busy

last time i wrote in here was the beginning of summer.


you have no idea.
haha.


well i'm taking my first photography class. :D and i'm excited. i'm finally learning how to take better pictures. ...i'm the youngest one in my class.
oh and i got a new job and left my other one. so now i have way more time for photography, cause i work first shift now.



i started up a new series. well actually 2.
one's a small one though.
but here's a sneak peek at my new series.

swtp

Today I went over to my pop pop's store. Because i haven't done any jewelry shots for them in a while. And i went over there with the intention of getting about 3 sets done. but i ended up doing 5 different sets of jewelry. julie and i were outside for hours in 102 degree weather. i'm surprised we survived it all. haha. i guess a little humour goes a long way on a shoot. oh yeah. this is julie kong... the julie version of king kong.

cirque du stump.

i started off my circus theme with a promising first shoot. i have sooo many people signed up for this, that i actually could be doing this series for a good half year. i've got magicians, siamese twins, clowns, dagger throwers, fire breathers, birdladies, bearded ladies, elephant women, mermaids, and so much more. i'm still looking for a few more spots to fill. mainly dood spots now. but i'm sure i'll get them with no problem. here's a "back stage" shot of bri. i couldn't resist haha. cause it looks like any other typical model-off-camera shot i've ever seen. well check out my flickr to see more of bri. www.flickr.com/photos/astumpphotography

boating docks

i never seem to have good weather whenever i shoot lately. it's either about to storm or close to dark. well i think the post-storm clouds actually helped me out on this shoot. and julie and i finally found the one set of docks that she's been trying to show me for the past couple of months since she first got her liscence. i actually couldn't have been happier with this shoot. everything was just perfect, even down to the dress that she was wearing, which was meant for the art show exhibit. and nobody kicked me off of any property. i didn't lose any cellphones or bodyparts (like the shoot previous to this). i actually would like to come back to this location and shoot again. but i want to make friends with someone who owns a boat, so that way we could shoot on one of the docks with the boats

all attached to it. cause those were all locked off... and you know me, but there was state police watching the whole place. haha. well i definetly have more on my flickr. so check them out. and i will have more to come. www.flickr.com/photos/astumpphotography

p.s. i love my accidental shoots :] haha. did i mention we were supposed to shoot in a field? maybe we'll do that one another time.... i'm still searching for that right field.

trailor park

i finally got my liscence. so yesterday i did the first normal-stump shoot in a while. i took julie to this abandoned trailor on the side of the highway. grunged it up and had some fun. it was actually pretty cold yesterday we could see our breath during the shoot. and the skies were horrible and near dark, but somehow my camera picked up a great amount of light. it didn't even look like it was raining or had been raining that day or that it was near sunset.

- oh yeah, and this is julie trying to bust down the door. sadly everything was locked up.

new ideas

i'm going to drift away from the nymphs for a little. and i'm going to be doing a bunch of new conceptual portraits. i don't want to be stuck doing nymphs forever. haha. i know i won't but thats how i kinda feel. i'm going to be going back to my older style of pictures. the ones that were slightly morbid.

she likes me.

she really likes me. i went to Moment Photography, showed her my portfolio, and she loved it. and she basically told me to considered myself hired, however when the business picks up.


so i saw this movie, Tideland recently and i love it. it's one of those films that you either hate or you love. it's such an inspirationally, visionary, and unique film, it's going to be hard to find one that will top it. today i'm planning to do some pictures inspired by this film. i've already decapitated some barbies.

and also. i'll be going for liscence soon. hoffenlich i will pass.
oh yeah. and i got my first tattoos this past wednesday when caleb and i celebrated our one year anniversary.

excited- the moment photo

i'm real excited, cause i think i might be getting a job at The Moment Photography shop nearby my house. It would be so nice to get away from the restaurant business and finall pursue photography as a career. I just hope she likes me.

creativity?

