Hello November! When did you happen?

I looked out my office window  today, and between the rain drops that were sprinkled on the glass, I peered out at the ginormous Japanese maple in my front yard. All of the leaves had that had gone from dark burgundy to the brightest fiery orange and reds you have ever seen, had fallen to the ground. Here are some wonderful fall color palettes that I just adore

Mocha, Cream, Robins Egg Blue

Chocolate, Tangerine,  Coral

Warm Copper, Moss, Ivory

Fall is my favorite season. When I lived in the eternal summer of Santa Barbara, fall is what I missed the most about the Northwest. There are so many things about fall that I love. I love fires on a blustery day! I love dressing warmly, but still being able to leave the house without a coat, and I love wearing tights. I love the smell of the ground when it has a magical cocktail of leaves, rain and asphalt. I love running in the cool crisp morning air.

Running is something I haven’t been able to do for quite some time. Last year I started having pain in my leg, quite excruciating pain actually. It kept me from doing a lot of things I normally do on a regular basis. A couple of months ago, my insurance finally came through, and I was able to have surgery on my leg. Hallelujah. Although I’m still recovering, I’m finding life a little more pain free and looking very much forward to RUNNING again. Running is something that when used every day, can really help you gain perspective, focus, and determination. All of those things I value and want more of in my life.

Speaking on perspective, I wanted to mention that this last week, I had the privilege of watching Brad Sugars speak while he was here in Seattle. If you don’t know who he is, PLEASE click on the link and learn more about him and his business Action Coach. Brad has built profitable successful business (55 of them) from the ground up, and now owns and operates a network of business professionals that coaches other businesses. His talk was charging, and to sum it up, I have a lot of work to do. I’m excited and challenged by the changes to come. I’m redirecting focus to work on myself more, improve my sense of self, and reward myself for my accomplishments instead of just burying myself in more work. Living in the moment, and loving those moments.

I’m setting goals and plans into action, and I know it’s going to be a brilliant future. Thank you for following along! Happy Fall!

This week I watched as my brother married the love of his life. They had an extremely intimate ceremony at Broken Top Club in Bend surrounded by 30 of their closest family and friends. Amanda is a master of words, and wrote the exquisitely crafted ceremony herself. As the officiant wove their story of love, and they recited the vows they had written for each other, we wept with joy for their luck at finding each other. All 30 of us. The world lost another forest Wednesday with all of the kleenex that was being passed around.

Inspired is the only word that comes to mind when thinking about these two. They are the perfect example of what it means to give, to love, and to cherish. Walt and Amanda I love you and I’m so excited to see what comes next for you.

Here are just a few of my favorites from Wednesday.

Walter’s best man, Chris Shipley played guitar for them while Amanda walked. He’s a close friend to both of them.

One of the most memorable moments of the day for me was watching Amanda’s emotions as she practiced her vows at the salon before the wedding. She genuinely loves my brother, and for that I love her more than words.

Allison at Lemon Halo did an unbelievable job on the flowers for the day. Can you catch your breath? GUH-OR-GEOUS!

It isn’t a rarity for me to say that I want to be someone when I grow up, it is rare however, that I mean it. Inti St. Clair is one of those people. Most of you know that I have a passion for producing, so much that I call that my current source of employment for 50 out of the 80 hours I work per week. My time is spent problem-solving, organizing, and creating shoots out of thin air for Jonathan Ross of Andersen Ross Photography, one of the leading contributors to stock photography. I LOVE my job. I learned what I know by researching the work of past producers in my company, I learned the most by looking over Inti’s work. She produced for Andersen Ross for about four years and the girl knows how to put on a good shoot. She has really taken the photography world by storm, and I’ve decided that want to be her when I grow up.

Her production skills are top notch which is why I asked her if I could interview her for my first post on ROCKSTARS, some of the people I admire the most in this industry. I’m so thankful that she was willing to share with you what she knows on how to produce a successful shoot. And just an added bonus…. since leaving Andersen Ross she has become a rockstar photographer too! Check out her website here.

Give us your “elevator pitch”, who are you and what do you do?
I’m a commercial stock photographer and producer specializing in lifestyle, food and travel imagery.

Being a producer can mean organizing multiple projects at once how do you maintain your sanity?
Sanity. What’s that??? Is it important?

Explain your process of production from conception to completion…
Producing for me starts from a lot of different places-maybe it’s based on an idea, or location I have, sometimes it even starts with the talent. From there it’s basically like a puzzle. Finding the pieces that are missing and putting them together to make it happen. Sometimes it can be intimidating at the beginning of a project, but I find if I just focus on getting it done, it always seems to come together.

What is your favorite project you’ve produced to date?
The Girl Fight shoot. Definitely not your typical stock shoot. We all had a blast doing it, and I think I got fun shots out of it too.

In your time freelancing what is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned? What advice would you give to those considering freelancing?
To never expect things to be easy. There is no status quo. The best advice I can give is: do it because you love it. It’s a tough business, but if you love it you’ll have the energy and drive needed to be successful.

If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice when you were first starting out…. What would it be?
In regards to shooting: Keep it simple. I used to feel like I couldn’t do things because I didn’t have enough gear. Now that I have plenty of gear, I rarely use it. lol Natural light truly is the best-you just have to learn how to read it.
As for producing: I used to be scared to ask strangers to model for me. Now I realize that the worst thing they can say is “no”, and even if they do say that, you’ve likely still made their day by giving them the compliment.

You now are not only a producer but a successful photographer as well! Did your experience as a producer help or inhibit your photography career and how?
Helped without question. I am a one-woman show. I love having the confidence that I can do every part of what it takes to pull off a successful photo shoot. It definitely helps keep my overhead down, and it also keeps me from ever getting bored too.

Random but fun:

Film or Digital?
Digital for sure!

Favorite photoshop tool?
Layer mask, that’s a tool, right?

One food you would die for before giving up:
Cheese

Accent that makes you swoon:
Caribbean Island accent

Favorite celebrity &/or celebrity crush?
Creatively, I have a celebrity crush on Joss Wheden. If we’re talking actual celebrity crush in the traditional sense, Taye Diggs is my man! ;)

There’s about to be a GIRL FIGHT… Love this:

All images are the copyright of ©Inti St. Clair