NEW BLOG!!!

I am very happy to say thanks to the wonderful help of my good friend Brett Roegiers, my new Website and blog are up and running!!!

Go check it out... I even have a big announcement on todays blog!!! www.luannedietz.com/blog

Beach Town

Spending time near the water is one of my absolute favorite things. I love the feeling you get just knowing you're in a beach town. You can smell it in the air, feel it in the wind, and most importantly see it in the beautiful light that shines so pure through the windows every morning. Put me on a beach with great friends, a good book and my camera... and I'm golden... ***Of course there was no pun intended in regards to my state of being and my sun kissed skin color ;)

morning light, pre surf stretch

Vero Beach

So after taking some me time in Sarasota I decided to set off to the east coast to hang with some friends that just "get me". These are the type of friends you don't really have to explain anything to, they just understand. They know your past your present and will most definitely be apart of your future. Stop number one was Vero Beach to see the magnificent Tom McCarthy Jr. After a delicious home cooked meal (Tom's an amazing cook!) we set out to the beach with our cameras for some late night star gazing. It was the perfect cure for my land locked blues.


(I know I would move that one piece of asparagus and turned the plate a little to the left if I was going to take the photo again. lol. Truth be told we were hungry and I just wanted a snap of the meal. And to be fair to Tom, I took the photo before he added the fresh Parmesan cheese to the asparagus!)

Creative vs Analytical

As I was driving the other day I had a great talk with the lovely Ariel Zambelich about a photographers mind and whether Creative or Analytical thought takes over first when we go to make a photo. We talked both sides of the equation and even discussed if one verse the other can be learned, or if they are both just innate skills.

I voiced that for me I thought creativity came more readily at first, and the logistics were the things I had to sort out before I pressed the button. I even took it as far as to say that sometimes when the moments happen, the creativity is what I seek out and the analytical techniques just happen subconsciously.

As we were in the middle of this conversation I saw a beautiful double rainbow appear out my driver window in the sunset illuminated sky. I pulled the "hold on I'll call you right back" line and picked up my camera from the front seat. As I exposed to shoot the rainbow, a white picket fence coming up on my right caught my eye. So, I waited to get directly in front of the driveway and snapped a photo through the window. At that moment, the only thing going through my head was the symmetry I wanted to capture with the fence and driveway. After I passed the house and I looked at the back of my camera I realized that the window had made a great frame for the shot.

So, at this point I can choose to believe one of two things. One would say that luck was on my side and I exposed for the right thing, and the wide angle lens took over and gave me a great border, where Two would say that my instincts took over and I knew subconsciously that I wanted a wide frame using the window frame to wrap around the scene. I choose to believe Two.. ;)


P.S. If you like the concept of shots taken out of windows, and want to see some beautiful work, check out Luceo photographer Matt Slaby's story called My Diving Bell. So Beautiful.

Stranger in a Familiar Place

So I've been in this place lately of rediscovering my own creativity. Removing myself from the influences that might crowd my mind and surrounding myself with things and people that help bring me comfort and rejuvenation.

To say that I enjoy spending time with people is an understatement. If it were up to me I would be around people 24/7.

For a person with this personality type one can only conclude how hard spending time alone to search deep inside can be.

Through this process I've learned that the best form of procrastination is a Mani/Pedi, and if you splurge for the spa pedicure you get 15 additional minutes in the massage chair. I've also learned to look to the little things for great distraction. For instance, I've never talked with my neighbors more or cleaned the house as much as I have while I've been procrastinating this journey of introspect.

So, all distractions aside I've headed to Florida for a vacation with ME!

I grew up in the lovely beach town of Sarasota, and up until about a week ago I could say my mom lived there. I've been out of SRQ now for over 7 years but every time I go "home" there are just some constants I can guarantee.

Well, this trip has been everything but constant. I showed up to an empty house, that at this point just holds memories. I drove around what might as well be a deserted town, as most all my friends and family are no longer there. And I ordered to-go from the local chinese restaurant like I was a stranger in a familiar place.

As I went to pick up dinner, there was a storm rolling in. It seemed very metaphorical for this time in space. The fortune inside the cookie could not have been more dead on. So I took some time in the emptiness to seek out art and let my mind wonder to a place of complete creativity.

This journey has been all sorts of wonderful, and I'm not even half way through. I have a big trip on the horizon for the summer and a renewed desires to make it my own. Stay tuned for details in the near future;)

NY State of Mind

I am in Love with NY. There I said it. There is something about that concrete jungle that makes me feel alive. I think it might be the combination of the beautiful spring air with the wanderlust appeal of gallivanting through a mysteriously familiar city. Either way, my heart is at ease in the Big Apple....

Baby Louis III

I have a new cousin! Baby Louis III on his christening day. Thanks goes to my aunt and uncle for bringing such a sweet baby boy into our family:)

Wedding Season

To say I've been busy working and traveling lately would be an understatement.

