I just edited the Melde family christmas shoot. All 5 girls have such hillarious personalities and are stunning!! We took the family to downtown phoenix which has been my favorite place to shoot since Meghann & Clare's shoot. There are SOO many amazing backgrounds that are so real and untouched. The images turned out beautiful so enjoy a few below....
Well my photography professor at Gonzaga University would be proud...I am finally putting my degree to use at Riso Studio. Photography is again becoming a larger portion of my workflow...and I LOVE it. I majored in photojournalism and advertising design but happened to fall into the latter quicker and right out of college into the publishing world. I have always incorporated photography as a portion of Riso Studio just keeping it to travel and commercial work; shooting events for local magazines and portrait & commercial work for clients. In late 2007, early 2008 I have been able to fall in love with photography all over again which is sooo refreshing. Photography has always been my go to 'creative need' whenever I feel down or just need a pick-me-up from life. It helps me put my life into perspective and bring all that positive energy back. I have to update this blog with all the recent photo shoots as there have been some awesome shoots. 2008 was an unbelievably busy travel year for me and thanks to photography for allowing me to do so. Check out some of the recent shots from a portrait shoot.
Riso Studio is now teaming up with world tour-guide extraordinare Annie Fitzsimmons. After traveling to Europe intensively since this past summer, she now has some down time to be our travel guru guest blogger! ENJOY
Hello fellow travelers! I am excited to be able to share a few thoughts on Shannon's website. I have long admired her work. My favorite thing to do? Travel! It's a good thing too, because I have traveled thousands of miles this year for my job and for leisure. From NYC & D.C., Key West, San Diego, Boston & L.A to all corners of Europe, it has been a year of learning how to survive jet lag!
I wanted to share with you a few of my favorite new websites relating to travel and tips that I've picked up along the way.
I. www.airfarewatchdog.com: I was skeptical of this at first, but am now addicted. It watches for the best fares from your home base (so I'm currently scouting PHX, DFW and NYC flights). The deals are awesome! You can sign up for daily or weekly e-mails with the best fares from your area to destinations around the world.
II. www.fareedzakaria.com: Fareed Zakaria is an Indian-born journalist and TV host that was named editor of International Newsweek in 2000. For all the months I spent in Europe this year, I had to plunk down the euros and buy Int'l Newsweek each week. Fareed's articles are some of my favorites and he is truly a global citizen, fighting for people's rights around the world and explaining world issues in terms I can understand. As fabulous as it is to enjoy pizza & wine in Italy and shopping in Paris, it is even better to have an understanding of our world and what we will have to do and deal with in the years to come. I also believe, like many others, that Fareed Zakaria will be the first Muslim Secretary of State someday. :)
III. My new favorite travel tip: Thread your necklaces through straws and tape them...ta-da! No tangles. I usually only travel with one necklace (my lucky four-leaf clover) but may start traveling with more!
Also....when you're traveling, please call the "Ugly American" out on their ugliness! I have started to become so fed up with seeing so many of them overseas and actually confronting some about it.
I will leave you with one of my favorite travel quotes from Matt Damon: "I think many of our problems as a country would be solved if people had thick passports. There's just no substitute for actually going and seeing things."
Feel free to e-mail me at annie@anniefitzsimmons.com. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and many plane rides ahead! Cheers, Annie Fitzsimmons
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is up & running on our site now thanks to the ever so talented Ryan Brannen of ONEREDKEY. It is longer then expected but there are so many great ideas and shots that I wanted all of you and my clients to check out! Hopefully it will be your new inspiration for the day. Don't forget to go out and follow your dreams...especially if that means travel!!!!
FOR: Photographers, people that work at a desk ALL day long, designers, people that ache or have joint problems, sufferers of migraines, back aches, neck pain and everyone else too!!
**NOTE: This is a long winded wordy post but is SOOO worth the read**
I just got back from my myopractitioner. He is AHHHmazing! I am a firm believer in natural medicine and cannot stand going to a chiropractor or taking pills. THUS my mother and aunt turned me on to myopractics. When I was working in corporate and was stuck in an unfriendly ergonomic desk situation, I began having symptoms of repetitive motion syndrome on my right arm, wrist and hand.....if I would have let it progress or do nothing about it, I would've had full blown carpel tunnel. But I went and saw Noel at RENEW in old town scottsdale; a trained myopractitioner and he was able to pin point my pain by massaging and releasing the nerves and muscles from my upper shoulder. It was unreal! He literally would press on a certain part or nerve in my upper shoulder and arm pit and my arm would go from being numb to having feeling in a matter of seconds---I am not exagerating.
It is a great way for relieving any muscle or joint pain you might be having from sitting at the computer all day, post injuries, or just daily wear and tear on your body. I know have reccommended Noel to my fiance, sister-in-law, moms of kids I tutor and lots others...and they swear by it as well! It really does work and is worth reading more information below.
WHAT IS Myopractics: -Noel Frend-
Myopractics is the the art of gentle dynamic mobilization of joints and manipulation of soft tissue to bring about a state of balance and harmony in the bodies biomechanical system.
The guiding principal in Myopractics is that life is motion and once this motion becomes restricted the end result is limited movement, tension and pain. Myopractics works on these restrictions by releasing muscular and fascial tension and mobilizing the joints to restore balance.
Myopractics is unique in that it treats the structural and muscular systems simultaneously unlike most other modalities which focus on one or the other. These two systems are completely interdependent and treating them in unison gives a more comprehensive and permanent relief from pain and tension.
