitted, but an individual photo for each is required.

Include the name (nicknames ok) you would like your child to be noted as. Also include your name as you would like it to be noted on the photo as the submitter.

Photo with the most “Likes” at the end of the contest will win a free mini-photo session with AJP in the South Bay area – includes (3) 4x6 digital images. Session will expire Sep. 30, 2011.

Be sure to send your friends and family over to the contest page to vote! They will have to “Like” the AJP page in order to “Like” your photo as well.

In the event of a tie - there will be a tie-breaker...as yet to be determined.

Good luck!!

- Crystal @ Avery James Photography

Picture A Day - June 20, 2011 - Averyboo Arts

2011-06-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

I bought a Groupon a looooong time ago for Averyboo Arts because 1) it had the name "Avery" in it, and 2) it looked like a fun place for my son - you go to their studios, they supply all the artsy stuff, and then clean up after your kid....what more could you ask for?? :)

So I FINALLY got around to making a reservation for Caydan and we went down there the other day over in the Bixby Knolls area of Long Beach. Very cute little area with lots of fun shops - I had never been over there before but look forward to heading back for their First Friday events.

Caydan tried everything while he was there - he played dress up in a cute police uniform, built structures with Legos wearing a little construction hat, played with clay/play-doh type stuff, drew on the wall and floor with chalk, and painted with both watercolors and acrylic type paints. We have another hour left to redeem on the Groupon so I think we'll head back soon...they do birthday parties there too which I'm contemplating as the price isn't bad at all. :)

Picture A Day - June 17, 2011

2011-06-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Today's picture was taken a few weeks ago when I was in Orlando, FL...we were sightseeing around the Disneyworld resort area and had taken the Disney bus to the Magic Kingdom so that we could take the boat to the Grand Floridian resort (one of my top choices for lodging if I was going as a romantic couple to Disneyworld) to just walk around.

As we were getting on the little boat, I looked over and saw this row of palm trees that just really screamed "FLORIDA" to me....so I snapped the below photo....we have tons of palm trees here in Southern California too....but Florida's palms are very distinctly "Florida" and just have a much more tropical feel to them. Have I mentioned yet that I LOOOOVE Florida??? :)

Alessandra - 3 months!

2011-06-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad that I decided to offer the Baby's First Year package to clients...it really is so awesome to be able to check back in with parents every 3 months to capture their baby on camera. They just change and grow so much within that first year especially, it's such an honor to be able to help give the family these photo mementos of their child. I have 3 clients on the package right now and little Alessandra below is one of them.

I just realized that I only blogged one photo from her newborn session...I must have just gotten sidetracked...I'm adding a few more of her newborn session photos at the end of this post. :)

This past weekend I trekked down to Orange County to meet with Alessandra's family for her 3 month pictures. We got a nice variety of moods from this pretty girl...she smiled a bit, she quizzically stared a bit, and she even gave us the most adorable sad face ever...I know we don't typically like to see sad babies, but when they look this cute I think it's just as amazing as the smiley, happy faces! :) :)

And I just LOOOOVE this photo of Alessandra and Mom..I wish I had a photo just like this of me and one of my babies, it would definitely be huge and on my wall. :) :)

And as promised, here's some of those newborn shots from our first session :)

Picture A Day - June 12, 2011 (Terranea Resort - Palos Verdes, CA)

2011-06-12T19:59:00.000-07:00

I feel silly even calling these posts "Picture A Day" posts considering they're more like "Picture a Month" posts...or even Bi-Monthly....but I guess I'm just being stubborn and determined to someday get back on track doing these daily, lol. :)

Since I've been back from Florida, June Gloom has been in full effect here in Southern California. It really sucks. I've seen nothing but gray fog and clouds all week and have been so bummed. Then today, the sun decided to show itself and I was so excited that I headed straight to the closest beach there was....which isn't really much of a beach, it's like a sandy plot of land with a rocky beach at the water's edge....but it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL here and one of my favorite places to go.

"Here" is the Terranea Resort. A little hidden treasure of the South Bay. It's a new resort on the cliffs of Palos Verdes, CA that has public walking trails and a public beach at the bottom of the cliffs. There's this amazing cave down there too that I've never ventured very far into.

Here's two pictures I snapped today while we were hanging out on the sand. My son is growing up to be such a handsome little man. :) :)

My 2011 Florida Vacation!

2011-06-09T10:39:00.000-07:00

Hello Blog World!

It's been awhile, but I have a good excuse this time...I was off celebrating turning 30 in the tropical paradise of Florida!! I just got back two nights ago. This was seriously the BEST vacation and birthday I've EVER had.

My son (Caydan) and I left Los Angeles for Florida for 3 weeks. We stayed with a friend in Naples, FL for a few days, went boating and just had so much fun catching up and hanging out with her family. Then we went to Orlando where my friend from L.A. flew in to hang out with us for 5 days...we explored Sarasota and Siesta Key (best beach EVER!!), Cocoa Beach, Downtown Orlando, and the Disney Wilderness Preserve. Then after she left Caydan and I headed to Busch Gardens for the first time ever, explored the Kissimmee and Celebration area, then headed back to Naples again for a night with a stop in Siesta Key again along the way. After Naples we went to Miami to stay with another friend who lives there and got to explore the South Beach area and catch up with my good friend. :) THEN after all that, we headed back to Orlando where we gave up the rental car and hung out at Disneyworld for a week while I turned 30! Absolutely AMAZING trip.

