about me

First of all, HELLO!
Second of all, that title has nothing to do with anything I’m about to say. I just had nothin.

Anyway.
I know. I’m a total slacker.
This blog stuff is difficult.
I’m no blogger. I’m a photographer with a blog…who obviously often forgets about said blog.
Well, I’m back. Sorta.

What I’m here to tell you is that there is something super awesome that is going to be happening soon.
And that is…

The 55+ version of the Women: Raw. Honest. Loved. Project!!!!
I cannot even tell you how EXCITED I am about this one. If ever there was a time to pay attention, it will be when this version of the project is released. Seriously…there are some incredible women about to pour their hearts out for you and you’re going to want to hear what they have to say.
Trust me.

It will be taking place at the end of June, so, be looking around that time for that particular blog entry. You won’t be sorry.

In other photobloggin news, I will try to get my nonsense together and actually do a legitimate photo-blog entry of a recent shoot. I have a lot to catch up on here. The project has sorta become my baby, but I don’t want to forget about the other awesome people that I have been fortunate enough to photograph lately! So, look for that. I want to say it will come tomorrow…yeah…that’s what I want to say. We shall see. My now TWO-YEAR-old (wherehasthetimegone) sometimes has a different idea.

I will also be photographing a bit at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure tomorrow in Seattle…SUPER excited about that, and will be SUPER excited to share those photos with you at a later date, I’m sure.

For now, I leave you with a few pictures of that adorable two-year-old I was talking about…who likes to climb on my back while I’m working…

Uncategorized

eat, drink, drink some more, and be merry.

Image | Posted on October 14, 2012 by alanatphotography

here we are in hood river, oregon.
i’m not gonna write much, because this is a VACATION. vacations don’t look like blogging, do they? vacations look like holding hands with my boyfriend and hitting all of the local breweries and wineries because we can. grandma is at home with the kids (THANK GOODNESS FOR GRANDMAS), so, i basically went into pure relaxation mode the second we hit the road. it’s been perfect.
guess what? i didn’t bring my camera. i love my camera and i love photography, but, it can feel a little bit like work if i’m obsessing about it too much, so, these photos come to you courtesy of the iphone 4s, and some with some extra lovin’ from instagram.

okay, enjoy. today’s adventure: wine! lots of wine.

alana 🙂

hittin’ the road.
if you know us, you know that we always do some obligatory dumb photo of whenever we are going anywhere of substance (camping, hiking, vacationing, etc), so, this was to be no different.

my guy, doin’ the hard driving work.

told you, instant relaxation…in my kirkland costco socks, obviously.

scenic.

and scenic some more.

tunnels are cool.

outside our condo vacation rental. who else prefers vacation rentals to hotels? i certainly do.

ready to start our beer tasting (i.e. drinking a bunch) at full sail brewery…half a block from where we’re staying. can i get a “hell yes”???!!!

ready, set, GO.

aaaaaaaaand, yum.

“are you taking a picture of me AGAIN?”
why, yes. yes, i am.

samplin’ some more…this time at double mountain brewery. more yums.

walking from double mountain brewery to pfriem brewery…i am bad at pictures…

on our way to phriem, there was a lone xylophone player off in the fog.
no. i’m not kidding. he’s right there.

sign in the bathroom at pfriem.
i REALLY want this to happen in tacoma…none of our good breweries allow kids. it’s time for a change…

this morning at breakfast. NOT hungover. wheeeeeeeee!

i put makeup on today.

crab benedict at bette’s place.
it was good…except for the shells i ran into occasionally…

necessity.

satisfied.

my guy figuring out some communication problem between my laptop and my iphone.
what a guy. 🙂

sitting here…just before i started writing this for you guys.
and now, signing off…and drinking more.

Uncategorized

this. is. a blog.

Image | Posted on September 21, 2012 by alanatphotography

did i ever think i’d do a blog?
nope. when i first heard of the word “blog”, it sounded like an alien. like “alf’s friend, blog.” or something i had surely heard on mork & mindy. i didn’t get it. i may still not get it, but i shall do it. because i am WITH THE TIMES, man.

so, i take photos. for some reason, i still have a hard time calling myself a photographer/artist/etc., legitimately. i don’t know what it will take for me to someday be supremely comfortable with saying that….i’m sure it will come. in any case, the photos i take, and the time i enjoy taking those photos, will be the reason for this blog, ultimately. i will share these things with you…and quite possibly share with you what i was thinking while capturing those photos, if you care to know. which, often, i can pretty much guarantee you, will be absurd.

initially, i’ll just tell you a bit about me. i am creeping up on age 35. i don’t care that women aren’t supposed to tell their age…whatever…i’m almost 35, and i’m okay with it. it’s a pretty good time in my life. i have an amazing, beautiful, smart, witty, hilarious daughter who is 12. sometimes i still cannot believe that i am the mom of a pre-teen. it’s pretty weird. i also have a 16mo old son who is adorable and getting funnier and funnier every day. i also have a super supportive, loving, incredibly decent man (and the father of my son) in my life. i am thankful for these three humans every single second of every day. they’re the coolest.

why photography for me?
well, i’ve wanted to be a photographer ever since my grandfather put a camera in my hands at the age of five…
nope. that’s not true.
i feel like everyone has some story like that, but, that’s not mine. it hasn’t been something i’ve somehow always desired to do. i actually had not a clue what i wanted to do as a career for what feels like forever. brief history: i got married at 19. that was a bad idea that i stuck with and tried to make work for ten years. my awesome daughter came from that, so, not all was lost. but, the majority of my childhood + the majority of my marriage = not happy. i didn’t have pursuits. i didn’t have the motivation to have any pursuits of my own. i just was stagnant. people kind of had my life mapped out for me and i just was living it. annnnnnyway, i got divorced almost five years ago. guess what? i started taking lots of photos five years ago. i was finding myself. i was enjoying my life. and, apparently, when i am in a happy place, i love to take photos. THAT, my friends, is what started this. finding myself as a struggling single parent who was not so keen on the idea of working in coffee shops and doing makeup for the rest of my years to support us…that’s what then kicked this all in motion. i started thinking about attending college…i didn’t know for what…it ended up being a pretty big epiphany the day that i realized that i could go to school for photography and quite possibly support my daughter and i through that. there really was a “whaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!” moment that i went through. it was a pretty good moment.

in any case, here i am. photography makes me happy. it gives me a very natural high that i absolutely love. i even love the editing process, which is kind of weird.
the main thing about myself and capturing photos: if you, as the viewer, do not end up feeling something or being told a story through them, i’m doing something wrong. that is my ultimate goal. to tell a story. to show emotion through photos. hopefully, i can always achieve that. if not, i need to reevaluate the shoots that i am spending my time and energy on.

so, yeah. i’ll be posting photos of upcoming shoots. i likely will not have another super long write-up like this one, unless you have questions you care to ask. if so, ask away.

thanks for reading. i feel like i just wrote some weird diary page for you.

here are those people i was telling you about…