lately i've been lacking creativity with my shots, or perhaps it's because i haven't done a selfportrait in a while. i haven't been varying up my shots between doing my nymph series and doing shots for the store.


i think tomorrow i should do a few selfportraits. i've been looking back at my pictures from last year to inspire me. it's sort of a sad thought that i have to inspire myself from myself.

also i need to start coming up with shots that i normally would do of myself for my models.

really as soon as i get my liscence, i'm going to kidnap mymodels, roadtrip, and take pictures. haha.
i'm looking to go to new hope, centralia, new york city, lancaster, limerick. just anywhere and everywhere near me.

oh yeah, and i am also in the middle of setting up a studio in my room. little hectic, but definetly will be worth it.


oh that reminds me. i'm working with a new model now, her name's alexis. i'm excited to work with her, cause i don't have a blonde model really. and i know she'll commit, and she knows what type of photos i'm trying to produce.

slump

hmmm. i've kinda gotten into a slump. idk y, but i just don't feel like doing photography. and i feel like i have an obligation, and like people might be dissappointed if i stopped, but at the same time i feel as if no one would notice.


idk. give my like 3 days. it will change.

recently

i've done a few shoots with a couple of people. and its gotten to the point where i'm behind two weeks on editing. haha. but hey, nobody is paying me for my work, so they can wait. it just kinda feels good to know that i've done that much work, that i can't keep up with myself. and i can usually handle a lot of work. hmmm. well yesterday i did a shoot with kelly. we found a rusted out vintage rv. and actually found a way into it. boy were we in a for a surprise, whoever owned it previously must have been a mass-murderer. there was crazy stuff all in it. like 20 shovels, a pickaxe, scythes, a closet full of barbed wire, pitchforks, etc. and not to mention all the fake flowers and the easter bunny mug. i'm guessing he had a wife maybe haha. idk.
but after that we went to my poppop's store and did two sets of jewelry. white buffulo and apple coral. so far the pics have turned out good. i like working with kelly. we get the job done and then some. ...and before i have to go to work haha.

today i'm taking a break from my nymph series. earlier this week i knocked out 3 nymphs in one day. well actually 4, but i agreed to redo one of them with my model again. in fact it's the same model who told me she would be pay me to help create her portfolio. thank goodness. i haven't really had a blonde model yet. like one i could get more than 5 pictures out of.

but yeah, today, i'm going to be workign with my old friend m.c. hammer. its her nickname haha. but we're doing a rather simple shoot. but if i do it how i have it in my head, i can make these pics turn out pretty spectacular. i think this year i need to focus on the poses for my model, mood, and concept. since i aced composition throughout these few years.

good enough?

lately i've been happy with how my pictures are turning out. and i've develop a sense of pride over them. but every time i show my parents, especially my mom, i get nothing out of them. they take a half glance and walk away. or if they do look at my pictures i get criticized for what i photograph. and its really fucking with my head. you know? cause like my friends love it. and i've been starting to get fanmail. like random people wanting me to know they love my pictures. and i can't even get a single "hey thats cool" out of my mom and dad. it's like i always have to prove something to them. like it's not good enough. well i'm sorry. its taken me a little while to get where i'm at right now. but its been a steady progression the whole way. and i've had support from plenty of people along the way. but at the end up the day, if my mom and dad don't approve of my work, it's almost like i did nothing to start with. cause all i want is some praise. from my mom and dad. not my aunt. or my mommom. or my neighbors, or my friends, or strangers. i just want my parents to be proud of me.

