with a little help from my friend

I'm getting an opportunity to speak to a photography class at John Carroll University tomorrow. (insert sound effect: oooooOOOOoooo) The professor is a former teacher of mine, Lisa Burroughs. I met Lisa at my tenure at Kent State.  I was two or three years into my degree (photojournalism) at that point. But, honestly, she was my first teacher who really made me think that I could take a good picture. She saw something special in me that I don't even know if I saw at the time. She is still on of my very favorite people and best friends to this day, but a huge inspiration as well. I would not be here today if it weren't for her support.
For the third time now, she's invited me to speak to her class about what I do as a photographer. How I got here. What I still do to move forward. She gives me a chance to show my work. My professional work, and my beloved and precious silly stuff too. (Let's just say, I am a well rounded photographer.) I put a piece of myself into each and every photo I take. And it's because she told me it was okay to do that. 

I was in college, being pulled this way and that. I was taking really crappy pictures of sports (i don't know anything about sports) and feature shots and really bad black and white pictures of sidewalks (simply because I didn't have a car. I walked a lot). But she saw something in me, and she pushed it. 
And here I am. I love what I do. I really, REALLY love what I do. 
I love taking pictures. I love meeting new people, making them relax and feel beautiful. I get to go new places, and do different things everytday. I get to follow light, and try out new lenses, and just see where it all takes me. I mean, I never thought I would be a wedding photographer. But now, it's something totally different in my eyes. I get to share the most incredibly special day with people. I get to tell their story. I get to make them into pieces of art that will hang on their walls for years to come. They will look back at my pictures.. and smile. 




who knew? 
she did.
*thanks lisa

Little Lion Man

This week I had the sheer enjoyment of photographing little Liam. I've never seen a little one year old move so fast. When he crawled, his knees never touched the carpet. ZOOM>>>> there he went. So cute though. A little bundle of love. Such a joy to photograph. Look at this little lion man.

Looking forward to making him smile for years to come:)
~~~
I would also like to mention, Photography by Hilary is now an official preferred photographer at the The Geneva Lodge. One of the loveliest places to hold any occasion down at good ol' GOTL. *wink wink nudge nudge* I grew up in Geneva, so it only made sense still living so close to home to reach out to such an establishment. Plus, I photographed a wedding there last fall and really had a nice experience. So they invited me to participate in a 'Grand Bride's Tasting Event' where I could display my work. <oh yeah, small detail. I had 5 days to put my first full display together> I rocked it. I made some canvases and metal prints. I grabbed some crafty ideas off of  Pinterest, and took what I learned from some Today's Brides Shows. I was pretty happy with what I came up with. Go Van's Photo for the quick turn around. You guys rock! (full disclosure: i work there:) I got a chance to talk to a bride or two. But total upside I wasn't expecting, I met some really awesome local vendors. And got to hang out with some other really awesome local photographers, Paul Thomas Photography and Martello Photography. Giving up some props for the local peeps. :) Josh Woodward from Bloomers Florist and everyone else there was so friendly. So it was an awesome weekend. So looking forward to booking weddings only 15 minutes from home. :) not going to lie :)
Later in the week I went to a seminar on Senior photography with Sal Cincotta. He is, as always, very inspirational. And he makes me want to jump into this crazy world with every thing I have, all systems go, give it everything I have with every fiber of my being. I need that every once in a while. Like a big ol' kick from the behind. Someone saying, go on. Take it. It's yours. 

Just Mauvelous darling...

Have you ever just wanted to sit down and color a picture all the wrong colors?
Anyway.
I was coloring the other day and discovered my new favorite Crayola crayon. When I was little, I used to mix purple and pink crayons together on the page. I ended up with a muddy scribbly picture that didn't always turn out like I wanted to. But this crayon is the exact color I wanted. All along. 
So here is my tribute to the coolest name for a crayon since Macaroni & Cheese.
Because you look Mauvelous darling, just mauvelous!

One down...

Well dun dun duuunnn! (i wish blogs had sound effects), The first wedding of the season has past! Knock that rust off, I'm good to go! Working as a hired gun for Jessica Vidmar Photography, this weekend I had the honor of photographing the wedding of a fantastic couple, Kim and Todd. They married at a beautiful church downtown, and then picked some really classy spots to go shoot. We hit up the Shoreby Club in Bratenahl & East 4th St downtown. Everyone looked fabulous, and we really had a good time. Jessica and I, of course, knocked it out of the park. We work so well together it's crazy. Love that girl! We make one hell of a team.
Here are a few of my favorites from the day:

This is only the start of an amazing year! Cheers!

Fantastic Day. Even for a Monday.

You just have to love happy little boys. 

Seriously. This little boy couldn't NOT smile. He was too cute.

Little Josh lit up the room with his smile. Photographing his family was easy as pie. 

I mean come on:

I love my job. 

Speaking of cute little boys. I couldn't go one more line without giving a shout out to one of my favorite little guys: Mr. Benjamin and his first Birthday cake demolition extravaganza!

We did something cool at Van's today. (I told my friend AJ about it, and he immediately chided me and told me 'you have to blog that!' he's my helper in all things business. )

We framed Tiger Woods' flag from the 18th hole in the 2005 Masters when he was all that and a bag of chips. Sorry. I really really really don't know anything ANYTHING about golf. I googled it and found out that the cooler hole was actually the 16th hole, but i'm guessing this one is still worth some cheddar.

But anyway we do custom framing at work, and sometimes we get to handle some pretty neat stuff. So I took a picture :)

That's it for tonight folks. I hope you have a great Valentine's Day tomorrow. I hope you all get a small cardboard valentine and lots of chocolate. I love cheap cardboard valentines! How else can you make 32 people happy for $1.19? Seriously!

take it easy, it's my first time... blogging.

Welcome world. It's me. Hilary. Blogging. 2012. Welcome to the future.
My goal with this blog is to give you an illustration of the diversity of my life.
You get to see why I love what I do. As a photographer, I get to do something different every single day. I have new challenges, new adventures, I meet awesome people, I capture special events, I look at pretty people in pretty places doing cool things, each different, every time, every day.
So welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy it.
Two weeks ago, my year kicked off with photographing a grand opening event for a local restaurant, Frank & Pauly's. These types of events come mainly through the Mentor Chamber of Commerce. My main place of employment, Van's Photo, covers many of the local events for the chamber such as these ribbon cuttings, and anything else they might need, as a way of supporting local businesses like ourselves. Later in the week, I went back and shot some plated meals. And let me tell you, Frank & Pauly's in Mentor sure knows how to make a dish. I'll be going back as soon as I can. Check out my picture of the lasagna (soon to be published in Scene Magazine along with a story on the restaurant). Or my action shot of the ice cream sloooowly melting down the side of the warm chocolate cake. yummm.

anyway. yeah. i'm a photographer. this is stuff that i get to do. :)
Last week, I had the opportunity of meeting and photographing Nicholas Zerinsky. I worked on a business portrait for him that turned out pretty stunning, if I say so myself. Which in this case, I guess I do. Because I'm blogging. sorry. still getting used to the idea.
We had some more traditional shots that he will probably end up using for his business cards, but we both especially love this one. His confidence really shines though this picture.

Tomorrow it is a family shoot with a great family, Josh, Cassidy & little Josh. Just last week, little Josh just lost both of his two front teeth. So these portraits tomorrow should be pretty adorable.
Talk about capturing a moment in time! Looking forward to it ~
So on that note, welcome to my blog world.
This is photography by hilary.
~
p.s. bonus points to anyone who caught The Boondock Saints reference