loving

5 Things to AVOID REGRET.

/ jeaninethurston / Leave a comment

1. Create your path.  Be who you are and don’t let another create your path for you.  One of your greatest joys is the journey of finding yourself in life.  Don’t be afraid of judgement from others, and don’t fear your heart and opening it to others.  Walk your own path and know it is ok if people disagree with you.

2. Be giving.  Live your life by doing good for others.  Set selfishness aside and toss your ego in the trash.  Think about times when people made you smile, gave to you for no reason and pass a little of that along every day.  It is freeing, motivating and it makes your heart happy in the process.  Giving gives back 10 fold and feeds your sole.

3. Manage don’t micromanage.  Take a deep breath and let things go.  Make a conscious decision at some point in managing a project to let things play out.  Let go of your anxiety – walk away – and know that you don’t need to have control and know about every single detail.  You can always re-evaluate small flaws in your plan and make it better next time – and surround yourself with people who allow you to let go more easily.

4. Own yourself.  Flaws are in your mind – they are a product of your own creation – they are not real.  You’re skin, your weight, your shape, your scars, your tragedies, the way you think are all a part of you.  Just because you have been brainwashed that there is such a thing as beautiful or ugly doesn’t make it true.  Nobody is perfect and time spent thinking you are somehow less than perfect is wasting precious time that you could be using to enjoy yourself and all the people and things that you love.

5. Dreams are real.  You owe it to yourself to dream and dream often… dream every day, dream as BIG as you can and go with it.  Don’t ever feel that dreams and daydreams are a waste of time… UNLESS you never act towards them.  That’s right… they are only a waste of time if you don’t get up and DO something about them.  Pick one of your dreams and put your energy towards it today… put it in motion!  Every amazing idea, every amazing happening started with a dream… and happened because someone got up and decided that they would TRY to make it possible.

So get up today.  Be proud of who you are – and own all of your imaginary flaws that make you a beautiful and perfect individual.  Give someone a smile, a helpful hand, a meaningful compliment or an unexpected gift.  Start living one of your dreams.  And… let go of a handful of the “little” things that you are holding onto way to tight.  Avoid regrets and live your life in motion.

Photograper: Jeanine Thurston

1,000 FACES

/ jeaninethurston / 1 Comment

1,000 FACES PROJECT is starting in January 2014.  I’m searching for soles, spirits, and the experiences that have weathered our faces and carved our unique expression.  Each individual will have a few images taken of themselves, and given a few questions to answer.  Model releases will be required.

To participate, we would need about 15-30 minutes of your time on select dates in-studio.

I’m looking for all ages.  Most will be taken at our studio in Denver, with a select few taken on location.

No images will be released for viewing until we complete 1,000 FACES.

Please contact me directly at jeanine@fototails.com with 1000 FACES in the subject line if you are interested in participating.

1Z3A5076bhd

Photography forward project. Happy Camera Monsters 1.0

/ jeaninethurston / 3 Comments

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF SOMETHING GREAT.

My mind was a jumble of thoughts on my way home from the studio one afternoon.  I had a million ideas in my head.  One of which was some art that our very own “Jenny” had posted about a friend of hers.  Now, she has told me over and over how talented her friend was… and sometimes it takes the right time and place for that to connect to you personally or professionally.

Back to the drive home…. I had one of those awh haaaa moments when if I didn’t tell someone I would bust so called Ms Jenny to bounce some things off of her – particularly about her friend Karen’s art.

So it begins the Photography forward project.

FEBRUARY 14TH, 2013… yes, we are starting this on Valentines Day.  10 custom created pieces of “domino art” will be dropped off at various locations in Denver & surrounding areas.  This each piece of art is called “Happy Camera Monster.”  Each piece of art is a little different, a very custom piece of art – and I have to say – they alone should make you smile.  They will all be numbered and will be attached to a card with exact details and information too.

In a nutshell.  On February 14th, 2013 I’ll post some hints to locations where they will be… or an un-suspecting person may just happen upon one.  If you’re watching our blog and facebook pages you may just get a jump on being the first to get to a location.

_________________________________

YOUR BONUS: If you are one that finds or is gifted one of our Happy Camera Monster dominos, call us at (720)566-9770 or e-mail jennyb@fototails.com and you will get a free 1 hour studio portrait session at our Denver, CO studio.  Catch is… to get the session you have to bring the domino to your portrait session so we can take one image with the domino.

CHILDREN’S TREE HOUSE BONUS:  If you choose to purchase any prints from your session, with your first online print order we will donate $10 to Children’s Treehouse Foundation of Denver.  To learn more about Children’s Treehouse Foundation please click here to find out what an amazing organization they are in helping families dealing with cancer.

THE PAY IT FORWARD BONUS.  At your portrait session we will take one image of you with the Happy Monster Art that you have.  Now… after your session, we will put that piece of art on a new card for you to pass along to anyone you know for them to use for a free portrait session.  The catch?  It always has to be someone new, you can’t use a Happy Camera Monster more than once yourself – but you can pass it to whomever you see or know that would love a portrait session for them or their families.

        ____________________________

Over the coming year we will be keeping track of our Happy Camera Monster dominos and are hoping that they make their way all around the Denver area or maybe even to people just visiting.

As you can see our Happy Camera Monster Art is currently in progress with the very talented hands of Karen Windness!  I can not WAIT until they are all complete with their cards, and I’m even more excited to start dropping them off at locations in a few weeks.

Every time we get one of our Happy Camera Monsters pass through the studio we will share a photo and blog post too!

Image

karenslittlemonsterslogo