5 Things Wednesday

Hello world. How goes it?

I’m sitting here, taking a break from strat (that’s what the cool MBA students call “strategic management”) to do some blogging.

As much as a ton of creative entrepreneurs hate strat, I kind of love it. That’s the business nerd inside of me. Time to crunch numbers, raise prices, do some market analysis, etc etc. You can’t really go anywhere in business without a viable plan. So that’s what I’m doing.  

Anyways. Here’s 5 things going on with me:

1  BIRTHDAY WEEK - You guys! This weekend is my birthday!  

I’m not quite sure how I’m celebrating it yet. There’s a brunch sitch happening on Saturday for a me & another friend (since our birthdays are so close). But other than that, I don’t have much planned.

I do know that I’m going to wear my favorite Anthro headband on my birthday. Or if someone wants to make me a fancy crown again … that’d be cool.  


2  LET’S BE COPS - Speaking of birthdays, I got to celebrate one tonight by watching a screening of Let’s Be Cops for Lamorne Morris’ birthday.  You know him, Winston from New Girl.

You guys, I’m not even joking. It was SO FUNNY. And good!  

It’s definitely a Jo Recommend.

3  A STROLL ON SET - One of the best parts of the screening (besides the actual movie) was that it was on the Fox Lot. And while on the Fox Lot, you have to stroll through NYC/DC. 

Weird. I was just in NYC/DC for like real just a month ago.

But it’s where they film(ed) Bones and How I Met Your Mother! You guys. Seriously. It’s like the best. 

Shana and I definitely nerded out a bit.

4  TIME TO BUCKLE DOWN - The great part about it being birthday month is that:

  • I’m actually not traveling anywhere for a change. So that’s nice.
  • I get freebies from some of my favorite stores. That’s one thing I love about automated marketing. Anthropologie and Sephora always remember my birthday!
  • Which is great considering I’m really trying to buckle down in every other area (mostly spending). Meaning, I’m back on the envelopes again. This time for real.
  • What this really boils down to - is that we’re cooking meals at home, folks. Like 99.9% of the meals are at home. Because apparently that’s what I always spend my money on and that’s dumb.

    Caviar on Monday. Crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn’t even notice.

    Anyways. So if I start being crazy and say “no” to everything, just know, it’s because of Dave Ramsey. And I have to get my life in order. 

    It’s a new year! Might as well get things into gear.

    5  NEW PROJECTS ON DECK - Besides life in general, work is good. I’m in STRAT MODE. Which happens every August. I’m raising prices and planning marketing promos and all that jazz. It’s going to be good.

    But there’s more. We’ve got some collabs coming up. A video feature. Tons of fun stuff. I love working in a team setting - ideas flow easier that way.

    I’ll keep y’all posted on things to come!



    5 Things Tuesday

    Hello world!  It’s 1:42 AM on what is actually Wednesday morning, but in my books it’s still Tuesday. Which makes me ON TIME.

    WHADDUP SON.

    Check it. Here are 5 things going on right now:

    1  BACK TO THE DAILY GRIND - No more vacation days. Time to get back to work. 

    Working from home is tough at times. Some days are shot. And some days are super productive. And well, I technically have a entire month to really make up for. Traveling was amazing these past couple weeks but it halted a lot of my work flow.

    There’s so much to do. Emails to send, shoots to schedule, marketing plans to implement, etc etc. 

    The task list just seems like a mountain some days (like yesterday). But today wasn’t so intimidating. Knocked quite a bit out of the way … hopefully I’ll still have that momentum tomorrow. Fingers crossed. I’ve got some serious deadlines to meet.


    2  50 SHADES OF THE ROOTS REACTING - So obviously, the world is revolting/reacting to the 50 Shades of Grey trailer. I’m not one to state my opinion on things, but if you’d ask me I’m not so interested in watching the movie.

    On the other hand, I do love the fact that Jimmy Fallon utilized this opportunity to scare the crap out of The Roots with it. It’s pretty much the best. Check it:

    [video removed]

    3  I FOUND A MAGIC CORD THAT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE EVERYTHING - Well, not everything. Just the way I do studio shoots. Up until now, I’ve been winging the whole studio lighting thing. I’m not quite there yet, but I may have figured something out that will make everything 100x easier.  

