May I Have Your Attention, Please...

This past week, while on the Bend [Trip], I had some time to think and discuss life, love and all it's possibilities with some wonderful women. Sometimes you don't realize something until you say it out loud. And I realized something BIG! I've felt frustrated with myself recently. As an artist, as a photographer and as a person. I couldn't figure out where or why I had these feelings, I mean, I have the best job in the world, right?

Then, I said it. I'm a people pleaser. I love to make people happy. And I know that my images make my client's dreams come true. However, the artist within me needs something more. I need to remember to make myself happy with my images to keep things fresh and creative. I need to make myself happy before I can continue to make others happy.

Thus, I have decided to take my blog back! I will continue to post images from weddings and all our other shenanigans,  but instead of posting images that I know my clients, magazine editors, etc will like, I am going to post the images that I personally LOVE!

"How many cares one loses when one decides not to be SOMETHING but to be SOMEONE."

~ Coco Chanel

Cheers to Happiness!

eliesa

Special thanks to Laura for this fabulous photo!

Think About It...

Bend [Trip] Movie!

This is pretty much the best video of all time! I had a blast on this trip and this video sums up the entire atmosphere of this trip. If I ever have a bad day, I am totally watching this, because it inspires me!

And click here to see the RAD BLOG PHOTOS!

LOVEe

Bend [Trip] Update!

Words can not express how lucky I feel. And for so many reasons. This trip has been SO much fun, but more importantly, I feel like I have walked away with some true friends for life. I know, I know, I'm getting all sappy on you, but seriously. I have had a blast with these women. Whether we are going on adventures, taking crazy photos, or having deep conversations, we have been having the best week ever.

I feel refreshed. Not necessarily in a photography/art/business sense, but in life in general.

Sometimes when you run your own business, you can feel burned out. I currently feel ready to take on the world! Make sure to check out our fabulously hilarious adventures!!!

And a THANK YOU to Lauren Clark for these first 2 photos!

LOVEe

Bend [Trip] - Bad Ass Women Who Shoot Photos.

I'm on vacation this week with 6 other fabulous women photographers in Bend, Oregon. The purpose of the Bend [Trip] is to simply chill, hang out, shoot some photos, but mostly relax with some amazing people. The line up is:

Wreckless Girl: http://www.photo.wrecklesscreative.com/ Shannon Sewell: http://shannonsewell.com/ Laura Kay Photography: http://www.laurakayphoto.com Lauren Clark Photography: http://www.laurenclarkphotography.com Kelly Moore Photography: http://www.kellymoorephotography.com Sarah Rhoads: http://wearetherhoads.com

We also have a kick ass blog that you should all check out HERE!

We will all be updating the blog this week with new pictures from our adventures, so be sure to check in...often!

LOVEe

Polaroids!

A couple out-takes of our Polaroids from the Storlie wedding! I LOVE that this couple had film at their wedding!

LOVE > FILM!

eliesa

Chicago Portraits!

Brandon and I are in the Chicago area this weekend on a shoot! Of course, we are never shy to be in front of our cameras.

Enjoy!

LOVEe

Film: Some of my Favorite Dudes!

I went back home a few weeks ago, only to see a few of my favorite people!

Who doesn't love an impromptu portrait session in the rain? World, meet my friend Erin. I actually didn't really have a conversation with this kid until this night. We never really spoke in high school, so while drinking beer at the county fair, I was like....WHY are we not friends? Erin is good shit. I mean, he is one of those guys that is hilarious, fun and full of life! And ladies, in real life, he totally looks like Ryan Reynolds! Uh huh, you know what I'm talking about!

Then below we have the Bielefeldt brothers. These two have been my best friends for years and years and I just love them to bits! They have always been there for me, support me in everything I do and are huge fans, but keep it real for me, for sure.

You may recognize Shawn from his previous shoot with me, yeah, he's kind of a big deal!

LOVE>FILM!

eliesa

Monday Jam!

I don't know about you, but I needed a little pick me up / dance party this morning...Check out Brother Ali - he's the shit and in my opinion, an artist who just keeps on getting better and better.

How can you NOT love this beat?!?!?!

Happy Monday!

eliesa

Film: Pinhole Camera!

Before my last trip to Vancouver, the shutter on my film camera went out; therefore, I had all of this film to shoot and no camera to shoot it with! My good friends Ral and Danelle of RAD Studios took me to their local camera shop, Beau Photo, where they had a slew of film cameras to purchase! I was originally going to get a Holga camera, but I own 3 of them already...and then I saw it...Holga's newest in their line of simple cameras - the panoramic pinhole camera. This camera is as basic as it gets. No viewfinder, no shutter (really), and no telling how you have exposed correctly or if anything at all is in focus. I. was. in. heaven. Just the anticipation to see how things would turn out was too good to pass up, so I purchased the camera and on I went!

My good friend Bill, with Richard Photo Lab, gave me a call one night asking "Eliesa, what in the HECK did you do with this film?" Here are a few of the results...

LOVE > FILM!

eliesa

Sneak Peek!

Here's a fun photo booth shot from one wedding this weekend from our fabulous friends at The Traveling Photo Booth! There is a hidden surprise...Can you figure it out?

