The Woman Underneath

I could write a lengthy post about Ryan. About all the roles she plays in other people's lives. About her extroverted gestures and her loving take on life. About her daily battles and conquers. But I want to show you who Ryan is when all of those things are turned off. I want to show her how I see her. I want for her and her three girls to treasure forever the look in her eyes when she smiled at my lens without second thoughts and a little bit of wit. It was an experience worth reliving every time I look at these.

Facelift!

Several weeks and countless late nights later, Lightfolly's new website is up! Well, it's the same website, the one I built and designed, but now more simplified and aimed at describing our new direction.

I wanted a clean, inviting website. I used bootstrap to build it, as planed, and I am quite happy with it. I have found some glitches here and there, and I am sure more will surface. But if a woman wanting to #existinphotos for future generations, and to crystallize their family's life, arrives at www.lightfolly.com, understands what we offer, falls in love with our work, and can easily book a photo session, the website is doing its job.

Feel free to stop by and leave a comment or send me a message. I would love to hear from you!

 

 

Small Business Saturday

I have much to say about big corporations' strategies to get people to spend money on them. And about small businesses trying to promote their work and invite people to spend locally. But I will not bore you with it upfront; if interested, read after the dots.

Lightfolly is participating of "Small Business Saturday" this November 29th, but not with a come-and-get-this-almost-for-free-service offering. If you book me for a photo session, and make the booking ON November 29th, you'll receive a 20% discount! Great, right? This is in accordance with all promotional services and specials that Lightfolly offers year-round. We want you to support local mortar and brick stores every Saturday. Every day. Let's say this is just an excuse to do it simultaneously with other people choosing small shops around the world. To feel a part of something bigger. To support the community you live in and get a little something back.

Book a session by calling 307-703-8118, emailing contact@lightfolly.com or clicking here.

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The weekend after Thanksgiving here in the USA is madness, as you all may know, even if you don't live here. Black Friday, the day right after Turkey Day, has people so frantically invested in taking advantage of the huge sales offered by big retailers (their biggest discounts of the year), that they camp in parking lots and wait all night to be the first ones in. A similar madness goes on at home the following Monday, named Cyber Monday, when it's the online retailers the ones promising you'll get their products almost for free if you shop online at their sites.

In 2010, an initiative started with the intention of promoting yet more shopping. This time is the small business community the one represented, encouraging consumers to shop local and in small brick and mortar stores. But the campaign was created by American Express and Facebook was one of the most benefited through its promotion, two companies that are everything but small or local...

I want my community to find my work appealing and to want to get photographed by me. I want for the people in it to #existinphotos. I want, whenever possible, to make money less of a reason why they wouldn't. And I trust they will want to support local businesses enough that they don't really NEED a special day to do it. May every Saturday be SBS!

Mother & Daughter Moments

"Linda" means beautiful in Spanish, my native tongue. Linda has three daughters, three grandchildren, and she doesn't like smiling in photographs. And the name certainly suits her. Becca is one of her daughters. A runner and a very active mom who could hardly imagine herself as glamorous. Mother and daughter came to Lightfolly's studio one afternoon, a little bit skeptical that a lens could capture their connection. What an opportunity to make some magic.

So here we were: tulle skirts, curlers, and mascara all around. They began by siting down and commenting on each other's make-up and clothing choices. They were a little awkward at first, being asked to pose and embrace under direction. But eventually they let go; Linda smiled, Becca looked glamorous. But most importantly, they let themselves be together and connect. They let themselves step outside of their comfort zones and be beautiful. They let themselves #existinphotos. And that, my friends, is magic.

Brotherhood

The afternoon Sara and her boys met me at Kiwanis park was breezy and sunny. The summer was starting and June in Laramie was warm and bright. I could see why this is Sara's favorite park, and why she wanted photos of her boys taken there.

