Erica Rae

I have an apartment... :D

2009-07-07T17:30:00.003-05:00

... and I've completely updated my portfolio from doing so so many shoots last month. :)

Anyway, my boyfriend and I moved into an adorable little apartment in downtown Baton Rouge. It's lovely! I can even bike ride to work, it's only 10 minutes away on bike... 3 min driving. Haha. It's much better than a 30 minute drive, right?

Anyway, I completely updated my portfolio.. and I really enjoy my work now. Of course, as an artist, I see many things wrong with it, but overall I still really like my work.. unlike before when I could only look at my work and not be able to see past the flaws. I'm definitely taking my work more in the direction I want to be in now... fashion! :) It's really great too. I have so many models on MM messaging me asking for shoots... so many of them have great ports too. Unfortunately, it's too expensive for me to be able to shoot with everyone I want, so I'm currently on a little break. I'm still shooting, just not as often as I was. I'm also going to be doing a shoot with a Ford model soon(!!!!) her name is Bay Berger. She's 15, and the most adorable thing ever. Haha. I can't wait.. the shoot idea I have for her I think will be really great, too! I won't give any details yet, though. :3

Anyway, here's some of my new stuff.

Model: Nettie R Harris/MUA: Lauren Kattan

Model: NOLAJaime/MUA: Get_Made

Model: Stacie Noble (came all the way from Texas!)/ MUA: Allyson Bryce

Model: Teri Wyble/ MUA: Lauren Kattan

Model: Jessica Adams/MUA: Lauren Kattan

Model: Jen Leblanc/MUA: Lauren Kattan

Had to add one more for Jen, because she's so awesome and expressive! :D

I'm quite happy with these, and I've met so many wonderful people. :) I <3 Photograph.. haha :D

Rain... go away! :<

2009-05-15T07:42:00.003-05:00

Well, I had a photoshoot with a MUA artist the other day. She needed pictures for her portfolio and had me and Steve Lindsay Project (google, if interested) as the photographers. Well, it ended up raining, so we were confined to the stairs and wasn't able to do much, but I think I got some pretty decent photos for the situation. I'm still not done editing, but I will be soon.

All the models were pretty good, and very nice! :) The main one I'd like to work with again is the girl in the yellow dress. I didn't get everyone's names which is why I can't credit them in this post. But she was so pretty and took direction very well! Also, the cute, little blonde girl owns a clothing boutique down Perkins Rowe named Maude. She said she'd love to collaborate on future photoshoots for the clothing... awesome! :D

At the end of the shoot, Stephanie gave us some make up as a thank you. Isn't that lovely? :D I wasn't really expecting to get anything. haha.

Anyways, my last final is today, wish me luck! :)

Oh, I also saw Star Trek today. Awesome movie! Go see it. :D

I broke my lens! :[

2009-05-01T22:16:00.004-05:00

Hey there! It's been awhile. I don't really update much, because I don't have anything to say. And I know no one reads these anyway. Hahah.

Yesterday was my birthday, though. I'm 19, yay! I went to the Aquarium in New Orleans then just hung out. I also tried to do some graffiti, which I'll post here later. Anyone know of any nondrip spray paint? My whole piece looked like it was crying! Show me some of your graffiti, if you have any!

But yeah, on to the title. I broke my lens the other day while I was taking senior pictures. When she was changing outfits, I FOR SOME REASON took the strap off my neck and set my camera in my lap. When she was done, I stood up, my camera and lens fell off my lap, breaking the lens. *cry* And of course, It'd be the worse timing, during a shoot I'm being paid for AND I had a client shoot this weekend for pre-bridals. Luckily, this incredibly amazing person (M. Prophet) who lives about 40 minutes from my house let me borrow his 50mm lens and also another lens just to try out! Isn't that the NICEST thing ever? This is before I ever even met him too.. he also explain a TON of stuff about lens and cameras that I didn't know.. so now I have a tiny bit better understanding of the technical side of photography. Haha.

Also, I should have another creative shoot coming up with M. Prophet's gaaaw-jus girlfriend/model/photographer, Jen . They're two of the coolest nicest people ever. Haha. Lauren (my MUA) wants to do our shoot with Jen this Tuesday. It'll be awesome! I can't wait. :D SO VURY EXCITED

I might go to Time Warp (vintage clothing store) and see if they can supply the clothing, but I'm not sure. I don't want to go alone. ;-; Hahah. I have an awesome idea for the hair. :)

pursunal blog tyme

2009-04-20T07:20:00.002-05:00

It's 7 AM, I woke up late and I'm skipping my biology class. I'm really tired and I've made it into over time this week. I'll be at about 46ish hours by the end of the pay period for this week. I'm pretty much exhausted.

