Amber Wilkie Photography » Wedding and Portrait Photographer - Arlington, VA and Washington, DC

Category Archives: Photo 11

LE Week One – a self-portrait and a mission statement

This week, Lighting Essentials asks us to do some self-reflecting about photography:

What do you want to do photographically? Tell us with a single paragraph what you want to be able to do with your images. Tell us what you do without telling us you are a photographer. Accompany that message with a single image taken around your home. Inside or out, make a photograph that adds insight into the mission statement you will be writing.

Here is my submission:

I want to help people to see the beauty in themselves, particularly if they normally have a hard time seeing it.  I want to create images that perfectly capture who someone is and how they were feeling at that precise moment, to capture their very essence on film.  I want to delight and inspire.

unguarded self-portrait

View full post »

Photo 11: The course to beat all courses

I’ve decided that 2011 is the year of schoolin’.  There are so many good articles to read, DIY ideas to try and interesting and important photographers to study.  So many business practices to implement, marketing ideas to work on, writing skills to hone.  I keep a huge database of ideas and things in my Gmail folder (as discussed here) but far too often they are bookmarked and forgotten.  2011 is the year to get serious about all of that.  Plus, there’s nothing being taught at my community college I can’t learn better by tailoring the subject to my needs.  Plus, my husband is knee-deep in grad school and isn’t going to be around to entertain me anyway.  Plus plus plus.  2011 is the year to learn, to grow exponentially.

View full post »

Hot Cocoa and things to come

Here’s some hot cocoa to warm your winter.  The best way to drink cocoa is to add one or two ice cubes after you first put in the hot water.  This allows you to sip immediately.  Make sure the ice cube is close to your lips and then suck a little bit of the cocoa up.  You get warm but not steaming delicious cocoa and a lovely little cool water.  It’s really nice – try it!

View full post »