There she goes . . .

How it all started: Part I

Yuliya — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:33:08 +0000

If there was one thing our lives are filled in, it’s gotta be forgetfulness. Even though I started my photography journey not that long ago, I often forget the difficulties I faced, the things I learned along the way, and the seamless thread of events that has brought me to where I am today. On that note, I want to do a series of posts on how it all started. Me blogging. Me writing stories. Taking pictures. If someone would have told me a few years ago that I would be a wedding photographer, I would have never believed them. I didn’t even own a camera. I thought wedding photographers were all male. I spent most of my time in the library, and I went to college which had zero art classes. My friends from college could all see me getting a PhD, but a wedding photographer was nowhere on the horizon. Are you ready for a journey? Welcome to post number 1!

Did you ever dream of something impossible and it happened? My dreams were always quite realistic. As a kid I dreamed about eating bananas, my family was poor and bananas were a treat only once a month. As a teen-owning a pair of rollerblades. In college-about studying abroad. After college-about paying off my loans. I didn’t know how it was to dream big; I didn’t have many expectations for myself, neither did I know how to break a mold and be something you want to be. But when I met photography, I suddenly wanted to chase a dream that looked impossible. Although I always loved drawing and admired artists, I poured myself into studying, into books about foreign languages and nations, past civilizations and more languages. Even the college of my choice offered zero classes in art, but what it did have was a study abroad program in the Middle East. I enrolled for the first semester of my sophomore year and bought a ticket to Israel. The only thing I bought for this trip was a camera and I absolutely loved it.

For my final semester of college I boarded the plane again. I was strolling along the streets of Jerusalem as if I never left. This time around I was resolved to take more purposeful pictures, shot through my viewfinder only, and looked for new angles on familiar streets. Once I was even late to the bus, because my friend and I used an hour of spare time running on the rooftops of Jerusalem and taking photos as if we’ve never been to the city before. I started to love my camera even more. We saw the world together, from colossal mosques of Istanbul to the pink-stone monuments of Petra to the frozen in time Pyramids. One hot summer afternoon a friend from States sent me a link to a photographer in California. It really is true, my life has never been the same. I don’t know when I saw my first picture, but I do remember when I first saw a picture I liked. It was nothing like anything I’ve seen before, same ordinary people in his photos, but from a whole new perspective. All the sudden I wanted to take picture of people, I wanted to try to do what this guys does, because to me his pictures were unreal.

Seeing amazing photographs changed everything for me and my photography journey officially began.

And here is a photo of me (with super short hair) from the Mount of Olives looking toward Jerusalem.

Come back tomorrow for some more

Simple and Beautiful Escape

Yuliya — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 05:39:35 +0000

Happy Monday to you world! How about starting a week with something simple and beautiful like a handmade card? I remember how once in college despite all the homework, I dropped everything and made my mom a birthday card. I ran from one dorm room to another collecting paper, scissors, thread and whatever else I thought would be needed. After gathering bits and pieces from the girls on my wing, I sat to work on a card. The homework didn’t really happen that night, but something else did. Making that card gave me an artistic outlet and a much needed escape into something other than books. And that’s what card making has always been for me, an escape. Making cards over the weekend reminded me of how blessed I am to do photography for living and have friends to appreciate with a card.

This is my first card using a hot-glue gun, talk about living in the dark ages. Thank you to my friend Anna G. for encouraging me to try it. It sure changed my world!

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!