I couldn't begin to tell you all of the super fun things we did and saw...BUT I can show you. I made this pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) slideshow from our photos and videos....it's a combination of 3 different cameras (horrible quality point and shoot, really neat underwater camera, and my big, fancy professional camera) with pics taken by both Caydan and myself. Yes, my 5 year old son is becoming quite the photographer. :)

I urge you to check out the video, especially if you're thinking about visiting Florida - there's lots of fun stuff highlighted in it. :) And it's got some great music to jam to while you're watching. :)

ALSO - if you are thinking about planning a Disney vacation (World, Land, Cruise, Adventures, etc.) I'm friends with an absolutely wonderful Disney travel agent who helped to book my trip and was so helpful. Much better going through her than having to go directly through Disney like I did last year. She did all the leg work for me and made sure I had everything I needed. :) :) Here's her contact info:

Melissa SonnySingh - Disney Travel Agent

Email: melissa@everaftervacations.com
Phone: 919-332-5955

Let her know that you found her through my blog!

Here's my video!! It's a little long, but super fun to watch. :) :)

And just to leave you with a picture, here's one from the Disney Wilderness Preserve near Kissimmee, FL. We learned that those funky things growing out of the ground are called "knees"...well, technically a "Cypress Knee" but we just called them "knees" everytime we saw them. :)

P.S. There was an alligator hanging out here with us too! He jumped in the water when we walked up and was just chilling in the water watching us from a distance...it was pretty creepy!

Two Quick Plugs!

2011-05-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Shameless I know....but that's what this social media stuff is all about right? Networking, sharing, exploring, learning, and business. :)

Don't have time to blog much right now even though I have a ton of stuff to blog about before I leave for my 3 week Florida vacay in 2 days (!!), but I'm already way behind schedule getting out the door today....so just wanted to say:

1) Haven't done a plug for my own Facebook Fan Page for awhile - so pretty please with a marshmallow on top (waaay better than a cherry!) can you go become a fan of my Avery James Photography page?? I post WAAAY more stuff on there than I do on my blog. :)

2) If you liked the iNMAAKOi pics I posted recently - go become a fan of their page as well here (click on link) and also check out the ego-boosting blog post they did about our photo shoot here. :)

And that's all for today - I'll probably be absent from the blog world till I get back from Florida - but when I come back I'll be able to finish up my San Francisco vacation blog posts, have some Florida vacay posts, more pics from the last 4 or 5 shoots I haven't finished posting about yet, and 3 more Baby's First Year package shoots that will be happening over the next month or so after I get back. Lots of fun stuff in store!!

And if you're a fan of my AJP page on FB then you'll see the post notifications when they go up! ::hint hint!:: :) :) :)

Happy May-June everyone!! :)

OH! I need a picture to post with this blog entry....what to put...uhmmm, lemme look through my folders.....

::a few minutes later::

Oh that's right! I also took pictures at my friend's son's Taekwondo birthday party recently, so I need to blog about that one too! Here's a pic from the party, pretty awesome little boy he is. :)

Jeff and Angela Expecting 3!

2011-05-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I had the honor of photographing this extremely sweet couple, who are expecting not only one baby, but 3!! Triplets, wow! How absolutely exciting for them. They're moving to the mountains in a few weeks, so they wanted to capture this special moment in their lives down at the beach before they leave. It was pretty chilly outside and very overcast, but they were such good sports about bearing the cold and looking beautiful/handsome through it all. :)

Here's a sneak peek of their photoshoot. Best wishes to you Jeff and Angela!! :) :)

iNMAAKOi Clothing

2011-05-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

A very dear friend of mine and her boyfriend are starting a t-shirt company together called iNMAAKOi. What does that mean, you say?? 'I Need Money And All Kinds Of It'...yea, don't we all?? Something relatable, catchy name...and the positive vibe behind it is more than just hustling to make money - it's about working hard, starting businesses, being creative and motivated, determination, and intelligently driven.

Being the friend with the giant camera, I offered to do the product shots for her tees. I'm really interested in building my portfolio in this direction though, so this was helping me just as much as her. I've recently decided that my passion is much more in the realm of photographing adults, and in a creative sense. Fashion allows a photographer to explore themselves artistically and really develop a 'style'. I'm still working on narrowing down my style, but for now I'm trying out different looks and feels in my photography to see what I like the most.

So I grabbed a few good-looking friends to be models for the tees (2 of which are working models if you're looking for some talent of your own - the blonde (Maggie Silva) and the dark-skinned stud :) (Christopher Williams)). Super kind of them to help out and we really appreciated their beautiful/handsome faces and bods being a part of this. :)

Here's a few shots that I've gone through so far. Haven't had a chance to go through everything yet, but wanted to share a little taste of the shoot. :)

Oh - and become a fan of iNMAAKOi on Facebook: iNMAAKOi

Blog site here: iNMAAKOi Blog

Website coming soon (which will showcase all these pics too!)

BTW - would LOVE your feedback on any and everything about this shoot - good or bad. I really want to develop myself more in this area and need the constructive criticism to move forward. So I welcome it all (but preferably written in a respectful way, I don't want to cry, lol).