Pokemon is on TV, why doesn't Disney play anything good this early? :( *changes to MTV* music videos... guess I'll leave it here.

I want a home cooked meal. :( I haven't eaten anything yummy in a long time. I've been living off crap at PJ's and cereal. Last night I hung out with Kelsey and we ate pizza rolls that were incredibly hard, because she cooked them too long. She's a genius, lol. :) I miss hanging out with my Kelso. <3 Sam and Joe were going to come over but Kelsey's dad said no boys.. cuz you know, we are 12 and everything. hahah I thought it was funny still. I want to see Sam and Jared.. I haven't seen them in a long time. And I want to get their opinion on something...

I miss Friday nights at Jack's and leaving at 2AM to go eat Waffle House while Jared acts retarded because he's really drunk. I miss doing stuff. ;____________;

GGGGGGAGAAAAAAW.

I don't really know what I was going for in this post. I can't write how I'm feeling....

DigitalSLR Magazine

2009-04-09T15:02:00.002-05:00

Well, good news! DSLRMagazine chose me for editors choice on their website! Wooh! They also e-mailed me and told me they'd like to include my picture in their magazine. I'm excited!

Here's my "mug shot" for them:

and my shot that was chosen:

This will be the first time I've been published! ^o^

So... I'm bored!

2009-03-14T14:43:00.002-05:00

I'm at work with NOTHING to do. It so slow, and I'm alone.. and it's raining, and I'm cold, and lets add some more ands to this sentence!

Had two midterms, I'm dropping my Biology one think I did well on my American History one. That's about it. :D

Teri Photoshoot

2009-03-11T09:09:00.003-05:00

Sooo, my photoshoot with Teri was amazing! :D She's so good in front of the camera, it's ridiculous. Haha. But really, she has so many poses and looks, it's great. :) And she's so happy and has such a great personality! I can't wait to work with her again. :)

Here are some of the pictures.. i still have a ton to edit:

Also, open auditions for ANTM was yesterday in shreveport, and we wanted her to go for it. One of the things you need is a swimsuit shot, but it was last minute and we didn't have any swimsuits. Luckily, she's a dancer and brought a leotard, which we used as a swim suit. It came out alright, but I think it would've been a lot better with an actual swimsuit. lol

And while taking those pictures a little girl was watch, and when we were done she went talk to Teri and asked if she was a model. I didn't get the girls name, but I took a few pictures of her, which I'll edit soon a put up. She was adorable, she wants to be a model, but her dad said she's too shy. But after only taking like 4 pictures (haha) I really do think she'll be good when she older, if she keeps at it. She looks really comfortable on camera. :)

And I've edited one picture from my Norcio shoot:

Everything aarrrgg..

2009-03-06T08:11:00.003-06:00

I have so much to write about in this blog, it's ridiculous. It's been forever since my last update, and I'm going to try to update it more.. since I have a million breaks at school.. I don't have an excuse to say I have no time!

First I'll start with my personal life then I'll move on to photoshoots.

Anyway, I've started exercising more and tanning, because I'm bored with the way I look, and I want to change! :D I also just recently dyed by hair back dark. I like it much more now. I painted my bike last night. It look pretty cheap and ghetto now, but I like it. It's hot pink and green.... matches my new shoes! I'll put some pictures up of the bike later.

Here are my awesome shoes, though:

Some sexy things, right?

School's going pretty well. I'm not doing amazing, but I'm passing. hahah. I got an A- on my first English paper, which he said not many people will get above a "C". Haha. *sigh* I was just lucky and thought of a really creative topic, I'm sure he'll be disappointed with my next essay. I hate writing. LIEK U DONT EVEN NO

Also, I'm going to a party tonight with my friend. I agreed to it before I knew what it was. Haha. My manager is having a "fun party" and I promised I'd go. Elizabeth will hopefully be coming with me. I'm planning on buying some cupcake penis pans for my cousin's wedding party thingy party. :)I think it'll be fun.. and funny. Haha.

