"Have you ever worked with Justin Bieber?"-{My middle school career fair experience}

A few months ago, a staff member at the middle school I attended back in the day, asked me if I would like to be a guest at the career day they were having(The event was on Friday).

My Response: "Yes!"

This type of thing is so up my alley. First of all...I love to talk. And it's even cooler when I can talk about something I'm passionate about, like my business. Second...I love pushing people to follow their dreams. Too many people push away their true desires and settle into something "comfortable" and spend too much time regretting it. It makes me sad.

I knew that this whole career day experience would be SO worth it, If I could put the belief in even just one student that they can do what they want to. School doesn't tell them that, Society doesn't tell them that. I wanted to tell them.

Because let's be real....I started with NOTHING. Nada, zip, zero. No experience, No camera, No connections, No clue. This is not to say I am ANYWHERE near where I hope to be in the future, but I'm definitely miles ahead of the place I started. I wanted to tell them what I tell everyone..."If I can do it, you certainly can". Seriously.

After hearing about Celeste and her styling, the staff invited her along to have a booth of her own too. And the day wouldn't be complete without me bringing along Ty to help me answer all of the questions coming our way.

And oh boy did we get questions....

It was truly an eventful day and a one of a kind experience. I got to talk one-on-one with some of the students already showing a huge interest in photography who could very well be the prodigies of the industry for their generation. I also met many future vets, actresses, marine biologists, and surgeons!

I got a lot of serious questions, "What does it take to become a photographer?", "How much money do you make?", "How did you get started?"....

But we also got some questions that were totally unexpected and made us giggle, like these:

"Have you ever worked with Justin Bieber?"

"Can you take my picture? Right now?"

"Are you still gonna be in business when I get married?"

"Is that a real wedding? Are you sure, it looks fake"

Here is Ty and I at our table. I love the sign they made me and definitely kept it!

The lovely Celeste and I.

xoxo

WPPI 2011

As I write this blog post, I'm finding it so hard to believe that my first WPPI really has already come and gone. Months of anticipation, planning, and excitement all came down to this past weekend and just like that it's passed! Pretty insane. But I've said it a million times before and I'll say it again...it was amazing!!! I headed out there with Ty LaMothe and we stayed for 3 jam-packed, AWESOME days. During this time, we hung out with some old friends, made some new ones, and filled our brains with knowledge till we couldn't take anymore!!! Let me break it down for you, day by day :)

SUNDAY:

-Crazy fun drive into Vegas with Ty LaMothe.

-AMAZING business/branding platform class from Bob & Dawn Davis.

-Dinner at the Hash House a Go Go with awesome friends. (Check out the size of those portions!!!!)



Myself, attempting to eat the ridiculous pork loin sandwich without the provided fork and knife. The guy in the background found this so funny that he came over shortly after to get a picture of it as well!! Hahah



-B School party with some more awesome friends! Here's some photo booth shots from it!








MONDAY:

-Bobbi & Mike's motivational platform class. I love Bobbi & Mike!!! Their class was my first priority for WPPI.(Did I mention that I LOVE them??!!!)

-Hung out in the Showit lounge and met some cool people!

-While we were in line for lunch, Ty and I got introduced to the Jarvie Window. Crazy stuff!!!





-Exploring the trade show and getting 10 pounds of marketing material and product samples from the companies!!

-Jasmine Star's kick-butt motivational platform class. But really...when DOESN't she rock?

Jasmine and I having a rather animated looking conversation after the class.



Someone pointed out her striking resemblance to JLO in the photo. What do you think?



-Unite worship night. A big group of photographers gathering together to worship Jesus in the midst of sin city....AWESOME.

-Great dinner and even better talks at dinner with Ty at Diego!!


TUESDAY:

-Lazy morning, enjoying our breakfast and people watching.

-Yet another visit to the Showit lounge to hangout and chat about the awesome new stuff coming to Showit this year!! SO excited :)

-I was SOOOO excited to see Bobbi & Mike in the food court during lunch and got a chance to hang out with them and chat for a bit :)

Here's myself and the Bobbi part of Bobbi+Mike.



-Roberto Valenzuela's RIDICULOUSSSSS shooting platform class. This man is a genius with a camera. And this class was definitely the favorite of them all for me and Ty! SO much knowledge packed into our brains!!

Grabbed a shot on my phone of one of the quotes he included in his presentation. Love it!



-We finished up the night with an informative pricing platform class from Jared Bauman. After that we headed back to our room to get a good night of sleep and pack our bags to head out the next morning!