Dina and Family

2011-05-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

As if spending a sunny, 80' Southern California day at Venice Beach with my son and some friends all afternoon wasn't good enough, I had the opportunity to spend the second half of this gorgeous day yesterday with this fabulous family below in Manhattan Beach. :)

Yes, the beach was packed with people, and yes it was a bit intimidating at first for the family to have all these onlookers, but the view under the pier was so gorgeous that they couldn't resist...so they pushed on through and I think they did an awesome job. :) :)

In addition to their family photos, they brought their nephew along who will be graduating from Palos Verdes High this year, and was recently accepted to USC to play baseball! How absolutely exciting for them all! So we got some graduation announcement photos of him as well as some pics symbolizing his huge baseball accomplishments. :)

Here's a little sneak peek at the shoot....have a great week everyone! :)

Lindsey and Nick's 5th Wedding Anniversary Pics

2011-04-30T18:13:00.000-07:00

What a fun morning I had today! I met up with Lindsey and Nick who recently celebrated their 5th wedding anniversary. Lindsey's gift to Nick was a photoshoot with little 'ol me! I felt really special. :) :)

They decided that they wanted to do the shoot in downtown El Segundo. I know Lindsey is a huge fan of this city in general...it has the cutest main street and it's like you're in a little Mayberry in the middle of a big 'ol city. Nick's also got ties here as the company he owns and runs, Clear Media, has their office down the street from the main drag. We were sure to walk over there and take some pics in front of his building as well. :)

I had such a fun time because we just strolled down the street and stopped and took pictures in several spots along the way. It was like a walking photo tour with two awesome models to go along with it. :)

We got lots of cute pics today, but I just wanted to share a few with you for right now. I'll definitely be posting more soon! :)

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 7 (Golden Gate Park...and lots of ducks)

2011-04-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Part 6

Day 2: Monday, April 11, 2011 (continued)

After we exited the Japanese Tea Gardens, we headed back out to explore the rest of Golden Gate Park. I had a whole to-do list of things to see there, and was really looking forward to this part of my trip. I had been Facebooking throughout my journey and a friend suggested I check out the little lake area that was nearby...so that was the direction we headed.

As we walked for quite awhile, I realized that I hadn't seen any shuttle buses go by the entire time we'd been there...that was what I was relying on to get me around the park. I had read online that it was $2 for an all-day pass and it takes you to all the major attractions in the park. I started to worry so I looked the info up on my phone again and saw that the shuttle only ran on weekends! I was sooooooo bummed. The park was way too huge to walk it, especially for a 5 year old. Looks like I was just out of luck and gonna have to save the majority of the park for another trip. :(

We did find the little lake at least and explored that area. We kinda did the area in fast forward though cause all we had for breakfast was a banana at that point and it was getting on lunch time already....tummies were starting to grumble and my body doesn't cope well when it's hungry...so I knew our time was limited unfortunately.

The lake was really neat though - you could walk around the lake (which was pretty big) and in a couple of spots there were bridges that you could cross to walk on the little island. There was also a paddle boat rental place and so you could see all the people paddling around the lake.

We even got to see little critters like this one :)

Then when you get on the island you can follow these trails that go to the top of the hill (a great exercise trail! If I lived here this would be a great place to go get a good workout!). When you get to the top, you're rewarded with a gorgeous view. You can even see the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance to the right!

And here's some writing that was on the little Chinese building that you could see across the lake in the other picture towards the top of this post. Anyone know what it says??

That was about all I could handle...needed food at that point. So we headed back towards the main road, stopped at a playground for a couple of minutes, then caught a bus towards Fisherman's Wharf. More from there in my next post! :)

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 6 (Golden Gate Park - Japanese Tea Garden)

2011-04-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Day 2: Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday morning we [tried to] wake up bright and early to catch the bus down to Golden Gate Park so that we could get in to the Japanese Tea Garden before 10:00am (free admission M, W, F before 10:00am I believe). Well...we tried, but missed our bus. So we had to catch another bus (again with that great transportation system, there was another bus not too long afterwards). We cut it pretty darn close, but made it there about 10 minutes to 10:00am. Gates were wide open and we just walked on in. :)

What an amazing place....soooo gorgeous. It doesn't quite compare to the Japanese Gardens at the Huntington Library that I recently visited, but it was pretty darn beautiful on all its own. Awesome photo opps everywhere for sure!

This bridge here you could actually climb up and over it...like a ladder almost. Really cute. :)

More from Golden Gate Park in my next post! :)

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 5 (Japantown)

2011-04-22T14:12:00.000-07:00

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011 (continued)

This is the last post of Day 1! 2 more days of blogging to go! :) I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this far....I'm known to start projects and then get sidetracked a couple of days into it and then forget about it.....but so far I'm on track and really enjoying having all these posts and pictures laid out for my future memories. And hopefully those out there in the internet-world can also get some fun ideas for things to do while visiting San Francisco at the same time! If not, hopefully you're at least enjoying the photos. :)

Moving on - after we hit Chinatown, we hopped on a bus that took us back to the beginning of the street, and then walked back over to our hotel in hopes we might be able to check in....we were still had about an hour till check-in time, but sometimes you can get lucky.....unfortunately that wasn't this time.

So we sat in the lobby and I decided we'd just hang out there for an hour and relax from all the walking we had done already...so I picked up the concierge book and started looking through all the different things to do around San Francisco...lo and behold one of the first few pages was about Japantown's Cherry Blossom festival.

There's a few different days and events for the festival, but the street fair just happened to be this very day! And we still had a couple of hours before it was over. So even though we had just sat down and rested our exhausted feet, how could I resist checking out Japantown and its festival??? My mother is full Japanese and so I'm always interested in seeing and participating anything to do with the Japanese culture. I'm 100% Americanized, as is the majority of my family, but I still love to learn about my culture. :)

So we got back up 5 minutes after sitting down to go catch the next bus heading to Japantown. It was about a 15 minute bus ride (have I mentioned how AWESOME the public transportation system is there??? Sooo easy to catch a bus down there).

We were greeted by Japanese architecture, signs, and statues....and lots of people. Not as many tourist looking people here though, more of a local vibe, probably because it's pretty far from all the typical tourist spots in town (as far as I could tell at least, but I could be completely off.....??).

