Patriotism

In honor of the brave men and women who gave everything for our country, and fought for the freedoms I enjoy. ❤

Land of the Free, Home of the Brave

Scavenger Hunt

As a general rule, I don’t put up much in the way of pictures of myself as a way to market my photography, but there was no way around it. My super genius ideas for the Hunt categories “What’s Your Sign” and “Lyric Quotograph” required my participation.

I enlisted the help of a good friend, and fellow photographer for the 5 minute shoot.  I told her the idea, we found a good place with the appropriate lighting and viola! Instant photo!

This particular image turned out exactly as I had envisioned it, and it gives a sense of what I wanted to convey about myself to the viewer.  Photog, yes.  But a photog who is willing to work for the photo. =)

What’s Your Sign

So why don’t I put up a whole lot of images of myself?  Well, to be honest, I have thought about it.  I’m definitely not a “look at me!!!!!” kind of person, but at this point in America, there is no doubt that marketing a woman’s…ummm…attributes will gain you fans.  But obviously, since I don’t have photos of me taking scenic landscape shots in a bikini, you can tell I’ve hesitated to go that route.

The reason?  First and foremost, it’s not who I am.  I’m not opposed to spending time in front of a camera (in fact, I think it’s an essential learning step for anyone who wants to shoot portraits.  You should have experience with the things you are asking a model to do!), and every girl likes to have a few purty photos of herself…but it’s not the side of the camera where I get the most out of the experience.

Second, I don’t want my photography to be all about me.  To some extent, every photo you take has a piece of you in it.  It’s the way you see the world, or the way you feel about a situation.  But I want to do more than just express my vision of the world.  I want to share those moments with you.  I want you to feel the same sense of awe I do at a gorgeous sunset, the same sense of peace I feel at the top of a mountain, the same smile I get when I look at an adorable puppy/horse/child…

And finally…well…to put it bluntly, privacy matters to me.  I know, I know…old fashioned thinking.  But too many people – especially younger generations – forget that once something is out in the interwebs, it’s permanent.  A hurtful comment, a thoughtless decision, a tasteless photo…they’re like a bad tattoo.  It may not mean much when we’re young, but it’ll haunt us later in life.

So I wonder, has anyone else put any thought into this matter?  Privacy vs Marketing your business?  How personal you make your brand?

I’d love to hear your thoughts! =)

Updates!

We are getting a lot of Scavenger Hunt submissions (which is great!!) and are making sure to post them on our Facebook pages (SSP and NE) and on our Twitter feeds (SSP and NE).  If you are posting, please make sure to tag us so we can recognize and share your work! 🙂

How are the Hunts going?  What are you crossing off of your list today? 😉

Big Shout Out To…

Marco (http://lifecameraction.wordpress.com/), Jeremy (http://365photosbyjeremy.wordpress.com/), and Julie (http://beingjulz.com/) for spreading the word about this month’s Creative Collaborative Project!

The more people that participate, the more fun it will be!  Or funnerer!  Or Funnerest?

Keep sharing the photo-love friends!

XOXO
Shann

Community Collaborative Project :: June

HEY CREATIVES!!  IT IS THAT TIME!!!!

We are excited to bring you this months Community Collaboration Project (CCP? That could catch on   )!!

But first, before we get into the AWESOME project theme, Shannon and I wanted to send out a HUGE thank you to all who have participated in our last couple projects!! With out all of your continued support, these projects would be uber lame. We look forward to continuing to make these projects bigger and better in order to consistently stretch your creative imagination and skill sets.

So with that being said… if you’ve been following along on our Facebook pages (you doooo follow the Nick Exposed and Seeing Spots pages, right??) then you know we’ve been leaving you clues about this month’s theme.  The trick was…the fact that we were leaving clues was the clue!  So, without further ado… We bring you this month’s CCP theme…

THE SCAVENGER HUNT!!

Are you excited? Because we sure as hell are!!

Not sure how much explanation this project needs, but heres the Nitty Gritty:

15 days and more than 15 scavenger ideas to shoot. We are urging you to do as many possible – one per day would be great – but we are including a few extras for those over-achievers out there.  Now we know, this is an ambitious project, but we’re confident that will all give it as much as you can.

You can do all 15 as a once a day kind of thing, or you can pick and choose from the list and shoot just a small handful of ideas. We chose a wide range of somewhat off the wall, creative ideas for you guys to pick through, each with endless possibilities on how you can approach it.

The project will go from today June 15th to Sunday June 30th at midnight est.

Anyone and everyone is welcome to join in on the photography fun. *hint hint hint* Share with your friends! Spread the word! Post on your Facebook/Twitters/G+/local grocery store community board. Reblog! Scream it from the rooftops! (But make sure it’s before 10pm….otherwise the neighbors get grumpy. 🙂 *end hint*  Ahem…now where were we?

Oh yes!  This project is for you, Aunt Betty and your smelly brother Sam.  It’s for your neighbor, your neighbor’s neightbor and their Uncle Bob.  Anyone with a way to capture images is welcome to join us.  Shoot with your slr, dslr, point n shoot or camera phone. Hell we don’t care if you shoot with your little sisters Barbie camera. Just get creative with it.

As always please send an email to submit@nickexposed.com with “Count me in for the Scavenger Hunt” in the subject line. Also include the blog/web address you will want your pictures linked to when we put together the gallery at the end of the month.

Below is the list of scavenger ideas to choose from. We cant wait to see your creative interpretation of the different items.

• “Chuck Norris Was Here”
• “Big Foot Footprint”
• Reflected Love
• Abstract Self Portrait
• Framed Moon
• “Whats your sign”
• Anti-gravity
• Unusual Perspective
• Abandoned
• Silence
• Pride and Joy
• Emerging Star
• Buried Treasure
• Sparkler fun
• Clownin Around Upside-down
• Lyric Quotograph
• Summer
• Patriotism
• Night

We are truly excited to see what you can do with this collaborative project.  We know what creative people you are – and it’s a real treat to see how you interpret these challanges.  It’s a great source of inspiration for us, and for the other participants!

Keep checking our pages, FB’s and twitters (SSP & NE) for updates and shout outs!