Get Ready! Greatness is about to happen!

eliesa

Guest Assistant: B-ROCK!

While in Vancouver, I asked Brock if he would be a guest assistant for me at the amazing Belsey Wedding! I met Brock, officially, through some friends of friends, but it wasn't until after shooting his brother's wedding that we truly became photo-nerd-friends! Brock has been a great friend to us here at Photogen Inc and we want to wish him the best on his new adventure! 2 days after shooting this wedding, Brock boarded a plane to Australia to follow his long-time-love who is attending med school in Aussie! Yes, it is a big, bold move, but I am SO happy that they are embarking on this amazing journey!

B-ROCK you ROCK! Thanks for being a RAD assistant! 

Have an AMAZING time down under mate!

eliesa

A Quote.

I hate cameras.  They are so much more sure than I am about everything.  ~John Steinbeck

eliesa

On the Road Again !!

Just a brief FYI to all of my clients! I will be on the road for the next 3 weeks shooting some UBER cool weddings across the country + my-favorite-place-in-the-world Canada! I will absolutely be blogging about my adventures while on the road, so stay tuned!

I will be back in Minneapolis July 6th!

Last weekend's wedding was 3 hours away from the city, which = a Photogen Inc ROAD TRIP! We stopped a few places to shoot - who knew cows were so cool !?!?

 

The DREAM TEAM!!!  

Enjoy!

LOVEe

In the Back - Woods!

Today was a free day for Jeffrey and I in North Carolina! So, we decided to take our cameras out and shoot the most back-woods-southern subjects that we could find! We literally started driving and chose to turn Left or Right and we stumbled across an abandon town...

Here is what we found...

Enjoy!

eliesa

Art A Whirl: Photogen Inc Photo Booth!

WOOOOOO - What a weekend! Hundreds of art-lovers descended upon the NE Arts District of Minneapolis for Art-A-Whirl 2009 to check out all of the fabulous art this city has to offer! Here, at Photogen Inc Studios, we had an open house all weekend  - complete with a photo booth!

About 200 people walked thru our doors and it was SO great to meet some new friends!

A Picture Can Speak 1,000 Words!

This images PERFECTLY describes the brotherly-sisterly-sibling rivalry between Brandon and Cadence! I absolutely LOVE it!

I am truly blessed to have such kick-ass assistants - and moments like this!

Cheers!

eliesa

Rick and James!

I'm a dog owner/lover - and have 2 dogs, Rick and James (yes....you know where their names came from...)A few months ago, I met Sarah of Sarah Beth Photography and she asked to come into the studio and 'talk shop'. I absolutely loved her drive, energy and passion for pet photography! I took Rick and James to get their official dog portraits on Cinco De Mayo (hence the sombreros - they're 1/4 Chihuahua - they had to represent!)

I couldn't be happier with the way the photos turned out - and Sarah was SO good with them!

In my opinion, I think Sarah Beth Photography is definitely THE HOT studio to go to get your pet portraits taken - and it was SO much fun!

A BIG thanks to Sarah for doing such a fabulous job! I LOVE them!

eliesa

Twin Cities 1 Mile!

About a month ago, an innocent conversation turned into a dare. While indulging in sushi happy hour, my fabulous photographer friend Gina of Zeidler Photography challenged me to run the Twin Cities 1 Mile Race with her. The problem? I don't run. I've never been a runner. I tried track for 1 season in the 8th grade and that was IT! I've never run a race in my life and no-no-no I do not run. However, later that night I was thinking about how much I hated how close-minded I was about doing it - it was only a mile, right? So, I decided to step up to the challenge! I started trying to run 1 mile a day and it was HARD! My body hated me and my joints ached, but I knew I could do it.

Yesterday was the day. Now, 1 mile seems like nothing, right? Piece of cake...YEAH. RIGHT! I'm not going to lie, the last 1/4 mile, I thought I was going to have a heart attack! Yet, I must say that I am VERY proud to have done this race, as little as 1 mile seems! Our official time was 9 minutes, 15 seconds (yeah, I know you probably ran that in 5th grade), but while training, I was running a 12 minute mile, so this is a whole 3 minutes off! No wonder I felt like having a heart attack!

The proof is below - notice how Gina is smiling, happy and breezing thru it - while I look like death is upon me! ;0)

Jessica, who is one of my up-coming brides also ran the race with us! How cool is that to experience something like this with one of your clients?!?!

 

Team Photo!

 

Now the challenge is a 5k...we'll see...

Have a fabulous weekend!

 eliesa

Stepping it Up!

I never knew a Tweet would get such a response! Yesterday I Twittered " I'm stepping it up 10 notches. Get ready!" And today I woke up to a slew of e-mails wondering what we were up to! Well, a girl can't tell her secrets! However, what I will say is that we are creating some very, VERY cool things and making some WAY cool plans here at Photogen Inc!

I did a lot of reflecting on the business these past few months and I am SO excited about the changes we are making! Don't expect anything super soon, but within the next few months, we will be launching some AMAZING things!

In the mean time - Spring is finally here! Each year I get obsessed with the lime-green-yellow colors that stick around for only about 2 weeks!

Enjoy!