We wandered around the booths sampling cold teas from different vendors that were there. We watched a performance for a little bit of Japanese dancers next to that awesome looking building in the first pic up there. Then we stopped in one of the stores that looked bustling with activity. Pretty neat - it was basically one big store that had lots of different vendor booths set up in it...all small, handmade style booths. Upstairs were a couple of clothing boutiques, one of which had some different, but extremely pretty outfits....pictures weren't allowed in there unfortunately, but it was called Baby, The Stars Shine Bright...check out their website and outfits....it's all in Japanese but they have stuff that looks straight out of that one Gwen Stefani music video...really cute, but I have no idea where you'd wear it to....??

We went up one more level in the store and there was an art gallery there...this was the sign on the door:

I was immediately intrigued because I'm half Japanese and half Irish/German....I've always heard those like us referred to as "Hapa"...never Hafu...but I definitely wanted to check it out. It was basically a project that someone had done where they interviewed various Hafu people around the world to find out how their being half Japanese has affected their lives when it comes to culture and "fitting in". It was all so interesting to read as I can relate somewhat, but none of the subjects were raised in the U.S. and so their experiences were still very different from mine. Here in Southern California I pretty much just fit in for the most part. I've never really felt like I belonged to any specific "group" though...in high school you had the "Asian crowd" and I didn't fit in with them...but I really didn't meld with any group, I had a best friend and we stuck to ourselves most of the time....either way, I'm proud of my culture and family, and I kinda like being different. :)

After checking out the gallery and signing the guest book, we headed back out to the street and walked the rest of the way down. They had a band playing...

And they had this cute little Sanrio area set up where you could buy tickets and play little games and make different crafts all related to the Sanrio characters. They were all really adorable things, but a bit too girlie for my 5 year old boy. :)

After checking everything out we headed back to the food area where I was trying to figure out what I wanted to try...I was debating between a teriyaki burger and fried mochi. I saw the sign for fried mochi and was immediately excited, although I have never had it from a booth like this....based on the lady's description, it sounded just like what my grandmother used to make for me when I was a little girl. It's basically fried mochi with a sweet soy sauce over it.

Caydan wasn't interested in a burger, so I decided to go with the mochi. What I hadn't realized is that they sprinkled seaweed over it...common sense would have told me that's what the green specks were, but I kept thinking it was some sort of seasoning powder or something, lol. I hate seaweed.....but oh well, too late now, and I wasn't about to waste my $5...so I ate them up. Caydan tried it and loved them too which made me sooooo happy. :) The seaweed taste wasn't too overpowering...and they tasted EXACTLY like what my grandmother used to make for me! I was so excited!! She made them a little differently (the sweet soy sauce was just soy sauce and sugar mixed together, and she would cook the mochi in the oven or microwave....I liked it the way the booth made it better though, it was softer while my grandmother's was crunchier on the outside), but it was such a nostalgic taste to me. Such a great way to end my trip to Japantown.

After Japantown we jumped on the bus back to the hotel, finally checked in. Re-energized for a bit. Went down to the mall to get something for dinner but couldn't find anything I wanted. Ended up at a Denny's behind the mall which I do NOT recommend....food wasn't great, way overpriced, service was horrible, area was a little creepy at night. But I was hungry at that point and just wanted food. Oh well. Finished eating then headed back to the hotel. Got Yahtzee from the front desk, played that with Caydan, watched tv, then went to sleep to get up early the next morning to head to the Golden Gate Park.

Great Day 1! More to come!! :)

Mason and Jackson

2011-04-21T19:43:00.000-07:00

You may remember this adorable baby from his newborn shoot here: Baby Mason

His parents signed up for the Baby's First Year Package and so today was his 3 month photo session! It never ceases to amaze me at how fast babies grow their first year...such an amazing process. :)

In addition to little Mason's photos, we also took a few pictures of his big brother, Jackson, to celebrate his 2nd birthday! What handsome little men these parents have. :)

Here's a little sneak peek at their session today. :)

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 4 (Chinatown)

2011-04-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011 (continued)

Continuing on...we left Union Square and walked up the remaining couple of blocks towards our hotel....we then made a right on our street and a block past our hotel was the entrance gate to China Town.

At first glance when you walk in, it's a pretty basic downtown-like street...tourists, shops, buildings, just with lots of Chinese writing on the signs.....

This had me cracking up - I'm standing there taking pictures of various things, then I look over at Caydan and he was standing there trying to take a picture of himself with this creepy clown figure. It was really cute watching him try it. I then asked him if he wanted me to take the picture for him, which he did, lol. :)

The view looking back from China Town

Barbary Coast Trail sign on the sidewalk

So then as you keep walking down the street (we're walking down Grant Street, FYI), all of a sudden you see the streets lined with these beautiful lanterns. It looks so festive and pretty!

Random guy playing music

Next up is Japantown and the Cherry Blossom Festival....and the end of Day 1. :)

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 3 (Cable Cars and Union Square)

2011-04-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Part 1

Part 2

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011 (continued)

So after we walked around the Westfield shopping center for awhile and rode the escalators all the way to the top and then back down just for kicks, Caydan and I made our way back out to Market Street to figure out our next destination....one of the first things we saw was this guy (who I also saw again another day of our trip)

Nice message...I like :)

Next we waited in line for the historic Powell and Market cable car...there seems to always be a line to get on this cable car, but worth the wait to get to take a ride in it. We watched it come down the hill, and then when it gets to the bottom, the workers have to actually physically turn it around on this track that rotates in a circle. I guess the cable cars can't go up the hills backwards.

