Full Circle

There are events in one’s life that just naturally happen.

Moving back to Iowa has completed my husband’s full cycle.

He vowed never to come back to Iowa ever again, and we happily live in Burlington, Iowa a small town in South East Iowa, that boarders Illinois.

When we moved to San Francisco in the Spring of 2006, I had a friend working on the touring company of “The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee”. It was a welcomed surprised when we attended the 2018 Iowa Thespian Festival at the University of Northern Iowa and the musical being featured is “The 25th Annual Putnum County Spelling Bee”!! as guest of the director, Kristi Peck. Watching the all white cast show, with new eyes and with actual High School students had different meaning. The character of the filipino boy scout, replaced with the all-american boy and the Korean girl replaced again, with an all-american girl had such different meaning. What the kids missed was the tongue-in-cheeked humor that is brought by the original characters.

My husband and I also presented a workshop “Short-filmed: Above and Beyond” with Six Tips to make your short story better. I presented the section about lighting. I wanted to help the students light their film with fool proof lighting situations so they can focus their efforts on creating, and not to worry too much about the light. I wish them the best of luck with making their five-minute short film.

This brings me to the subject of this blog. The look in the eyes of the students when the information presented is absorbed, processed and then comprehended with blowing their minds is so satisfying, and life changing.

I have been fortunate to be around some of the best talent in the world. There are a lot of “secrets” or techniques to styling, lighting and creating a photo, since a lot of secrets are well guarded, those techniques will die if not shared. I would like to pass down these techniques to the next generation and fellow photographers. I only ask that you, pass the knowledge on to others so the secrets/techniques can live on. 

I have always been a fashion photographer, and will always be a fashion photographer. I was fortunate enough to get progress into Bedding and Home Goods Photography. Making beds, folding towels, and physically stepping into the role as a stylist was a challenge at first. I am fortunate to know stylists who do this for a living and asked for their help when I get stuck. There are times when we get frustrated and want to give up. Just take a breath, take a step back and know that I am here to help you. Contact me and I will share with you, full out without judgement. If I do not know the answer, I will contact someone else who may know the answer. Do not give up, think of it more as growing pains.