So, my advice to anyone considering going to WPPI next year is.....GO!!!! Nothing can replace the experience I had there and I am SO happy that I went. If you missed out on this year, don't let 2012 pass you by too. I'll see ya there! :)

2010 was....

So I'm sitting here at my computer (what's new? haha). Thinking about what an insane year 2010 was and all of the new things it brought into my life. Insane doesn't even cover it...I don't think a word exists that explains what 2010 was for me...I wish I could make one up...but I can't think right now ;)
This time last year I would have NEVER guessed what 2010 had in store for me. I'm not sure I would have believed it if someone told me. It just doesn't seem possible. This time last year I was a full time college student, trying to figure out exactly what I was going to do with this life of mine. It would still be a few more months until I realized I had ALREADY started my career...and the search was over...and so was the continuation of my college education for the time-being. And there's so many more things that happened... In fact, I cant think of a better way to tell you what 2010 was like than in bullet point form. So here we go.

2010 was....

-The year I took responsibility for every aspect of my life and "became a big girl".
-More full of laughter than any other year.
-The year I interned with Sarah Barlow.
-The year I turned my passion/hobby into a career.
-An upward climb the entire way....
-The year of the most traveling I've done yet...6 flights in total.
-Blessed with so many great people.
-The year I quit my part time job to take on photography full time.
-The first chance I got to see that truly NOTHING is out of reach.
-The year I took quite a few chances....
-.....and inevitably fell down several times.........
-.....but the successes outweighed the failures.....
-.....And each mistake was a learning experience.
-The year I took on an intern of my own and discovered my own passion to teach, later down the road.
-The year I established my brand...then did it again...and am now working on my 3rd and "final" version of my brand.
-The year I learned that branding, as well as shooting, is a constant process and will continue to change over and over again.
-The year I made many friends. And thankfully lost none.
-A journey.
-The BEST year of my life so far.

I could go on and on...but I think you get the point ;) 2010 was crazy, amazing, intense, and soooo much more. I wouldn't change a single thing about it. If 2011 is half as good as 2010 was...I'll be one happy girl :)

And now I would like to close this up with a re-cap of some of my favorite photos from the year. If you've followed my blog over time or checked out my website, you've probably already seen all of these...and if that's the case don't feel obligated to look again if you're tired of the same thing ;) I LOVE posting new material, but this is my own personal little reflection on 2010 and what a truly amazing year it was. All of these pictures bring that back for me.

My weekend in Chicago.

About 2 weeks ago, I packed my bags and headed to Chicago to see my lovely friend Sarah Barlow and help her out with shooting a wedding. If you follow my twitter or my facebook page, you probably remember all of my excited tweets and posts in anticipation of leaving and extra excited ones when I finally arrived...because well...I was EXCITED. And for good reason. The trip was amazing....I got to see an old friend, meet some new ones, explore a new city, and soooooo much more. The weekend went by so fast that we didn't take as many photos as I would have liked but here's a few for a visual re-cap :)

THIS would be the always fabulous, Sarah Barlow. On the last day, we headed out to take some photos of each other and this is one of my favorites of Sarah. This is what she looks like 96% of the time. She's just a big ball of HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHA!!!!!!!!!


On this trip, I encountered another HILARIOUS person who goes by the name of Emily. This girl is a crack-up. I swear, if photography ever doesn't work out for her...she's got huge potential in the comedy world!!!!


And on another note...I got a few pictures taken of myself :) But you'll be seeing those at a later time....


Can I just say that I LOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE the Barlow family. They are so great, I honestly wouldn't mind becoming a permanent fixture in their household. Getting back rubs every five minutes and waking up singing every morning, I love it!
Among them would be my Illinois BFF, Natalie, of course. (No need to tell me, I already enrolled for Jacket Buttoning 101 after seeing this picture, don't even worry.)


Myself with two of my favorites, Natalie and Emily!!!


Sarah and I do make a cute couple, dontcha think? For some reason this is what we thought would be fun to do while we waited for the ceremony to start on the wedding day!


I wish this was a real ornament...not just our reflections in a plain one...I would buy it!!!!!!!


And lastly, if you're ready for it..... I would like to present Sarah and I's 2010 Christmas card photo.... If you're on the mailing list, you might just get lucky enough to find one in your mailbox. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!


But before I forget.....It wouldn't be fair to blog about my trip to Chicago and not share the video that had us laughing all weekend. You must watch it!!! Ellen is so funny :)
"People tell me sometimes that I have the skin of baby peaches"

NYC bound!!!

