my instagram aesthetic put me in a creative rut

Howdy y'all! The last few months, I've read so much about how important it is for bloggers to have an Instagram "aesthetic". Specifically that every single one of your images should have certain colors in it, a specific filter on it, or just a consistent look. I tried it out for a few months, and let me tell you something - I hate it.

In March, I decided I was going to try an Instagram aesthetic using specific colors. I decided the best colors to represent my brand were warm tones - reds, pinks, yellows - in part because a lot of the photos I was already taking were those shades. The first couple weeks were great! I felt inspired, and was very very happy with the way my feed was looking. And then it got harder. 

I can honestly tell you, my Instagram aesthetic was the worst decision I've ever made for my creative growth. 

I had these beautiful photos that I was proud of and wanted to share on my Instagram, but I couldn't because it would ruin all the branding I had worked so hard for. I saw picture opportunities, but decided not to bother, because it wouldn't match the colors I had chosen. I noticed myself taking less and less photos - often times the ones I did take were forced and made me unhappy. 

For the last 5 months, I've been in an awful creative rut in terms of photography. For someone who's working on launching a photography business, this is kind of the worst place to be. In terms of portrait sessions, I've been doing fairly well, but I feel like I've lost my touch with basic inspiration. I want to curate beautiful images and I don't feel like I'm ever doing a good job of that. 

I see bloggers genuinely stressing on a day-to-day basis about how their feed looks. Don't do that - just create. I promise you that if you are taking authentic images that you really love, people will respect your brand. 

If the aesthetic thing works for you, great! I'm proud of you. But you should never, ever have to force creativity. Your brand isn't going to fail because you can't confine your creativity to a few colors. 

What are your thoughts on Instagram aesthetics? Let me know in the comments!

Have a great day!

Follow me on:
Twitter: @beautynblazers
Instagram: @beautynblazers
Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)
Facebook: Beauty & Blazers
VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:
beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*

what i've learned in the first few months of running a photography business

Howdy y'all! For those of you that don't know, I recently started my own photography business, Dixie Marie Photography. So far I'm super excited about how it's going, even if I'm still working out the details and trying to figure out how exactly I'm going to pull this off. Here are a few things I've learned in the first months I've been open.

Y'all, people love free stuff. The first thing I did when I opened was chose 3 or 4 people that I wanted to give a free shoot to get me started and to get my name out there. I also gave away 2 free shoots in a hunt club that my dad and I are a part of. So far I've done a couple session, a senior session, and a dance portrait session. Coming up I've got 2 hunt dog sessions and a family session. When I told all of these people that I wanted to shoot with them for free, they were so excited and when they saw the quality of the pictures they got, even more pumped! If you're starting any kind of business, I would definitely recommend doing a few giveaways at the very beginning! The only problem I've had with this is that I decided to do too many at once, I wish I would have only taken 2-3 clients for free as I've spent a lot of time on the free shoots and haven't really gotten a chance to book paid clients. Also with this, don't let people walk all over you! Know your worth and set limits to how much you're willing to do.

Another huge thing I've learned is that pricing is hard. When I first started putting together pricing packages I thought that I was pricing everything pretty dang low. And for a professional photographer those prices are low, but since I'm just starting out, they're pretty high. Also, when pricing, you have to take into account your target client. Because of where I live and how old I am, most of my clients are probably going to be high school students and many of them will be paying for their own pictures. Since I'm a high school student myself, after I looked at my prices from that standpoint, I realized that I probably wouldn't even be able to afford my own pictures. I'm now planning to lower my prices and eventually raise them when I think it's a good time.

One of the first things I did when I opened was order business cards. When I first started giving them out, people were so surprised that I had cards and were impressed by how seriously I was taking my business. People want to do business with someone that looks professional. I also created a website really quickly, which I'm planning on expanding on this summer. I created a bunch of social media accounts and a nice logo and in the coming weeks I'm hoping to make some pricing graphics and forms that look nice for my clients as well as get testimonials from the people I've already worked with.

Finally, I've learned that starting a business is not as scary as it seems. Smile a lot, be kind to your clients, put out the best work you think possible, and you will be absolutely fine.

Have a great day!