We didn't ride the cable car that far...I didn't even know where it went to be honest, I just figured we'd get on it to get back up the hill as we headed towards our hotel again. I just wanted to get some pictures of the cable car...and of Caydan taking pictures of me taking pictures of the cable car. :)

We ended up getting off the trolley about 3 blocks up the hill at Union Square...a spot I had read about online so I figured we'd check it out. They had some sort of art show going on this day so we walked around looking at the booths. We saw a couple of really good photography booths with pictures of San Francisco and other things. I showed Caydan and asked him if he wanted to take really good pictures like those someday...he said he did :)

And this heart and a couple others are part of Union Square as well. :)

And I didn't realize it until I was just now editing these pictures, but you can see the moon to the left of the statue in this picture below....neat-o :)

More to come....I'm still on Day 1 and we were there for almost 3 full days! :)

The "S" Family

2011-04-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Love love loving my shoot from this past Saturday afternoon at the beach in Palos Verdes, CA. This awesome family drove all the way down from the Studio City, CA area to come and meet with me on a gorgeous and sunny afternoon. We trekked down the hillside to get to the beach and they were all just such great sports about getting in the water and having a good time. I just adore the candid shots that we got. :) :)

By the end of the shoot we were ALL soaking wet, but it was so worth it...especially when I look at the picture directly below here of the parents swinging their daughter high up in the air with the water flying around them and a giant smile on her face....this shot is going into my all-time favorite list. :)

I had lots of favorites from this shoot....so I just had to post them all. :) :) Enjoy!

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 2

2011-04-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

Previous San Francisco vacation posts

Part 1

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011 (Part 2)

After McD's we just started walking with no real destination...it seems like you could walk blindly anywhere in downtown SF and get somewhere interesting...sure enough, we did. :)

We ended up at the Yerba Buena Gardens area. There was a big grassy area with people just laying out, relaxing, and enjoying the sun. The grassy area was surrounded by this backdrop of the gorgeous city, a church, buildings, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

Here's Caydan (with a really cheesy smile) in front of the MLK Jr. waterfall area

And more of the MLK Jr Memorial

And this is the MLK Jr Memorial from the top of the waterfall with the city in the background....beautiful :) :)

Apparently I should have gone to the waterfall at nighttime with a tripod to take pictures of it, because the pics I saw online are all in the evening with the lighting behind and under the water - GORGEOUS pictures (here and here).

After the Yerba Buena Gardens, we ended up back on Market Street. I have a thing for shopping malls, so when I saw the Westfield sign I made a beeline for it. I'm a HUGE window shopper...I could walk around stores forever just looking around and in the windows...I never buy anything, I just like to see everything. :)

This mall was beautiful! It reminded me of one I've seen before, but I can't remember where it was....I'm thinking it was probably in NYC though....the mall is...I think 10 stories counting the underground level?? With the top 4 stories all being a Nordstrom's. You just take the escalator up and all of a sudden you're inside Nordie's...complete with a cafe with a great view, personal stylist area, and all the other regular amenities that I know nothing about because I never shop there, lol.

I couldn't quite get the full height effect with the lens I had with me...I traveled light to SF with just my 50mm prime lens...not great for landscapes and stuff like this, but it weighs about half the weight of my larger lens!

And since many may know that I'm a HUGE Disney fan, I had to take a picture of this awesome It's A Small World display that was in the elevator bay going up to Nordstrom's

And a shot of the ceiliing in the Westfield center...absolutely beautiful mall!

April 2011 San Francisco vacation - Part 1

2011-04-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

For those who weren't already aware, my son and I went up to Sacramento, CA last Friday (4.8.11) with my grandfather and sister for a family reunion. From there, just my son and I headed to San Francisco on Sunday (4.10.11) for a 3 day exploration and sight-seeing trip. What an adventure it was!

I absolutely fell in love with this city. It was a never ending plethora of sights and sounds, beauty and history. We stayed right in the hub of the city near Market Street, a block from the Powell Street trolley and next door to the Chinatown entrance. Prime location, it really couldn't get much better.

I want to do a full debrief on my trip here on my blog...there is just so much info and pictures that I want to spew out for my own memories, as well as to share with my friends, family, and blog readers. This is Part 1 - but there's oh so much more...

Day 1: Sunday, April 10, 2011

Caydan and I had been staying with my Great Uncle Dick and Great Aunt Ruby (my grandfather's brother and wife) in Sacramento. Uncle Dick then drove Caydan and I to the downtown Sacramento Amtrak station around 9am-ish. Caydan and I killed some time getting some Starbucks coffee and hot cocoa next door for our train ride.

Once on the train we settled in for the hour or so ride to Emeryville, CA. From there we had to take an Amtrak bus to the San Francisco Shopping Center stop.

Breakfast of champs, lol! :)

Once we got to San Francisco, the bus dropped us off on Market Street next to the Westfield shopping mall. We headed over to Walgreen's (there seems to be a Walgreens on every block in the tourist areas!) to get our 3-day Muni Passport. $20 gets you unlimited rides for 3 full days on all Muni buses, trolleys, and street cars (not BART though). Amazing deal considering the trolleys are $5 one way and the buses are $2.00 a ride (you can get a 1-day pass and maybe a 7-day too?). We definitely made good use of our pass, you can easily get ANYWHERE in San Fran with the public transportation system....that was one of my Top 5 favorite things about this city!

We then headed to our hotel...we were staying at our timeshare, Worldmark, on Bush Street and Stockton (fyi - if anyone is interested in a Worldmark timeshare purchase, let me know so I can get a referral credit!). What an amazing location....walking distance (about 4 blocks downhill) to the hubbub of Market Street, a block from Chinatown and all it's amazingness sightseeing, a block from Union Square, and a block from Powell Street where the trolley will take you all the way to Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf.

