Bravery

     When those birthdays where you turn life changing ages such as 13, 18, 21, 25 and so on come along I feel like you begin realizing everything that you have ever done with your life.  That is at least what I have been doing.  It started when I was on Facebook and friends would post things from Buzzfeed or ThoughtCatalog.  After reading the posts for a few months, I began to realize how this was not helping me in any way.  Instead, I emailed and asked people who I respected what they wish they had done or known by 25.  I have received a lot of good feedback and I have started doing some of the advice.

     The thing is I am realizing that I need to be able to take and accept advice for my business; realize when I might need help; and everyday is a learning process.  I am glad that I started this business Allie Ray Photography because I have this rare opportunity to show people the way I like to print my photography on different mediums.  People have asked me what is it like to run your own business and that is a tough question to answer.  The thing is I am different from what you might think an artist might be like.  I am very organized.  I have a certain way to do things and when something is out of place I can tell.  This is good when you run your own business.
     Another thing I have begun realizing is that you have to be brave.  Brave has several different meanings, but when I think about brave I think about putting my artwork out there for people to see.  People will begin to criticize your work in good and bad ways, which you have to remember to put one foot in front of the other to keep doing what you love.  I might want to go travel to find the right photograph for what I think people will like.  In order for me to keep my dream going I have been digging deep inside myself for courage, bravery, and everything in between.  So, to all you potential dreamers out there never give up on your dream.

"Photography is an art of observation. It has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." ~Elliott Erwitt

Follow on Facebook and Instagram for more pictures and posts! 

A Pat on the Back

     I feel like every once in a while we all deserve to give ourselves a pat on the back.  I am saying this, because for the past 5 to 6 years I have always acted like the month of September does not exist. I know that sounds crazy, right.  Well, I am just so overjoyed that this month I was able to help some family friends finish their Christmas card.  I know this seems very early, but think about all the hard work that is put into a Christmas card every year.  We try to find a picture that everyone in the family agrees on.  In my family I somehow got the short end of the stick a few years running.  If I could I would shred every last one of that particular card.  My dad has this one framed in his office (its not there anymore).  The Christmas cards are sent out to all your parents friends and family.  Peoples addresses change so we have to find the new address, buy the stamps, mail them, and the post office is sometimes slow over the Holidays.

     Enough with why I would start early on Christmas cards and back to my business.  I am a very shy person so I sometimes feel like my family who loves me a ton is worried that I will never get my business to where I really want it to be.  That is why I have signed up for Birmingham Art Crawl.  This way I can try and get myself out of my lovely shell.  I have to admit I am nervous, but I know that this will be a good thing for me.  It will help me with discussing my work without someone trying to explain it for me.  I will also get a feel for what people like when it comes to art and photography.  I have no clue how the event will turn out, but I will let you know that I am creating a few new pieces for it.

As always please follow my Facebook page and Instagram to find out more about my work. 

  

Who Am I?

     Today, I want to take a little time telling you about who I am.  I am person who loves to photograph to express myself, because I do not know how people will react when I tell people my stories.  I enjoy traveling and trying new things.  Trying new things is more like swinging from a rope swing in Costa Rica along with everyone else in the family or hiking on a new trail.  Trying new foods is coming along.  I have never felt like I have fit into one place, so when I see people doing something brave that makes me feel two things: 1. I want to one day to find the courage to step out of my comfortable shell and 2. Those people rock for doing that.  That is why I challenged myself in a way this month.  I have been trying new things.
     The new things I have been trying is a bible study and a kickball league.  But for my artwork,  I am trying anything to get my name out there.  I decided after seeing Birmingham Art Crawl on Twitter and reading more about it on the website (http://birminghamartcrawl.com) to sign up.  I have no clue what the results will be, but I am trying to think positive.  The only thing I do know is that I have my family and friends as my supporters.
     So who am I?  I am someone who is trying to be brave and show people what I can with my photography.  I am trying to use my resources to find the ways.  I am stepping out of my comfort zone to do this.  This might be hard for me, but I express myself through my photography.

New Opportunities

     This month I have been trying to find more opportunities for my business.  I have made an Etsy account, which here is the link https://www.etsy.com/shop/UniquePrintingAllie?ref=hdr_shop_menu to see it.  I did an art show at the end of last month, which went well.  I just wish I was better at marketing my self.  I have talked to two marketing people and I have the social media such as: LinkenIn, Facebook Page, Blog, Twitter, and Instagram.  I am just one person, so I have to work extremely hard to get my name out there.  I wish there were ways of making it all come together.  People say they like what I do, but it is the buying of my work that I feel is not happening.  

