Konnor

He's such a big boy now, I cannot believe it! It's been so long since I had seen him last and it makes me so sad...Konnor is one of my friend Leslie's little boys and oh what a cutie he is:) He has the biggest blue eyes and such a fun spirit about him! Even though he wanted to throw pine needles at me for fun, I still love him so so much and want to hug him and squeeze him all day long! Leslie, I hope you love your photos of your precious little boy. It was so much fun photographing him!

Inspiration for a dear friend

I put my two cents in on a blog post of a friend that was feeling a little down and not feeling motivated or inspired. I told her this..

Never hang your camera up because you know it is something that you love! Take pictures of anything

so with that said...this is for you Cara

Taking a few moments....

to recognize the most special man in my life...my husband and most wonderful father to my 3 beautiful children, JOE! How do I begin to explain my love for this man to all of you, my friends, so that you truly understand what a special place he holds in my heart and soul. You see, I will be the first to admit...I am not the best with words. I mean I know exactly what I would like to say and I know exactly how I am feeling but when I go to start writing it down it begins to be this extremely LONG run on sentence (just like the one I am writing now) and usually is nothing like what I originally wanted to say. So, here it goes..I will try to do this beautiful person justice by my silliness of run-ons! Joe and I met a few years ago when I was working at the bank inside Wal-Mart and he was working as a manager at the store there...I like to try and tell people, as a joke of course, that we "met at Wal-Mart", you know like our buggies collided, we met eyes and fell madly in love with each other, but that's not what happened;) I was pregnant with my son Ayden when we started dating, he knew it and he was ok with it. My friend Cara said that she knew that we would get married and I'm super glad she was right! I remember he and I went to lunch one day and I blunty said "you know I'm pregnant don't you" and he said "yea so" and i said "well what do you think about that" and he said "we will take it one day at a time"...I mean this was like on one of our first "dates." dont think i was trying to take it fast or anything, do ya? haha...no, it wasn't that, it was just that i wanted to make sure that he knew...but he was completely ok with it. my point is, that is just how he is...he has a heart as big as you can imagine...he has done nothing but love me and our children every single day and that's what a father is all about! If I could come up with my own definition for a father's love, it would be this: JOE FOREMAN
Thank you my sweet husband for all you do for our family daily. I love you with all my heart and soul. You are the twinkle in my eye, the sunshine to my day and what makes me lay my head down at night and feel safe knowing you are right there next to me always.

A Knoxville Wedding-The Amazing Azure and Drew

A few weeks ago I took some engagement photos (you can click here to see the photos from their session) of one of my very best friends who would soon be getting hitched and guess what...It happened, On June 12th, 2010! It makes me OH so happy that I was chosen to be a part ofher very special day as one of her bridesmaids and we seriously had a blast! Drew and Azure's wedding was SO much fun from the photobooth, to the wonderful speech that Paul made to the dancing at the reception. I of course brought my camera along to catch a few pictures from the day and hope Azure and Drew enjoy them. Right now they are having a good 'ol time in Cabo on their honeymoon but when they return I hope this is a good little surprise for her. Of course she will get all the gorgeous pictures from her "real" photographer from the day when Amy  gets those ready...and let me tell you, I for one can't wait to see them, but this is just a little extra, I guess you could say from the BFF from me to her:)

Please bare with me...

as I am trying to get my blog in order:) It is taking me some time, as I am having to stay up really late after the kids go to bed and right now it is 11:08p.m. and man oh man am I tired...I got up super duper early this morning so I think I'll go ahead and call it a day and turn in! Of course I can't go without posting a picture though...There will be more to come in the next few days, I just have to find a few minutes:) Night moon!