We couldn't check in yet, but was able to leave our bags there so we could travel lightly around the city. We were then on a mission to find lunch....and I had a craving for some sweet tea. :)

Along the way to find a McDonald's, we passed so much great art and murals everywhere (another Top 5 thing I loved about the city - all the art everywhere!). Random stuff like this on buildings:

After walking for awhile and ending up back on Market Street, we found what we were looking for...McD's and my sweet tea. :)

And lastly, Caydan being silly at McD's:

More to come on our adventure in tomorrow's post. :)

...

More maternity photos of Tiffany!

2011-04-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

I think this may be the fastest I've gotten pictures up in a long time! I was just so excited and happy with the maternity session I did yesterday with Tiffany that I couldn't wait to start editing them! I posted a sneak peek of one of the shots yesterday here. Here are more from this beautiful Mama's photo shoot. :) :)

And one of Tiffany with her own beautiful mother. :)

Tiffany - Maternity Session

2011-04-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

I had such a great time doing this session this afternoon...I've never done a maternity session before and have been really wanting to test my skills with one. I finally got the opportunity today and am so excited about sharing the photos! Tiffany is a gorgeous girl and made my job so much easier. Here's just a quick sneak peek. Gotta get dinner started, I'll try and post more tomorrow! :)

Alessandra

2011-04-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy to say that I'll have the opportunity to watch this beautiful little girl below grow throughout at least her first year since her parents decided to go with my Baby's First Year Package! Introducing Baby Alessandra. :) :)

Typically with infant sessions we try to have the baby sleeping...just generally makes for better pictures....but this little girl was not tired in the least bit. :) :)

I absolutely love this shot though - I think it's going to be my favorite from the whole session. :) :)

Josiah - 7 months!

2011-03-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

I just absolutely ADORE my cousin's baby, Josiah! He's seriously one of the cutest babies I've seen...next to my own of course! :) :)

Check out his latest photo session, aren't they just a wonderful looking family? I love them all! :)

Picture A Day - March 17, 2011

2011-03-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

So my current challenge that I'm facing as a photographer right now is color correction. Between getting skin tones right and calibrating my monitors to the printer I'm using, this task has been taking me a good 6+ months of concentrated effort. Everytime I feel like I got it down, I realize I don't. I can't even explain to all of you how frustrating this can be. :(

On top of trying to correct it in Photoshop, when I post the pictures on Facebook or my blog, the colors change and fade usually. I think it has to do with my soft-proofing settings in PS which allows me to view the picture how it will be printed with a specific vendor, not necessarily the best web viewing colors.

So for those clients who are used to me giving out the full-size digital images and are wondering why I'm not doing that any longer - this is why. Your prints need to be printed with the specific printer that I'm calibrating my pictures to, otherwise the color is not going to come out as intended.

So throughout the color challenges, I'm not giving up and I'm still working at it...although it would be fab if I could just pay someone else to edit all my photos so that I could just focus on the actual photo taking! Maybe one day when I'm a big name fashion photog (currently my ultimate goal) I can actually afford this. :)

For now - here's a pic of my son from last week being a ham as usual. :)

Picture A Day - March 13, 2011

2011-03-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm on a blogging roll! :) :)

This picture was taken of my son yesterday...we're still in Vegas and yesterday went over to the Town Square Mall which is an awesome and beautiful outdoor shopping area. They have this super fun kids playground area that reminds me of Solvang with all these play houses and structures. There's also this really cute maze-thing (what are those things called? Like the corn mazes, but it's not corn...just tall bushes) that he loves to run through. This pic below was taken in the maze. :)

Happy Daylight Savings Time! This is my favorite time of year as I LOVE the sunlight!! :)

Baby Mason

2011-03-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to take photos of this absolutely adorable 1 month old baby boy. He is just the perfect image of baby cuteness! You'll be seeing more of him as he grows older as his parents decided to book my Baby's First Year package for him (NB, 3mo, 6mo, 9mo, 1yr photos). I'm so excited to be able to see his growth through his first year, and hopefully years after that as well!! :) :)

Picture A Day - March 9, 2011

2011-03-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

My son and I have been staying in Las Vegas for the week, and yesterday decided to go take a walk down the strip to take some letter art photos for the growing number of orders I've had lately (thanks everyone!!). We walked pretty far and then had to turn around and walk back....and unfortunately I didn't find a whole lot of good letter art pics, but I did find a few at least. :)

Anyways, on our journey we stopped at the Flamingo hotel to go check out the little sanctuary area in the back that they have....with koi fish, ducks, swans, and of course flamingos. :)

Caydan sat down on this little rocky area and insisted I take a photo of him there. He's turning into such a ham and experienced model, lol. It really is cute. :) :)

On another note...this is the last time you'll see him in this adorable sweater that I absolutely love....it got hot outside so I tied it around his waist, and somewhere along the strip it fell off and he didn't notice it....so we no longer have the sweater. :(

Here's his self-designed photograph. :)

Scrappy

2011-03-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Wow....my last post was on January 16!!! I am SLACKING....I don't even have a good excuse this time around either...I think I just needed a blogging break. BUT I'm hoping to gain some momentum back now...or shortly at least.

To start it off - my son got a new puppy last night (puppy is staying at his dad's house) - we all drove out to pick the puppy up, and although I'm really not a huge dog fan (they're cute and all, but I don't like having to take care of one), it was great seeing how excited my son was to get the puppy. And he really is cute!

So first thing this morning I took some pics of the puppy, who was dubbed "Scrappy" (yes, after the Scooby Doo "Scrappy"). Isn't he a cutie??

I Heart Faces - Photography Challenge - Winter Wonderland

2011-01-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

This week's challenge at I Heart Faces is "Winter Wonderland"....considering I live in Southern California where it's been around 80' the last few days....it's safe to say that I don't have a typical winter scene to photograph in.