I can't begin to tell you how much I ADORE this place. New York City. Everything about it...the energy, the fast pace, the "larger than life" feel. If you've been there..I'm sure you know. I've been there 3 times and it's never been enough. I always want to stay longer, and I'm always ready to go back, the second I board my plane. The last visit was a few years ago and I've been aching to return. There were several "almost" trips this year, but none of them ended up working out. With next month being December, I had pretty much given up hope on seeing the Big Apple this year. Strangely enough, on my flight home from Chicago this Monday I had a strange feeling it would not be my last flight of the year. Almost a certainty that I would be going on another trip before the end of 2010. I don't know what brought on this feeling...but the funny thing is....I WAS RIGHT.

Wednesday Morning. My mom asks if I have plans for the weekend of December 18th. I mentally file through my calendar and reply "no....why.....?". And she screams " CAUSE I JUST WON A TRIP TO NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Okay...let's pause here so I can fill you in. You've got to understand my mom and her history of wins. Ever since I can remember, she has been entering every radio, online, tv, magazine contest you can imagine. She's always been a stay-at-home mom, raising my sister and I, while my dad worked. So in these years, she picked up a love for contests that grew more and more exciting with every win. Hours and hours a day of entering contests from all over. But don't think it has been wasted energy....I've lost track of her wins. Cars, trips, concert tickets, meet and greets, money, and the list just goes on.... Let's just say, life was never boring :) Most people who don't understand the amount of time she puts in, instantly mistake it for luck. Which could be alot of it. But a good amount is persistence and she definitely has it(which the whole family is always thankful for!). She's in it to win it and has never given up even after dry times when no wins come in for awhile. Because we all know they will come...and they do....

My mom's name was selected out of 5000 entries for a round trip for 4 to New York City for 2 nights. Hotel, flights, tickets to see the Rockette's and a back stage meet and greet....all incuded. It's safe to say I am THRILLED. It's still sinking in that in a little over a month I will be back to the big city. AND, at Christmas time. A time a have never been and that has been on my bucket list for quite awhile. Not to mention...just a mere week before our 3 year anniversary I will be bringing my boyfriend for his first visit to the city I love. It really is such a blessing and I couldn't be happier. On another note, our time there will be pretty short...but I will have time to squeeze in one session if you're in that area and would like to book with me! Just send me an e-mail at kristen@kristenbooth.net.

Well there's my exciting news I had to share. Best believe I've already started the countdown too :) Hope everyone has a great week!!!

The WORST(and funniest) night of my life.

Let me tell you a little story about the series of VERY unfortunate events my assistant, Ty, and I experienced on Saturday night due to 4 very small, but very deadly mistakes....

The day started no different than any other..Ty arrived at my house a couple of hours before we needed to head down to Seal Beach for a session with an extended family of 13. We were getting all of my equipment ready and getting in shooting mode as my phone was being charged. Because for some reason, my phone is ALWAYS dying. I got a call, which caused me to unplug the phone and wander around the house talking on it, and of course...forget to plug it back in, leaving me with only a small charge for the whole day. Which leads us to deadly mistake #1....

NOT GETTING A FULL CHARGE ON MY PHONE.

We left with plenty of time and arrived to Seal Beach full of energy and ready to shoot. We used Map Quest for directions. For most trips, I use the GPS app on my phone to navigate, but I always bring printed directions just in case. Knowing I wouldn't have enough battery to get us there, we opted for the print directions and made it there with no problems.

Here's a photo of one of the adorable little ones from the session! :)


The session went extremely well and Ty and I were so pumped after, that there was no way we were ready to leave after. We decided to walk around the neighborhood, taking it all in, and walk down to Main Street for some dinner. That night, I honestly fell IN LOVE with the area. All of the homes were so unique and had so much personality. Everyone was friendly and said hello to you as you passed them on the street...oh and the weather was PERFECT. I felt like I was in a total dream. But this dream was about to turn into a nightmare as we encountered deadly mistake #2, while at dinner....

NOT REALIZING I HAD MY OUTLET PHONE CHARGER IN MY PURSE AND CHARGING IT WHILE WE WERE AT DINNER.

Here's Ty, while we were wandering the neighborhood!



By the time we were done with dinner, we were leaving WAY later then we had originally planned, but we had an awesome night and timing was the least of our worries. We got in the car and began to make our way home. I was a little concerned about the drive home because I DESPISE driving at night and I was hoping we would be able to get back by following the directions we had. My phone was had been dead for quite awhile and Ty's doesn't have internet access....those mapquest directions were our only hope. As we got onto the freeway...we didn't realize that the next freeway we had to get onto was less than half a mile from where we got on. Which leads us to mistake #3....

