Website up and running...

Hello All!

I am so pleased to announce that my photo website is finally online!!! Yay! This is very exciting to me.  I have been putting it off for a while because it seemed overwhelming.

Truth is… once I started configuring it, it was very fun.  I have posted new photos, and updated tags and such.  I spent most of yesterday playing around with the site.  After that was done, I spent the rest of the day organizing other photos that I am getting ready to upload to the site.

Please feel free to comment on the site or on here with your thoughts or questions…

I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them.

Forgotten Passion

There has been something in my life that I have let slide a little.  A sacrifice if you will.  But NO MORE.
A friend of mine took me shooting the other weekend and it reminded me how much I love doing things for myself.  (When I say shooting, I mean photography)  In that photo session at the beach, I realized how much I had forgotten about the most exciting thing!  This made me mad.  Mad at myself.
How could I possibly stop doing what makes me so happy?!? That wasn't important, the fact was that I remembered that feeling of absolute joy when my shutter was clicking away.
From this, I became excited again!  Excited to pick up where I left off and continue to learn and grow with photography. 

I love that no one but me judges my work.  I can take any shot in any angle, any lighting and any subject that I choose.  This excites me to no end.  I don't look at it as art like most people do.  I look at it as an extension of me... An insight to my crazy way of seeing life...

With that being said, I am very much looking forward to shooting more and posting my adventures shortly after!

Forth of July Get Away

I am happy to say that I finally had a chance to take some pictures again!  It was just as calming, relaxing and fun as I remembered!!!  I have been so caught up in the daily walk of life that I for got to stop and "smell the roses."
When the chance came along, I couldn't pass it up.  My Aunt recently moved to Bishop, CA.  My cousin Lindsay and her dad, my uncle, were going to go up to visit for the holiday weekend.  When I heard that, I knew it would be a perfect opportunity to spend some time with my cousin...  I never get to see her and we always say we are going to get together.
I remembered that every time my Aunt and Uncle talked about Bishop, they would say how amazingly beautiful it was.  So, I decided to pack up my camera and equipment.  I am so glad that I did!
They were right!  It is absolutely amazing.  At first sight, it is just a dessert you pass through on the Mammoth.  But when they took me through only a few of the dirt roads that seem to sprout out from every which direction, I was able to see true raw beauty!  The way that nature intended for us to see the Earth.
I was able to see Indian carvings from ancient times when people first settled, lava from one of the largest eruptions in history, gold mines from original American settlers. 
All of these sights were so amazing that I shot about 12G of photos.  In addition to these shots, I was also able to take awesome firework shots because of the 4th of July.
I will be adding some of these photos little by little because there are so many and I am doing it between my daily duties...
Check out my website to see these photos as I add them.
There are different galleries organizing the photos into places or things.  The photos I have discussed here will be in the galleries labeled "Bishop," and "Night Shots"

Trama!!!

Anybody who knows me knows that I absolutely HATE needles! I get weak in the knees at the mention of them. But, anybody who knows me, also knows, that I am extremely stubborn and competitive!

When I was in 10th grade, it was popular to get your belly button pierced. I have a small waist and a flat belly, so my friends told me I should get one. The second I winced, they all laughed and said, "never mind, you'll never do it cuz you're too afraid of needles." Instead of discouraging me, this challenged me! I went home, and asked mom for her permission...

One thing you have to realize about my parents... they spent all of my younger years trying to talk me out of things. Finally they realized that the harder you push me against something, the more I will run to it. (My dad is still learning this lesson, I am 27 now, so maybe by the time I'm 45 he will get the hang of it.)

So my mom said yes, knowing that if I was coming to her, I had obviously already made up my mind and there was no talking me out of it. Since I wasn't 18 yet, she drove me down to sign for me and my brother came along to watch. Secretly I think he thought I wouldn't go through with it. Oh, but I did. I still have the piercing in, cause I will be damned if I ever go through that again!
Belly Button Ring Assortment 14 Gauge 7/16" Qty 20 20 Assorted Belly Button Navel Rings Surgical Steel - 14 Gauge 7/16"

Well, I was raised to think that tattoos are bad, not clean cut and shouldn't be on a woman's body. But no matter how I was raised, I see myself as an extremely independent and self reliable woman. So even though I know that one or both of my parents might not be too thrilled, I have always wanted to get a tattoo. It's not like I hide that fact to my parents, they know that I want one, but that I'm not sure on what to get. Seeing as it is permanent and all, I want to make sure that it will suit me forever...

