Print The Love Benefit | Artist Talk with Eliesa Johnson

September 10, 2018 in For The Pro's, Editorial

I'm super excited to be the keynote speaker for Print The Love's 2018 benefit. If you're not familiar with the organization, I'd love to introduce you. Print The Love is a non profit that serves the world with instant photographs. They focus on celebrating the value and dignity of individuals in under-resourced communities through the gift of a photograph. Obviously, the mission of this organization resonates with me, because it is what I practice on a daily basis. I greatly believe that a photograph captures a valuable moment in time. I also believe that photographs are one of our most prized possessions that we have in life. Print the Love gives the gift of photography and moments to those who otherwise would not have access to ever having their lives documented - how cool is that?

In thinking about what to talk about for this evening, I landed on "The Power and Purpose of an Image". It will be a reflection upon creating images that have moment and the impact they can have on a community. This will be a great talk for artists who are professional photographers, as well as those who are hobbyists. All are welcome and I hope everyone can walk away a little inspired.

Proceeds from the evening will go towards Print the Love's work around the world as their team heads to Cambodia on November 1st! I look forward to seeing y'all there!

Buy your tickets!

Year Twelve

October 20, 2017 in LOVEe, For The Pro's

“I’m hungry for knowledge. The whole thing is to learn every day, to get brighter and brighter. That’s what this world is about. You look at someone like Gandhi, and he glowed. Martin Luther King glowed. Muhammad Ali glowed. I think that’s from being bright all the time, and trying to be brighter.”

— Jay Z

September marked my twelfth year of business and in many ways I feel like all of our companies are hitting their strides. It's been a great year. I also will always refer to my brands as 'ours', because my team and our clients have everything to do with our success. It's not just mine - it is all of ours.

I was lucky enough to be photographed by Nate Ryan a few weeks ago and I was reflecting a bit on who I am now and where I strive to be. Nate's work is some of the best and he's also a person who has just about as many shoots as I do per week. His hustle is real and it has been exciting to watch his work grow over the years. He's refining it, he's perfecting it and he's making it happen - and it's so good. That consistency and discipline is key to being an artist and a freelancer. Back to my point - it has been a while since I updated my pictures and I wanted to be able to look back at these and remember who I was during this time. I didn't want them to be a quick Instagram photo - I wanted an official portrait. I wanted something strong and powerful, with a true sense of self, because that is what I feel at year twelve.

In many ways I still think of myself as a girl with her camera. But I am also a woman who is 5 brands strong, who works with the best team of dedicated people, who can look around the city and celebrate the success of other artists who have passed through our studio doors and ultimately work to create progressive and consistently strong work for their clients.

Right there, that word create is the magic I am talking about. It's my goal to make a well established body of work that is iconic. It means gathering inspiration from the world, but not directly copying work that has already been done. It means pushing the boundaries and being brave enough to believe in our ideas. It means collaborating with the best and always learning from my team. It means listening. It means doing what I believe in and also not giving a fuck about the bullshit.

A friend recently borrowed me a book about a photographer named Edward Curtis. He became popular in the 1900's for his work documenting American Indians. While reading the pages, there is so much I can relate to, but this is one of my favorite lines:

“I want to make them (American Indians) live forever. It’s such a big dream I can’t see it all.”

— Edward Curtis

Looking to the future of what is next in life and businesses, there is so much more to come. I can't wait to see what that holds.

LOVEe

2013 LAVENDER Wedding Issue // Minnesota Marriage Equality

March 21, 2013 in Editorial

The latest issue of LAVENDER Magazine is officially on newsstands and I am SUPER happy to have been a part of this shoot! This issue is the 2013 Wedding Issue for the magazine, and I was chosen to collaborate with some AMAZING people to really elevate the presence of gay marriage in our city and photograph the fashion editorial. Obviously, same-sex marriage is a hot topic at the moment, and a movement that I really believe in. I was over the moon with the idea of creating imagery to promote marriage equality and I hope you are as pleased with the outcome as I! Below are images from the LAVENDER Online Issue and you can grab a copy in print - literally - all around town! The issue is only on newsstands for a few weeks, so check it out before they are all gone! Of course, no shoot happens without an amazing team behind me. This was a major production, with two days of shooting, in two very different locations. We photographed the women at The Union Depot in downtown St. Paul and then moved the crew back to Minneapolis at The Bachelor Farmer to photograph the men. Style Architects put together the wardrobe and set styling, which featured some fabulous companies, including: Ignite Models Inc., Gateaux Inc, Martha's Garden, L'atelier Couture, Realia by Jen, On Solid Ground Vintage Rentals, Roe Wolfe, BeThings, Saima Says Design, Heimie's Haberdashery, Martin Patrick 3, Hammermade and more! In addition to the photographs, Chris Wegner also came along to create two amazing behind-the-scenes videos for you to check out:

LAVENDER Wedding Shoot // Day 1

LAVENDER Wedding Shoot // Day 2

Our life through an Instax!