I did just go to Zion National Park in Utah last weekend though, and there was definitely a snowy, wintery scene there...so I have a few pics to choose from with those pics, but I didn't plan on entering any contests with them, just wanted some memories - so my pics are nothing outstanding....but cute all the same. I don't have any intentions of winning this round with this pic, but I figured I'd enter and share anyways just for fun! :) :)

Leave me a link to your blog entry so I can check out your pics too!! :)

Picture A Day - January 14, 2010

2011-01-14T16:55:00.000-08:00

Yet another picture of my adorable little boy. It sure is hard sometimes to get him to take a picture for me, but when he does - his smiles just light up my day. I think this one is going to make it to my living room wall. :) :)

Letter Art by Avery James Photography

2011-01-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

"JOSIAH"

Looking for that perfect gift for someone? I don't know about you, but I absolutely LOVE personalized items. I'm a sucker for anything that you stick my kid's name on...you'll always find me browsing those little souvenir racks for the name mugs, keychains, ornaments, necklaces, etc. Both of my kids have less common names (Avery and Caydan), and Caydan's especially is spelled uniquely so even if I find the name, it's not spelled like his.

Well this item is perfect, because I can make it say whatever you want it to! :)

Think baby shower gifts, bridal shower gifts, anniversary gifts, birthday gifts, and don't forget to get one for yourself too! Get your last name for your family room, get your kid's names for their bedrooms, you can even get one for your pet!

"CAMERON"

How much does this all cost you say? Only $30.00 (plus $5.00 shipping cost) :)

Each photo is printed on e-surface paper with a lustre coating.

Up to 5 letters will be printed on a 5x15 sheet

6-9 letters will be printed on a 5x30 sheet

Price includes the print only, extra charges apply if you would like it mounted on a matboard or foam, please email me for prices. You can purchase a frame on your own, or I can have it mounted and/or framed and sent to you ready to hang if you prefer. Prices start around $30.00 for 5x15 sizes and $70.00 for 5x30 sizes in addition to the print (you can find frames on your own for less though, I suggest searching online for prices).

If you'd like to order your own personalized letter art, email me at:

crystal@averyjamesphotography.com

Just let me know what you want it to say. I can have the print ready to order within a day if I have all the letters. Express shipping is available if needed for an additional cost.

"DYLAN"

Bucket List - Traveling

2011-01-10T11:09:00.000-08:00

Do you have a bucket list? Did you see the movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman? If not, you should check it out because I think it's important for everyone to have some form of a bucket list....whether it just be a goal inside your head, a list of ideas and dreams written in your journal, or a well thought out, realistic, set of 'wants' in yours life.

For those who don't know what a bucket list is, it's basically a list of things you want to do before you die. Sky diving, asking someone on a date, visiting Disneyworld, sailing around the world, or even something as simple as trying a strange food. Then the intent is to make every effort to check off all of the things on your list sometime in your lifetime.

A few years back, I actually made a bucket list as I was on a flight...it was a perfect moment for me to do it since I'm terrified of flying, and focusing on all the things I wanted to do with my life was helpful in keeping my mind off of the possibility of death arriving on the airplane (yes, I'm seriously terrified...not just a little). I'm not really sure whatever happened with that list, but I'm sure it's in my house somewhere....not helpful though since I don't remember what was on it, so eventually I'll have to make another one.

BUT - I did decide to do a short version of my bucket list here....one thing that I would love to do before I die is to visit every U.S. state there is at least once. Ideally I'd like to stay in each of them and explore the state and all it has to offer, but for now I'm counting ones that I've just driven through as well, but I'm going to note the difference.

I'll come back to this post and update it as I visit more states, and I'll link back to it in the future as well. :)

Below is my list - I'd love to see you all post your own bucket list, or portion of one....link it back here if you do so I can check it out!!! :)

Crystal's Traveling Bucket List

GOAL: Visit every U.S. State at least once

PROGRESS: States visited are outlined below

1. California (obviously, cause I live here)

2. Nevada (a second home to me practically)

3. Pennsylvania (went to college here)

4. Arizona

5. Florida (aiming to go again this November!)

6. New York

7. Massachusetts

8. Colorado

9. Utah (my most recent visit just this past weekend)

The rest of these were more of a drive-thru on the way to my destination, although I did stay overnight and explore a bit in a few of these states

10. West Virginia

11. Virginia

12. North Carolina

13. South Carolina (stayed and explored a bit)

14. Georgia

15. Ohio

16. Indiana (explored a bit)

17. llinois

18. Missouri

19. Oklahoma (explored a bit)

20. Texas (stayed overnight and explored a bit)

21. New Mexico

22. Maine (did a photoshoot here and explored a bit)

23. New Hampshire (just a quick drive through)

So it looks like I'm just about halfway through the states...not bad for being 29.5 yrs old (I turn 30 in June!). I'd like to expand on my quick trip locations though and actually do a little more exploring in those states. My next road trip though is likely going to be driving up the West Coast from California, and I think going up to Seattle and then back down. Really looking forward to that one!! :) :)

And just so I can leave this post with a picture - I took this photo yesterday at the Zion National Park in Utah - I hiked up this trail with my son and his father - a little scary cause it was really icy and slippery, but there were railings on the scariest parts...and I never would have taken my son anywhere that I wasn't confident about the safety of it or my ability to get him through it safely, although it was rated "Moderate" on the trail scale. My son is fairly well behaved though and isn't the type to run off or anything like that...his hand was firmly attached to mine the entire hike. :)

I'll have to post more about this glorious hike though in another dedicated post, cause it was AMAZING. Below is the view we received once we reached the top! :)

