November in Rochester

I was very fortunate to head home for Thanksgiving this year and share the holiday with my parents and all of my siblings and their partners.  Needless to say, it was a full house. :)

We are people who enjoy going for walks and doing things outdoors, even if it is only 38 degrees out there.  The first few photos are from a walk up to the shore of Lake Ontario from our home.  The next batch is from the annual Turkey Trot, which our family participates in every year on Thanksgiving morning.  It conveniently starts between our house and the lakeshore, so we are able to walk up to the race and then walk home to a warm house and bloody marys afterwards.  :)

The last bunch of photos are from a park in our area that was renamed for my grandfather, Lucien Morin, who was the first County Executive in Monroe County and actually acquired about one third of all park lands in the county during his term.  It was the first time that most of us had visited the park.  If you're in Rochester area and would like to know where it is, just send me a note (kristin@kozelskyphoto.com) and I'll give you directions.  Yes, there were both an old, rusty car and a very cute niece in the park that day.

Fearless

Wow.  It's been an interesting few days.  This weekend was great for me... personally and in terms of my photographic work.  I am so charged up right now - I CAN'T WAIT to get out there in shoot.  My path has become clearer and I feel that I am starting to have a stronger sense of how I'm different and how to make it work for me.  I feel like I took a giant step toward my future this weekend.

On top of that, I found out that I've been accepted to Fearless Photographers.  This site is a collection of wedding photographers from around the world, and you have to apply to be a member of this community.  Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about making the cut.  There are contests every few months and you can submit a handful of photos for each one.  Let's hope that one of these days I'll will a Fearless Award ;)

Lastly, I came across this quotation about art this past weekend and thought I'd share:

The act of making art exposes a society to itself.  Art brings things to light.  It illuminates us.  It sheds light on our lingering darkness.  It casts a beam into the heart of our own darkness and says, "See?"

Beloved Collective - L.A.

Do you remember the post about Sequoia?  Well, the whole reason I was out there was to attend a workshop.  I am a member of the Beloved Collective, which is a group of a few hundred photographers exploring this new genre of experiential photography focused on couples in love.  This workshop in L.A. was organized by the incredible Jesh de Rox who has spent the last four years of his life developing this genre.

This workshop was simply life changing.  We covered everything from how to meet with a couple and explain what it is that we do to digging deep and finding yourself as an artist to discovering what we're afraid of to using our technical knowledge to further our artistic vision.  It was simply amazing.  I was constantly laughing or crying and looking into the core of myself.  I cannot believe that it was already a whole month ago.

For those of you in our industry who have never worked with Jesh: you need to.  He is an amazing, open, genuine, and caring person... and he knows how to bring those things out in you and help you bring it out in other people.  Through this aspect alone, he will make you a better photographer and a better business person.

If I had to sum up everything I learned those few days in LA in one sentence, it would be: "At the bottom of everything, we are all the same and we are all beautiful."  Sure, we hide it and go through life radiating things other than beauty from time to time, but if given the right space to let love shine out, everyone can be beautiful.  At the end of the day, it's our job to create the space for that love to shine out and to use it to show people how beautiful they really are.

And because every post needs a picture... here is a shot from the little concert that Jesh gave one night.  You can find some of his music here.

Thanks also to the incredible folks who presented along with Jesh:

Amina Moreau of Stillmotion - Her talk on using technical knowledge to convey emotion and mood was mind blowing.
Samm Blake - She spoke about working through resistance and finding yourself as an artist.  She also gave us several challenges to help us work out what the heck it is we
Jesse and Whitney Chamberlain of Our Labor of Love - These super-creative folks talked about building your brand and building a community.
Freydon Rassouli - He was a guest speaker - a painter.  He talked about chaos and creativity and how to overcome the blocks that come to you.  And he looks like Super Mario.  Bonus!
Tamara Gold - She's a makeup artist and talked about finding yourself and following the opportunities that fall into your path.  Her passion was simply breathtaking.

One

A challenge that was presented to us at the Beloved Collective in LA by the lovely and talented Samm Blake was entitled 'One'.

We were supposed to take a photo using the theme of 'one', preferably in a style or format that is different from our standard work and submit it to a certain email address by Oct 15.  This is my piece.  It is called 'The Word'.  This woman was speaking about her religion, beliefs and the importance of following the Word of God.  Although I am atheist, I appreciate her passion for her beliefs and respect her conviction.

Without further ado...

The Word

The Ever-increasingly Challenging Challenge: Results Part 1!

So... I had to stop shooting for a couple days because I couldn't get the camera open after I finished a roll of film.  O_o

Everything is fine now (thankfully) and I'm excited to show you the first round of results.  It's interesting to see what came out of the camera because it's not what I was expecting.  Some shots in the same light are different colors and it seems that the plane of focus is different from what I see through the viewfinder.  This is very grainy film as well.  Makes for some crazy stuff, but I like it.  Maybe now that I know what I'm working with I'll be able to use it to my advantage :)

For the record, this film was a 400 ISO Sensia slide film and most of the shots were taken with a 50mm with a macro extender ring.  I have not modified these digitally at all - I had the film developed and scanned at a local lab.

Adam & Michele's Beloved Session

Last month I had the pleasure of having a Beloved session with two friends I don't see often enough - they live in Rochester, NY and I'm only there two or three times a year to see my family.

Beloved is a fairly new genre of photography.  It has caused a pretty big rift in the wedding/engagement photography industry, but I feel that it is right in line with what my goals are as a photographer and I'm wholeheartedly for it.  In a Beloved session, the photographer sets the stage for the couple by giving them verbal cues.  I may ask the couple to play a game or imagine themselves in a particular situation.  Once I give them the cues, they begin to interact with each other and I take on the role of a photojournalist, snapping away in the background.

The thing is that the cues allow the couple to create magic.  What I ask the couple to do is to take time out of their lives to play together, to laugh together, to share memories and future plans, and just remember why they they are together in the first place.  The result is that I document love, laughter, and sometimes tears... but always true, honest emotion.  THAT is beautiful.  Nothing posed, nothing artificial.  Watching a couple interact and seeing the love just pour out of them is absolutely gorgeous.  I love it.  I just love it.  A big thank you to Adam and Michele for being open and holding nothing back - you guys are amazing. :)

  

Sarah & James | Gainesville Portrait Photography

This is Sarah and James.  I just met them the other day... it was only about an hour or so, but I think I love them. :)  They are the type of folks that you know from the get-go are open and genuine... just friendly, relaxed, and easy to talk to.  What more could you ask for? 

Florida School of Traditional Midwifery | Florida Event Photography

The celebration of International Midwifery Day was held at Sweetwater Branch Inn in downtown Gainesville.  It was a really beautiful celebration filled with love and an incredible amount of mutual respect for everyone at the midwifery school - the students, the staff, the teachers, the alumni, the board, the community supporters... it was fantastic to witness.  It was a pleasure to cover the event and to be able to participate in the silent auction (both as a donor and a winner)!