MISSING OUR EXIT.

But this usually is never a problem....you get off at the next exit, turn around and head back to your first location and do it all over again. It should have been that simple....EXCEPTTTTT....the off-ramp made a large curve and completely threw off our sense of direction AND we were met with several detours. Already tired, frustrated with my phone being dead, and irritated with the drive....I began to lose patience. THEN, it started to rain. The only thing I dislike more than driving at night....is driving in the rain. And here I was doing both, and on top of that...after trying to find our way for about 20 minutes, we were completely lost. Don't ask me how we got so far off track, it could have been the detours, or being so unfamiliar with the area, or being thrown off by the rain(and did I mention that my windshield wipers were doing a horrible job????) or a combination of all. Either way, we were LOST. Confronted with the choice of stopping and asking someone for directions, or stopping to get an address and call home on Ty's phone to someone with access to a computer for directions....we opted for the second one. So we pulled over to a Chevron and called home to finally end this miserable journey....which leads us to our final mistake.....

NOT CONTINUING ON THAT ROAD, WHICH WOULD HAVE INEVITABLY LED US TO OUR FREEWAY.

We got directions from our handy navigator at home and also got confirmation that we were in Westminster. And we got some great news!!! We were headed in the right direction!! YAY!!!! Now let's just head on home and everything will be great :) But it could never be that simple, could it??? As I turned my key in the ignition to start my truck....IT. WOULDN'T. START. Just gave a tiny sound of effort...then gave up. This is the point where it became funny....how could it not be funny? All of it was straight out of a movie! Here we were, 2 young girls, stranded in a parking lot behind Chevron in Westminster, in a broken down vehicle, with $5,000+ worth of camera equipment in the car. The fun was just beginning!

Ty on the phone. Totally looks like a scene from a scary movie. And that's what it felt like all of this was leading up to!


After about 10 minutes of waiting, I tried to start the truck again...and still...nothing. So I decided it was time to call AAA. Ty used my information on my card and called...only to find out that my card had just recently expired. GREAAAAAT. Luckily, Ty saved the day with hers. Upon calling AAA with her info, the operator let us know that an associate would be with us no later than 9:25...no problem, only had to wait 30 mins. We passed the time by taking silly pictures and joking about the night, because it really was comical. As 9:25 approached...we got a call with an automated tape recording letting us know that our associate would now be arriving around 10:05!!!!!!!!! At this point, none of it really mattered anymore. We laughed it off...and although we were a bit nervous, we stayed in the car and waited till our tow truck driver arrived.

Thank Heavens for AAA!


One of the many pictures taken during the miserable waiting period. Ty's beloved key necklace! :)


Upon arrival, the driver stepped out of the car and greeted us with glossy eyes, and a creepy smile. We told him where our final destination was and he said "well what are you doin all the way down here??? Parrrtyyyyinggg??" accompanied with yet another creepy smile. Ty and I looked at eachother and immediately decided we were not riding all the way home with this guy. Upon trying to start it up once, he said that it needed to be towed(it turned out to be my battery and a jump start WOULD have worked). When we got in the truck with him, I told him to drop us off at a Denny's and someone would be coming to pick us up. 5 minutes into the ride, it was no longer his character I was concerned about, but rather his driving skills!!!! He cut two curbs and swerved over into the next lane by trying to find his ringing phone under the seat and then answered it. He even proceeded to show me the facebook app on his phone while driving. Ty and I were hanging on for dear life!!!!

Bye Bye Truck!!


By the time we arrived at Denny's, I felt as if I could collapse. I finally utilized my charger and was able to use my phone, even though it was no longer useful to us. Our ride arrived about an hour later and we headed home safely and luckily made it there without anymore trouble.

Sitting on the floor in Denny's because there was nowhere else to sit that had an outlet....but I was beyond caring :P


I woke up the next day wondering if it was all just a bad dream, but got a good laugh when I realized it wasn't. It's pretty funny that those 4 little mistakes that we didn't even know we were making led us to ALL of that trouble. We could have avoided it by charging my phone all the way from the start or charging it during dinner because then the gps would have led us home. Or by paying better attention and not missing our exit. Or by driving just a little bit further before we decided to pull over. But can't dwell on all of that now! So the moral to the story is.............
BUY A CAR CHARGER FOR YOUR PHONE ;)