Also, I'm really enjoying my job at PJ's it's very laid back and I have a ton of free time off of work, since I work mostly morning shifts. It's great. :D

ANYWAY, on to my fotographie. lul

Well, I met a girl at school. Her name is Lauren Katten, she's a MUA and works at MAC Cosmetics. She's been working there for 2 years and she does awesome work. We're doing a shoot this weekend with a girl I met on Model Mayhem from Lafayette. It's going to be awesome. We're going to go for a kind of futuristic them. I want some metallic pants for it. hahah. SHINY! I can't wait!

And I just had a photoshoot with Bliss, which I'm STILL not done editing. It was a fashion shoot. We got a lot of good shots. Our MUA and Hair stylist was Lauren Hunt and Christina (sorry, don't know her last name! :( ) And me and Bliss did the wardrobe. Here's some of my favorites so far:

And I was hired to take some pictures for a girl, who wanted to get a modeling portfolio started:

And I just recently had a photoshoot with a two piece band, Norcio. The members are Joe and my amazing model, Samantha. We got some really good shots, but I haven't had the chance to even upload them yet! Haha.

Anyway, that's about it for now. enjoi :P

365

2009-01-09T17:25:00.003-06:00

For my 3rd 365, I went to the Dow track, because every time I ran there, I saw this tree.. and I don't know why, but I love it. I took this picture after it had been raining a lot, so my boots got soaked.. so I was running back and forth from the camera to that spot bare foot in mud! So annoying. Haha. I added a little lens flare in photoshop, because the natural one didn't show as much as I wanted it too... shhhh. :)

My 5th 365 was just a picture I did for fun. I didn't have any ideas, but my friends bought me this awesome hat for my birthday last year.. and I always wanted to use it, so I finally did! It's a silly picture, and no one else seems to like it... but it's one of my favorites so far. I guess because it's a little more me than all the modelly/serious pics I take. I'm never serious in real life! And I edited it to have a kind of old photobooth feel to it. :)

And my 8th 365, I tried doing a fashion shot. I love fashion, but I don't really think it suits me well. Haha. The outfit I put together was awesome though, I was proud of myself. Lol, it's not something I'd, or anyone else, would ever wear out, but it all went well together for a kind of high fashion pic. You can't really see it well in the picture, which makes it fail as a fashion shot, lol.. but if you had seen it all in person.. it was good. I might upload one of the reject pics that you can see the outfit a little better.

I don't really feel like doing my 365 for today, but I will! Eventually... :(

365 Project

2009-01-02T21:11:00.002-06:00

Like I said in one of my other blogs, I'm starting the 365 days project, where I take a self-portrait every day, for a year! :) I started on new years day.. and here's my first picture:

I think my favorite thing about the picture are my pores on my cheeks. lol I'm trying to do less editing on my pictures and keep me a little more real looking.. so no more smoothing out the skin! And I actually really like it like this. I think it looks very nice. :) And also learned a little more about editing from doing that picture.

My 365 for today wasn't that great. I didn't have much time to do it. I was going to do it when I got in from work, but... I ended up doing a little shopping with Hannah.. haha. but I have a dress for tomorrows 365! It's perty. Haha. So, since I went shopping, I didn't have much time for a very thought out 365, so I just put on some make up and took a few in my room. I still like it though. :)

Also, I got around to editing two more pictures from Samantha's shoot. They're alright.

It's not my usual work...

2008-12-01T18:12:00.003-06:00

Well, I was on dA and found this tutorial to get a Dragan effect on your pictures. And who doesn't want that, his work is awesome, right? haha. Anyway, I edited this extremely old picture of Jonathan follwing that tutorial. I think this pic is hilarious now! And kind of creepy, lol. Here it is:

and the tutorial can be found here

and we just took a ton of other pics during the day. It was a fun day, and my friends are awesome. :D I'll post those in my next blog. Haha, don't have time to upload them now!