Follow me on:
Twitter: @beautynblazers
Instagram: @beautynblazers
Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)
Facebook: Beauty & Blazers
VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:
beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*

my top 12 favorite instagram accounts

Howdy y'all! Happy hump day! This Wednesday I'm comin' @ ya' with a few of my favorite Instagram accounts (in no particular order). Also, if you aren't following me, do it! Here's the link. ;)

one // @jessicawhitaker

A photo posted by JESSICA WHITAKER (@jessicawhitaker) on May 9, 2016 at 9:32pm PDT

two // @emilyblincoe (also, shoutout to her adorable dog, Eleanor)

A photo posted by emily blincoe (@emilyblincoe) on May 3, 2016 at 9:21pm PDT

three // @chalkfuloflove

A photo posted by Sarah (@chalkfulloflove) on May 10, 2016 at 5:16am PDT

four // @itssunnyrebecca

A photo posted by Rebecca (@itssunnyrebecca) on May 9, 2016 at 12:42pm PDT

five // @papelnco

A photo posted by Papel & Co. (@papelnco) on May 10, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

six // @lonestar.looking.glass

A photo posted by Alice Kerley (@lonestar.looking.glass) on May 9, 2016 at 5:46am PDT

seven // @p31beauty

A photo posted by b l a z e   a n n (@p31beauty) on Apr 15, 2016 at 12:18pm PDT

eight // @cathslagle

A photo posted by Cathleen Slagle (@cathslagle) on May 5, 2016 at 4:54pm PDT

nine // @jaybsauceda

A photo posted by Jay B Sauceda (@jaybsauceda) on Apr 11, 2016 at 9:31pm PDT

ten // @teachinfashion

A photo posted by Michelle (@teachinfashion) on May 8, 2016 at 6:02pm PDT

eleven // @stephanieparsley

A photo posted by Stephanie Parsley (@stephanieparsley) on May 8, 2016 at 6:32am PDT

twelve // @charlottebharris

A photo posted by • cbh • (@charlottebharris) on May 4, 2016 at 3:07pm PDT

Thanks for reading friends! If you have a favorite account (yes, you can be your own favorite), let me know in the comments!

Have a great day!

Follow me on:
Twitter: @beautynblazers
Instagram: @beautynblazers
Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)
Facebook: Beauty & Blazers
VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:
beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*

photography (and life) lately

Howdy y'all! I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been super busy and just haven't been able to find the time. Also, if you follow me on Twitter, you may know I've changed my posting schedule. I will now be putting up posts Wednesdays and Saturdays. I think this will fit my personal schedule better and help me to be able to write more content. This Wednesday, I decided I wanted to share with y'all some of my recent photography. If y'all want to see more of my photography, make sure to follow my VSCO!

This is probably one of my favorite photos I've ever taken. Plus it makes me look like a super cool hipster that goes to drive in movies when in reality it was just some gas station sign.

This was a night I listened to the Oh Hellos on vinyl and ate Panda Express with my best friend and we found out she was gonna be rich.

We did a flame lab in Chemistry and I was super nervous about it because fire, but then I took this neat picture and I was happy again.

My sister forced me into taking some portraits for her and they actually turned out really well. This was my favorite one.

In January I finally bought a calligraphy pen and I am in love with it. I took this picture the first time I ever tried my pen.

This was some work I did with my calligraphy pen the other day and also a super neat quote that I love.

My school's Student Council taped up a bunch of compliments up in the girls bathrooms around the building and it's super cute.

Last weekend I got to spend the night with my sweet grandparents. They are so so precious and I really enjoyed spending time with them. This is them with their new cat, Oreo.

For Valentine's Day, my momma always gets my sister and I a little somethin'. This year it was the Blogging Day mug from Francesca's (that literally every blogger is currently obsessing over) and the new purple Lokai bracelet in support of Alzheimer's Disease. 

Some of my hand lettering letting all you babes how I feel about you. ;)

My sweet daddy is a Valentine's baby, so my sister made him this cake and we sang and I took pictures.

I hope y'all enjoyed this little update on my photography and life in general. What's goin' on with y'all lately? Let me know in the comments below!!

Have a great day!