Myopractics main focus is on balancing the pelvis as this is the foundation and center of gravity of the body. An imbalance in the pelvis can cause problems in all areas from feet, knees, low back, neck, shoulders, etc. Once the pelvis and the core postural muscles are balanced the other problem areas can then be addressed e.g. low back, neck, shoulder, etc. Releasing these restrictions and restoring balance eliminates pain and tension leading to greater range of motion, improved flexibility and a heightened state of well being.
An important premise of Myopractics is the pelvis is the foundation of the body. It is the largest bone structure and is designed to carry the weight of the body. If there is an imbalance in the pelvis, the body may shift the burden and tension of weight bearing to another area. This causes further restrictions as the body attempts to regain normal posture.
***It is fabulous and I would HIGHLY advise anyone that is having joint pain, muscle pain or just feels like their body is very stiff and tight to go see a myopractitioner. I know alot of photographers that pencil in at least 1 or 2 massages a month during wedding season----I would look into myopractics instead as I think you will feel SOOO much better with actual results.
My myopractitioner is Noel Frend, a great Irish lad that is a wealth of knowledge. He is located in Old Town Scottsdale; give him a ring: 480.429.1122
CHEERS **A photo of Noel & his family from our recent birthday shoot.**
A new favorite client of mine is an absolute amazing photographer from Minnesota, Liz Banfield. She is such a treat to work with and her work inspires me everyday. Definitely check her out: Liz's Website
I am sooooo overdue on blog posts. From starting the travel cycle again with wedding season to traveling taking it's toll on me with the flu..... I have TONS this week that I will be posting from images, albums and some new travel favorites. In the meantime enjoy the love for WINTER and skiing and of course WARREN MILLER! This gets me sooo pumped for ski season :-)
This is SO past due but I loved the way these shots turned out so I have to post some. My cousins wanted some 'sister' photos of them that they could gift to their mom for mother's day. Ah they are so blessed with beauty genes it's insane! I also told them it was imperative to take some headshots as well, thank goodness they obliged.
Enjoy!
Meghann works for a great hedge fund company called Knight's Bridge Captital Partners based out of AZ...check out Wallstrip one of their blogs. It's an easy and fun way to learn more about stocks. She also does work with this FANTASTIC yoga wear brand called Spiritual Gangster. I have one of the shirts and bring it on every trip--definitely check out their stuff!
I have at least 3 other blog postings to post but while I was processing some images from our Ireland trip I found this shot. I LOVE it! We pulled off on the side of the road before we hit the Ring of Kerry in Southern Ireland and this was our scenery for at least an hour. With loads of sheep grazing in the steep hillside fields. AHH love love love driving in Ireland.
Riso Studio is STILL traveling. I know, I know...this July has been INSANE with friends getting married and family trips. We are currently at the lake in Idaho and have NO cell service in most spots and have very very limited access to internet. The office will reopen on August 5th so everyone that is wondering WHY you have not received a response back is because we are living out in the middle of the woods for the past week!!
Thanks for your patience and look forward to proofs and emails sent next week once the office reopens. If you need anything you can try email and I try to check it once a day.
CHEERS -Shannon-
Here are some photos to tid you over.
Anna + Ryan's fabulous wedding on an island at a hostel. It was the best wedding yet!
My alma mater--GONZAGA
Beautiful Lake Pend Oreille--I have mad slalom skills
We just got back from Ireland and now I leave again for Seattle, Spokane and Idaho on Wednesday. Talk about wedding season full force!!!! Here is an image of the stunning scenery from Ireland....photos from the wedding, irish kids, etc will be posted soon!
Well it has become apparent yet again tonight that I have been holding back some vital information to my dear friends. The new realm of answering questions has arrived via TEXT messaging using CHA CHA (242242). So instead of me trying to tell you all about it when I see you in person one random day---a blog post can suffice.
One of my kids that I tutor is definitely in the 'know' when it comes to trendy gidgets, gadgets and what not. He was the first person to get me addicted to my new texting genius. It is super simple and resembles the same concept as google text but so much better and more efficient.
Program the number 242242 into your address book on your cell as CHA CHA and you can text them (using most cell phone providers) whenever you are in need of an answer. For example, I can text something simple like what time does Costco open and what is their telephone number. A Cha Cha guide (that literally is sitting in front of a computer and searching for your answer) will text you back in a matter of seconds or minutes (based on the degree of difficulty) with your answer. An answer that has the exact source from where your Cha Cha guide found it.
Now I was using google text for the easy address, telephone number questions but they are not answering as precisely as Cha Cha and it takes up too much time...thus I leave all of my wonders to Cha Cha to be answered! Forget the easy stuff, you can ask it anything and it will search for the correct answer. Brian and I were just out in Laguna Beach and didn't have any internet access where we were staying--we are newly obsessed with everything surfing. We would text Cha Cha every morning to find out the surf conditions and the best beaches with addresses to hit up for the day. Minutes later we would have our answers and hit the beach for the day!!! Trust me it's amazing what technology can do.
If I'm not explaining it well check out their description: "ChaCha is a free mobile search service that allows you to get answers to any question you might have - right on your mobile device. You can ask about weather, stocks, directions, restaurants, shops, products... and all your questions are answered by real people. Our very own ChaCha Guides can give you restaurant recommendations on the go, last night's baseball score, and even the average weight of an elephant! ChaCha allows you to get the answers you need, right when you need them. ChaCha is so simple to use. You simply send a text message containing your question to 242242 (spells ChaCha on your keypad) or call 1-800-2ChaCha and say your question. Your question will be sent to a ChaCha Guide who will research the question and send you a text back with your answer."