    Figuring lighting is KEY when doing photography. And well, when the softboxes aren’t firing together it can be a mess! 

    But you guys, I found this magic cord that connects from my camera to the lighting system. Dude. I didn’t even know I had it.

    NO SERIOUSLY. It’s a GAME-CHANGER.

    Because now shooting in-studio will be SOOO much easier and the photos will probably turn out SOOOO much better.

    Model & Stylist: Mary Carr

    4  I WANT THIS - Someone buy it for me. No, in all seriousness. I may buy this print. And hang it above my roommate’s bike. 

    I’ve been wanting to cover our plain walls for awhile now and have been so indecisive about artwork. It’s weird - I’m a photographer but I don’t really want to hang up my own work.

    I don’t know how to explain it. I just really want art. Like paintings and prints and stuff. It’s been a slow process but it’s coming together sort of. 

    I just really like/miss/appreciate good design. 

    5  THE WALKING DEAD’S SEASON 5 TRAILERYOU GUYS … I’m so excited about Season 5 of The Walking Dead. 

    Like, I was genuinely freaking out when this trailer was released. 

    • Rick’s back to his old self and he’s RELENTLESS.
    • Gareth is NOT the same guy from ABC Family’s Greek.
    • BETH’S ALIVE.
    • All sorts of craziness ensues! 

    Come October 12th!


    Great Conversations


    I had a great conversation with a friend this week:

    AF:  Yeah, you always said you wanted to do this. Do commercial photography.

    JG:  I did?

    AF:  Yeah. Way before ORU and RELEVANT. You pointed to a J.Crew catalog and said “I want to do this.”  And I said, “You want to ride horses?”

    JG:  “No. I love fashion. I want to shoot stuff like this.”

    *  *  *

    I totally don’t remember this conversation, but I’m so glad she did.  

    I guess I didn’t even know what I knew back then. Or somehow I forgot or got distracted for a bit. Thank God we sometimes stumble over things but eventually come back to where we started. I’ve always loved commercial photography. And I love that I’m finally moving into that direction with a strong focus of sorts. 

    Took me awhile to get there but I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything. But I’m glad I ended up where I am. Working on the port. Talking to friends. So good!

    [Disclaimer:  I did not want to ride horses then nor do I want to now.]


    WHAT I’M SHOOTING THESE DAYS (VOL. 4)

    I don’t know if you’ve seen the infamous PNW bridge that seems to be popping up all over Instagram, but it’s there. I’ve seen it on other photographer’s feeds and have always wanted to go there myself.

    So I asked my sister (she’s the brave one in the family) and she decided to come too. And as we always do, we make it into a photoshoot opportunity. We drove out to Shelton, hiked a short hike, and then trekked across this old, abandoned bridge across Vance Creek.  

    347 feet above the ground.

    You guys, I am not the thrill-seeker type. I can manage roller-coaster rides and airplanes and all that jazz. But an unsecure bridge with pockets of questionable (but seemingly OK) beams of wood … I’m straight up chicken.

    Straight up, Marty McFly chicken.  

    I baby-stepped it like no one else. And then froze. And then baby-stepped it some more. Then took some photos. Then froze.  

    There were a lot of “oh God’s” and OMG OMG OMG moments. Which is great because God was there and I’m still alive. Bwahahahahaha.

    But anyways - my sister strolled across the bridge like it was no big deal. She literally was like “I wanna sit on the edge” and I was like “NOOOOOOO!!!!!”

    But it’s all good. Other people were doing it. And it seems like they all survived. So I mustered up the courage I had left to scoot on over to her (sort of).  

    Needless to say, the photos turned out pretty awesome. I’m proud of myself for making it as far as I did on that bridge (about the halfway point). And I’m not too sure how likely I’ll be on that bridge again. But at least I know that I did it.   

    Crazy. The things you do for a great shot!

    Can we go back to the studio now? Joking … not really.

    Model: Kristina Chang
    Location: Vance Creek Viaduct (Shelton, WA)

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