Sprinkles Cupcakes, Lust, and Wednesday Afternoons..

Wednesday is a great day for me, well at least it becomes a great day when I get OUT of photo history. It's a day when I have a three hour block between classes of free time which I never have a clue what to do with. Last week, Karen and I started hanging out during that time slot. Ice skating was where we started, which I mentioned last week, this week was Karen's birthday. From the moment she told me that her birthday was this week, I new that I wanted to treat her to cupcakes. She wanted to go ice skating but, thankfully *wink wink*, it rained. So we hopped on the red line, got off at Chicago Ave, and headed to 50 E Walton St.. Sprinkles, and their gluten free red velvet, was just waiting for Karen and an Irish Chocolate(the flavor of the month, photo to the right) for me....mmmmm....mm. Amazing, fluffy, puffs of of deliciousness, with butter-cream frosting on top! YUM! It was Karen's first time and I doubt it will be her last, if only they had a couple more of their 20+ daily flavors that were gluten free for her.

Here's a bit about the sprinkles concept: (Watch the video below) Sprinkles was the very first cupcake bakery. They started in California and are now in 9 cities! I've talked about them on my blog before, more so in lust than anything else.. after all, they do tweet like 5 times a day talking about various ways to get free cupcakes. They also send out reminders to watch Cupcake Wars, which I never miss, on Tuesday nights! And I am officially, in a stalker-ish-craving-every-day-lust, with them... Thankfully, I don't have the time to catch the red line everyday! Follow Sprinkles on Twitter, Facebook, and watch Cupcake Wars! Believe me, you will not be disappointed, that is, unless there isn't a Sprinkles near you yet :(



p.s. I was thinking about themes and I'm almost afraid to start a theme because there's that, "what if I don't have anything to say on a theme this week," thought.. But, I'm also thinking that I can always build on a theme through out the week if one is set in place and people will then have something to look forward to each week. Still torn though. What do you think? Would you like to see a continuous theme each Thursday?

Hello March!

Wow, so it's officially March and all for about 3 days now and I am ready for spring! Man, am I ever! But neither Chicago, nor I could let go of the cold before I had the chance to go ice skating. I'm so glad I have a friend who loves to skate, because I probably wouldn't have gotten to go this year if I didn't.

I got out of class yesterday and had about 3 hours of down time before Studio2. At a loss for what to do, I remembered that Karen lives really close to school. Maybe we could hang out or something, before our class started. So I sent out a text and before I knew it, I was at Millennium Park skating with Karen in the amongst the buildings. Ah, life was good, and turned even better when she told me how many calories we were burning! 710 in 2hrs, man, that's good stuff!

Another awesome Wednesday occurrence - I got back the 4x5 transparency film I shot Monday morning in the studio and it's lovely! Oh, is it lovely! I think I'll go tape it up to my window and shoot some photos of it - that's how excited I am about it! Anyway, yeah, I'll post whatever I shoot so you can see it too! :)

I really do love the glow and vibrancy of transparency film - not enough to buy more of the expensive stuff- but if ever I have the chance to shoot it, for me, I think I'll do it. Hopefully, I'll have a friend with a lab by that time and super cheap, or free, processing, but I would so shoot transparency for fun.

While shooting that assignment, I actually realized a real appreciation for 4x5 instant film, or instant film in general! That stuff is a lifesaver! *Thank you, Karen!* And I love how it feels, so instant, no printing, no real processing, so final.. A very fine art approach to art, I suppose, but it's imperfections and slight color casts are just understood, and accepted, and that's a really great thing. It's like there is no room for perfection in the medium itself, but yet most of us, in studio anyway, use it to perfect our scene before we create a transparency or negative. Kinda interesting, I guess..


So back to spring - I'm eager because spring means playing outside, shooting outside, showing off cute outfits instead of coats, bright colors, sunglasses, cute hair rather than hat-head, Easter, and Easter family photoshoots!, and kid shoots, and warm photojournalism assignments, and of course, sunlight! I could go on, and on, but I think you get the picture!

