The week is halfway over...

... and I have a busy 3 day weekend!

I want to establish what this blog is about, exactly.

A little background with me? I suppose that's the proper way I should have started this blog out from the beginning- but to be truthful, I really wasn't sure what I was doing here. This was more of an experiment than anything.
But I'll try to make this quick, I promise.
(If you've been to mistyblankenship.com, then you've already gotten a rundown. Otherwise, pay attention!)

I was born in 1978- in Southwest Michigan. I moved to NY state with my then-boyfriend in 2000. Why? Because I needed a change, and it seemed like the move I was supposed to take in my life at that time.
About a year later I started really getting into photography as a serious hobbyist. But it took me awhile to get out of my shell and let others in on this amazing world I found myself lost in, so mostly I created images for my own pleasure and relaxation. I owe Fotki.com a huge thanks for being able to share my love with hundreds of others who were just like me. I "met" so many wonderful people through that website. A few that I still talk to today! Fotki is where I began as an artist.

Fast forward to around 2003 (give or take), I met my future husband who, from the first moment I laid eyes on, I completely adored!
It wouldn't be until some years later when that story truly unfolds, but Steven had been my mechanic for some years, who I pretty much saw on a regular basis due to the fact my Blazer was constantly in and out of the shop for repairs. I guess I should give a shout out to my truck for really keeping us together that entire time.

Anyways, things changed, the then-boyfriend and I called it quits, I briefly haulled it back home (for less than a year), but missed New York too much, so I again hauled all my belongings back to NY. Eventually I made it out on my own for some years, in a house with a little apartment in the quaint town of Warwick. I can honestly say that those were the best years spent in my "single" life. I loved that apartment. The house was a very old Victorian- all the floors were oak. The colors of the apartment were so calming, that there was no other place I wanted to be, than in my own little home.
(I actually moved from one apartment to another in the same house, within a matter of 3+ years- so the 2nd apartment I was able to pick out my own color scheme for the walls!)

I ate/breathed/drank photography. Creation after creation, image after image. I grew with it (and even at one point briefly stopped photographing) in the duration of my stay in Warwick. I photographed everything and anything I could, and it was there where I started to put myself out there for the world to see. I became members of online photo groups and had even submitted photo's for contests for magazines, papers, and online forums. Though I'd never actually won 1st place, I did however end up in the final top 3 for many contests.

Warwick was also the place where I started getting into portraits. I bought my first studio setup- and even received a lot for Christmas, starting with my close friends first. In about an hour, I would turn out around 500-600 photo's. After they would leave, then I spent a good day and a half just going through and editing dozens and dozens of them, sometimes spending the whole day at my computer desk.
I never thought I'd say this, but I never realized how much I would eventually enjoy photographing people. It's a whole new experience because everyone is different- every personality and every smile. Everyone has something unique to bring to the camera. And I absolutely adore capturing that!

The amount of photo's that I have stored away on discs and even on my computer is just mind blowing. With the few websites I have running with my work on it, it doesn't even come close to the amount of images that I actually have taken with my camera. It got to the point where I just couldn't keep up with myself! Not only do I love to photograph life and my world around me- I love to spend time in photo shop with them just as equally. To be able to take one single photo and create so many different moods and images with it- it is what I truly enjoy.

So after a few years doing that, really learning a lot about myself in so many different ways- and as fate would have it, my (now) husband and I connected and finally had our moment to come together in our lives. At this point we had known each other for so long, that it didn't take much to be able to fall in love with one another (which I practically had been the entire time I knew him). When it's right, it's right!
I moved from my wonderful Warwick apartment, in with Steve. Soon after we were engaged in O'ahu on New Years Eve, 2010- and the following April 22nd we eloped in Key West. Nothing has ever felt so right in my life. The life i'm able to lead now was well worth the previous 31 years of tinkering around and wondering what I was to make of myself when i'm older.

So. There's talk of moving into a bigger house- and there's talk of babies soon. But time will reveal all of those wonderful things when time is ready for them to appear.

There isn't anything in my life that I would change. I am a believer- and I live to prove it- that all things happen when they're ready to happen and on their own terms. We just have to wait it out and do what's best for us in the meantime. :)

So I suppose this blog is not only here to document my new adventure into becoming a full time professional photographer, but to document my personal life as well.
Let's see if I can keep up!


Now, if you read that entire mess of words up there, then I just wanted to add a few quick updates to the business side of things.


Photog related:
i. Business cards have been ordered, I will see them in a few weeks (I opted for slow delivery (cheaper) because there are a few steps I want to take before I try to launch anything.)
They're pretty basic, just black and white- and simple.

ii. I decided to get "certified" through a course in photography. That way I have something to "throw out there", plus, you can never learn too much!!
I'll have assignments and tests and all that school related stuff.
I'm actually kind of excited about that. (I'm about to print out my lesson outline in a few...) I plan on kicking it off this weekend, clearing my head from the banging and buzzing construction going on at work.

iii. A contact has been made with a certain monthly magazine in regards to doing editorial work-- Let's hope this carries through. I didn't want to say anything.... but I do want to say something...
There's a good chance it'll only be on occasion, but I'll take anything for now. I think it's time for me to start putting myself out there more.


And that's it!
I promise no more long and boring blog posts to read through from now on...
I'm a sum-it-up kinda girl anyways.
Off to clean up and relax with a glass of wine... !

On 06.28...

The day started off well!
Almost...?
The neighbor guy decided to run the chainsaw at 7:30 this morning, waking me up.
Suppose I needed to get up anyways.

Decided to take my cameras to the house up on Mt. Peter. It's been vacant for awhile now, my husband told me the state bought it and wanted to turn it into a visitor center. (?)

Had some shots left on the B&W film for the Yashica, so I used those up. All in all it was pretty relaxing experience.... except for my overwhelming fear that a bear is going to spring out of no where, trample me to the ground, and gnaw me lifeless.

A few Canon shots-

And then Yashica...

It is the weekend, Sunday, and it is hot.

Tomorrow I create my own business cards. Yes, I am setting aside some time for that. I guess you can say i'm doing it to make my approach seem more professional.

I've applied for two photojournalist positions for two different papers and have not heard any replies back. It has only been less than a week, but I am hopeful. I haven't really told anyone yet, specifically, what I have applied for recently. I rather find out the verdict before I go yapping my gums about it.
I need to get out of banking. I've had my run with this occupation and now it's time for what "I" want. Just can't work for the man anymore.

I have a series of Antiqued photos that i've been working on for awhile. I just posted them to my facebook page not that long ago, to get a feel of what my friends had to say. Positive feedback, so far. There is a new gallery that just opened up close to me and i'm thinking of presenting these images to them, to see if they can sell them for me for a commission. I just need to have a few printed on canvas. I think the canvas and the technique used for the prints will compliment each other well.
I'll keep you posted on the outcome!