Follow me on:

Twitter: @beautynblazers

Instagram: @beautynblazers

Pinterest: Alison H. (@beautynblazers)

Facebook: Beauty & Blazers

VSCO: alison_h

Contact me at:

beautyandblazers@gmail.com

*Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored or endorsed in any way and all opinions expressed are my own.*

story time: the one where i was, like, a real journalist

Howdy y'all! I'm kicking off this week with a little story. It's the one where I was, like, kind of, a real journalist. Pretty neat stuff.

Fall in Texas means one thing: football. My school has been building up our program the last couple of years and made it to playoffs this year (!!! ya go broncos !!!). Since we're in the Dallas area, one of the stadiums they use for playoffs is none other than Jerry World (and/or AT&T Stadium and/or Cowboys' Stadium). We were lucky enough to get a spot there for our first playoff which is pretty frickin' cool in itself. But there' s more.

I'm an editor/designer/photographer for my school's yearbook crew which opens up a lot great opportunities for me to participate in things up close. It just so happens that yearbook got some passes for the. field. of. AT&T. Stadium. And it just so happens that I. got. one.

Not gonna lie, I freaked. I was super excited leading all the way up to the game, and when it finally came time to head to the stadium, I had my level one pass ready, and my favorite lipstick in my camera bag. It was a little stressful to get all situated and checked in, but then I got in the press elevator. The lady pushed the button (F is for Field if you were wondering), and the second those doors closed, I did a happy dance all the way down. It came out in this weird tunnel-y thingy (wow great description words, Alison) and one of the other girls in my crew came to meet me. We screamed and did happy dances all the way through the tunnel and onto the field.

And then I was on the field. And there was a team getting pummeled and lots of security and a really, really, really big jumbo-tron (the second largest in the world, actually). I got to the rest of my crew and we all did happy dances and took selfies for Snapchat and pointed at spots on the field claiming that Tony Romo had probably spat there even if he definitely hadn't.

We all got settled with our camera equipment and started to take pictures as the game began. We scored a touchdown in the first play of the game, and another in the second quarter. Halftime rolled around and we took a quick break from shooting to take more selfies (yearbook kids, man. what can ya' do?). We switched cameras and I got to shoot our large lens, whom we've affectionately named, "Big Dawg". The other team was gaining on us. We were 12-11, at the end of the game when my school ran out the clock and won the first round of playoffs in AT&T Stadium.

This was such a cool experience for me because I stood on the field where Dez caught it (you know he did too). Because I got to run down the end zone while trying to get the perfect shot of our boys singing the alma mater. Mostly, because I felt like a part of something big and exciting. I felt like a real journalist.

Got any neat stories to share with me? Tell me all about it in the comments below!

Have a great day!

p.s. if you didn't catch the Friends reference in the title of this post you aren't a real person.

breckenridge travel guide & photos

Howdy y'all! Last week I was vacationing in Breckenridge, Colorado and took some super rad pictures I wanted to share with you! I also, wanted to tell you about a few of the neat places I visited in the area.

First off, Breckenridge has a beautiful Main Street with adorable little shops on it. Some of my favorites were Ruby Jane and a souvenir place that carries Life is Good products. We also make a trip to the awesome sock store, the Joy of Sox, every year. On our way to the airport, we made a pit stop at the Brass Armadillo, where I got a Rick Springfield on vinyl for $5 (!!!!). This antique store was seriously so cool and I can't wait to go back sometime.

YA KNOW I WISH THAT I HAD JESSIE'S GIRL!!

In terms of food, I really enjoyed the Columbine Cafe for breakfast. Their corn beef hash was DELICIOUS as was everything else on the menu. Mary's Mountain Cookies made some super yummy treats that I really loved (you could tell by my food baby).

My dad and I went to a really neat mining museum in Leadville. If you are interested in engineering or minerals, or just mining in general, it's a really cool stop. The ladies of the group also took a trip to the spa, which was absolutely amazing. I got a facial and some of the older women got massages. They had great service (also a steam room and heated pool) and it was a very relaxing way to end our trip.

Old maps in the mining museum.

Last but not least, here are some of the photos I took. If you like these, make sure to follow my VSCO for more like them. :)

Have a great day!