Tattoo

2008-11-30T02:11:00.002-06:00

So, I'm actually going to be getting a tattoo soon. Me and all my friends are going on my friend Chelsea's birthday. I have two tattoo's I've been considering, but I think I'll go with the simpler one first. They're both pretty simple, though. One is just for cuteness and one is actually an idea of mine. Haha. Well, one I've been thinking about for a few months is two birds on my hip. They're aligned with my hip bone.. and it's just the silhouette of them flying. I painted it on and it looked really nice! Didn't take any pics. though. But I showed it to a few people in real life and they all really liked the idea. And the cute one, I took a self-portrait and crappily photoshopped it on:

HMMM. :]

Dentist

2008-11-18T15:22:00.003-06:00

I went to the dentist today. I've always liked going to the dentist, no idea why. Haha. I just think it's fun. I have super sensitive teeth though, and now they're in pain. :(

I'd like to be a dentist. :D

HURRAY FOR CLEAN TEETH

365 day project

2008-11-17T17:56:00.003-06:00

Well, I decided I'm going to start the 365 day self-portrait project. :D I'm going to start doing it on New Years though. I hope I'll actually be able to stick to doing it though, haha. It'll be fun though! I'll get to experiment with a lot.. and I feel bad experimenting with someone who paid me. Hahah.

I've actually been getting hired for shoots lately! It's great. lol, I need the money. I had to do some family pictures for the River church. Nothing exciting, but they came out alright. Was my first time trying to take pictures of so many people. Family pictures aren't me thing... no fun. Then I had an engagement shoot, which went great. They came with ideas of their own which made it so much easier. And they are just awesome, friendly people in general, so I had fun. This was my second time working with them. The first time I took pictures for their son! :D And last weekend I had a senior picture shoot for a girl I went to school with. She has pretty hair. I think we got some nice shoots, but I haven't uploaded them yet! And I'm going to be doing a shoot for a band soon.. free though, because I want to do some band pictures. :) I can't wait!

My next post with have some pictures from each shoot. Also, i want to get a website put up. I'll get around to it eventually. :) Haha

I bought the new macbook a couple of weeks ago, and I kind of love it. :) The webcam. <3 hahah. AND I got a new job at Forever XXI, which will be opening December 19th. I can't wait.

Me all excited before orientation for my new job:

And me now, waiting for photoshop to load and procrastinating :D :

Personal Blog

2008-08-27T13:39:00.010-05:00

So, since I haven't been doing many shoots and stuff, I decided to make this a personal blog also. It'll be easier than doing two blogs, one for photography and one for my life. Haha. Not like anyone will read it anyway!. :D

Me and Chelsea went to the movies. For about a half an hour we had the theater to ourselves. :D

We also had our awesome emo day. That means we dressed emo/scene.

Jared helped me dye mah huuurr

my kitty hates me. :3

I WANT SOME SUSHI.

It's been too long!

2008-06-09T22:14:00.006-05:00

My last entry was ages ago! I've been too busy to actually write a blog! Well, I've done quite a few senior pictures for people. One person hasn't paid me which is really frustrating. But now I'll be enforcing my deposit fee rule. Anyway, you can see a sample of the senior pictures above, and you can see so much more on my flickr: flickr.com/photos/ericana

They were all great models, and sometime before I leave I may ask them to model for me again. Especially Brittany, she was so comfortable and natural (the blonde girl in the pink).

I was also hired to do a childrens shoot. I definitely need to work on my children skills; he didn't seem to like me very much! We eventually got some smiles out of him though.

I've also taken a couple of self portraits in an abandoned school. They came out nice, I think.

I have a shoot coming up with Samantha again.. and I'll be adding a new model.. Katie! :D Haha. We're going to do a fire and ice themed shoot. I wanted to do it before Dave came, but I haven't gotten all the materials in time. I've got big plans for it though! I think it'll be a very successful shoot. :)

And here's a new edit from an older shoot:

Kristi and Shadell

2008-03-21T16:52:00.002-05:00

Well, so far I've had two more senior picture shoots. I'll have another tomorrow. I normally update this after every shoot, but I've been too busy lately! Well, Kristi's shoot went great! I love nearly all the pictures I got of here, and there are still a couple of regular portraits I need to edit. I haven't done many of Shadell's yet, but I'll be finishing them up tonight. I think we got some nice ones of her as well. :) I'm excited for my shoot tomorrow!

And another of Kristi, because I love this one:

Claire: Senior pictures

2008-02-24T11:23:00.002-06:00

I had a shoot with Claire last weekend. We took some senior pictures for her and had a few creative ones. I wasn't exactly happy with the results, but that day I just felt so.. not creative. We got some good portraits, though. And she was happy with them, so all is good. :)

I'm booked all of March! Well, except for the first week of March. I have prom! It's less than a week away, and I still need shoes and my straps adjusted! I have a pretty, poofy silver dress. I can't wait to take my senior pictures in it! It makes me feel so pretty. Hahah. The day after prom I'm getting my hair cut shorted. I want a hair cut like Rihanna.