Here are some cute spring "teasers" of my niece, Taylor - Look at the light on the floor in the shot on the right, isn't it awesome! LOVE!

All Images in this post taken with the Htc G2 Android.

Blogging, Conversations, and Conversational Blogging

I love when I can go to a blog and feel like I know the person through reading their posts. People like that just make it look SO easy. Take J* or Kara Layne - they're gorgeous, they are awesome story tellers and conversations makers, and I feel like I know a lot about them - even the quirky things like how much J* adores her puppy, Polo, and Kara's love affair with Sprinkles cupcakes (shh.. don't tell her hubby ;)), actually, she is who got me started on them! I now subscribe to Sprinkles' tweets and receive tempting things like, "the first 50 people to say "blue suede shoes" receive a free peanut butter banana cupcake," 4 to 5 times a day... *Thanks, Kara* ;)

Well, anyway, it all comes down to sincerity. That's their advantage. That, and a genuine connection to their readers. Kara says, "blogging should be a conversation," and J* says, we should "KIR - Keep It Real." These are things I strive for, things I can only wish came naturally to me because, sadly, they don't I mean, not in blogging anyway. I've always been one to second guess myself. I write things and then read them over, and over, just to make sure I don't sound silly, or uneducated, or vain, or a suck up. I am a bit insecure, I suppose. Just waiting for someone to dislike me because my excitement got the best of me and I over did it. But this is me, I am a newbie, and I am a young photographer, but none of that means I am an amateur, by any means. Does it?

There's a John Mayer song that asks, "would you want me when I'm not myself?"(and it's probably taken out of context, but still), that's how I feel. It's all or nothing(or in this case really boring "update" posts). It's hard for me to think that anyone would want to read something that is not from my heart, but I'll let you be the judge. When you read things on this blog, I want you to know that I am truly, genuinely, saying them, with all my heart. And I am going to try making things more personal. I've tried this a few times before but somehow everything shifts back to business and my "professional," updating self. And, I'll admit, I am worried that people won't take me seriously, but I hope you will and you'll back me up on this. I promise to keep it PG( or maybe PG-13, let's face it, I am a wedding photographer...) and you just let me know if I'm getting out of hand. Deal?

I hope so!

Hugs!
- Hadassah

Dear Mr Blog..

Dear Mr. Blog,

I know we haven't been the best of friends lately.... I've neglected you and I've called you names. I understand you only want to help...but you can really be a pain in the butt sometimes.

Well, you'll have to forgive me. You see, I have become slightly uptight and you've started to intimidate me. After all, you have never made this any easier on me, never given me the words to say. You put all my flaws on view. Critiquing me, silently. All the while screaming in my ear rules here, and rules there. Tiny threads, invisible ropes that bind my fun. Imaginary guests, turned intruders. Choking, suffocating creativity.

Not to worry, though, I still like you. I hope you can forgive me. Can we can be friends again? I'll try to ignore those darn rules, try to compromise a bit and just maybe I'll even begin to love you. Let's leave all the craziness, the peer pressure and rules behind. Let's start again.

Yours,

Hadassah

My Turn

I guess it's my turn now. My turn to talk about being featured. My turn to say how honored I am to have worked with such an awesome client (and I SO am!). But I don't want to make it about me. I really just want to thank God for all the opportunities He has sent me lately, in business and in school. I am really blessed and I thank God for each and every person he places into my life "for such a time as this."

Of course, I have already shared, extensively, about the opportunity I had to shoot a Pure Kitchen Catering tasting for an Oprah Bride. As a result, many, many things are in the works for H|Photography, and I'm ecstatic!

First in a, hopefully, long line of new, exciting things happening -
As of February 14, 2011, My images are highlighted as those which showcase the PKC experience on the Elizabeth Anne Designs blog. Pure Kitchen is a New Featured Vendor on Elizabeth Anne Designs a nationwide blog that talks about the ins and outs of wedding planning and design.

