Rain, rain, come again….

Both of my daughters have been dancing since age 3. I watch them in awe as they take the stage once a year, and they complete these routines that take them the whole year/10 months to learn. Ten months of training for a three-minute routine.

In Fall of 2009 I registered for an adult ballet class at their dance studio. My only intention was to lose weight. It was one hour, once a week. The perfect little escape for me on Monday nights at 8. There were about 6-8 adults and three-four of the older dance students in our class. I looked forward to the bond we were all developing with every sigh, every giggle, every laugh. Every “Nu-uh, I can’t do that.”

When we missed a class our instructor, Ms.Deborah, would joke, ‘whoever misses has to learn a solo for the Spring recital.”

Hahaha, she would laugh.

Hahaha, we would laugh.

But then this talk of performing in the recital became more frequent, and more serious, and what started out as a joke, became reality. Our basic steps were being strung together in 8 counts with music. Balancé, balancé, triplet, triplet. Wait what comes next?

Spring Break was in April. The studio kicked into high gear with the choreographers finalizing routines and the dancers learning their steps.

Nu-uh, I’m not standing in the front row.

Nu-uh, we aren’t really listed in the line up are we?

Nu-uh, Ms. Deborah, you really ordered us blue, sequined recital outfits?

Nu-uh, do we really have to go to dress rehearsal?

Wait, we have to wear the blue sequined number in front of others?

Recital weekend was June 25 & June 26. Three minutes. That’s all. I can do this. It was terrifying and thrilling all at the same time. For three minutes, three times that weekend I was on stage to a sold out audience of  500 people. “Nu-uh, why did I agree to do this?”

I would like to say that I was ‘made’ into a ballet dancer. But I wasn’t. I did have a lot of fun, though. I have an increased amount of awe for my girls and what they do each year in their dance classes. I have an an overwhelmingly amount of  appreciation for the choreographers at the studio that each put together 10+ routines for their classes and the 375+ students.

Below are the prints I had made from my days of hanging out in the studio capturing dancers in their various levels of concentration. Amazing to see. Amazing to capture. These pieces and others will be displayed in the APA studio, soon.

Oh, and I didn’t lose weight.

As a consumer, I am picky. I know what I like. Take Trader Joe’s for example. Trader Joe’s is a grocery store with foods you can’t find anywhere else. They offer organic food. They offer gourmet type foods. They offer food for vegetarians. yes, yes, Safeway offers these foods too, but Trader Joe’s sends out a newsletter called a Fearless Flyer, their staff wears Hawaiian printed shirts, they double paper bag your purchases, they ding a bell if you bring your own bag. Their store locations are always odd. The shopping carts are comical. I go in with a list of things we need and always walk out with way more items then I can store. I am a Trader Joe’s groupie.

Nordstrom. My family has shopped at Nordstrom since the 90s. I remember getting Reebok Pumps, a Hypercolor tee, middle school semi-formal dress, an awesome Esprit vest with dogs on it that I wore to a youth summit in Washington D.C., a black blazer a la Blossom, my junior and senior prom dresses, my wedding jewelry, my honeymoon swim suit, my first 2-piece suit for my first official administration job, my first real leather tote bag, my first born’s first dress, my second born’s first dress, gah, this list can go on forever. I was a regular at the Nordstrom at the Tyler Galleria in Riverside, the Brea Mall in Fullerton; I drove 2.5 hours to the closest Nordstrom in Salem when I lived in Oregon. And now my new Nordstrom is in Pleasanton. I mean. It’s crazy. BUT, that’s brand loyalty.

So, back to my new look. I wanted something that representative me as a person. After all I am Kia Gregory of Kia Gregory Photography, so I am my brand. Clients hire you for your images but they also hire you for your image. It sounds vain but really, it’s the truth. So when I started the branding process with Luxecetera it almost seemed all new-agey, and ‘the Caterpillar on the mushroom smoking the hookah from Alice in Wonderland’-y. “Tell me who you are?” But it all made sense to me in the end. And yes, I know you don’t look at me and think, oooh, orange, oooh ranunculus flowers. But now you will associate those happy, pretty things with me.

old cards.

new splash page

new site page

new blog page

What are some of your favorite brands?

OK, so back on topic. When I went to Las Vegas in March for my first ever WPPI experience I got connected with some awesome people. One of them being Rob Ninja, the leader, head honcho, Mob Boss of a community of photographers that participate in these Photog Shootout get-togethers, which are crazy, over the top styled events. Various leaders in various parts of the nation have put on some wild events. This was a small scale version of what the Photog Shootout community can do, on one of the last days of WPPI 2010. Two gals, styled as some vintage 70s chicks, an awesome bright yello corvetter and Old Town Vegas.

I didn’t stay for long, but I met some cool peeps, and took a couple of cool shots. Thank you to our fabulous  models, Cat of Rockin’ Kitty Productions and Johnnie Mae.

And if you’re a photographer in the Central Valley area, let’s get connected on Facebook! Hoping to plan a get together just to shoot the breeze and talk it up soon!

Enjoy your Saturday!

Nellie and I are both wedding photographers and so any mixer or gathering that has to do with wedding photography peaks our interest. Nellie has a lot of connections. She surprises me every time she mentions that she has had coffee with so and so, or is on so and so’s e-mail list for second shooting. Amazing. She likes to socialize. Not too long ago she texted me and asked if I wanted to be her +1 a book launch party for Grace Ormonde (Wedding Style Magazine publisher)’s book titled “Being in Love Never Goes Out of Style.” I cannot begin to explain the extravagance of this book launch at Jade Studio Productions on Treasure Island in San Francisco. The food, the champagne served in glasses made out of ice, the male models (eye candy for sure), the couture wedding gowns on glamorous women, luscious floral arrangements in every corner. And I didn’t even bring my camera and so my dinky iPhone images will have to suffice. And if you want, go see some awesome images on Grace Ormonde’s blog as well!