As most journalist can tell you, there is a certain rush that comes from traveling to new places where there are stories to be discovered and people to meet. I am extremely grateful to jet set often. Along my travels I tend to encounter some crazy comparisons. For example. I just returned form NYC this week, and while eating lunch at the Shake Shack with friends, my food looked eerily familiar. So I snapped a picture. It wasn't until halfway through my meal that it hit me. I had eaten almost that exact meal a week ago on the opposite side of the country.

So here you have it.. Shake Shack.. the In N Out of the east coast;)

Jacksonville

While working in Jacksonville beach, I took and extra day to head to St. Augustine to spend some time with an old college friend. Rachel and her husband Brad were the first couple who's wedding I had ever photographed. You can see some photos from it here.

Now almost three and a half years later, they are mommy and daddy to one beautiful little girl and have a baby boy on the way. I got to have a girls day with Rachel and meet their lovely daughter Bri for the first time a few weeks ago. I think it's fair to say we became best buddies immediately:)

Berry Wedding

When I first talked with Jodie and Mike about photographing their wedding, Jodie mentioned that she wanted to take photos on the beach. Knowing Mike and Jodie from college, I knew they would have some trick up there sleeve to make their weekend and photos extra fun. About a week before the wedding, Jodie called me to tell me that the bridal party would be ridding around town in electric GEM cars and that she had gotten beach balls and fun sunglasses to take photos with on the beach. It was right then that I knew we were going to have some fun:)

LaLaLand

One of my favorite parts about being a photographer is that I get to travel often. At the end of February I headed out to L.A. for a week. It is always refreshing to see the vibrant colors of that glamorous city. While I was in lalaland, I turned a year older. For my birthday I took the day off and enjoyed my time on Santa Monica beach. There is something about starting a new year near the water that makes me feel like the world is at my fingertips.




A special thanks goes out to my West Hollywood Boys who put me up for my time in Tinsel Town.. Got to love impromptu roommate dance parties

Ichetucknee Springs

To take full advantage of the beautiful Florida weekend, on the way back to Atlanta I stopped at the Ichetucknee Springs. O how I miss swimming in Florida sunshine...

No matter how cold or hot the air is outside, you can always count on the Springs being 72 degrees.

Ulrich Wedding

In February I had the opportunity to travel south to Gaiensville, Fl. to shoot the wedding of Grant and Jacque Ulrich. It was such a beautiful ceremony and the bridal party was a blast. Grant and Jacque are such a fun couple who are so deeply in love, and the photos from that day directly represent that. It was so nice to shoot in Florida light again. The weather was perfect, and the sky so blue. It was a great weekend for an outdoor Florida wedding.

GOYA

I had the opportunity a couple weeks back to shoot on location with Zack Arias and the Used Film Crew during a Goya Challenge. Zack blogs about the experience and our approach toward the images here on his blog.

For this GOYA shoot we choose the word "FEAR" and each set out to capture our own interpretation of it. That week we had been working in an abandoned mansion,so to us the concept of fear came rather natural. It was a fun learning experience to see how people who were removed from the situation reacted to our interpretations. I elaborate on that statement further on Zack's Blog.. check it out!

Here' the image I made. While talking with my model I asked what him what he was afraid of, and he said Death. So with that in mind I let my creativity wonder and this is where it took me. The image is shot with all natural light.


This last one's for fun. While we were shooting for fear, I found this awesome patch of light in the solarium and couldn't pass it up. So I made a few frames with intent to capture the shadow.... Enjoy

Next Day

After our delightful winter wonderland we had yesterday I woke up with high expectations of taking back to the streets to find some more snow filled fun. Instead, what I was greeted with was melted ice turned into slush and bright sunlight. Id like to blame it on El Niño, but instead of pointing fingers, I woke the roomie up and we headed out to the park!




For this next photo I will not be held responsible!!! I had "nothing" to do with it ;)

Snowman Video

Video editing is an addiction to me. No time, space or weather can keep me from my editing room when I know there's raw footage to be mastered. Its such a joy to relive my happy reality....

Yesterday was such a blast hanging with friends and the neighborhood kids! Nothing like a little child-like-fun to remind me of how much I love winter time. Hope you laugh as much as I did when I was creating this:)

Let me know what ya think...

Snow Day! from Luanne Dietz on Vimeo.

Neighborhood Snow Fall

One of the benefits of being self-employed is having the ability to hang out with others who are also self-employed, when it SNOWS!!!!

Spent some time frolicking in the neighborhood park and in a friends front yard, being silly and building a snowman with the neighborhood kids. Such a great Snow Day!!!







The Kids named him "Carrot"... Video coming soon...:)

Snow Days

For the last several months I have been teaching Photography at The Showcase school of Photography, and as one of our assignments in the Digital 101 class we take a field trip to Oakland Cemetery in down town Atlanta. Last Saturday I braved the cold with a few other instructors and was inspired with what I saw my students capture. So today when the Blizzard of 2010 (really it's only about 4 inches) hit Atlanta, I knew Oakland was one of the stops on my list.

It was such a wonderful experience walking the beautiful grounds of Oakland with snow all around.... Such stoic beauty is found in blankets of snow





And of course My lovely roommate joined me for the journey:)