April 26, 2010 in Commercial, For The Pro's, LOVEe

There has been SO much happening lately! My team has been on the road a lot and all along the way, we've shot TONS of film! I'll share more of that with you when the film rolls come in, but for now, here are a bunch of fun images from our Instax camera!

The instax camera is like crack for me! It's been a really awesome tool for me to document my life this past year.....I have a bit of a personal project going on with it, which will simply need some time to shape.

In this post, some awesome people make appearances:

Tara LaTour's amazing dresses The OH-SO-AWESOME Sara Montour Mr. Daniel Chin Insta-Friend Dan Miles, who inspires me now on a daily basis B-Funk Melissa O! The Cornjadi's and their epic wedding - congratulations you two! The Traveling Photo Booth's awesome booth

Yeah for living the dream!

For your Saturday Viewing Pleasure...

March 13, 2010 in For The Pro's, LOVEe

This video makes me happy for so many reasons! I love you all!

LOVEe

Unpredictable

January 20, 2010 in For The Pro's

Half of the fun of shooting a wedding is getting to hang out with my crew! We never know what the weather is going to be like here in Minnesota, so a big part of our job - and a quality I pride myself on the most - is doing an amazing job of working-on-the-fly. Not only does it make creating more enjoyable for me, but I simply have SO much fun with my team on the day of a shoot! Honestly, we are really funny and we seriously...do need a reality show! ;0)

A couple weeks ago, we photographed the McCullough's amazing wedding and here are just a handful of the awesome adventures we had:

1) Melissa surprised us with New Moon candy...I've never read any of the Twilight series, but she is a big fan! Regardless, the sugar was quite nice!

2) It was 9 degrees that day, which meant two things...One, I was wearing Under Armour beneath my clothes and two, we killed the brides flowers by being outside for 20 minutes! (Side note...we absolutely LOVE our clients, because they sacrifice a lot to create amazing images...:0)

3) We forgot our stand, so Brandon was the "Human Light Stand"

4) My crew shows tons of passion during the day...and a little bit of camaraderie as well! This collaboration between artists takes our creativity up 10 notches and I looooove it!

5) Since it's so cold here, I decided to have a glamour-shots moment with a heater...I was nice and toasty!

The point of this post is to show you all that crazy things will always happen on a wedding day and encourage photographers not to get stressed while shooting. Remember to have confidence in your craft...the best photographers can make magic out of the most blah of situations, rock it out and create some amazing images!

Here's to shooting in the Midwest and to my kick-ass-crew!

LOVEe

Thoughts on my AMAZING Team!

November 18, 2009 in For The Pro's, LOVEe

Our philosophy is to have as much fun as possible!

For the last few years, team Photogen Inc has been a core of Brandon, Cadence and myself! As the company grows, we have DOUBLED in size! (Crazy, I know!) I am super happy and excited about all of the fabulous new photographers we have joining the crew for the 2010 season and on!

Each wedding we photograph is a true collaboration between artists. Yes, I'm the boss lady, yes I am the leader, but SO many cool images come from my 2nd shooters. I am so proud of everything everyone has brought to the table and the elements they contribute to the team as a whole.

Many people ask me, " How do you find people to work for you? How do you handle people leaving and going off on their own?"

The answers are simple. Find people who you jive with. People who lift you up and inspire you and you see passion in. Personally, I choose to spend a lot of time and effort into training my team, critique, etc. so we are all on the same page when it comes to shooting. We hang out a lot outside of the studio and are truly great friends. These are also people who I can be brutally honest with. Sometimes being 'the boss' is very hard. Lines are crossed between business and friendships sometimes, but everyone has the understanding that the two are separate, which makes it a whole lot easier!

I also think that it is a very natural progression for assistants to grow and go out on their own and that we should embrace these changes and not be scared of them. Every artist has come to the point in their career where they know they are ready for another step. I've been there and you have been there. In the last year, Brandon has launched his own company, Rivets and Roses and Cadence just launched her new website and blog today! As my assistants are moving on, I brought in the new kids, Melissa, Tom and Ryan to take their roll as assistants, so B and C can focus on being leaders.

At the end of this last wedding, Cadence said, " Awe, guys! This might be the LAST time we all ever shoot together! We are all going to be so busy next year!" The statement is true in that we are all going to be very busy. However, we will most definitely shoot together and collaborate in the future! We are a team...the DREAM TEAM...and we are unstoppable!

I am truly very blessed to be surrounded by such awesome people! They are my best friends and we are truly a family. I mean, shit, I get to WORK with these people EVERY DAY!!! How lucky am I?!?!?!