Indi is the oldest. Blonde, sky-like eyes, piggy-back-ride giver. Emmet is the middle one. Kind smile and gentleness pouring out his pores. Rossie is the youngest one. Giggles, two-year-old struggle, dirt eating.

Photographing children as they are, while they play, until they are exhausted. That is what I am talking about! May these photos bring back memories and a little bit of the summer's sun to this almost-here winter.

 

  

 

Glamour is Back

Well, here it is. The new direction Lightfolly is taking. Beware, it is a quite opposite direction...

When I first started this business, I wanted to take photos of people in their environments. No studio, no artificial lights, no props... I just wanted a little bit of styling to trick the camera and the good eye I was born with (thanks mom and dad!), and I was off to great success. Now, after having been at it for 10 months, I have realized two things:

First, I want to focus on photographing women. I want to empower women to reconnect with and love who they are. I want to crystallize a moment in their lives so they can exist in photos for themselves and their loved ones. You see, this is the one demographic from all the ones I set out to photograph and that I am a part of, in which I can say I feel comfortable and happy. I am a woman. Yet, I struggle to be that, because being a mom, a home maker, a photographer, can so easily overshadow the one role I was born with and will die fulfilling. Having children who love the camera and whom the camera loves makes it oh so much more difficult to have photos taken of myself in which I can be that and just that. And I want every woman to have the experience of inhabiting photos of herself that she treasures, and where she can allow herself to be beautiful, strong, sexy, loving and whatever else she associates with HER womanhood.

Second, the "natural photos" (called lifestyle in the world of photography) idea works wonderfully when photographing children, who are squiggly and temperamental, and (to me) lose a lot of their charm when posed and placed in front of an unrolled background. I also particularly like it when photographing couples and engagement sessions: can you really "generate" the real, natural look of love when posing and placing people in front of a non-working fireplace with uncooked marshmallows on a limp stick? So, I will continue to offer lifestyle photos for children and engagements, and as an option for seniors and families. But when photographing women, I have a different idea. I will offer them an experience, which will include a "makeover" (if I use a less cliched word, would you understand what I mean?), so they can step out of their comfort zone, give themselves the gift of relaxation and pampering, and drop their jaw when they see the final result and say: "That's me? That IS me!". You see, when I photograph a mom playing with her kids, she sees the cuteness of her children in the photo, but of her she either ignores her presence or identifies her muffin top, her wrinkles and her unbrushed hair. Glamour is the name of the game that will show her the woman shinning through all her shortcomings and allow her to see herself, and love what she sees.

This is not 80's glamour. This is Sue Bryce's style glamour: a little bit of beauty, a dash of fashion, a pinch of boudoir... I am learning as I go and loving what I do, and I can't wait to have you and/or your loved one in my new studio: let me show you YOU in a light you have never seen yourself. You won't believe it.

Portrait of Wyoming - Glasson+Thompson

Laramie artists June Glasson and Meg Thompson are the founders of The Wyoming Art Party, an initiative whose mission is "to organize art projects and shows that connect individuals, scattered throughout Wyoming, who work in different regions, disciplines, and from different backgrounds, with the aim of creating work that truly represents art in Wyoming as it is, rather than as it is thought to be".

The first project they have embarked on is called "Portraits of Wyoming", a collaborative effort in which artists and crafters of The Equality State participated on creating pieces of art as pairs. One artist was tasked with starting a piece and then send it to a pre-selected partner for him/her to finish it. The participants had a lot of freedom in what and how to participate in the exchange, and the results where diverse and interesting pieces of art that reflect a Wyoming as these artists see it.

The closing reception for the Portrait of Wyoming Exhibition in Laramie closed last week. It will be traveling to Jackson and Lander in 2015.

 

 

 

The calm before the storm... and after

Stephanie is a former lab technician, currently birthing mentor in search of a yet another career change. The birthing classes served her as a transition while her two children were young, and she recently moved back to town, where her husband works, to a sunny house on a quiet street. But you would not guess the changes her life goes through by looking into her calm blue eyes.

