There she goes . . .

School for Photographers without Magenta Skin Tones

Yuliya — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:43:42 +0000

Every time I hear of someone going to school for photography I cringe. I love school, don’t get me wrong. But the photography course I took in junior college almost five years ago, more than anything set me back then pushed me to pursue photography. People I met were so techie, that is a word right? With light meters in their pockets, soft boxes and more equipment than I thought I’d ever own. This one guy almost attacked me in the lab for getting my skin tones too magenta. If this is what photography was about, I wanted to do nothing with it. So then I went to online sources for help. Read FAQ posts other photographers posted and gathered bits and pieces of information. It was tough, but every answer to my question that I found was like a tiny piece of gold someone handed me, and by browsing more online I felt like I collected enough pieces to form a brick!

When I worked as a writer for Glo, I met Jackie, who instantly became a close friend in the company. We only saw each other twice in person on my trips to Florida, but the rest of the time we chatted on Skype. She edited photos for the software and often chatted with me about photography. Once she sent me a link to an online course in Photoshop. When she told me it’s free I immediately signed up and watched my very first CreativeLive course. Little did I know that CreativeLive would soon be my biggest source of education. CreativeLive was still a school, but with the raddest teachers, top of the industry actually, and with no mean guy pointing out the magenta skin tones. This weekend they brought in Zach and Jody Gray into their classroom and for the next two days, including a full day today, I’m learning from the best, online, and for free! CreativeLive, I love you. Thank you for making my photography education and experience worth remembering!

Happy Friday y’all (I had a Texan wing mate in college).

Yuliya

oooh and they just got a new Website, love!

all you need is LOVE. . .

Yuliya — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:11:00 +0000

It was late, she was long asleep and I…well let’s just say I was attempting to finish my homework for class next morning. She let me study in her room so I sort of borrowed her computer…
Yuliya, you’re awesome and since your blog seemed quite lonely today, just wanted to share some love on your blog. As for you readers, if you’re still confused about who is writing this, this is simply someone who adores and loves Yuliya, so very much.
and since posts are so much better with a picture (as Yuliya would say) here is one of me, trying to study…true story.
Happy Monday!

Yuliya, I love you, thanks for letting me study in your room.

Let it snow . . .rain . . . anything

Yuliya — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:16:03 +0000

Oh world, can you believe it, it’s finally raining? I walked out of the car and got to open my umbrella!!!! Joy, joy, joy! Then I sat in the coffee shop to the sound of raindrops hitting the pavement. More joy. Ahh, how I’ve missed rain. It hasn’t rained since October. The lack of rain did leave the colorful leaves on the trees for a long time, yet I’m so happy to have it back. A winter without any kind of precipitation does not feel like winter. Of course I wish that California winters were white, but grey and cloudy is still better than nothing falling out of the sky. Thankfully I don’t have much planned for this weekend, so I can stay indoors and do much needed planning, reflection, evaluation, reading and some studying. More joy, yeh?

And since my friends in Portland, Chicago, and UK are getting snowed on, how about some Pinterest board inspiration which screams all things winter!!! Sure makes me want to go see Nutcracker again, but Swan Lake should be just as good. Cheers!

Old Country Tailor

Yuliya — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:27:56 +0000

When Inna told me that her mom owns a tailor shop, I couldn’t be more thrilled. Spools of threads of every colors greeted me when I entered, and the owner and her workers were the sweetest. For a sewing lover this was a slice of heaven. I would have photographed till closing for sure. The company is putting up a new Website and I had the privilege of capturing images to accompany the site. Thank you Old Country Tailor for inviting me in, can’t wait to visit your shop again and maybe even get something altered!

Inna working together with her mom, the owner of the company.

And here’s a portrait of the lovely Inna!

Do what you love, because you love it

Yuliya — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:49:08 +0000

I would have never guessed his next question. “Are you number one?” My friend Mark and I stood in our dorm lounge talking about our class homework, but this question I did not expect. A few of my classes had a rank right under the class percentage and this one did too. Mark was an MK from some country I can’t remember now, and never really struck me as someone who would worry about getting the highest grade in the class. “You see,” he started explaining, “I know who’s number two, that guy who sits on the left, but I want to know who’s number one?” Obviously he was number three. He seemed really concerned and frankly I felt a little sad for him. The class was one of my favorites and I didn’t try hard for a grade, but because I extremely enjoyed it. I had no idea how I would help him with my answer, so I stood there and smiled. “I knew it was you!!!” he exclaimed. Not sure how the conversation went from there, but we still remained friends.

While evaluating my business the last two weeks and looking back on 2011, I had my disappointments. I wasn’t fully where I wanted to be at the end of last year, and even looking forward to this year, some things just might not happen. I started comparing myself to other photographers, imagining things I couldn’t have at the moment, which led to more depression. And that’s when I became Mark. Estimating myself based on my rank. There sure is no joy in such endeavors. I stopped, closed the list of not-happening page, and reminded myself to do what I love, because I love it. Be I a negative number on the rank, I love what I do and want to inspire you to do the same.

Sherlock Holmes series . . . right outside my house

Yuliya — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 23:54:07 +0000

Why it is that we don’t follow our instinct, is still a mystery to me. I pulled up home on Saturday and since my sister’s car was standing in my usual spot, parked my car across the street. Something inside me told me to not leave my car parked there, but who likes to repark cars anyways. It seemed too burdensome at the moment. Yesterday on my way out to the church parking lot I noticed a crack right in the middle of my bumper. When I came closer I noticed more damage and that only a day or so after my sister told me I’m a very good driver. My heart sank. I tried to piece together all the places I’ve visited a day before, asked my dad if he noticed damage on my car, and no clues. After lunch my family joined me in examining my car and we solved the mystery together. My dad reassured me that I wasn’t crazy and my car was actually hit. My brother-in-law ended up being the Sherlock Holmes and found a business card with info on my windshield. When I read Geologist on the card, my mom joined in and said it’s our new neighbor. And dad said he did hear a crash yesterday. Brilliant, I wish I thought of all of that.

A new neighbor moved in next door to us and the first thing she does is hits my car, ummm what do I say? . . . welcome to the neighborhood??? So I did just that. Called her and welcomed her to the neighborhood. She too had no idea that I live next door and apologized for accidentally backing up the moving truck into my car (thank you very much). Besides that she seemed like a very nice lady and we quickly bonded over our love of pianos. She’s moving in with two, and I happen to have two as well. That sure makes us the most musical neighborhood around. Other than that, I still wish I wouldn’t have been lazy and parked my car in the garage. I might of not had this conversation, yet I’m sure there are many other creative ways to introduce yourself to your new neighbors!!!