     Enough about trying to get my name out in the world.  I took photographs of my nephew at his birthday party and he was just so handsome and especially funny while he was eating his cake.  I really enjoyed watching him smashing his cake and getting the icing in his cake.  Everything about his birthday was special and the theme and decorations were perfect.  

     I was just so thrilled and honored that my sister-in-law trusted me enough to take the photographs at my nephew's first birthday.  I am so glad I will be able to take more pictures as he grows up and be able to capture his smile and all his emotions on this journey.  Photographing my nephew makes for great opportunities.

Inspiration

     This week I have been trying to find more inspiration, since I am one of those people who really enjoys to travel.  I haven't had time to travel as much as I would like since I wanted to babysit some this summer to earn money for my photography.  It has been very rewarding to get to know the two kids over the summer.  Although, I have been to several different places with my family on our trips and I have done some traveling on my own.  I have just felt the need lately to go somewhere outside of my hometown even if it is for a day or two.  I sometimes get inspired the most by seeing new things and traveling.

    When getting ready for my upcoming art show I was looking back through my photographs that I had taken over the past year.  I realized they were all from different hikes that I have taken in the mountains and the last time I went to the beach in February.  I then began to think when will be the next time I am going to the lake or beach.  This month I have been taking photographs of my nephew who turned one and I started editing his pictures.  I also have been working hard to finish getting ready for this art show, while trying to work out.

    How do I find my inspiration to keep going?  I think of how I saw my nephew walk on his birthday.  I have the some of the best supporters like my friends and family.  My dog who even though she wants to protect me can be scared of the tiniest thing, like wall ball slams.  I think of the little things, because my family helps me.  They inspire me and they believe in me.  It is seeing how my friends child was shy around me and then she wanted to hold my the whole time I was visiting.  Inspiration is all around me and sometimes I just have to find it.    

    Here are two of the mixed media photography pieces I will be showing in the art show.      

"Hole in One"

"Afternoon Mist"

Talking to Others

In college, we had this assignment where we had to come up with at least 10 questions to ask a photographer in the field we would hope to one day follow.  My dream job was and still is today to be a travel photographer, but that will take some time to achieve that goal.  I am not giving up on that quest just yet.  We had to find 10 photographers to email and I had two responses from photographers which I thought was great!  After talking to one of the photographers named Alison Wright who does work with National Geographic; I decide to read her book.  Her book called Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival made me want to travel even more.  I decided to try and use what I had heard from our conversation on a trip I was going on with my family to see if I could capture the culture and the people while taking photographs.

These three pictures are probably my favorite from my trip, but I tried to do some things that were out of the ordinary for me which included trying to talk to the tour guides.  I tried to immerse myself more into the culture by researching the area and asking questions.  This was a way for me to expand my photography technique.

Recently, I have been talking to some other photographers and this week I will be able to talk to him about his travel photography experience.  I am looking forward to know what he does and hear his take on trying to bring everything about a culture together within a photograph.  I am hoping by talking to these photographers I will be able to apply it to my own photography.

As always keep following Allie Ray Photography on Facebook for more updates.

Finding a Balance

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how glad I am that I started my own business.  There are many reasons for this, but just to name a few they are: I get to set my own schedule; I am able to enjoy the printing techniques I learned in college; and I am able to spend time with my family and dog.  My dog is a rescue dog, so she will always feel very anxious when I go on errands and when I get back she is very excited.  She requires a lot of TLC.

The hard thing is with this economy I have not SPREAD THE WORD as much as I would have liked.  I have been using a Facebook page, twitter, Instagram, sending e-mails, and spreading the word by talking about my work.  I even sent out postcards to people over the holidays.  I have been doing things to keep busy such as making slideshows for my cousin's wedding, which somehow I keep getting asked to do that for every family wedding (I guess I am better at using computers than I thought).  Other things I do to earn money are helping out my family which can be a good and a bad thing.  It is a good thing, because I want them to know I am there for them so they will help me.  The bad part is when I actually need some time to do work they think I can automatically do it.  The thing is I want to be helpful and do things for my family, but how can I also do that and SPREAD THE WORD?  Right now, I am trying to find a balance so I have decided to babysit, which in itself is good money and you can be a good role model for kids.

I have all these ideas for my work, but how am I going to be able to pursue them without getting my name out there?  I use social media and I talk about my work.  My family talks about my work.  What else can I do to become an established photographer in 2014?

This is a custom photograph sent to me by a family member that I gave to another family member for a birthday present. This was put on wood block with silver leaf on the background. 

This photograph I took of a family friend's dog Punkin. Punkin's picture was put on wood block with silver leaf on the background. 

To find out other works I have done follow Allie Ray Photography on Facebook or find me on Instagram!

Thank you! Help Spread the Word!