lara jade

lara jade is quite possibly one of the most popular photographers you could find online on several sites, including blogspot. today i had a realization. i've known of lara's works ever since i started posting my works online when i started photography 4 years ago. and i admit i am envious of her talents. at first i even hated her. i said things like oh, it's only because she's pretty. and that she edits her pictures a lot. and that the reason she is more successful is because she lives in europe. (the ignorant american that i am) and i knew she was my age, in fact one month younger than me. and that fact killed me even more. how could she achieve so much more than me, if we both started photography in 2005? her work was always better than mine. and i knew it. and i still do believe that. however-
it occurred to me this past year that i need to grow up. i need to stop spending so much time over lara's pictures. envying over how pretty she is, wishing i looked more like her. i'll admit it lara, you are gorgeous. but you deserve to be where you are at. you didn't take an easy road there. and you aren't being cut any breaks even now. in fact there are probably more people now that expressed the same envy and greed that i did when i first came across her pictures. a lot of people are sinister. and i don't need to be one of them. lara needs to be praised for her labor. and photography is work. its not just shoot and aim. thats called a snapshot. a photograph takes thought and creativity put into it. and that is why i commend lara jade. she is a real trooper. and she is brilliant at what she does.
and so, from now on, i'm going to try my best not to be lara jade, in the sense of being one of several people who try to imitate her or her style, but i'm going to try my best to be the lara jade who inspires people with original fresh ideas. in fact i'm going to be myself. and my name is amanda stump. but you can just call me a.stump

...and hey lara... i know you got a brain full of images, as do i. and that's why i like your photos, because their similiar to the images in my head. you just got all the tools and know-hows to portray those pictures. and that's why i admire you. i just hope i'll get there someday.

male nymphs?

two of my guy friends have recently proposed the question to me if they could be a male nymph. now sadly, male nymphs are practically non-existant, since nymphs for women entities. those this proposes a new challenge. to find something simliar to a nymph but for guys. but then i thought about it, and thought maybe i could have them in the picture, not as a n ymph, but as a man falling in love or chasing a nymph. then the thought of clothing crossed my mind. i don't exactly have greek clothing laying around my house.




hmmm. so hold in mitch and ryan. i'll think of something. maybe we can do something like a summer's midnight dream. that could be cool.

rain.

recently i decided that i needed to take a vacation. and i decided to take it in the form of not coming home one night. it helped a tad with my situation, but now i'm grounded from my camera.

so i'll just talk about my last shoot, since its the last bit of pics you might see for a little.
alright. so this past monday i had a shoot with robyn. she was going to be my rain nymph. this is one that i've been waiting to do for a little while. but its a matter of having rain, a model, and being off work. well the weather called for rain. and lots of it, and i had a model, and i only had work from 11-2. while i was at work it didn't rain at all, in fact it was about 20 degrees warmer than usual. but i said i'd wait for the rain. 2 o clock came around; i get off work and theres still no rain. i meet up with robyn. did makeup and dress. got to our location... and there still was no rain. however our "lake" which is actually a creek, was mud-flooded. we lost a shoe on the way. and there was still no rain. so i had to make it look like it rained on her, so i had to throw water on her like a mad woman. i wasn't exactly happy with the mood and lack of actual rain in the pictures. but i did like them after i sat down and really looked at them. and with a tad of post processing the color curves i created the dreary mood i was aiming for.


you can see the outcome at my flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/astumpphotography

nymphs

so i started up my first real photo series, nymphs, in decemeber of 2007. and just recently i have had a 180 of cooperation with finding models. in the past week i have had 6 girls tell me that wanted to take part in this. i'm getting really excited, even though i have to wait for warmer weather for most of my future nymph shots.
but here is a small showcase of what nymphs i have covered so far:
- the sea nymph, julie
- the moss nymph, dana
- the natural springs nymph, stacy
- the winter berry nymph, julie


and i will be covering the following nymphs:
rock, lily, darkness, & lilypad - liz
ocean & sand- alexis
moon/stars- desiree
dirt- robyn
fire- renata

well, now that i'm long supply of models, i just need to find the time to do my photography. my work schedule alotts for very little photography time, that and time that my models are free.

hello

hey everyone. i was a little hesitant to get a blogspot. however xanga is dead, and myspace is too drama filled. so i decided to go here.