I have found a couple of designs throughout the years that I can see on my body, but then came the decision on where on my body to I place it?? At first I thought, my ankle... no. Then, maybe my lower back... no. And then I fell in love with the pelvic area just below a bathing suit line. That way it could be hidden if desired... but what happens if I ever decide to have kids??? NO! So now I am leaning on having it on top of my left foot... cute, elegant and still easily hidable... (if that's a word)

Funny thing?!? Oddly enough, none of those spots on my body are where I put my first tattoo! It is genius! Clever! Cute! Sexy! And the best part is, it is hidden in plain sight everyday!!! People would only know if I were to tell them...

Take a look for yourself...

That's right! I had my eyeliner tattooed. I have only been to 2 out of 3 session, but am loving the results already!

This is after my second session...

The Mammoth Book of Tattoos Tattoo Bible: Book One

Birth of "The Kelly Calendar"

So sorry for the lack of updates on the website, between work and school, I haven't had a chance to do any updating in the past couple days.  I promise to do some more updating before the weekend is through.  I still have many to sift through and post. 

If anyone reading this has any favorite photographers or photos in general, I would love for you to share them with me!  I ador photos of all kinds and especially enjoy seeing new insight on different artists ways of thinking... So please share with me!

I'll never forget...

I went to a photo exhibit one day with my bestie Damon (R.I.P).  There were thousands of pictures up in an airplane hanger.  I was like a kid in a candy store and didn't know where to start first.  Since Damon knows I am a "little" OCD, he let me decide our course of action...  I decided to start from the outside and work our way in through to the middle of the building... 

We weren't even there half an hour when I came across a photo that I knew I had to have!  It called to me, and I didn't understand why...

Up until then, I had only enjoyed taking the photographs and wasn't shown to appreciate others art until Damon revealed it to me that day.

This picture that I fell in LOVE with was provocative yet sweet and almost innocent.  I couldn't stop staring at it.  Damon then told me that it was a Horst P. Horst.  Horst Portraits : 60 Years of Style.  Of course I had no idea what that meant, I just wanted it!!!  When the man came over to help answer any questions I might have, I asked how much?  He told me and I about fell to the floor! How could a photograph be so much money?  ...Damon then explained to me (after he stopped laughing at me) who Horst P. Horst was.  Here is a book...  Horst Portraits : 60 Years of Style was.  He was an artist who had passed and his work is very well known, which is why it cost so much... 

To say the least, I did not leave with the picture I fell in love with... But Damon told me that he would recreate it with me, so that it would mean even more! 

We got so wrapped up in the idea of taking fun reenactment pictures with me as the model; he came up with the name "The Kelly Calendar."  We came up with posses and props from past and present.  We would even take pictures from different magazines, posters and movies when we weren't with one another and send it to each other to add to the idea log.

Unfortunately my dear friend was taken from us way too soon and "The Kelly Calendar" was never started.  Not physically anyway.  I still have all of the ideas that we came up with and I add to them everyday...

I have decided to go ahead with the project, because I know he would have loved to see me finish it!

I love you Damon L. Nicholson!!! Miss you more than you know!

Photo Website

I am super excited to be starting this adventure, and even more excited to be sharing it with those of you who are interested!

I started an online photo gallery so that I could organize my photos and have a digital portfolio. The website that I am using is pretty neat, it allows artists to post all sorts of mediums up to view and even to sell if the artist chooses to do so. I personally haven't priced mine to sell, because I have gotten so involved with the uploading process, that it hasn't even crossed my mind yet. I am sure I eventually will just to experiment!

I have already received some great comments from complete strangers on my photos. It is such a great feeling to know that people can see what I see, and even see and share things that I haven't even seen yet! It gives me great perspective to look through other peoples eyes at my own work...

I continue to upload my work and will keep this blog updated when I do so...

Photo Fiend

Hello all,

This will be my first official blog post... I am very new to the blogging world, but very excited to get started on this adventure!

I have always loved nature, in all of its wonder and amazement. Ever since I was a little girl, I noticed weird angles, textures, colors and shapes. For my 10th birthday, I wanted a Polaroid camera. I ended up taking pictures of everything, and when the camera ran out of film, I would keep snapping away until the battery ran out, or until Mom bought me more film.  Now adays, they have many newer versions of my "oldschool" Polaroid...
I always loved the idea that something that was beautiful, or ugly or just plain different, could be captured on a little piece of paper. Stuck in time forever just the way I remembered it.

I think that I have received 4 cameras throughout my childhood as gifts... and I still have every one.

My brother is a very creative person, something he expressed through almost everything he ever did. Me? Not so much. He was drawing 3d pictures of people and shading to perfection, while I couldn't even draw a stick figure to scale.

I learned later, that I could express my creativity and passion for "freezing time," through the medium of photo.

I'd like to invite you to visit my website so that I can share my passion with you as well.