I Heart Faces - Photography Challenge - Smile

2011-01-10T00:26:00.000-08:00

I'd really love to try and enter the I Heart Faces photo contests more often...perhaps this year I will. :) :)

So you may remember my last (and only entry so far) to I Heart Faces, it was their Silhouette challenge that I entered here. And then you may remember my recent post when I found out that my photo was one of the 8 favorites (posted here), which resulted in my getting that nifty button you may have seen on my sidebar. :) :)

Well this week's contest's theme is "Smile"...and immediately this picture of my cousin's baby (that makes him my second cousin once removed or something crazy sounding like that, right??) came to mind....I took this about a month ago and he was about 3 months old then....isn't he just absolutely ADORABLE??? This picture definitely makes me smile at his huge smile, therefore I'm entering it in this week's contest. :)

Wish me luck! :) :)

Late night post - Picture a Day - flowers at the Huntington

2011-01-07T23:02:00.000-08:00

I've been posting lots of pics on my Facebook page (so if you're not a fan already, you should be because I post there way more than anywhere else!), and as I'd like this new year to result in lots more blog posts for me, I'm posting this one here at 10:56pm PST...so I'm getting it in before the day's end :)....even though I know I won't post the rest of the weekend.....I'm going to St. George, Utah tomorrow morning.....it'll be my first time setting foot in the state of Utah. :) :)

Well this pic below was one I took on an excursion to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA with my bestie, Jen from Haute Whimsy, and my son. Lots of fun things to look at there, we didn't even get to see everything!! We'll definitely be taking a return trip there in the future. :) :)

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Liz and Family

2011-01-07T11:09:00.000-08:00

I photographed this adorable family towards the end of the summer...you may recognize their silhouette picture as I've posted it a couple of times on this blog. Now you can see the rest of their photos as well. :)

They were such an easy-going and relaxed family, I just love working with people who are so go-with-the-flow....they put a lot of trust in the photographer and the final pictures end up looking so much more natural because they're not so worried about everything being perfect. It's a lot of fun for me to do these types of shoots. :) :)

On top of it all, these two brothers were simply ADORABLE...very good kids and full of energy and smiles. Love them. :) :)

Enjoy the pics!

Letter art! - $30.00 (limited time price)

2011-01-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

I initially started this as a birthday project for my son, Avery (Dec. 28). As he's no longer here with us on earth to give a present to, we try and do something on his birthday that is focused on him and his memory. Last year we went to downtown L.A. and walked around taking pictures of things that reminded us of him (trains, cartoon characters, angels, etc.) along with photos of letters to spell out his name....but we took the photos of actual letters vs shapes. I then made a collage of all the pictures we took that day....it turned out pretty neat....nothing to put in a gallery or anything, but special to us. :)

This year I wanted to do something similar, but wanted something a little more frame-worthy...so we went downtown again, but I decided to take pictures of shapes that looked like letters instead (not an original idea, so I can't take the credit for it for those who haven't seen this type of art before), and then spell out Avery's name. Unfortunately we got a late start on the day and then lunch took longer than expected...so by the time we started taking the actual pictures it was getting close to dark (I hate that the sun sets so early this time of year!)....so I only had about 30 minutes or so where there was enough daylight to take good pictures.....so we hustled and walked around a few downtown L.A. blocks and below is what we found:

I loooooved the 'V' shot of the water fountain....but since the water was constantly moving, and you can see right through it, the camera wasn't able to focus on anything and so up close it's pretty blurry...but I guess it looks like moving water.....so I still love it. The 'E' and 'R' shots aren't my favorite, but it's all I could get in the short amount of time we had. And I was so excited to get the 'A' shot - it was a big sculpture downtown and it just came out perfectly for an 'A'! :) :)

So anyways...I loved it so much and thought it came out better than I expected it to, so I decided to add this letter art to my product lineup. I'm working on building my letter library now, but if you'd like to purchase your own name in letter art, it's $30 for a limited time.

$30.00 includes 5x30 photographic print on e-surface paper with lustre coating
Up to 9 letters
You will be able to view the final image before payment
Price does not include frame and you will likely have to get a custom-sized frame for this print.
Shipping is $5.00 (unless you are in the South Bay (Southern California) area - no shipping charges)

I will be trying to order these in batches from the printing company, so please let me know if you need it by a certain date (birthday, wedding, anniversary, baby shower gifts, etc.) so that I can make sure to order yours in time.

Price is for a limited time while I build my letter library up, so be sure to order yours right away!! :) :)

Order via email: crystal@averyjamesphotography.com
(will eventually be for sale via Etsy)

How did I miss this??

2011-01-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

Wow!
I was reading someone else's blog and they were talking about I Heart Faces...then I remembered that I entered one of their photo contests awhile back on Silhouettes....so I figured I'd go look and see who won that contest cause I had completely forgotten to check.....
So I click through all the older posts since it was over a month ago that the contest was held....no, I didn't win, in any place...BUT I did get chosen as one of the I Heart Photos' favorites!! There had to be about 500-600 entries, and out of all those I got chosen as 1 of 8 favorites! And now I just re-read it and it looks like I also get a special button to display on my blog....that's my next step after writing this!

Sooooooo awesome. :)

In addition, I was just featured on the Revas Rags to Roses blog as part of her list for the best of 2010!

AND I was just given the Stylish Blog Award by the Potential Treasures blog. I'll be doing a separate post on that one though as I need to pass the award along to my faves next. :) :)

I have a huge smile on my face just thinking about all these great honors. Thank you everyone for your support and readership. If no one was reading, I wouldn't be doing what I do. :) :)

Happy New Years all!! :):)