(yes, she is gorgeous..and she is one of my BFF's)

Don't worry...BEE happy

A little something to cheer you up on this rainy day:)

<3

Interview with Rebekah Elena

I had the pleasure of interviewing the young and extremely talented Rebekah Elena Tillotson. I was so very lucky to meet her through the Jasmine Star discussion board on facebook about a year and a half ago and since then I feel like we are pretty much "tight like spandex." Like I said before, she is young, 17 that is and let me tell you people, you better watch out because this girl knows her stuff! I was simply amazed and still am at how much knowledge she holds in that brain of hers:) When I started out I basically knew that I loved taking pictures, I really didn't know much about shooting manual and F-stops and all that jazz but thanks to Rebekah she has taught me so much! I honestly can say that anytime I have ever had any kind of photography related question, whether or not I thought it may sound silly, I could ask her and she made it seem so easy and never made me feel dumb! Now that's a great teacher! She is going to do wonderful things in her life and her journey is just beginning! Now, what you've all been waiting for...DUH DUH DUH...THE INTERVIEW:)

Me: Tell me three fun facts about yourself?

Rebekah Elena: I love video games and have played them since I was a very small child.


I collect comic books.

I know every word to every Celine Dion song.
 
Me: Where are you from and where do you currently reside?
 
Rebekah Elena: Well, due to my Army Brat upbringing, I can't really say that I'm "from anywhere". I lived in different states and cities until my dad got out of the military so I never had a "hometown" so to speak. For the past five years I've lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, my father's destination of choice once he hung up the camo garments for the last time.
 
Me: When did you develop your true love for photography, because we all know that you love it with all your heart:)
 
Rebekah Elena: As I've gotten older, I've learned that love is not something that just sporadically happens and is forced upon us. God gave each and every person free will, you know, so I believe that I choose to love photography. I mean, we hear horrifically sad stories of photographers who, after years of work, hang up their camera. Or we see beginners who, once they start trying to learn the technical jargon, throw their camera away and swear to never pick it up again. Did they lose their love? Or did they choose to no longer love it?

Now, I will say that there is this indescribable passion for the art of it that makes loving it so incredibly easy. Each and every time I take a photograph I have the opportunity to either choose to love what I'm doing or choose not to love it. By now, making the choice is often just some subconscious thing that happens...although, there are a few days where I must consciously make the choice to love it. Not every day in the mind of an artist is filled with romanticism inspired thoughts. But making the choice to love photography, no matter how difficult that may seem in a situation, has always proven to be worth it.

So, to finally answer your question, I became smitten with photography when I was entering high school. I'd always adored art my entire life, but photography was the medium that I knew I was born to express my soul through. All the thanks to my art teacher, Judy McIntosh, who gave me the first push that has brought me to where I am today.

 
Me: This is a bit out there, but I'm gonna go for it, after your passionate answer for the last question....How do you think the world would be different if photography was never created?
 
Rebekah Elana: This question literally left me speechless for a moment.


Without photography the world would be a very disconnected, unaware, place. I mean, of course we have written words, but a photograph conveys so much more at times. Photographs can end wars. They can speak for people who have no voice, people who are suffering. Photographs are pieces of time that are taken so that people do not forget. And if there were no such thing as a camera...people might forget. Photographs can be brutally honest things that change people and the countries in which they live. They prove words and bring validity to what people speak. And, when the time arises, they can be the only voice, having only a ring in the ears of people that not even a pen or microphone can conjure.
 
Me: Do you have a favorite photograph you have taken?
 
Rebekah Elena:  I have this series of five images, what's known as a pentaptych, that is placed together to form one piece. I don't know if I genuinely have a favorite photograph, but this one I am very fond of. All the images are of a bride putting on her necklace on her wedding day, her face hidden by shadows and half of her body a silhouette created by darkness. It was actually created during my first wedding so it holds a lot of meaning to me. It's known as "Shadow Bride Pentaptych."
 

 
  Me: What makes a "good" photographer in your opinion?

Rebekah Elena:  Well, I don't believe there's such a thing as a bad photographer in reference to the work they produce, so unfortunately I can't answer that question. Everyone is at a different point in their journey and I am not a perfect person in any way, shape or form, so I can't really judge or form that type of opinion. As I mature and learn, that opinion would probably change constantly. So I don't think I'm the right person to ask that.

Me: Do you believe that the camera or lens matters in a way that it affects the quality of the picture?

 Rebekah Elena: Gear does play a role in the technical quality of the image. Obviously there are lenses that would produce a background blur that other lenses cannot produce. There are lenses that produce a higher level of contrast and brightness, and there are cameras that have sensors capable of handling higher ISO's better. I mean, the list goes on. So in a technical sense, gear obviously plays a role in the finished product.