She's so pretty! Hope it doesn't look horrible on me. It'll help me grow out my dyed hair. I want virgin hair again!

Also, I have some new edits on Samantha I liked

Kelsey Guathe!

2008-02-12T17:59:00.000-06:00

Me and Kelsey got together to finish off her senior pictures and also take a couple creative ones. They're reconstructing a building at the Cinclaire, which is where the first two were taken. We had fun with the first photo! Chelsea, a friend that likes to tag along and help when she can, managed to get in a few pictures, while kicking the dust up for us. :) Haha.

In the second photo, I was trying to go for something M.C. Escher or Labyrinth. Haha, I don't think I pulled it off, but I do like the outcome anyway!

We found a burned piece of paper on the ground, which also happened to be shaped like a heart! We used it for a more emotive shot, which also expresses how she's feeling towards her ex, although that wasn't planned when it was shot. Poor Kelsey. :( When we started shooting though, I knew this HAD to be a diptych. :D Haha.

You can see her senior pictures also on my flickr (click one of the pictures).

I also took another self-portrait for the Spring!

Self-Portraits

2008-02-02T13:03:00.001-06:00

I took some self-portraits since I haven't had any models for a while. Haha. I kind of like how they came out. :) One of them was taken for Mardi Gras since it's this weekend! Yay! That means two days off school, which also means I'm forcing a friend to model for me. :)

I think I'll be using the second one as a Senior picture. :)

Samantha and Mark

2007-12-30T18:05:00.000-06:00

Well, I think my shoot yesterday with Samantha and Mark was a huge success. Haha. Seriously though, we got a lot of really nice pictures and it was a lot of fun too. I didn't expect it to go this good, honestly. Last time I had to do a couple shoot, I didn't do so well because I didn't know the guy so.. I just wasn't comfortable with asking them to do stuff. But this time was much better. Maybe it's because I've improved or because Samantha is awesome, probably the latter, but we still did good. :D

And Samantha was a great model. She understood what I meant when I said I wanted things to seem less posed. She did a great job. She's now one of my favorite models. :D

I went a little vignette and curve crazy on the pictures, but I love the results. My boyfriend, and I'm sure other people, didn't really like the vignettes, but.. I did. :)

Jared Saia

2007-12-17T23:27:00.000-06:00

I had my first male model, Jared Saia! It was more difficult than shooting girls. With girls you can put them in all kinds of pretty poses, but with a guy you have to watch out you don't make them look gay. Haha. Overall, though, I think we got some awesome shots. Also, he was pleased, which is what matters!

Wedding Shoot: Roy and Wanda

2007-12-17T23:15:00.000-06:00

So, I was actually hired to do a wedding, which is pretty awesome since I had no experience. We decided I'd editing 50 or more pictures for them and put that on a disk and put all the unedited ones on a second disk. :) And I'll be getting paid $300, unless they don't like it then I said I'd give it back, but obviously they can't keep the pictures. The pictures are alright, but they're not anything amazing. I still have learning to do.

The lighting was very dim, and since I don't have a nice flash I can use to get good lighting, I just used a very high ISO and a slower shutter speed.

The wedding was different than any I've ever been to, so I was pretty much surprised through out the whole thing, haha. At the end they danced their way out(picture 3)!

Rising Sun: Hannah Adams

2007-10-29T17:27:00.000-05:00

This is a little shoot from a while back, but I'm just going to write for it like it was today. :D

Well, me and Hannah had this whole shoot planned out for what we wanted. We decided to go to the Cinclare for it, since it has a ton of old, rusted stuff. Well, when we got there we saw they were filming there. Apparently they were filming something for the science fiction channel, but I'm not positive. So, they were taking up just about the whole place for their set, and we had to stay on the outskirts and get the leftovers. :( Haha.

Even though all our plans were ruined, I think we got some nice shots. Even if there wasn't much we could do.

House Warming Party

2007-10-29T17:20:00.000-05:00

My aunt hired me (in a way) to take pictures at her house warming party. Not anything artsy, just pictures. I was paid $30 for doing it. Which is pretty cool. That paid for my part of the cell phone bill and my gas for that week.

The pictures aren't that great. The party was late and in her house, so it was very dim. I tried everything I could do to get a brighter picture with out flash, but I couldn't. :( So, a lot of the pictures suck because of that, that stupid shadow it makes. >:[ Haha. Ah well.