I did a photo session with this petite woman some time in May. The buds were opening in the yard bushes and the morning sun was warm and milky. She wanted to be photographed at home, doing what she does when she is in that safe zone, reading and drinking a cup of tea by the window. When I was ready to send her access to her gallery, her life went through yet another bump.

While she was at a retreat with her fellow birth mentors in the next state, her little daughter was hospitalized with neurological symptoms. Her whole community and close-by family got in motion to support her husband and son during those uncertain first days while she was away. It didn't seem like a great time to share photos of her then when, I imagine, she was having her mind otherwise fully occupied. Her girl has climbed a steady recovery since her mom returned 3 days after hospitalization, and when I sent her the link to her online gallery she was ready to sit down and enjoy them.

I would like to think that looking at her photos she was reminded of the steady valley on this roller coaster that is her life, in which I was privileged enough to witness her. I included a collage of some shots I took of her family, kids, dogs and environment; the details that make a lifestyle photo session come alive: I am sure that it is because she rides so elegantly every valley and every peak that she can give herself permission to treasure images where she is the star, and know the rest of the gang is invisibly coming along for the ride.

WYOtribe Sneak Peak

One of the phrases I identify most strongly with is "It takes a village to raise a child", or more colloquially, "It takes a village". A community oriented, tribal-living lover, I envision a world where we can find our way into small tribes where like-minded people co-exist, collaborate, and thrive.

I moved to Laramie last August, and I was immediately taken by the sense of community and people's openness and camaraderie. I started looking for my tribe immediately, a little with purpose and a little by just going out in the town and inserting myself and my children in the local scene. Slowly, we started meeting people (both business owners and other families and attendees) and finding out about free activities for the kids to do almost every day.

I started bringing my camera along as a way of documenting the discovery of my tribe, but also as a way of sharing with others what is out there for families to do on a low budget and on a regular basis. People is also slowly getting to know us and we have already made friends that we hang out with without needing a planned activity.

Here is a sneak peak of my tribe, and of a project I have called "WYOtribe". I will feature different activities I do and have done (with the summer months, some are hibernating) on the blog in the next months, and tell you what I like most about them. It is my wish that you may use it as a resource for your own family activities and as an inspiration to find your own tribe.

Rebecca, owner of just trails and organizer of Little Laramie Hikers, a Meetup group for hikers with kids.

Spring hike to Vedauwoo with Little Laramie Hikers

Winter hike with Little Laramie Hikers

Winter hike with Little Laramie Hikers to Happy Jack trail

Winter hike with Little Laramie Hikers to Happy Jack trail

Story time at Night Heron bookstore & coffee shop

Tea time at Night Heron bookstore & coffee shop

Smores at Vedauwoo campground on a hike with Little Laramie Hikers

 

 

Open play at the High Plains Civic Center

Playful sensuality

When I first saw Elise, bare face and long, straight hair, I thought: "I want to discover her". You know, like those models or actresses that live a low-profile, normal life and somebody discover them on an airplane or the supermarket and put them on billboards. She looked to me like a diamond in the raw. But was I wrong.

Elise does not need to be discovered because she knows already what she is and what she wants. She has a degree in neuroscience, sky-like eyes, and a way to explain things that leaves no room for questions. When I told her the kind of photography that I do, she showed curiosity first and immediately jumped on board with setting up a session. I knew it was going to be easy: outer beauty that cannot be hidden behind bulky sweaters, a 1940s vibe that screams to be unveiled, confidence that cannot be faked.

Her photos are the first of a new direction in Lightfolly's way to capture beauty. Through contemporary, fashion inspired women's portraits, I will aim to show you like you've never seen yourself before. And yes, Elise also ventured into boudoir a little bit. But we will save those for her and her man, T. I know that you will love the ones I am sharing here just as well.