Thanks, Nellie for the invite! Where are we off to next?

Love this series of images of Olivia pushing Ella in the swings. Check the determination on Olivia’s face in frame two and then peep Ella with her eyes closed in frame three. Remember doing that as a kid? Closing your eyes on the swing so you could feel like flying. Love recognizing these moments!

Have a good weekend!

So,  my dominatrix (I know, I know, explanation coming soon), said, ‘Kia, get off your duff, get your 35mm SLR out, get some rolls of Fuji Pro400, and shoot. And when you’re done send it to Richard Photo Lab and then call me.’

So, it took a couple of weeks. But I got my 35mm SLR serviced, ordered some Fuji from Calumet Photo, shot a few rolls, in between all that I went to hear Tanja Lippert speak at the East Bay Smug Mug (and it just so happened that she was talking about her love of film photography) and then got inspired by what I love doing all over again.

Anyway, it’s been about four weeks since that conversation and I finally got my film back from RPL. And you wanna know what happened when I opened up the box of my precious developed film??? I cried. Then I e-mailed my dominatrix, then I woke up my husband and showed him the pretties, then I made the girls turn off Inspector Gadget to show them the pretties. Then I took a shower. Then I looked at my pretties again. And now, I am blogging about them.

And what I am sharing isn’t completely mindblowing. It’s just bits from around the house. These are just a few of my favorites but I will share more in the next few weeks because I am completely enthralled with discovering that something old is new again. And I am reveling in my a-ha moment.

I love my family. They are all so crazy.

We believe in slumming it. Hence the athletic shorts, the keepsake knitted cardigan and the oversized Grand Canyon hat from our last road trip.

Doesn’t little Miss O look like the National Geographic cover model from years ago? That’s the look we were going with here. Ha.

Big man on a little bike. Need I say more?

She will kill me later in life. But seriously, E, you picked your little nose a lot last year.

Our little hummingbird visitor! The little bird came back often that summer! Nature right outside my suburban window.

What did you do this Saturday? Family time? Cleaning time? Share, share!

I was purple.

I looked like a beet. (OK, not really, but I remember seeing pictures where the hue was off and I looked purple.)

In an incubator.

I turned 31 years-old last month.

With that here are 31 things about me, that you may already know, you may want to know, you may not want to know, or you don’t really give a wooden nickel about.

1. I sleep in every morning until 7 AM. Justin wakes me up with a kiss.

2. I gained 22 pounds in a year. Last year to be exact. I blame it on a car accident I was in last Spring. But after the doctor cleared me to get back to being active it was all due to laziness.

3. I like to watch scary movies about real killers, fictional killers. Whatever. They help me sleep at night.

4. Every Spring I plan an elaborate trip for me. Or for me and the Mister. The plan includes roundtrip airfare, specific dates and travel locations, ground transportation, etc. So far I have planned a trip to England, France, Kenya, Morocco, New York, Mexico and Hawaii.

5. When I was in elementary school I used to hate my name so I’d lie on the days we had subs and told them my real name was Kim and that the office people never printed my name right on the roster.

6. When I was in middle school I was in the GATE program and that program was located in an ‘urban neighborhood’ near my home.  Kids used to pick on me for not talking or dressing like them. They used to spit on me in the locker room.

7. When I was in high school I used to have the oddest crush on some of the popular boys. I was also in band for a few years and that made me highly undesirable.

8. When I was in college I called in sick to my work-study job because “I wasn’t feeling it.” After three weeks of not “feeling it” my boss called me and told me I better get my behind back to work AND change the Puff Daddy intro song I had on my voicemail.

9. When I was in grad school I had the worst professor ever. She used to tell us stories about the “Mexican kids” and the “Black kids” who used to carry knives at school. She was no Jaime Escalante or Principal Joe Clark so I always clenched my jaw waiting for the learning experience to reveal itself from these stories.

10. I like creamer with a little bit of coffee.

12. I used to like the color pink.

13. I tried to be more edgy and get into the color teal.

14. I like the color pink again.

15. I like sugar with a little bit of grapefruit.

16. Olivia used to scare me when she was first born. Her skin was so translucent. Like onion skin. Every vein freaked me out.

17. Ella had a headache in her “butt” after hearting her tail bone after a fall. I laughed for a day after that one.

18. I want a four bedroom, two and half bathroom bungalow. In a well established neighborhood.

19. I have a stack of eight books that I have started and at this point, have no intention of finishing.

20. I started knitting my first baby sweater last year. I only had to finish the sleeves and I accidentally gave it to goodwill with some older craft items.

21. If I hear the word ‘epic’ again I might have to tell that person they are lame.

22. I love cake batter ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery with brownie mix-ins.

23. If I hear the word ‘fail’ again I might have to tell that person they are REALLY lame.

24. I really thought sharing 31 things about me was going to be easy.

25. But after sharing 24 things I realize it’s not.

26. I wish I spoke with an accent. British, Southern, old New York gangster, whatever. I just want an accent.

27. I started shooting 35mm film again.

28. My favorite flower is ranunculus.

29. My favorite photo in my home is one of my little brother Jason, with his arm around his girlfriend Patty. They are looking out over the Grand Canyon.

30. After 31 years, I am not sure this is what I had planned for my life.

31. But at 31 years-old, I am happy that this is where life has lead me thus far.

And mom, where was the focal point on this snap? The black chair against the wall? You’re killing me.