But shooting wide open won't make you immortal. Having name brand on every single piece of equipment you own will not get you more bookings. Spending more on a camera body than you did on your car won't teach you composition and the other elements of art. And you won't be asked to be interviewed simply because you spent an arm and a leg on a studio space and lighting.

There was an image from a Brownie camera that won a Pulitzer prize. I highly doubt that the newspaper editors were looking at the bokeh and turning their noses up at it because it wasn't shot with a Mamiya. They looked at the subject.

Photography is an art form, but so many people don't view it as such. Let's think about Leonardo da Vinci. Many of his sketches were made with simple pen and paper...but does that make them any less valuable? No. Why? Because they're made by him. The value of his work is not the medium in which he created it with, but instead the fact that he created it.

We don't ask athletes what shoes they wear. We don't wonder if the five star chefs are using the highest quality ingredients and cookware. And we don't ask carpenters what tools they're using. Because if you gave those same shoes and same ingredients and tools to someone else who doesn't have that developed talent it won't do anything. But for some reason people fall into this myth that if they have expensive equipment that they are told is of high quality, they will be able to do what other photographers do.

Lenses and cameras mean little to nothing in the end. You have to be able to convey your vision with what you already have and not be limited by a piece of glass and a light tight box. Is an athlete any less talented for having a different brand of shoes? Is a chef incapable of making delicious food from the supermarket? And can a carpenter not build a stable house or beautiful piece of woodwork without the top of the line tools?

All of those things help those people to achieve what they're wanting to do a bit more efficiently, but they already have the talent and the education to do without. Those things will certainly help them in certain areas, but they can't do everything.

A good lens will give you good contrast and a good level of sharpness, but it won't compose the image for you. It won't tell you how color affects the mood of the viewer. It won't explain leading lines and shape. And above all, it won't make you any more gifted or talented.

So, ultimately, I believe that the camera and lens you use is just simple tool and should never be depended upon. No one buys a picture because it was shot with an L lens.  

Me: If I were to get the opportunity to snoop around in your camera bag, what would I find?

Rebekah Elena: Well it would depend on which camera bag strikes your fancy. I hold all my camera equipment in a wonderful Pelican bag and whenever I'm going out to shoot I usually pick the lenses and camera body I want for the shoot and place them in a smaller Tamrac bag. However, if I'm photographing a long event I typically just take the whole Pelican bag.



So, anywho, in that Pelican bag on a day when I'm not out shooting you will find the spare of the spare's spare. Many photographer friends of mine joke on the amount of backups that I have. I carry over 80 gigs of memory in there, along with 6 batteries, extra rear lens caps, extra cleaning equipment...if you name it it is more than likely in there right next to the kitchen sink.

I have a Nikon N80 film body as well as a Canon Rebel T1i digital body with an external battery grip, eyepiece extender, and Giottos screen protector. My Nikon lenses are a Promaster 70-210 and a Promaster (made by Tokina) 19-35. For my Canon body I have an 18-55mm kit lens stashed away, a 50mm 1.8, an 85mm 1.8 and my ever so beloved Tamron 180mm. All of them with UV filters.


In addition to the expected lens caps, batteries, cards, cleaning pens, etc. I also have colored filters, film, OpTech rain sleeves, and my favorite accessory of all: my Hoodman Hoodloupe.

And if you looked around a little extra you'd spot my notebook, pen, and passion fruit tic tacs.

Me: Pertaining to photography: Have you had any kind of schooling or are you self taught or a little of both?


Rebekah Elena:  I'm a little bit of both...actually, I think I'm a bit of everything come to think of it.


My photographic journey, as you know, started in high school in art class. It then extended into a lot of research and studying when I became employed at a local camera store just after I turned 16 years old. And while I was actually spending my afternoons there, I was spending my mornings in a technical school for photography taught by Clay Allen. I was also very blessed to have a three month out of state internship. So I've been very honored to have so many wonderful opportunities and see a lot of different angels of the art and industry. I no longer attend school and am not involved in any internships so currently I am just teaching myself as much as I can every day so I can pass the info along to other photographers. People often think it strange that I have a huge pile of books in my room and dozens of bookmarks on my computer...but when I stop learning...well...I don't really want to fathom the consequences.