Here's a screen grab of the feature, but click here and check it out yourself!

The feature talks all about Pure Kitchen's mission, their chef, and their food and also provides all their info. If you're in Chicago and there is an upcoming wedding or event you need catered - believe me- call them! Their food is amazing!

Again, this is the first of many new things going on and I will do my best to keep you posted, so keep an eye out!

Ps. I was extra touched by the name of this blog(my mom's name and middle name) and the date on which it was relaunched (what would have been my mom's 63rd birthday). Just thought that was extra special and though I'd share ;)

Blizzard

I am attempting a post from my new TMobile G2, Android, phone, so please forgive any errors, as this is just a test.

Last week much of the midwest (well, now that i think about it, much of the country) was plagued with crazy thundersnow. In Chicago, we actually experienced a blizzard, complete with 50mph winds and more than 18inches of snow which, with drifting, accumulated in some areas to around 3ft!

I, along with my Pj class, was assigned to shoot snow features for the Columbia Chronicle, our school paper. Unfortunately, with school closures and the time period of the storm, the school decided not to feature the storm. Nevertheless, I decided that I will, so here are a couple of the images I submitted:
And an extra:

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And life resumes its order...

..or at least that's how the saying goes...We'll see about that!

I began school Monday afternoon. In some ways I was excited, but in others I was a bit worried, as any student is on the first day of a new semester. I was mostly wondering if schedules would work, if teachers would be cool, and if there would be many friends in the classes I had chosen.
Well, yes, to all of the above!

This 1st semester, of Junior year, I am taking :

1. Studio II, with my favorite teacher at Columbia, and it seems like this will be a rockin' class!
2. Photojournalism I - with Steve Liss, former staff photographer at TIME, with an awesome 43 covers, over the time he worked there! *Wow*
3. Photo History II- with Carol Elhers, a Chicago gallery owner
4. Nutrition - with Dr. Anthony Sikora, a private practice chiropractor and RN at Mercy Hospital
5. Honors: Vietnam War Literature - well, this class is interesting, a history class and literature class combined, both teachers are nice and qualified - Mine, the literature teacher, is pretty cool and he was a Marine, so yeah, qualified.

So, if I haven't mentioned this before, Columbia only employs working industry professionals. I will forever sing Columbia's praises for this, because frankly, it is what makes it such an awesome school. This fact is one which really pushed me into studying here, not to mention the film into digital background(a whole 3-4 semesters) which they require and the positions which many of the college's grads hold (Sr Vice President of CNN, Oscar Winning Cinematographer(for Avatar), and a pulitzer prize winning photographer, just to name a few, thanks Forbes..)
No matter the annoying, hoity toity, holier than thou treatment we often get from the staff, especially in the photo dept, I am very proud that I chose Columbia.

Also, I am very optimistic about this semester and all of its potential. With the excitement of the Gonzalez Gorman tasting still fresh in my mind, I have already started thinking about my Studio final. This is a huge step for me, because I don't like to get ahead of myself with school, but as the idea continues to formulate, you all will hear more. For now, all I will say is, "vintage!"

I received the WPPI preview edition of Rangefinder, yesterday, and I'm just itching to go! Of course, that's not possible with school, but it is definitely a goal of mine in the near future. I would so love to really become active in the Chicago wedding photographer network, but so far have not been brave enough to attend a PUG (Pictage User Group) meeting or any events here. Eventually, I know I'll work up the guts, I am just afraid that because of my age and not yet knowing any Chicago wedding photogs that I'll be shunned, or something. Totally my imagination, I'm sure, but still..

Updates: I am still working on images from the tasting for the Oprah bride. I am so pleased with the turn out of all the images and the amount of positive feedback I have received. I cannot tell you how awesome and inspiring that whole experience was for me. It was amazing! These are some more artistic, "for me" images from the tasting, below:

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me this week and reading! Hopefully, my babbling made some sense :)