Me: Do you have a favorite famous photograph/piece of art? Why

Rebekah Elena: My favorite photographer at this point in my journey is Diane Arbus. While I appreciate her artwork a great deal it is her words that have really stayed inside me. I listen to her biography very often...reading between the lines and looking in the shades of black and white you almost find a torment within, a darkness that plagued her.


I don't know if I have a favorite photograph, but there is an image that has stayed with me since the moment I first saw it. It's the image of a Sudanese girl in 1993, photographed by Kevin Carter. It's not something that you can simply erase from your recollection. It stays with you. And doesn't even threaten to leave.

http://samchok.or.kr/files/attach/images/1067/791/011/kevin-carter-vulture.jpg
 
Me: How does it make you feel, at the young age of 17, that you are able to help so many photographers in their photographic journeys? I'm refering to those lighbulb moments:)
 
Rebekah Elena: I feel really blessed and incredibly happy to do what I'm doing so early in my life. I'm seeing a lot of people my own age start stressing out over what they think they're supposed to be doing with their lives and making a flurry of decisions based on what society says they should be doing. And, years later, they end up really discontent and wishing they'd done something else with all those years. I'm so thankful for the life I'm living and the people that I meet and talk with on a daily basis. I love helping other people and reaching out. And to be able to couple that with my affection for photography is really something great.
 
 

Me: What is your least favorite word?
 
Rebekah Elena: Hate.
 
Me: What sound do you LOVE?
 
Rebekah Elena:  A Nikon shutter.
 
Me: What would you say is a childhood memory that is photographically stuck in your head forever?
 
Rebekah Elena:  Growing up I was incredibly close to my Aunt who, to this day, I still view as the epitome of elegance and classic refinement. One night I laid in her bed beside her, crying over something I thought warranted my tears, and she grabbed my hand and held it gently. I remember, knowing that she had cancer, hoping she would live forever in that very moment. We stared at the ceiling in silence, almost as if she was wondering something similar. She told me stories of her own childhood to lull me to sleep. The image of her slowly moving ceiling fan and the patterns in the ceiling are still deep within my recollections to this very day.
 
 

  Me: What mode do you shoot in?

Rebekah Elena: I shoot completely in Manual right now. It's my preference...and also because I bracket the living daylights out of everything I photograph. That is why I have such a beautiful struggle with film. I'll have only four or five subjects on the entire roll because I photograph each one with at least three different exposures.

Me: What makes you choose to shoot something in black and white over color?

Rebekah Elena:  Color is more than what the eye sees. Color is a mood altering thing, you know. And, often times, the mood that is conveyed by a color within the photograph is not the mood I wish for the viewer of my image to feel. I do not want to take away from my subject, only add emphasis to them. If my subject is a human I would not want their blouse to detract from them or for the environment to be so chaotic with colors that the eye is drawn all over the place...except for on the subject. I would include color in an image if it has a meaning that is vital to telling the story, or even if it provides a sort of alternate meaning.


Quite honestly, Christy, there have been many times that there is nothing wrong with an image I have in color...but I've chosen to edit it in black and white instead. Black and white is perfect amounts of romanticism and reality when done correctly. It is not a lack of color, but instead an overdose of honesty. People believe black and white. It's like looking into the mind of someone who is unable to fabricate or lie.

Me: What are your goals/dreams for your photography career in the next year?

Rebekah Elena:  I am currently working on organizing trips to take me into countries across the world so that I can document and bring to light the issues of women and children. I'll be going into refugee camps, villages, and other locations with my camera, a notebook, and a pen. I plan on creating quite a few books, perhaps not in the next year, but very soon, that show the lives of these people I've yet to meet and photograph. It's my passion to show love to hurting people and to bring their stories to light so that their voices are heard.

Me: How can we get to your lovely webpages, please?

Rebekah Elena:  Well my portfolio website, that you can also contact me through mind you, is
Rebekah-Elena.com

The front page has a link to my blog, NoireBlanc.com


Thanks you so much Rebekah fo taking time out to interview with me and also the time you take always anytime I have questions! You ROCK, seriously:) Now, everyone go check out Rebekah's website and blog...Show the sista some love!

<3